FOX Translator
No data currently available.
No data currently available.
A popular Wendy's commercial in the 80s made famous the question: "Where's the beef?" Good one. And here's an even better one: "Where's the alpha?" You might want to whip this one out the next time you meet with your portfolio manager.
Alpha is the over-and-above-the-expected return. It is the "value added." Therefore, it makes sense that a positive alpha means an investment has outperformed its market-predicted return, while a negative alpha would mean just the opposite. The expected return is calculated by a formula that takes into account the investment's level of unavoidable risk (aka beta).
Ever stepped into an elevator and after the doors close you become aware of an almost-suffocating scent coming from the woman next to you who must have bathed in perfume? Well, as you know, once the doors close you can't escape the smell until the ride is over. This is similar to beta, which is risk that can't be reduced or diversified away. A measure of "systematic" or market related risk, beta is used as a measure relative to a certain index -- such as the S&P 500.
So, for example, let¿s say your portfolio is managed to compete against the S&P 500. If you generate a better return than the index while not taking on added risk (standard deviation of returns) then you get alpha. Low beta means the market-related risk is low and vice versa for high beta.
Another example, let's say a mutual fund or stock has a beta of 1.5 relative to the S&
P500 ¿ that means it is 1.5 times as risky. So, over time, if the S&P 500 goes up 1%, your portfolio should be up 1.5%
plus (one can hope) some percentage of alpha. If the S&P 500 is down 1%, your portfolio should be down 1.5%.
Alpha
and beta are based off of linear regression of a set of data. Warning: this may cause a high school fifth-period flashback,
but it will be over before you know it:
The equation for a line is Y = a + bX.
a = alpha (the Y intercept - the added
value)
b = Beta (the coefficient you multiply X by)
X = S&P 500 (in this case)
Y = your portfolio
Home / Markets / Industries / Technology
Monday, May 19, 2008
EPA Recognizes AMD with the 2008 Climate Protection Award for Excellence in Environmental Stewardship
Comtex
SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 19, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that AMD (NYSE: AMD) has won the EPA Climate Protection Award in recognition of its continued commitment to protecting the global climate through energy-efficient product innovation, facility design and management, and industry education. As a charter member of the EPA's Climate Leaders Partnership and a founding member of The Green Grid, AMD is devoted to leading the world to energy-efficient processing, while concurrently striving to be a sustainable and environmentally responsible corporation.
"Efforts to help fight climate change will benefit the planet for generations to come," said Bob Meyers, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator EPA Office of Air & Radiation. "We commend AMD, a 2008 Climate Protection Award winner, for their work to protect our environment."
"AMD is honored to receive this prestigious award from the EPA, and I am proud to lead a company that recognizes its responsibility to minimize our impact on the global climate," said Dirk Meyer, President and Chief Operating Officer of AMD. "We have worked tirelessly for more than a decade to reduce our environmental impact across all facets of our business -- from the design and production of our technology to the amount and sources of the energy we use at our facilities around the world."
AMD has proven its dedication to climate protection and is being recognized for the following achievements:
-- Emissions Reduction: Reducing corporate-wide normalized emissions of greenhouse gases by more than 50 percent, surpassing the company's EPA Climate Leaders goal of a 40 percent reduction by 2007 (compared to AMD's 2002 baseline).(1) In addition, AMD has been a leader in the reduction of PFC emissions associated with wafer fabrication, being among the first businesses to join the EPA's voluntary PFC Reduction Partnership for the Semiconductor Industry in 1996. AMD has reduced its absolute PFC emissions 98 percent compared to a 1995 baseline year. These efforts support the semiconductor industry's worldwide PFC reduction goal established by the World Semiconductor Council.
-- Energy-efficient Products: Helping other companies minimize their energy-consumption and greenhouse gas emissions through industry leading energy-efficient products. For example, AMD PowerNow!(TM) technology with Optimized Power Management enhances the performance-per-watt capabilities of the AMD Opteron(TM) processor by adjusting performance based on CPU need. AMD PowerNow! technology can reduce processor electricity consumption, enabling cooler and quieter computers that reduce idle CPU power consumption up to 75 percent when enabled.
-- Commitment to Climate Protection: Emphasizing corporate transparency as one of the first technology companies to commit to a Global Climate Protection Plan. Since 2001, AMD has issued an annually updated report with its commitment, goals, and strategies for reducing the company's impact on global warming. AMD is continuing this commitment by setting a second Climate Leaders goal to reduce normalized global emissions by another 33 percent per manufacturing index by 2010.
For more information, please visit www.amd.com/climate.
About AMD
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is a leading global provider of innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and consumer electronics markets. AMD is dedicated to driving open innovation, choice and industry growth by delivering superior customer-centric solutions that empower consumers and businesses worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.
AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Opteron, AMD PowerNow!, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.
(1) For details, see amd.com/climate.
SOURCE: AMD
AMD Travis Bullard, 512-602-5667 (PR) travis.bullard@amd.com or Ruth Cotter, 408-749-3887 (IR) ruth.cotter@amd.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008 ********************************************************************** As of Thursday, 05-15-2008 23:59, the latest Comtex SmarTrend� Alert, an automated pattern recognition system, indicated a DOWNTREND on 02-07-2008 for AMD @ $6.59. For more information on SmarTrend, contact your market data provider or go to www.mysmartrend.com SmarTrend is a registered trademark of Comtex News Network, Inc. Copyright � 2004-2008 Comtex News Network, Inc. All rights reserved.
Market Snapshot
| Symbol | Last Price | Netchange | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | -- | -- | -- |
