(off topic, computer virus) & (on topic = Golden Rules, For Hedging....)
eric, long ago I noticed that people skilled in writing computer programmes
had an aura about them that I was not able to penetrate, and this prevented
me from obtaining stuff about them that I needed.
Confused I was, as these folks came from the same places where the best
of the best obtained degrees in the hardest of the hard science disciplines,
and I heard that the Computer Science degree was not really a science degree
and infact it was not even up there with an Engineering degree. Seems that
to "pad" the computer courses to a difficult lever so that to conquered the
conquest for this computer degree lots of tough mathematics courses were
required to be taken.
Be that it may, I noticed that this aura was not most strong in those with
Computer Science degrees, but those who had the degrees in the most difficult
of the sciences, and upon too tight a job market or a desire for a bigger pay
check, they obtained computer programming jobs with fancy job titles and job
discriptions without the plain programming word included.
Something was amiss here, so I decided that if I can not "join" them the old
fashion way, that then I will simply go where they are and join them that way.
So off I went, into the journey of learning something about another thing.
Was not interested in computer, so to get the quickest insight I took the
hardest route knowing that the end justified the means of skipping the easy
stuff and jump into the most advanced programming.
In parallel I learned C MicroSoft Windows and assembly, along with the tools
that let me go inside the executed code and view what was happening either
thru C instructions/calls and the low level assembly of octal/hex.
Guess what, it was not hard, and after awhile, unlike real sciences, what to
know, as in near all, was knowable. Became just a huge complex Bookkeeping
type doings and goings, everythings knowable except where when and why to be
viewed upon for its identification. Real sciences have only the surface
stuff knowed and knowable.
Bottom line, not difficult for many young and sharp even without formal in the
class room traing or studies, to learn enough to go inside the code on a disk
and change it so that at 1/1/00 Bingo Hi!
My point and focus is the huge amount of software copied from the original
source and duplicated onto hundreds or thousands empty disk and either resold
for pennies on the dollar, or just given away for free and let it continue it
path to another and another.
The free one I see as a problem. Using Windows 3.1 code I can obtain a small
and simple single task .DLL (Dynamic Link Library) executable file, and in a
debugger I can observe what it does, and using a text editor I can write the
source code and compiled it so that I can simply replace the official .dll
with mine of same name. Been there, done that.
Now imagine if I included some conditional code, so that pre 1/1/00 this new
procedure is not executed, but at or after 1/1/00 Bingo Hi.
Anyone could have done this years ago or last year or tomorrow.
I'am not into this stuff of programming, learned what I needed and left.
Also, I'am still in DOS 5 and Windows 3.1 so that viruses by pass me and
aim for the likes of Windows 95+. So I do none virus checks but have heard
that all they do is a simple search for code sequences that have already
been determined to be included inside a virus. This is why some hits are
false alarms, a correct and good program by chance had that sequence that
is correct and meaningful and wanted. But rewrite that virus with new code
paths, and unless the virus checker is smart enough to test for extra
possible matches, it will not be detected,
My above point is a simple one that virus checkers, as the way I heard them
described, only check for knowned code sequences that have already caused a
problem as a virus. It no different, this version of my understanding,
is identical to a program looking for the words "eat chit" in a text file
for young children that was placed there as a virus. But in my example
a person could have place a time dependent 1/1/00 "chit eater" inside the
text and this would not be detected since an identical compare not made.
For programming strings, as in lines of code for searched for rather than
a single item since all possible to use can and have been used in good code.
(on topic)
I cannot post it all.
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Discussion du Jour: World Markets
The following article will be published by David Williamson and
Associates, a mining finance and investor relations group based in
London as it is coming out first in their magazine this week.
Golden Rules, For Hedging Mining Companies
Investors can be forgiven for complete bemusement over gold hedging...
Gold hedging...
... to promote the effective and intelligent usage of gold derivatives.
What went wrong?
The writer has...
Timing issues:
Most of the active hedgers amongst the gold mining companies hedge...
Margin requirements:
Few companies have a credit standing equal to that of...
Asymmetrical hedging:
Falling gold prices had also encouraged another dangerous strategy of...
Huge expansion of option volatility:
Some of the above problems become even more dangerous when added...
Operational problems
In general, the problems I have described above are those of...
The "Golden Rules"
...I have developed several hedging rules, which follow:
A.The Direction of a hedging transaction should be...
Michael Hampton was a pioneer in developing commodity derivatives when
he was at Chase Manhattan Bank. He has written several chapters and
articles for books and magazines on the subject of derivatives.
Currently, he advises investment funds, mining companies, and a
specialised shipping derivatives fund on their use of derivatives.
He can be reached in London
Tel: 44 171-459-2255
E-Mail: mhampton@hdsltd.co.uk
Bill Murphy,
Chairman, Gold Anti Trust Action (GATA) gata.org
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