tulip writing

tulip writing

Sunday, October 26, 2014

7 Fakten über die Börse, mit denen Du Deinen Freunden imponierst


Nummer Eins: Die New Yorker Börse ist die grösste der Welt, ihre Marktkapazität gleicht der, der vier Nächstgrössten zusammengefasst. Das hat nicht imponiert? Naja, ist wohl auch hinlänglich bekannt und warum sollte es Deine Freunde hinreissen?

 Also, hier etwas anderes, vielleicht stösst das auf mehr Begeisterung: Kein Unternehmen in ausländischem Besitz kann an der chinesischen Börse Handel betreiben. Obwohl die Regierung schon in 2011 kundgegeben hatte, dass sie im Grundsatz bereit sei die Börse auch für fremde Firmen zu öffnen, ist bis heute noch keine solche zugelassen worden. Bis auf eine Ausnahme. Das Unternehmen WLCSP, das Teil der The Infinity Group ist und einen fremdländischen Mitinhaber hat, hat kürzlich die chinesische Mauer durchbrochen. Dieser Fremde is Israeli.

 Wo investieren?
 
Das wirklich Interessante daran ist, dass diese Tatsache die Israelische Geschäftsmentalität und das Unternehmertum charakterisiert. Sie sind immer vorne dabei und pflastern oft den Weg für Fortschritt und Veränderung. Israelische Start-ups sind einfach unaufhaltsam. Wenn Du also auf hohe Rendite aus bist, brauchst Du nur den nächsten Renner in der israelischen Start-up Szene zu finden, der eine internationale Börse erobert wird. Dann wärst Du der Renner bei Deinen Freunden.

 Aber Prahlen bei Seite. Lass’ uns israelische Unternehmen an internationalen Börsenmärkten und deren Zahlen etwas ernsthafter betrachten.
 
1.     73 Israelische Firmen handeln derzeit an NASDAQ. Damit ist Israel, nach China mit fast 120 Firmen das meist vertretene Land. Wenn man die Grösse des Landes bedenkt, ist das erstaunlich und sagt einiges über des Landes Wirtschaft aus.
2.     Im Jahr 2013 sind vier israelische Unternehmen an den NASDAQ gegangen, mit einem durchschnittlichen Wertanstieg von 85%.
3.     In 2014 waren es bis September schon sechs Firmen.
4.     Eine der bekanntesten darunter war Mobileye (MBLY) am 21. Juli. Trotz der komplizierten Sicherheitslage in Israel wärend dieser Zeit, sind die Aktienwerte bis Anfang September um 70% gestiegen – weltweit der grösste Anstieg.
5.     Ähnlicher Erfolg konnte im selben Zeitraum von der Firma Caesarstone (CSTE) verzeichnet werden. Ihre Aktien stiegen im August um 20% und können sich mit der zweitbesten Leistung auf dem Bloomberg Israel-US Equity Index rühmen.
6.     Die beeindruckendste Erstemission war jedoch die von ReWalk (RWLK) Ende August. Der Aktienwert schoss um erstaunliche 220% allein in der erten Woche nach oben.
7.     NASDAQ ist keinesfalls der einzige Aktienmarkt ausserhalb Israels an dem israelische Firmen ihre Aktien anbieten. Allein am LSE (London Stock Exchange) gab es dieses Jahr schon fünf Erstemissionen von israelischen Unternehmen. Die jüngste davon von Matomy Media Group im Juli.

Mit von der Partie sein

Wenn Du nicht weisst, wo Du investieren sollst, lass Dir von diesen Erfolgsgeschichten die Richtung weisen. Mit der vielversprechenden Wirtschaft dieses Landes, die immer wieder neue nützliche und fantastische Technologien in Bereichen wie Gesundheit, Kommunikation, Sicherheit usw. hervorbringt kann man kaum falsch liegen. Du kannst daran teilhaben, entweder direkt am lokalen Aktienmarkt, an der Amerikanischen Börse oder anderswo.

Um Deine Investition so effektiv wie möglich zu machen, solltest Du auf jeden Fall in Erwägung ziehen es in Israel selbst zu tun. Du kannst ein Anlagekonto direkt an einer Israelischen Bank eröffnen oder es durch einen lokalen Investmentbroker verwalten lassen. Mit diesem kannst Du zu jeder Zeit in verschiedenen Sprachen on-line oder per Telefon kommunizieren, was die Sache so bequem macht, als seie er in Deiner Nachbarschaft.
 
Und wie ist das mit dem Risiko?
 
Die meisten Israelischen Unternehmen bieten ihre Aktien zuerst an der einheimischen Börse in Tel Aviv an, bevor sie sich in die Welt der Wall Street Wölfe wagen. Das gibt Dir die Möglichkeit sie früh zu erfassen, wenn die Aktienpreise noch niedrig sind. Es ist allerdings auch mit hohem Risiko verbunden und daher nicht Jedermans Sache.
 
Um nicht willkürlich auf ein beliebiges Pferd zu setzen, kannst Du in einen ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) investieren, der eine Auswahl von ausschliesslich Israelischen Aktien beinhaltet. Auch hier besteht die Möglichkeit es direkt in Israel zu tun, was Dir hohe Management Gebühren erspart und mit grosser Wahrscheinlichkeit auch Steuervorteile bietet (dies sollte vorher mit dem jeweiligen Broker in Erfahrung gebracht werden).

Diejenigen unter Euch, die das Risiko weiter senken wollen können sich der Hälfte der US Staaten anschliessen und in Regierungs Bonds anlegen. Diese sind stabil und bieten einen stätigen Einkommensfluss. Wer sie direkt in Israel erwirbt bekommt darauf einen höheren Zinssatz.

 

Monday, October 13, 2014

Where Computer Assisted Learning is Still Only a Dream

An Englishman, a Frenchman and a German meet in a tavern in Riga.

The place is called Rozengrals and takes you back to medieval times. In a room lit by thick, white candles you sit on rough wooden chairs at rough wooden tables while crunching roasted nuts and dipping rough bread, served in small jute bags. The sound of flutes and lyres accompanies the waiters, dressed in long robes as they serve delicious lamb on the skewer with lentils and local beer, followed by homemade Vodka.

Says the Englishman to the Frenchman:
“Did you participate in the special interest group ‘Virtual Reality’, today?” – “Yes,” replies the Frenchman with some excitement, “I was very impressed with the innovative technologies”. - “It’s going to take time till this computerized simulation will be fully implemented in the universities, though” objects the German.

Did you expect a joke? Sorry to disappoint you. The three are university professors, who have come for the annual ADEE conference (Association on Dental Education in Europe), that took place in Riga in September.

Don’t be afraid – it doesn’t hurt!
Dentists are needed everywhere and one can acquire the profession almost anywhere in the world. But you probably prefer not to think about a dentist – understandable – and what he actually needs to learn. So be courageous here and look the patient in the mouth. Don’t worry, it’s not a real patient, it’s a puppet, or more accurately a plastic head with plastic teeth to practice on.

You are required to cut a cavity. The instructions and measurements you are given are highly exact and specific. Not only the depth of the cavity is provided by a tenth of the millimeter, also the angles of the walls and the floor, the smoothness, the retention and outline shape etc. have to be extremely accurate. And all this at dimensions, which can hardly be captured with the naked eye. Should you drill a mere 0.5 mm too far to one side, you may damage the neighboring tooth. Should you drill a mere 0.2 mm too deep, you may hit the pulp and…. oh dear!

Dental students sit for hours with such mannequins and try to accomplish their preparations according to precise specifications. When they finish one, the prepared plastic tooth is being measured with a magnifying glass and evaluated manually. That sounds more like it belongs in the time of the Rozengrals. Even though the execution demands highly developed fine-motoric skills and elaborate cognitive constructs to go along, in dental education there is little use of digital equipment to provide support. While the use of computerized technologies is becoming increasingly main stream in other areas of the medical faculties, the dental schools are still far behind when it comes to digital learning equipment.

Why are digital teaching aids still rare in dental education?
It seems only natural to carry out precise measurements and evaluations with the computer, because there is no way the human eye could complement the precision and speed of a computer.

Indeed, some digital scanners for plastic teeth have made it into some universities during the past years. Devices, such as the PREPassistant by KaVo and the PrepCheck by Sirona measure and analyze the preparations which the students have tediously cut and display the results enlarged on a screen. Different color codes show different depth or errors and one can view the cavity or crown preparation from various angles and in different cross-sections. In addition the student can compare his own prep to the original tooth and to what the prep was supposed to look like.

It’s time for real-time!

These types of digital scanners have so far failed to take over practical dental education, though. As elegant, as they appear, they seem more like a ‘nice to have’ tool, than a real educational aid with the capacity to significantly change the face of dental simulation labs. This is what the Israeli company Image Navigation has set as a goal for itself. With the DentSim Augmented Reality Simulator the company hopes to provide noticeable improvement in the way necessary motor skills are acquired. The DentSim simulator combines the traditional phantom head with computer based evaluation in real-time. This means, the student receives feedback while cutting a preparation and not only after he has finished the entire process, which is the case now. He can call up measurements and analysis at any time during his preparation process. This way the dental student knows exactly when he is too deep or too far, when his angle is off and can correct himself in real time while preparing. Thus, the DentSim evaluates the actual process and not only the outcome. Studies have shown that this leads to faster and more effective acquisition of motor skills and less errors. It also helps develop the necessary cognitive structures. Read more on the advantages and features of the DentSim here.

A similar product is offered by the Dutch company Moog. The software of the Simodent Dental Trainer also accompanies and evaluates the cutting process itself. With its touch screen and simplistic design, the device is quite attractive. However, there is no real cutting experience. The system is based on a hydraulic mechanism, which replaces the actual teeth. This raises some problems when it comes to the ergonomic aspect, because the student is positioned differently than in a clinical environment. In addition the visual image the student receives through a type of monitor does not reflect that of a patient and it lacks additional natural restraints. It may be difficult for the student to make the transition from the simulator to the clinic.

Dental professors and students don’t need to feel like in medieval times. They can always have homemade Vodka at the Rozengrals for that. In dental education it is time to adapt to real times.


Students practicing at the DentSim Simulator
 

Thursday, October 2, 2014

7 Things About the Stock Market That Will Impress Your Friends


Here’s the first: The New York stock exchange is the largest in the world, its market capacity is as big as that of the next four runners-up combined together.

That didn’t impress anybody? Right, it’s probably well known and why should your friends care, anyway.

So here’s another interesting fact, maybe this will get their attention: Foreign owned companies are basically banned from trading on the Chinese stock market. Even though authorities had announced already in 2011 that they are basically ready to open the stock exchange to foreign companies, it hasn’t actually happened. This month one firm finally managed to break through the Chinese wall: WLCSP, Part of The Infinity Group has a foreign co-owner and is based on foreign technology. The non-Chinese part of it is Israeli.


Where to Invest

What’s really impressive though, is that this characterizes Israeli companies and entrepreneurship. They are always where it’s happening and often pave the way. There is no stopping Israeli Start-ups. If you are looking for a high return investment, all you have to do is pinpoint the next Israeli company to make it big on a foreign stock market. Now, that would really impress your friends.


But let’s get a little more serious and take a look at Israeli companies and some impressive numbers and figure out how this can be relevant for you (and your friends).


1.     There are 73 Israeli companies already trading on NASDAQ today. This number is topped only by China with close to 120 companies. Considering the size of the country that says something about Israeli economy.

2.     Four Israeli companies went public in 2013 on NASDAQ with an average increase of 85%.

3.     In 2014 there have been six Initial Public Offerings by Israeli companies on NASDAQ till early September.

4.     One of the companies to go public recently was Mobileye (MBLY), on July 31st. Despite the security crises in the Middle East at the time, it has gone up by more than 70% in little more than a month. This was the biggest rally globally during this time.

5.     A similar success could be reported during the same period by Caesarstone (CSTE). Their stocks climbed 20% in August, making it the 2nd best performance on the Bloomberg Israel-U.S. Equity Index. Since 2012 the company tripled its growth.

6.     The most striking, though is the success of the most recent IPO by ReWalk (RWLK) only two weeks ago. The price surged a stunning 220% within its first week at NASDAQ.

7.     NASDAQ is not the only stock exchange market outside of Israel, where Israeli companies trade their shares. At the LSE (London Stock Exchange) there have been five IPOs by Israeli companies this year, compared to only one last year. The most recent was Matomy Media Group in July.


Be Part of the Party

If you don’t know where to invest, these success stories give you a direction to look in. Here is an economy which promises to keep bringing forth amazing technology developments in healthcare, communication, security and other fields. You can be part of this on your local stock market in the US or elsewhere.

However, to make your investment even more effective consider taking it directly to Israel. You can open an Israeli investment account directly at a bank or with an Israeli broker. They can be managed in English via phone or on-line, which makes things as comfortable as if it was in your hometown. If you are in the US, your IRA (Investment Retirement Account) can be used to open a foreign brokerage account. This is a further advantage, because it will keep tax burden on capital gains low.


How to Choose

Most companies initially offer their shares at the Tel Aviv stock exchange, before they are ready to face the world of Wall Street wolves. That gives you a chance to catch them while they are still small and stock prices are low. It also involves, however, a high risk and is not for everyone.

Rather than betting on random horses, you can choose an ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) that invests exclusively in Israeli stocks. Again, you may want to do so directly in Israel, in order to save high management fees charged in the US and gain their full advantage.

For those who want to further lower the risk, you can join 50% of the U.S. states and invest in Israel Government Bonds. These are stable and provide a steady stream of income. And if you purchase directly in Israel you will benefit from a higher interest rate.