Wednesday, September 29, 2010

James Throw Massive Dance Party in New York - Spinner

http://besttoursin.com/en/vacation-plans/page_10.html


James Throw Massive Dance Party in New York

Spinner


As James started their show Tuesday night, none of the English septet's members were onstage. The acoustic guitar seemed to be drifting down from up above, ...



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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Kendall

http://thegamesstore.com/index.php?show_price=yes&sort=Price&direction=DESC
million foreclosure lawsuit against the developer of theRivendelp single-family home project in West The Miami-based bank filed the foreclosure action on June 9 againsyt Miami-based Crestview II, Marsolk One LLC and managing member Marcial Solis, according to records. The complaint targets 28 unsolrd homes and home sites in which is along MillerDrive (Southwestg 56th Street) between Southwest 167tb Avenue and the Miccosukee Golf and Country Club. After starting construction in 2004, Crestviewq II sold 103 homes in Rivendell from 2005 througg the most recent salein January. Fort Lauderdale-base attorney Charles Lichtman, who represents TotalBank in its demanddfor $12.
2 million on the outstanding mortgage, did not immediately retur n a call seeking comment. TotalBank reported havinf $86.4 million in late or unpaid loans, or nearlh 6.5 percent of its total loans, as of March 31. In filed a foreclosure action against Crestvieew II and Solis overa $2.1 million mortgage.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Report: Zell might lose reins of Tribune - Nashville Business Journal:

http://www.allison-mack.com/film_shrunk.htm
According to the report, the company might fall into the handx of a group of banks and investorw thatholds $8.6 billiojn in senior debt. The report says that "thes plan centers on a debt-for-equity swap that probably would give the seniort lenders a large majorituy ownership stake in thereorganizee company." The plan would also likely wipe out a $90 millionh warrant that Zell holds that would give him the righy to buy 40 percent of Tribune for about $500 The report says that Zell's future in the company woulc likely be determined by the group, as it is uncleafr if the group would want to brin in a new management, or if Zell himseld would want to remain with the company.
The reporgt says that "sources close to both the creditors and the company said it is too early to make such decisions and Tribunse management continues to control the process because it currentlyu has the exclusive right to propose whatever reorganization plan it Tribune through a buyout led by The deal left the company withnearlyh $12 billion in debt. Tribunse has sold off assets and cut jobs sincew the close of the deal to help with the debt Thecompany .

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Retail roundup: Major chains with Colorado stores report June sales - Baltimore Business Journal:

http://consumervideotips.com/2008/11/26/online-resources-for-planning-a-photovideo-trip/
Many store chains said they continue to seelowert same-store sales results as customers grapplse with the recession's lingeringg impact. In response, many from to , have been offering promotions and tweakingt inventories in a scramble to sell merchandiser without eroding theirprofit margins. Overall, national June retail salea were projected to dropby 4.6 percent by Retaipl Metrics, a Massachusetts firm that tracks storre sales. This is worse than the minuw 4.3 percent average monthly decline, year-to-date. Department storexs were forecast to post theweakest results, down 8.9 with “discretionary spending still in hiding,” according to its monthluy report.
Here's a roundup of Thursday's retailet sales reports. (Check back with DenverBusinessJournal.com through the day for more • reported a 8.9 percent drop in same-storw sales in June, as shoppersd continued their months-long trend of avoidingh purchases deemed lessthan necessary. The Cincinnati-based department store chain outstepped expectations slightly analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a decline of9 percent. Total sales dropped to just morethan $2 down 9.1 percent from almost $2.3 billionm a year ago. For the first five months of thefiscalo year, Macy’s said sales at storees open at least a year decreased 9 with total sales down 9.
4 percent, to $9 billionn from $9.9 billion. Cincinnati-basecd Macy’s (NYSE: M) saw its strongest sales in the Midwesytand Texas, while the coasts lagged. The Northeast particularly suffered due to cool and wet said spokesmanJim Sluzewski. “Ou r inventories are in good shape,” he said. “Ouer private brands continue todo well, moderatr sportswear continues to do to well, as do kids and Furniture, big-ticket items, luggage and menswear struggled. Macy’s has projected full-year profite of 40 cents to 55 centxsper share, excluding restructuring costs stemming from a companywider reorganization.
Annual sales, it has said, are expectedx to decline by 6 percent to8 percent. Macy’ws operates roughly 845 department stores underd thenames Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. said that its tota sales for the five-week period ending July 4 decreased 1.5 percent from the same period a year earliefand comparable-store sales decreased 5.6 Analysts expected a drop of 6.8 percen t in comparable-store sales, according to Marketwatch. For the fiscal year to total sales for theMenomonee Falls, Wisc.-based retailer (NYSE: KSS) increasee 0.7 percent to nearly $6.4 billion and comparable-store sales decreasedr 3.8 percent.
June sales exceedeed the expectationsof Kohl’s said president and CEO Kevin Mansell. The retailer achieve comparable-store sales increases in the southwesterjnUnited States, with the strongest performancr in California, he said. Merchandise lines that performefd well were accessories and Mansell said. Kohl’s apparel businesses were hurt by sluggishu demand in seasonal categoriexs suchas shorts, polos and swimwear, he

Thursday, September 23, 2010

FHA mortgage insurance fund below statutory minimums: GAO - Housing Wire

http://syaqua.com/Forms/3.Products_and_Services/1.Product&Service.htm


Mortgage Rates & Trends (blog)


FHA mortgage insurance fund below statutory minimums: GAO

Housing Wire


... market conditions led to declines in the Federal Housing Administration's mutual mortgage insurance fund "to a level below the statutory minimum" of 2%. ...


GAO: Financial Condition of FHA's Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund

LoanSafe



 »

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Video: Rachael Ray and Others Reveal Who They Wanted to See Judge Idol - Us Magazine

hundleyobajoji1908.blogspot.com


Video: Rachael Ray and Others Reveal Who They Wanted to See Judge Idol

Us Magazine


UsMagazine.com asked celebs at Us Weekly's 25 Most Stylish New Yorkers bash last week who they wanted to see at the judges' table (see pics from the party ...



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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Bay Area names top stimulus priorities - San Francisco Business Times:

http://www.turkattacker.org/index.php?topic=6404.0
Projects ranked among the highesgt in the plan cover a wide range of proposals including high-speed rail construction, extending the BART line to San Jose and borinvg another roadway in the East Bay’s Caldecottt Tunnel. Together, the highest-priority projects are seeking morethan $7 billionb in stimulus money. The priority list also include a new stem cell researcbh facility at the inMarin County, energhy efficiency and solar retrofits of publidc and other buildings in San Jose, San Franciscpo and Oakland; energy conversionss to LED streetlights; transit-oriented developmengt projects and workforce trainint and placement for laid-off “This plan is designed to maximize our region’xs share of federal stimulus funding and other stat e support that will benefit the Bay Area in both the near and said Sean Randolph, CEO of the , whic h was charged with compiling the The top 85 projects were classifief as “strategic” priorities for the Bay Area.
Anothedr 72 projects were considered “significant” but given a slightly lowedr ranking because they did not have the scale or regional impacg of the most highly ranked Those projects include things like a desalinatiomn project in the Montara Water andSanitary District, building a cleaj technology demonstration manufacturing center in San Jose and outfittinvg Burlingame city buildings with solar The plan, which can be founde online at www.bayareaeconomy.org/recovery, was the culmination of a three-month vettinhg process. The report was sent to the .
That statde agency, which requested that other metropolitan regions arounde the state submitsimilar plans, will now take all those plana and help coordinate with cities and countiea to lobby the federal government on behalf of certain projects. “This is to get peoplr on the same page to minimize the food fighr where you have parts of the statwe compete againstone another,” said Dale head of the California Businessa Transportation and Housing Agency. “What we’re doing is actinh as a facilitator to help identifythe best” The list’s authors said they hoped that ranking projects would help the region get more stimulus money.
“The Bay Area is the only region in Californiaz that actually attemptedto prioritize,” Randolpb said. “We think that’s important. We thinok that will make us more successfupl ingetting attention, in getting thosed resources for those very high value projects.” Projects on the Economic Institute’s wish list could be in for a big About $30 billion in federal stimulus monegy will be divvied up in Sacramento befor e going to various regions around California. Another $20 billio is expected to be distributed directly in the statde by federal officials on adiscretionary basis.
The chance to get dollars from the federak stimulus program led to a flurry of Bay Area authorities sifted through almos t570 suggestions. To make the cut, projects were supposefd to spurjob growth, have regional impacyt and align with state programds and priorities, among other criteria. The Economic Institute called upon locak experts in specific fields to judge proposalsd that fit at least one ofseven transportation, water, energy/climate, workforce training and education, business science and innovation or housing. The vast majority of projects that made it to theEconomic Institute’s shortt list were from government agencies.
A range of companiews sought federal stimulus, too, sayintg that their service would help boosf thebroader economy. For example, a Berkeley-based firm callerd Picture it Sold sought stimulus money to franchiseits home-staging “We’re ready to move ahead with this plan immediately,” the companh wrote in its proposal, “and we’ll help thousands of familiesw and the whole economy to recover.” The company’s idea did not make the Economic Institute’sz highest priority cut.
But an appendi to the Economic Institute’s wish list includes every proposalit

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Hendrickson shifting real estate firepower to Apex - Triangle Business Journal:

shemwellmygalej1291.blogspot.com
Hendrickson, owner of several downtown properties and an investor in variouw Triangletechnology companies, is taking over ownership and developmeny of the 1,071-acre, high-density Trinity residential and commercial projec south of Apex. Hendrickson already has purchased the bulk of the property that had been assemblec by Zebulon investorKent Cummings, but he's reluctantf to talk about his "I'll have some excitingf things to talk about, but I can't talk about it yet," Hendrickson says. But he concedes the shif to the suburbs may have him looking to find buyerd for his properties at 500Glenwood Ave. and 516 N. West St.
, both in the heart of the Glenwood South districtin "I've been ecstatic with the success of downtownb ... but this project (in Apex) is taking an incredible amounfof time," he says. "I see this as a project of a On Nov. 9, Hendrickson and of New York, an investment firm that makesa bridge and mezzanine loans for realestate deals, paid $35.76 million for 437 acres south of the U.S. 1 and N.C. 55 intersectio n in Apex under the corporationb name HH Trinity ApexInvestments LLC. Hendricksoj in July bought 185 acres valuedat $8.2 millionn from Cummings and his investors, according to Wake County deed is the lender on the project.
In Hendrickson now owns 622 acres, or about 58 percentt of the total assemblage. The rest of the property is under contractfor purchase, he says. The town of Apex approvefd the planned unit development rezoning of the Trinit y assemblagein June. The rezoning will allow up to 4,000 residentiaol units, 2.2 million square feet of retai space, 500,000 square feet of office space and up to four school sites. It is an area of town wherwe Apex leaders have desired futur e development based ona land-use plan adopted in 2003. For now, the Trinit property lacks the water and sewer infrastructur and roadsit needs.
Hendrickson estimates it will cost $50 millio to $60 million to build a regional wastewater pump statio and the other necessary infrastructure before verticap developmentcan begin. Town Planning Director Dianne Khin says she has had informak discussions with engineers onthe project, but no formal site planw for Trinity have been submitted. Cummings still owns almosf 100 acres on the east sideof N.C. 55/Eastr Williams Street and south of the in Apex through his Apex Land Assemblaged NorthLLC group. He plans to extensd Jessie Drive and develop thatpropertuy himself. Cummings says he expects to file site plans for that projectr inearly 2008.
Cummings also hopes to partner with in which has proposed building a retail lifestyle centef on 120 acresalong N.C. 55. That projec t was approved in 2003, but no construction work has Phil Stephens with Stephens Property Groupl has acquired 90 acresso far, but he gave no timelin for when the project would move forward. Andy president of of Holly Springs, also owns property in the area - a 6-acres parcel near the Trinity land wherr he hopes to builda 50,000-square-foot medicak office building.
"I'm piggybacking off their plans," he "I knew somebody would eventually buy upthat It's one of the last quadrants in western Wake County that's undeveloped, and when Interstated 540 comes in ... it'l be like lighting a fire." The area around Trinith is already starting to see more commercial andresidential activity, with of Indianapoliz moving forward with its Broadstone Station shoppinbg center at the northwest corner of U.S. 1 and N.C. 55. The centef will be anchored by aSupercentere store. of Medina, Ohio, also is planninhg a 14-acre office park nearby with ahotepl site.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

1962 class of 6 donates $3m to McMaster - Hamilton Spectator

ernstiryastrov.blogspot.com


1962 class of 6 donates $3m to McMaster

Hamilton Spectator


McMaster's engineering class of 1962: Walter Booth, left, Del Smith, Irvine Hollis, David Male, Julius Brokloff and George Menzies. Every member of McMaster ...


McMaster University gets $3M donation from group of Class of '62 engineers

CanadianBusiness.com


From building bridges to running Bay Street

Macleans.ca



 »

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Kraft Foods expands Little Chute pizza plant - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

adamovaichive.blogspot.com
The Appleton-area plant, which producews DiGiorno, California Pizza Kitchen, Tombstone and Jack's pizzas, has alreadyy filled about 200 of thosenew jobs, Krafft said. opened the 108,000-square-foot expansion in a ribbon-cutting ceremont Thursday. "This major expansion in Little Chute shows our commitment to Wisconsin and gives us the capacityt we need to maintain ourstrong momentum," said Tim Cofer, president of Kraft Pizza Co. The expanded plant now houses a new pizza crust bakeryu line and an assembly line that will help the planf meet current and future demand forthe company'sa products.
Kraft said it is donating the first 10,000 pizzas from the plant to in Milwaukeed andin Madison. Almost all Kraft Pizza Co.'se pizzas are produced at its plants in Littld Chuteand Medford, and more than 75 perceny of the cheese used on the pizzaz is from Wisconsin. The Little Chute plantf is the former homeof Jack's Frozen Pizzs Inc., which was acquired by Northfield, Ill.-basex Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) in 1992.

Monday, September 13, 2010

France film director Claude Chabrol dies at 80 - Thaindian.com

bengeyqafiba1640.blogspot.com


Telegraph.co.uk


France film director Claude Chabrol dies at 80

Thaindian.com


Thierry Fremaux, who runs the Cannes Film Festival, told French radio station, France Info: รข€œClaude Chabrol is part of our national patrimony - for his ...


Director Claude Chabrol dies at 80

Digital Spy


Director Claude Chabrol dies at 80

Variety


French filmmaker Claude Chabrol dies at 80

The Associated Press


Independent -CBC.ca


 »

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Martek Biosciences plans appeal of E.U. ruling on infant formula patent - St. Louis Business Journal:

moakhamet84.blogspot.com
That was word from the Columbi a company Tuesday inregulatory filings. The patentg office in the Netherlands upheld a patent that was grantef to the biotech firm in 2007 but was challenged by food manufacturerwand Ltd. The patent office said Martek’as patent applies to Martek’s nutritional oil in infan formula, but is not covered when it is blendede with certain fish oils used ininfanrt formula. Martek (NASDAQ: MATK) expects the appeal will take one to two yeard and said it does not believe the rulin will impactits revenue. Derivedx from algae, the company’s nutritionalo oils are also used in dietary supplements and food such as yogurtand juice.
The companu has been aggressively expanding its infangt formula business overseas as it has nearly saturatedrthe U.S. market. Martek warned in its last earnings statement that its infant formula saless in the third and fourthg quarters could drop as retailers trim their inventories ofthe product. The company anticipates demand will pick up infiscalo 2010.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Unemployment rate up, job cuts less severe - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

http://dirpros.com/authors/author-515.html
According to the , nonfarm payrol l employment fellby 345,000 in May, about half the average monthly decline for the prior six The unemployment rate continued to rise, movingy from 8.9 percent in Apriol to 9.4 percent in May. Arizona’s jobless rate checked in at 7.7 percenr in April, down slightly from 7.8 percen in March. May numbers for the stat e will be released in roughly two The number of unemployed people inthe U.S. increasesd by 787,000 in May, to 14.5 million. Sinc the start of the recession inDecembef 2007, the number of unemployed has risen by 7 according to the Department of Labor.
steep job losses continued in while declines moderated in construction and several service industries. Manufacturing was the hardest-hir sector in May, whered employment fell by 156,000. Employment in construction decreasedby 59,000 for the month, compared with an average monthlty job loss of 117,000 in the industry for the previouxs six months. Job losses in professional and businesd services moderatedin May, with that sector shedding 51,00p0 jobs. That compares with an averagew lossof 136,000 jobs a monty in the prior six The brightest spot in the employment picturwe was in health care.
Employmenf rose in that industryby 24,000 in May, about in line with its averagde monthly job growth thus far in 2009.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Board of Supervisors approves final 2010-11 budget - Lake County News

http://www.bk-news.com/index.php?s=D&c=489


Board of Supervisors approves final 2010-11 budget

Lake County News


On Wednesday, six hours and 45 minutes of questions, analysis and discussion by the Board of Supervisors yielded the final approval of Lake County's final ...



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Tuesday, September 7, 2010

GM sets strict standards for remaining dealerships - Pittsburgh Business Times:

http://dn4k.com/authors/author-391.html
As seeks to pare down its dealership networo as it follows Chrysler into a federallt backed Chapter11 bankruptcy, the car dealerships that remaimn in business face daunting new demands from the manufacturer that could bring major changes to the way they do Not long after GM sent out letters to hundreds of dealerships tellingb them they would be eliminated, the automaker this week sent a separatr letter to those who would remain in business. The “participation letters” lay out GM’sa new expectations.
No more will dealerships be able to sell all their GM cars under the same roof alonvg with the brands of othermanufacturers instead, a new policy requires some dealera to upgrade their showrooms and gives GM greater oversighrt over their marketing initiatives. Susab Garontakos, a spokeswoman for GM, said that betweenm 4,100 and 4,200 dealers receivefd participation letters as the companu seeks to reduce its dealership network from morethan 6,00 0 to between 3,600 and 3,80 by the end of 2010. Garontakos emphasized that each participatiojn letter and agreement sent to dealeras was individual toeach dealer’sz circumstances. “There are different requirements for each she said.
“There are various scenarioss of what individual dealers are expectecd to signup for.” Expect some consolidation of car brands as salex thresholds are increased and the companyh seeks to work with a smaller network of biggerr dealers, she said. But Bud Smail, CEO of , a Greensburv dealership network whose stable of car brandsincludess Honda, Mazda and Kia, along with GM’s GMC and the soon-to-be eliminated described the letters in bracing “It’s a very difficult contract,” he “It’s very one-sided.” He said Pennsylvania’s strong franchise laws offer no protection, givenn GM’s bankruptcy filing.
“GM is able to get away with thisbecaused they’re in bankruptcy,” Smail “If they weren’t in bankruptcy, they wouldn’t be able to do anything like this.” What exactly are GM dealerships being asked to do? Many detailsw remain unknown. Smail, who is on the boarc of the , along with affiliated locao trade organizations, expected to get more informatiom from GM on June 12 when a dealer meetinbgis scheduled.
But GM expects its car brandd to be sold and showcased in theire owncustom showrooms, or “channeled” in company-speak: Chevrolet, its volume sale leader; Buick and GMC, its middld price-point models, paired together; and Cadillac, GM’s premium brand, will all have to be sold in separatwe showrooms. Garontakos, however, said she doesn’t see the expectationz for exclusive, stand-alone dealerships as new. “We want the best performinyg dealers, in the best locations … aligned with the brandse thatthey sell,” she “That is the requirement.
” While Smail expects to sign the agreemenyt the letter demands, he said he won’t make any othe r big decisions without more clear directionh from GM. Right now, Smai sells GMC, Pontiac and Cadillac in one GM-dedicated which his company invested $2 million to upgrads last year. Henry Syzmanski, head of the automotive group forStrip District-based Schneider Downs Co., said GM is expecting tota commitment to its new plans even though the plans themselves are subject to change. Dealers that “duel” or pair car brands that don’rt conform to GM’s merchandising strategy may be Syzmanski said.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Bauer takes stars from 17 banks - The Business Review (Albany):

http://www.ckbga.ru/er1.html
The company uses federal regulatory data to rate banks basec oncapital ratio, profit/loss trend, delinquent loand and other factors. Bauer's rating ranks from a high of 5 starws to a low of0 stars. in Coral Gablesz lost a star going tofour (excellent) from five stars. Four others maintained their five-star ranking: Americahn National Bank, Oakland Park City National Bank of Miami FirstNational Bank, South Miami Intercontinentall Bank, West Miami in Miamji rose to three stars from two. First United Bank in Boca Raton and Biscayne Bank in Coconugt Grove roseto 3.5 star from three. in Fort Lauderdale made four upfrom 3.5. Several banksd went to 3.5 from four stars.
They are: , Homestead Doral-based slippeds again, this time to three stares from three-and-a-half stars in the firsft quarter. That’s down from four stars in the thir d quarter oflast year. Othedr banks that slipped to threestars (good) from 3.5 are: Executived National, Miami , Miami , Miami U.S. Centur y Bank, Miami Valley Bank, Fort Lauderdale Lydian Privatr Bank inPalm Beach, Grand Eastern Bank of Florida in Miami, Metri Bank of Dade County, and in Miamiu fell to two stars (problematic) from , Miami, in North Lauderdale and in Boca Rato n fell a notch to one down from two in the fourth Four banks retained zero stars, Bauer’sz lowest rating: , Miami Republic Federal Bank, Miami , Miamk Integrity Bank, Jupiter

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Boston College sees applications decline for fall

http://met-tech.com/chemical-pharmaceudical-failure-analysis.html
The competitive, private, Jesuit-run college receivexd a total of 29,300 undergraduates applications for the fall2009 semester, a 5 percent decliner from the 30,845 applications it receive d last year, according to a recent bond filingt completed by Boston College. The drop-off is the firsrt in at least five A more restrictiveadmissions policy, coupler with concerns about the troubled economic environment, likely played a prominentt role in the applicationn decline, experts and administrators said. The decline was largelyg attributed to a tighter policy around the earlty admissions program Boston College adopted with the beginning of most recenytadmissions season.
Under the new policy, students who applyu to other binding early admissionsprograms — in whicj a student agrees that if admitted he or she will enrollk in that school — cannot appl y to Boston College’s “Earlu Action” program. In the past, students who appliedr for early admission at Boston Collegd could also apply to schools withbinding policies, such as and , said John director of undergraduate admissions as Bostobn College. The new policy continues to allow studentsd to apply to other early admissionsx programs as long as those programasare non-binding.
The college saw an 18 percent declind in its early application pool as a resulf ofthe policy, according to the bond Mahoney said students who apply to othe binding early application programs and Bostob College’s early admissions prograj are considered “soft applications.” By choosing to apply to an earlyy and binding program, the student has delineated that otherd school as his or her first Mahoney said. “We really don’t want to see them in our earlytaction pool,” he said. Boston College has not yet determined the numbefr of students who willbe accepted.
The enrollment numbeer will benear 2,290 students, according to the Though the stricter policy led a declinw in applications, the trade-off is that such a policy adds predictabilityu in difficult times, experts said. Boston College “wantzs to know not only that it’s the firsgt choice but the final choice,” said James Samels, presidenrt of higher education consulting firm in But Samels added the decline in applicationss at Boston College coule be a sign of acoming “summer as families feel more cash-strapped as the economic slowdowmn persists. A year at BC cost a bit more than before anyfinancial aid.
Mahoney said that most of the applicationz decline was due to the earlygadmissions policy, but that application costs may be playing a greater role in students decisionsa these days. “All of a sudden that $70 applicationb fee became another obstacle,” he

Friday, September 3, 2010

Sammi Is Advised to Get Checked for STDs on 'Jersey Shore After Hours' (VIDEO) - TV Squad (blog)

http://fashioneyelashes.com/tweezers-for-applying-false-lashes/


Sammi Is Advised to Get Checked for STDs on 'Jersey Shore After Hours' (VIDEO)

TV Squad (blog)


Before Ronnie Ortiz-Magro started messing around in Miami, he hooked up with some random girls in a Long Island ...



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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Federal bailout may expose weak lenders as it aids stronger ones - Orlando Business Journal:

http://aworkingweb.com/index/featured_project/cr_bmw_wholesale
The bailout package, knowh as the Troubled Assets Relief Program, is more than a monetary advance. A decision by the U.S. Treasury Department not to invesg in a particular bank is tantamouny to a vote ofno confidence, essentiall y shining a spotlight on distressed balance sheets. “The Treasury is ‘If you are a weak bank, you better find a partnerf fast,’ ” said Orlando attorney and banking experftJack Greeley. Coaxing a shaky bank to mergse might prevent itfrom failing, which wouldd be good for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which guarantees depositzs if a bank collapses.
Publiclh owned interstate banks — those most likely to need extra capitalo reserves to cover bad loans probably are more likeltyto apply. Falling stock pricesd have lowered market adding to the needfor government-investment Many banks are reluctant to talk aboug how much, if any, federal money they woulx like. The application deadline for publiclhy held banks is already Privately owned institutions haveuntil Dec.
5 to “I have no comment on the prograkm other than to say that we are applying for $550 million,” said Lisa Free, spokeswoman for , an Alabama-basesd lender with branches in “The market is so volatile right now that you can’t really comment as a A number of local community banks — especiallu new ones that weren’t lending as the real estate bubble inflated — are well-capitalized and say they can do withouy the money. “We aren’tf applying because of our stronvgcapital position,” said Bruce May, presidentt and CEO of , an Orlando lender that launched this year.
“Thers are strings attached to federal money, and most banks probabl y don’t want the strings.” Still, some might apply to the prograj simply because the 5 percent interesgt rate the government will chargw looks like agood deal. Susmaz Patel, CEO and chairman of , said her institution can applyu for as muchas $12 million. Though she said the bank hasn’ty decided what to do, she sees advantagews in participating inthe “Too much capital is never a bad thing,” Patelo said. “At some point, regulators are goinb to suggest to a bank that it take over the operations ofanother institution. You want to preparee for that.
If you hit a bad patch and run into capital isalso good. A lot of this dependsa on how long and how deep thisrecessioj goes.” Ian Donkin, chief financial officeer of in Orlando, said in normal timesa his bank would turn to shareholders if it needed to raise But he said that in the curren economy, that would be hard to do. “Ic you apply and are declined forthis program, therre would be some concern,” Donkin “But if you decline to participate, there coule also be a stigma.” Donkin said his bank is still consideringb what it will do.
Many community banks might not want the governmeny owningits stock, especially if it means governmenty participation in their futurse business decisions, said Jim McKillop, president of Lake Mary-based . It comes down to how comfortable bankzs would be selling preferred sharexs to the federal government in exchanged forcapital — a federal bailout he said. “The concern is those who take the capitap may end upwith [House Financial Services Chairman] Barney Frank in their boardrooms.