Luxury home builder Toll Brothers (TOL) reported a fourth quarter loss of $111.4 million ($0.68 per share) today.

This net loss was worse than the -$0.46 analysts expected and the -$0.49 reported a year ago. Excluding inventory write-downs and a costs for the early retirement of debt they almost broke even, losing just $9.6 million in the quarter.

Yet despite the worse than expected loss, Toll made it clear that they felt the housing bottom was past, and highlighted that housing affordability was now better than it has been in a very long time. The problem is just that people have far less to spend these days, especially when it comes to buying a luxury property from Toll.

Toll CEO Robert Toll: Recent news reports indicate that one in four Americans have mortgages that exceed the value of their homes, which restricts their ability to sell and move to another home. On the other hand, affordability hovers near an all-time high, mortgage rates are near historic lows, and home prices, although down to 2003 levels, have improved sequentially over the past two quarters according to the most recent S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. And although the volume of home sales continues to be near record lows, inventories of unsold homes are declining nationally.

Toll is getting more aggressive, and confident, against its competition as well.

“In the past few months, we have been seeing and competing for a greater number of attractive land acquisition opportunities from financial institutions and other sellers. With our strong cash position, our record low net-debt-to-capital ratio and our demonstrated access to liquidity, we believe we can take advantage of opportunities that arise from the current state of distress in our industry.

“As has happened in previous downturns, we believe there will be further consolidation in our industry. Many of the small- and mid-sized private builders, who historically have been our primary competitors in the luxury niche, are facing serious capital constraints, among other problems, and are either hobbled or no longer in business.

See their full earnings release here.

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See Also:

• California Housing Market Continues To Recover, Befuddling Bears
• Latest Facts About The State Of The Housing Market
• Today’s Housing Numbers Do Not Tell Us Anything About The Economy

We all love to take a long, refreshing shower to begin the day or even to end a long, tiring day. While showering is a great option to get fresh, it uses up quite a lot of water. So, we now have eco-friendly showers that can actually refresh you while saving a lot of water. In this feature, we bring you 10 of these. (more…)

 

Beauty

 

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful,  we must carry it with us or we find it not." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Preface:  Random Acts of Kick Arse is a movement to bring more of {monthly theme} into our lives, and the lives of those around us. 

October Theme:  Beauty.  Find ways to incorporate/see more beauty in the world.

The Results:  Beauty.  What would it look like?  How could I both see more beauty in my world, and possibly even bring a little more at the same time?  Would I be more aware of what and who I was surrounded by?  Beauty, it seemed, was perplexing for me.  And then I happened to hear an old Beatles song:

"…speaking words of wisdom, let it be."

And so I did…I just "let it be".

November unfolded beautifully.  There was much beauty in the whole month.  I experienced this daily, and my life was touched in some wonderful ways.  Today, I'll highlight one of those.

Strangers.  To friends. 

Deep beauty in what can really develop in such a short period of time.

I spent a week of my November at a leadership and self-awareness workshop in North Carolina.  Myself and six strangers coming together, to grow in ways we weren't really sure about – and all led by our wonderful leader Holly (not pictured). 

Picture with me walking into a small room and not knowing anyone.  Then transition that with leaving that same room, feeling completely comfortable telling this same group of people anything.  And trusting them to be there, to support you on your journey.  Five days.  Late nights.  Lots of coffee (or tea!).  And desserts!  A developing bond, a connection that touched upon the soul…the soul of everyone there.  A sharing of thoughts freely and openly.  Courageous steps for everyone, and constant love and support along the way. 

I arrived back from this workshop with new life.  Beliefs in what CAN be.  A belief that all is possible, and that there are people out there who care deeply.  People who were strangers to me just three short weeks ago.  So, to each of you there with me that week, if you are reading this…thank you.  Thank you for shining your beauty into my life.

And to all of you reading here…there is so much beauty just in your presence.  You…taking the time from your busy schedule to read these words here.

There can be beauty in so many moments of our life, if we can carry that beauty within us first…

Beauty.

You.  Me.  Our world.

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What is Random Acts of Kick Arse (RAOKA)?  With the idea that there are so many ways we can do small things to change the world for good, Sami, from Life, Laughs, and Lemmings took an idea she had and created this movement.  The movement:  A new theme to focus on each month, bringing a little more good to the world.  The movement started in October 2009, with a core group of participants:

Melissa from Operation NICE
Lori from Jane Be Nimble
Dani from Positively Present
Brandi from Joy Rebel
Zeenat from Positive Provocations
Sami from Life, Laughs, and Lemmings

Each month a topic will be chosen to focus on, and then at the start of the next month, the participants will write about their experiences from the previous month.

Interested in joining the movement?  Contact Sami for details.

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December Theme:  Wackiness (as chosen by me!)

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Logo courtesy of Melissa from Operation NICE

Craigslist and eBay are heading for all-out war as the two companies are preparing to fight it out in a lawsuit filed by the auctions site set to begin next Monday. The lawsuit is the culmination of a tense relationship between the two companies which has been going for more than five years now. eBay owns a minority stake in the privately-held Craigslist, the reason behind the dispute. The company is also saying that it plans to expand its classified offerings with acquisitions or partnerships in several countries.

eBay bought a stake in Craigslist in 2004 from one of the original investors, initially owning a 28.4 percent slice of the company. Despite initial claims that it would focus on Craigslist in the classified ads market, it later launched a competitor to the site, Kijiji, using inside knowledge it gained as a shareholder at Craigslist, the classifieds company says. This is the object of another lawsuit filed by Craigslist for unfair competition and other claims.

In 2007, after the launch of Kijiji in the US, Craigslist diluted eBay’s stake in the company to just 24.85 percent, losing its seat on the board in the process, a move which eBay claims was made using various illegal tactics. It filed a lawsuit as a consequence and, after two delays, the legal proceedings are about to s… (read more)

Deutsche Bank is out with an outlook for 2010, which includes various themes and risks investors need to watch out for.

The basic idea, laid out by strategists Jim Reid, Mahesh Bhimalingem, and others is that things look good in the beginning of the year, but that trouble spots loom on the horizon.

One in particular they highlight is the possibility of a sovereign default, an issue that’s come to the foreground since Dubai.

They write:

Although we’re positive in the near-term, looking at the world today it’s clear that
the current macro environment will be difficult to sustain. The markets will need
evidence in 2010 that there is an observable path back to fiscal discipline for those
countries that have been most aggressive in responding to the fall-out from this
crisis. If not we continue to run the risk of Sovereign land mines disturbing the
benign corporate landscape. 

Indeed if 2010 is a difficult year it’s highly unlikely that the catalyst comes from
within the equity or corporate credit markets. This means the macro environment
will decide 2010, and in reality investors in Sovereign debt around the world will
probably decide the fate of risk assets. In late 08/09 the authorities had little to
lose in aggressively attempting to stave off a Depressionary cycle. So far they
deserve extremely high marks. However 2010 could be a transitional year
between heavy intervention and the paying of the bills. A return to positive global
growth should help but we would expect more volatility in 2010 than in H2 2009.

Now, see the rest of their worries >>

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See Also:

• Morgan Stanley: Here Comes A Brutal 2010

	LA 2009: Officially, Official: Golden state to get first dibbs on the Chevy Volt A bit of a reward for relentlessly pushing for plug-in vehicles.		LA 2009: Mitsubishi unveils Geek Squad i-MiEV, brings PX-MiEV to U.S. Geeks with EVs will soon be making house calls.
	LA 2009: Honda’s P-NUT cracked open for all to see Concept cars. What a concept.	Other news: Lexus Magazine explains how to get 85 mpg from HS 250h Feds mull an extra three months to crush Cash For Clunkers victims LA 2009: Volkswagen Up! Lite Concept teases with practical, lightweight innovation

AutoblogGreen for 12.03.09 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are a few countries out there that have “artist resale rights,” which make little sense and do a lot more to harm artists than help them. Earlier this year, we wrote about plans for Australia to implement such a right and Michael Scott alerts us to the news that a watered down version of the plan is moving forward. If you’re unfamiliar with it, the concept is that even after an artist has sold a piece of artwork, such as a painting, if the owners later decide to sell it, they must give back a percentage of the sale price to the original artist. The (faulty) thinking on this is that poor, starving artists sell their paintings or sculptures or whatever for next to nothing, and it’s only later, when they’re famous, that they’re actually worth anything — but the artist will never get a cut of that value.

Of course, that’s not true. In reality, if those earlier works are so valuable, so are many newer works as well — which the artist can create and sell for much more than ever before. Meanwhile, the problem with an artist resale right is it actually decreases the incentive for anyone to buy the original artwork, knowing that they’ll have to sell it for that much more before they can actually make a profit — since they’ll have to kick back fees to the artists. It adds an unnecessary tax that acts as friction in the art market. The Australian plan tries to limit at least some of this issue by only having the resale tax kick in after the second resale. But, of course, this just moves the unnecessary friction up a level, and doesn’t change the thought process that goes into the buying decision. With any other product, once you sell it, you’ve sold it. It makes no sense to allow the original creator to retain a cut of any later sale. Imagine if that were the case with cars or houses as well? Who would ever think that was reasonable?

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Eco Factor: Concept bicycle equipped with a trash bin and a trailer.

Industrial designer Alessio D’Onofrio assures that you use your bicycle on all occasions, even for trips where you have to carry loads of luggage with you. The designer has come up with a concept “Bike of the Park,” which is equipped with detachable compartments allowing you to carry everything from your important belongings to trash.

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This picture will make sense in a minute. Do you have a kitchen blooper hidden away in your past? You’d think the people we love and cook for every day would forgive our rookie mistakes…but no! They like to remind us and taunt us with the story whenever possible, don’t they? Here’s our ultimate blooper – care to share yours?!

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A reader sent us along this chart, and channels Martin Armstrong in arguing that gold has another couple hundred dollars of upside before a leg down.

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1355 tgt…(got to slide to the right-depending on your screen format) . This is a trial analysis based on formations going all the way back to 1971. You can’t see that part, but I have the data in my head.

Very first move was from 37.50 Gold Parity at the time to 198 (post Nixon gold standard abandonment), then a retrace down to 100 and up to 880ish futures. Take that ratio (198/37.50) = 5.28x. Take that times the post 1980 low (double bounce 1999 (when IMF decreed to limit gold sales) and  Bush inauguration (perhaps NOT a co-incidence) and you get 1335.

The orange overlay moves are the sub cycles, starting IN TIME in 1985 (Plaza accord) and the increment rally then, completing with huge intervention in FAVOR of the $ in Jan 1988. Then a long 13 year retrace after that. One of the reasons was most likely that Central Banks had discovered that they can make 1 ½% pa. So they lent it to banks and hedgefunds and screwed themselves in the process…Borrowers were taking the stuff and selling short and made money on the cash for whatever they did with it AND could cover the shorts at lower prices. No conspiracy as many claim, just incompetent central bankers.

 But the market has funny ways of working. So after all the cb’s started selling on top of that, the Brits were making the bottom in 1999 until the “cartel”  (CB’s) got together and via IMF agreement limited their sales to 600 tons p/a (9/99).

That was the end of the rout. The reason then for the meteoric advance (considering the time frame since spring 01) was basically that we had  spent so much (in my mind I would say TOO much) time going sideways. So we hat to “catch up” with that delay to stay within the time frame. This might sound somewhat abstract, but if one were to draw an analogy one could look at stoxx post ‘66/68. We spent 13 years “sideways” (DJIA) with the compression caused by several oil crisis’ and wars…Nam, Israel I and II, Oil embargo, Iran crisis. Once that was out of the system, we shot up into 1987 by about 3.5x. Crude post 98 did similar moves after having been contained  from ’86 to ’99, again after about 13 years sideways.

Even after 1929, we consolidated 13 years, until the next 26 year bull market (ending 68) in stoxx.

 Besides that, I am watching the headlines on Gold. India buys…China will buy…(private vault were sold out in Germany last fall, cause people stacked up their gold). Also look at C/O/T reports…all the managed money that moves in there. Dreams for sale, come and get it!

 Markets move indeed in a “predetermined” fashion (but not based on hourly or 5 mins charts, as some well known “wavers” make belief). Think of it as a black box of time and price. Draw a square, put in a diagonal lower left to upper right.

That would be a “normalized” time/price move…If mkt gets to top line “too early” it will stall out…(See dow from the fall of 1999 to May 01). Or the inverse would be the 1987 crash…) Same if too much time at the “bottom” we race.

 Back to gold: (and this is a trial …first breakdown should come within the next 2-5% (abs 1265ish- quant tgt) then perhaps a breakdown of some 10/15% and then new high at 1350ish..(we can go straight, this is just based in submoves)

In a hyper-bubble, perhaps 1500, but given the chart I sent you, I would be surprised if we exceeded that. As an abs number (but markets are not absolute) 1335 would be the best fit.

A word on the inflation (expectation) argument for gold. Most pundits use the top of 1980 (880futs) as a BASE for predicting inflation adjusted prices in the 2k and Schiff was just talking of 5000…(yeah, real estate was going up forever, too and so were stoxx in 00 and 07 and crude at 150….If one were to do an OBJECTIVE analysis on that one should go back to 1913 (gold had been about 18.50 for more or less all the time after the civvy war) which coincides with the founding of the FED and income taxes in 1913 (prior to that a mild deflation of about 0.5% since 1876). If one take the FED inflation calc gold should be no more than 400$ if inflation is the only driver over time. So that would be a good level to look for, if we can stop at the 1300/1400 level.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• David Rosenberg: Buy The Gold Dips, Because It’s Only Going Higher
• REPORT: Martin Armstrong Moved To High-Security Facility, Prevented From Publishing Research
• Martin Armstrong: Gold Headed To $5,000 And Beyond!

If you thought that Google’s homepage couldn’t possibly be more stripped down, think again. Google is now making its fade-in homepage official and most users should start to see the ultra-minimalistic homepage from now on. The page features just the Google logo, the search button and the I’m feeling lucky button and nothing else unless you move the mouse. The company says this change allows users to focus on the thing they most likely came for, searching.

“For the vast majority of people who come to the Google homepage, they are coming in order to search, and this clean, minimalist approach gives them just what they are looking for first and foremost. For those users who are interested in using a different application like Gmail, Google Image Search or our advertising programs, the additional links on the homepage only reveal themselves when the user moves the mouse,” Marissa Mayer, VP of Search Products and User Experience, Kris Hom, software engineer, and Jon Wiley, User Experience designer, wrote.

There isn’t that much to tell about the new homepage that isn’t obvious from the first time you visit it. If you don’t move the mouse and start typing your query the page will stay clear of any links with just the suggestion box popping out to spoil the fun. If you want to do something else, form the homepage except search you’ll have to mov… (read more)

Garlic is the flavor backbone of almost everything we cook. Have you ever been curious why some recipes call for whole garlic, some for minced garlic, and some for garlic paste instead of something else? Here’s what we think!

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(This guest post originally appeared at the author’s blog)

The granddaddy of economic reports is out this Friday – the monthly jobs report.  Consensus is looking for another large loss of -100K jobs and a steady unemployment rate at 10.2%.  This would market a dramatic improvement over last month’s -219K. Last months report showed some tepid signs of strength as temp work gained 34K.  This is generally viewed as a leading indicator.

Yesterday’s ADP report is expecting a -169K drop in jobs.  This report has not proven to be a good predictor of payrolls over the last few years, but the large discrepancy could be a sign that analysts are a bit too optimistic with regards to payrolls.  The Challenger job cut report also showed some mixed signals yesterday.  Total layoff intentions slipped to 50K from 181K last November.  On the downside, total hiring intention was just 10K compared to Octobers 57K.   While the pace of firings might be slowing we’re by no means seeing a massive pick-up in hiring.

JP Morgan is in-line with consensus on payrolls, but expects an upside surprise in the unemployment rate.  They think the report overall could disappoint, but maintain that the jobless recovery won’t be so bad:

We expect that nonfarm employment declined 100,000 in November, compared to a drop of 190,000 in October and an average decline of 188,000 over the last three months. We also expect that the unemployment rate rose to 10.4% from 10.2%.

claims fell by 394,000. Moreover, initial jobless claims have declined by 108,000 over the last 13 weeks.  A surprisingly weak industry in October was manufacturing (-61,000), and this could be an area where we see more moderate job losses in November. Manufacturing surveys have pointed to better numbers—the ISM employment index hit 53.1 by October—and we forecast a 30,000 drop in November.

Earnings and hours: We expect a soft 0.1%m/m gain in average hourly earnings, which is consistent with the level of slack in the labor market. We also anticipate an increase in the workweek to 33.1 hours from 33.0.

Payrolls: Employment figures have been disappointing in recent months. We had been expecting that payroll losses would moderate, but employment declines have actually hovered in a narrow range for the last three months. This has been especially surprising given that initial jobless claims have fallen steadily over this period. While jobless claims are by no means a perfect guide to employment changes, their steady fall does suggest that employment losses should soon moderate. Initial jobless claims fell by 30,000 between the October and November household survey weeks, and continuing jobless

Unemployment: The household survey, from which the unemployment rate is calculated, has recently shown larger job losses than the establishment survey. The household survey is typically much more volatile than the establishment survey and is considered less reliable when looking at short-term employment changes. Nonetheless, the horrible numbers coming from the household survey have been worrying, and we would hope to see it converge toward the establishment survey soon. A rise in the unemployment rate to 10.3% from 10.2% is consistent with our employment estimate of -100,000, but we believe a rise to 10.4% is actually more likely. The reason is that labor force participation has fallen rapidly in recent months, and there is the possibility that it will bounce back. The participation rate went from 65.5% in August to 65.1% in October, its lowest level since 1986.

Even with a potential downside surprise I don’t expect the market to respond too negatively.  There is light at the end of the jobs tunnel and I fully expect the economy to move into job creation some time early next year.  For now, the market is likely to continue focusing on that point in time.  A 10.4% unemployment rate could certainly cause a near-term sell-off, but I doubt the dip-buyers will shy away from the opportunity to pile into equities again.  These reports are going to have less psychological impact on the market until they begin to turn positive.  Only then will the truly heavy lifting begin.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Unemployment Worsens, Climbs In Nearly Half Of U.S. Metro Areas
• 10%+ Unemployment Through 2015, Says Mish
• ADP Job Loss Report Is Worse Than Expected

Eco Factor: Sustainable luminaires designed to run on solar energy.

3XN has designed sustainable LED luminaires for Bella Center in Copenhagen in conjunction with the upcoming UN climate conference. Dubbed the Gotham, the street lamps are the result of a close co-operation between 3XN, Scotia Lighting, EWO and a number of other partners.

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Vision Engineering Limited is launching an updated Lynx LED stereo microscope with oblique and direct viewer. Now employing LED illumination and an oblique and direct viewer, the Lynx provides a full 360°-view around the components for 34° angled inspection of corners that can often be hard to reach by usual stereo inspection methods.

The Lynx is widely used in industries where stereo inspection is required, offering unrivalled ergonomic performance and optimum clarity with superb optics. In addition, the Lynx now benefits from LED illumination, projecting brighter, whiter, long-life illumination on the component part. Consumable costs have also been greatly reduced with costs decreasing by more than 80% and lamp life lasting up to an impressive 10,000 hours. The dimmable LEDs allow for every application to benefit from the precise intensity of illumination.

The LED illumination can now be used in conjunction with the impressive oblique and direct viewer. Coupled with the switchable direct view and the benefits of stereo viewing offered by the Lynx, surface features can be easily inspected in three dimensions without moving the workpiece.

Lynx also benefits from Vision Engineering’s patented Dynascope eyepieceless technology to offer users advanced ergonomics by removing the restriction of conventional binocular eyepieces. Movement of the head and eyes no longer means losing the field of vision, providing complete freedom of head movement, significantly reducing operator fatigue over long periods of time. With ergonomics optimised and the oblique and direct viewer offering maximised rotational views, the system offers increased productivity and precision for inspecting component parts.

At the moment many operators in automation have to face the challenging implementation of the new machine guideline 2006/42/EG. The new encoder family MAGRES redundant by Baumer unites many of the resulting safety requirements in one device.

The redundant singleturn and multiturn sensing system of the MAGRES redundant is unique and unrivalled in its compact configuration. The integrated monitoring system compares the values provided by the individual position systems and will give an error warning in case of malfunction. The monitoring system provides even more benefits: Less processing work for the control, less cabling efforts and consequently a considerable cost reduction. An emergency operation is also imaginable. SIL 3 approval and PLe certificate are in preparation.

MAGRES redundant provides top-grade functionality without any compromise in compact design and robustness. The encoders are available in same housings as the wellknown 58 mm versions and provide the characteristic MAGRES robustness thanks to fully-magnetic sensing without breakable parts and consistent component reduction. The MAGRES redundant, in combination with a compact cable-pull, allows Baumer to present a special high-light in cost-efficient solutions for length measurement in safety-relevant applications.

Vision Engineering Ltd has introduced a new digital video camera specifically for their range of stereo inspection microscopes and non-contact metrology range of systems.

The NEW Unicam digital camera option with the Lynx stereo zoom microscope offers engineers an ideal solution for instantaneously digitising imagery of component parts without the need for constant realignment or adjustment.

Designed to work effortlessly with the stereo zoom microscope, engineers can capture imperfections on components parts, analyse and cataloguing the defects for quality control.
With bright white LED illumination and up to x120 magnification, the Lynx offers a versatile solution for production and quality. Available with stand options and other optional extras including an oblique and direct viewer for a 360 degree view of the component under magnification.

Available as a retrofit or a new accessory, the high resolution Unicam camera is easy integrated with Vision Engineering’s range of microscopes with USB 2.0 connectivity, external connections including composite video and a variety of image formats, including BMP, JPEG & PNG formats and, all at a very competitive price.

Baumer introduces its new and improved retroreflective sensor FRDK 14 for transparent objects. Thanks to the new housing concept, the photoelectric sensor can be adjusted easily and quickly via a teach-in button.
The high sensitivity of this retro-reflective sensor allows for it to detect glass, transparent packaging or PET bottles safely. Due to the short response time of only 0.1 ms, edges of moving, transparent foils can be positioned exactly. At the same time, it is irrelevant whether the object is directly in front of the sensor or closer to the reflector. The short adaptation time of only 20 ms permits the sensor to be taught subsequently or to be adjusted to changing tasks via an external teach-in connection while the process is running.
In addition to the red light sensor there is also a laser version available. This sensor is particularly suitable for applications with higher precision requirements. The Series 14 sensors are all available with the standard cable, M8 or M12 connections. To facilitate the installation, Baumer offers a frame adapter. This accessory allows for the sensor to be inserted into a cut-out in a steel sheet without using screws or tools.

With the PB series, Baumer is introducing a new pressure transmitter family based on a modular system which can be adjusted individually to customers’ needs. Remarkable is the high accuracy (of up to 0.1 % F.S.) over a large compensated temperature range of -40 °C up to +85 °C. The pressure range is between 100 mbar and 1600 bar. The FlexProgrammer 9701 enables the transmitter’s easy configuration.

Four different sensor technologies (capacitive ceramic, silicon piezo, thin film or ceramic thick film) as well as a wide range of industrial process and electrical connections are provided. The PB pressure transmitters offer high accuracy, even in demanding outdoor applications like in hydraulic and pneumatic, water treatment or the chemical industry. The measuring cells are characterised by excellent long-term stability and outstanding measuring performance in terms of linearity and hysteresis. With the highest possible accuracy class, the total error band is just ±0.4 % F.S. over the whole compensated temperature range.

Mounted in a robust stainless steel housing, the pressure sensors have a high resistance against shocks, vibrations and overpressure. Therefore, the PB series is very reliable for applications in harsh environments. The ceramic or fully welded metal measuring cells guarantee a high resistance to corrosive chemicals or abrasive fluids. Options with ATEX or SIL2 approval allow installations in safety-critical and hazardous area applications.

NE131 from the product range of Baumer IVO is a multifunctional electronic preset counter that is up to varied application demands of industry automation. It not only evaluates both DC and AC pulses between 12 and 260 V but also the signals of one-channel digital sensors. Thus it can optionally be utilized as pulse or hour counter with or less totalizer. One or two optionally programmable preset values enable direct process control by output relay. Also the counting mode is programmable as adding or subtracting. In conjunction with the automatic reset function the counter is a versatile aid in all kinds of industrial production and handling processes.
The compact counter with mounting frame and DIN dimensions of 48 x 48 mm enables convenient installation in the machine’s control panel and provides a shallow installation depth of only 108 mm. The counter front is up to protection standard IP 65, screw terminals enable convenient e-connection. Thanks to a count frequency of 25 Hz resp. 1 kHz with DC-trigger the counter is nearly an all-purpose device, all the more by the programmable scaling factor from 0.0001 to 999.999.