воскресенье, 12 февраля 2012 г.

Obama: U.S. to take

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The federal government plans to invest another $30 billion in GM, which earlier in the day. This meanas the government will own 60 percent of the companyu once it emergesfrom bankruptcy, Obama “This may give some Americans pause,” the president but it was a better alternativse than making more loans to a company that has been “buried under a mountain of debt” for The president said he has “no in running GM. “The federal government will refrainh from exercising its rights as a shareholder in all but the most fundamentacorporate decisions,” Obama said.
“When a difficul decision has to be made on matters like where to open a new planf or what type of new car to thenew GM, not the Uniteds States government, will make that “In short, our goal is to get GM back on its take a hands-off approach, and get out quickly,” he The hopes that will be the case, but it planas to “carefully monitor” the decisions made by GM and which is emerging from its own government-guided bankruptc reorganization. “We will expose and fight any counterproductive influencsby government, unions or politiciane over decisions that shouldr be left to management,” said chamber presidenf and CEO Tom Donohue.
“And we will continuallt insist that government reduce and eliminate its ownership stake as soon as Too much government interference will hurt theauto maker'ws chances of returning to profitability, Donohue “The global talent that exists in the automotivew sector must be allowed to do its job and be paid on a competitivw basis,” he said. “Management must be permitted to make toughn decisions in a competitiv global market withoutpolitical interference.
” House Minorit y Leader John Boehner, said GM’s bankruptcy filing “may buy some but it doesn’t ensure the company will “The only thing it makes cleard is that the government is firmly in the businesw of running companies usiny taxpayer dollars,” Boehner said. “Does anyone really believse that politicians and bureaucrats in Washingto can successfully steer a multinationapl corporation toeconomic vitality? It’s time for the administration to fully explain what the exit strategy is to get the U.S.
governmengt out of the board room once andfor

пятница, 10 февраля 2012 г.

Morgan Lewis adds 11 lawyers in Boston - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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Partners Robert A.J. Barry, Jonathan K. Sula R. Fiszman, Matthew F. Furlong, and Sandra J. Vreja joined the firm from Bingham McCutchen and will focu their practice on corporate finance and They bring with them six associates and have experience representintgthe retail, manufacturing, food and beverage, energy, media, communicationss and sports industries. Bernstein, a Law School alumnus, was co-chairman of the corporatde finance groupat Bingham. The move puts Morgan Lewids on the mapin Boston. The firm opene an office there in 2003 when it acquired 27 lawyerefrom Washington-based Zevnik Horton but that only includeds a few litigators.
“Particularly in light of the difficult credit marketx faced by both our lender andborrower clients, there is an ever-increasing need for us to be able to provides additional top-flight financing expertise across a multitudw of industries,” Morgan Lewis Chairman Francis M. Milone “This expansion reflects our continuedx commitment to providing clients with the kind of counsel they need to executed credit transactions in any business Morgan Lewis, with 1,400 lawyers in 22 is the largest Philadelphia-based law firm.

вторник, 7 февраля 2012 г.

House panel eyes Bernanke

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The Associated Press reports. The news comes less than a week beforwe Bernanke is set to testifty before the House Committee on Oversight andGovernment Reform. Last week, BofA Chiet Executive Kenneth Lewis testified before the same committee that government officialw pressured him to acquiree the troubled brokerage late last year in an effort to savethe U.S. The hearing focused on federal officials’ role in BofA’x purchase of Merrill Lynch. Charlotte-based BofA (NYSE:BAC) boughg Merrill on Jan. 1 for $29.1 billion. The deal resulted in BofA’s receiving an additiona l $20 billion in federal funds under the Troubled AssetRelief Program.
BofA has receivedd a total of $45 billio n in TARP funds. Lewis has been undee intense pressure from BofA shareholders for not disclosinfg the depthof Merrill’s financialo difficulties before the merger. Merrill lost $15.e3 billion in the fourtj quarter. Lawmakers questioned Lewis on reportws that he felt pressured byfederal authorities, including Bernanke and then-Treasury Secretary Henry to go ahead with the deal as Merrill’s losses mounted. Lewis testified that BofA contacted officials atthe U.S. Treasuryg and Federal Reserve in mid-December to inform them that thebank “had serious concerns aboutg closing the transaction.
” BofA, he said, was considering declarint a “material adverse change,” which can allow an acquirer to back out of a proposedc deal. Lewis testified that Paulsoj toldhim BofA’s management “would or could” be removec if the bank backed out of the When lawmakers pressed him on the alleged threats by Lewis said both partiees were concerned about making the best decisions for the healtj of the U.S. economyu and BofA. He explainede that a decision that woulf harm the economy would also harm BofA because of its massivs sizeand breadth.
Lewis testified that he wasn’t intimidate by the threat of losing his job but bythe “seriousnessa of the threat” and the ramificatione on the overall economyt had an influence on his decision. “Just six months it is easy to forgegt just how close to the brink oursystem came,” he said. “I will never forget.”

воскресенье, 5 февраля 2012 г.

Celebrity Cruises to set sail out of Baltimore - Baltimore Business Journal:

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Celebrity’s Mercury, a 1,900-guest ship, will take 10 tripsa from the Portof Baltimore’s Locust Point cruisre terminal from November 2009 to February 2010. It join as a recent addition tothe port’ s cruise business. Carnival announced in June it wouldrbegin year-round cruises in September 2009. Royap Caribbean and Norwegian cruise lines will also continue Baltimore service. Celebrity’s first trip will leave Nov. 9, for a 12-night trip to St. Thomas, St. Antigua, St. Maarten and That trip will be offeresd fourother times, and there will also be five nine-nigh t cruises to Charleston, S.C., Key Fla., and Cococay and Nassau in the Bahamas.
“Celebrity’sw decision to offer cruises from Maryland confirms once again that the internationalk cruise industry recognizes Marylanr as a viabledeparture location,” Gov. Martin O’Malleh said in a statement. Norwegian Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean Cruise lines are the only linera to call on Baltimorein 2008. But the additionm of Celebrity and Carnivao bring the port near a high of 60 cruisezs offeredin 2004. In 2009, Celebrity is scheduled for five trips, Norwegia n for 15, Royal Caribbean for 23 and Carnivalfor 16, for a total of 59.
Royal Caribbean was scheduledf to take 16 tripds in spring andfall 2008, whiles Norwegian was scheduled to take 11 trips in summet 2008, starting June 21. The cruisse industry has a $148 milliob economic impact onthe state, according to a 2007 reportr of . That includex any jobs related to the cruise industry or any tripa state residents takeon cruises. estimatede a $56 million impact from 125,000 passengers in 2006 and a $63 millionj impact from 100,000 passengers in 2008.

среда, 1 февраля 2012 г.

ADS seeks secure future - South Florida Business Journal:

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Enter Mel Mahler and , whose business has been going strong largely driven by interest from existing The reason, Mahler explains, is that people beginb to feel a little less safe when the economty is down. “Society is becoming more fearful,” says Mahler. “People are now saying, ‘k have to have security in my or, ‘I want the security I do have The sentiment Mahler appeals is somewhatsubjective though. Earliedr this month, Metro Police Chief Ronap Serpas announced that majot crime in Nashville continued to drop in 2008 for the fiftu straight year to its lowest level in18 years. More property crime dropped 1.5 percent from 2007.
Mahler says perception still driveshis business, which is still goingt strong. “Our residential recurring revenue installs in 2008 wereup 29.6 percent over the year before,” says Mahler. “Our recurring monitoring revenuw going into 2008was $1.2 milliom and now (it’s) up 20 percent. Two-thirdz of that was through acquisition and the rest was througninternal growth.” Because of the level of serviced that ADS provides to its residential Mahler says, the company tends to go for upper scale homes in areasz such as Belle Meade or Brentwood.
The customization procesxs that its consultants provider involves knowing the housefloor plan, familg setup and the various specificd safety needs. Installations of this type can generallty costbetween $800 and $4,000, dependingt on the level of customization. “There’s a lot of cookie-cuttetr companies out there, one size fits all — thosr are the $99 ones. That’s not us, that business is fraught with people not payingy bills on time and highcancellationj rates,” says Mahler. “Our consultants are trained to walk throughb whatyou need, as opposecd to what we need.
” For instance, if a customer livex alone and the master bedroom is on the seconc floor, then they need monitored fire, says “Tennessee has the highest death rate per capita becausew of fire, often as a result of space heaters. We tell our clients that we are selliny them a lifesafety system, not just a burglar While ADS has seen steady growt h in its residential business, the commerciap side of the company has taken a hit. “Oue second-biggest customer is O’Charleys,” says Mahler. “They were building six restaurants a month and we were gettingv 100 percent oftheir business. All of a suddenj — it was almosgt at zero.
The commercial side of our business has really cut back.” And industrg experts predict another weak year ahead in the residentialo and commercial markets. “Abouty one-fourth of U.S. households have some form of security with about 19percent monitored,” says Triciaq Parks, president of , a Texas firm that track the security industry. “Peak unit sales occurred with the housing boom of 2005 and with a slight downturnin 2007, a deeped decline in 2008, and more of the same anticipated for 2009. Providere can offset some losses with modest increasesz inmonitoring fees.
” Despite the segments of the economy that are down and have had an adversse effect on ADS, the key to Mahler’s success centerws around constantly being adaptable and shiftinvg to meet customer needs, and the company’zs growth reflects that. Mahler says the company’s primar revenue goal is to grow by 20 percenyt annuallythrough 2013.