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Handwriting Analysis – Some Elaboration is Healthy & Perfect Penmanship Isn’t

Elaborate handwriting, including lots of

embellishment such as unnecessary loops,

curves, spirals, underlining, circles, wavy lines,

and other forms is an important, and telling,

handwriting analysis consideration.

Handwriting analysis, or graphology, is so

informative because it reveals subconscious

character, the real personality, not just the

persona and the one seen when a person is

at his or her best.

The U.S. Library of Congress classifies

graphology as a branch of psychology.

All in all, there are over 300 handwriting traits

to consider when doing an analysis. Some of the

more obvious ones include the following:

connectives; connectivity; consistency;

contradictions in script; compression;

contraction/expansiveness; down-strokes;

elaboration; expansion; finals; fluidity; form;

harmony; hooks; jabs; knots; lead-ins; legibility;

loops; margins; movement; organization;

originality; pressure; retracing; rhythm; shading;

signature compared to the rest of script;

simplicity; size; slant; overall arrangement

and picture of space; letter, word and line

spacing; speed; spirals; tension; ties;

zonal balance and much more.

Does any single consideration, such as the

excessive elaboration, override the cumulative

strength of the collective body of other

considerations? No.

The collective body of traits in a handwriting

sample either supports or mitigates the energy of

any one individual aspect.

Also, in order for a specific graphology trait to

accurately reflect personality, it must be

throughout the handwriting sample at least

three to four times to qualify.

Accuracy in graphology demands that the context

of the entire writing sample be considered and that

all individual aspects and parts of the script must

be interpreted independently and then built into a

complete picture describing the personality.

Also, you need at least a half page of cursive

handwriting and not just a signature if you want

to start on the right track.

For the highest level of accuracy in handwriting

analysis, formal graphology training is recommended.

However, we created our Graphology Resource Keys

for anyone to gain a very good understanding of their

own or other’s subconscious character simply by

comparing a handwriting sample to the Keys.

More information about handwriting analysis can

be found on our site.

Copybook form, or “perfect handwriting,” varies

somewhat from country to country and it’s best

to be familiar with the standard copybook form of

the country in which the person learned to write.

It’s good if your handwriting is not perfect, because

you don’t want perfect handwriting. It’s natural to

gradually move away from the basic copybook

form you learned in grade school to develop your

own unique style.

Just as everyone has a unique personality, everyone

has unique handwriting. Aristotle remarked,

“Spoken words are the symbols of mental experience

and written words are the symbols of spoken words.

Just as all men do not have the same speech sounds, so

do all men not have the same writing.”

Adults who write in copybook form (considering

there is corroborating energy from the rest of the

handwriting considerations) strive to follow all rules

exactly and abide by all laws. They are usually

conformists, traditional, and inhibited. They

commonly carry guilt and repression is customary.

Hence, “perfect” handwriting is far from perfect.

If your handwriting has a lot of originality with high

form level (good balance, movement, harmony, etc.)

and other positive traits, it could indicate flexibility,

resourcefulness, confidence, inward motivation, and

possible leadership skills.

On the other hand, if you see originality in an

off-balanced, inharmonious script (low form level),

you could find rebelliousness, defiance, turmoil,

confusion, dishonesty, and even psychosis

or criminal-minded behavior.

Spirals are generally a negative sign relating,

in part, to deception or self-deception.

Normal elaboration includes longer than usual

t-bars and finals at the end of words, for example.

Excessive elaboration, such as artificial flourishes,

many added strokes, long lower zone length (loops

of letters such as lower case g and j), etc. could

indicate an ostentatious personality with a need to

impress others, a need for drama, flirtatiousness,

vanity, exaggeration, bluff, a mind too rooted in

fantasy, insincerity, a need to be told they are

loved, façade of intrigue to mask an inferiority

complex, possible deception, scattered energy,

affectation, defense for self-consciousness,

unstable self image, too much focus on

trivial matters, and difficulty concentrating.

As the level of inharmoniousness increases with

excessive elaboration, the negative traits listed

above will also intensify.

If you see excessive elaboration mainly in the

upper zone (e.g., where the t’s are crossed), which

is the zone of the intellect, you may find someone

whose thinking is ruled by illusion, and even

someone who is a compulsive liar.

But remember, although it’s alluded to above, it’s

important enough to say again: no single graphology

indicator, by itself, absolutely describes any one

personality trait.

Yes, straight-across, blunt ending strokes can

indicate cautiousness, but there could be ten or

more other indicators in a person’s script that

would mitigate the notion.

If you find elaboration that is excessively

complicated, especially with many complicated

circle letters, such as a and o, it could point toward

someone who is trying to hide something, even if

it’s on an unconscious level and not in an

intentionally deceptive way.

Look to the zone of handwriting for more clues to

what the excessive elaboration with inharmonious

handwriting indicates: in the lower zone (where the

loops of letters such as g and j reside) it’s an

imbalance relating to sexuality, social life, materialism,

and physical energy, among others; in the middle

zone (where letters such as n, m, and o reside) it’s an

imbalance in practicality, daily routine, here-and-

now, ego, consciousness and more; and in the upper

zone (where the t-bar, tops of t’s, and h’s reside) it’s

an imbalance in mental, intellectual, philosophical,

literary interests, the imagination, and more.

When you see a Hollywood star’s signature

that has over-the-top elaboration, if the rest of his

or her script is much more subdued, it’s a sign of

pretentiousness.

Alternatively, elaboration with positive indicators

is favorable. With harmonious handwriting it can

symbolize charm, healthy imagination, and

originality.

Leading Diversity: A Comparative Analysis

Grounds for Diversity

Creating successful, diverse and dynamic learning organizations involves developing processes to ensure that the differences of employees, customers, and community are taken into account. Diversity management is an active process that requires an investment in time and resources. It is a paradigm shift from intentional exclusion to an intentional full utilization of resources. Valuing and managing diversity requires policies, relationships, procedures, and practices that will ensure fairness and equity.

It means more than increasing awareness, but also changing the system to support differences for the benefit of all. This comparative analysis compares the diversity strategy of the Monitor Company and IBM. It identifies how individuals are motivated to become change agents for diversity by evaluating how the individuals in each case defined diversity and discern conflicts that arise from the varying definitions. Finally, I outlines how the Monitor and IBM cases accommodate diverse learning styles.

Organizational Dimensions of Diversity

Diversity is a simple word that contains many human variables. As simple as it is, it represents the distinctions that exist between individuals that sometimes include culture, race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomics, age, physical and mental abilities, sexual orientation, religion, language, appearance, personality, learning and thinking styles, communication and conflict styles, family status, geography, military status, education, life and work experiences, functional responsibility in a given organization. Diversity management in organizations involves understanding and leveraging similarities and differences of all people involved in accomplishing the organization’s mission. The individuals in both the Monitor Company and IBM defined diversity based on their differences and uniqueness. According to Lieberman (2003), “Diversity looks at the differences that shape people’s thinking and behavior.” (p. 24).

Jonathan Rotenberg, who happens to be Jewish consultant at Monitor, began to realize that “he held an educationally strategic position bridging the gulf between the often misunderstood gay world and the corporate world.” Nick Basden, an African-American consultant at Monitor, stated “I feel black [at Monitor]. I feel different because I am black.” (Gentile and Gant, p. 3-4). The initiative created by IBM was designed to improve the understanding of the differences. “Rather than attempt to eliminate discrimination by deliberately ignoring differences among employees, IBM created eight task forces, each focused on different groups such as Asians, gays and lesbians, and women.” (Thomas, 2004, p. 1).

The Learning Organization

Though the individual reasons for diversity were similar, the organizational motivations that drove the change were slightly different. The Monitor Company was concerned with how inclusion affected the individual’s growth, development and quality of life. Monitor wanted to learn how the company might be different “if the workforce were more diverse, and what barriers might exist to the success of nonwhite and female consultants.” (Gentile and Gant, 1994, p. 2). IBM’s driving force behind their diversity initiative was an extension of Monitor’s inclusion for individual growth. IBM, according to Thomas (2004), believed that “…greater diversity in the workplace could help IBM attract a more diverse customer set.” (p. 4).

While Monitor was concerned about the human factor and IBM was concerned about the bottom line. It is possible that diversity influences both. Many organizations have come to realize that diversity is a resource that should be leveraged to increase performance as well as improve human relations. Lieberman (2003) identified three capital resources of diversity that every business must manage successfully: financial capital, human capital, and material capital. Financial Capital, profit, “keeps an organization in existence, motivates its stakeholders, and enables it to invest in its future.” Human Capital, people, “makes an organization live and work, no matter how technical or automated it may be. People are our managers, our employees, our customers, and our communities.” Material capital, physical resources, “provides the energy and resources to produce goods and services.” (p. 3). Diversity management is a process that allows groups of people to maximize productivity, creativity, and enjoyment to reach their full potentials.

Accommodating Diversity Styles

Monitor and IBM cultures and value systems can accommodate diverse styles without sacrificing their distinctive identity. Values drive beliefs, attitudes, actions, and are culturally derived. Therefore a leader who understands others’ cultural background is better able to understand why those people act, think, and speak the way they do, and is better able to predict how those people will react to his or her own words and actions. “Understanding diversity means moving into the box all these ideas and the ones that others make you aware of, so that you start thinking of diversity as many differences, not just the most apparent ones.” (Lieberman, 2003. p 25). When working with people of different cultures, leaders are “able to apply common sense and good will to act and respond accordingly when they understand the forces driving behavior.” (Scarborough, 1998, p. 11). In both cases, the diversity initiative was about more than just education or awareness but rather an understanding of the differences of the stakeholders.

The Impact of Culture

High-performing organizations consciously create their desired corporate culture, rather than simply letting one develop. Unfortunately, organizational culture change efforts often attempt to “abolish” differences by imposing a pre-defined culture while ignoring the existing values, beliefs, visions, and behaviors. Diversity management is the process of creating a culture that is flexible enough to promote, support, respect, and value the multiple differences that exist in the organization as an asset to be valued and sought after. “The impact of culture is omnipresent; it has both a conscious and an unconscious influence on human behavior.” (Zachary, 2005, p. 15). It is recognized that group intelligence and performance is higher when systems and skills are in place that create an environment of inclusion, trust, collaboration, and respect and the ability for each to reach full potential.

Leading Diversity

Diversity is rapidly gaining ground as an asset of businesses as a means of widen their market. This dramatic shift to a highly diverse work force is part of the organizations’ efforts to understand, accept, and capitalize on differences. “The demand for new customer-focused products, the desire to reach global markets, and the need to tap a diverse workforce for talented employees drives this trend.” (Lieberman, 2003, p. 13). However, the primary objective of diversity is to unify the entire organization and deepen the cultural change within the institution so that processes, communication and actions align with institutional beliefs, values and priorities. In his letter to the Colossians, the Apostle Paul reminds us that the distinctions that separate us are no longer significant. “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free…” (Colossians 3:11). Organizations that desire to reach their full potential must transcend all barriers and engage all people, from all cultures, races, and backgrounds.

References

Gentile, Mary and Gant, Sara B. (1994). Monitor Co.: Personal Leadership on Diversity. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press Case 395049.

Lieberman, Simma. (2003). Putting Diversity to Work: How to Successful Lead a Diverse Workforce. Menlo Park, CA: Course Technology Crisp.

Scarborough, Jack. (1998). Origins of Cultural Differences and Their Impact on Management. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated.

Thomas, David A. (2004). Diversity As Strategy. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review.

Zachary, Lois J. (2005). Creating a Mentoring Culture: The Organization’s Guide. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Stock Option Trading – Fundamental Flaw in Fundamental Analysis and Stock Picking

Clinging on to Fundamental Analysis and stock picking software, only keeps you stuck in trading equities. Trading this way, compounds concentration risk in one asset class and fails to adequately diversify risks across Equities, Bonds, Currencies and Commodities. There’s much more to stock option trading, than stock itself.

I cite Benjamin F. King’s study, quoted repeatedly since 1966, because it remains valid and has yet to be disproved to the point of dismissing its logic.

Market and Industry Factors, Journal of Business, January 1966: ” Of a stock’s move …

31% can be attributed to the general stock market,
13% to industry influence,
36% to influence of other groupings, and the remaining
20% is peculiar to the one stock.”

There must be a more compelling reason for you to trade stock other than just for the movement, if only 20% is unique to the underlying equity in question. Consider this, in context of the Fundamental Analysis or stock picking software that you bought on a per $1 basis. For each $1 dollar you spend, you “outsourced” the analysis at a cost of 80 cents, only to receive back 20 cents worth of work. Shouldn’t the 80:20 rule of “outsourcing” be the other way round? The problem is that you are still stuck with 80% of the work, to analyze price movement! Plus, the more you use FA techniques/stock picking software, the more trading capital is stuck in equities alone.

Now, you can say “special” research papers help you pick stocks. Let’s have a look at some of the more common fundamental metrics in these research subscriptions:

1. Dividend Yield: the problem is in the variability of yields as firms are in different stages of their business development. A Mature company that dominates in a well established sub-segment/sector is going to being able to afford a different dividend yield; versus, a Young company in a growth-oriented field; versus, a Small firm in a growing area that may not be able to afford a dividend payout. Bear in mind there is nothing special about firms that pay a dividend.

A company that gives away a portion of it’s retained earnings – which is what a dividend is – effectively gives away part of its valuation, which means it is not worth as much as a company that does need to give investors candy to commit capital to it. So, a dividend paying stock has to be far superior to a non-dividend paying stock for reasons other than the dividend. If it is not, there’s no point looking for dividend paying products to trade, there are plenty of non-dividend paying Indexes to trade.

2. Price/Book Ratio: the problem is this metric varies across industries and from company to company, as the asset base and capital structures of companies change over time. It lacks cross sector applicability and accounting complexity arises from a firm’s capital structure as it changes due to acquisitions/divestments/CAPEX for new product lines; or, product line cut-backs, as recently seen in the restructuring of major US car companies.

3. Price/Cash Flow Ratio (the cousin of the P/E): accounting laws on depreciation vary across Asia, Europe and US. As accounting rules are driven by tax codes, which change considerably across regions despite adoption of global accounting standards, there is a lack of uniformity in homogenizing a fundamental ratio that will fit as a common benchmark across geographies.

These metrics fail to help you compare say a Dell parented in the US to an Acer parented in Taiwan; but, is listed as an ADR in the US, even though both are competitors in the same sector as computer manufacturers.

Furthermore, the current dislocated cost of capital in credit markets, impairs the ability of corporations to optimize the operating cost of their balance sheets. In essence, corporations are left with the working capital cash flows remaining on their balance sheets, as testament to their financial strength. Do not waste your money on Fundamental Analysis software or research paper subscriptions.

As there is a fundamental flaw in fundamental analysis and stock picking, how do you select trades? Trade the options of a broad-based Equity Index to replace single stock exposure. To replace Fundamental Analysis, use the Relative Strength measure based on Point & Figure methods.

What is Relative Strength? It is nothing more than taking one price as the Numerator, divided by another price as the Denominator, then multiplied by 100. RS = (Price 1 / Price 2) x 100. Typically, RS calculations use daily closing prices. Though simple in its mathematical construction, RS is ingeniously powerful when it is applied not only within a sector; but, across sectors and between asset classes.

Let’s start of within a sector. For example, if you choose 2 semiconductor stocks trading at different prices, how do you know if one stock is outperforming the other in the same sector, when the 2 stocks have price changes at different rates; plus, the sector’s price itself is also changing?

SOX = Semiconductor Sector Index, trades up from 452.24 to 467.81.

Numerator1: Price1 = BRCM 33.15     RS1 = 7.33     Price2 = 33.80     RS2 = 7.23

Numerator2: Price1 = TSM 9.91      RS1 = 2.19      Price2 = 13.43    RS2 = 2.87

Common Denominator: SOX Price 1 = 452.24   Price 2 = 467.81

BRCM’s RS1 = (33.15/452.24) x 100 = 7.33. BRCM’s RS2 = (33.80/467.81) x 100 = 7.23.

TSM’s RS1 = (9.91/452.24) x 100 = 2.19. TSM’s RS2 = (13.43/467.81) x 100 = 2.87.

BRCM’s price rises from 33.15 to 33.80 and TSM’s price also rises from 9.91 to 13.43. Simply because BRCM is a larger stock, does that mean it benefits from the SOX trading up? No, the RS reading (RS1 compared to RS2) shows BRCM’s RS reading dropped (7.33 down to 7.23) against TSM’s RS reading, which increased (2.19 to 2.87). RS confirms TSM as the outperformer rising in price strength versus BRCM’s weakened price. RS is constructed on pure price rules. Using an Index as the denominator, acts as a much more durable benchmark and is structurally more reliable, compared to any “magical” TA indicator; or, combination of income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements touted in stock picking programmes.

You can replace BRCM or TSM with Indexes or ETFs. Using Indexes with Relative Strength enables a common denominator to compare Equities against Bonds, Commodities and Currencies, to crossover into asset classes other than stocks to trade. It’s not that Relative Strength is infallible. But compared to the fundamental metrics cited above, Relative Strength fails the least. Break the mould on what you learnt about stock option trading.

Is there an example of an optionable and consistently profitable portfolio that trades using Relative Strength across multiple asset classes? Yes. Follow the link below, entitled “Consistent Results” to see a retail online option trading portfolio that excludes the use of single stocks and Fundamental Analysis, using broad based equity Indices, Commodity ETFs and Currency ETFs. There is no need to trade FX directly. Just trade the options of Currency ETFs.

Industry Analysis – Nigerian Mobile Telco

Introduction

Nigerian Mobile Telco has been referred to as the fastest growing market in Africa. Nigerian telecoms came into mainstream in 2001 when the deregulation of the subsector of the economy gave way to the private involvement. The telecommunication system was opened up with the issuance of Global System for mobile communication (GSM) unified license in 2001. GSM license in Nigeria cost about US$285million. Nigerian Telecommunication (NITEL) was the only operator in the market before 2001 with subscribers of about 500,000 from a population of 140 million.

The deregulation usher in telecom players like MTN, Glo Mobile, Zain formerly Celtel, Etisalat, Visafone, Multilinks, Starcomm and Zoom formerly Reltel. The telecom regulator in Nigeria is Nigerian Telecommunication Commission (NCC), with reference to NCC Act 2003; 3-(1) “There is established of a commission to be known as Nigerian Telecommunications Commission with responsibility for the regulation of the telecommunication sector in Nigeria”.

Product/ market Segmentation

The market is divided into urban and semi-urban, and rural market. Tele density in the urban is about 65% while semi urban is about 45% and rural is less than 15%. Product Segmentation is GSM and CDMA.

Major Players

MTN, Zain, Glo and Etisalat control the GSM market. While Visafone, Multilinks, Starcomm and Zoom formerly Reltel are CDMA product segment. The market share of these major mobile telecoms are MTN-40.54%, Zain- 30.20%, Glo Mobile-28.11 and Etisalat- 0.7%, M-Tel Mobile phone business of NITEL-0.45%. While Visafone leads the CDMA market, follow by Multilinks, Starcomms, and Zoom.

Fig.1. Market shares (percentage of total subscriptions)

Factors affecting the industry

o Infrastructure

o High demand

o Frequency problem

o Regulatory institution (NCC)

o Inadequate base station

o Large market

o Economic sabotage

o Interconnectivity problem

o Quality of Service-Due to the problem of capacity constraint

Product Differentiation

The telecom operators offer similar products with slight difference such as

– CDMA and GSM- Voice Service

– VAS; SMS, mobile news, online banking, music, data card, etc

– With diverse product differentiation, voice is the main source of income for Telco in Nigeria.

Growth in the Industry

Nigeria has maintained its lead as African’s largest telecom market with active subscribers of about 65million relegating South Africa to second place with about 45million subscribers. From a bit above 500,000 NITEL fixed wire line and mobile subscribers in 2001. The industry grew to over 7million subscribers in 2004; in December 2008 the subscribers in the market grew to 62.99million. An addition of 22.59 million subscribers in 2008 alone represented 56% annual growth rate. Recent figure as at January 2009 put the subscribers’ base at 64.16. While GSM subscribers are in the range of 57million, CDMA subscription in Nigeria grew from just 380,000 in 2007 to more than 6million at the end of 2008. The country intelligent report on Nigeria by Pyramid research stated that the market grew by 23% with total industry revenue of US$8.42billion. With mobile penetration of 42% revenue will increase to US$11.14billion by 2013 with forecasted annual increase of 5.7%. The telecom market has been named the largest mobile market in Africa. Tele density of 0.73% in 2001 has steadily increase over the year to 33.72% as at December 2006 and about 45% aggregate in December 2008. The current market installed capacity is 117.892 million as at December 2008. The mobile industry ARPU in 2003 was around US$54 per month but as at 2008 December was US$13.

Demand in the Industry

There is increase in demand due to;

o Population explosion in urban cities and metropolis

o Business purpose- Growth in SMEs

o Improved Banking operations

o Competition-The opening up of the market to competition in all segments of the industry has resulted in major drop in price for telecommunications services.

o VAS

o Business expansion by the operator- CAPEX and OPEX investment in the industry

o Infrastructure sharing

o Interconnectivity

o Fall in cost of subscription- Pre 2001, NITEL mobile cost above #60,000 per line, after the issuance of GSM license from mid 2001, it cost #20,000 per line, and today, this figure has fallen to almost zero. Tariff for calls on GSM network was #50 per minutes, today as low as #25 per minute (mobile to mobile). CDMA and fixed wireless tariff is even much lower.

Supply level in the Industry

o The supply as regards the product availability is encouraging compared to about 4 years ago but in terms of service and customer satisfaction is the opposite

o The market is still dominated by the market leader MTN

o Infrastructure in short supply

Benefit of Mobile telecommunication Operation in Nigeria

o Create competition in the telecommunications industry

o Privatization of Government owned telecom entities

o Telecommunication becoming affordable to the ordinary Nigerians

o Increased accessibility to telecom services

o Rural telecommunication project is encouraged

o Increase revenue generation for the government

o Creation of employment opportunity in Nigeria

Conclusion and Recommendation

The telecom industry in Nigeria is a goldmine; the development of telecom in Nigeria is so rapid and gives the investors quick ROI more than what they could imagine. The regulatory body (NCC) has to do a lot in Nigeria telecom development such as the issue of frequency or spectrum allocation, also the SIM registration is taken effect from July 2009 as well as the number portability which is scheduled to take effect from May 29 2009. If these are done well and successfully, the subscribers will have another story to tell compare to what is happening presently in the industry which is characterized by high drop calls and economic sabotage among the major players vis-à-vis the Nigerian Telecommunications Commission. Federal government should also look into the problem of social infrastructure such as electricity because this has increased CAPEX and OPEX of the telecoms operators in Nigeria.

Telecommunication service providers should expand their coverage beyond urban areas unto rural areas as most rural areas of the country are still without telecommunications network coverage.

Rapid roll out of network resources such as base station and switches, which should result in improved quality of service; by improving on their transmission infrastructure across the country, optical fiber and microwave transmission lines should be constructed.