Posts Tagged ‘Sweden’
August 22, 2011
The end-game for Saab is being played out and I can’t help feeling that – unlike for Gaddafi – this end-game is still one designed by Vladimir Antonov and implemented by Victor Muller. Svenska Dagbladet reports today:
Confidence in Saab is faltering as two major car dealers have stopped selling Saab in Sweden and also in the U.S.
Meanwhile Victor Muller is “lending” his private shares to the fund that recently bought newly issued and discounted Saab shares to raise cash to pay salaries. And it seems that to avoid the dilution of shares a complicated deal is being done with Muller’s shares
Saab (actually the parent company Swedish Automobile) in August, in a last desperate measure, used cash from GEM fund to pay salaries. GEM’s business is to buy newly printed shares at a discount and then sell them at a profit on the open market. This provided Saab with a needed cash injection, but was also a dangerous dilution with the risk that the stock price would go down.
The Dutch financial agency AFM, has said that now Victor Muller has got rid of almost half of his shares, 3.3 million and converted them into stock options along with 2.5 million unlisted class A shares.
“I sold zero shares, but lent my shares to GEM to allow them to sell them. I get non-listed A shares of the Company as compensation” Muller said in a an SMS text message. According to the AFM, it means at this time that Muller’s influence has decreased from 8.5 million to 3.6 million voting shares. According to Muller, the options are now directly convertible into A shares. “There is an instant convert to A shares and there are no conditions associated with stock options” he writes in his SMS.
Worker’s wages are due on Thursday and white-collar employees should be paid on Friday. Saab itself has been emptied of cash and assets and this may be another ploy. Of course money Muller raises by lending his own shares is cash to his private account. It can only get into Saab’s coffers if he provides a secure loan of some kind to Saab and I am sure he will not lose out as other creditors will in the event of an insolvency.
In the meantime Swedish authorities – the Swedish Enforcement Administration, or Kronofogden – have launched an official debt collection probe of Saab where unpaid bills have been piling up for months as a first step in what could end in bankruptcy. Kronofogden’s Hans Ryberg announced last week that the probe results from the unpaid bills of Sweden’s Infotiv, owed 224,000 kronor, and of Norway’s Kongsberg, owed 145,000 kronor.
Production has been at a standstill since April.
Related: Saab being plundered by Victor Muller and his friends
Tags:SAAB, Saab Automobile, Spyker Cars, Sweden, Victor Muller, Vladimir Antonov
Posted in Automobiles, Business, Ethics, Sweden | 1 Comment »
June 21, 2011
The Summer Solstice is today (at about 1800 local time).
At this latitude (58° 43′ 0″ N), sunrise is at 0346 and sunset is at 2211 giving us the longest day of the year – even though the official Midsommar holiday in Sweden will be celebrated on Friday and Saturday (when the day will be about a minute shorter).
But we are expecting a good deal of rain and the number of hours of sunshine and temperatures – maximums of about 18 °C – will not break any records.
from eclipsetraveler.com
Wikipedia: In modern Sweden, Midsummer’s Eve and Midsummer’s Day celebration are held on the Friday and Saturday between 19 June and 26 June. It is one of the most important holidays of the year in Sweden, and probably the most uniquely Swedish in the way it is celebrated. The main celebrations take place on the Friday, and the traditional events include raising and dancing around a huge maypole. Before the maypole is raised, greens and flowers are collected and used to cover the entire pole.
Hoisting and dancing around a maypole (majstång or midsommarstång) is an activity that attracts families and many others. People dancing around the pole listen to traditional music and some even wear traditional folk costumes. In addition, many wear crowns made of wild springs and wildflowers on their heads. The year’s first potatoes, Sour herring, Chives, Sour Cream, Beer, Snaps and the first strawberries of the season are on the menu. Drinking songs (Snapsvisor) are also important at this feast, and many drink heavily. When Sweden got its National day (6 June), discussions were held about making Midsummer the Swedish national day because of the strong civil celebration on this day.
Because Midsummer was thought to be one of the times of the year when magic was strongest, it was considered a good night to perform rituals to look into the future. Traditionally, young people pick bouquets of seven or nine different flowers and put them under their pillow in the hope of dreaming about their future spouse. In the past it was believed that herbs picked at Midsummer were highly potent, and water from springs could bring good health. Greenery placed over houses and barns were supposed to bring good fortune and health to people and livestock; this old tradition of decorating with greens continues, even though most don’t take it seriously. To decorate with greens was called att maja (to may) and may be the origin of the word majstång, maja coming originally from the month May. Other researchers say the term came from German merchants who raised the maypole in June because the Swedish climate made it impossible to find the necessary greens and flowers in May, and continued to call it a maypole. Today, however, it is most commonly called a “midsommarstång” (literally midsummer’s pole).
In earlier times, small spires wrapped in greens were erected; this probably predates the maypole tradition, which is believed by many to have come from the continent in the Middle Ages. Others argue that some form of Midsummer pole occurred in Sweden during the pre-Christian times, and was a phallic fertility symbol, meant to impregnate the earth, but as there were no records from those times it cannot be proven, and this idea might just be a modern interpretation of the pole’s form. The earliest historical mention of the maypole in Sweden is from the Middle Ages. Midsummer was, however, linked to an ancient fertility festival which was adapted into St. John’s Day by the church, even though it retained many pagan traditions, as the Swedes were slow to give up the old heathen customs. The connection to fertility is naturally linked to the time of year. Many young people became passionate at Midsummer, and this was accepted, probably because it resulted in more childbirths in March which was a good time for children to be born.
Midsommarstång on Gålö, Sweden: image Wikipedia
Tags:Midsummer, Summer solstice, Sun, Sweden
Posted in Sweden, Trivia | 1 Comment »
May 11, 2011
Reality is based on what people do and not on what do-gooders, alarmists and scaremongers say.
Svenska Dagbladet reports that:
Small companies ignore the environment
Sweden’s small-and medium-sized companies are primarily looking for quality and price when making purchases. The environment is least important according to the Visma Purchase Barometer, and low price is the most important. Environmentally friendly products are usually slightly more expensive and are at a disadvantage when companies chase low prices. Only 1.5 percent of Sweden’s small and medium-sized enterprises consider the environment as the most important criterion when making purchases. Quality and price are the most crucial according to the Visma survey of more than 1600 small and medium-sized businesses.
But 1.5 percent is still a remarkably low figure given that climate change has been so hot the last few years”, says Henrik Salwen, CEO of VismaAdvantage. The companies were asked to specify one of six criteria and Quality was the most important followed by price and punctual delivery. The environment was the least important.
Tags:buying criteria, environment, Price, Quality, Sweden
Posted in Behaviour, Environment, Sweden | Comments Off on Reality: Quality and price are the buying criteria, not the environment
May 9, 2011
For twenty years the Saab 9000 and the Saab 9.5 were my cars of choice until “old age” has forced me to the blend of comfort and power that a Mercedes represents.
But Saab Motors is now on life support and in the hands of a Victor Muller who resembles a quack doctor extracting every bit he can from a dying patient. Saab’s production has been halted while new transfusions of money are being desperately sought – from very strange and dubious Russian and Chinese sources. The employees continue to hope and their attempts to push back the day of reckoning is perfectly understandable. But the fundamental reality is that not enough Saab cars are bought and it has become too expensive for what it is. The technology is still superb but in the meantime the Saab brand is being dragged through mud and manure.
Euthanasia is preferable to this degradation of the brand.
The Chinese money is unlikely to be forthcoming.
Dagens Industri writes:
Saab’s affaire with Chinese Hawtai has led to questions in the Chinese media. Experts are cautious about the marriage, and it is feared it will be stopped by the authorities. Hong Kong-based Phoenix television station says on its site ifeng.com
“Saab is not Volvo. The established Chinese car companies are not interested in Saab, and therefore this contract has come between Saab and Hawtai, two companies that both are in need to get out of a difficult situation. But what are the chances that the agreement be implemented? “
The Chinese Commission on Development and Reform NDRC, has to approve major transactions between Chinese and foreign companies. “Just as when Tengzhong Heavy Industrial tried to buy the Hummer this agreement between Hawtai and Saab has not been reported to the NDRC in advance, and therefore it has not been approved. It is therefore difficult to say whether this project will be approved. Further, the establishment of a joint venture for the manufacture and sale of Saab Cars is even more difficult.”
In recent times there has been a very strict control on approval of joint ventures for the manufacture of complete cars. “Even the long discussed projects between Changan Mazda Guangzhou Automobile and Mitsubishi, between Changan and PSA Peugeot Citroen, and the proposed Volkswagen plant expansions in Nanhai and Jiangsu are all still waiting for approval. To think that Saab Cars, which does not have as much advanced technology, would be allowed into manufacture and sale in China is less likely.”
Industry observers think that Hawtai’s and Saab’s agreement on strategic cooperation may suffer the same fate as Tengzhongs purchase of Hummer, and ultimately not be anything at all, according to Phoenix.
Even the South China Morning Post questioned whether authorities would approve the deal.
And in the meantime Saab suppliers have had to warn that they may be forced to lay-off their employees.
Tags:brand degradation, Hawtai, SAAB, Sweden, Victor Muller
Posted in Automobiles, Engineering, Sweden, Technology | 1 Comment »
April 1, 2011
Håkan Juholt continues with his Stalinesque purge of the Swedish Social Democrats. Male social democrats who are out of favour are being replaced on the grounds of being the wrong sex! But sex discrimination in this form is of course politically correct.
Purges continue in the Social Democratic party leader after the change. Now it is the turn of the assigned group leader in parliament, Sven-Erik Osterberg, who was one of candidates to become the new party leader, to go.
A new leader will be appointed at the parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday next week. Who the new team leader will be is unclear. According to Rapport’s sources the new party leader Håkan Juholt plans to fill the post with a woman. He has been in talks with party colleagues and said that it is important to have a woman in the post to get a reasonably even gender balance in leadership positions in the party.
Sven-Erik Osterberg wanted to remain as leader, but after talks with Håkan Juholt agreed to step down.
Earlier Ibrahim Baylan was forced to quit a Party Secretary to make way for Carin Jämtin. This was necessary since the new Party Leader was a male and had to be “balanced” by a female Party Secretary! And now the unfortunate Osterberg is also apparently of the wrong sex. Sounds as if this is yet another case of politically correct sex discrimination being used to implement a political purge.
In the modern Social Democrats, competence is of little value if you are the wrong sex.
Related: Juholt, the smiling Stalin, begins the purge as the Social Democrats try to relive the past
Tags:Carin Jämtin, Håkan Juholt, Ibrahim Baylan, politically correct sex discrimination, Purge in the Social DEmocrats, Sweden, Swedish Social Democratic Party
Posted in Behaviour, Politics, Sweden | Comments Off on Juholt continues his Stalinesque purge
March 18, 2011
The official definition of Spring in Sweden is when the average daily temperature exceeds 0°C for 7 days in a row. This was the picture on 14th March (blue indicating temperatures below zero, yellow for temperatures currently above zero and green for regions where spring had arrived with 7 consecutive days with average temperatures above zero). The headlines were celebrating the arrival of spring.
Arrival of Spring in Sweden
Arrival of Spring in Sweden 2011-03-14: map by SMHI
Yesterday it felt almost spring like with bright sunshine through the temperature was only 3 C°. The snow and ice from the winter were melting away and it was time to sweep away the gravel and sand laid down at various places through the very cold winter.
But the view from my window this morning has brought us crashing back to reality >>>>>>>
Finspång, 0800 18th March 2011: image k2p
Tags:Finspång, SMHI, spring, Spring snow, Sweden
Posted in Sweden, Weather | Comments Off on Spring is here and so is the snow!
March 8, 2011
The 2010 winter cold can be coupled to the NAO and to large blocking high pressure areas: image smhi
My actual experiences during 2010 (in Asia and in Northern Europe) and my very real electricity bills are far more compelling than fudged statistics and Hockey Stick Illusions from the global warming alarmists. The reality is that we are in for 2 or 3 decades of cooling courtesy of the sun and man-made carbon dioxide is of little consequence. The sun drives the ocean currents and the North Atlantic Oscillation was negative as it was for the 2009/10 winter.
The global warming / carbon dioxide scare is driven not only by carbon trading scams and catastrophe promoting insurance companies but also by so-called climate scientists who have lost the scepticism that is at the heart of science and developed a Nostradamus complex.
From Stockholm News:
Most people who live in Sweden most certainly remember some really cold months last year, particularly the winter months of January, February and December. There was for certain a serious heat wave in July. But that did not help out: 2010 was the coldest year in Sweden in 23 years.
The Swedish Weather Agency’s preliminary estimations show that Sweden as a whole had around one degree Celsius below normal temperatures last year.
Since 1987, all years have been warmer than normal, except in 1996, which had a small temperature deficit. “Normal” in this context is the average for the years 1961-1990.
The coldest part of the country was in the west, and consequently the western neighbouring country of Norway also had a cold last year. Their general temperature was likewise one degree Celsius below normal. This made last year the coldest in Norway since 1941 and the tenth coldest year since 1900, writes the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
Tags:coldest year, global warming, North Atlantic Oscillation, Sweden, weather
Posted in Alarmism, Climate, Scientific Fraud, Sweden, Weather | Comments Off on 2010 was coldest year in Sweden in 23 years and coldest in Norway since 1941
March 1, 2011
In spite of the coldest and snowiest December in 100 years Sweden’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 7.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to same period last year.
Compared with the third quarter of last year, GDP grew by 1.2 percent, according to StatisticsSweden (SCB). This is the highest Swedish growth ever measured. GDP figures were higher than analysts had anticipated. According to Reuters, they expected on average, a growth of 7.0 per cent annually and 1.0 percent from the last quarter.
During the full year 2010, GDP grew by 5.5 percent from the year before, the largest increase since 1970. In 2009, GDP shrank by 5.3percent. It was household consumption which gave the largest contribution to GDP growth, according to StatisticsSweden.
With the latest GDP figures showing a growth of 7.3%, economic analysts are waxing lyrical:
Annika Winsth, chief economist at Nordea:
The Swedish economy is growing across the board. The recovery continues with positive signals also from the labor market. It means that the Riksbank will most likely continue to raise rates. The labor market is developing well and that the hours worked increases mean that households are well equipped for future interest rate hikes. That you get such a strong figure, a growth of over seven percent, also creates a positive psychological effect and a confidence in the Swedish economy which is important. This is something completely different than when the crisis was at its worst.
SBAB’s chief economist Tomas Pousette:
We knew that growth was strong but did not anticipate anything this strong. We expected a number around 6.5%. The economy is at full speed. But it is still in the vicinity of what the Riksbank has anticipated.
Finance Minister Anders Borg:
In the budget we expected that we would land on 4.8 percent growth for 2010, and now we arrive at 5.5 percent. This is a stronger growth than we expected. There is a real challenge ahead for us to cope with both strong growth and low unemployment without creating imbalances.
Tags:Anders Borg, Gross domestic product, Sveriges Riksbank, Sweden, Swedish tiger economy, Tiger GDP growth
Posted in Economics, Politics, Sweden | Comments Off on Swedish GDP at “tiger” levels
February 21, 2011
Freely translated from KvällsPosten
The unusual phenomenon of snow-ice balls has once again appeared on the island’s southern tip. “They varied in size. Some were as big as tennis balls and others like volleyballs” said Göran Andersson, ornithologist and guide at the Ottenby Bird Observatory. It is not often this phenomenon is spotted in Sweden. It was last observed was on 18th December 2009.
These snow-ice balls probably formed in connection with the weather on 11th February. After a period with mild temperatures a low pressure system set in and temperatures dropped. In addition, the wind increased considerably.
“This is a natural process where the wind formed and rolled the snowballs into the shore zone in the shallow water which then built up layers of ice” says George Anderson.
When the water receded snow-ice balls froze solid froze solid at Kapellvilken on Ölands southern tip.
Snow-ice balls rolled naturally by the wind on Öland Photo: Göran Andersson
The current set of snow-ice balls were not as large and as well-formed as in 2009.
Snow-ice balls in 2009: image Ottenby Bird Station
Tags:Öland, natural snow-ice ball, Snowball, Sweden, wind-blown snowball
Posted in Natural Phenomena, Sweden, Weather | Comments Off on The wind-blown snow-ice balls on Öland
January 9, 2011
Lately there has been an increasing view that some of the catastrophe scenarios about the ozone hole which led to the Montreal Protocol of 1989 were exagerrated and based on poor science. The effects of humans on ozone variations as opposed to natural variations may have been exaggerated. In fact there are now some suggestions that the actions taken were not only unnecessary but that they have not had much to do with the natural increase of ozone layer thickness observed in recent times.
The Local reports:
Sweden’s government weather agency reported on Friday that the ozone layer over southern Sweden reached its thickest levels at the end of last year, surpassing the previous record set in 1991.
Sweden’s Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (Sveriges Meteorologiska och Hydrologiska Institut, SMHI) explained that the weather was particularly favourable at the end of 2010 and it explain why the ozone layer was especially thick at the time. “It is a step in the right direction, but it is still too early to say that the ozone layer has recovered. The favourable weather situation over the last few months has contributed to a record high,” said Weine Josefsson, a meteorologist at SMHI, in a statement on Friday.
The annual value of the ozone layer’s thickness over Norrköping in 2010 stood at a new high of 351.7 Dobson units (DU). The previous record was set in 1991 at 341.8 DU. The November and December values in particular set new records among the measurements regularly made at SMHI since 1988. ………. Even in Norrland in the country’s north, the values have been positive in the last year. The ozone layer has been measured regularly in Vindeln northwest of Umeå in northern Sweden since 1991 and the latest results were also positive in this area.
However, it is not possible to record complete ozone measurements in the winter, so it is uncertain whether a record was set there as well at the end of last year. In November and December, air flows were affected by a special weather situation over western Europe, resulting in an extra thick ozone layer over this part of the world in these two months.
It is possible that the restrictions on ozone-depleting substances proposed in the Montreal Protocol in 1987 have also contributed to the thickening of the ozone layer. However, this type of measure is effective over a long period of time and it is difficult to distinguish the effect of natural variations in this case.
Tags:Meteorology, Montreal Protocol, Ozone layer, Ozone thickness at record levels, Sweden
Posted in Alarmism, Chemistry, Climate, Environment, Geosciences, Physics, Sweden | 1 Comment »
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