活化大澳漁村 鹽田有望重生 研究初定選址 待下屆政府拍板

（明報製圖）
【明報專訊】政府於2007年研究活化大澳漁村，建議增建入口廣場、海濱長廊和復修鹽田等共17項措施，以促進社區經濟發展。復修鹽田是其中一項重點工程，政府委託學者研究已接近尾聲，初步結果認為技術可行，選址位於大澳以北一幅面積約半公頃的荒廢鹽田，以當時最流行的「水流法」製鹽。最快兩個月後向政府提交報告，由於政府即將換班，計劃能否實施由下屆政府決定。

土木工程拓展署回覆本報查詢時指出，實行復修鹽田計劃，將視乎能否物色合適和勝任的營辦機構，令有關設施能夠持續營運，但未有交代具體時間表。


大澳鹽田宿舍佈置甚為簡陋，反映昔日鹽田工人的生活甚為枯燥。（馬耀森攝）

研究復修大澳鹽田的科大華南研究中心主任廖迪生表示，鹽田曾是本港一大產業，過去陸路交通並不發達，大澳是珠江口有利運輸的沿海地點。1960年代後，本港從泰國及內地輸入廉價鹽，大澳鹽田業逐漸被取代。復修鹽田可重現昔日經濟面貌，推廣文化旅遊。

他說，大澳主要以「沙漏法」及「水流法」製鹽，當中水流法即指蒸發海水製鹽，工序簡單，人手較少，因此建議採用水流法復修鹽田，以減低營運成本。

保留原有地基 隨時恢復生產


科大研究初步篩選出，大澳以北一幅約半公頃的鹽田進行復修（圖中沒有紅樹土地），受影響紅樹減至最少。（馬耀森攝）

為減少對環境影響，他建議選址於大澳以北一幅半公頃的荒廢鹽田，土地底部完整保留了由碎石及黏土組成的地基，隨時可恢復生產。該土地大部分面積沒有紅樹，只需移除邊緣的紅樹再在附近補種，就可彌補生態損失。

選址周圍現時生長了大片紅樹林，政府最初提出復修鹽田的構思惹來環團反對，擔心破壞生態。另外亦有該區居民反對，擔心鹽田蓄海水製鹽，一旦遇上暴雨，會加劇水浸。廖迪生認為，只要將鹽田邊界圍起，將製鹽時產生的鹹度較高海水及生活污水，輸送到離海岸較遠的位置排放，應可解決問題。此舉會令營運費用增加，可能要政府補貼，否則難以回本。

廖迪生說，鹽業是昔日大澳的重要經濟命脈，在舊址復修鹽田，「目的並非賣鹽，而是要教育市民及遊客，認識大澳的過去。」他認為政府不應視復修鹽田為旅遊項目，交由財團經營，建議由當地人負責營運，加強本地色彩及與旅客互動。

事實上，城規會去年9月頒布的大澳邊緣發展審批地區草圖，已預留約1.2公頃土地劃為「未決定用途」，指定用作鹽田示範辦場，以待有關鹽田的研究完成，訂定適當土地用途。

明報記者 馬耀森

茹素者憂破戒 顧客見紅色變 星巴克飲品被揭蟲屍調色

(星島日報報道)星巴克（Starbucks）咖啡連鎖店的草莓飲料，近日被揭用壓碎的胭脂蟲屍體調色。消息曝光後，立刻引起強烈反應。星巴克強調，蟲子調色劑屬天然色素，比起人工色素而言，更有利消費者健康，而且也獲得美國食品和藥物管理局（FDA）安全認證。然而，許多消費者對「吞下蟲子」依然表示無法接受，甚至考慮拒絕所有紅色飲料和食品。

該消息公諸於世，源於一位素食主義店員，他工作期間發現星巴克的星冰樂（Frapuccino）中，含有胭脂蟲（cochineal）為原料的 色劑，認為這導致許多素食者在不知情情況，喝下帶有葷腥的飲料，因此把消息公布在素食主義網站上，美加媒體即紛紛報道該事件。星巴克公司承認，確實有在草莓飲品中使用胭脂蟲紅萃取液（cochineal extract），即是把胭脂蟲碾碎後造成的調色劑。

星巴克堅稱安全合法

公司指出，使用該天然生物原料，可以有效減少使用人工色素，更有利消費者健康。不過，星冰樂確實不屬於素食飲料。一些消費者表示，寧可吃下不健康的人工色素，也不願意吞下蟲子。在洛杉磯，星巴克忠實顧客琳達表示，星冰樂是她在夏季最喜愛喝的飲料之一，當天看到網絡新聞，簡直不敢相信，同時感到噁心。她回憶說，過去在喝該飲料時，有時會吃到一些類似草莓碎片的物體，現在想想，難道這就是尚未被碾碎的蟲子翅膀或其他身體部分？她發誓從今以後絕對不再喝星冰樂，甚至於其他的紅色飲料都會一律說「不」。

洛杉磯各地的星巴克分店，日前依然門庭若市，似乎並沒受消息影響。當天有少數消費者提出相關疑問，不過有些人還是義無反顧地購買該飲料。FDA指出，胭脂蟲調色劑對人體沒有健康威脅，是安全食用產品。

Hot Money Waiting For Big Market Movement

Equity stock market wavers at the top of recent rally. Long term investors stop liquidating the portfolio after market retreat. There is rush of buying in the beginning of pullback but participation is limited. There is not enough selling to drag down market. Market manipulators are not confident to short sell the market without herd of panic sellers. Institutional and individual investors are waiting for more bargain despite mountain of cash on hand. Although trading volume stays low, more market participants are interested to execute trades when opportunities come.

Since the beginning of year, the economic environment exhibits improvement over time. Investors are gaining confidence in economic growth. As a result of swelling personal wealth, people are looking for wealth assets and equity stock market is benefited from rising demand for wealth investment.

The speculative trading portfolio suffers further depreciation as the underlying stocks dive lower in opposite to the rising market. It is a difficult situation for decision. It appears that market is working against the porfolio. There is a painful experience during the financial meltdown period. The portfolio was long in most stocks and short in one stock for hedging. As market fell, the long stocks also fell but the shorted stock shot up more than triple in valuation. It was liquidated near the peak. Currently this stock is only one third of the shorted price, in other words, about one tenth of the liquidation price. If the stock position was held, it would be currently 60% profit rather than 200% loss.

Hot money continues to circulate in the capital market. Market participants should be prepared for turbulence or otherwise ignore short term profit and loss but focused on long term appreciation.



Why Obama Is Wrong and Romney and Ryan Are Right About Taxing the Rich: Glenn Hubbard
"What both Rep. Ryan's and Gov. Romney's plans have in common is the notion of tax reform: broaden base and lower the rates, both corporate and individual," says Glenn Hubbard, Dean of Columbia Business School and
an economic adviser to Romney.

Like nearly all Republicans, Hubbard is adamantly opposed to President Obama budget, which calls for raising the top marginal tax rate to 39.6% from 35% today.

Based on the Simpson-Bowles plan, Reps. Steve LaTourette (R., Ohio) and Jim Cooper (D., Tenn.) proposed a plan to lower marginal tax rates but also eliminate or dramatically limit tax breaks, which typically benefit the wealthiest Americans most.

PIMCO’s Bill Gross: QE3, Inflation, Muted Growth on the Way
Another round (or two) of quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve, muted growth and an end to the 30-year bull run in government bonds.

Gross says long-term interest rates have been rising in recent weeks for two principal reasons. "Yes, inflation is rearing its head. We're seeing that in oil prices and other commodities, and we're seeing it in the numbers," he said. The consumer price index has risen 2.9% in the past 12 months.

Bond holders tend to fear strong growth because it has the potential to ignite inflation and boost interest rates, thus reducing their returns. Gross says that while the economy has improved, it shows no signs of overheating. He believes the U.S. economy is growing at about a 2% annual rate in the first quarter "and probably beyond."

Large Hedge Funds Fared Well in 2011
Hedge funds have endured a rough year. Tumultuous markets. Tighter regulations. An insider trading crackdown.

But despite the lackluster environment, the top managers still took home $14.4 billion in 2011.

Even when returns suffer, the largest hedge funds can collect big paychecks, thanks to the fees they charge pensions, endowments and wealthy individuals to manage money.

The average hedge fund lost 5 percent in 2011, according to Hedge Fund Research Composite Index, which tracks nearly 2,000 portfolios. That compares with a 2 percent gain for S&P 500.

Sun Hung Kai dives as billionaire Kwok brothers arrested
More than $5 billion was wiped off the market value of Sun Hung Kai Properties on Friday, after the billionaire owners of Asia's largest real estate developer were arrested on suspicion of corruption.

Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) arrested Raymond and Thomas Kwok in the agency's biggest investigation since it was set up in 1974 to root out what was seen as widespread corruption in the government and police.

The arrests on Thursday come just days after Hong Kong elected Beijing-loyalist Leung Chun-ying as its next leader, pledging land for cheaper public housing, and as soaring property prices, the most expensive in the world, have stirred public discontent. Home prices almost doubled in the five years to end-2011, according to real estate broker Knight Frank.

"This is not good for the image of Hong Kong, which used to have a high reputation for integrity," said Joseph Wong, a former senior government official and colleague of Hui. "The impression is that government policies tend to favor the rich tycoons, particularly rich property developers. These sort of cases will only add to the suspicions."

The Kwoks are worth $18.3 billion, according to Forbes magazine, the second-biggest family fortune in Hong Kong after Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing, founder of rival developer Cheung Kong (Holdings).

Shares in Sun Hung Kai slumped more than 15 percent to 15-week lows when they resumed trading on Friday. The company owns some of the former British colony's largest properties, including its tallest building, the International Commerce Centre that houses Morgan Stanley and the Ritz Carlton.

"This is justice. They're among the biggest, richest men in Hong Kong. The power of the property sector is too strong, but the business-government connection is the same around the world," Terry So, an elderly chauffeur, told Reuters near the Sun Hung Kai Centre.

The South China Morning Post reported that the ICAC was looking into suspected debts of more than HK$100 million ($12.9 million) linked to Hui, and a related, unsecured loan of HK$50 million.

Hui was Chief Secretary under Hong Kong's leader Donald Tsang in 2005-07, a post that would entitle him to government housing. But he chose to stay in his 4,000 square foot Leighton Hill apartment - a pink and tan marble residential tower that overlooks the Happy Valley racecourse and was developed by Sun Hung Kai.

The unfolding scandal has gripped Hong Kong, the world's most densely populated city which was returned to Chinese rule by the British in 1997.

給他5分鐘 男子記3百個數字

（法新社紐約24日電）登山家戴利斯（Nelson Dellis）今天連續第2年在美國記憶錦標賽（USA Memory Championship）奪冠，是個令人「記憶深刻」 的一天。 戴利斯表現令人印象深刻，甚至還在隨機數字項目 中打破自己紀錄，在5分鐘內成功記下驚人的303個數字 。 27歲來自佛羅里達州，熱愛登山的戴利斯今天在紐 約人潮聚集的錦標賽中，打敗在該賽事中被稱為腦力運 動員的其他7位決賽選手。 參賽者們紛紛以超強健腦力展現高難度記憶技巧， 包括記住99張臉與名字、1首50行詩，以及依序記住1副 洗過的撲克牌。 美國記憶錦標賽已有15年歷史，創辦人多廷諾（ Tony Dottino）表示，他的目標是要證明腦袋也可以像 身體其他部位一樣，接受訓練和改善。多廷諾曾是國際 商業機器公司（IBM）高層主管。 他說：「腦部運動的確有助大腦增長。」「如此一來，腦細胞就會持續增加。」（譯者：中央社徐嘉偉）

Rising Stock Dividends Raises Investor Confidence

Equity stock market is consolidating at a level not seen since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Most market participants are under-invested in the strong rally since beginning of 2012. Therefore while long term investors are offloading some holdings to take profit and to raise cash level, traders and active investors are anxious to buy on the dip in order to catch up in this rally.

Current market sentiment is unfavorable to the selling strategy of market manipulators. They are sitting on the gain of commodities position. Currently, asset values have reached a level that long term investors have appreciable gain.

The speculative trading portfolio performance is disappointing. The stock positions are struggling at bottom and show no obvious sign of support. On the other hand, the hedging position in the portfolio is losing value as the market remains strong as expected. The situation reflects the weakness of the trading skills in a competitive and manipulated environment where conventional thinking and event outcome may not match.

The outlook for short term market performance remains strong despite uncertainties ahead. Market participants are more concerned to catch up in the rally rather than fear of panic selling due to under-investing.

However, market manipulators have not yet changed the selling strategy. Therefore market participants should be cautious. Market movement appears similar to last year when it climbed to year high before consolidation and then sudden panic selling.



Stocks' correction coming? Not that again
Investors are beginning to wonder if this "Energizer Bunny" of a rally can just keep going without taking a break or a fall.

Every Friday for the past couple of months, the question has hung in the back of investors' minds: Is the stock market's rally strong enough to continue without a correction?

"We are seeing this unbelievable rally in the market and yet the market is unbelievably complacent. We haven't been this bullish for a long time," said Randy Frederick, director of trading and derivatives at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, based in Austin, Texas.

Analysts Turn Bullish 6-Months Late: What Does it Say About the Rally?
And just as the S&P 500 hits its highest point since May 2008, now within 10% of its record close of 1,565 from October 2007, the thundering herd of belated bulls is finally showing up to the bash.

"We've had a monster rally since last year and analysts have been negative the whole time," says Paul Hickey, co-founder, Bespoke Investment Group in the attached video clip.
It may be fashionable to show up a little late for a party, but for Wall Street analysts the tendency to be tardy seems more like the rule, not the exception. And just as the S&P 500 hits its highest point since May 2008, now within 10% of its record close of 1,565 from October 2007, the thundering herd of belated bulls is finally showing up to the bash.

"We've had a monster rally since last year and analysts have been negative the whole time," says Paul Hickey, co-founder, Bespoke Investment Group in the attached video clip.

But guess what his research just discovered?

"Over the last four weeks, the revisions ratio (of upgrades to downgrades) just turned positive for the first time since early August," Hickey says.

In short, what that means is that six months and 30% later, stocks are just now looking good. While this is not the first time analysts have been on the exact opposite side of a trend, Hickey points out that, in and of itself, it does not mean the bull run is about to end. Quite the contrary.

The transition from fear to greed (or vice versa) is never perfect, nor should it be expected, but this round of conversion has been particularly sluggish, even at the start of the New Year when analysts are historically optimistic.

"When you start off the year, usually analysts are positive on equities and bullish on their outlooks, so you see some upgrades in the stocks they cover," he says. "This year, every single day until late February there were more downgrades of individual stocks than upgrades of individual stocks."

Some other observations include that on a valuation basis, this market may be overbought, but is still not overly expensive, as Hickey says "a strong rally but that doesn't change the fact that valuations are still below historical averages."

Goldman Sachs: Best Time in a Generation to Buy Stocks, Sell Bonds
As much as most of us could effortlessly list a dozen reasons why the next 10 years will be as hard on stock investors as the previous decade, what matters today is that Goldman Sachs is making a big call to the contrary.

"It's a curious time to do it," Macke says in the attached video. "They're either very, very late or prescient as all get out."

Do not panic: The rally in risk assets is for real
If you're waiting for the next meltdown in U.S. stocks or in commodities, you may want to get over it.

After several false dawns following the global financial crisis, more investors are starting to believe the current rally in stocks, commodities and emerging markets could be a long-lasting one.

The S&P 500 closed above 1,400 points last week for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis. Investors piled into U.S. equity funds, with the biggest weekly inflows since mid-September.

Since its recent bottom in early October, the S&P index has jumped 30 percent. But for the first time since 2007, investors are not using the gains as an opportunity to take profits and run away. Instead, the rally has been slow and steady, and investors see the sustained improvement in the U.S. economy as a sign that demand has returned and that risky assets can support higher valuations.

"The prospects for future returns in equities relative to bonds are as good as they have been in a generation," Goldman Sachs in a note Wednesday said.

Dean Junkans, chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Advisors and Wells Fargo Private Bank, said individual investors have started wading back into higher-risk, higher-yield assets, including high-yield and emerging market funds.

"For the last five years, few people wanted to talk about a long-term plan," said Junkans, who oversees $1.3 trillion in assets. Instead, investors had preferred the safety of low-yielding Treasury bills and money market funds.

"Now I'd say they are dipping their toes back into the market," he said, citing demand for high-dividend-yield stocks, high-yield corporate debt, and emerging market fixed income.

"Markets love a grizzly story," said Simon Smollett, senior currency options strategist at Credit Agricole in London. "But there is no grizzly story. The bears have left the room."

NYC’s Luxury Housing Market Booms, While American Dream Fades for Most
The housing market in New York City has largely avoided the problems afflicting other cities and towns across the country: foreclosures, falling home prices, stalled construction.

Even Wall Street layoffs and smaller bonuses are unlikely to make a dent in Manhattan real estate, one of the most expensive in the country. Jonathan Miller, the CEO of real estate appraiser Miller Samuel, says high-end properties are selling quickly and often at record prices.

High-end Manhattan real estate may be breaking new records, but the national housing market continues to stumble.

"It is not a proxy for how the rest of the market is doing," he says. "What's going on in the very high-end of the market is so disconnected from reality."

Surprise Increase in Rates Is Credited to Signs of Recovery
Investors will be closely watching for another rise in interest rates when trading resumes on Monday, after the bond market’s sharpest move in nearly six months caught some traders by surprise last week.

Despite the sudden swing higher, most Wall Street strategists are playing down the danger of a surge in interest rates, which have been historically low because of demand for bonds from both the Federal Reserve and private investors wary of all but the safest assets.

The sell-off last week was caused by increasing signs that the economy might finally be gaining steam, lifting the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds to 2.31 percent on Friday, from 2.04 percent a week earlier. That was the biggest move in bond yields, which move inversely to bond prices, since October, when rates briefly topped 2.4 percent.

Strategists, money managers and other experts said last week’s move in rates was spurred by the Federal Reserve’s statement about improving economic trends, as well as the largely upbeat results also announced on Tuesday from the stress tests performed by the Fed on 19 large banks. Regulators will now permit a host of banks to raise dividends and buy back stock, another sign of the financial sector’s recovery since the financial crisis.

“The message is that maybe things aren’t as bad as people thought,” said Carl Kaufman, a portfolio manager in San Francisco with Osterweis Capital, which has $5 billion under management. “You can’t have it both ways with healthy banks, a stronger economy, and still have a zero interest rate policy.”

In fact, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index gained 2.4 percent last week and now stands at its highest level since May 2008, before the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the onset of the financial crisis.

He added that if rates were to keep moving higher, the Fed would most likely step in with another round of “quantitative easing,” buying up bonds to force rates lower. In particular, the Fed wants mortgage rates to remain low in an effort to help the housing market heal. Mortgage rates have increased slightly in recent days, but remain below 4 percent.

“If you got back to 4.4 percent or 4.5 percent, the Fed would get nervous,” Mr. Jersey said.

風也蕭蕭 21/3/2012 (YouTube)

主持人： 蕭若元、靳民知、Jessie、一樹、Cody

風也蕭蕭 21/3/2012 Part 1
香港的厄運：論三二0拜決 / 肥佬黎如夢初醒 / 沈旭輝「絕命書」/ 孔子三分鐘


風也蕭蕭 21/3/2012 Part 2
香港的厄運：梁振英的部署 / 成王敗寇：蕭生的少有大志


聲音檔案
風也蕭蕭 21/3/2012 Part 1
香港的厄運：論三二0拜決 / 肥佬黎如夢初醒 / 沈旭輝「絕命書」/ 孔子三分鐘



風也蕭蕭 21/3/2012 Part 2
香港的厄運：梁振英的部署 / 成王敗寇：蕭生的少有大志

Haunted real estate attracts Hong Kong's rational investors

Would you live with a ghost to save on rent? Many buyers in Hong Kong's mega-pricey housing market do extensive background checks to avoid moving into a new home that may be under the influence of a vengeful spirit. There's even a term, "hongza," for the haunted listings, which sell for much less than apartments in which horrible deaths and spine-chilling accidents have not occurred. This systemic discounting has created a new breed of investors who ain't afraid of no ghosts and are actively looking for something strange in elite neighborhoods, tracking tragedies in the papers in an effort to make the first bid on the newest haunted house.