News release: “Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totaled 435 million units in the second quarter of 2013, an increase of 3.6 percent from the same period last year, according to Gartner, Inc. Worldwide smartphone sales to end users reached 225 million units, up 46.5 percent from the second quarter of 2012. Sales of feature phones to end users totaled 210 million units and declined 21 percent year-over-year. “Smartphones accounted for 51.8 percent of mobile phone sales in the second quarter of 2013, resulting in smartphone sales surpassing feature phone sales for the first time,” said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner. Asia/Pacific, Latin America and Eastern Europe exhibited the highest smartphone growth rates of 74.1 percent, 55.7 percent and 31.6 percent respectively, as smartphone sales grew in all regions. Samsung maintained the No. 1 position in the global smartphone market, as its share of smartphone sales reached 31.7 percent, up from 29.7 percent in the second quarter of 2012 . Apple’s smartphone sales reached 32 million units in the second quarter of 2013, up 10.2 percent from a year ago.”
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Daily Archives: August 14, 2013
New York Fed – Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit
[August 13, 2013], “the New York Fed released its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit for the second quarter of 2013. It shows a $78 billion decline in overall household debt from the previous period. Delinquency rates improved considerably, with the overall ninety-plus day delinquency rate falling to 5.7 percent, the lowest it has been since mid-2008. The Quarterly… Continue Reading
Google launches its own instant search for flights, reservations, package delivery info
“We can instantly fetch this stuff for you if it’s in your Gmail, Google Calendar, Google+, or Google Drive. We only show this info to you – encrypted and secure – when you’re signed in to Google.” Continue Reading
Evaluating early warning indicators of banking crises
Evaluating early warning indicators of banking crises: Satisfying policy requirements by Mathias Drehmann and Mikael Juselius – Working Papers No 421, August 2013. “Early warning indicators (EWIs) of banking crises should ideally be evaluated on the basis of their performance relative to the macroprudential policy maker’s decision problem. We translate several practical aspects of this problem – such as difficulties in assessing… Continue Reading
Implementation monitoring of PFMIs
“Implementation monitoring of PFMIs – Level 1 assessment report: The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have started the process of monitoring implementation of the Principles for financial market infrastructures (PFMIs). This report reviews jurisdictions’ progress towards adopting the legislation and other policies that will enable them to completely… Continue Reading
Authorities’ access to trade repository data
“The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have published a report entitled Authorities’ access to trade repository data. Trade repositories (TRs) are entities that maintain a centralised electronic record of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives transaction data. TRs play a key role in increasing transparency in the OTC derivatives markets… Continue Reading
Recovery of financial market infrastructures – consultative report
“The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have published for public comment a consultative report on the Recovery of financial market infrastructures. The report provides guidance to financial market infrastructures such as CCPs on how to develop plans to enable them to recover from threats to their viability… Continue Reading
Watchdog: Google Tells Court You Cannot Expect Privacy When Sending Messages to Gmail
“In a stunning admission contained in a brief filed recently in federal court, lawyers for Google said people should not expect privacy when they send messages to a Gmail account. Consumer Watchdog said today that people who care about their email correspondents’ privacy should not use the Internet giant’s service. Google’s brief said: “Just as a… Continue Reading
Defense Legal Policy Board’s report of Subcommittee on Military Justice in Combat Zones
Military Justice in cases of U.S. Service members alleged to have caused the death, injury or abuse of non-combatants in Iraq or Afghanistan. Final report, May 30, 2013. [via Greta E. Marlatt] “A moral, principled, ethical command combat climate that inculcates and preserves U.S. values, despite mission difficulties or the particular area of operations, is… Continue Reading
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation Rates
USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation Rates: Fiscal Year 2010, August 2013 “The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps low-income individuals purchase food so that they can obtain a nutritious diet. One important measure of the program’s performance is its ability to reach its target population, as indicated by the proportion of people eligible for benefits under federal income and asset rules… Continue Reading
