Asset Management in Volatile Markets

The 27th SUERF Colloquium in Munich in June 2008: New Trends in Asset Management: Exploring the Implications was already topical in the Summer of 2008. The subsequent dramatic events in the Autumn of 2008 made the presentations in Munich even more relevant to investors and bankers that want to understand what happens in their investment universe. In the present SUERF Study, we have collected a sample of outstanding colloquium contributions under the fitting headline: Asset Management in Volatile Markets.derivatives, financial innovation, asset management, finance-growth-nexus; Relative Value Strategy, Pair Trading, Slippage, Implementation Shortfall, Asset Management, Fin4Cast

A Significant Population Signal in Iranian Temperature Records

We assembled daily maximum and minimum temperature records for 31 stations throughout Iran over the period 1961–2010. As with many other areas of the world, we found that both the maximum and minimum temperatures were increasing overall with the minimum temperatures increasing twice as fast as the maximum temperatures. We gathered population data for the stations near the beginning and end of the temperature records and found in all seasons and for both the maximum and minimum temperatures the magnitude of population growth positively influenced the temperature trends. However, unlike so many other studies, we found the strongest population growth signal in the winter for the maximum temperatures. We found evidence that this winter-season population-temperature signal is related snow cover. Our results illustrate that any number of processes are involved in explaining trends in historical maximum and minimum temperature records

Ultra-enhanced spring branch growth in CO 2 -enriched trees: can it alter the phase of the atmosphere's seasonal CO 2 cycle?

Abstract Since the early 1960s, the declining phase of the atmosphere's seasonal CO 2 cycle has advanced by approximately 7 days in northern temperate latitudes, possibly as a result of increasing temperatures that may be advancing the time of occurrence of what may be called 'climatological spring.' However, just as several different phenomena are thought to have been responsible for the concomitant increase in the amplitude of the atmosphere's seasonal CO 2 oscillation, so too may other factors have played a role in bringing about the increasingly earlier spring drawdown of CO 2 that has resulted in the advancement of the declining phase of the air's CO 2 cycle. One of these factors may be the ongoing rise in the CO 2 content of the air itself; for the aerial fertilization effect of this phenomenon may be significantly enhancing the growth of each new season's initial flush of vegetation, which would tend to stimulate the early drawdown of atmospheric CO 2 and thereby advance the time of occurrence of what could be called 'biological spring.' Working with sour orange (Citrus aurantium L.) trees that have been growing out-of-doors in open-top chambers for over 10 years in air of either 400 or 700 ppm CO 2 , this hypothesis was investigated by periodically measuring the lengths, dry weights and leaf chlorophyll concentrations of new branches that emerged from the trees at the start of the 1998 growing season. The data demonstrate that the hypothesis is viable, and that it might possibly account for 2 of the 7 days by which the spring drawdown of the air's CO 2 concentration has advanced over the past few decades

Fine-scale spatial variability of heat-related mortality in Philadelphia County, USA, from 1983-2008: a case-series analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High temperature and humidity conditions are associated with short-term elevations in the mortality rate in many United States cities. Previous research has quantified this relationship in an aggregate manner over large metropolitan areas, but within these areas the response may differ based on local-scale variability in climate, population characteristics, and socio-economic factors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We compared the mortality response for 48 Zip Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) comprising Philadelphia County, PA to determine if certain areas are associated with elevated risk during high heat stress conditions. A randomization test was used to identify mortality exceedances for various apparent temperature thresholds at both the city and local scale. We then sought to identify the environmental, demographic, and social factors associated with high-risk areas via principal components regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Citywide mortality increases by 9.3% on days following those with apparent temperatures over 34°C observed at 7:00 p.m. local time. During these conditions, elevated mortality rates were found for 10 of the 48 ZCTAs concentrated in the west-central portion of the County. Factors related to high heat mortality risk included proximity to locally high surface temperatures, low socioeconomic status, high density residential zoning, and age.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Within the larger Philadelphia metropolitan area, there exists statistically significant fine-scale spatial variability in the mortality response to high apparent temperatures. Future heat warning systems and mitigation and intervention measures could target these high risk areas to reduce the burden of extreme weather on summertime morbidity and mortality.</p

Spatial and Temporal Variations in Long-Term Normal Percent Possible Solar Radiation Levels in the United States

The purpose of this study was to analyze the time and space variations in long-term monthly-averaged daily percent possible solar radiation levels in the United States. Both principal components analysis and harmonic analysis were used to identify the influences of various synoptic-scale climatological phenomena on solar radiation receipt. Generally, an annual cycle was found with maximum percent possible radiation levels occurring in July. In many regions the temporal variance structure deviated from this general annual cycle. The results, which are useful in both theoretical and practical studies, lead to a better understanding of the climatology of solar radiation in the United States

Boyce Thompson Arboretum Freeze Damage Analysis

Desert Plants is published by The University of Arizona for the Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum. For more information about this unique botanical journal, please email the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Publications Office at [email protected]

Analysis of Diurnal Patterns in Winter Precipitation across the Conterminous United States

Abstract Hourly winter (November–March) precipitation data were assembled for nearly 5000 stations in the conterminous United States over the period 1948–98. Despite a potential observation bias in the 24th hour, a general tendency for winter precipitation events was found to occur more frequently near sunrise than for any other time of the day. Based on the standardized amplitude of the first harmonic wave, the pattern is most pronounced in Texas and in an area surrounding Colorado and Wyoming. The pattern also appears significant in the southeastern United States and in northern California based on the variance explained by the first harmonic fit. It is suggested that the diurnal patterns seen in the conterminous United States are related to increased relative humidity values occurring near sunrise and increased wind speeds in the warm sector of cyclonic storms

Analysis of trends in maximum and minimum temperature, diurnal temperature range, and cloud cover over India

We assembled data at a 1° latitude by 1° longitude resolution for 285 cells across India and analyzed the seasonal trends in the maximum and minimum temperature, diurnal temperature range (DTR), and cloud cover for the time period 1931–2002. Significant increases in maximum and minimum temperature have occurred over the Deccan plateau, but in general, trends in DTR were not significant except for a decrease in northwest Kashmir in summer. The effect of cloud cover on the DTR was expectedly negative for most of the country for winter and summer seasons with significant increase in summer cloud cover in Kashmir