Business

The Organic cotton farms revolutionising the industry

Published

6 months ago

April 2, 2023

There are a number of different theories and hypotheses regarding early state formation that seek generalizations to explain why the state developed in some places but not others. Other scholars believe that generalizations are unhelpful and that each case of early state formation should be treated on its own.

Voluntary contend groups theories of people came together to form states as a result of some shared rational interest.

Conflict theories of state formation regard conflict and dominance of some population over another population as key to the formation of states.

The first states of sorts were those of early dynastic Sumer and early dynastic Egypt, which arose from the Uruk period and Predynastic Egypt respectively around approximately 3000 BCE.

Although state-forms existed before the rise of the Ancient Greek empire, the Greeks were the first people known to have explicitly formulated a political philosophy of the state, and to have rationally analyzed political institutions. Prior to this, states were described and justified in terms of religious myths.

Several important political innovations of classical antiquity came from the Greek city-states (polis) and the Roman Republic. The Greek city-states before the 4th century granted citizenship rights to their free population; in Athens these rights were combined with a directly democratic form of government that was to have a long afterlife in political thought and history.

Political globalization began in the 20th century through intergovernmental organizations and supranational unions. The League of Nations was founded after World War I, and after World War II it was replaced by the United Nations. Various international treaties have been signed through it. Regional integration has been pursued by the African Union, ASEAN, the European Union, and Mercosur. International political institutions on the international level include the International Criminal Court, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization.

The history of the world is commonly understood as the history of humanity spanning the major geopolitical developments of about five millennia, from the first civilizations to the present. In terms such as world religion, world language, world government, and world war, the term world suggests an international or intercontinental scope without necessarily implying participation of every part of the world.

The world population is the sum of all human populations at any time; similarly, the world economy is the sum of the economies of all societies or countries, especially in the context of globalization:

Terms such as “world championship”, “gross world product”, and “world flags” imply the sum or combination of all sovereign states.
While the Germanic word thus reflects a mythological notion of a domain of Man compare Midgard.
The corresponding word in Latin is mundus literally “clean, elegant” as an act of establishing order out of chaos.

Itself a loan translation of Greek cosmos “orderly arrangement.” presumably as opposed to the divine sphere on the one hand and the chthonic sphere of the underworld on the other, the Greco-Latin term expresses a notion of creation.

“World” distinguishes the entire planet or population from any particular country or region: world affairs pertain not just to one place but to the whole world, and world history is a field of history that examines events from a global (rather than a national or a regional) perspective. Earth, on the other hand, refers to the planet as a physical entity, and distinguishes it from other planets and physical objects.

Was also classically used to mean the material universe, or the cosmos: “The worlde is an apte frame of heauen and earthe, and all other natural thinges contained in them.”

The term can also be used attributively, to mean “global”, or “relating to the whole world”, forming usages such as world community or world canonical texts.

By extension, a world may refer to any planet or heavenly body, especially when it is thought of as inhabited, especially in the context of science fiction or futurology.

In philosophy, the term world has several possible meanings. In some contexts, it refers to everything that makes up reality or the physical universe. In others, it can mean have a specific ontological sense. While clarifying the concept of world has arguably always been among the basic tasks of Western philosophy, this theme appears to have been raised explicitly only at the start of the twentieth century and has been the subject of continuous debate. The question of what the world is has by no means been settled.

The traditional interpretation of Parmenides work is that he argued that the everyday perception of reality of the physical world is mistaken, and that the reality of the world is One Being: an unchanging, ungenerated, indestructible whole.

Business

Sell In May? This VIX Butterfly Spread Could Be The Perfect Trading Strategy

Published

5 months ago

April 22, 2023

Jerry Kerns

Market volatility has fallen markedly as measured by the CBOE Volatility (VIX) Index. VIX is a real-time index that represents the market expectation for near-term volatility in the S&P500 index.

Investors and traders have long used VIX as a measure of the level of risk, fear or stress in the market.

Today, we’re going to look at a long call butterfly using VIX options as a way to profit if volatility jumps up again in the next few weeks.

A long call butterfly is constructed through buying a call option, selling two higher calls and buying one call even higher.

The trade is entered for a net debit meaning the trader pays to enter the trade. This debit is also the maximum possible loss.

Usually, a butterfly is placed roughly at-the-money, but today we are looking at placing it out-of-the-money.

Using the May 16 expiry, the trade would involve buying the 20 strike call, selling two of the 25 strike calls and buying one of the 30 strike calls.

The cost for the trade would be around $40-45 which is the most the trade could lose. The maximum potential gain is $460, which would occur is VIX closed right at 25 at expiration. The lower breakeven price is 20.50 and the upper breakeven price is 29.50.

There are three general outcomes with this butterfly.

VIX below 20.50 – Trade loses $45. This scenario should be reasonably acceptable for most investors. While the option trade suffers a full loss, hopefully stocks have been stable or rising.
VIX between 20.50 and 29.50 – Good for the VIX butterfly, but potentially bad for stock portfolios.
VIX above 29.50 – Full loss on the VIX trade and potentially big drops in stock portfolio.

So, VIX above 30 is the main scenario that hurts in this case, but how likely is that? We’ve only seen a VIX reading of above 30 on a handful of days in the last six months.

Using VIX options can be simple and cheap way to buy some protection against a mild selloff in stocks between now and mid-May. The trade can be placed relatively cheaply at $40-45 per contract.

VIX options behave differently to regular stock options, so it is important that any trader using this product fully understands the risks involved. As always, do your own research and due diligence before risking any of your hard-earned capital.

Please remember that options are risky, and investors can lose 100% of their investment. This article is for education purposes only and not a trade recommendation. Remember to always do your own due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.

Business

Core Lithium (ASX:CXO) bolsters Finniss mineral resource by 62pc

Published

5 months ago

April 22, 2023

Jerry Kerns

Core Lithium (CXO) posts a 62 per cent increase to the total mineral resource estimate (MRE) of its Finniss lithium project in the Northern Territory
The total resource now comprises 30.6 million tonnes at 1.31 per cent lithium, with measured and indicated resources of 19.4 million tonnes at 1.37 per cent lithium
Core says the results highlight the “significant potential” for mine life extensions at Finniss, and it will now work to complete an updated ore reserve estimate
The company has allocated $25 million to its 2023 drilling campaign — nearly double its 2022 budget — to deliver further resource increases
CXO shares are up 7.03 per cent and trading at 99 cents at 11:54 am AEST

Core Lithium (CXO) has posted a 62 per cent increase to the total mineral resource estimate (MRE) of its Finniss lithium project in the Northern Territory.

The total resource now comprises 30.6 million tonnes at 1.31 per cent lithium oxide.

Of this, the measured and indicated mineral resources make up 19.4 million tonnes at 1.37 per cent lithium oxide — an increase of 46 per cent from the previous resource.

The update follows the company’s largest drilling program to date: a 39,600-metre reverse circulation and diamond drilling campaign completed in 2022.

The program was conducted at both known deposits and new prospects within the Bynoe pegmatite field, which lies 15 kilometres south of Darwin and extends up to 70 kilometres in length and 15 kilometres in width.

Core said the new results highlighted the “significant potential” for mine life extensions at Finniss, and the company will now work to complete an updated ore reserve estimate.

The company has allocated $25 million to its 2023 drilling campaign — nearly double the budget allocated for 2022 — to deliver further increases to the project’s MRE.

CXO shares were up 7.03 per cent and trading at 99 cents at 11:54 am AEST.

Business

Understanding the Steps of a “Know Your Customer” Process

Published

5 months ago

April 16, 2023

Jerry Kerns

To help battle against the multi-trillion-dollar financial crime industry, firms themselves take steps toward solving the problem. One way organizations have responded is by expanding their “Know Your Customer” (KYC) efforts.

KYC references a set of guidelines that financial institutions and businesses follow to verify the identity, suitability, and risks of a current or potential customer. The goal is to identify suspicious behavior such as money laundering and financial terrorism before it ever materializes.

KYC regulations originated from years of unchecked financial crimes. The initial guidelines were drafted in 1970 when the U.S. passed the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) to prevent money laundering. Notable additions came years later, after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and 2008 global financial crisis.

The regulations put in place over the years have required firms to monitor client behavior regularly. And there is no exception for not complying. Any company—including banks, insurance companies, and creditors—with exposure to client risk must develop a KYC strategy for engaging with customers.

What are the requirements to “Know Your Customer”?

The “Know Your Customer” framework contains three steps: customer identification program (CIP), customer due diligence (CDD) and enhanced due diligence (EDD).

Customer Identification Program

At the minimum, firms must pull four pieces of identifying information about a client, including name, date of birth, address, and identification number.

Most firms take additional steps in their screening process. Many will make sure that clients do not appear on government sanction lists, politically exposed person (PEP) lists, or known terrorism lists— those who do appear usually require enhanced due diligence.

Other items considered at this time include financial transactions, which firms use to separate potentially risky behavior from regular business activity.

Much of this information comes from various reporting agencies, public databases and third-party sources.

Customer Due Diligence (CDD)

Customer due diligence is the process of classifying all the information collected during the Customer Identification Program.

Firms examine the nature and beneficiaries of existing relationships to ensure all activity is consistent with historical customer information.

The goal is to obtain enough information to verify a customer’s identity and assess their riskiness. Since financial crime happens quickly, firms frequently monitor this information for unusual spikes in activity or changes to sanction lists. Most clients pose little to no risk, but the few who do are subject to enhanced due diligence.

Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD)

If a customer is believed to pose additional risks, firms take extra steps to gain a better understanding of their motivations. A high-risk person may include those with political exposure or relationships with designated persons. Even someone in a high-risk country can raise a red flag for compliance.

In practice, firms must demonstrate a deeper understanding of the high-risk clients identified by a standard customer due diligence program. Some of the information required to perform enhanced due diligence includes a source of wealth verification, detailed management reports and relevant third-party research.