[M_Six]

Originally Posted by panicos81

thanks guys.. well currently i'm the bank that took the big hit (Laiki bank) and will be restructured.. even if i do end up having a job i will not know for how long.. so its time to think my alternatives before its too late..

Ouch. Hope it works out for you.

[MaximusJ]

Originally Posted by The1

Just to add to things, You would have to deal with the penny if you come here . and likely not the nickel in the near future.

Our economy is one of the most stable right now, but it is still dropping slightly. But that also means our real estate is taking a slight dip, so if you're looking for a new home, potentially now is a good time


I hope everything works out for you guys however, but if you end up in Canada, you know there's at least 2 people here who will try to help you get accustomed to everything

There's nothing major with the housing market right now. We're on the slow side for 6 months because we had a rush so intense; it was never seen before right before the new mortgage insurance parameters that were put into place last july (purchases on 25 years max; with more strict debt service ratios). Everybody jumped in to be able to buy before being forced to buy under 25 years maximum amortization.

Since then, its kinda relax; but it hasnt hurt the housing value significantly yet; but the condo market took a pretty hard hit; but thats a different story. Condo complex grows like weed and there's just too many empty brand new units.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by M_Six

The average Cypriot saver with under 100k EUR will be fine. The Russians and wealthier Cypriots are going to take a huge hit if they haven't spread their wealth around.

That mirrors the US depositor protection under FDIC and I really think it's fair. Uninsured depositors should always be aware that they're sharing risk with the bank. In 2008, 401(k) investors took huge losses on equities and large investor/depositors in Lehman and some others took huge losses. The inequity here was that Lehman was allowed to fail while Countrywide, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, IndyMac, etc. were saved, along with AIG and even some moneymarket funds. It wasn't an evenhanded bailout. The shotgun marriages that BofA, Chase, Wells and others were forced into, transfer burden from the depositors at the colapsing banks to the stockholders of the surviving banks. If we have it to do again, simply let the failing banks fail and insure the insured depositors and liquidate the remaining assets at market rates.

You have to maintain confidence in the banking system and a big part of that is protecting some reasonable amount of insured deposits for the "small guys." The big guys have to take care of themselves by diversifying, hedging and other measures.

BTW, don't be long the Chinese economy, unless you have stop losses or hedges. The GDP has been manipulated for the last several years such that it appears to be double its real natural level, if not worse. The government is encouraging the building of whole cities of unoccupied apartments and they've even built huge unoccupied shopping malls. Strange as it seems, this may keep up for another year or two, but it has to come crashing down eventually. It'll make the US in 2008 and even the Greece debacle seem like tiny blips on the screen. What's sad is that the Chinese middle class is pumping almost all of its savings into properties that will ultimately be worthless. It's going to be a huge and sickening fail.

Dave

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by panicos81

thanks guys.. well currently i'm the bank that took the big hit (Laiki bank) and will be restructured.. even if i do end up having a job i will not know for how long.. so its time to think my alternatives before its too late..

Being early in the exodus is usually good.

Sorry that you were dealt a bad hand.

Dave

[The1]

I wish you guys all the best while this is going on. Hopefully the restructure will work out for the better.

[dcstep]

Sparrow in snow storm by dcstep, on Flickr

[- Paul -]

^^ fantastic pic

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by - Paul -

^^ fantastic pic

Agreed. I just checked out the full size image on your flickr site. That's some serious detail.

Even more impressive is that it was shot with a 1.4x TC. If the TC caused any loss of sharpness, it must be so small as to not be perceptible by human eyes.

Is that the version II or version III TC?

[dcstep]

Thanks you guys.

That's with the TC-II, near MFD, filling the frame with only a bit of a crop to square it take a little extra off the top. Shooting at f/9 is near the ideal for that lens and 1/800-sec. was plenty of SS hand held, due to the IS being so good on that lens.

Dave

[The1]

Very near shot

[Itsed65]

Pratt Whitney R-4360-43 28 cylinder engine. 3500 HP. It powered the Hughes Spruce Goose, the B-50, B-36, C-97, C-119 and the C-124. Not just an engine, but a work of art!


IMG_2420 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[triton3k]

84/365 keep moving

365 PROJECT DAY 84 by Denn-Ice, on Flickr

[SwnSng]

[dcstep]

Great eye contact and stop-action SwnSng.

Denn, another great NY image.

[dcstep]

American white pelican in flight by dcstep, on Flickr

[Weebl]

Good one Dave, I can never get the right angle on Pelicans or it is just crappy light.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Weebl

Good one Dave, I can never get the right angle on Pelicans or it is just crappy light.

Thanks Kevin.

This was one of those days where I was thinking about staying in, but the light was so darn good that I knew that if I saw anything half way decent that good shots would be possible. I'm glad that I went.

Dave

[panicos81]

fooling around with the 14mm. wide open at 2.8. really impressed with the overall performance of this lens, much better than the 18mm. shot from a friends engagement party..

[Chewy734]

that's an.... interesting perspective and distortion.

[Weebl]

Must resist comments...
It is a good photo none the less.

[M_Six]

Aw, c'mon. Let it fly. Comment away. We need the entertainment.

[Weebl]