Written by: Aaron Katsman | July 31, 2008
With the summer Olympics set to start in a week, an Israeli start-up that monitors water quality just took gold. Blue I Technologies has been selected by Chinese officials to monitor water quality of the pools for the competition. Though they thought they were out of the running, the Chinese weren’t happy with their competitors results and turned to the Israeli start-up and awarded them the contract.
According to a report in Globes, Blue I CEO Tsur Ben-David said, “We thought it was over. We didn’t think that we’d find a place in the Olympics. The pools were under construction and a top German company had won the contract to supply the water quality monitoring systems for four variables, while a US company was supposed to monitor two other variables. But the Chinese were dissatisfied with the results and turned to us five months ago. This contact initiated a process that ended with our systems undergoing a two-month pilot at the Olympic facilities and we were selected to monitor all six variables.”
This has caused a ripple effect (nice pun) as the company has gained a lot of attention and even the Chinese Ministry of Health has contacted them in order to learn more about their water quality solutions.
While no Israeli swimmer or diver is expected to medal in the upcoming games, it’s good to know that Israeli ingenuity and know how will play an important part of the competition.
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Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.
Aaron Katsman
IsraelNewsletter.com
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s tough talk on the US Dollar helped support the greenback against the major global currencies, but it caused a minor rally against the Israeli shekel. As a reminder, the shekel has been one of the world’s strongest currencies over the last year, and its strength, while serving as a seal of approval on the state of the Israeli economy, has crushed exporters as well as many Israeli hi-tech’s that sell globally but keep their R&D local, due to the fact that their expense line has increased from the currency differential. (Continue »)
Aaron Katsman
www.IsraelNewsletter.com
If “Initiative 97″ makes it on the ballot in the fall, citizens of Seattle will be asked to approve a measure that would prohibit the city from investing its pension funds in corporations that benefit from the Iraq war, or companies that provide material support to the Israeli government within the so-called “occupied territories.” The opposition to the initiative is being led by StandWithUs.org. It strikes me as a bit odd that a measure that seems to be intended to protest the U.S. Iraq policy also includes divestment from Israel.
Why the connection?
(Continue »)
Aaron Katsman
www.IsraelNewsletter.com
Remember the 80’s Hall and Oates classic ‘Private Eyes’? Who can forget such powerful lyrics: ”Private eyes They’re watching you They see your every move Private eyes They’re watching you Private eyes They’re watching you watching you watching you watching you.”
Well flash forward 27 years. How right they were. If you happen to be a proprietary trader or stockbroker, and you are thinking about becoming a famous rogue trader, think again. While you may get famous and bring down a huge bank like Societe Generale, your chances of landing in prison just increased. Why? Because of Israeli ingenuity. Actimize, a NICE Systems (NICE) company has launched a surveillance product for rogue trading detection.
The company worked with financial institutions to develop a product that meets the needs of the firms.
“In response to regulatory pressure and rogue trading events in early 2008, large firms around the world are reviewing their systems and risk management processes,” said Axel Pierron, senior vice president at Celent. “Solutions, such as Actimize’s, that provide a centralized view of trading activities supervision as well as employee surveillance are clearly matching the current needs for ‘rogue trading’ prevention solutions in the financial industry.”
Long-term investors may want to take a long look at NICE. With a continued focus on tracking money flows, even if we see a slowdown in IT spending in the financial services industry, NICE may not see that slowdown. In many cases this is becoming required spending, and slowdown or not, NICE’s product suite will be in demand. Coupled with continued strong EPS growth, NICE, potentially, maybe an interesting long-term play.
Forget about any monkey-business, They’re watching you watching you watching you watching you ……..
Disclosure: Author’s fund has a position in NICE. He has no position in any other stock mentioned as of 5/12/08.
Please see our Disclaimer HERE.
NEW! Introducing Israel Opportunity Investor, our monthly subscription-only newsletter. Stay ahead of the game and make smart decisions in Israel stocks. Go here to learn more.
Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.
