13:05 ET Dow -154.48 at 10309.92, Nasdaq -37.61 at 2138.44, S&P -19.130 1 100001 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 1 100001 0 1 1 100001 0 1 100001 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 1 100001 0 1 1 100001 0 1 100001 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 1 100001 0 1 1 100001 0 1 100001 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 1 100001 0 1 1 100001 0 1 100001 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 1 100001 0 1 1 100001 0 1 100001 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 1 100001 0 1 1 100001 0 1 100001 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 1 100001 0 1 1 100001 0 1 100001 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 1 100001 0 1 1 100001 0 1 100001 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 1 100001 0 1 1 100001 0 1 100001 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 1 100001 0 1 1 100001 0 1 100001 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 1 100001 0 1 1 100001 0 1 100001 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 1 100001 0 1 1 100001 0 1 100001 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 1 100001 0 1 1 100001 0 1 100001 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 00 0 1 1 1 0 1 100001 0 1 1 100001 13:05 ET Dow -154.48 at 10309.92, Nasdaq -37.61 at 2138.44, S&P -19.1313:05 ET Dow -154.48 at 10309.92, Nasdaq -37.61 at 2138.44, S&P -19.13

.

.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Masters in Finance - Masters MFc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Finance

All The Basic Necessities to Understand Technical Futures Trading

http://quantumsupport.blogspot.com/2011/05/commodity-spec-sheets-month-code-legend.html

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

MatLab - Source - MatLab - Pretty Cool Examples

http://www.mathworks.com/help/toolbox/symbolic/f1-7452.html#f1-7493



Solving Equations

Solving Algebraic Equations

If S is a symbolic expression,
solve(S)
attempts to find values of the symbolic variable in S (as determined by symvar) for which S is zero. For example,
syms a b c x
S = a*x^2 + b*x + c;
solve(S)
uses the familiar quadratic formula to produce
ans =
 -(b + (b^2 - 4*a*c)^(1/2))/(2*a)
 -(b - (b^2 - 4*a*c)^(1/2))/(2*a)
This is a symbolic vector whose elements are the two solutions.
If you want to solve for a specific variable, you must specify that variable as an additional argument. For example, if you want to solve S for b, use the command
b = solve(S,b)
which returns
b =
-(a*x^2 + c)/x
Note that these examples assume equations of the form f(x)  =  0. If you need to solve equations of the form f(x)  =  q(x), you must use quoted strings. In particular, the command
s = solve('cos(2*x) + sin(x) = 1')
returns a vector with three solutions.
s =
         0
     pi/6
 (5*pi)/6
There are also solutions at each of these results plus  for integer k, as you can see in the MuPAD solution:

Several Algebraic Equations

This section explains how to solve systems of equations using Symbolic Math Toolbox software. As an example, suppose you have the system
and you want to solve for x and y. First, create the necessary symbolic objects.
syms x y;
alpha = sym('alpha');
There are several ways to address the output of solve. One is to use a two-output call
[x, y] = solve(x^2*y^2, x-y/2 - alpha)
which returns
x = 
 alpha
     0
 
y = 
        0
 -2*alpha
Modify the first equation to x2y2 = 1 and there are more solutions.
eqs1 = 'x^2*y^2=1, x-y/2-alpha';
[x,y] = solve(eqs1)
produces four distinct solutions:
x =
 alpha/2 + (alpha^2 + 2)^(1/2)/2
 alpha/2 + (alpha^2 - 2)^(1/2)/2
 alpha/2 - (alpha^2 + 2)^(1/2)/2
 alpha/2 - (alpha^2 - 2)^(1/2)/2
 
y =
   (alpha^2 + 2)^(1/2) - alpha
   (alpha^2 - 2)^(1/2) - alpha
 - alpha - (alpha^2 + 2)^(1/2)
 - alpha - (alpha^2 - 2)^(1/2)
Since you did not specify the dependent variables, solve uses symvar to determine the variables.
This way of assigning output from solve is quite successful for "small" systems. Plainly, if you had, say, a 10-by-10 system of equations, typing
[x1,x2,x3,x4,x5,x6,x7,x8,x9,x10] = solve(...)
is both awkward and time consuming. To circumvent this difficulty, solve can return a structure whose fields are the solutions. In particular, consider the system u^2 - v^2 = a^2u + v = 1a^2 - 2*a = 3. The command
S = solve('u^2 - v^2 = a^2', 'u + v = 1', 'a^2 - 2*a = 3')
returns
S = 
    a: [2x1 sym]
    u: [2x1 sym]
    v: [2x1 sym]
The solutions for a reside in the "a-field" of S. That is,
S.a
produces
ans =
 -1
  3
Similar comments apply to the solutions for u and v. The structure S can now be manipulated by field and index to access a particular portion of the solution. For example, if you want to examine the second solution, you can use the following statement
s2 = [S.a(2), S.u(2), S.v(2)]
to extract the second component of each field.
s2 =
[  3,  5, -4]
The following statement
M = [S.a, S.u, S.v]
creates the solution matrix M
M = 
[ -1, 1,  0]
[  3, 5, -4]
whose rows comprise the distinct solutions of the system.
Linear systems of simultaneous equations can also be solved using matrix division. For example,
clear u v x y
syms u v x y
S = solve(x + 2*y - u, 4*x + 5*y - v);
sol = [S.x; S.y]

A = [1 2; 4 5];
b = [u; v];
z = A\b
results in
sol =
 (2*v)/3 - (5*u)/3
     (4*u)/3 - v/3

z =
 (2*v)/3 - (5*u)/3
     (4*u)/3 - v/3
Thus s and z produce the same solution, although the results are assigned to different variables.

Single Differential Equation

The function dsolve computes symbolic solutions to ordinary differential equations. The equations are specified by symbolic expressions containing the letter D to denote differentiation. The symbols D2D3, ... DN, correspond to the second, third, ..., Nth derivative, respectively. Thus, D2y is the toolbox equivalent of d2y/dt2. The dependent variables are those preceded by D and the default independent variable is t. Note that names of symbolic variables should not contain D. The independent variable can be changed from t to some other symbolic variable by including that variable as the last input argument.
Initial conditions can be specified by additional equations. If initial conditions are not specified, the solutions contain constants of integration, C1C2, etc.
The output from dsolve parallels the output from solve. That is, you can call dsolve with the number of output variables equal to the number of dependent variables or place the output in a structure whose fields contain the solutions of the differential equations.

Example 1

The following call to dsolve
dsolve('Dy = t*y')
uses y as the dependent variable and t as the default independent variable.
The output of this command is
ans =
C2*exp(t^2/2)
y = C*exp(t^2/2) is a solution to the equation for any constant C.
To specify an initial condition, use
y = dsolve('Dy = t*y', 'y(0) = 2')
This produces
y = 
2*exp(t^2/2)
Notice that y is in the MATLAB workspace, but the independent variable t is not. Thus, the command diff(y,t) returns an error. To place t in the workspace, enter syms t.

Example 2

Nonlinear equations may have multiple solutions, even when initial conditions are given:
x = dsolve('(Dx + x)^2 = 1', 'x(0) = 0')
results in
x = 
 1/exp(t) - 1
 1 - 1/exp(t)

Example 3

Here is a second-order differential equation with two initial conditions, and the default independent variable changed to x. The commands
y = dsolve('D2y = cos(2*x) - y', 'y(0) = 1', 'Dy(0) = 0', 'x');
simplify(y)
produce
ans =
1 - (8*(cos(x)/2 - 1/2)^2)/3

Example 4

The key issues in this example are the order of the equation and the initial conditions. To solve the ordinary differential equation
with x as the independent variable, type
u = dsolve('D3u = u',...
'u(0) = 1', 'Du(0) = -1', 'D2u(0) = pi', 'x')
Use D3u to represent d3u/dx3 and D2u(0) for .
u =
(pi*exp(x))/3 - (cos((3^(1/2)*x)/2)*(pi/3 - 1))/exp(x/2) ...
- (3^(1/2)*sin((3^(1/2)*x)/2)*(pi + 1))/(3*exp(x/2))

Further ODE Examples

This table shows a few more examples of differential equations and their Symbolic Math Toolbox syntax. The final entry in the table is the Airy differential equation, whose solution is referred to as the Airy function.
Differential Equation
MATLAB Command
y(0) = 1
y = dsolve('Dy+4*y = exp(-t)', 'y(0) = 1')
2x2y′′ + 3xy′ – y = 0
( ′ = d/dx)
y = dsolve('2*x^2*D2y + 3*x*Dy - y = 0', 'x')
(The Airy equation)
y = dsolve('D2y = x*y', 'y(0) = 0', 'y(3) = besselk(1/3, 2*sqrt(3))/pi', 'x')

Several Differential Equations

The function dsolve can handle several ordinary differential equations in several variables, with or without initial conditions. For example, here is a pair of linear, first-order equations.
S = dsolve('Df = 3*f + 4*g', 'Dg = -4*f + 3*g')
The toolbox returns the computed solutions in the structure S. You can determine the values of f and g by typing
f = S.f
g = S.g
f =
C2*cos(4*t)*exp(3*t) + C1*sin(4*t)*exp(3*t)
 
g =
C1*cos(4*t)*exp(3*t) - C2*sin(4*t)*exp(3*t)
If you prefer to recover f and g directly, as well as include initial conditions, type
[f, g] = dsolve('Df = 3*f + 4*g, Dg = -4*f + 3*g',...
'f(0) = 0, g(0) = 1')
f =
sin(4*t)*exp(3*t)
 
g =
cos(4*t)*exp(3*t)
Now, suppose you are solving a system of differential equations in matrix form. For example, solve the system Y′ = AY + B, where AB, and Y represent the following matrices:
syms t x y;
A = [1 2; -1 1];
B = [1; t];
Y = [x; y];
sys = A*Y + B
sys =
 x + 2*y + 1
   t - x + y
The dsolve function does not accept matrices. To be able to use this solver, extract the components of the matrix and convert them to strings:
eq1 = char(sys(1))
eq2 = char(sys(2))
eq1 =
x + 2*y + 1

eq2 =
t - x + y
Use the strcat function to concatenate the left and right sides of the equations. Use the dsolve function to solve the system:
[x, y] = dsolve(strcat('Dx = ',eq1), strcat('Dy = ',eq2))
x =
2^(1/2)*exp(t)*cos(2^(1/2)*t)*(C6 + (4*sin(2^(1/2)*t) +...
2^(1/2)*cos(2^(1/2)*t) + 6*t*sin(2^(1/2)*t) +...
6*2^(1/2)*t*cos(2^(1/2)*t))/(18*exp(t))) +...
2^(1/2)*exp(t)*sin(2^(1/2)*t)*(C5 - (4*cos(2^(1/2)*t) -...
2^(1/2)*sin(2^(1/2)*t) + 6*t*cos(2^(1/2)*t) -...
6*2^(1/2)*t*sin(2^(1/2)*t))/(18*exp(t)))
 
y =
exp(t)*cos(2^(1/2)*t)*(C5 - (4*cos(2^(1/2)*t) -...
2^(1/2)*sin(2^(1/2)*t) + 6*t*cos(2^(1/2)*t) -...
6*2^(1/2)*t*sin(2^(1/2)*t))/(18*exp(t))) -...
exp(t)*sin(2^(1/2)*t)*(C6 + (4*sin(2^(1/2)*t) +...
2^(1/2)*cos(2^(1/2)*t) + 6*t*sin(2^(1/2)*t) +...
6*2^(1/2)*t*cos(2^(1/2)*t))/(18*exp(t)))
 

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Test Preparation


How can I prepare for the GRE revised General Test?
ETS offers FREE official test prep tools to help you prepare for the GRE revised General Test, including: For even more practice, you can purchase these official test preparation materials from ETS:
  • The Official Guide to the GRE® revised General Test. From the creators of the GRE revised General Test, this test prep book — which includes a copy of the POWERPREP® II Software CD-ROM — will provide you with two complete practice tests (one in the book and one on CD), hundreds of authentic test questions, explanations for many answers, test-taking strategies, sample essay responses with reader commentary and more.
  • ScoreItNow!™ Online Writing Practice. This service lets you sharpen your writing skills as you prepare for the Analytical Writing measure of the GRE revised General Test. Even better, receive an immediate, confidential score to see how well you performed.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Improve the battery’s performance - Source: HTC - http://www.htc.com/us/support/sensation4g-tmobile/help/tips-and-tricks


Improve the battery’s performanceTo improve your battery performance, make any of the changes listed below that you are comfortable with. The more of these changes you can make, the better performance you will get from your battery.
  • When you stop using the phone, press the Power button on the top of the phone to turn off the screen.
  • Use the wall adapter to charge your phone whenever possible.
  • Close apps when you are done using them, especially if they connect to the network or use a lot of memory.
  • Turn off automatic synchronization.  (Menu > Settings > Accounts & sync > uncheckBackground  data)
  • Reduce backlight duration. (Menu > Settings > Display)
  • Lower the screen brightness. (Menu > Settings > Display)
  • Turn off Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS when they are not needed.
  • Evaluate and remove third-party apps that drain battery. Apps that use Wi-Fi, GPS, data connections, or always run in the background can drain your battery more quickly. To evaluate if other people have had poor battery performance with an app, follow these steps:
    1. 1.From the Home screen, tap the All apps button. 2. Tap Market. 3. Press the Menu key. 4. Tap My apps. 5. Tap an app to check. 6. Scroll down to the comments and tap Read all comments. 7. See if there other people have complained about the app reducing battery life. 8. If there are negative comments regarding battery life, you can uninstall the app to increase your battery performance.

Nasdaq OMX to Offer Machine-Readable News

Nasdaq OMX to Offer Machine-Readable News
Advanced Trading
The firm said their system is designed to let users incorporate machine-readable news into theiralgorithmic trading platforms. Nasdaq said the acquisition stands to benefit customers who use machine-readable to news to manage risk, ...
See all stories on this topic »

ETF Investing: A List Of Top 10 Cheapest And Most Expensive ETFs (SPY, IVV, VTI, VOO, CORN, DSLV, TVIX) - SOURCE - ETF DAILY NEWS - EXCELLENT


Home > ETF Investing: A List Of Top 10 Cheapest And Most Expensive ETFs (SPY, IVV, VTI, VOO, CORN, DSLV, TVIX)
Print

ETF Investing: A List Of Top 10 Cheapest And Most Expensive ETFs (SPY, IVV, VTI, VOO, CORN, DSLV, TVIX)

December 20th, 2011


0
share0
Jared Cummans: One of the founding principles of the ETF industry was cost competitiveness; after being charged upwards of 150 basis points for their favorite mutual funds, investors had grown tired of surrendering a substantial portion of their gains to the managers of big name funds. Now, there are ETFs that charge as low as 5 basis points; on a $1 million dollar investment, that means just $500 annually. Investors can now build an effective portfolio while minimizing their expenses using some of these ultra-efficient funds. But for all of cheap options that the ETF industry offers, it certainly has a fair amount of products on the other side of the equation. Below, we outline the top ten cheapest and most expensive funds for investors looking to better manage their costs [for more, see our ETFdb Cheapskate Portfolio ].
The Most Expensive
Given the low costs that many funds offer, some of the fees on this list may come as a shock to investors. But the general rule of thumb is that you are paying more for unique exposure, so in many cases, the funds can be worth their cost.
  1. Active Bear ETF (NYSEARCA:HDGE): This actively managed product, from AdvisorShares, takes the cake when it comes to most expensive funds, charging 1.85% for its exposure. However, it should be noted that the fund has performed quite well in these volatile markets [see Low Volatility ETFs Attracting Big Inflows].
  2. Daily 2x VIX Short-Term ETN (NYSEARCA:TVIX) / Daily 2x VIX Medium-Term ETN(NYSEARCA:TVIZ): These ETNs offer a 2X leverage on VIX contracts, making them some of the most volatile funds on the market. Both charge 1.65% but have proven themselves to be effective tools for betting against markets.
  3. 3x Inverse Silver ETN (NYSEARCA:DSLV/ 3x Long Silver ETN (NYSEARCA:USLV): These two funds, which charge 1.60%, offer 3X leveraged on silver futures, allowing investors to make a strong play on the precious metal.
  4. Meidell Tactical Advantage ETF (NYSEARCA:MATH): Launched midway through 2011, this active product also charges fees of 1.60%. The fund’s high fees are, in part, due to the fact this this is an ETF comprised of ETFs.
  5. WTI Crude Oil Fund (NYSEARCA:CRUD): This Teucrium product, which charges 1.58%, features a strategy that invests in a number of crude oil futures in an effort to alleviate contango. It should be noted that this is an “all in”expense figure; other commodity products count commissions and other costs elsewhere. So CRUD is actually competitive with the other oil ETFs out there in terms of total fees.
  6. Accuvest Global Long Short ETF (NYSEARCA:AGLS): Another active product from AdvisorShares, AGLS is home to fees of 1.50%. The high expenses come from the expenses associated with maintaining both long and short exposure within the fund.
  7. Natural Gas Fund (NYSEARCA:NAGS): Another Teucrium fund, NAGS hit the market in early 2011, charging 1.50% for investment. Unlike most other natural gas products, NAGS is specifically designed to nix contango and make for a more effective trading tool.
  8. Dent Tactical ETF (NYSEARCA:DENT): AdvisorShares makes its third appearance on the list with DENT, charging 1.50% for investors. The active product has been around since late 2009 but has just $13.3 million in assets.
  9. Corn Fund (NYSEARCA:CORN): The third fund from Teucrium to make this list, CORN charges 1.49%. Despite its high fees, the fund has over $74 million in assets and is just a year and a half old.
  10. Market Vectors CEF Municipal Income ETF (NYSEARCA:XMPT): One of the younger options on the list, this CEF-based fund hit the market in July of this year. The ETF charges 1.43% for its investment in closed-ended securities.
The Cheapest
There are some real eye-openers on the list of least expensive funds. Note that we omitted four ETFs (KBWI, KBWR, KBWB, KBWC) because their current fee structure of 0.00% will expire in February of next year and the products will then charge 0.35%.
  1. Focus Morningstar US Market Index ETF (NYSEARCA:FMU): Hitting the market early this year, FMU broke new ground by charging just 0.05% for exposure to all cap equities in the U.S.
  2. Focus Morningstar Large Cap Index ETF (NYSEARCA:FLG): The second FocusShares product to make the list, FLG seeks to compete with SPY and VOO with its exposure to large cap U.S. equities. The fund also charges 0.05%.
  3. S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:VOO): Speaking of VOO, that product takes the third place ranking with its fees of 0.06% and assets of $2.1 billion, despite being just barely over one year old.
  4. U.S. Broad Market ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHB): This Charles Schwab fund offers broad exposure to the Dow Jones Industrial Average while charging 0.06%.
  5. Total Stock Market ETF (NYSEARCA:VTI): So emerges Vanguard’s trend of offering some of the least expensive products in the space. VTI offers exposure to the broad U.S. market while charging just 0.07%.
  6. U.S. Large-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHX): This fund represents the largest 750 stocks of U.S. equities while charging just 0.08%. In its two years on the market, this fund has already amassed $692 million in assets.
  7. 1-3 Year US Treasury Index Fund (NYSEARCA:TUZ): This marks the first fixed income product to break into the top ten, as TUZ charges just 0.09%. Despite being backed by PIMCO, the fund has just $138 million in assets.
  8. SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEARCA:SPY): All hail the ETF king. With fees of just 0.09%, SPY is home to over $85 billion in assets, making it one of the largest funds in the world.
  9. S&P 500 Index Fund (NYSEARCA:IVV): iShares’ S&P 500 ETF also charges 0.09% and features assets that top the $25 billion mark.
  10. U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHZ): The final fund on this list tracks the performance of U.S. investment grade bonds. The fund charges just 0.10% in expenses and has amassed over $154 million in assets since launching in July of this year.
Written By Jared Cummans From ETF Database Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.
ETF Database is committed to giving our audience, consisting of both active traders and buy-and-hold investors, information that, to our knowledge, is truthful and non-biased. [For more ETF insights, sign up for our free ETF newsletter or try a free seven day trial of ETFdb ProETFdb Pro Members Only.]