Orchard Road is World's Top Shopping Street

A trip to Singapore is incomplete if your itinerary does not include a visit to Orchard Road.

The Lion City, even with the new attractions like the themeparks and the two new casinos, the Casino at Resort World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands Casino; the night safari, the various landmarks and attractions, Orchard Road is certainly not to be missed. Christmas decorations along this stretch in Singapore attract throngs of visitors every year.

With the Chinese community gearing up for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration on Jan 23, I can imagine Singapore would now be bustling with activity and beautifully-decked in Chinese New Year decorations.

Singaporeans would be happy to know that Orchard Road has been named the world's top shopping street beating 29 other premier shopping belts including Paris' Champs Elysees and London's Bond Street.

The verdict comes from a mystery shopping survey conducted by a French marketing consultancy, Presence Mystery Shopping, in which 90 mystery shoppers were sent out to nearly 400 retail outlets in 30 cities around the world.

Four categories were the focus of the survey - cleanliness of the streets, and retail outlets, quality of retail staff, and friendliness of passersby.

Orchard Road scores highly in all the judging categories and garnered a total score of 89 points out of a hundred. Luxembourg's Avenue de la Liberte came in second with 85 points and PC Hoofstraat in Amsterdam, was third with 83 points.


Source: DailyChilli/The Straits Times/ANN

Best iPad Apps of 2011

Shopping these days does not involve just clothes, make-up, sports equipment, furniture. Shopping nowadays include buying of non-tangibles such as iPad apps.

New York Times compiled a list of the Best iPad apps of 2011. Check them out..Best iPad apps of 2011, from the perfect magazine to photo app to Jamie's recipes to music creation, etc..

Image source: NY Times

New York Times Op-Doc: Texting While Walking

By Casey Neistat.
 

It's January, Time for the Annual International Consumer Electronics Show

LINK

Tough to be an Independent Business in a Big-Box Environment

And with the growth of e-commerce, some big-box operations are facing their own challenges.  (Past tense here.)

Independent hardware stores hammered by tough times.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/7/2012)

Excerpt:   Beyond such problems, hardware stores as a group have faced increasing competition from big-box home-improvement retailers, a sluggish economy and a difficult environment in which to sell a business rather than liquidating it. 

Combined, those forces have whittled the number of independent hardware stores in the county from about 50 in 1995 to about 25 today. 

 "People are just easily influenced by commercials," said Brian Peterson, manager of one of the longtime survivors, Tippecanoe True Value Hardware, 3955 S. Howell Ave. "They honestly think that low price comes in big boxes, but it's just not true."

Monona Public Library Eliminates Overdue Fines

Monona Library eliminates overdue fines in 2012.  (Monona Herald-Independent, 12/29/2011)

The Monona Public Library will no longer charge overdue fees on materials checked out at the library, beginning on Jan. 2, 2012. The Monona Library Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve the change at its December 20 meeting. The Monona Library will be only the second library in the South Central Library System to not charge patrons for overdue materials, joining Middleton's library.

 “We believe that this change will make our library even more popular and more responsive to use by Monona and nearby residents,” states Erick Plumb, library director. "In an increasingly "on-demand" world with numerous choices for consumers, with most of these choices requiring additional service charges, we believe that eliminating late fees makes us more user-friendly to Monona residents, as well as being more equitable to the community in these challenging economic times."

Retired Sheboyban Librarian Publishes Third Book of Memoirs

Van Straten's second book

Retired librarian pens third book of memoirs. (Sheboygan Press, 1/9/2012)

Daniel Glen Van Straten of Sheboygan, a retired library cataloger of the Mead Public Library, has published his third book of memoirs, "On and On: Everlasting Adventures."

Van Straten self-publishes under the name Glen Outlook Publishing.Van Straten publishes his books in print and e-Book formats. He complements his books with numerous pictures and original drawings. The book contains approximately 205 pictures and 37 original drawings.

 His first book was "Schemer: A Boy Grows Up in Wisconsin." His second book, "Boone: The Further Adventures of Schemer," is about falling in love, getting married, going back to college to earn a master's degree in library science, having kids, living in Sheboygan, travels, camping, hunting, scouting, gardening and more.

The third book covers the 1970s through 2010. He already has a fourth book in mind, about his work in a public library.

Chinese sue Apple over pirated e-books

As reported by Chinese financial magazine Caixin, a group of nine Chinese authors (amongst whom are popular 29-year-old blogger and social critic Han Han  and author Li Chengpeng) has sued Apple before the Beijing's No. 2 Intermediate People's Court for 11.9 million yuan (approx. $1.9 million), in compensation for allegedly providing 37copyright-infringing books for download through its online store.
The consortium of writers acts under the mantle of the China Written Works Copyright Society (CWWCS), a lobby group which has engaged in similar disputes also with Baidu and Google (see this Blog here) over their online products.
According to CWWCS's spookesman, "the download number of one best-selling book is much as one million, which creates about one billion dollars in losses for each writer." 
Controversy between Chinese authors and Apple over alleged sale of copyright-infringing material is not a novelty. In August 2011, Zhu Jintai, the author of a popular paranormal fiction novel, joined several publishing agencies and media organisations in a lawsuit against Apple, due to its App Store's alleged infringement of IPRs. This, as reported by the Global Times, was the first time that an individual Chinese author took action against the US corporation. Eventually, Apple removed his novel from its online store, but the lawsuit is still pending.
Then, in September 2011, six writers sued Apple over copyright infringement of 23 books, seeking 6.5 million yuan (approx. $1 million) in compensation.  
As the number of Chinese Internet users is constantly increasing (it reached 485 million in June 2011), so is the number of people who download e-books (more than 121 million in 2010). Along with such a flourishing market, economic harm posed by piracy cannot be underestimated. 
Zhang Hongbo, CWWCS's deputy director general, suggests Chinese authorities become involved in helping domestic copyright owners protect their rights overseas. "US authorities always press on China over IPR protection, and now it's time for Chinese authorities to up the pressure on them" he said.

E911 For Enterprise VoIP

The move from switched circuit to packet switched telephony has created some unintended consequences. One of these is emergency calling to 911. We take the 911 system for granted. When disaster strikes, just punch in those three little numbers and help will be on the way. Well, that’s the way it’s supposed to work.

Now consider this. There’s a fire in the maintenance closet down the hall and it’s getting out of control. You pick up your handset and dial 911. You reach the emergency operator and report the fire, then run out of the building and across the street. An hour later, the facility has burned to the ground and no fire trucks have shown up. How could this happen?

The fire trucks did show up within 5 minutes of your call. Unfortunately, they went to your main office in Phoenix. You just called from the satellite office in Indianapolis. Oops! Something is not set up properly on your VoIP phone system.

Such a problem would never arise on an analog landline phone. Why? Because the phone wire is in the ground at it always goes the same place. That’s why they call it a landline. VoIP, however, is a network service. As long as a SIP phone can connect to the network, it can make a call. It makes no difference where that connection takes place. Networks that encompass multiple locations need special consideration when they are converged for voice and data. The same technology that makes it easy to move phones around also makes it easy to lose track of just where they are plugged-in. This is especially true if any of your phones connect via the Internet.

XO Communications, a leader in enterprise VoIP deployments, has an instructional video called “9 Ways to Ensure E911 VoIP Service for Enterprise VoIP Deployments.” Have a look now and see if there is something needing your attention...



Make no mistake about it. VoIP technologies, including Hosted PBX and Unified Communications, offer enormous benefits in cost reduction and employee productivity improvement. Like all new technology, the more cutting edge the solution, the trickier it is to get it right. You want to be working with a top-tier service provider who understands the legal requirements for issues such as E911 and has processes in-place to ensure that your system is set up accurately.

If you are considering an upgrade to your business phone system, get recommendations, options and pricing on competing telephony solutions. Be sure you understand how they ensure accurate E911 call routing.

Fire Laser Beams from Your Eyes

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have been working on making a human cell behave like a laser. And although people could eventually get light beans from their eyes to act as flashlights, the current intent is to create a living laser that could be used to activate cancer-treating drugs.

Stem Cell Stocks

On Sunday evening, 60 Minutes broadcast an extensive report on stem cell scams. It reported on companies around the world that make outrageous claims with regards to the treatment and cures that stem cells can provide. Numerous people who have incurable diseases are desperately looking for cures, and are being taking advantage of by charlatans purporting to solve all their medical issues.

However, stem cells are being used currently for medical treatments. Look at bone marrow transplants that are used to treat leukemia utilizing adult stem cells. Scientists are actively looking at stem cells to treat diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's disease, and spinal cord injuries.

There are actually many publicly traded companies involved in stem cell research. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has turned up over 20 stem cell stocks, half of which are currently profitable.

Integra Lifesciences Holdings (IART) is a New Jersey based company that develops, manufactures, and sells medical devices, implants, biomaterials, and instruments to the stem cell, surgery, and soft tissue repair markets. The stock trades at 17 times current earnings, and 7.5 times forward earnings. However, earnings for the latest quarter were down 31.8%.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) is a Connecticut based company with an $13.7 billion market capitalization that is involved in the development of biologic therapeutic products for the treatment of hematologic and cardiovascular disorders, auto-immune diseases, and cancer. The company licenses porcine embryonic stem cells for transgenic animals. The stock has a price to earnings ratio of 92 and a forward PE of 45. Earnings for the latest quarter were up an amazing 135.2% on a 44% rise in revenues.

Cellgene (CELG) is a $29.8 billion market cap company involved in the discovery and production of therapies designed to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory-related diseases. One of the company's main products is Thalomid, which is used for the treatment of erythema nodosum leprosum, a complication of leprosy. They also received a patent on placental stem cell recovery. The stock sports a PE ratio of 28 and a forward PE of 15. Quarterly earnings were up 32.7% on a 37% revenue increase.

For a free list of over twenty stem cell stocks which you can download, sort, and update, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

FA Cup Third Round - Man United beat Man City 3-2

After a 3-0 lead at the end of first-half, it turned out to be a nail-biting second half at the FA Cup match between Manchester United and Manchester City last night our time. Man Utd won 3-2. (Phew!)

Source: Man Utd website

Manchester United is drawn to play Liverpool in the Fourth Round.

Closer to home, it is a super start for Datuk Lee Chong Wei as he downs Olympic champion Lin Dan in a thrilling three-setter 12-21, 21-18, 21-14, in the US$1.2mil Korea Open Sunday.

Datuk Lee Chong Wei(L) and Lin Dan
Source: thestar

The Worst Piece of Reporting in an Otherwise Decent Article

Romney Is the Main Target in a Caustic G.O.P. Debate.  (The New York Times, 1/8/2012)

Mr. Perry reserved perhaps his toughest commentary for President Obama.

[snip]

“We have a president who’s a socialist,” he said. “I don’t think our founding fathers wanted America to be a socialist country.”

Toughest commentary?

How about....

Ridiculous...

Inane...

Preposterous...

RIP.  Status of Perry's campaign

.

Love the comment, "How can somebody as obsessed with self grooming as this guy be anti gay?"

Sodomy II: Anwar not guilty

Looks like I'm a little late in wrapping up the post. At time of writing, this came through on The Star's running commentary:

9.25am: High Court acquits and discharges Anwar of sodomy charge.

High Court judge Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah acquits and discharges Anwar of sodomy charge

Let me share what I had put together anyway.

Today, Jan 9, is a high-profile day. It is the day of verdict of Opposition leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's Sodomy II trial. Datuk Seri was alleged to have sodomised his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, then 23, three years ago.

The public is able to read a running live commentary on The Star. Here is the link to the running commentary but some pictures and comments in the meantime.

Jalan Duta Court Complex in Kuala Lumpur. -KAMARUL ARIFFIN/The Star - 9 January, 2012

Traffic entering the Jalan Duta court

A rally participant at the jalan Duta Court Complex

Tian Chua, PKR VP, tells the crowd that Anwar is expected to arrive at 8.30am


Crowd gathers at court complex

A man dressed as Justice Bao arrives at the Jalan Duta court complex

8.30am: Anwar has arrived at the court complex. The crowd breaks out into frenzied cheering and chants of "Reformasi".

Anwar, dressed in a blue long-sleeved shirt and black slacks, is in the courtroom. His wife Wan Azizah is dressed in a floral baju kurung. Anwar goes around shaking hands with lawyers.



Commotion at the main gate as people get worked up. Police have closed the gate and opened a small door on the gate to let Anwar through.

Reporters allowed into courtroom, which is packed.

S'gor MB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim also arrives with aides, heads upstairs to court room.

According to a police source, the crowd has swelled to about 10,000. About 100 policemen deployed at the gate.

For more, go to the link.

Related articles:
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has indicated that he would take a trip to India after the court verdict today.
We want Anwar as PM, says DAP again


Source: The Star

Map of the Week 1-9-2012:Old Glasgow, Scotland

Old Glasgow Map, 1878. 

            Glasgow - my new home - long known as the “Second City of the Empire.”  I love the names of the streets around here – “Saltmarket;” “Parsonage Square;” “Blackfriars Court;” “Ropework Lane;” and the mysteriously named “Goosedubbs” and “Spoutmouth” - evidence of a rich mediaeval history and centuries’ worth of settlement and occupational identification with specific locations of the city.  And then when trans-Atlantic shipping became the mainstay of the Glaswegian economy, names such as Virginia Street and Jamaica Street reflected where the trading ships were headed. Click on the map and zoom in to see some of the incredible detail. 

This map is a Victorian representation of the secular part of the city in 1547, created from original records by Sir James Marwick who was Town Clerk of Glasgow from 1873 to 1903.  The detail shows the Trongate area.  This is in what is now called the Merchant City section of Glasgow, “tron” being a corruption of “trone,” an Old French word for scales.  The weighing station for the market was located here.  In the 18^th century, Merchant City became the most desirable place for the new captains of industry to build their grand residences and warehouses.  Many of these buildings still stand today, testament to the large amounts of money made by the "tobacco lords," who profited from the trade in shipping tobacco, sugar, and tea. The buildings are now home to the gentrifying classes of Glasgow. 

“Glasgow Cross in pre-Reformation times was known as Mercat Cross.  Argyle Street and Trongate are shown in the map as ‘St Tenus Gait or Tronegait.’ ‘Gait’ is an old Scots word meaning ‘the way to.’  St Tenus Well was situated at the western end of St Tenus Gait at what is now St Enoch Square.  The eastern end of Tronegait, at the Mercat Cross, was the site of the ‘Trone’ used for weighing goods brought to market.  Saltmarket, where the fish curers operated was known at this time as ‘Walkergait.’  The trade carried out by the waulkers was cloth bleaching.  ‘Stockwellgait’ was known earlier as ‘Fishergait.’  The fishermen who worked there got water supplies from a ‘stock’ or wooden well which gave its name to the street.” From: http://www.scotcities.com/merchant.htm

This study, published in 1844, relates to the fever epidemic which struck the city in the previous year.  Written by Robert Perry (President of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, and Senior Physician to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary), it uses local medical reports, statistical tables and a color-coded map of the city to highlight the link between poor sanitation, poverty, and poor health.  It is an excellent example of early thematic mapping, and pre-dates both Charles Booth’s Poverty Maps of London (1886-1903), and John Snow’s cholera maps of Soho, London (1854).  Perry’s map, with different neighborhood areas colored differently to designate the severity of the epidemic, made it obvious that the effects of the epidemic were not distributed evenly throughout the city, but disproportionately affected the poorest, most densely settled areas, where as many as 20% of the population had succumbed to the disease.  See more on Robert Perry and the 1843 fever epidemic at http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/month/feb2006.html

Detail of Robert Perry's map - Three of the districts most seriously affected by the epidemic, bordered by Stockwell Street, Bridgegate Street, Trongate, and Saltmarket.  Near where I now live!  The dots represent the locations of fever victims.

 This map shows the area bounded by the Old College of the University of Glasgow and the River Clyde, Stockwell Street and Glasgow Green in 1764.  Many streets, closes, and markets are named.  It is believed to have been produced by surveyor James Barrie for the Town Council and is the earliest surviving map on a detailed scale.  Several versions of the map have appeared in various publications over the years.

The map arose from a court action.  The Town Council had received complaints about the state of the Molendinar Burn and the dam at the sawmill belonging to timber merchant William Fleming.  The magistrates revoked the lease for the sawmill and ground in 1764 and had the mill demolished, and Fleming sued the Town Council for his losses.  The final judgement in the court case was made in 1768, when the Council was ordered to pay substantial damages to the timber merchant.  Maps being used in a nuisance land use case! The aggrieved landowner and pollution-maker winning! Some things never change! 

  

Saint Mungo, patron saint and founder of Glasgow (died 614 AD). He is shown with symbols of his various miracles – the robin, the tree, the bell, and the fish with a ring in its mouth.  St. Mungo and his symbols all appear in Glasgow’s Coat of Arms. He is revered in the Roman Catholic, the Anglican, and the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and his feast day is January 13^th. You may be familiar with St. Mungo from the Harry Potter book series, which featured the fictional "St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."

Freading @ the L. E. Phillips Memorial Public Library

Eau Claire library steps up e-book service.  (Eau Claire Leader Telegram, 1/5/2012)

A new e-reader service at L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library will eliminate waiting lists for many titles and allow for renewal of electronic checkouts.

On Tuesday the library started a new service known as Freading, in which library users can download e-books for two weeks and renew for another two weeks using their iPads, Nooks or other e-readers and electronic tablets.

"We're always trying to meet and match the interests of our readers," library director John Stoneberg said Thursday, when the library announced the new service.

The library has contracted with Library Ideas, a Virginia-based company that operates Freading, to offer the e-book download service locally, Stoneberg said. The library is covering the estimated $10,000 to $15,000 annual cost from its existing budget.

No more levies as Spain takes the Nordic route

Private copying: how best can
Spain a-Fjord to pay?

This weblog is grateful to Sandra Alverà (Manager, European Legal and Government Affairs, Panasonic Europe) for some big news from Spain: the country has abolished its copyright levy system and is to establish a fresh one, based much on the Norwegian system: calculation of the payments will be determined by the government following dialogue with stakeholders, payments then being integrated into the national budget. Sandra adds that The Netherlands is also moving towards abolishment of copyright levies --  but is not there yet!

As for Spain itself, Sandra explains that the government is meeting commitments made in the recent electoral campaign: eight years after the controversial implementation of the “canon digital” [subsequently shot down by the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-467/08 Padawan], the government decided to abolish the present copyright levy system on Friday 31 December 2011. Criteria for payment under the new scheme will be defined in an official decree within the next two months. At the same time, the government agreed to pass the “Ley Sinde” (Law against Internet-Piracy and illegal downloads) which, among other things, is to introduce a Commission to protect Intellectual Property.

3D Printers Can Create Stuff Smaller than a Speck of Dust: 3D Printer Stocks?

The following video is about the latest technology in small scale three dimensional printing. It is about ten minutes long and the lecture starts about 40 seconds into the video.


If you are wondering if there are any publicly traded companies that are involved in 3D printing, there are actually a couple to choose from. 3D Systems Corporation (DDD), a Rock Hill, South Carolina based company, makes and sells 3D printers and related products. The company just announced that it is unveiling its Cubify.com 3D @home experience, which allows sharing printable content and has intuitive apps to modify and print creations. In addition, a new Kinect-to-print app powered by Geomagic and many tablet-to-print content creation and manipulation apps are being showcased.

3D Systems, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, has been around since 1986. In the last three months, analysts have given the stock a Strong Buy. The stock trades at 22 times current earnings and 20 times forward earnings. Earnings for the latest quarter were up 34.50% and a 38.6% rise in revenues. The company has $72 million in cash and less than $8 million in total debt.

Another 3D printer business is Stratasys, Inc. (SSYS), which produces three-dimensional printers, rapid prototyping systems, and related consumable materials. This Minnesota based company was founded in 1989. In September, Dougherty & Company upgraded the company from Neutral to a Buy, but Needham reduced it from Buy to Hold.

Latest quarterly earnings were up an amazing 84.40% on a 31.2% increase in revenues. The company is debt free and has $18 million in cash. The stock trades at 30 times forward earnings.

On the software side, there is Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK), which makes 3D software for many different industries, everything from entertainment to architecture to manufacturing. The stock has a forward price to earnings ratio of 15, is debt free, and has over a billion dollars in the bank.

Dentists are already putting this technology to make crowns in their offices. You will be able to make your own hearing aid, designed exactly for your ear. Small businesses are using this equipment to make models and prototypes. This will be one of the next major trends.

Disclosure: Author owns DDD.

By Stockerblog.com

Bill Esbeck, the Town of Dunn is on Line 1

They'd like a copy of that report you mentioned.

LINK

Town of Dunn keeps up the pressure for high-speed Internet access. (12/23/2011)

And as for some of Esbeck's other whines, here's some information recently shared with members of WLA's Library Development & Legislation Committee.

• 95% of BadgerNet’s 2,420 sites either get a 90% subsidy from TEACH or are state agency sites which are required by DOA to use BadgerNet. If these two conditions did not exist, the state would have a network that hardly anyone would use because it is too expensive. (And remember, the $17 million TEACH subsidy goes right back to the telcos.) 
•  A 1.5Mbps circuit on BadgerNet costs $460/month.   Most households have 2-4 times this capacity at well under $100/month. -- 
• The FCC’s benchmark of “broadband” is 4Mbps.    90% of Wisconsin public libraries have less than this and thus they really don’t have broadband. 

Stand in the Corner, Mike!

Looks like a good fit.

LINK

Ron Paul: Are These Two Headlines Related?

 LINK

LINK

Home Almost Foreclosed Due to 80 Cent Error

A man made an 80 cent error on his home mortgage payment and almost lost his house to foreclosure, according to a report by NBC news.

Hot air balloon accident in New Zealand killing 11 people

Every fun activity is enjoyable provided it ends on a happy note. Opened The Star online this morning and was instantly hit with news of an accident of a hot air balloon which burst into flames and crashed in New Zealand killing all 11 onboard - five couples and the pilot.

Image source: The Star

According to the article, Police said the balloon appeared to have caught fire before crashing into farmland near Carterton, about 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Wellington on New Zealand's North Island.

The accident occurred just before 7.30 am in calm, clear weather in a region well known for hot air ballooning.
More on Hot air balloon crash kills 11 in New Zealand..The Star

The Queen's Hamlet @ Versailles

In the 1780s, Marie Antoinette ordered the construction of a series of 11 buildings around a large pond. Five of them were for the use of the Queen and her guests. This area of Versailles reminds me of a movie set.

I doubt if the Queen's Hamlet is mentioned in MGM's 1938 "lavish, overstuffed... preposterous epic", Marie Antoinette, starring Norma Shearer and Tyrone Power.

Although the hamlet is accessible for walking around, the buildings are not open during the "low season".

This is the same area where we saw the mess o' carp.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Third Week of January 2012

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful, and may need to avoid the technique during those times.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the market capitalization, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

Comtech Telecomm. Corp. (CMTL) market cap: $594.2M ex div date: 1/18/2012 yield: 3.8%

Western Asset High Income Fund II Inc. (HIX) market cap: $808.5M ex div date: 1/18/2012 yield: 10.5%

Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (ITYBY) market cap: $37.4B ex div date: 1/18/2012 yield: 4.1%

Main Street Capital Corporation (MAIN) market cap: $539.8M ex div date: 1/18/2012 yield: 8.0%

Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust (PMO) market cap: $516.2M ex div date: 1/20/2012 yield: 6.6%

Putnam Premier Income Trust (PPT) market cap: $740.1M ex div date: 1/20/2012 yield: 7.0%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List
Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

The City of Lights is Also the City of Souvenir Shops

Nearly a dozen are located along the short stretch of street between Notre Dame and the Seine (going north).

Eiffel Tower Outshines the Moon

Needle:Haystack::Parking lot:Paris

Spotted along the Seine.

And if there's a parking ramp anywhere in central Paris, we haven't seen it.