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Archive for the ‘Derivatives’ Category

Acne and Vitamin A

Vitamin A is considered a very important anti oxidant vitamin. Use of Vitamin A in the form of Beta-carotene kills free radicals and keeps us young for a long time. How vitamin A is used for treating Acne? Let us find out in detail.

Vitamin A side effects – a boon

Doctors warn that Vitamin A in large quantities can be dangerous. In mild doses, it dries the skin and peels it. This side effect has been used to prepare derivatives of Vitamin A called retinoids. Vitamin a is also called retinol. Its derivatives are called retinoids. Isotretinoin is the most famous derivative. Others are tretinoin, Adapalene, tazarotene.

Acne treatment with Vitamin A derivatives

Topical Vitamin A derivatives dry the skin and peel the upper layers off. This quality is very useful in treating acne. Sebum, the skin oil is the most responsible for causing acne. This sebum becomes infected and forms acne. Vitamin A derivatives dry out this sebum on the site of application. The other main cause of acne formation is blocked sebaceous glands. Once the top layer begins peeling because of Vitamin a derivatives, the pores open. This effectively cures acne.

One should be careful in using Vitamin a derivatives. Many cosmetics contain Vitamin A ingredients such as Retinol, tretinoin etc. Excess use will cause redness. Pregnancy is another major concern. Those who are pregnant or are planning to get pregnant should consult their doctor before using any Vitamin A derivative or Vitamin A itself. Vitamin A derivatives area boon in acne treatment.

To learn more about Retinoids, click here =>Common Topical Retinoids.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.

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Are you interested in trading on the futures market? If so, you will be trading commodities, but commodities that will be traded or bought in the future. This is most often apparent with a commodity derivatives contact. This is an agreement that is made between two parties stating that a particular commodity will be purchased and paid for at a later, future date.

If you are inexperienced, when it comes to futures trading and commodity trading, you may be a little bit “lost.” Unfortunately, this is the point when many people just turn away thinking that commodity derivatives isn’t right for them. Yes, it might not necessarily be, but it is something that you may want to at least look into. Although commodity derivatives, commodity derivatives contracts, and futures trading may seem like foreign material to you, there are a number of different ways that you can go about learning about them.

As for familiarizing yourself with commodity derivatives and other futures trading terms, you may want to look into purchasing yourself a number of printed resource guides or books. There are many how-to books that can educate you on futures trading, as well as commodity derivatives. You may also want to take a training program or participate in a futures simulated trading program. These types of programs are often offered by futures brokers and they are often free to use. Simulated trading programs allow you to trade will real market time and stats, but without using any “real money.” The tips and techniques that you learn may not only give you an idea as to whether or not futures trading is right for you, but it may also prove helpful when it comes down to making real commodity derivatives contracts.

One of the many benefits to first familiarizing yourself with commodity derivatives was briefly touched on above. That benefit is knowing what to expect. Commodity derivatives and futures trading is a great way to make money, but is also an easy way to lose money. To prevent yourself from losing your hard earned money or getting in over your head, you need to take the time to learn and retain as much information as you possibly can. If you don’t, you may regret the day that you ever decided to give futures investing a try and that isn’t how it should be.

If after a little bit of research and the participation in a simulated futures trading program, you are still unsure about what to do, you may want to think about consulting with a futures trading broker. As long as the have the funds needed to invest in futures trading, there are numerous ways that you can go about making money, even if you aren’t as familiar with futures trading and commodity derivatives as you would like to be. That way involves working with a futures trading broker. Many brokers allow you to setup a trading account, like a professionally managed account, where most of the decisions made will be done by the assigned broker, so there is always hope for you.

For some the word “derivative” is synonymous with everything that is wrong with capital markets, trading for trading sake, rampant profiteering, nothing to do with the financial needs of real people. These are a few of the charges ranged against the financial derivative but is that a fair reflection or is there a softer side to this apparently irredeemable beast.

The origins of derivative contracts do indeed begin with meeting the needs of ordinary folks. Farmers in the Mid-west in the mid 1800′s were faced with financial ruin due to severe fluctuations in the price of corn. By the time they had paid for seed corn plus the expense of growing it and harvesting it they faced the probability of having to sell it for a loss. The simple idea of agreeing a fixed price in the future that locked in a guaranteed profit for the farmer was in fact the birth of modern financial markets with the first corn contracts being offered on the Chicago Board of Trade on March 13, 1851. Of course in order to allow the farmers to hedge the price of corn there needed to be someone willing to offer a fixed price in the future – enter the speculator. A simple and obvious fact over-looked by those who wish to denounce market forces is that there can be no hedgers without speculators.

Remarkably, however, more than one hundred years would pass before the concept of a forward hedge would translate from farming needs and commodities trading into the financial markets proper. The International Monetary Market (IMM) offered the world’s first foreign exchange futures contract on 31st December 1974. Once again the emergence of these early derivative contracts arising from a need to stabilize foreign exchange fluctuations as the post world war II international monetary agreement known as Bretton Woods broke down.

As each new layer of abstraction built upon previous layers the world of derivatives trading grew to encompass more and more aspects of the financial markets. For example, futures on interest rates were added to the already existing currency futures and futures on gold with the establishment of futures on U.S. Treasury bills in January 1976.

In the last 30 years the trend has continued with ever increasing complexity. Options on Futures by the early 1980′s, followed by over-the-counter swaps and options in the mid 1980′s and continuing with credit derivatives in the 1990′s and insurance derivatives in the early 2000′s.

What began as a simple means of hedging the price of corn has become a global market that trades trillions of dollars per day. The interactions and correlations between markets that were once considered separate are today closely connected,with price shocks rippling from one market to another. The development of computer systems has been the single most important “enzyme” without which it would simply not have been possible for markets to grow.

Ironically, it is now the inability of computer systems for risk management to keep pace with the markets that is holding back further development. The IT systems landscape within most investment banks is now highly complex with many different systems interacting in ways that are difficult for a human being to understand. Armies of software specialists and consultants maintain fragile systems; “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” being the mantra of many. But a nest of vipers lies hidden, a tangled web of fragmented and fragile interconnections that means trading firms are vulnerable to substantial losses due to potential system failures. Operational risk within IT systems has the potential to bring about collapse of the entire firm. The time has come for many banks to face up to this problem and tackle it at the grass roots level. Instead of adding more and more patches onto existing systems, radical investment is needed to clean up and bring a structured, well architected systems landscape into being.

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One could argue that the original, and certainly now the most-studied, anti-aging topical skin care cream is Vitamin A, specifically the retinoid family of Vitamin A derivatives. The pharmaceutical compound of Retin-A has been around for two decades and its effectiveness at decreasing wrinkles is well established. Its mechanism of action has been shown to be the result of increasing collagen production in the deeper layers of the skin while increasing exfoliation of the outer epithelial layer. This combined effect results in smoother skin. Unfortunately, many of the differing pharmaceutical concentrations and preparations are irritating for many patients, particularly those with thin, fair, and sensitive skin. As a result, many patients don’t use the topical product as regularly as they ideally should or stop using it altogether.

Better compliance and more regular use has been obtained with weaker concentrations of Vitamin A that are available in many over-the-counter products. These formulations are known as Retinol and contain a fraction of the strength of Retin-A concentrations. Such formulations usually contain other anti-oxidant compounds such as Vitamin E and others to create an alchemy of ingredients that are much better tolerated than prescription-strength retinoids. I used to have the perception that retinoids were ineffective and were merely piggybacking on the well-proven benefits of their much stronger and better known relatives. A marketing gimmick if you will, which is not an uncommon phenomenon in the cosmeceutical industry. However, recent studies have shown that retinol preparations have definite anti-wrinkling effects compared to similar skin topicals that did not contain them, even in older patients.

This new information suggests that the use of retinols does have a role to play in skin care. For those patients that have had problems in the past with Retin-A or are younger with minor wrinkling issues, retinol-containing products are a good place to start. Eventual tolerance to low-level pharmaceutical grade Retin-A may be acquired by several months of retinol use.

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$1 quadrillion, this is the value of the U.S derivatives. $1 quadrillion tied up in totally unregulated markets and the only information we can get about this pile of “money” is what bankers are willing to tell us. The value of derivatives market is more than 20 times the global economy as Jeff Nielsen mentions in his speech. This is the main reason why the U.S economy is struggling to get back on its feed and gain the investors trust again.

In 2008 when the state of the global economy was uncovered, Walls Street banks had to get the U.S accounting regulations changed in order to access these assets without letting the markets know the actual value of these papers. Without these changes the banks would have been reporting their own bankruptcies not record breaking profits, says Nielsen.

According to Nielsen there is no solution to the U.S economic problems and deflation or hyperinflation, is almost inevitable. This causes investors to face a dilemma since both of the outcomes are possible and preparation for both at the same time is difficult.

This kind of defensive investing tactic is known as wealth preservation. The most common wealth preservation asset is physical gold since it is seen as the ultimate save heaven. The value of gold cannot be weakened by inflation or rising debt. The value of “paper assets” can be easily influenced by governments, which makes them risky in economic stress situations when governments are trying to save the economy. This is not the case with gold since there is a clear limit of gold production and the amount of physical gold in the fiscal circulation can be easily defined.

In both situations, inflation or deflation, the final outcome is likely to be a collapse in the value of paper currencies and the only successful way out of this is to hold “good money” as Nielsen calls it. By “Good money” he means precious metals, which are known as the best assets to keep their value in economic turmoil.

Looking at market data over the last ten years we can observe that gold has been the best performing asset, outperforming the second best, government bonds, by 240%. Gold has been producing 14.3% annual profit compared to 5.9% return from bonds. Gold is the least volatile asset class and this explains why its value has been going up even before the recession. As the amount of debt in the markets is increasing all the time, investors must add more gold in their portfolios since gold, along with other precious metals, acts as a buffer in high economic stress situations.

When considering to the recent drop in the gold price, it is important to keep in mind the difference between trading and investing. Trading is short-term strategy where you purchase as asset with intention to sell it relatively quickly. The time scale could be anything from 30 seconds up to 3 months depending on your strategy. Investing is a long-term plan where you commit to hold your assets for years. As an investor, gold price fluctuations should be seen as a normal market function since there is so much uncertainty in the markets. Almost all senior investors have predicted that the price of gold will be somewhere between $2000 and $5000 per ounce in coming years, which should arouse the long term investors’ curiosity.

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As if attacks from paparazzi and star-crazed fans were not enough, Hollywood stars may soon have a literal price put on their heads by investors in the Cantor Exchange, a real-money trading platform where people can bet on the gross profits of upcoming movies. Sales of The Dark Knight skyrocketed after Heath Ledger died unexpectedly, and so did sales after the deaths of Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. Will greed-driven investors now be laying in wait for the stars of movies they have bet on?

The Cantor Exchange (CE) is based on a virtual trading platform called the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX), a web-based, multiplayer simulation in which players buy and sell “shares” of actors, directors, upcoming films, and film-related options. The difference is that where the HSX uses virtual money, CE will turn the game into a real casino using real dollars.

On April 21, Cantor Exchange reported that it had just received regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which oversees futures exchanges. “This is a significant step forward in achieving our ultimate goal,” it said in a letter, “which is to launch a market in Domestic Box Office Receipt Contracts.”

Having “contracts” out on movies and movie stars, however, has an ominous ring; and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) apparently doesn’t like the sound of it. The Cantor letter said that its tentative launch date of April 22 was being delayed because the MPAA and others “raised concerns about the economic purpose of this market and its usefulness as a hedging vehicle.”

The legitimate hedgers, the moviemakers and equity holders with a real financial interest to protect, don’t want it. But Cantor is pushing forward, because gambling is big business and there are vast sums of money to be made.

Critics are worried that the new exchange will turn Hollywood into another derivatives casino, vulnerable to insider trading. Even if traders aren’t hiding behind bushes waiting to trip up the stars, the exchange could create bizarre incentives for moviemakers to manipulate and distort the market for their own products, perhaps intentionally sabotaging movies they know are losers.

THE DERIVATIVE CRAZE

A”derivative” market is one that is “derived” from an underlying asset, but participants don’t have to own the asset to play. Like gamblers at a race track, they can bet without owning a horse. Derivatives have now become a $605 trillion industry, about ten times the gross domestic product of all the countries of the world combined. This money is not contributing capital to businesses, helping the economy to grow. Rather, it is being diverted into wagers. Money is made by taking it from someone else.

Worse, half the wagers are negative: the players want the thing to fail. Warren Buffet called derivatives “financial weapons of mass destruction.” By massively short selling a stock or a currency, speculators can actually force the price down. Derivatives can be used to sabotage not only businesses but whole economies. Derivatives have been blamed for such economic disasters as the collapse of Japan’s stock market in 1987, the Asian crisis of 1998, and the recent collapse of Greece.

GAMING THE HOLLYWOOD GAME

Max Keiser, who founded CE’s virtual forerunner HSX in the 1990s, has firsthand knowledge of how the Hollywood exchange can be abused. When he was CEO of HSX, he says, he came under pressure from fellow board members to give in to studio heads who were offering cash and other inducements to manipulate the prices of projects, either up (to legitimize more marketing dollars) or down (to sabotage competing projects). “These guys, including my own board of directors,” he says, “could not tell the difference between marketing and market manipulation.”

Whether a movie’s stock price rises or falls is considered to be a predictor of the movie’s future success; but Keiser warns that today, the prediction value of market pricing is largely a hoax. Traders using sophisticated computer programs have learned how to manipulate prices, and market rigging has become institutionalized. He predicts that his altered HSX computer technology, if approved by the CFTC for use in a real-money exchange, will produce an insider trader’s paradise, with Hollywood going the way of Enron and Lehman Brothers in two years or less.

“But this is what rigged market capitalism is all about,” he says. “It’s not economics really. It’s arson. They bet against a company or a country and then burn it down.”

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