crws's Account Talk

Divot posted a blip about this on his blog-
Looks like good info-
http://blogs.stockcharts.com/chartwatchers/2010/07/the-midyear-update.html


July 10, 2010 - StockCharts Blogs - ChartWatchers

The following is a chart of the QQQQ, an ETF that tracks the NASDAQ 100 index.
In my last article, I took a look at the QQQQ and pointed out the likely resistance at the
50 day SMA and provided reasons for potentially trading a juiced ETF (QID) to capture gains
from any fall in the underlying NASDAQ 100 index.
After falling for 2 weeks, the QQQQ moved into oversold territory and has bounced. Check out the chart:


The market was very oversold to start last week with the constant pounding by the bears the prior two weeks.
RSI and stochastics had fallen to 30 and 7, respectively, a combination that generally favors the bulls near-term.
From those oversold levels, the market has bounced and gains last week were in the 5-6% range across all of our major indices.
It was certainly great to see the market regain half of what it had lost the prior two weeks, but even the gains
didn't come without warning signs flashing and those warning signs were the subject of an hour long chat/video
that I recorded at our website this past week for members of Invested Central. I see potentially BIG problems
brewing as it appears the summer months will not be particularly kind to the bulls. I've discussed a few of these
bearish signs in articles since mid-April, but if you'd like to check out the entire video, I think it'd be well worth the time to review this session.
It's free, simply CLICK HERE.

I'd like to focus on just one component of this session - the relationship between the 10 year treasury yield and performance on the S&P 500.
First, take a look at this chart:


First, it's important to realize that bond prices and bond yields move inversely to one another.
So when you see the yield dropping, it means money is flowing INTO bonds.
When money flows into bonds, it's coming from somewhere. Over the past many years, it's generally been bad news for equities.
What I've found is that many times the yield can be an indicator of things to come for the S&P 500.
For instance, on the chart above, notice that the 10 year treasury yield bottomed in early 2009, just before the S&P 500.
Then again, three months ago, the yield topped a few weeks before the S&P 500. There are several reasons why it
appears that strength in equities will not be sustained for long. One of those reasons is the breakdown in the yield
beneath significant long-term support near the 3.10% level. The recent spike in yields back to test that breakdown
level is no doubt fueling the short-term rise in equity prices, but the question is - how long will it last? I doubt much beyond the 3.10%-3.20% level.


A sector that I always follow closely is the semiconductors. This group tends to lead during economic expansion,
so watching the behavior here is generally critical to my market forecast. Semiconductors are trending lower,
and while that makes me nervous, it's also important to note that the relative strength in semiconductors remains strong,
but showing signs of potential weakness. Its relative performance vs. the S&P 500 is rising,
but squeezing tighter and tighter into a narrowing triangle.
I've featured this group as our Chart of the Day for Monday, July 12, 2010. If you'd like to view it, CLICK HERE.

Historically, the trend next week remains bullish.
But after next week we enter the worst 2 1/2 month historical period of the year - BY FAR. Here's a fact.
Over the last 60 years on the S&P 500, this period has accumulated losses totaling 23%.
We've actually seen advancing prices in 33 of the 60 years. The problem is when the market goes lower,
it REALLY goes lower.
Check out the returns from mid-July to late September in each of the following years:

1957: -12.41%
1958: -10.31%
1974: -22.41%
1981: -13.76%
1990: -18.11%
1998: -11.97%
2001: -16.13%

Are we setting up for another year we can throw into this group? It's hard to predict that type of weakness,
but to be honest, it wouldn't surprise me.

There have been 3 years where we've seen gains of +10% or more, including 2009 where the S&P 500 gained 11.06%.
But if the market is prepping to make a big late summer move, there's probably better than a 2 to 1 chance it's going
to be to the downside. While history never guarantees us anything, I have to admit I'm nervous heading
into these historical headwinds with technical sirens blaring.

Happy trading!


Posted by Tom Bowley, at 8:34 PM in Tom Bowley |Permalink
 
Yep. Chart Watchers newsletter was pretty bearish long term.

Lets see if this link works. Click here.

Chip Anderson: NYSE SUMMATION INDEX'S "400" SIGNAL
Richard Rhodes: CURRENT S&P RALLY HAVE STAYING POWER?
Carl Swenlin: NEW LONG-TERM SELL SIGNAL GENERATED
Arthur Hill: GOLD AND SILVER TEST SUPPORT ZONES
Thomas J. Bowley: THE MID-YEAR UPDATE
 
Should have put this here to begin with, so here it is. I may start a Solar thread if there isn't one already.

This company was out of qualified sales reps, I talked with one of the department heads last year for almost an hour and he was giddy with excitement at all the contracts they were rushing to complete-
http://www.sapagroup.com/us/Company-...nc---Portland/

http://www.sapagroup.com/en/Company-...Solar-Portal2/
We have so far to go to catch up with the rest of the world... OLV hospital Aalst, Belgium

slideshow-olv01.jpg


The challenge for a new age.
While fossil fuels are being exhausted at an alarming pace, global energy consumption continues to increase. The solution, however, has always been around. We only need to connect our grid to the sun.
At a first glance, reserves of traditional prime energy sources appear comfortably large compared to global annual consumption.
Overestimating these reserves would be a mistake. According to recent figures, mankind will only last

  • 3 years on uranium (nuclear energy)
  • 20 years on gas
  • 30 years on oil
  • 60 years on coal
The reason is quite obvious: while fossil fuels are getting exhausted at an alarming pace, global energy consumption keeps increasing.
Taking climate and geopolitical issues into account, it is imperative that we shift the thinking pattern and focus on renewable energy that doesn't put our planet at risk.
Annual energy demand vs. available global energy

The solar energy that is currently available exceeds the annual energy demand by 400 times. The potential for solar energy exceeds the demand by 10,000 times.
annulal-report.gif


PV solar installations for 2007 MWp
Building integrated photovoltaics: new ways to improve building performance with attractive design.
circles.gif


Germany 1,328,000 4,364,000
Spain 640,000 758,000
Austria 179,000 208,020
Italy 90,000 147,900
France 50,000 82,690
The Netherlands 1,000 52,230
Luxemburg 0,040 23,600
Portugal 12,000 15,466
United Kingdom 2,750 13,630
Greece 3,000 9,694
Belgium 2,000 6,161
Czech Republic 3,500 4,271
Sweden 650 4,887
Finland 64 4,066
Denmark 230 2,880
Cyprus 520 0,976
Slovenia 183 0,363
Poland 114 431
Ireland n.a. 300

This is particularly astounding...
As you will see, we're getting our a$$ kicked.
World's largest photovoltaic power plants Ranking 1-50
http://www.pvresources.com/en/top50pv.php

Industry Brochure:
http://www.pv-power-plants.com/filea...P_2010_web.pdf

Alright, done with my sun speech...l this was an Alcoa + Intel regression. :D
 
Well, another week over and now 2 days of R&R.

I had been missing my allotment of pollen, so all the windows are opened up to a cozy 69 degrees headed to 80+/- with a slight breeze here in the PNW.
We are still drying out from a soaking wet spring, now for our month of summer!
 
http://www.thefinancialdaily.com/NewsDetail/130061.aspx

Thursday, 15 July 2010

UK jobless claims fall, wage pressures ease

LONDON: The number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Britain fell to its lowest in more than a year in June, while the number of those in work jumped at its fastest in four years, suggesting recovery remains on track.
But figures from the Office for National Statistics also showed a marked slowdown in earnings growth, which should reassure the Bank of England that high inflation is not propelling pay demands and persuade it to keep policy loose.
Wednesday's figures showed the number of people claiming jobless benefit fell by a bigger-than-expected 20,800 in June, its fifth consecutive monthly fall and pushing the claimant count rate down to a 15-month low of 4.5 per cent.
The number of people without a job on the wider ILO measure fell by 34,000 to 2.468 million in the three months to May, taking the jobless rate down to 7.8 per cent, a 4-month low.
The pound rose against the dollar and euro after the figures, which suggested Britain's labour market is continuing to recover as the economy emerges from recession.
But analysts warned that the improvement in the labour market may not last, as the outlook for growth is uncertain and as government spending cuts are likely to result in more than half a million public sector job cuts over the next five years.
"The UK labour market has perked up a bit, but we still doubt that private sector hiring will pick up strongly enough to offset the severe public sector job cuts," said Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics. -Reuters
 
Next move for the Euro is South - Mizuho Corporate Bank

Thu, Jul 15 2010, 08:00 GMT
http://www.fxstreet.com


http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?storyid=93d69cb3-e92b-415a-bf14-b5ebce2c92c3

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - The current level of trading the Euro has experienced throughout the week, around the 1.2720 range on short coverings, apparently has an expiration date set in front of it.

The pullback has a lot of consensus, with most economists agreed that this short-covering rally is temporary and that the next move for the Euro is South. The Euro is slightly overbought and momentum is bullish, and the 9-day moving average has done an excellent job pushing it higher".

The seemingly unavoidable retreat has a potential alternative though, "A weekly close above 1.2800 will probably set off another round of short-covering", Nicole Elliot says.
 
For Corepuncher- :cheesy:

I Carumba!



http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS...ia_ow=t0:s0:a49:g43:r1:c0.165803:b35727724:z0

(Reuters) - The dollar weakened on Friday, crawling toward a seven-month trough against the yen after a series of U.S.
data this week underscored a slackening in the economy's recovery.
Market players closely watched whether the dollar could hold above its July 1 low of 86.96, its lowest since early December,
as a fall below that level could boost the possibility of the greenback dropping to 84.82 yen, a 14-year low reached last November.
Last December the Bank of Japan called an emergency meeting soon after the dollar slid to the 14-year tough,
and decided to pump 10 trillion yen ($114.5 billion) in three-month funds into the banking system.
The yen's latest rise has brought it to levels that could cause pain to Japanese exporters if its gains are sustained,
with the BOJ's tankan survey showing the average forecast for the dollar/yen rate in the year to next March among large manufacturers is 90.18 yen.
Market players said there was talk of stop-loss dollar offers at levels below 87.00 yen.
The dollar slid 0.5 percent to 87.02 yen after falling as low as 86.97 yen. Some speculative players who are betting
further losses in the greenback would be limited against the yen bought back dollars below 87.00 yen, traders said.
U.S. data this week, including retail sales and producer price numbers have been soft, raising questions about the sustainability of a U.S. recovery..
The euro hovered near a two-month peak of $1.2955 hit on trading platform EBS on Thursday, when it jumped 1.6 percent against the greenback.
Traders said investors were shifting funds away from the dollar and toward the euro due to a combination of factors including
receding concerns about sovereign debt problems in the euro zone, worries about a U.S. recovery and strong U.S. earnings results.
Lower U.S. Treasury yields also undermined the greenback..
"Given the dollar's weakness, it won't be surprising to see the euro rising to $1.3000, although the euro could tread water in the
near-term after yesterday's sharp rally," said Minoru Shioiri, chief manager of forex trading at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
The euro dipped 0.2 percent to $1.2916, giving back some of its 1.6 percent gain from Thursday, when it scaled a two-month high of $1.2955 on trading platform EBS.
Thursday's rally lifted the euro above the daily Ichimoku cloud, meaning it has broken through a major resistance zone
and may have more room to rise. In another positive sign, the euro rose above its 100-day moving average on Thursday for the first time since December.
One possible upside target is $1.3125, a 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement of the euro's drop from November to June.

EURO'S RISE MAY SLOW

Although technical charts suggest the euro is still trending higher, there were some indications that its rise may lose steam for now.
A senior trader for a major Japanese bank said many euro option barriers were likely to lie at levels near $1.3000, adding that the pace of the euro's rise may slow in the near-term.
The euro's 14-day relative strength index (RSI) rose above 70 on Thursday, showing that the euro had entered overbought territory.
That was also the highest since September 2009. The euro's RSI was near 68 on Friday, still near overbought territory.
Earlier this week, minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting revealed policymakers may need to do more to boost the economy if a sputtering recovery slows further.
That was in sharp contrast to the euro's fortunes. The single currency has risen more than 8 percent after smooth government
debt auctions in Greece, Portugal and Spain eased concerns about the euro zone's sovereign debt problems.
 
For Corepuncher- :cheesy:

I Carumba!


Crowe on today's menu, however, still holding long on the I-Fund.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE66F0XN20100716

BRUSSELS/PARIS, July 16 (Reuters) - European Union governments have agreed the key criteria of stress tests for the bloc's banks,
EU sources said on Friday, and senior policymakers voiced optimism about their results. Under the agreement,
each of the 91 banks being tested will publish its result at 1600 GMT on July 23, and the London-based Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS)
will issue a statement summing up the outcome a minute later, several sources said, asking not to be named.

The main criterion will be to have a certain minimum core tier 1 capital, a measure of banks' financial strength,
in hypothetical adverse economic conditions. One source said banks would need a level of more than 6 percent to pass the test.

Exposure to sovereign debt risk will be the second indicator in order of importance.
The final details of the tests will be discussed on July 22 at a teleconference of senior finance ministry officials from EU countries
and representatives of the European Commission and the European Central Bank.


REASSURING NOISES
International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the tests should not reveal any major problems among the big names,
although it was possible that some smaller banks would have to be recapitalised.

I get the feeling that what will come out will be rather reassuring, and that we'll see that all the big European banks are sufficiently
solid to resist any earthquake," he told a French television station.

Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of euro zone finance ministers, offered similar reassurance, telling Austrian newspaper
Kurier in an interview: "I am not expecting any big catastrophes."

Europe is testing banks across 20 countries on how they would cope with another economic downturn and losses on Greek and some other government bonds.
The aim is to restore investor confidence by pinpointing any weak spots and forcing vulnerable banks to raise cash.
 
ok, that kangaroo tail can start anytime.
Going to water the lawn. I need to see some green!
 
A little manure to all that held long for Monday. :D We shall see if the snap-back trend maintains it's nearly 100% inverse of the OPEX day 2010 pattern.
OPEX_2010.jpg
 
Stand by for more a more comprehensive sheet.
I found a couple errors in prior weeks calc's.

A little manure to all that held long for Monday. :D We shall see if the snap-back trend maintains it's nearly 100% inverse of the OPEX day 2010 pattern.
OPEX_2010.jpg
 
verified-
I have attached the files as well.
So far, this is a good year for weeks leading up to OPEX.
2006 - 66% of pre week positives
2007 - 58% "
2008 - 33% "
2009 - 58% "
2010 - 86% " (so far)
The UK bank stress test data is scheduled to be released this Thursday. From what I've read, no surprises are anticipated.
I am expecting a Monday bounce followed by a dribble through the rest of the week.
Apple, Goldman, Yahoo, and AT&T report among others.
I am sitting 24 G, 11 C, 11 S, 54 I

OPEX2010ss.jpg
 
Last edited:
Another vote for the UK. As usual, I read the comments to gain sentiment.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/second-quarter-earnings-may-miss-euro-zone-pain-2010-07-16

So as second-quarter earnings season on the Continent starts in earnest, it would be natural to assume that companies here will be reporting a difficult April-through-June experience.

It also would be wrong.
Second-quarter earnings per share for constituents of the Stoxx Europe 600 index, are projected to grow 26%, according to data from FactSet Research. That's not so much lower than the 30% EPS growth rate seen for S&P 500 constituents.
Sales growth also won't be drastically different: 9% in Europe, 10% in the U.S.
Take Novartis, one of the first major European companies to report second-quarter results.
The drugmaker said it was able to grow European sales by 8% even as governments across the region cut prices. See Novartis story.

"It's a classic case that the market is not the economy," said Georgina Taylor, equity strategist at Britain's Legal & General Investment Management.
"We have had concerns about fiscal issues, that's about to be a drag on growth, but that hasn't happened yet."
Indeed, Novartis said the impact from European pricing will be felt more in the second half of the year.
Besides, European firms are hardly unprepared for tepid growth at home.
The likes of BMW, which on Tuesday upped its earnings outlook, Siemens, Alstom, and Nokia have become giants by selling overseas, not by focusing domestically.

 
The sweet smell of success?
Maybe -not!:nuts:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704682604575368783687129488.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_us

Patent Office Raises High Hopes, Then Snuffs Them Out

Short-Lived Trademark Category for Marijuana Is Nipped in the Bud


For three months until last week, marijuana dealers had something they could only dream of before:
the apparent stamp of approval of a federal agency.

On April 1, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office created a new trademark category:
"Processed plant matter for medicinal purposes, namely medical marijuana." The patent office, part of the Department of Commerce,
posted the new category on its website.

P1-AW306_PotBra_DV_20100718171120.jpg

Keef Cola


The patent-office change set off a land rush by pot dealers in the 14 states where laws permit medical-marijuana sales.
Some staked claims on rights to long-used names like Maui Wowie and Chronic.
Others applied to trademark business names such as Budtrader and Pot-N.
Two companies applied to trademark psychoactive sodas named Keef Cola and Canna Cola.

"It looked like a positive step to me. We don't have many steps by the federal government legitimizing medical cannabis,"
said Steve DeAngelo, executive director of the Harborside Health Center medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland, Calif.,
who hired an intellectual-property lawyer to trademark his company name before the patent office created the new trademark category.

But last week the patent office snuffed out the promise of federal recognition.
On Tuesday, after questions about the new pot-trademark category from a Wall Street Journal reporter,
a patent-office spokesman said the office planned to remove the new pot classification by week's end, and the category is now off the website.
 
Sweet!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704913304575371290965276322.html?mod=WSJ_hp_editorsPicks_1
It's Zeppelin Country

By JIM FUSILLI

Memphis

Robert Plant's new band borrows the name of his old one. No, not Led Zeppelin. It's Band of Joy, a late-'60s group of which Mr. Plant was a member with soon-to-be-Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. Unlike its namesake, the new unit doesn't offer a British take on blues and soul. It plays Americana music and, as demonstrated here last week, does so with intelligence and inventiveness—even when its leader is revisiting his Zeppelin days.

ED-AL883_plant_G_20100719183947.jpg


Band of Joy's eponymous album won't be out until Sept. 14, but the group worked its songs as if they were already an established part of the 61-year-old Mr. Plant's vast repertoire. For an opening night, the band—featuring Buddy Miller on guitar, Darrell Scott on several stringed instruments, Patty Griffin on guitar, Byron House on bass and Marco Giovino on drums—was remarkably tight. It found precedent for its airy, tasteful, bottom-rich and occasionally fierce music not only in the '07 Plant-Alison Krauss collaboration, "Raising Sand," but also in Mr. Plant's fruitful solo career, now almost twice as long as his stint in Zeppelin.

But Zeppelin was never far from Mr. Plant's mind: The new group played seven songs associated with Messrs. Plant and Bonham, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones; each piece was delivered with a dose of irreverence while still linked to their deeper roots. Before jumping into "Houses of the Holy," Mr. Plant said, "Hold on to your trousers!" His colleague Ms. Griffin sang the blues standard "Nobody's Fault but Mine," which Zeppelin co-opted some 50 years after Blind Willie Johnson recorded it. Mr. Plant also ended the set with "Gallows Pole," which featured Mr. Scott on banjo, and began the encore with "Thank You." "I knew you were country fans," he said, acknowledging how the band reworked the tune. Then they launched into "Rock and Roll."

On new, unfamiliar material, Mr. Plant showed his ability to control the stage when, late in the show, the band did a folky reading of Townes Van Zandt's "Harm's Swift Way" with Mr. Scott on acoustic guitar and Mr. Miller adding twangy bass notes on electric guitar. Mr. Plant conceded it was "a little premature" to showcase songs two months before the band's versions would be available, but the audience welcomed the performances. He followed "Down to the Sea"—from his '93 solo album, "Fate of Nations"—with Los Lobos's "Angel Dance," which can be heard on Band of Joy's new disc. Both songs were greeted with equal fervor.

Mr. Plant is beefier now, and he's set aside the fey gestures he deployed in his Zeppelin days. But he's still a star: The day before opening night was Robert Plant Day here and the Memphis Commercial Appeal ran his photo on its front page the morning after. The city's importance to American music holds meaning for him; during the show, he called Memphis "his first second home."

In the Band of Joy, he's the centerpiece, but not the only focus. Several times during the program, he withdrew to a backing role, allowing his colleagues to share the spotlight together. In a beautiful reading of "All the King's Horses," he allowed them to show their versatility: Mr. Giovino turned from the drums to play accordion while Mr. Scott switched to pedal steel. Mr. Plant also exploited the band's vocal capabilities, using three, and sometimes four, voices to form a wall of harmony around him.

A large share of the credit for Band of Joy's sound belongs to Mr. Miller, who is based in Nashville. Mr. Miller brought to the Plant-Krauss band his easy way with Americana, and he's done the same with this unit. His rubbery guitar lines centered "House of Cards," and when the group tackled the Plant-Page composition, "Please Read the Letter," Mr. Miller unleashed a garage-rock sound, then withdrew, to be followed by Mr. Scott's gentle riffs on folk guitar. When the band played other songs from the Plant-Krauss collaboration, Mr. Miller gave them a new underpinning. Accordingly, "Rich Woman" and "Gone Gone Gone" shimmered with a new, different glow.

It's a treat to watch Mr. Plant, who exudes a casual, though not quite self-effacing, confidence. No one in the theater seemed to enjoy himself more than he did. He played a tiny washboard on one tune, toying with it well after the song ended. During "Misty Mountain Hop," the evening's first Zeppelin tune, he moved his microphone next to Ms. Griffin's and they sang in unison, a sly smile crossing his face as the audience cheered with glee.
 
about f%$@#n' time
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703720504575377433203558498.html?mod=WSJ_hp_editorsPicks_2#articleTabs%3Darticle
CEOs Get Ready to Spend Again

By DANA MATTIOLI
(clip)
In what may signal an important shift, some chief executives say they are ready to start spending the mountains of cash they have stockpiled over the past year, despite lingering worries about the global economy.

Many companies, stung by the financial crisis, have hoarded cash as a cushion against continued economic turmoil. But their curbs on spending and investing have been damping economic growth.

At the end of March, nonfinancial companies in the U.S. were sitting on $1.84 trillion in cash and other liquid assets, up 26% from a year earlier, the Federal Reserve reported. In May, 43% of U.S. corporations had larger U.S. cash and short-term investments than six months earlier, according to a survey of 337 senior finance and treasury executives by the Association for Financial Professionals.

Now, some corporate leaders are starting to dip into their coffers, seizing the chance to make favorably priced acquisitions and expand and upgrade facilities.

"Our cash is piling up, and we're looking at the capital to fuel growth going forward," said Boudewijn Beerkens, chief financial officer of Wolters Kluwer NV.

The Dutch publishing company was holding €409 million, or roughly $530 million, of cash as of Dec. 31, up from €345 million a year earlier.

In a recent interview, Wolters Kluwer Chief Executive Nancy McKinstry said she is hoping to use some of that money for acquisitions. Last year, business owners were reluctant to consider selling their businesses because they feared they wouldn't get good prices, Ms. McKinstry said. She expects the improved economy this year will make them more willing to sell.

Mr. Beerkens said Wolters Kluwer wants to make acquisitions in the $100 million to $200 million range by year end, and is looking for software firms specializing in tax, accounting and health-care information.

Meanwhile, Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack plans to use its cash to expand its network of tire and service centers, according to Chief Executive Officer Mike Odell. The Philadelphia-based auto-parts and service retailer had cash holdings of $87.8 million as of May 1, up sharply from $21.3 million a year earlier.

By the end of its fiscal year in January, Pep Boys plans to open around 40 tire and service centers, up from the about 25 it opened the previous year. Each of those centers will cost the company about $450,000 for equipment, inventory and facilities improvements.

Mr. Odell said low prices for leasing commercial real estate make this an attractive time to open the new outlets.

Last year, Pep Boys made a $4 million acquisition of a 10-store Orlando, Fla., tire-and-automotive chain and converted it into auto-service centers. Mr. Odell said he would like to find similar small acquisitions, but that he is open to buying larger chains of up to 100 stores.

"It's all about being opportunistic," says Mr. Odell. "If the opportunity is there, we'll do it via acquisition."
 
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