maen nhw gyda'r cymdeithasol y cyflawn iawn nefyd. Fawn y cyflawniaeth, Ydw Llywodraeth Cymru yn filydd, a'r cyfuniau gyda'r cyflawn iawn hefyd yn gweinolín gwheithraff y Gwasanaeth Cymru, ond mae'n ddweud â'r cyfan dechrau o ffordd iawn hefyd fel y cyflawn iawn hefyd. Foes y Gymru bod ddaw'r cyfeleidadau i lawnt i'r gwasanaethau i lawnt i'r gymhonoedd, a'i fflawn i ni'n ddweud â'r cyfan i lawnt i uned, backgrounds going to university, and we've seen violent crime on the increase. Does she wonder why the people of Scotland question her priorities? First Minister, we're seeing an increase in young people from our most deprived communities going to university. That's very clear from the most recent UCAS statistics. It's also the case that despite the significant challenges that are faced by our national health service, our national health service is performing brilliantly. Those are the words used by Ruth Davidson just two days ago. If Ruth Davidson wants me to give some highlights from the day job, I would be absolutely delighted to indulge her. Let me take her through the last 24 hours or so that I've been engaged in. I've announced that the Scottish Government investment of £5 million in a new sub-sea engineering centre of excellence in Montrose. I've set out the next steps in the creation of the new National Manufacturing Institute. I've had separate discussions with three major inward investors to Scotland in areas of energy, tourism and low-carbon technology. Let's widen it out to the Government overall. We've extended the scheme to tackle period poverty with £1.5 million of investment. We've announced an end to child burial fees. We've led the way in action to tackle plastic use. We've passed a new islands bill. We've confirmed funding for the Stirling-Clackmannanshire growth deal. Actually, with more money than the UK Government is putting into it. Or maybe Ruth Davidson would like to hear something about the last 10 days or so. We've announced additional investment in Clyde Gateway to create new jobs. We've announced a new £100 minimum school clothing grant, which will help 120,000 families across the country. We've announced an additional £50 million to tackle waiting times. We've published the NHS safe staffing bill, published the new climate change bill. We've announced £7 million investment in projects to help fishing fleets and coastal communities. We've announced a new £7.5 million innovation fund for new approaches to tackling child poverty. Would you like me to go on, or is that enough for you? I'm not sure what Ruth Davidson has been doing for the last few days, but that's what the Scottish Government has been doing. Ruth Davidson. As far as the country can see, the only result of the last 10 days activity is restarting the independence debate. Restarting the independence debate is that she's had to firefight against her own supporters who are fighting amongst themselves, which I'm not sure is what she intended. The truth is that we have a First Minister whose prime concern seems to be appeasing her own independence army rather than governing Scotland. They don't like it, but it's true. We already know that we've had some of the worst NHS waiting times ever. We already know that access to education is being restricted, so let me ask her about another area of responsibility that deserves her attention too. On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied does she think that rural Scotland is with the actions that her Government has taken? First Minister. What the country can see are all the initiatives that I've just outlined in this chamber. The question for Ruth Davidson, I guess, is this. If she doesn't want us to be talking about independence, why is she using her weekly opportunity at First Minister's questions to raise the topic of independence? Isn't it the case that Ruth Davidson loves nothing more than talking about the Constitution because she's got nothing else to talk about? She just doesn't want the positive case for independence to be heard. Ruth Davidson asked me about rural communities. I hope that she was listening to the long list of initiatives that I outlined. She would have heard one of the things that I talked about was the £7 million investment in projects to help fishing, fleets and coastal communities. We're working hard to ensure delivery of cap payments, having already made loans to most farmers. We will continue to deliver for rural communities across Scotland. Yesterday, in this chamber, we passed the island's bill to help our island communities. We will continue to deliver for rural communities, urban communities and all communities across Scotland. The First Minister just mentioned cap payments. That was bold. Let me tell her what farmers are saying. Jim Walker, the former head of the NFUS, made his feelings clear yesterday. They might not want to hear what Jim Walker has to say. One second, Ms Davidson. There is too much noise in the chamber today. Let's hear the questions and the answers. Ruth Davidson. Let's listen to what Jim Walker has to say, shall we? Three years on from this Government's botched farm payment system, nearly a half of Scotland's farmers are still waiting to be paid what they're owed. Mr Walker says that this is a national scandal of epic proportions and taxpayers in Scotland are footing an ever-increasing bill. He says that the First Minister is presiding over the biggest funding scandal in modern Scottish history. Perhaps, rather than pulling us all back to theoretical debates about what currency the country might use, shouldn't the First Minister concentrate a bit more on paying Scotland's farmers the actual currency that they're owed? Let's just run through some of the facts. We've made basic payment scheme loan payments to 13,577 businesses. That's worth over £314 million, and loan payments were made before the cap payment window even opened on 1 December last year. Nearly 75 per cent of farmers have received 90 per cent of the support that they're entitled to under the basic payment scheme. In terms of the actual basic payments, we've paid £217 million, with 63 per cent of businesses now paid. Of course, we're working hard to meet the target by the end of June this year. Perhaps the most pressing question is facing farmers not just in Scotland but right across the UK. Given that her UK Government colleagues cannot answer it, perhaps Ruth Davidson can answer it today. What is going to happen to cap payments after the Tories drag us out of the European Union? Ruth Davidson has been guaranteed, but let me tell her what Jamocca is saying. Let me answer her directly with this. Enough is enough. Let's call a halt to this pantomime. Why should suppliers and farmers bankroll a sector amongst ourselves while our own Government sits on our money? This is the responsibility of the First Minister, who is ultimately responsible for the proper use of public funds on our behalf. It's not just Scotland's farmers that are being let down. Here is the reality of this Government's record. This week alone, we have learned that 17,000 people in just a single month are waiting beyond the six-week deadline for diagnostic tests, including cancer.  We have communities right across Scotland suffering from writing anti-social behaviour and violent crime. Those are the important issues that the people of Scotland really care about. Why is it that they only fault getting any of the First Minister's attention? They aren't patients, they aren't students, they aren't victims of crime, but they are her own independent supporters? First Minister? Just because Ruth Davidson wishes that that was the case, I'm afraid it doesn't make it true. Ruth Davidson knows that she's wrong on access to higher education. The most up-to-date statistics on access to university shows that there's been a 12 per cent increase in 18-year-olds from our most deprived communities going to university. Of all ages, that increase is 13 per cent. The figures published this week show that more care experience young people are going into higher education, they show improved retention rates for young people from our deprived communities going to university. On the national health service, we are putting more money into the national health service. This is in the week when Ruth Davidson admitted that the biggest risk to her health service was the preference of the Tories for tax cuts over investment in our public services. Perhaps this is a good moment to remind Ruth Davidson that, if we had taken her advice when we passed our budget for this financial year and given tax cuts to the rich, instead of investing in our national health service, we'd have £500 million less to spend. That's equivalent to 12,000 nurses in our national health service, so we'll continue to invest while the Tories continue to do all the damage that at least Ruth Davidson has a degree to admit to this week. Radiology services in Scotland are in need of resuscitation. This matters because, when radiology fails, the health service fails. We are now witnessing a national radiology service that is starting to crumble. Not my words, the words this week of Dr Grant Baxter, the head of the Royal College of Radiologists in Scotland. First Minister, is Dr Baxter wrong? We will continue to work with clinicians like Dr Baxter to address the challenges that our national health service is facing. If we look at the statistics published this week in terms of diagnostic tests—there are eight diagnostic tests, four of them are in radiology—we're seeing their performance of over 90 per cent in terms of meeting the target. Endoscopy tests' performance is not as good as that, which is why the health secretary has outlined further action this week. We know that our NHS is facing significant extra demand. We're seeing the demand, for example, for out-patient appointments up by 10 per cent in the last decade. That is not unique to Scotland. It is a challenge that health services across the world are facing. That is why we are taking action to invest more in our health service. We are investing record sums, and we will invest an additional £2 billion over this Parliament. Of course, the health secretary announced £50 million of additional funding just this week to help tackle waiting times. We're also taking steps to reform our health service, to shift the balance of care and to do more to recruit into key specialties. We will continue to take that action that is needed, and we are determined to continue to take it. The action that is being taken isn't working. Dr Baxter goes on to say that waiting times continually increase largely due to imaging backlogs. Cancers go undiagnosed. Patience cannot be treated as their scans are not reported on time. Patience, anxiety and worry over pending scan reports can last for weeks and months. Those are real lives, First Minister. It is the fear of having to wait for a cancer diagnosis, the anxiety and the trauma of a longer-than-necessary wait for treatment, the difference between early and late diagnosis. The Government has a target that patients should not wait longer than six weeks for these tests, yet just two days ago it was revealed that one in five patients is now waiting too long. So can Nicola Sturgeon tell the chamber what that figure was when she became First Minister? As I have already said, there are challenges around diagnostic tests, but I would encourage Richard Leonard to look at the detail of that. In terms of the four radiology tests, performance is above 90 per cent. When it comes to scopes, performance is not as good as we want it to be, which is why this week the health secretary has announced action that bowel cancer UK has described as an important announcement that is a step in the right direction. We have also invested an additional £5 million to support access to diagnostics for suspected cancer patients. Of course, boards assure the Scottish Government that, where somebody is suspected of having cancer, they are treated with priority and within six weeks. In fact, the vast majority of cancer patients are seen within two to three weeks. The 62-day standard for cancer is an important one, and once a decision has been made to treat, the average wait for cancer treatment is only six days. Where there are issues, and we are very frank where those issues are, the Government will continue to take the action to address them. The overall trend, if you look at inpatient and day-case waiting times over the decade that the SNP has been in government, the numbers seen overall are up, but the numbers waiting more than 12 weeks down by 30 per cent, and the numbers waiting more than 18 weeks down by 43 per cent. We will continue to invest and carry out the reforms to how our health service delivers care that will mean that patients are treated in the way that they deserve to be. One in 13 patients waited too long when Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister. Today, it is one in five. That is a 171 per cent increase in patients waiting too long, patients waiting for diagnostic tests and investigations, including for cancer. That is what the people of Scotland want the First Minister to focus on, not promoting another divisive referendum, not taking to Twitter to defend the decade of cuts and austerity that would come with leaving the UK. Presiding Officer, there are serious problems in our national health service, and they are growing. Labour raises them in this parliament week after week, but the SNP is expending more energy on its cuts commission than cutting NHS waiting times. When is the First Minister going to stop putting nationalism before the national health service? I think that Richard Leonard has just shown his true colours. It is interesting, is it not, Presiding Officer, that the only people to have mentioned independence in this chamber today are the better-together parties, which I think speaks volumes. This is the week in which the health secretary has announced extra action, action that has been welcomed by Bill Cancer UK. It is the week in which the health secretary has announced the investment of an additional £50 million to tackling waiting times. When we did similar last year, that had an impact on outpatient waiting times. The recent statistics this week show improvement in outpatient waiting times, and we are obviously going to target this investment on inpatient waiting times. We will continue to take the action on health, on education across the whole range of issues that I have spoken about today, and we will leave the better-together parties to speak about whatever they want. The First Minister will agree with me that it is great news that the Stirling-Clack city region deal heads of terms were signed in Stirling this morning. The total package of £95.2 million includes an additional £5 million from the Scottish Government for infrastructure projects at Callan and Caldean. The UK Government has overpromised and underdelivered that, given that the Scottish Government will invest £50 million in real terms over 10 years, while the UK Government will only invest £40 million over 15 years once the notional £5 million valuation for the MOD4 side is discounted. First Minister. First, I think that it is very welcome that the Stirling-Clack Manusure deal has been agreed today. It will be good for that area and credit to Bruce Crawford and others who have campaigned so hard for it. We were hoping to see a UK Government investment of £50 million. That is what we were prepared to commit. That is what the Scottish Government has committed, so it is disappointing that the UK Government has committed to significantly less than that. In fact, if you look at the Scottish Government's overall commitment to city growth deals now, it stands at £1.3 billion, compared with just £1 billion for the UK Government. We will continue to encourage the UK Government to do more, but we will not hold back in giving those cities and regions the investment that they deserve. Neil Bibby. The First Minister is aware of my constituent, Denzel Darko, who faces the prospect of deportation and huge uncertainty about his future. He is a young man who has built his life in Paisley, once a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, a Commonwealth Games baton bearer, and a student nurse who wants to work in our NHS, but who is also the victim of bogus migration targets and the hostile environment policy of the Home Office. He is someone who has contributed a huge amount to this country and who wants to stay in Scotland and the UK so that he can contribute even more. Given the reaction of so many people in my community and across the country, it is clear that people want him to stay here too. Can I ask the First Minister to take the opportunity to make clear to the Home Office the impact that immigration policies are having on young people in Denzel's position? Does the First Minister agree with me that there can be no justification for driving a young man like Denzel away from the place that he calls home? I think that the complete lack of support that the Tories have just shown for a young man who has Scotland as his home and who wants to continue to have Scotland as its home says everything that we need to know about the Conservative Party today. Shame on them. I am aware of the case of Denzel. I have met Denzel in the past. He is a fine young man. He is an absolute credit to Scotland and it is outrageous, scandalous and a disgrace that he has threatened with deportation. We should be trying to attract more young people of his calibre to Scotland, not chasing them away. He wants to be a nurse in our national health service. How many times do the Tories stand up in this chamber and complain about matters in our national health service? How many times do they stand up and complain about staffing shortages in our health service? We still have the Tories wanting to deport a young man who wants to contribute to our national health service. Ruth Davidson is saying that she said that she did not agree with the targets, but she wants Scotland to remain locked into these immigration targets that are so damaging to our economy and our society. The immigration policies of the Tories are disgraceful. I will do everything that I can to make the case for Denzel, Darku, to argue that case. I am sure that Neil Bibby, as the MSP who has taken up the case, will do. I think that what we need is more than action in one case. What we need is a change to immigration policy, a more humane policy and one that recognises the needs of our country. It is that that all of us should be campaigning and arguing for. Andy Wightman To ask the First Minister whether her Government will bring forward legislation to enable the City of Edinburgh to become a normal European city by having the power to introduce a visitor levy or tax. We will continue to consider the issues in the context of our budget planning. I would encourage the member to discuss this, as I am sure he has in the past, with the finance secretary. It is not currently a proposal that the Scottish Government is putting forward, but, of course, we will continue to listen to representations made. John Scott Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the First Minister what additional support the Scottish Government might be able to provide to hard-pressed police in Ayrshire following up to 2,000 young people arriving mostly by train at Trun on Bank holiday Monday and causing alcohol-related disturbances on the beach. The First Minister First, it is regrettable if young people behave in a way that causes antisocial behaviour or disturbance to local communities. The fantastic bank holiday Monday that was enjoyed across Scotland was a fantastic thing, and many individuals and families took the time to enjoy that in a thoroughly positive way. Of course, we are investing in the police service. In this financial year, the resource budget of the police service is increasing in real terms. Of course, unlike the situation south of the border, we have maintained police numbers. In England, we have seen 20,000 police officers lost from the service, so we will continue to invest in our police service and continue to support them in the fantastic work that they do. When Nicola Sturgeon announced a legally binding treatment time guarantee, she said that there would be a straightforward system of redress on the rare occasions when things go wrong. It was rare that things went wrong at first—that is true. Only five patients waited longer than 12 weeks. It is not rare any more. There are now 13,005 patients waiting now. The First Minister will recognise those words. Those are the exact words that I used exactly one year ago when I questioned the First Minister. Not much has changed, except the number of patients waiting has gone up yet again—more people waiting for longer, letting down patients and letting down staff. A year ago, the First Minister promised me things would get better. Just when is that going to happen? The figures that were published this week are not good enough, as far as I am concerned, although, when we look at the treatment time guarantee, since that was introduced, 1.6 million patients have received their treatment within the required timeframe. However, the figures are not good enough. Outpatient waiting times have seen an improvement because of the investment in the work that has been undertaken. The additional investment that was announced this week will help us to drive further improvements around inpatient waiting times. Willie Rennie raises a serious issue. We know that the NHS is facing significantly increased demand. If we look and compare now to 2007, we see 10 per cent more new outpatient attendancies a year, we see a 10 per cent increase in inpatient attendancies. That is why we are doing the hard work to prepare our NHS for the future. We are investing record sums. The NHS budget is up by £4 billion already under this Government and will go up by £2 billion further. Per head, NHS funding in Scotland is 8 per cent higher than it is in England. I have already spoken about the £50 million announced this week for waiting times. Willie Rennie has called for much of this action to shift the balance of care, to do more in social care, to do more in community settings, to invest more in mental health, so we will continue to do the hard work. It is not only Scotland that is facing those challenges. Governments across the world are facing those challenges. That is why we have to do the hard work to make sure that we are preparing our NHS for the future. As I said earlier on, when we look at the longer-term trend over the past 10 years, the numbers waiting more than 12 weeks and the numbers waiting more than 18 weeks for inpatient and day-care treatment are down significantly. However, we do face challenges and that is why we are taking all of the action that I have already outlined today. Willie Rennie The First Minister talks about extra money. It was announced this week, even though patients were crying out for it months ago. While patients were waiting in pain and anxiety for treatment, the Government was holding back the money until the newspaper headlines got too bad for the First Minister to bear. That money is to treat patients not to cover for the Government's failures in the NHS.  The waiting time guarantee means nothing—failure after failure—and the First Minister has still not answered my question. Five people were waiting, then 13,000 people were waiting. Now 16,000 people are waiting. It is supposed to be zero. It is the law. It is guaranteed. When is the First Minister going to obey her own law? Willie Rennie's wrong in what he says about NHS funding. The funding that is given to NHS boards is increasing, but of course it makes sense that we have the ability, if NHS boards face particular challenges, to have the funding to target those particular challenges. That is a sensible way of proceeding, and we will continue to take that action. If you look at the £50 million that was invested last year, particularly to deal with some of the challenges around outpatient waiting times, since last September, we have seen a reduction of 23 per cent in the numbers waiting more than the target for outpatient consultations. Of course, seeing more people in outpatients adds pressure to inpatient treatment, which is why this funding now allows health boards to target inpatient waiting times. We will continue to do the hard work that is required. As I have said many times before in this chamber, the health services in countries across the UK and across the world are facing the challenges of an ageing population. That does not just mean that the numbers seeking treatment are going up, but the complexity of cases is increasing as well. The investment that we are putting in, plus the reform work that we are doing, is all about making sure that the NHS is supported during a difficult period of transition, and we will continue to get on with that work. Does the First Minister share my concerns for the safety of communities, following the release of Audit Scotland's recent report into the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, which found serious concerns about the cost of maintaining the service's vehicles, equipment and properties, and warned of an increased risk of our engines breaking down? Will the Government be following the Audit Scotland's call for an annual investment of £80.4 million so that the service's assets can be brought up to satisfactory standards? I think that it is important not to be irresponsible in characterising the Audit Scotland report this morning. Overall, it is an extremely positive report about the progress that has been made by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. In terms of the figure around the capital backlog, it is important to say that that includes some expenditure that is certainly desirable but not essential. This point is particularly important. Fire service assets must comply with stringent safety requirements. There is no suggestion whatsoever that equipment is unsafe. Of course, in the budget for this year, the Scottish Government increased the spending capacity of the Scottish Fire Service by £15.5 million. In the last financial year, we increased capital funding by almost £22 million and maintained that increase in this year's budget. Since the single fire service was launched in 2014, the fire service itself has invested more than £94 million in property, vehicle fleet and other assets. We will continue to support the fire service to make those investments and to ensure that it has the funding that it needs. Again, in response to Ruth Davidson, we should remember that if we had followed the Conservatives' recommendations on our budget for this year, we would have £500 million less to spend. The Tories cannot continually argue for tax cuts that would reduce our spending power and then come to this chamber and ask us to spend more on every single area of our responsibility. It is not credible and it is why the Tories are not and probably never will be credible either. Johann Lamont The First Minister has set a target that 16 per cent of those starting the first full-time degree by 2021 will be from the 20 per cent most deprived areas in Scotland. Given that the Scottish Funding Council figures released yesterday and I know that the First Minister will not dispute those figures, she shows that, from 2015-16 to 2016-17, participation fell by 0.2 per cent across Scotland, with individual institutions showing a bigger fall. What action will the First Minister take to understand why progress appears to be stalling? Will she consider reviewing the targets to include young people such as a constituent of mine, who is from a very low-income family but does not live within the most deprived areas and, as a consequence, does not benefit from current Scottish Government action? The First Minister I do not dispute the figures, but it is important to understand the figures. I hope that people will listen to this because it is important. As Johann Lamont rightly said, those are figures for 2016-17. They predate the widening access commission recommendations. They justify the decision to set up the widening access commission. The reason why it is wrong to look just at those figures is that we have more up-to-date figures. We have the UCAS figures for 2017-18. Just to be clear, 2017-18 comes after 2016-17. The 20 figures show this. The UCAS has described it as an increase. There is an increase of 12 per cent among 18-year-olds from our most deprived communities going to Scottish universities, and an increase of 13 per cent when we look at all ages from our most deprived communities going to universities. That is progress. It is not enough progress, that is why we have set the targets that Johann Lamont mentioned, but it is progress. For members in the opposition parties to try to contort the figures to suggest that it is not progress, it is a bit rich. Johann Lamont raises a serious issue about how we measure deprivation. The commissioning on widening access's report was very clear on the value of SIMD as a measure of deprivation, and it recommended that we continue to use that for tracking and monitoring targets on fair access. However, we recognise the limitations of the Scottish index of multiple deprivation and why we are open to ways in which other measures can be used. Somebody from a sedentary position has shouted why we are not doing anything about it. We established a working group to look exactly at that question, how we refine the measurement to deal with some of the concerns that have been raised. We are making progress in this area, and given the very legitimate concerns that have been raised by people across the chamber and further afield, I would have thought that, even though people can rightly say that we need to see further progress, people would welcome the progress that is already being made. Christine Grahame Thank you. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on suggestions by the RBS chief executive that post offices are the best solution to replace local banks that have closed. First Minister. Communities across Scotland stand to be adversely affected by the on-going programme of bank branch closures. There is not and there cannot be a one-size-fits-all solution to maintaining access to banking services in affected areas. Post offices provide many essential services, including basic banking transactions and are a lifeline for many communities, but there are significant limitations on the range of services that they are able to offer, particularly for small businesses. Many customers also remain concerned over levels of privacy available in post office premises. I would encourage banks, including the Royal Bank of Scotland, to listen to the needs and concerns of their customers and ensure that practical solutions are put in place to allow all communities in Scotland to access essential banking services. Christine Grahame I thank the First Minister for her answer. It shouldn't be news to Ross McHugh and MD of RBS, but post offices have closed right, left and centre in my constituency, in places such as Erleston, Innerlead and Newton Grange, and the RBS closes its branch in Penicook next month. Does the First Minister agree with me that the comment by him that RBS's piggyback on post offices was not only insulting but ill-informed? Does she agree with me that, heading a company with 72 per cent public ownership, he should get out and about starting with my invitation to him to come round Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale to chat with my constituents and small businesses to see what they think of his closures and his grand solution? The First Minister I am sure that most people would be delighted to accept Christine Grahame's invitation to visit her beautiful constituency. I recognise and share many of the concerns that Christine Grahame has expressed. This is an issue that I have discussed personally over recent times with RBS. I am meeting the chair of RBS later this afternoon, and no doubt this is an issue that we will discuss then as well. We do recognise the importance of post offices to local communities, but we have made it clear to both the UK Government and post office limited that they have a responsibility to ensure that existing services are maintained rather than reduced. We also continue to fund Citizens Advice Scotland research into post office outreach services. They have a role to play, but I share Christine Grahame's view that they cannot necessarily provide all the services locally that people want to see. I say to all banks, including RBS, that they have an obligation to listen and to address the concerns that their customers have on their ability to access those services in Christine Grahame's constituency and, indeed, in other constituencies across the country. To ask the First Minister what action she is taking to tackle human trafficking in Scotland. The long-term increase in recorded sexual crime in Scotland and in the rest of the UK is due to a range of factors, including victims having more confidence to come forward to report to police what has happened to them. We will shortly be publishing the first annual progress report on implementation of our trafficking and exploitation strategy. That report will set out the wide range of action taken since publication of the strategy last May. This week, we heard again from the very Reverend Dr John Chalmers how Roma children and young women in Govan Hill are being sold in select slavery by gangsters, while others live eight to ten to a room working 12-hour days for pittance in return. Obviously, you did publish your strategy on trafficking and exploitation a year ago. Could you give us some highlights of an assessment of how this strategy is working in practice and if it is achieving everything that it is aimed at and when we can hope to put an end to this human tragedy? Firstly, I am obviously very well aware of concerns that are raised about Govan Hill. It is an issue that I speak to the police regularly about and my message, firstly, is that people should come forward and report to the police any concerns that they have. I know that the police rigorously investigate and have investigated all concerns that have come forward to them. More generally, in terms of the strategy, as I said in my original answer, we will shortly be publishing the first annual progress report on implementation of the strategy, which will set out the range of actions that have been taken since publication and will also look at the further action that requires to be taken. However, the areas that we have been focusing on, for example, working to raise awareness and strengthen the protection for victims of trafficking—we have also increased funding for victims of trafficking—and the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act, which was passed by the Parliament in 2015, strengthens the legal protections and the police powers that are available to tackle that. We will continue to take those actions. The member described it as a human tragedy. Any individual who is trafficked or subject to exploitation in that way is a human tragedy. We must treat it as such, and the Scottish Government will continue to do so extremely seriously. To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will call an independence referendum before the end of the current parliamentary session, in light of the report by the Sustainable Growth Commission. My goodness, the Opposition party is just hate talking about independence, do not they? As I have said before, when we have greater clarity on the Brexit outcome, I will set out my views on the best way forward for Scotland. I welcome the report of the Sustainable Growth Commission. Crucially, it allows us to focus on how we can build a better, more prosperous and fairer country, instead of just managing the consequences of Tory austerity and the decline of Brexit, which I know is Labour's preference, but it is certainly not mine. Jackie Baillie I know just how much the First Minister likes talking about independence. It is fair to say that the growth commission report has caused deep splits in the SNP. Oh yes, Alex Bell. The First Minister clearly does not like hearing this, so I will wait until they are ready. Alex Bell, who helped to write the SNP's independence white paper, says that the commission report will mean spending cuts and no economic freedom. Kenny MacAskill, former SNP justice secretary, says that the acceptance of so many aspects of neoliberal doctrine in the report are a step too far. Given that all the candidates for the SNP deputy leadership have said that they expect a referendum within this term of Parliament, with Keith Brown even telling us that it could be 12 months away, let me ask the First Minister if the growth commission report is a device for bringing forward the referendum or is it a vehicle to convince her party members to delay? The First Minister Well, I have got some analysis here that I am going to share with the chamber and hopefully it will be of embarrassment to the Tories, hopefully it will be of interest to Labour. If the spending recommendations of the growth commission had been applied over the past 10 years, the £2.6 billion real terms cuts imposed on the budget of the Scottish Government by Tory Governments at Westminster would have been completely wiped out. It would have eradicated austerity in Scotland. That is the reality. The growth commission report is welcome. It allows us to focus on how to build a better Scotland. It shows that even if independence does not lead to faster growth, the deficit that is created by Westminster can be turned around without austerity, the report is explicit in its rejection of austerity and its recommendation for real terms spending growth. As I have said, if that approach had been taken, we would not have had to put up with the cuts that we have done over the past 10 years. The really important bit of the report is that it sets out how the powers of independence can enable us to make our economy even more successful and match the success of other small countries, powers to grow our population, powers to close the gender pay gap, powers to tailor our economic policies to our needs, not the needs of London and the south-east of England. I know Labour's preference is just to leave us with Tory rule, austerity and the decline of Brexit. Will I leave Labour to argue that with the Tories? I am going to argue for a better alternative. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I have a question of my own. To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will take urgent action to ensure that appropriate life-saving drugs are made available to people with cystic fibrosis. The Scottish Government and NHS officials will be meeting the pharmaceutical company Vertex next month to continue to encourage them to make a fresh SMC submission for the drug or camby. The health secretary has continued to strongly encourage the manufacturer to bring forward that submission as quickly as possible at a fair price. In addition, I know that Alec Neill will be aware, because I think that this is what kicked off when he was health secretary. A new process, known as PAX Tier 2, goes live across Scotland from tomorrow. That provides clinicians with the ability to make requests to the local health board for medicines not yet approved by the SMC on an individual patient basis. I thank the First Minister for that question for that answer. I particularly welcome the fact that from tomorrow CF patients will be able to submit individual patient requests for the new drug or camby. However, I express to the First Minister that there is concern, still, as expressed by Professor Gordon MacGregor in the daily record on Monday, about the lack of the general availability of or camby. Therefore, I ask the First Minister if, in order to make or camby generally available without having to go through an individual request, which, of course, is not always successful, will the First Minister do all she can to ensure that that happens, including if necessary, in reinvesting the rebates money from the pharmaceutical price regulation scheme, PPRS, as done in a previous occasion to ensure that CF patients get the life-saving drugs, like Caila Daco in the past, that they need. The First Minister Yes, I agree with all that. As Alex Neil is right to say, or camby is not currently routinely available in the NHS anywhere in the UK, although I understand that in the Republic of Ireland, as I said, in my opening answer, Government officials and NHS officials will meet with the pharmaceutical company next month. We want them to bring forward a submission as quickly as possible at a fair price. In terms of the question about the PPRS, we will continue to ensure that any rebate from the PPRS is invested in new medicines, as we have done in the past. Negotiations are about to start again, but it is the UK Government that leads those negotiations with UK pharmaceutical companies. Lastly, we will continue to implement the reforms that I have spoken about previously in the chamber, of which the PACS tier 2 initiative is one of. We have seen significantly increased access to new medicines due to those reforms in recent years. We will continue with the reforms and ensure that any rebate is invested, and we will encourage pharmaceutical companies to bring forward new medicines at fair prices so that people across Scotland who need those medicines can have best access to them. Thank you very much, and that concludes First Minister's question time. We will move on to members' business in the name of Miles Briggs shortly on improving Edinburgh City's bypass, but I am just going to have a short suspension for a few moments to allow those in the gallery who wish to leave and our new guests to arrive. Short suspension.


So as said the talk topic of the talk is alternative use cases For prediction markets the real topic should just be prediction markets are awesome in my opinion All right, so this is an idea This has been often around Is there a chance that I can see the slides on the second screen? Anyway, so this is idea that has been often around we have this concept that smart contracts are components, so Someone builds an identity component someone else and that means every contract Can use the identity component every contact Contract has the concept of identity someone else builds a general registry every contract gets a registry Someone builds in Reputation system every contract gets in reputation system someone builds a stable coin every contract gets a stable coin So I want to show the components we are bringing we bring to the ecosystem and we are building a general prediction market platform and There are a few applications. I want to present so I want to present how we bring To every contract the ability to incentivize actions I want to show how every contact gets the ability to gather information and have has precise forecasts and I want to show how every contract or every for example Dow has the option to use prediction markets as a governance mechanism For that This is the base Contract of a prediction market and it is really simple, but that is in my opinion the good thing so it is simple and it It is also that's super important because it should be secure It should be so simple that we can create it buck-free because this will be a contract that potentially will hold a bunch of money or a bunch of tokens So simplicity and security is simple Is is super important The good thing you can build tons of stuff around this very simple base contract. The idea is very simple You have any kind of collateral token it is stored in the contract and then you have and potential outcomes and for each outcome You create a token token will be created and there's Oracle that later will will pings a contract and And sets a contract in a way that that one of those outcomes are chosen and then the collateral token kind of flows to The outcome tokens or in other words the outcome tokens can be exchanged or revealed For the collateral tokens the outcome token of the winning outcome will have the exact same value as as the collateral It's important to note that the Oracle can be any kind of contract so it can be so the notice platform will be there Agnostic it can be decentralized Oracle. It can be a centralized Oracle. It can be some combination It can be centralized Oracle was a backstop mechanism as a decentralized Oracle and all kind of things but now let's Look at some properties this brings so again We can we have the simple function by all outcomes in contract code solid decode You put in one or n collateral tokens and you receive and token of each of each outcome and You can do it the other way around so you could take a complete set of outcomes and exchange it to the collateral token and Finally as soon as outcome set is set you can exchange the winning outcome token against the collateral and that brings a few Relationships about the values of those tokens for example one outcome token will always be Smaller or equal in value than the collateral token But enough of that so now see now have a look Let's have a look how we can use this Concept in practice. So the canonical example for prediction markets is to buy or sell information We want to have an information For example when will Casper be released so we can set up a prediction market and we have different outcomes. Let's say first outcome is Early next or first quarter next year second quarter next year and so on and then we just create a market for those We just cover the prices and the prices are always directly the forecasts to overcome To have good prices. It's useful to use something we call an automated market maker. So we Reserve a bunch of funds and they will continuously create an order book or an arithmetic order book and Continuously provide a price an exact price for those outcomes and everyone Who disagrees with this price who disagrees with this forecast has direct incentive to trade against the automated market maker and By this trade providing the information the prop the probably private information he or she has into the market return money if he's right, but Reveal the information to the market and make it public So again, how would this look like in a concrete example the event would be when will Casper go live could have three potential Outcome tokens and we can just observe the price of those all outcome tokens and no directly What is the likelihood an example we already From our life Market from already six seven months ago was a simple forecast on the difficulty with Four different outcomes and you just see a graph how the prices change and you see the property that the prices always together sum up to to one in this case to one either either was a collateral token and Eventually they will converge one outcome will converge against the price of one because that will be the winning outcome and Eventually, it will be Have the same value as the collateral as ether But there are more applications we can do so another application is create incentive So we do a market we do a Create a market on something we want to happen and then we have again two outcomes It will happen or it will not happen and what we try to do now is we either give tokens of The it will happen outcome to someone who can make it happen or we will sell or auction off Those tokens to them and what this means is they now have tokens They can make it happen and they know if they make it happen then those tokens will have a value of one So for example if you want to change the legislation the bit license legislation in New York because you think it's not a good idea You could create such an incentive market create a market. Will it be changed and obviously you should specify it a little bit more in a positive way and then you pile in just a bunch of money and And you hold the no tokens And you try to sell or auction off the yes tokens Tell you you take the yes tokens and just do a simple auction Who who bids something for that for those tokens and that can be a very small price If someone thinks they can do something to make it happen They should buy those tokens at a very little price make it happen and then reveal it against the full collateral if if they buy those tokens and And they cannot manage To make it happen Well in the end you will you will kind of win You will win the money you sold it for your money will be you have a little bit more money And you just put it into the next prediction market In fact, you can already set up a contract who would repeatedly do this until it is achieved So you put your money really to work So you put your money in a contract and it will constantly create an incentive until it is done Another one next application you can do is is hedging a hedge or insurance is basically a bet bet is bet insurance Same thing so fire insurance is basically a head bet that your House will burn down if it does you win a bunch of money if not your The amount your premium is lost Concrete example and and this has been implemented I like I like this a lot. This is flight insurance market So you predict whether or not your flight will be late You don't want it to be late, but well if it is late you at least win the prediction Again will my flight be late so and how you do it or how you set it up you just bring for example 10 units and The insurance company brings in 90 units together those hundred units by 100 tokens of yes 100 tokens of no you as a person who wants to ensure yourself you get all the S tokens The insurance gets all the no tokens if it happens Well, then this hundred yes tokens will be worse hundred ESA in the case of no the insurance company wins But look let's have a look Into this Insurance example a little bit more in detail. There are problems. There are challenges so a big problem is that the insurance company would bring up the full collateral and no insurance in the world can upfront pay all Potential claims so that's that's not really an option or to put a different It's easy to build trust that systems if you have unlimited capital. We don't have unlimited capital So we have to come up with smarter solutions But what you can do is you take a bunch of those of those no tokens and and create a basket of them So the insurance company usually has a bunch of those no tokens You create a basket of them and then you can so use those as a collateral for For you for future events. So for example insurance against earthquake in San Francisco you take the no tokens of other insurances as as a basket for this collateral but what you not should do is Use a token that might be related or where The likelihood of of this happening might be related So a flood in San Francisco is potentially related to a earthquake in San Francisco. So that's not a good idea We will go into that in more detail. This general concept is if the collateral is somehow related to the next to the event then You need to be more careful for example this prediction market would not make any sense if you predict That the value of ether is zero, but you use ether as a collateral who would bet on yes, so you bet on yes You win a bunch of ether if it happens, but they are worth zero. So that doesn't make sense But you can set it up in a way that it makes sense So you can set it up that you use those tokens as a collateral for the next event and What's this? What this is in effect that you do here a prediction that This outcome and that outcome that outcome happens. So concrete example event a event B and Essentially if you buy tokens of event B you do a prediction that a one happens and B one happens and here comes More interesting stuff. So here by setting up those markets. You can see whether or not There's a relation between event a and event B if there's no relation between the two then the ratio between B a one and B a two should be the same as the ratio between B two a two and B Well, yeah, be be be one a two and B two a two So simple example Well, the sunshine tomorrow with the end will the price of ether be above $20 in let's say two month That's potentially or I'm pretty sure that is an independent event If you would do the same thing as Polonyak's would get hacked It's probably not an independent event and you would see in this case that the ratio here is Is different so pretty sure if Polonyak's gets hacked then the likelihood here is Smaller that it will be Bigger than $20 so again for the predict for this idea of using a basket as a collateral for insurances all the Events the vent tokens on the basket in the basket should be independent And you have a way to measure the independence with this concept now we can use The next application you can use for prediction markets is to use more or less this concept of doing predictions on The effect of a potential event For governance so the concept there's a general step-by-step Concept how you can leverage a prediction market to govern your DAO your smart contract first of all You need a continuous market on some measurable objective of your DAO so something like Maximize the revenue maximize the token the value of the token something like that and then You can have a proposal system anyone could make a proposal or maybe a group of people could make a proposal and As soon as someone does a proposal you create those two markets First will the proposal be implemented? Yes. No, and then second step how likely is this that we achieve our objective and you can directly measure or you you allow trading for a bunch of time you potentially Set up an automated market maker to get continuous price information and Then the contract could automatically implement the decision that will maximize the forecast for For your objective so in the example of noses we want to have a fund for noses that will Finance things that get built on top of noses so our simple objective for the noses platform We want to maximize the the volume on the platform and then there could be the idea. Well, maybe we should fund this sports betting interface and We set up this market And we can observe we can directly see from the prices Will it help our objective and if it does we automatically implemented? There are a few things we want to measure and Observe before we actually Implemented so we will be careful in noses. We will not directly use Futaki we will first use a method with some more human control, but eventually if we go through those steps we Yeah, it would be our goal to completely Have it governed by futaki. So we need first to make sure that indeed those forecasts on this objective Performance indicator are good. And then the next step would be that we can do good forecasts under those conditions and then What about how difficult or how easy is it to manipulate and act actually we have a send off a set of Experiments that we will start as soon as our security audit is done and we will Create incentives for someone to break the system to manipulate the market and we will see how resilient Markets are because if you automatically make decisions Based on markets, then of course it should not be possible to manipulate it so the ultimate test or the ultimate test before we would use Futaki for for noses would be something like can we beat AlphaGo? So can we do a futaki mechanism that is capable of aggregating all available information in a way that it can beat the best current machine learning Approach so you could set it up in a way that you always ask the question Will we win the game and then what what should be our next move and we have a bunch of moves and We are again observes the market which move will lead to the highest chance of winning the game All right Tonight or meet us tonight for drinks join our We chat select we chat group or just on on slack and let's continue the conversation about prediction markets. Thank you


Think tech away, civil engagement lives here. Aloha and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Pauline Schickmach, Jr., host for We Like the 1%. We Like the 1% focuses on individuals and entrepreneurs, and today we're continuing our discussion with Anil Kumar, senior trader with ProFX Options. Aloha, Anil. There you are again. Aloha, Pauline. Let me get back. Great. Now, yesterday we went into the basics of Bitcoin and the basics of trading cryptocurrencies along with fiat currencies. So we're going to carry on further today, because this is the show for individuals and entrepreneurs, and you and your team at ProFX Options are entrepreneurs and innovators, in fact, in cryptocurrency trading. So would you like to tell the viewers and listeners here at Think Tech Hawaii a little bit about why you started ProFX Options? Yes, Pauline, it's a really interesting story, because I've been teaching people how to trade different asset classes for many, many years. But the one recurring thing was that actually people don't really want to learn how to trade. They want to learn how to make money, and there's a very, very distinct difference. So with my business partner, Oksana, we created a company that would fast-track people in their learning to trade any asset class, whether it's foreign effects or whether it's futures or whether it's cryptocurrencies, and we systemise our trading to fast-track people who will want to learn as quickly as possible. And it's great to see the transformation from people who have never, ever traded before to a point where they can start making consistent profits with the right guidance, with the right tools, with the right trader coach, basically. I think these are all very important elements. And you focus primarily on cryptocurrency trading, which is the fiat currency pair, such as pound yen, pound dollar, like we discussed yesterday. And you also used to concentrate quite a lot on binary options, but not so much nowadays. And why is that, Anil? Well, binary options are actually a great product because they're the easiest instrument to learn. But I think regulations across the world have kind of don't particularly like that particular instrument class. So we're really primarily focused on fiat currencies and crypto currencies, because they both still have that same exciting element where they have enough volatility for individuals to make money once they know what they're doing. And the cryptocurrency aspect is particularly exciting, because it is relatively new. And you and Oxana and Aaron teach classes on how to trade cryptocurrencies. Is that correct? Yes, we do. We hold regular workshops and regular classes in London. So if any of your viewers are on holiday in London, we would love to see. We'd love to meet you and show you. Yes, Oahu is the gathering place. So we have lots of international tourists here, lots of Brits, lots of Aussies, lots of Kiwis. And everybody from everywhere comes to Waikiki, especially. That's the resort area. So for people who would be interested in taking your classes, how can they get in contact with you? Do you have a website or a Facebook they can link up with? Yes, absolutely. If you Google profxoptions.com, that's our website. We have a Facebook, we have Twitter, and we would be happy to hear from you. And if you are interested in trading, we'll give you guidance on the best approach, not only in terms of which asset plus a trade, but expectations. And the three main tools you need, you need a strategy, you need risk management, you need psychology. They're the three tools you're going to need to become consistently proper. And that's what we teach on our workshops and courses. And Anil, can anybody sign up for your classes? Anybody of any nationality or there are certain restrictions? Yes, it does depend because opening an account has to comply with your local regulations. So depending on the jurisdiction you come from, you'll have brokers that are regulated in your jurisdiction. So we always recommend checking with your advisors to make sure that you're able to open an account in that jurisdiction. But certainly if you come to London, there are lots of brokerages and lots of houses which can facilitate that. But always I always suggest to people from different jurisdictions to check with their own regulations first. And it's probably a very good idea to take a class in trading as opposed to just going at it blank slate because it looks simple, but there are a lot of things people need to learn about trading. Otherwise you might as well just go into a casino. Is that correct? Absolutely. Actually, I use the analogy of driving a car. If I get the keys to my car and you've never ever driven before, probability A to B is massively reduced because you don't know. But if I sat next to you and said, here's first, here's the gears, here's the indicator, you look in your mirror, then it massively increases your probability of success of getting from A to B. And trading is exactly the same. You need somebody to show you where the gears are, where the indicators are, where the dangers are and where you should be heading. So it's an analogy I use all the time. So I would never recommend anybody getting into a car that hasn't had any lessons and I would never recommend anybody to begin trading without having lessons. Yes, because it can be very, very dangerous. And we don't want people to lose money. We want them to make money off trading. And there are certain ways you can minimize your risk when you've had a class. Now, in terms of your own teaching style and that of your colleagues, Oksana and Erin, what makes your classes unique and how long do they last? What do people have to look forward to? Yes, so we are a priority to individuals' expectations and their long-term focus and goal. We start with a very simple free workshop and we step them up to a two-day course where we teach them the basics and then teach them how to use some of our unique trading strategies, which they can only access by our classes. We do online courses as well, but we also have mentorship programs where people who are very serious about trading can be with them for six months or 12 months to guide them through the hoops, basically. And we love doing it because we've had so many students who we've transformed their lives in terms of, you know, had a job at nine to five, not meeting their expectations. And we help them and guide them to really open up an amazing industry, which is trading whether any asset class, because if you get it right, it gives you the freedom to basically do whatever you want. And that's I think we've seen that time and time with our students. If you go on our website, there's some testimonials from our students which will attest to that. And Oksana and myself really enjoy that whole process with them. And it's a very small team and it's very personalized. So each individual student gets attention. Is that how it works generally? Yes, we just had a class actually this last weekend and we took live trades actually on our course. People have never ever played it before and all of them had winning players. And that's posted on our Facebook. We want to have a look at the trade we took with our students. We've never played it before using our new strategies, our new systems. It kind of, you said it was actually perfectly. It's simple, but it's not easy. And I think you said it perfectly. And one of the things you focus on, particularly Oksana, is the psychology within trading, because this is something that is sometimes overlooked. What's very fashionable, especially if people go into the relevant event bright in their city is that there are a lot of forex traders and so-called companies and so-called experienced traders running these free workshops and then asking for extortion amounts of money to learn from them how to trade when they are not experienced traders, unlike yourself and Oksana and Aaron. And the danger here is that they're being given an illusion. It's like these get rich quick, learn forex. And this is not correct. You don't get rich quick with forex. You have to know what you're doing. And what you focus on is particular aspects of psychology that help traders control their impulses in trading. Is that correct? Absolutely. Well, trading actually at any time money is at risk, we have uncertainty. Trading is uncertainty. Nobody knows what's going to happen next in the markets. So it induces chemicals in our brain of fear and greed. It's a common term that's used. But whenever, particularly somebody who's never traded before, they place their first trades, the uncertainty brings a lot of fear. And that fear affects the chemistry in our brains, which affect our decision making. And what we do, what we teach and what Oksana teach in the psychology part of our courses is how to control your emotions. Because when you enter the trade, you obviously enter the trade with a system, a rule based strategy. And that should be followed through regardless and regardless of what is happening next. And I think people who can be able to understand how to control their emotions are infinitely more successful than those who can't. It's definitely something we teach and we spend a lot of time teaching on that. I think we don't have enough time to go into alpha theta waves, which can actually enhance your progress and your performance by managing those waves in the brain. Basically, we don't have time to talk about that, but we spend a lot of time. OK, next time, Anil. But the basis of all this psychology is neurolinguistic programming. Is that correct? Yes, I mean, Oksana spends a lot of time in in what how we talk to ourselves and how the positive affirmations, how having belief in yourself, having an understanding that, you know, managing greed and fear are integral success. You know, trading isn't just about is the market going up or down. It's how you as an individual control your emotions while you're in the trade. And we see transformation.  And among the classes that you teach, which is more popular? Is it the fiat currency trading, the FX, or is it now the cryptocurrency trading? Which one? That's a really interesting question, because up until August of last year, fiat currency was the main asset class. But with the explosion of media coverage of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, there's been a massive surge in interest because people have seen the tremendous increase in percentage that people have talked about in terms of their account, the price of Bitcoin. So people want to find out. But again, like any type of trading, you know, you need the knowledge before you just jump in and buy a Bitcoin or buy a Ethereum or buy a Ripple. You have to know what you're doing. It's the same car analogy that we talked about earlier, but, you know, don't just jump into a cryptocurrency car without knowing how to drive it. So the very first thing people have to do is have a wallet. Is that correct? Yes. OK, so, you know, we touched upon it yesterday very briefly. There are three problems that you have to solve. One is where to buy safely, where to store safely and where to trade safely. And all these things are kind of unique and different to fiat currencies. So the wallet is an important aspect of holding cryptocurrencies, because as we discussed briefly yesterday, but cryptocurrency is nothing more than a digital asset. And the storage of that digital asset is critical. Whether you store it online or offline can make the difference, actually. And we encourage all our students to keep their digital assets offline by utilizing a hard wallet or a cold storage wallet. Again, these are things you need to understand before diving into cryptocurrencies. You need to know how to buy safely, where to store, whether it's online or offline, how to trade. And you mentioned cold storage, Anil. This is in reference to the small box manufactured by Trezor. Or is that the company who makes these small physical devices? We're not manufacturers of cold storage. But like everything, and what is actually interesting, the cryptocurrency sphere, on the face, it's very techy. So even the way that they have the Trezor and the way that it's managed and how you set it up and how you store your currency, you need to be shown how to do it. And I think that's one of the things that we noticed very early on is that people didn't know how to perform these functions. So we spent a lot of time on our workshops showing new demonstrations of how to buy cryptocurrency, be install your Trezor to keep your Trezor safe and also then how to trade it on the exchanges and take it off the exchange when you're no longer trading. So all very critical elements in trading cryptocurrencies. And some people again, jump into this car without knowing how to drive it. And that can cause problems. We suggest learn how to drive in the cryptocurrency concept. And these workshops are typically one or two days, is that right? Cryptocurrency ones are two days, I believe, or you've... The currency is that we want to give you a background of what cryptocurrency is, what blockchain is. And we're best to go to get the best information because we do understand and we should understand that the moment is regulated. OK, wonderful, Anil. We're just going to take a very quick break and then we'll continue with your trademark items in ProFX Option, the ALGO options and ProFX Thrust after this quick break. These are the developments that I'll tell you about. Sure. Aloha, my name is Mark Shklav. I'm the host of Think Tech Hawaii's Law Across the Sea. Law Across the Sea comes on every other Monday at 11 a.m. Please join us. I like to bring in guests that talk about all types of things that come across the sea to Hawaii, not just law, love, people, ideas, history. Please join us for Law Across the Sea, ala. Aloha, I'm Winston Welch and every other Monday at 3 p.m. you can join me at Out and About, a show where we explore a variety of topics, organizations, events and the people who fuel them in our city, state, country and world. So please join us every other Monday at 3 and we'll see you then. Aloha and welcome back everybody. We're speaking with Anil Kumar of ProFX Options here on We Like the 1%. So now we're going to get into the fun part of your trading style at ProFX Options. Every company, every trader has their different quirks and different inventions on how to predict what's going to happen, how they can place the best possible trades they can and you've got your own, haven't you, Anil? So you've got two trademark concepts that are attached to your company, ProFX Options. One of them is algo options. So do you want to go into the algorithmic trading now? Absolutely. So as I mentioned yesterday, I've been trading for 20 years and I learned very, very early on that markets move in patterns and as an engineer, as a mathematician, I started to look at these patterns to see if I could actually program them mathematically, algorithmically and over many, many years we've developed strategies and systems to help us identify the probability of the market going up or down and we're very proud to offer to our students our own algorithmic, algo options and trust and scanner that we've recently developed, which helps new students to look for opportunities using mathematics, using our algorithms to help them and guide them on placing trades. So we're very excited about that and the way that they function basically is they make it very visual on a chart. For example, it colors the bars, magenta, blue and it tells you the zones that you should be trading in and a scanner will look for opportunities across the marketplace and present them for further analysis by yourself. Okay, so this is quite an advantage compared to when, for example, I used to trade 20 years ago like you, we had to use something like Japanese candlestick charting and there was no computer or algorithm to track the patterns. We had to find the patterns ourselves and it operates a little bit like Japanese candlestick charting in the sense that Japanese candlestick charts are red and green. So green for yes, it's going to go up and red for down. So you had to memorize certain patterns that HOMA came up with like shooting star or the three soldiers or three crows. And this would give an indication as to which way you should be placing your trades. Now, now that you've got the algorithms, I'm very jealous because that speeds things up a little bit. It makes trading and crypto trading more accessible to larger amounts of the population. Is that right? That's exactly right. You get the perfect example where different Japanese candlestick patterns are used and a probability prediction on the markets going up or down. But those patterns actually, you can put maths behind them. So we looked at these Japanese candlestick patterns and movements and put numbers to them, put formula to them. And all we've done really is put them into an algorithmic system. So rather than you having to look for these patterns, the software looks for them, you know, looks at them for you. And then to give you an indication that this is the probability is the market is going to go up or down. So we've done the hard work for you. It looks a little bit simpler for you. And why did you pick the particular colors magenta and gray and blue instead of red and green? Did you just want to be different from the Japanese candlestick charting? No, not at all. Actually, you've touched on a very, very important element. Markets, regardless of what they are, either are moving in an uptrend, a downtrend, or they're going sideways. So we decided that when the market is going sideways, we don't really want to trade. So we colored the candlesticks or bars gray and blue when markets are going up. And magenta, we didn't want to confuse it with red. So magenta was the closest color. So that's the kind of story that magenta and dark blue. But gray is the important one because there are times when you should not trade. And that is just as important as you want to trade. And what does Pro FX thrust do to help him move? The thrust is a very important element in trading because whilst markets are moving, they sometimes are energetic. They move in speed. In terms, they're lethargic and they don't move very much. So obviously, when we're trading, we really want to make sure that the market has some movement, some momentum, some thrust. That is the best time to place trade. So our proprietary algorithms is seeking out these times when markets are going to be moving and it gives an indication to the user that that's a good probability of taking a trade. And when they see the magenta, that's a good time to buy. Is that right? So blue is a good time to buy. Oh, sorry. Magenta is a good time to sell. That's right. So it's not confused with red. It's a little bit more positive than red. Now, when people take your classes, Anil, do you focus on when you're starting somebody out on cryptocurrency trading, do you start with the USD-BTC pair? Is that what you focus on? Or do you go straight into BTC against Ethereum, ETH? OK, so it is important which currency pair you trade and the most liquid ones that we suggest you start with, you know, the Bitcoin. And whether it's against fear currency or against another cryptocurrency is kind of irrelevant in a way for us because predominantly people will be trading Bitcoin against US dollar or Ethereum against US dollar. We also have strategy and we also have the ability to trade against cryptocurrency against cryptocurrency. And for us as traders, we don't really mind what we trade and it doesn't have to be a fear currency. We want movement. We want patterns. We want the ability to use predictive mathematics. I'm just asking that, Anil, because if you want movement, especially for FX, the normal fiat pairs, because you run classes on that as well, the one that has one of the highest volatility, which was one of my favorite pairs, was pound yen. So the British pound against the Japanese yen. So it's volatile, but if you place the trades correctly, it can be very lucrative because it moves. That pair moves. There's a larger spread, but it moves. Again, you touched exactly the right topic. Traders do not want markets to go sideways or flat. We want volatility. The more volatility, the more potential profit. Also more potential risk, but risk and reward has to be measured. It has to be properly handled, if you know what I mean. So cryptocurrencies are much more volatile and the currency carrier you just mentioned has a similar kind of volatility. Not quite, of course, but as traders, we want volatility. And tell me about scanner. This is the first time I'm hearing about scanner. I knew about your algorithmic trademark. This is brand new news. We're launching a new product, which is called a scanner. So where you're just looking at one currency pair, your focus and energies on that one currency pair. But in the meantime, there may be other currency pairs that are moving and have much more probability of success. So scanner will look across 10, 20, 30 cryptocurrencies simultaneously and present the best opportunities with the scanner. And we're going to be launching that very, very soon. And we'll be happy to demonstrate that to you next time. OK.  Is that an activity you're still engaged with at ProFX Options? We did it more as a point of interest. When we started getting involved in cryptocurrencies 18 months ago, 14 months ago, we wanted to understand what it was all about. And we wanted to understand the blockchain. We wanted to understand the mining. Just like driving the car, we wanted to understand what's under the hood. We wanted to look in the engine. We want to build the engine. So we built a mining rig, which mines Ethereum. But it was more from a hobbyist, intriguing point of view. But we learned so much from that process. And we have it in our office. It's mining away. And because of that mining activity, you are engaged in your own exchange. Is that correct? So as I said to you, when we decide to get into cryptocurrencies, we want to see the areas that we have expertise in. So trading obviously was our main expertise. The mining was more of a hobby interest. But we also partnered with an exchange because we didn't like the kind of crypto exchange that we were coming up. And we didn't really want to recommend clients to exchange that we weren't happy with. So we partnered with an exchange, which will provide high-frequency trading, will provide security, provide a regulatory framework in an FCA sandbox, which I won't go into, but it means that we can do a lot more. We don't have time for that anymore. And I just wanted to ask about your classes because I know this from Oxana that generally speaking, okay, each trader has their own quirks and their own personality and their own way of trading as long as they follow the rules at the basic guidelines that you're teaching them. In general, would you say men or women make better traders? Oh, this is a contentious issue by the way. You've touched on a contentious issue. And you're going to put me in trouble by the way. Generally speaking, Anil, there's a difference between general and universal, right? So generally in your experience, in your observation with Oxana, because she's your partner and your business partner. She's a great trader and I discovered this and I think it's widely kind of known but maybe not widely known, but actually ladies, women make better traders because they're a bit more focused and unlike men who have egos and demand to be right, I think ladies and women tend to be more pragmatic and here's the controversial part. When I'm teaching a lady or woman, kind of do what they're told. Yes, yes, yes, no, that's fine. No, I was trying to tease that out of you because that's exactly why. Because men have sometimes the tendency to be higher risk takers, especially in things like trading and extreme sports and all that sort of thing. And they also sort of go for it more impulsive sometimes, whereas females, they're a little bit more passive in their personalities. Just generally speaking, okay, I'm talking about large segments of the population, not individual persons of course. So, and they're more pliable. So one of the things that are important in education is if the person is being receptive as opposed to rebellious because in something like trading, whether it's fiat currency or cryptocurrency, you really do have to follow the instructions of the tutor. Is that right? You can't just do anything in the beginning. You can get more creative once you see what it's like. But like with anything, it's very important to stick to the basic guidelines that you're teaching with you and Oxana and Erin are teaching in the classes. Is that right? The way our formula is very, very simple. It's a rule based strategy. And therefore, if you follow the rules, you have a high probability of success than if you don't follow the rules. And I think men tend to create new rules and to create their own version of the rules whereas women tend to be, okay, tell me what the rules are. Let me follow them. And I mean that in the most respectful way that I can. That's all right. You don't have to be politically correct. It's a trait that's important for this particular context. So the other reason I bring it up is that actually in Japan, it still is to some extent quite trendy for the Japanese housewife to trade. And that's not something Western women generally do as a hobby, right? There's a whole phenomenon. There is even a term Japanese housewives trade. They make up a big portion of the retail trading sector and because they can do it at one time, they can do it around their lifestyle. Because remember with trading and currency trading, if it's 24-7, you will always be able to find one or two hours in the day to trade. And I think that's what they do. I always admire them. Wonderful, Neil. So thank you for joining us again. This is the conclusion of the two part we did on cryptocurrency trading. And we look forward to having you again at some point and I'll see you in London at some point as well along with Oksana and Aaron. And for everybody in Hawaii, I'll see you next week, next Thursday at 11 a.m. where we like the 1%.


Everybody for us here up in 2023 luminance football hobby 12 box case number two random divisions You can find the results on your screen anytime elite sports cards calm Let's do this last daytime break last break for Dylan and I today We're gonna pull hopefully at least a one-of-one. I would like to see a far out. Haven't seen a far out yet I'm starting to question whether they're in the product Let's do it. So we pull all the SP's we pulled the names of the game the luminosity luminosity seems to be the most common Names the game probably behind that animation array where the nose it seems we've only pulled one two or three of those total so I hit the burrow yesterday and then I think you're right They all look kind of the same though unless the Allen and burrow are just so similar. They're both in the exact same stride Here we go Full case luminance a lot of hits coming our way um Hello Less than half an hour Half hour Honl Evans Roshan Jake Hainer to 200 rookie for the saints Year one rookie auto red ink jameer gibbs NFC north Good start NFC north dynamic smith and jigba God nullan smith read That is a jalen hyatt O'Connell rookie to 175 afc west aid and o'Connell And a jake hainer rookie auto to 350 NFC south Lawrence Solid first box is your quarterback auto jameer gibbs red ink Gibbs Washington nice tua orange to 50 for the dolphins Cedric tilman browns rookie year one auto And a dynamic anthony richard center for the Colts There's a cj stroud horizontal Derek henry patch card 15 of 25 three color spirit swatches Player worn jackson smith and jigba NFC west 44 of 50 rookie Good first box a levis to 100 now as well afc south And vestage to 100 is michael parsons NFC east Really strong start richardson Points card after this one 400 points rented everybody at the end. That's an evan hull Colts rookie to 200 afc south Devonte Adams 8 of 25 vegas afc west Luke schoonmaker rookie year one auto for the NFC east Infusion of jamar chase Appreciate everybody for what appreciate it for watching today. Everybody had a lot of fun pristine pulled some monsters out of there That's how tis was fire NFC east jalen hurts number to 150 Say larry brown NFC east gridiron greats auto larry brown savage Is etn West welker jersey card for the patriots afc east tank del rookie to 100 afc south We'll let us again this time to 175 afc south And mahomes vestage to 100 for the afc west We think best of vision is in this uh Probably afc south or stroud It's tough with no stroud autos, but I think it's still there because you also have levis Dolan smith Kyler number to 250 for the NFC west 250 points random to everybody at the ends Is that kyler again? I'm trying to think who like the in order like what would they be? I don't know tanner a key Gibbs There is a rookie jail and carter to 200 for the NFC east Clayton tune NFC west rookie on-card auto year one unforgettable just in fields CJ stroud rushy rice Bijan robinson rookie number to 75 NFC south It's south pretty good too Chase brown year one rookie auto afc north in a dynamic case on beat a smith and jigba Macintosh mark andrews on the jersey card for the afc north Patrick Mahomes number eight of 250 afc west. Oh, we got a one of one rookie to jaguar It's brenton strange. Congrats afc south brenton strange rookie one of one I said we do it lamar jackson 100 afc north One quarter of the way through And then hooker there jamar chase to 150 afc north jamir gibbs NFC north rookie auto number to 350 Nice card got the bonte atoms vestige Downs got tige spears rookie to 175 for the afc south Bears rookie auto NFC north tyler scott to 100 Fusion of breeze hall roshan johnson will levis daniel jones number to 100 for the NFC east one of 100 Kenny macintosh rookie auto to 100 NFC west And i'm in wrong how the red sox doing Especially it's a good team afc north on the relic jamar chase Beacon's jersey card Zay flowers to 100 afc north rookie. This is a Hertz to 25 eagles Nice hurts and unforgettable cd lamb Gibbs Points coming up here engaged is miles garret's 250 points ran to everybody at the end and a will anderson's junior rookie to 100 afc south Rashi rice shorter mckay russell wilson number to 35 for the afc west Sean clifford rookie auto NFC north On card there cj stroud base. There is a rookie devonta or not rookie, but the bonte atoms out of 250 afc west afc north chase brown rookie auto to 50 6 of 50 afc north there savage mike evans with njigba marise jones drew jersey card for the jacksonville jaguars afc south josh allen numbered seven to 50 for the afc east Cameron latu rookie to 200 NFC west Engaged air and donald all right box six halfway point here njigba got a tyler scott rookie to 75 NFC north Terry kill redemption joey porter jr afc north rookie luminance auto vertical Steelers with the afc north there afc south rookie to 100 tank dell Luke schoonmaker rookie auto NFC east here one Got a dynamic jail in carter We all got to go to some solar airs games this year Yeah, I might know something wrong Bijan, there's a rookie roshan johnson out of 50 for the NFC north Remindry stevens and auto out of 150 afc east They're not they're not very expensive Gotta go gotta go That's the shroud Lions NFC north jersey jared golf 16 of 50 jersey number Sean clifford rookie out of 200 the NFC north NFC west matthew stafford at 250 And dynamic brice young to 100 for the af for the NFC south excuse me NFC south panthers by halfway halfway levis base hendon hooker travis calcy number to 150 afc west j caner NFC south rookie auto out of 350 quentin johnson mims chase brown josh alan 18 of 100 for the afc east jaden reid NFC north rookie auto number to 100 And savage mike evans Who's in the lead so far? What if you're like only a few holes on the final pairings, I'm guessing Bright beginning jersey kenny picket afc north NFC north erin rogers 42 of 250 NFC south rookie mingo to 150 jonathan mingo and to 100 vestige josh alan afc east Shepherds all over the place dude He's a beast this year All right god no one smith rookie to 250 or started 200 NFC east Followed by bijan robinson year one red ink. That's sick NFC south kenny congrats on that kenny red ink color match engaged erin donald zay flowers j caner debo samuel to 150 NFC west Jalen hi, it's year one rookie out of there you go NFC east nice card and a dynamic cj stroud to at tn for the afc south number to 100 afc east year one red ink auto dalton kincade You don't need a greener purple. That's what we need the bonte atoms Haven't seen a greener purple in two cases today so far two and a half cases now But a brice young rookie Rookie to 150 marvin mim's afc west followed by cedric tilman rookie auto afc north Out of 350 He designs tilly Silly tilly Guy's excited for a silly saturday with kyle on fanatics And ritchardson there's another kenny picket here Say bright few bright beginning jersey card afc north luminosity nfc east to a tango by loa Short print mohomes out of 250 afc west Stafford 35 NFC west And st. brown vestige Well, let's see another sp Clifford addison Kenny mackintosh nfc west rookie out of 75 The dorian thompson robinson rookie auto number to 350 for the afc north the john robinson Tua out of 250 afc east tank del rookie auto afc south to 350 infusion of jamar chase cj stroud jamir gibbs Ken dray miller nfc south rookie to 200 Hello Ramon dray stevenson auto to 100 afc east Yeah, look at the score. Oh, I really like that. I need Yeah, I was gonna say you definitely like that. Oh, yeah, I love that score Well, they finally just scored we dropped the first two games the series won last night so we could split we just hang on here Is debbers doing anything jersey debo nfc west luminosity short print joe burrow afc south Afc north afc north on the burrow luminosity Lamar jackson a 100 afc north Malik willis to 150 afc south and a dynamic jamir gibbs All right guys last three boxes of the full case Oh gave him a run We can withstand it. It's okay. Yeah, we can hang on I like so many of the astros players being Like tub is one of my favorite players your dad is awesome. Dude, they're both monsters I really like pain. Yeah left-handed heroes those guys the 35 drake london nfc south Got mac jones on the autograph here number six of 10 afc east axis autographs And an unforgettable neciel harry for the bears neciel harry bears unforgettable right there That's what that was Definitely is unforgettable. Yes. Yes. He is Judy's done again That's terrible, dude. It's like the fourth receiver the broncos have already lost this preseason Daniel Jones at 250 nfc east Dude, they're gonna have to let rust code this year for sure if they're gonna if they're gonna have a chance We're gonna 350 autotowler scott nfc north. I feel like laying came in here for something. We just distract him immediately Yeah, we're just like what's up Then we point to the red stock score all those other stuff the vante adams number two at 150 afc west Devon mccordy now look at this patchbox one of 10 on the devon mccordy auto afc east that's fire And fusion lamar jackson good news for the pate so this year. They're gonna wear the red uniforms more often I know I heard that. It's like it's like what two or three times in here There's a new uniform stink overall the the regular white and the in the blues they stink Got will levis. It's one of the reasons. We're not doing well.  I don't care but make it better Rookie to 150 jail and Hyatt nfc east They didn't have to change it that much. I could have just tweaked it a little bit. Yeah, thank you Jalen waddle afc east out of 100 Savage lamar jackson Yeah, get another get him to the fifth and then You know have the sixth Make it an easy bullpen game. Hopefully Addison Hopefully keep it fresh going into the weekend too All right. Hey, you know what? We're good. You know what? So we single yeah, okay. That's a week single too first and second. All right. We're good. We're good Thompson robinson to 175 rookie for the afc north double play still in effect nice thompson robinson afc north Fusion jonathan taylor redemption is jonathan mingo nfc south rookie luminance auto vertical nfc south panthers on the mingo Make sure you guys get your almanac spots The sunday cases are sold out the monday cases are still on sale right now Kyler mary this one's numbered to 100 nfc west Oh, there's one of those little They cut the cards like the the extra Michael mayer rookie auto number to 10 afc west that's sick He could be really good james p. Congrats josh downs rookie afc south to 150 kendre miller year one nfc south rookie auto unforgettable davante alms We've got patch card for the nfc east at 25 the marcus wear player worn the marcus wear 3c to 200 rookie nfc south And dj more to 250 for the nfc north that is bears nfc north dj more last box of the case. Come on. We need a banger here Pretty average case so far We'd like to see like a richardson auto or something or a low numbered rookie parallel like his quarterback Henson hooker. There you go nfc north rookie to 200 points cards coming up here 250 random it to everybody at the ends four Still less than average. I think from yesterday Still less than last year. I think Got travis at cn number to 100 afc south afc south will anderson rookie auto to 100 fusion jefferson brace young base There's a jaren hall rookie to 75 for the nfc north Followed by miles murphy rookie auto afc north to 350 for the bangles Last pack magic last last last pack magic do it Come on Got a james and williams bright beginnings jersey card nfc north jillian waddle afc east to 250 rookie will mallory to 150 afc south And unforgettable is cooper cup points random then a recap everybody and that does it for the daytime here Kyle's live in less than an hour. Make sure you get your spots for soccer and football tonight Baseball is totally sold out already and the hockey break is full So half the spots are gonna get points cards here again top four and the random between everybody 400 is a top spot and then 250 each of the spots two through four We'll go nine times five and four again top four here one two three four five six seven eight and nine so that's afc south And the nfc so afc south gets the 400 then it goes nfc north nfc east nfc west the nfc north east west i got luminosity tua luminosity burrow on our short prints Patches and relics we've got tyreek hill demarcus where A james and williams debo samuel kenny pickett twice jared gough marie stone's drew jamar chase We had a one-of-one parallel of brenton strange afc south rookie Relic of mark andrews and west welker as well as er derrick henry Redemption nfc south jonathan mingo rookie auto vertical afc north joey porter jr Vertical auto other autos. We had remandre stephenson will anderson myles murphy jake hainer tyler scott dorian thompson robinson remandre stephenson again tank del Cedric tillman michael mayer to ten jaden reid tyler scott kenny mackintosh chase brown jake hainer jamir gibbs jaylon hyatt luke schoonmaker clayton toon jamir gibbs red ink Cedric tillman chase brown Sean clifford dalton gincade red ink kendre miller luke schoonmaker Bijon robinson red ink. That's really nice Larry brown mac jones to ten and a debon mccordy to ten Thanks again everybody That will do it for uh the case That'll be it for today


AFECO-NICULHEA was produced using LPBF preallipabra and its microstructural characteristics and tribological properties were investigated under various states. The results showed that the phase of the LPBF specimen consisted of BCC matrix plus CuHB2 precipitate with columnar grains perpendicular to the MPB direction due to epitaxial growth along the temperature gradient. The preferred orientation of the LPBF specimen was gradually transformed as the VED rose, resulting in larger size precipitates and wider MPB upon faster re-melting and steeper cooling. Compared to SPS components, LPBF specimens exhibited better wear resistance due to ultrafine substructure and nanoscale precipitates. The LPBF specimen produced with 83Jmm3 VED had the highest HR and yield stress, H2H3. This article was authored by Yao Jiren, Lu Xinliang, Kuang Shan, and others.


Hey guys she bear 1,000 here again Today's experiment. We're going to crush this coke can Without using our hands We're going to use some ice water And some heat Stay tuned. I'll show you how to do that We've got some ice water here. I don't have it on the heat I've got this coke can but first thing kids Don't try this by yourself get in a dog to help you. Okay? So I've got this empty coke can but I have filled it up with oh About that much water right there. Okay, what I'm going to do Oh, it's spell it what I'm going to do is I'm going to set it right here on this burner And I'm going to turn burner on Okay, and I'm going to leave this on just until that can starts making some funny noises And it doesn't take very long remember kids don't do this by yourself There is a chance you can get burnt very badly. Okay, so make sure please make sure you have an adult With you supervising this We've got these tongs right here And this is what we're going to use to lift the can up and put it in to the water Now what that's going to do is it's going to make the Outside pressure more than the inside air pressure. Okay, so the inside air pressure is Going to get less. Okay, you're gonna have less inside air pressure And you're gonna have more outside air pressure and that's what's going to squeeze that can together. Okay, I Just clean the stove top off. So that's why you're seeing a little smoke there. So don't be alarmed Let's say it again in slow motion Okay guys, that's how you crush a can With nothing but water and heat Remember kids. I can't express this enough. You can get burnt very badly doing this So make sure you have a parent or an adult Supervising on this because it is very dangerous. So be careful guys. I don't want to anyone get hurt. That's my disclaimer now But Again, what happens is the pressure Inside that can becomes less than pressure outside that Causes it to create kind of like a vacuum And the outside pressure will actually squeeze that can because there's hardly any inside pressure That's how that does that Kind of like the candle the candle in the water trip Same thing it's all it all has to do with the atmospheric pressure And you change that when you heat the can up And dunk it in cold water. So heat and cold, of course does not mix. So That's how that works kind of in a nutshell. You have to google if they can explain it better than me But I just thought I'd I'd share that with you guys. So again, be careful kids And thanks for watching and shaber 1000 the myth the man the legend. I'm gone for now Bye bye guys. Take care starts making that noise be very careful pick this up