Are all Credit Default Swap databases equal?

The presence of different prices in different databases for the same securities can impair the comparability of research efforts and seriously damage the management decisions based upon such research. In this study we compare the six major sources of corporate Credit Default Swap prices: GFI, Fenics, Reuters EOD, CMA, Markit and JP Morgan, using the most liquid single name 5-year CDS of the components of the leading market indexes, iTraxx (European firms) and CDX (US firms) for the period from 2004 to 2010. We find systematic differences between the data sets implying that deviations from the common trend among prices in the different databases are not purely random but are explained by idiosyncratic factors as well as liquidity, global risk and other trading factors. The lower is the amount of transaction prices available the higher is the deviation among databases. Our results suggest that the CMA database quotes lead the price discovery process in comparison with the quotes provided by other databases. Several robustness tests confirm these results.Credit Default Swap prices, Databases, Liquidity

Towards a Common European Monetary Union Risk Free Rate

A common European bond would yield a common European Monetary Union risk free rate. We present tentative estimates of this common risk free for the European Monetary Union countries from 2004 to 2009 using variables motivated by a theoretical portfolio selection model. First, we analyze the determinants of EMU sovereign yield spreads and find significant effects of the credit quality, macro, correlation, and liquidity variables. However, their effects are different before and after the current financial crisis, being stronger in the latter period. Robustness tests with different data frequencies, benchmarks, liquidity variables, cross section regressions and balanced panels confirm the initial results. We propose four different estimates of the common risk free rate and show that, in most cases, this common rate could imply savings in borrowing costs for all the countries involved.

Are all Credit Default Swap Databases Equal?

The presence of different prices in different databases for the same securities can impair the comparability of research efforts and seriously damage the management decisions based upon such research. In this study we compare the six major sources of corporate Credit Default Swap prices: GFI, Fenics, Reuters EOD, CMA, Markit and JP Morgan, using the most liquid single name 5-year CDS of the components of the leading market indexes, iTraxx (European firms) and CDX (US firms) for the period from 2004 to 2010. We find systematic differences between the data sets implying that deviations from the common trend among prices in the different databases are not purely random but are explained by idiosyncratic factors as well as liquidity, global risk and other trading factors. The lower is the amount of transaction prices available the higher is the deviation among databases. Our results suggest that the CMA database quotes lead the price discovery process in comparison with the quotes provided by other databases. Several robustness tests confirm these results.

Are all credit default swap databases equal?

The presence of different prices in different databases for the same securities can impair the comparability of research efforts and seriously damage the management decisions based upon such research. In this study we compare the six major sources of corporate Credit Default Swap prices: GFI, Fenics, Reuters EOD, CMA, Markit and JP Morgan, using the most liquid single name 5-year CDS of the components of the leading market indexes, iTraxx (European firms) and CDX (US firms) for the period from 2004 to 2010. We find systematic differences between the data sets implying that deviations from the common trend among prices in the different databases are not purely random but are explained by idiosyncratic factors as well as liquidity, global risk and other trading factors. The lower is the amount of transaction prices available the higher is the deviation among databases. Our results suggest that the CMA database quotes lead the price discovery process in comparison with the quotes provided by other databases. Several robustness tests confirm these results

Towards a common European monetary union risk free rate

A common European bond would yield a common European Monetary Union risk free rate. We present tentative estimates of this common risk free for the European Monetary Union countries from 2004 to 2009 using variables motivated by a theoretical portfolio selection model. First, we analyze the determinants of EMU sovereign yield spreads and find significant effects of the credit quality, macro, correlation, and liquidity variables. However, their effects are different before and after the current financial crisis, being stronger in the latter period. Robustness tests with different data frequencies, benchmarks, liquidity variables, cross section regressions and balanced panels confirm the initial results. We propose four different estimates of the common risk free rate and show that, in most cases, this common rate could imply savings in borrowing costs for all the countries involved

Evaluation of a customer loyalty strategy with system dymamics

The customer loyalty programs are a tool of differentiation and high impact to create long term relationships with customers of a company, so as to achieve an improvement in the portfolio and collections, redu­ced costs of customer service, increased revenue from higher sales to the most profitable customers, cross selling, among many other benefits. Ac­cordingly, we present a system dynamic model to analyze the economic benefits, in terms of profitability, which would be to implement a customer loyalty strategy. To adjust and validate the proposed model, its implemen­tation is done in a real case of a marketer of agricultural products in the department of Valle del Cauca - Colombia. The simulation results show that indeed the model fulfills its purpose, and that the loyalty program achieved significant results in the finances of the organization.Los programas de fidelización de clientes son una herramienta de diferen­ciación y alto impacto para crear relaciones de largo plazo con los clientes de una empresa, de tal forma que se logre una mejora en cartera y recaudo, reducción de costos de atención a clientes, incremento en ingresos por mayores ventas a los clientes más rentables, ventas cruzadas, entre muchos otros beneficios. De acuerdo con esto, se presenta un modelo de dinámica de sistemas que permita analizar los beneficios económicos, en términos de rentabilidad, que se tendrían al implementar una estrategia de fideliza­ción de clientes. Para ajustar y validar el modelo propuesto, se aplica en un caso real de una empresa comercializadora de productos agrícolas de la región. Los resultados de la simulación muestran que efectivamente el modelo cumple con su objetivo, y que el programa de fidelización logra importantes resultados en las finanzas de la organización

Assessment of hormonal parameters in long-term karate Practitioners

Introduction: Karate is a Japanese martial art which is widely practiced in the Western world as a form of self-defense, as well as a discipline to achieve physical and mental balance.However, little is known with respect to its specific psychobiological effects, particularly in relation to the influence that karate may exert on the endocrine system. Thus, in the present study we analyzed the effects of regular karate practice on several hormonal parameters. Methods: 27 healthy volunteer subjects participated in the study, of whom 15 were allocated to the experimental group, and 12 were assigned to the control group. Experimental subjects were karate players with a minimum of 3 years of practice in this discipline. Blood samples for the quantification of hormonal parameters (TSH, T3, T4, PTH, ACTH, cortisol, and DHEA) were taken in both groups. To compare the means of the control and experimental group, a t-test for independent groups was performed in each dependent variable. Results: Significant differences between the experimental and control group were found in T3, T4, and cortisol, with karate players showing lower blood levels of these hormones than control. Conclusions: These findings reveal that long-term karate practice is associated to a significant endocrine modulation, which suggests interesting psychobiological implications, and lends itself to potential clinical considerations. Further research is needed to properly assess the scope of the peculiar hormonal profile displayed by advanced karate practitioners.Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Immune modulation after long-term karate practice

Introduction: Karate is a Japanese martial arts system which traces its roots back to China, and is nowadays widely popular both as a method of self-defense, as well as a discipline with potential physical and psychological benefits. However, karate has been scarcely investigated from a psychobiological perspective, and its effects on the immune system remain virtually unknown. Therefore, we designed the present study with the aim of analyzing the effects of several years of regular karate practice on different immune parameters. Methods: 27 healthy volunteer subjects participated in the study, 15 being allocated to the experimental group, and 12 to the control group. Experimental subjects were all karate players who had practiced this martial art for a minimum of three years. Blood samples for the quantification of immune parameters (leukocytes, neutrophils, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, lymphocytes, IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE) were taken in both groups. As statistical analysis, a t-test for independent groups was performed in each dependent variable. Results: Compared to the control group, karate practitioners exhibited a significantly higher number of leukocytes, monocytes, and lymphocytes, as well as greater serum concentrations of IgG and IgM. Conclusions: Our findings show that long-term karate practice is related to a broad modulation of immune parameters, including leukocytes counts as well as immunoglobulin concentrations. This peculiar immunomodulatory profile, apart from its psychobiological relevance, may have noteworthy clinical implications. Further investigation would be necessary to fully elucidate the influence that long-term karate training can exert on the immune system.Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Captación artificial y crecimiento temprano de la semilla de Argopecten puppuratus (Lamarck, 1819) en la Reserva Marina La Rinconada, Antofagasta, Chile

Artificial collection of early juveniles (“spat”) of the scallop Argopecten purpuratus in Japanese-type collectors was evaluated between January 2001 and July 2002 in the La Rinconada Marine Reserve, Antofagasta, Chile. This area of Antofagasta Bay has in the past been noted for the retention of scallop larvae by local gyres, in which their numbers can vary between 89 and 34175 larvae m-3, producing larval sets of 400 to 15340 post-larvae (spat) per collector. The results showed no quantitative relationship between larval abundance in the water and the spat density collected per day in the collectors, although high settlement rates were associated with high numbers of umboned larvae in the water. Allowing collectors to remain in situ for extended periods of 88 and 159 days resulted in a severe loss of seed which had settled in the collectors during the first 28 to 40 days of immersion. These losses varied between 50.9 and 99.6% of the spat collected, and were more prejudicial for the smaller cohorts that had settled in the collectors at the end of the first immersion period. The growth rates measured among different cohorts for each immersion period varied between 81.3 and 235.2 mm/day for the first cohort (C1) and between 64.0 and 167.4 mm/day for the second cohort (C2). The highest growth rates occurred in collectors containing the lowest numbers of spat after the occurrence of spat losses during the long periods of immersion. Occurrence of intraspecific competition within the collectors is discussed as potentially responsible for the decreases in spat numbers and the variations observed in their growth rates.Un programa mensual de captación de A. purpuratus, implementado en la reserva marina de La Rinconada, entre enero de 2001 y julio de 2002, la caracterizó como zona de retención larvaria, con densidades variando entre 89 y 34175 larvas m-3, y de fijaciones entre 400 y 15340 post-larvas por colector. No se encontró una relación directa entre abundancia larvaria y asentamiento, sin embargo, las mayores captaciones estuvieron asociadas a la presencia de un elevado número de estados umbonados. La mantenimiento prolongado de colectores in situ, por periodos que variaron entre 88 y 159 días, provocó una fuerte reducción en el número de semillas que se asentaron en ellos durante los primeros 28 a 40 días de inmersión Estas reducciones variaron entre el 99.6 y el 50.9% de la semilla fijada, siendo las más perjudicadas las cohortes más pequeñas, asentadas al final del primer periodo de inmersión. Las tasas de crecimiento registradas en estas cohortes, para cada periodo de inmersión, variaron entre 81.3 y 235.2 ìm/día para las cohortes C1 y entre 64.0 y 167.4 ìm/día para las cohortes C2. Las mayores tasas están directamente relacionadas con un menor número de semilla recuperada. Se discuten las competencias intraespecíficas ocurridas en los colectores, como responsables de la disminución del número de semilla y de las variaciones registradas en sus tasas de crecimiento

Investigating Piezochromic Properties of πconjugated Materials: a combined Raman and DFT Study

Π-conjugated materials have been studied for decades due to their great interest in organic electronics. Among them, piezochromic materials, which exhibit color changes resulting from external pressure or mechanical grinding, become very attractive from a scientific viewpoint owing to their potential applications as pressure-sensing and opticalrecording systems1. The main target of the present work is to develop a joint experimental and theoretical approach able to deliver crucial information for the understanding of the structural effects causing piezochromic changes. To this end, we will focus our attention on two families of -conjugated materials with potential application as sensors. The first one is a family of 9,10-Bis((E)-n(pyrid-2-yl)vinyl) anthracene, BPnVA (n=2 orto-,3 metha- and 4 para-) compounds, see Figure 1. Interestingly, these three compounds with varying position of the nitrogen on the external pyridyl group exhibit different molecular packing modes. Grinding and the application of external pressure on the powder also led to a strong change in their photoluminescence color.2 The second familiy is based on the N,N’-Bis-Boc-3,3’-di(pyren-1yl)-2,2’-biindole compound (compound 1c in Figure 1) which also shows photoluminescence under pressure application. However, the molecular packing induced by this phenomenon is still under study 3. In both cases, it will be also very interesting to determine how temperature affects the vibrational structure of these systems.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech