Posted by Yardie Luke on July 16, 2010 under Jamaica Sports | 
Olympic and World champion Usain Bolt won the 100 meters at the Paris Diamond League meet in 9.84 seconds Friday, despite a poor start.
Bolt set a new meet record and beat fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell, who finished second in 9.91 sec and fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake who finished third in 9.95 sec.
“It wasn’t the best race I’ve ever had in my life,” said Bolt. “My first part was awful. At the 50 meters, I thought he had me. I had to work a little bit harder to get back in the race.”
The 100m and 200m world record holder had to wait ’till the final meters to pull away from Powell to remain unbeaten at 100m for 14 consecutive finals.
“It’s all about determination,” he said. “I want to be the best, to stay on top. When you run against the best, it always pushes you to do your best all the time. I’m happy, I escaped injuries and I won the race.”
Powell is the last man to have beaten Bolt in the 100m, two years ago in Stockholm.
Posted by Yardie Luke on July 13, 2010 under Making Money |
By David Welch and Keith Naughton
It has been barely a year since General Motors emerged from bankruptcy, and already the carmaker may be worth more than crosstown rival and current industry darling Ford Motor (F). True, GM has just one quarter of profit behind it. And its shares don’t trade as it prepares an initial public offering to wean itself off government assistance. Yet based on one analyst’s figures, GM may be worth $47 billion, more than Ford’s stock market valuation of $36 billion.
Looking at factors including potential earnings and cash flow, assets, and liabilities, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) analyst Eric Selle puts a $70 billion price tag on GM. That would equate to an eventual return of 47 cents on the dollar for holders of bonds issued by GM before its bankruptcy that will be converted to stock and warrants in new GM. Based on the price those bonds traded at in early July, GM’s value would be $47 billion.
Why the higher price tag for GM? For starters, the company has a better balance sheet. Thanks to the government-sponsored bankruptcy, GM owes just $15.4 billion to its creditors and has $30 billion in cash. After paying down $4 billion of debt on June 30, Ford owes some $27 billion and its cash hoard is below $20 billion, though the company is expected to have generated cash in the second quarter. Interest payments alone cost Ford $542 million in the first quarter, compared with $337 million for GM.
When it comes to selling cars, GM is much stronger in developing countries. It has 13 percent of the Chinese market to Ford’s 2 percent, and its 20 percent of Brazil’s car sales is double the share of its Detroit rival, according to Standard & Poor’s (MHP) debt analyst Gregg Lemos-Stein. GM Vice-Chairman and CFO Christopher P. Liddell told analysts on June 28 that the company has reduced costs to the point that it can make money even in today’s depressed car market. “We have redesigned the company to be something we weren’t a few years ago,” he said.
That isn’t to say that everyone is sold on GM. Its European business lost $506 million in the first quarter and isn’t expected to break even until next year at the earliest. Ford earned a pre-tax profit of $107 million in Europe in the first quarter. And GM’s pension plan is a concern. Today, it is underfunded by $26.8 billion, while Ford’s is underfunded by $11.9 billion. Management is another question, says KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Brett D. Hoselton. Under Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edward E. Whitacre Jr., GM has had extensive turnover in the executive ranks, and few think that Whitacre, at 68, is the company’s long-term leader. Liddell is a possible replacement, but GM has not laid out a succession plan. Says Hoselton: “I don’t know who will be running the company.”
GM’s bond-based valuation bodes well for its pending IPO. The company is eyeing a November stock offering in which the government could sell one-fifth of its $41 billion stake. Once GM has a tradable stock, its value may climb. “The stock will be more liquid [than the bonds] so the universe of prospective buyers will be much greater,” says Kirk Ludtke, senior vice-president of CRT Capital Group in Stamford, Conn. Ludtke calculates that Ford trades for about 5 times its estimated operating earnings for 2011, while GM is effectively at 3.8 times 2011 operating earnings. So even with its higher market value, he says, “we think GM is trading at a discount compared to Ford.”
The bottom line: By shedding many financial burdens in bankruptcy, GM gained some advantages over Ford. Now it must prove itself in the marketplace.
SOURCE: Businessweek
Posted by Yardie Luke on July 11, 2010 under World Cup Football |
Unfortunately the 2010 FIFA World Cup has ended. The final game was won by Spain which makes them the new World Cup winner, in addition to their European Champion Title in 2008.
The third place game between Germany and Uruguay was much more entertaining and had more goals; Germany won 3-2. This final game will be remembered for 14 yellow cards and 1 red card shown by English referee Howard Webb. It was a sloppy game, a dirty game with a karate kick by Heitinga to the chest of Xabi Alonso. Heitinga was fortunate to stay on the field with a yellow card warning.
In the end the better team won. The Netherlands suffer a 3rd loss at a world cup final. They lost to Germany and Argentina respectively in 1974 and 1978.
The 2014 World Cup will be played in Brazil.
It’s ironic that the “total football” introduced by the Dutch was copied by the Spaniards and used to defeat the Dutch who wanted to make a physical impact rather than a skillful one on the field.
Posted by Yardie Luke on July 3, 2010 under World Cup Football |
When German captain Michael Ballack was ruled out of the World Cup tournament due to an injury he sustained in the English FA Cup Final, the “experts” said his absence would be a major blow to the German chance of winning the World Cup. Looking back it now seems that was a blessing in disguise.
Ballack is overrated. He is old, slow and not near his best as an influential midfielder. English club Chelsea released him a few weeks ago because he is not worth the £130, 000 per week he was getting.
Germany went younger and faster and it has paid off in impressive fashion. Germany demolished Australia 4 – 0, they made the English players look like school boys when they beat them 4 – 1 and today they ripped Argentina apart 4 – 0 in stunning fashion.
Argentina’s defense was always suspect but you would not believe it after watching their first 4 World Cup games. In reality their defense was not fully tested. Mexico exposed some of the Argentine weaknesses.
Germany put the Argentine defense to the test within the first 3 minutes of today’s game. A freekick from the right was directed into the goal by Müller who escaped his marker. Argentina was exposed again when Klose skied a clear goal chance.
Argentina looked like they would get back in the game but the German keeper kept out all shots on target. Dynamic duo Podolski and Klose struck again in the second half to put Germany up 2 – 0. The defense was craved out again.
The rout was on when German defender scored the 3rd goal and Klose scored his 4th goal of the FIFA 2010 World Cup to complete an impressive victory over Maradona and his men.
WORLD CUP TOP SCORERS
Ronaldo (Brazil) – 15 goals
Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 14 goals
Gerd Müller (Germany) – 14 goals
Just Fontaine (France) – 13 goals
Pelé (Brazil) – 12 goals
Posted by Yardie Luke on July 2, 2010 under World Cup Football |
Brazil has been dumped out of the World Cup by the Netherlands/Holland. The first half belonged to Brazil. They established a physical presence early as van Persie found out. Robinho and Kaka were very lively and they created problems for the Dutch players.
After seeing his goal ruled out for offside in the 8th minute, Roninho caught the Dutch defense napping a few minutes later as he ran onto a long pass by Melo and tucked the ball past the keeper. “This looks easy,” the Brazilians may have thought. And why not. They are 32-0-2 when taking a lead at the half.
However the second half was a complete turnaround. The Dutch pressed a little harder and Arjen Robben was a menace down the right flank. The deserved equalizer came in the 53rd minute from a wicked looping cross by Man of the Match Wesley Sneijder.
The second goal for the Netherlands came from a corner kick that was probably practiced several times by the Dutch. Dirk Kuyt sneaked in front of a Brazilian defender, headed the ball backwards and towards the center of the box and Sneijder directed the ball to the keeper’s right. Netherlands 2 Brazil 1.
Surely Brazil can fight back to equalize. However Felipe Melo had a moment of insanity as he stamped on Robben and was shown a straight red card. Selfish boy! With a man short the task of equalizing was made a lot more difficult. Additionally, forward Fabiano was not having a good game.
The Netherlands had more than one chance to widen the lead as Brazil pushed men forward in search of a goal. That goal never came and the Netherlands moves on to the semi-finals to face Uruguay or Ghana.
