Our Conure at 26 mos., "whats up", okay, thank you! :)
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The liquidity they continue to point to or the ILL-liquidity that the hedgefunds continue to talk about, is this. Money they rake out of one sector and transfer to another from shorting, not their capital but others, leaving investors in the sector they just raided holding the bag. Its a Club............Just like the Society that gathers in Palm Beach for the socialites who do nothing more than dress up for each meal they attend 3x a day, these guys all know one another.
After they have raided a number of companies, and many who were forced into bankruptcy, or lost their poisition status as seniors from the "lack of liquidity" caused by shortselling, as we witnessed within the financial industry sector, even after the ban was lifted by Cox, and many of these companies driven into default, Aig insured their bonds, or CDS's had to cover them, but couldn't because they didn't have the collateral even at the point of insuring them, and it was here where the Govt bailout for them began. Not only were did the shortsellers, in paritcular Hedgies, GS, and others on Wall Street gain tremendously when they covered their short positions at the bottom, they could now collect on the defaults, and when the ban was lifted by Cox after the money was supplied the shortselling continued driving AIG, FRE, FNE, and a host of other into the dirt. It was our tax dollars covering their bets, and still are, and still will be into the forseeable future.
These sophisticated firms use their Calls in trading options in conjuction with their use of shortselling, and how they have played and manipulated these trades its a lose lose situation for any company that comes up against them, and with this investors capital.
Hedgies, 10,000 of them along with some Mutual Funds operating off shore in the Caymans can do pretty much what they want they are non registered entities with no regulations and don't have to answer to the SEC, they operate with impunity............They can utilize shortselling in conjunction with Trading Options, whose reach goes beyond controlling half of the US market, but half the London exchange as well.............The Caymans are British territory, and it would take the British Parliment to reign in on them, but they won't, and the US Congress is protective of them, and it doesn't end here, we have over 600 Hedgies operating in the US, and then there are the Islands of Jersey and Gurnsey off the coast of Normady(France) where similar activities are occurring.
The Uptick Rule will do little to stop this stuff, it may sound good on the surface. The only way to eliminate this stuff is to ban shortselling and force them to use Trading Options, that can have devasting effects as well but the manipulation will be made more difficult.
The other thing the Congress needs to do is to eliminate Stock Options, forcing all these bums to get paid at the company level from the revenues the company generates and what the company can afford that employ's them. This is a 2 part story where investors get soaked from the inside out.
SEC weighs restricting short sellers
Wednesday April 8, 2009, 10:38 am EDT
Buzz up! Print By Rachelle Younglai and Karey Wutkowski
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. securities regulators were considering proposed curbs on short selling at a meeting on Wednesday, weighing steps that could restrict a type of investing blamed by some lawmakers and executives for worsening the financial crisis and driving down share prices.
The Securities and Exchange Commission was debating bringing back the "uptick rule," which allowed short sales -- a bet that a stock's price will fall -- only when the last sale price was higher than the previous price.
SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro opened the meeting without tipping whether she definitely favors short-selling restrictions, but acknowledged investor concerns.
"Investors themselves feel less confidence in putting their capital in markets without additional restrictions on short selling," she said.
The five commissioners will also consider a bid test, which would only allow shorting if the best available bid was higher than the last bid, according to SEC staff and a summary of the proposals prepared for the meeting.
Other possible measures would use a circuit breaker approach to trigger a temporary suspension of short selling in a particular stock, or temporary application of the uptick or bid rule in a security.
The SEC was expected to debate and then vote on issuing the proposals for a 60-day public comment period. There will also be a public discussion of the issues, sponsored by the SEC, on May 5. Any final action is likely months away.
Under one proposal, if a stock fell by 10 percent or some other amount, a circuit breaker would kick in and trigger the application of the "bid test." This approach has the support of the largest U.S. exchanges, the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq Stock Market and BATS exchange.
Another circuit breaker proposal would ban short selling in a particular stock for the rest of the day once triggered. A third circuit breaker proposal would trigger the application of the uptick rule for the rest of the day.
In a short sale, an investor borrows stock and sells it in the hope that its price will fall. If the price does drop, the seller profits by buying the stock back at the lower price and returning the borrowed shares.
Market makers would not be exempt from the proposed short sale restrictions, SEC officials said.
The uptick rule, first adopted after the 1929 stock market crash, is viewed by some as a way to relieve downward pressure on a stock that is dropping precipitously.
The SEC previously concluded that advances in the marketplace had rendered the rule ineffective and abolished it in summer of 2007.
But with the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index (^SPX - News) down roughly 45 percent since the start of 2008 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI:^DJI - News) down more than 40 percent over the same period, members of Congress and others are demanding restoration of the rule.
Billionaire investor George Soros said on Monday that he favored a reintroduction of some kind of rule to restrict short selling. "You do need to provide some protection against effectively the bear raids," Soros told Reuters Financial Television in an interview.
Short sellers counter that their trading helps keep markets liquid and prevents stocks from becoming overvalued. They also criticize last year's temporary ban on short sales of hundreds of financial stocks.
"I am surprised that regulators have not learned from the (short-sale ban) fiasco where it ultimately reduced liquidity in the securities," said Ron Geffner, a partner at law firm Sadis & Goldberg LLP who advises hedge funds.
(Reporting by Rachelle Younglai and Karey Wutkowski; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
EmailIM Bookmarkdel.icio.usDigg Buzz up!
Indian born Sanjay Jha, Co-CEO of Motorola Including salary, bonuses, stock and options, these public company CEOs took home pay packages last year worth up to $104 million.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/news/0904/gallery.biggest_ceo_paychecks/index.html
Larry Ellison's home:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/27/MNUAVQUK2.DTL
Imagine, he was able to do all this without every having to sell the company. Stock Options is the way to rich's, this was all made possible by individuals who bought his stock.
The latest list of America’s Highest Paid CEOs in 2008 saw Steve Jobs, who was ranked first in 2007 dropped his place to a shocking 120th, after a restructuring of stock grants in his company Apple.
Larry Ellison of Oracle Corporation, who tops the new list, earned a massive US$192 million for the year 2007, on top of over 20 million shares he owns.
Larry founded Oracle in 1977, which started its first database project for the CIA agency with only $2,000 investment and has been the CEO for more than 30 years.
Apart from being the highest paid executive, Larry also has a net worth of US$18.4 billion, making him as the 14th richest men in the world at the moment. He is also publicly known for his extravagant life style, owning expensive boats, a private jet, cars and lives in a US$200 million dollar house.
Among other notable presence in the top 20 include Howard Schultz (Starbucks), Lloyd Blankfein (Goldman Sachs), Richard Fuld (Lehman Brothers), Steven Burd (Safeway) and John Chambers (Cisco).
The top 20 highest paid CEOs, and their companies:
1. Larry Ellison, Oracle (US$192 million)
2. Frederic M Poses, Trane (US$127 million)
3. Aubrey K McClendon, Chesapeake Energy (US$117 million)
4. Angelo R Mozilo, Countrywide Financial (US$103 million)
5. Howard D Schultz, Starbucks (US$98.6 million)
6. Nabeel Gareeb, MEMC Electronic Mats (US$79.6 million)
7. Daniel P Amos, Aflac (US$75.2 million)
8. Lloyd C Blankfein, Goldman Sachs (US$73.7 million)
9. Richard D Fairbank, Capital One Financial (US$73.2 million)
10. Bob R Simpson, XTO Energy (US$72.3 million)
11. Richard S Fuld Jr, Lehman Brothers (US$71.9 million)
12. Steven Roth, Vornado Realty (US$71.9 million)
13. Marijn E Dekkers, Thermo Fisher, (US$69 million)
14. Steven A Burd, Safeway (US$67.2 million)
15. Gregg L Engles, Dean Foods (US$66.1 million)
16. Nicholas D Chabraja, General Dynamics (US$60 million)
17. Leslie H Wexner, Limited Brands (US$56.1 million)
18. David C Novak, Yum Brands (US$55 million)
19. John T Chambers, Cisco Systems (US$54.8 million)
20. William R Berkley, WR Berkley (US$55 million)
Technorati Tags: highest paid, salary
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Russell Industries to Build Bio Algae Farm
Date : 04/08/2009 @ 8:30AM
Source : Business Wire
Stock : Russell Industries, Inc. (RIND)
Quote : 0.37 0.0 (0.00%) @ 8:10AM
Russell Industries to Build Bio Algae Farm
Russell Industries, Inc., (Pink Sheets:RIND), recently announced that is was venturing into the Bio Feed Stock marketplace by way of developing the first of its type Bio Algae Farm in Houston, TX.
Bio Algae used as feed stock for Bio diesel will help lead the way to U.S. energy independence. Major airlines such as Continental, Virgin, and JAL have all flown successfully on Bio diesel, even the military has used Bio diesel as an alternative. In March of 2009, California based company Flometrics recently completed tests of rockets using Bio Fuels originally designed for kerosene propulsion.
Algae is a prime example of renewable bio feed stock as it can grow daily rather than by the season and does not affect the food supply, such as traditional crops like corn and wheat. For example, a one acre, horizontal photo Bio reactor style Algae Farm can yield 50,000 gallons of Bio Feedstock compared to 700 gallons using Corn or Soy, but when set up using a vertical system it could yield 5 times as much or 250,000 gallons a year at the going rate of $2.00 per gallon. Bio mass, the residual of Algae oil, is used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries as well as plastics and stem cell research. Each acre of the farm can yield approximately 1,125,000 pounds at the going rate of $0.13 per pound, and if the vertical system was used then the Bio mass produced would be 5,625,000 pounds. In reality the Bio algae farm model will generate more revenue from Bio mass than Algae oil.
RDG........Give a look at it in this perspective. Reagen and Bush were the fathers who started this deregulation, and look where its brought us 30 years later............We have 6 to 700 trillion in derivatives floating around in the global markets today............this is a govt with tiers, a govt operating within the govt, like the stock market, a market that operates within the stock markets that controlled by those of wealth and power.
People who worked hard all their lives and saved their money and never trusted the stock market or banks still have their money to retire on, and their homes.
Its these things that control the economy except for the many successful businesses that are private and are not as dependent on what happens to public companies or their stock prices.
Banks have offered little to nothing for their customers for years, except charges, credit cards, and debt with high interest. The ones that were and are public was, and are as glutenous as any on Wall Street.
2 things my mom said to me years ago the only 2 real things we can count on from the govt is when one party isn't wanting to send us to fight their wars, the other will want to tax us to death...........and this will be a part of all this, even if it comes in various other forms than what we not might expect to see. Hidden taxes.
The only war that declared against us from another nation was WW11, and the others can be judged by the motives behind them.
We cannot solve the worlds ills. We know what the French did to the people of Vietnam, and all they were asked to do is leave. Afghanistan should have been dealt with at the time after the Towers fell. There never will be peace in this world, and if for some reason we are led to believe there is peace when there is none, it will be like the calm before the storm, like whats happened here in our markets, that some 15 trillion or so of America's wealth has been lost in the market over a 2 year period like it never happened, and America should again start investing in stock. There will be scape goats, and issues to try and get the peoples focus on various other things, so all this can be put behind us, but know what?, this time I don't think it will. How many times can the boy cry wolf?, how many times will the American people settle for a govt that is self serving?
Obama publicly stated that stocks are now cheap. Something he should not even insinuate. That may be and rightfully so considering the money thats been extracted from those controlling it how could they not be?.
This was predicted, but no one really knew how it would occur?.
What we are hearing now is that we need to return to business as usual. Put in the Uptick rule, the Ceo brain surgeons should earn tens and hundreds of millions a year, but do you know that Neuro-Surgeons on average earn $2.5 million a year before taxes?.............the best brain surgeons, the best heart specialist, the best orthopedic surgeons earnings don't come close to what these people rake in. The people who work for these financial programs rub shoulders with these people all the time, and are in many ways connected, or have been connected, may become connected to that big money themselves.
Look at Cramer, and the people they cater to on Cnbc, its the same on Bloomberg, the same abroad. Madoff was given a platform on their show at one time, Skilling, Lay, B.Edwards, Kozloski, the list has been endless over the years.
The media can be just as twisted, depending on which one we listen to, one can be as sick as the next. Its hard to find unbiased news, I think Lou Dobbs may be an exception because he projects what most Americans feel and think. Something we would be hard pressed to find in our govt officials, most are as disconnected from us as the fish that live on the bottom of the ocean. Term limits are decided by them not by us.
The best we can do is to beat them over the head as often as we can by letter, printed, and mailed, and look for other means to get things heard from the American people, and passed into law as opposed to allowing them to impose all their laws on us that often serves and protects the very people who are given this country served up to them on silver and gold platters. What we live under is A Govt of Plutocracy.
Captialism in this form serves only them. How many bonuses do most of us receive regardless of the production, and regardless if we get better at it year after year making the companies we work for more an more money?. This is all Wall ST bullshit!.............
Even in our small towns and cities, the people don't turn out as they should during election times, nor do they insist on getting their voices heard in the townhalls, and the reason why we end up with the Mayors and city councilmen who just want to be served up a paycheck.
It can be the same for why we get the Governors we do, the people in the State are really not paying as close attention to them and what they do, and often they continue to get re-elected by the same system.
The Plot thickens:::::: Someday this will be a movie:
Fund manager hit with civil charge in Madoff fraud
NY attorney general brings civil fraud charges against investor Ezra Merkin in Madoff scandal
David B. Caruso, Associated Press Writer
Monday April 6, 2009, 6:15 pm EDT
Buzz up! Print NEW YORK (AP) -- New York's attorney general filed civil fraud charges Monday against a hedge fund manager who funneled $2.4 billion to Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff without telling clients where their money was going.
The complaint accuses J. Ezra Merkin, "the former chairman of GMAC Financial Services", of telling a "panoply of lies" to give the impression that he had a sophisticated investment strategy, when in fact he was simply a middleman who handed most of his cash to Madoff.
A majority of investors had no idea where their money really went until after Madoff's arrest in December, when Merkin sent a brief note informing them that their money was probably gone forever, the suit said.
"Merkin duped individual investors, non-profits, and charities into believing he was responsibly managing their investments, when in actuality he was dumping them into history's largest Ponzi scheme," Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.
The suit said Merkin, the son of a respected New York philanthropist, charged his clients "$470 million" in management fees but did little actual work other than "routine bookkeeping."
Merkin's attorney, Andrew Levander, called the lawsuit "hasty," "ill-conceived" and "without merit" and denied that clients were kept in the dark.
"Contrary to the attorney general's allegation, investors in the Ascot Funds were well aware that the money was being invested with Madoff," Levander said in a statement. Some of those investors had even met with Madoff personally, he said.
He also insisted that Merkin had taken all appropriate steps to confirm that Madoff's trading strategy was legitimate.
"Unfortunately," he wrote, "Mr. Merkin's due diligence, just like the detailed investigations performed by countless others, including regulators, was thwarted by the intricate, fraudulent scheme perpetrated by Madoff."
Cuomo's suit, filed in state court in Manhattan, demands that Merkin repay all of the fees he collected from his clients over the years, plus damages.
In addition to accusing Merkin of lying to investors, it said he improperly mixed personal funds with the accounts of his management company, Gabriel Capital Group, and used some of the company's funds for personal purchases, including $91 million worth of artwork for his apartment.
The suit is the second major action by a state against one of the so-called "feeder funds" that supplied Madoff with billions of investment dollars.
On April 1, Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin filed a similar lawsuit against Fairfield Greenwich Group, of Connecticut, saying it had failed to disclose internal concerns about Madoff's operation. The fund, which had a $7.2 billion account with Madoff, has also professed to be an innocent victim.
Madoff pleaded guilty in March to swindling thousands of investors out of billions of dollars in what could be the largest Ponzi scheme in history.
Many of his victims got involved in the scheme through feeder funds, and Merkin's Ascot Partners was one of the biggest. It had a $1.7 billion account with Madoff, including deposits from New York University, Tufts University, Bard College and Yeshiva University, where Merkin was a trustee.
Some of those investors and institutions have now sued Merkin, including a new suit filed Monday in New York by Mortimer Zuckerman, the real estate magnate and publisher of the New York Daily News.
Zuckerman said he and his charitable trust collectively lost $40 million in the scheme. He said he was outraged by Merkin's claim that investors knew Madoff was managing their money.
"This is totally preposterous. I never heard of Bernie Madoff until he sent me that note," said Zuckerman, referring to Merkin's December letter advising clients that their money had vanished. "It is a complete fiction. Some people would call it a complete lie."
He said he hoped Merkin would be stripped of his huge personal fortune, and the money used to distribute among his victimized investors.
When the govt can't take anything more from the Native American, they will pursue how they practice their faith...........Long before the White man touched these shores, long before Great Britian existed, these people practiced their faith. Some of the most sprititual people that ever lived. It was their innocence, and being naive that made them believe that those who appeared on their shores a few hundred years ago, and those they welcomed to their homeland meant them no harm.
Their dedication to their faith and to prayer is given to long hours
What the SEC needs to do is to look not only at this Letter sent by the Nasdaq/Finra, and the rest of this jibberish wrapped in lies be used to Investigate how Berman responded to the moron who sent it to him. He continues with his Strategic Plans 15 billion shares later, several years, and several 504D's which amounts to several million dollars that was never used toward the projects the money was intended for. He has never done anything beyond getting the mining claims, he used for a front after he began getting investigated. The mining claims is a very small percentage of the money he has sucked up for himself, he never spent anytime in Utah, nor did he ever follow thru with the promises he made to investors at the beginning of all this. All he does and all he will ever do is sell shares, r/s and tell lies, as he sucks out every nickel from would be new investors. This guy is Con, a Liar, and Thief, who will use every angle to make it sound like he's got something going, even wants people to believe he has some of that $60b from Obama's energy plans coming his way............
Mind you he doesn't have one red cent of his own money in this company only past investors money, past suckers he conned.
RSDS -- Russell Industries, Inc.
COMPANY NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES
----
Monday January 29, 9:30 am ET
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Russell Industries, Inc. (RSDS.PK) reports the following update regarding its proven and probable reserves. When extrapolating the preliminary report from Edge Consulting in December 2006 and information obtained by the Atomic Energy Commission dating back to February and June 1955 the geo-statistical estimation of reserves with underground mining, estimated reserves from the Russell Industries 54 claim group would be 2 - 20 million pounds of Uranium (U308) with an average grade of .27% and a cutoff of .10%. An additional benefit of this area is the high content of Vanadium within the ore. Based on historical records, shipping records and samples, the average Vanadium content is 2 - 3%.
The current market price for Uranium is $71.00 per pound and $20.00 for Vanadium. The extrapolation of these parameters indicates the range of ore in the claims to have a value range in excess of $38,340,000. The Company is being encouraged to further testing which will require costly extensive mining, sampling and testing. "We are encouraged with the preliminary reports and will evaluate our options over the next 90 days," Rick Berman, President.
---------------------------------------------
RSDI did a reverse split (1 for 100) and became RSDS. Just before that they finalized its acquisition of 54 mine claims located in San Juan County, Monticello, Utah from U.S. Minerals, LLC, (Mesa, AZ).
The claims are part of the Morrison formation known for the many valuable deposits of Uranium and Vanadium. Several areas are shallow enough, less than 100 feet, to easily mine. The current market price for Uranium is $280.80 per ore ton and $800.00 per ore ton for Vanadium. Vanadium is used to strengthen steel and is in big demand in Asia. The company estimates that its ore reserves could be as high as 4.5 million tons. Russell Industries plans to mine and lease the claims in 2007. The Company is looking forward to a significant revenue stream from this acquisition.
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Russell Industries Finalizes Divestiture
Russell Industries, Inc. (PINK SHEETS:RSDI) announces that it has finalized its divestiture of WB Solutions, an oil and gas services provider. Rick Berman, Russell Industries President and CEO stated that "We acquired WB in 2005 with the idea of assisting the Company in continuing its development of their proprietary water reclamation technology in the Coal Bed Methane market. Looking forward Russell Industries will focus on revenue based acquisitions instead of trying to develop technology. We sold the technology for 28,500,000 shares of Russell Industries stock, which we will use to further acquire potentially profitable mining claims."
Earlier this month Russell Industries acquired 54 Uranium and Vanadium mining claims in Utah and is active looking at seven other sites in Nevada, Arizona and Utah. The company's President went on to say, "With the recent acquisitions we have today, we are very excited about the near future, an the partnerships we are developing."
------------------------------------
---------------------------------
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Russell Industries: Russell Industries to acquire 8 mine claims
HOUSTON, TX, Mar 26, 2007 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Russell Industries, Inc. (RSDS.PK) has agreed to acquire 8 Uranium mine claims, known as the "Rage Mining Claims" in San Juan County, Utah from BRW Mines (Monticello, Utah). The Company plans to engage BRW to mine part of the claims in coordination with buy orders from interested mills. "The opportunity to acquire these claims is consistent with Russell Industries strategic plan for 2007", Rick Berman, President. The transaction should close in April.
RUSSELL INDUSTRIES ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC PLAN
HOUSTON, TX, Mar 27, 2007
(M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) --
Russell Industries, Inc. -
(RSDS.PK) plans on acquiring 200 Uranium Mine Claims
as part of its strategic plan for 2007.
Russell Industries Reserve Update
Russell Industries: RUSSELL INDUSTRIES ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC PLAN
HOUSTON, TX, Mar 27, 2007 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) --
Russell Industries, Inc. -
(RSDS.PK) plans on acquiring 200 Uranium Mine Claims
as part of its strategic plan for 2007.
" Upon evaluating present market trends,
The Company believes very strongly that the value
of Uranium will continue to increase and will
aggressively pursue acquiring claims as opportunities
present themselves,"
Rick Berman, President.
About Russell Industries, Inc.
Russell Industries,
a Nevada Corporation,
was incorporated in 1997.
Russell Industries is a holding company
that will acquire assets in the energy, mining,
healthcare and financial industries.
Safe Harbor ----
HOUSTON, TX, Apr 03, 2007 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Russell Industries, Inc. (RSDS.PK) has staked and filed with the Bureau of Land Management 26 additional Uranium mine claims in Utah. More details will follow as The Company pursues acquiring additional mine claims as part of its 2007 strategic plan.
Russell Industries Acquires 26 Uranium Mining Claims
HOUSTON, Apr 10, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Russell Industries, Inc.
(RSDS.PK) announces that it has acquired another 26 Uranium Mine Claims in San Juan County, UT.
The acquisition of these claims raises the current total
of San Juan County Uranium Claims to 154.
Additionally, The Company plans to begin mining some of its claims, pending regulatory approval, in May.
Russell Industries: Russell Industries: Raises Authorized Shares
HOUSTON, TX, Apr 16, 2007 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Russell Industries, Inc. (RSDS.PK) has filed a Certificate of Amendment with the Nevada Secretary of State to raise its authorized shares from 750,000,000 to 2,000,000,000. "The purpose of this change in authorized shares is to accommodate further raising of equity capital and continued acquisitions", Rick Berman, President and CEO. The Company is aggressively pursuing additional mine claims as part of its 2007 strategic plan.
About Russell Industries, Inc.
Russell Industries, a Nevada Corporation, was incorporated in 1997. Russell Industries is a holding company that will acquire assets in the energy, mining, healthcare and financial industries. The Company owns an ownership interest in 154 Uranium Mining Claims as of April 16, 2007. Safe Harbor
Trophy Resources Adds Two New Board Members
Thursday April 19, 8:54 am ET
CLEVELAND, OH--(MARKET WIRE)--Apr 19, 2007 -- Trophy Resources' (Other OTC:TRSI.PK - News) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the addition of two new members: Mr. Al Saavedra and Mr. Richard Berman.
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/070419/0241150.html
Wilkesboro-based Ithaca Industries Inc. announced today that its prepackaged plan of reorganization has become effective following approval by the Delaware Bankruptcy Court on Nov. 22. Ithaca filed its Chapter 11 case and prepackaged plan on Oct. 8. The plan gives holders of Ithaca's 11.125% senior subordinated notes 100% of outstanding common stock and provides for a restructured bank credit agreement, eliminating more than half Ithaca's debt. Ithaca makes private label men's and women's underwear, hosiery and T-shirts.
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/1996/12/16/daily8.html
Nasdaq Letter:
June 19, 2007 9:21 AM ET Russell Industries Acquires American Uranium Mining Company advertisement
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All BusinessWire newsRussell Industries, Inc. (Pink Sheets:RSDS) announces that it has acquired American Uranium Mining Company, formerly Ithaca Industries, Inc (Pink Sheets:ITHI). The Company owns 68 Uranium Mining Claims located in the Briger Jack section, San Juan County, Utah. "This acquisition is synergistic with Russell Industries' focus on the Uranium market and will increase our holding company's assets to 322 Uranium mining claims which will now encompass 6,440 acres in San Juan County," said Rick Berman, who will be elected President and CEO. Ithaca, a publicly traded company, will continue to have its stock quoted on the pink sheet market. Russell Industries will announce the new symbol and date trading will begin in a future press release.
About Russell Industries, Inc.
Russell Industries, a Nevada Corporation, was incorporated in 1997. Russell Industries is a holding company that will acquire assets in the energy, mining, healthcare and financial industries. The Company owns a majority ownership interest in 322 Uranium Mining Claims as of June 19, 2007.
Safe Harbor
Forward-Looking Statements: Except for historical information contained herein, statements are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the company's actual results in the future periods to differ materially from forecasted projections. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, energy market volatility, product demand, market competition, and risk inherent to the company's research and development operations. Contact Information: Russell Industries, Inc. Rick Berman, 832-631-6074 Fax: 281-298-9055 irrsds@aol.com
Copyright 2007 BusinessWire
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Russell Industries 2009 Strategic Plan
Russell Industries, Inc. (OTC:RIND), announces its strategic plan for 2009. The Company "has not yet" engaged a geologist to quantify its Pay Day Mine claims as a current mining initiative "will be required in order" to issue a valid reserve report. The Company will continue to seek a joint venture partner for its uranium and vanadium assets in Utah and still considers these assets to be of long term value. At this time the Company is focused on renewable energy, specifically, its Houston Algae Farm Project which will produce Algae oil and Bio mass to be sold as feed stock to bio diesel refineries and to the bio-gasoline, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, bio-plastics and organic industries, respectively. Specifically, in 2009, RIND "plans to develop a full scale operational model" that will be the first of its type to be located in Houston, Texas. The model will utilize closed photo bio reactors to grow Algae oil and Bio mass for commercial purposes.
“$60 billion has been allocated for alternative energy in the current stimulus bill. Washington has a clear mission to reduce dependence on foreign oil and develop alternative energies. RIND’s "timing to market" is ideal. Annually the demand in the U.S. for diesel fuel is 80 billion gallons, yet total production of biodiesel is around 450 million gallons, leaving the market for biodiesel virtually underserved,” said Rick Berman, President and CEO.
In addition to its current web site, www.ru308.com, the Company has designed another web site, www.russind.com, specifically for the Houston Algae Farm Project.
Russell Industries, a Nevada Corporation, was incorporated in 1997. The Company is a holding company that will possibly acquire assets in the energy, mining, healthcare and financial industries. The Company owns a majority ownership interest in 255 unpatented uranium and Vanadium Mining Claims in San Juan County, Utah as of March 31, 2009.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and as such, may involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe future plans, strategies, and expectations, are generally identifiable by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, expectations of the business environment in which the Company operates, projections of future performance, potential future performance, perceived opportunities in the market, and statements regarding the Company's mission and vision. Investors should be aware that Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including the ability to raise equity, debt or any other capital sufficient to fund any part or all of the Houston Algae Farm Project, the uncertainty of the launch of our commercialization strategy, the bio-diesel market's acceptance for our algae oil and bio mass or the acceptance of our customers' products or technologies which incorporate our products and technologies, the failure of our technology to perform as predicted, competition from alternative bio-diesel or other alternative energy technologies, uncertainties as to the size of the markets, cost and margins for the Company's products, current or future government regulations affecting the use of the Company's products and technologies, the lack of availability of critical components, the degree of protection from future patents, other risks associated with the development or acquisition of new products or technologies and any other risks. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements and no assurances can be given that such statements will be achieved. The Company and all affiliated parties do not assume any duty to publicly update or revise the material contained herein.
Latitude Industries umbrella?..........
A year of a "new beginning"?..............For who?
Current Capital Change
shs decreased by 1 for 1000 split
Pay Date: Nov 3, 2008
http://www.pinksheets.com/pink/quote/quote.jsp?symbol=ltdu
http://idea.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=1427686
We should all know that when this action a R/S is taken to take the capital this squeezes into a higher price. The only one that has shares to sell is the Ceo. Considering the 504D was still active, and the selling took this to this level to r/s, the next move would be to file a new 504D. The last one expired in Feb 09. The "only reason" for the symbol change is to eliminate any shares trading under the prior symbol.
Taseko Announces Quarterly Copper Production
Date : 04/06/2009 @ 4:00AM
Source : PR Newswire
Stock : (TGB)
Quote : 1.42 -0.04 (-2.74%) @ 2:27PM
Taseko Announces Quarterly Copper Production
VANCOUVER, April 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Taseko Mines Limited (TSX: TKO; NYSE Amex: TGB) ("Taseko" or the "Company") is pleased to provide the following update on production results for the first quarter 2009.
Q1 2009 Production Highlights ------------------------------------------------------------------------- January February March ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copper Grade 0.350% 0.352% 0.403% ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Average Tons Per Day Milled (thousands) 35.5 39.3 39.3(1) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copper Recovery 81.6% 82.2% 83.3% ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copper Production (millions lbs) 6.4 6.2 7.3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Molybdenum (thousands lbs) 75 57 55 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Excludes 3.5 days of scheduled maintenance shutdown.
During the first quarter of 2009, the Gibraltar Mine produced nearly 20 million pounds of copper and 187 thousand pounds of molybdenum, representing a 70% increase to copper production over the same period in 2008. These quarterly production figures are in line with annual production guidance of 80 million pounds of copper and 800 thousand pounds of molybdenum.
Russell Hallbauer, President and CEO of Taseko stated, "Over the past two years we have invested $250 million into the Gibraltar Mine to increase production and reduce operating costs. The results we are now reporting are validating the importance of these initiatives. First quarter production and our low cost structure combined with a strengthened copper price will provide healthy margins and cash flow.
In only three months the price of copper, as quoted on the London Metal Exchange, has risen from a low of US$1.26/lb in late December to nearly US$1.90/lb today. At the same time, after major cost reduction initiatives our total cash costs have dropped to approximately US$1.15/lb for the first quarter."
Mr. Hallbauer continued, "The dramatic rebound in copper prices is encouraging and has allowed us to recommence work on our Phase II expansion, however, given the general uncertainty in the global economy, we will remain extremely cautious as we proceed with our capital spending to ensure we maintain sufficient working capital lines. As market conditions stabilize, we expect to complete the necessary work to increase the Gibraltar concentrator capacity to 55,000 tons per day, or 115 million pounds of annual copper production."
Russell Hallbauer President and CEO
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of the information in this news release.
PRELIMINARY FOURTH QUARTER AND FINANCIAL YEAR 2008 RESULTS
LONDON -- (Marketwire) -- 02/27/09 --
Highlights
* Golar reports operating income of $13.9 million and a net loss of $57.7 million, which includes Other Financial Items loss of $57 million largely relating to non cash interest rate swap valuation losses and foreign currency exchange retranslation losses
* Spot traded vessel earnings performance improved over the quarter although spot market softening moving into the first quarter 2009
* The FSRU Golar Spirit entered regasification service after smooth commissioning period
* Floating LNG cooperation with PTTEP now focusing on identified opportunities
* Golar signs Heads of Agreement with LNG Limited covering project participation in (40%) and sole LNG -off-take from the Gladstone LNG project
* Continued strong market inquiry for FSRUs
* Golar suspends dividend payment to strengthen balance sheet in advance of near term project opportunities
Financial Review
Results
Golar LNG Limited ("Golar" or the "Company") reports a net loss of $57.7 million and operating income of $13.9 million for the three months ended December 31, 2008 (the "fourth quarter"). Net income has been negatively impacted by other financial items loss of $57 million largely relating to non-cash interest rate swap valuation losses and foreign currency exchange retranslation losses.
Revenues in the fourth quarter were $59.5 million increased from $58.1 million for the third quarter of 2008 (the "third quarter").
Headline spot charter rates retained the improvement from the third quarter for the early part of the fourth quarter but began to fall toward the end of the fourth quarter. Average utilisation increased from 83% in the third quarter to 84% in the fourth quarter. Fourth quarter average daily time charter equivalent rates ("TCEs") improved to $46,407 per day compared to $43,443 per day during the third quarter.
The Golar Spirit was employed throughout the fourth quarter on charter to Petrobras, whilst the Golar Winter entered the shipyard for FSRU conversion at the end of the third quarter and will remain in the yard until the second quarter of 2009. The newly chartered in vessel Ebisu went on hire soon after delivery at the end of the third quarter and will remain on hire through the first quarter of 2009.
There were no dry dockings performed during the fourth quarter. The Hilli and the Gandria have not been employed throughout the fourth quarter and are not expected to have earnings throughout 2009.
Measures remain in place to minimise operating costs on these vessels until chartering or project opportunities arise.
Voyage expenses, which largely relate to fuel costs associated with commercial waiting time and vessel positioning, decreased marginally from $11.0 million in the third quarter to $10.2 million for the fourth quarter, aided by the decline in fuel costs and slightly improved utilisation. Vessel operating expenses were higher at $16.0 million for the fourth quarter as compared to $14.6 million for the third quarter whilst administrative expenses were lower at $4.1 million as compared to $4.7 million last quarter.
Net interest expense for the fourth quarter was $11.9 million, up slightly from $11.4 million for the third quarter.
Other financial items were a loss of $57.0 million in the fourth quarter compared to a loss of $23.1 million for the third quarter.
Long-term interest rates fell dramatically during the fourth quarter, although have recovered to some extent since December 31, 2008, and the US dollar has also strengthened significantly during the fourth quarter. Both these events, if sustained, are beneficial to the Company in the long-term but create non-cash accounting losses in the short-term.
The largest contribution to this loss relates to non-cash interest rate swap valuation losses which gave rise to a loss to the income statement of $23.4 million during the fourth quarter. In addition to the $23.4 million charge a realised loss of $9.0 million has been incurred as a result of refinancing a loan during the quarter that had a fixed rate of interest. However, the Company immediately entered into an interest rate swap for a similar amount of the new debt at an interest rate approximately 1.1% lower than the rate on the fixed rate debt. As of October 1, 2008 the Company commenced hedge accounting for some of its interest rate swaps and as a result a further $26.0 million loss, which would have been taken to the income statement, has been accounted for through other comprehensive income (reserves).
Foreign currency exchange losses, amounting to $12.8 million, relate to the retranslation of net lease obligations denominated in British Pounds, valuation losses in respect of foreign currency forward contracts associated with FSRU capital commitments and other foreign currency retranslation losses primarily relating to foreign currency deposits acquired under forward contracts to settle foreign currency capital commitments.
The balance of other financial items charge relates to equity swap valuation losses, investment impairment and the write off of various financing related expenses.
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2008 Golar reports a net loss of $10 million, operating income of $132 million and operating revenues of $229 million as compared to, net income of $136 million, operating income of $121 million and operating revenues of $225 million for the year ended December 31, 2007. The decrease in net income is largely accounted for by a $36 million decrease in the level of gains on sale of assets and investments in 2008 and an increase in other financial items loss in 2008 of $74 million.
Financing, corporate and other matters
The value of cash has significantly increased over recent months and the Board believes that market sentiment has shifted somewhat from giving full appreciation to dividend flow to focus on the strength of Company balance sheets. The Board also believes that the development of FSRU and FLNG project opportunities will lead to attractive near term investment opportunities for the Company.
Taking this into account and the current squeeze in credit markets the Board has decided to suspend the dividend payment for at least the next 2 quarters or until financial market conditions normalise.
As previously reported the Company drew-down on a new $285 million revolving credit facility during the fourth quarter. The facility refinanced the existing debt in respect of the Methane Princess and the Golar Spirit and provided additional financing of approximately $80 million. Golar's ability to complete this financing during the current turmoil in the debt markets demonstrates the continued good standing the Company has with its banks.
The Company's remaining un-financed capital commitments in respect of its FSRU conversion projects amount to approximately $80 million in respect of the Golar Freeze project. The current level of debt associated with the Golar Freeze is approximately $30 million and its charter as an FSRU will generate total revenues over 10 years of around $450 million. The Company has had positive discussions and responses from a number of banks in connection with the refinancing of the Golar Freeze and the Board therefore remains confident that the Company will be able to refinance the Golar Freeze and improve the company's liquidity position even in today's difficult market conditions. In the unlikely event that a refinancing is not achievable in the current credit market the Board believes that alternative sources of short-term financing will be available in order to meet capital commitments in respect of the Golar Freeze.
Currently approximately 67% of the Company's debt and net capital lease obligations are effectively swapped to a fixed rate. The Company's current total debt and net capital lease obligations are approximately $1 billion. The total current cost of this debt based on the Company's swap rates, 3 month Libor and average margin is approximately 4.5%.
Operational Review
Shipping
Trading performance of the Company's vessels operating in the spot/short term market was slightly improved over the quarter.
Rates held up for the early part of the quarter however began to soften toward year end. Further deterioration has occurred into the first quarter of 2009 although activity is just now beginning to again increase.
Granatina, now renamed Golar Arctic, was redelivered from a 12 month charter with Shell in January and the vessel's technical management has been transferred to Golar. The Golar Arctic will continue to maintain the Company's presence in the spot/short term market in the period following the delivery of Golar Frost in June 2009 to OLT-O for the Livorno FSRU project. Golar Frost was redelivered from its 4 month charter to Morgan Stanley in November 2008 and will continue to be available for short term charters until redelivery to OLT-O in June 2009.
The new-build in-charter, Ebisu, remained on hire to the North West Shelf project throughout the quarter at a profitable rate.
Vessel operations remained smooth and incident free throughout the quarter.
Regasification
Following the completion of construction by Petrobras of the shore side facilities in Pecem, Brazil, Golar Spirit completed final commissioning and start up activities associated with the floating storage and regasification ("FSRU") conversion project.
Commissioning was followed by a series of performance test runs which formed part of the delivery protocol for the vessel. The commissioning and start up was successfully concluded without incident and with Petrobras kindly acknowledging the high standard of professionalism provided by the Golar technical team involved in the delivery of the project. The Golar Spirit will soon sail to Rio to commence commissioning activities in advance of the arrival of Golar Winter.
Golar Winter arrived at Keppel ship yard in Singapore on September 29, 2008 to commence Golar's second FSRU conversion project. The FSRU is scheduled to deliver to Petrobras in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janiero during Q2 2009. All major equipment items for the vessel conversion have now been installed onto the vessel and work continues to integrate the new equipment. The Company is satisfied with the progress being made with the project and pleased to see the experiences and learning from the Golar Spirit project transferred to the Golar Winter project.
Detailed engineering for the Golar Freeze FSRU project is continuing with major equipment items required for the vessel conversion being ordered consistent with the vessel's scheduled delivery. Discussions have commenced with shipyards to finalise the contract for the vessel conversion.
Discussions are continuing with the OLT-O (Livorno) joint venture in support of the Golar Frost conversion project and possible future roles for Golar within the project which includes amongst other things operation and maintenance of the terminal.
Petrobras advised during the quarter that due to the current economic environment it is not intending to continue with its tender to secure a third FSRU. The disappointment in this development is to a large extent offset by the continuing high level of interest in FSRUs from other parts of the world. This interest has been spurred on in recent months due to gas supply disruptions in Europe and an expected increase in the supply of LNG from producing projects.
Liquefaction
The Company was pleased to recently announce the signing of a Heads of Agreement ("HOA") with project developer Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (LNG Ltd) formalising Golar's participation in the Gladstone LNG ("GLNG") project. GLNG, the project company, is intending to develop a mid-scale (1.5 million tonne per annum) liquefied natural gas plant in the Port of Gladstone, Australia. The plant will purify and liquefy coal seam gas sourced from gas fields, located in Central Queensland, north east Australia. The current estimated development cost for the LNG facility is approximately $500 million. First production is currently scheduled for 2012. The project also offers attractive expansion opportunities.
Final investment decision and financial close of the project is expected toward the end of 2009. Of key importance to this final decision will be successful financing of the project and funding of Golar's participation in a way that is accretive to shareholders.
Until a final investment decision is made there is minimal financial commitment required from Golar. The terms of the HOA include Golar's 40% equity participation in the project and the full LNG output from the project on an FOB basis. In parallel to the negotiations with LNG Ltd with respect to the purchase of the LNG, Golar has progressed discussions to sell its offtake on a delivered, long term basis to a credit worthy LNG buyer. Delivery of the LNG will utilise up to two of Golar's existing LNG Carriers.
Golar anticipates that, in addition to the financing to be raised at the project level, it will also be able to raise financing in connection with the offtake and shipping arrangements. The formalising of Golar's role in the project is a significant milestone in the achievement of the Company's midstream LNG strategy.
The Company continues to make good progress, working in partnership with PTTEP, in developing Floating LNG projects. Activity has progressed over the past quarter from screening stranded gas opportunities to maturing the most attractive of the identified opportunities. Detailed activity is now focused on 2 to 3 specific upstream assets. Of note is the recent acquisition by PTTEP of Coogee Resources with operations located in the Timor Sea, Western Australia. Both companies believe that Coogee may provide an attractive platform for the development of a FLNG project.
Market
The short supply of LNG to energy markets in 2008 is likely to turn into plentiful supply as four new LNG producing projects come on line amid a global financial crisis and recession in many LNG consuming economies. Predicting the outcome of this market mix is even more difficult than usual but some signs indicating the way forward are starting to emerge.
2009 will see the start of a capacity build provided by new plants that are currently under construction in Qatar, Yemen, Russia, Peru, Indonesia, Australia, Angola, and Algeria. The new capacity will form the backbone of an approximate 30% (40 million tonnes) rise in total global LNG production by the end of this year and an increase by some 60% in worldwide capacity over the next 4 to 5 years. Production will rise from approximately 175 million tonnes in 2008 to around 290 million tonnes by 2013. No other globally traded commodity can confidently anticipate this level of growth over the next few years.
What is perhaps less clear is the actual destination for this rise in LNG production. Early signs are that Far East markets may not provide the support once relied upon by LNG traders. The economic downturn is depressing demand for power generation in the established markets of Japan, Korea and Taiwan and the appetite for incremental LNG in the more recently opened markets of China and India is still to be fully tested. Interestingly there are signs of Pacific Basin production already starting to trickle into Europe. Should this trend continue as new Far East capacity comes on stream we might soon see more Pacific Basin produced cargoes head for the more liquid markets of the US and Europe. This would represent a complete reversal of the trading pattern that has characterised the LNG market in recent years from tradable cargoes produced in the Atlantic Basin being drawn East to a market where marginal production in the Pacific Basin is looking for a home in the Atlantic Basin - as previously existed in the period 2002 to 2004.
As new LNG capacity comes on stream, the length currently observed in the short term LNG shipping market is expected to rebalance, with ships finally entering employment on a long term basis with the intended projects. Additionally, conversion projects and scrapping of older vessels continue to gain momentum. The ratio of available spot vessels to worldwide LNG production is set to decline in the next few years with no expected reduction in long haul trades. Spot charter rates will stay depressed for the first half of 2009 but there is reason to expect steady improvement in the situation from mid year.
Outlook
The LNG shipping spot market continues to suffer from a delay in the start up of new LNG production capacity resulting in a surplus of shipping and more recently, the downturn in the global economy.
The first half of 2009 will be a difficult trading environment for the Company's spot trading ships with a reduction in earnings anticipated for the first quarter 2009. However, there is a realistic hope for improvement in the second half of 2009 as new capacity comes on stream and cargoes start trading west. The Board continues to believe that the long-term outlook for LNG demand in global markets remains strong and that production capacity currently under construction will progressively improve the situation.
The company's strategy of diversifying into FSRU's and over time into liquefaction is and will continue to deliver a more robust revenue profile as the broader LNG market moves through the different phases of the economic cycle. Furthermore, the company's committed FSRU contracts delivering over the next 18 months will add significantly to operating cash flow.
International Paper to Release First-Quarter Earnings on Thursday, April 30
SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION
Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934
http://www.pinksheets.com/edgar/GetFilingHtml?FilingID=6502206
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): March 9, 2008
______________________________
U.S. CONCRETE, INC.
http://www.pinksheets.com/edgar/GetFilingHtml?FilingID=6473370
Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers
On March 9, 2009, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of U.S. Concrete, Inc. (the “Committee”) approved grants of restricted shares and nonqualified stock options to Messrs. Michael W. Harlan (our President and Chief Executive Officer), Robert D. Hardy (our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer), William T. Albanese (our Vice President of Business Development – Northern California), Thomas J. Albanese (our Executive Vice President of Sales – Bay Area Region) and Terry Green (our Senior Vice President – Operations). All grants of restricted shares and nonqualified stock options are effective as of March 9, 2009 and vest 25% per year over a four-year period. The nonqualified stock options have a strike price equal to the closing sales price of our common stock reported by the Nasdaq Global Select Market on the date of the grant. Mr. Harlan was granted 70,000 shares of restricted stock and 70,000 nonqualified stock options, Mr. Hardy was granted 45,000 shares of restricted stock and 45,000 nonqualified stock options, Mr. William T. Albanese was granted 4,000 shares of restricted stock and 4,000 nonqualified stock options, Mr. Thomas J. Albanese was granted 4,000 shares of restricted stock and 4,000 nonqualified stock options, and Terry Green was granted 26,000 shares of restricted stock and 15,000 nonqualified stock options.
Additional Proxy Soliciting Materials (definitive) (DEFA14A)
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C.
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U.S. Concrete, Inc.
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WHEN I SAY I'M BROKE - I'M BROKE
>> A little old lady answered a knock on the door one
>> day, only to be confronted by a well-dressed young
>> man carrying a vacuum cleaner.
>> "Good morning," said the young man. "If I could
>> take a couple of minutes of your time, I would like
>> to demonstrate the very latest in high-powered
>> vacuum cleaners.""Go away!" said the old lady. "I'm
>> broke and haven't got any money!" and she proceeded
>> to close the door.
>> Quick as a flash, the young man wedged his foot in
>> the door and pushed it wide open. "Don't be too
>> hasty!" he said. "Not until you have at least seen
>> my demonstration." And with that, he emptied a
>> bucket of horse manure onto her hallway carpet. "If
>> this vacuum cleaner does not remove all traces of
>> this horse manure from your carpet, Madam, I will
>> personally eat the remainder." The old lady
>> stepped back and said, "Well let me get you a fork,
>> 'cause
>> they cut off my electricity this morning."
>>
>>
>>
Taseko Mines
Spacenet Rural Communications Deploys Gilat's SkyEdge II High-Performance Broadband Satellite Network to Serve Banco De La Nacion and Other Customers in Peru
Thursday March 26, 2009, 9:05 am EDT
Buzz up! Print Related:Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.
PETAH TIKVA, Israel, March 26, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (NasdaqGM:GILT - News) today announced that its business unit, Spacenet Rural Communications, is deploying a SkyEdge II network to cover hundreds of sites in Peru. The new network is being used to serve Peru's national bank, Banco de la Nacion, a long time customer of Gilat, as well as other private businesses.
Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
GILT 3.58 +0.07
With the migration to the new network, which includes a SkyEdge II hub and hundreds of SkyEdge II IP VSATs, Peru's Banco de la Nacion, as well as other enterprise customers, will benefit from enhanced voice and data networking services. This includes high-speed connectivity to allow high throughput for file transfer, transactional service applications such as ATMs and voice quality IP telephony. The new network provides Banco de la Nacion with a high availability solution including VSAT redundancy, in addition to providing excellent Quality of Service (QoS) for mission-critical applications.
SkyEdge II is an excellent solution for the banking and corporate sectors. With its high efficiency and full adaptivity, SkyEdge II gets the most out of the satellite link while providing a high-performance solution to customers.
``SkyEdge II provides us the competitive advantage we need to best serve the complex requirements of our customers,' said Arieh Rohrstock, General Manager, Spacenet Rural Peru. ``We are already benefiting from the platform's high efficiency which is contributing to space segment savings. With increasing space segment prices and lack of available capacity, we intend to upgrade hundreds of more internet and data sites to the SkyEdge II platform, allowing us to continue growing with internet services while reducing bandwidth consumption.'
SkyEdge II is a standards-based system using DVB-S2 and DVB-RCS. With better efficiencies and full adaptivity for both the inbound and outbound channels, it provides higher performance that serves the growing requirements of end-users. SkyEdge II enables the delivery of high-quality voice, broadband data and video services for diverse environments including enterprises, rural networks, cellular backhaul and government network applications.
SkyEdge II adds new capabilities to Gilat's industry-leading SkyEdge family of VSAT products. Gilat's SkyEdge portfolio enables the delivery of high-quality voice, broadband data and video services. SkyEdge represents Gilat's extensive knowledge base and field-proven product offering, acquired through two decades of experience. SkyEdge's flexible architecture and efficient space segment utilization make it an ideal platform for operators and service providers. With Gilat's comprehensive SkyEdge portfolio, service providers can choose the most suitable product for their application needs.
NeraTel Selects Gilat SkyEdge II Broadband Satellite Network to Serve a Government Organization in Southeast Asia
SkyEdge II Network to Incorporate Newly Introduced Mesh Capabilities
Wednesday March 25, 2009, 9:37 am EDT
Buzz up! Print Related:Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.
PETAH TIKVA, Israel, March 25, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (NasdaqGM:GILT - News) today announced that it has been chosen by Nera Telecommunications Ltd (``NeraTel'), a premier solutions provider for Transmission, Satellite Communications and Infocommunications, to provide a SkyEdge II network that will be used to serve a government organization in Southeast Asia.
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Symbol Price Change
GILT 3.58 +0.07
The new network based on Gilat's SkyEdge II Access and Pro VSATs, will be deployed as part of NeraTel's comprehensive communications system, to provide high-performance and advanced communications that meet the requirements of NeraTel's customer. The network carries end-to-end MPLS data. This includes converged services such as broadband IP, voice, video and multicasting.
Gilat's SkyEdge II Pro is the latest addition to the SkyEdge II family. SkyEdge II Pro is a carrier-grade, modular VSAT, enabling extremely fast throughput for rapid access to the Web, VoIP, corporate connectivity and multimedia applications. The new VSAT is an excellent solution for corporate and government customers.
Gilat's SkyEdge II platform ensures efficient use of bandwidth, with full adaptivity for both the inbound and outbound channels. The platform's high efficiency is further enhanced by its newly launched mesh capability, enabling direct connections to be set up between two VSATs where communication traverses the satellite only once in each direction.
``The delivery of the total communication system to the government organization is one of the major breakthroughs for the NeraTel Group and this has strengthened our market position in the government market sector,' said Dr Tan Hong Pew, Executive Vice President for Satellite Communications, Nera Telecommunications Ltd. ``We are pleased to have partnered with Gilat in providing a competitive solution which reduces space segment utilization and at the same time provides excellent availability.'
``We are pleased to have collaborated with NeraTel in meeting the communication needs of its customer,' said N. Ranganathan, Gilat Network System's RVP, Asia. ``We are certain that NeraTel's customer will benefit from SkyEdge II's high performance, enjoying an array of advanced applications and services on a reliable and secure platform. The system's modular design allows add-on modules as required for mesh, embedded voice ports and other future technologies.'
SkyEdge II is a multi-service platform enabling the delivery of high-quality voice, broadband data and video services for diverse environments including enterprises, rural networks, cellular backhaul and government network applications. SkyEdge II is a standards-based system using DVB-S2 and DVB-RCS. With better efficiencies and full adaptivity for both the inbound and outbound channels, it provides higher performance that serves the growing requirements of end-users. Gilat's diverse portfolio of SkyEdge II VSATs are all supported by a unified platform, offering service providers the most suitable product for their application needs as well as the flexibility to evolve their networks.
Netcom Africa Selects Gilat SkyEdge II Broadband Satellite Network to Serve West Africa's Corporate Sector
Tuesday March 24, 2009, 9:30 am EDT
Buzz up! Print Related:Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.
PETAH TIKVA, Israel, March 24, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (NasdaqGM:GILT - News) today announced that it has been chosen by Netcom Africa Limited to provide a SkyEdge II network that will serve West Africa's corporate, energy and financial sectors. Based in Nigeria, Netcom is a leading communication infrastructure provider for satellite and wireless broadband solutions.
Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
GILT 3.58 +0.07
Netcom chose Gilat's SkyEdge II network to provide VoIP and high-speed data networking services. Gilat's SkyEdge II is well-suited to meet the requirements of the corporate and banking industry while providing secure connectivity. Other benefits include the delivery of voice quality telephony, advanced Quality of Service (QoS) to prioritize application data traffic, and unified networks for multiple bank branches.
``We determined that Gilat's SkyEdge II provides the highest space segment savings, while at the same time enabling us to provide a high-performance, reliable solution to our customers,' said Yen Choi, Netcom's Group Executive Vice President and CTO. ``Gilat's ability to anticipate and meet our requirements is the foundation of what we expect will be a successful, long-term business relationship.'
Nir Korman, Gilat's regional vice president, Africa, said, ``We are pleased to have been chosen by Netcom to provide a SkyEdge II broadband satellite network. SkyEdge II is an excellent solution for the corporate and banking sectors, fully meeting their strict requirements.'
SkyEdge II is a standards-based system using DVB-S2 and DVB-RCS. With better efficiencies and full adaptivity for both the inbound and outbound channels, it provides higher performance that serves the growing requirements of end-users. SkyEdge II enables the delivery of high-quality voice, broadband data and video services for diverse environments including enterprises, rural networks, cellular backhaul and government network applications.
About Netcom Africa
Netcom Africa is a leading telecommunication services supplier in West Africa. Netcom Africa provides ``best of breed' solutions to telecommunication carriers, GSM / CDMA operators, ISPs, multinationals, banks, oil & gas and government.
Netcom Africa provides clients with a unique solution utilizing its infrastructure of satellite, fiber and microwave technologies. With multiple VSAT hubs globally and direct submarine capacity through geographically diverse routes, Netcom Africa's redundant network is peered with multiple tier one network providers in the USA and UK. Netcom Africa maintains thousands of circuits across multiple satellites including Intelsat and SES.
Netcom Africa is an ISO9001:2000 registered company with the British Standards Institute (BSI) and the first company in Africa to achieve a TL9000 certification demonstrating a strong commitment to deliver mission critical services. Netcom Africa has been awarded ``Best VSAT Company of the Year', ``Best ISP of the Year' and ``Best Broadband Company of the Year' from IT Telecom & Digest and the Nigerian IT & Telecom's award for 3 years.
Spacenet Satellite & Hybrid Network Supports Retail Applications & Bus. Continuity at 500 Cumberland Farms Stores & Gas Stations
Date : 03/03/2009 @ 9:00AM
Source : Business Wire
Stock : Spacenet Inc. (GILT)
Quote : 3.58 0.07 (1.99%) @ 4:41PM
Spacenet Satellite & Hybrid Network Supports Retail Applications & Bus. Continuity at 500 Cumberland Farms Stores & Gas Stations
Spacenet Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (Nasdaq:GILT) and one of the world’s leading providers of satellite networking solutions, announced today that it has signed a contract to provide an upgraded data network to approximately 500 Cumberland Farms locations across the United States. The new network combines common carrier and satellite technologies to support advanced applications and ensure business continuity.
Spacenet is deploying an innovative hybrid VSAT and DSL/Cable/EV-DO network that provides optimized support for Cumberland Farms’ expanding retail applications. Satellite networks combined with wireline services provide cost-effective redundant communications and a diverse network path to protect against network downtime. Spacenet is upgrading Cumberland Farms’ existing VSAT network to the industry-leading SkyEdge VSAT platform for faster speeds and advanced functionality. The network supports improved performance for web-based and back-office applications including credit/debit card authorization, POS polling, HR software and inventory tracking.
“Cumberland Farms is committed to providing our customers value, convenience and unparalleled service through our network of retail stores, gas stations, and distribution operations,” said Cumberland Farms VP of Information Technology John Carroll. “Having a reliable and efficient network infrastructure is critical for enabling us to achieve these goals. The upgraded satellite and hybrid network provides a simplified single platform solution, faster speeds for web-based applications, automatic and reliable network backup, and near 99.9% network availability, ultimately helping us better serve our customers at each location.”
“We’re very excited to work with Cumberland Farms for their extended business relationship and their critical communications network,” said Spacenet President and COO Glenn Katz. “An increasing number of our customers are utilizing satellite and hybrid networks to provide a more simplified solution for supporting expanding business applications and network backup. We are confident that this solution is an ideal match for Cumberland Farms and will help them meet their network requirements and customer service objectives.”
About Cumberland Farms
Cumberland Farms is committed to providing its customers with value, convenience and unparalleled service. Its network of retail stores, gas stations, and a support system including petroleum, dairy and grocery distribution operations spans 11 states across the Northeast and Florida, making it the largest convenience store/ petroleum marketer in the Northeast. Visit Cumberland Farms at www.cumberlandfarms.com/.
About Spacenet
Founded in 1981, Spacenet Inc. is one of the world’s leading providers of high-performance satellite and hybrid terrestrial networking solutions for US based enterprise, government and small office/small business customers. Spacenet has a longstanding tradition of industry leadership and innovation, and today has more than 100,000 operational network endpoints for customers including many Fortune 500 companies and major government agencies. Spacenet’s services include its custom satellite and hybrid network solutions for enterprise and government; Connexstar™ VSAT services for primary, backup and disaster recovery networks; and StarBand® broadband Internet by satellite. Spacenet is based in McLean, Virginia, and operates its own end-to-end services infrastructure including network management, field services and teleport facilities in McLean, Virginia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Chicago, Illinois. Spacenet is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (Nasdaq:GILT). Visit Spacenet at www.spacenet.com.
Grassley said executives should "follow the Japanese example" and "resign or go commit suicide."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/30035397
"The latter would at least illustrate committment" :))
An Open Letter to Our Founding Fathers
http://www.fool.com/investing/international/2009/04/01/an-open-letter-to-our-founding-fathers.aspx
Credit Rating Exec: "We Sold Our Souls to the Devil"
Internal documents show that while rating firms publicly defended their practices, executives privately wondered when the house of cards would fall.
—By Nick Baumann
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Wed October 22, 2008 12:00 AM PST
For years, credit rating agencies—the referees of Wall Street—insisted they were an impartial source of information, despite their financial reliance on the companies they rated. Then came the market meltdown—and a chorus of accusations that firms had artificially inflated their risk ratings to please their clients and gain a competitive edge. And now there's plenty of evidence to suggest the "referees" were unduly influenced by the players.
According to internal documents released at a congressional hearing Tuesday, while rating agencies strenuously defended their independence publicly, some of their top executives acknowledged privately that they faced fundamental conflicts. As one executive at Moody's, a major credit rating agency, put it following an internal discussion on the implosion of the subprime mortgage market, "These errors make us look either incompetent at credit analysis, or like we sold our soul to the devil for revenue." The documents lend credibility to charges by Wall Street executives that the rating agencies deserve part of the blame for the current financial crisis. "The story of the credit rating agencies is a story of colossal failure," said Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is holding a series of hearings to investigate the causes of the market meltdown. (Mother Jones also covered hearings on Lehman Brothers and AIG.)
The central problem that confronted the rating agencies, according to witness testimony and internal documents, was a fundamental conflict of interest, one that is inherent to the business model that many agencies adopted in the 1970s. At the time, they moved from charging investors for ratings information to charging companies to rate their products. Since issuers, not investors, are now the major profit center for the "big three" rating firms (Moody's, Fitch, and Standard & Poor's), the rating firms have an incentive to deliver good ratings for the issuers, whether or not the financial products in question actually deserve them.
Raymond McDaniel, the CEO of Moody's, explained the problem in a confidential presentation to his board of directors in October 2007. Under the heading "conflicts of interest," he wrote, "the market…penalizes quality…It turns out that ratings quality has surprisingly few friends: issuers want high ratings; investors don't want ratings downgrades; short-sighted bankers labor short-sightedly to game the ratings agencies."
In the same presentation, McDaniel noted, "Analysts and MDs [managing directors] are continually 'pitched' by bankers, issuers, investors…[and sometimes] we 'drink the kool-aid.'" Employees at Standard & Poor's also recognized that being paid by issuers often led to overly optimistic ratings for complex—and risky—financial products. "It could be structured by cows and we would rate it," Shannon Mooney, an analyst in the company's structured finance division wrote in an April 2007 instant message to a colleague. Another Standard & Poor's employee remarked in a 2006 email, "Let's hope we are all wealthy and retired by the time this house of cards falters."
They weren't alone in believing the ratings were unreliable. Some of the investors who relied on those ratings also had doubts, and told the agencies as much. A manager at mutual fund giant Vanguard told Moody's last year that the company and its competitors "allow issuers to get away with murder." Other big investment firms, including PIMCO, repeatedly criticized the rating agencies' practices. And a top executive at Fortis Investments asked a Moody's official in a July 2007 call, "If you can't figure out the loss ahead of the fact, what's the use of your ratings?...If the ratings are b.s., the only use in ratings is comparing b.s. to more b.s."
Dean Baker, an economist and the codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said in an interview that the agencies' conflicts of interest have long gone unaddressed. "It is remarkable that this has never become much of an issue before," Baker said. "The agencies want to get hired, and they're well aware of the fact that if they're not giving acceptable ratings, they may not be called back." But Baker also emphasized that sometimes the rating agencies may have just been incompetent. Unfamiliar with the new financial instruments issuers were asking them to rate, the firms went ahead and rated them anyway, he said.
Not all rating agencies use the issuer-pays business model that the Moody's and S&P employees acknowledged was so problematic. Testifying on Tuesday, Sean Egan, a managing director at Egan-Jones Ratings, which still uses the investor-pays system, was a fierce critic of his competitors, calling their conflicts of interest the "single greatest cause" of the financial crisis. "The current credit rating system is designed for failure," Egan argued, saying that all the major financial companies that have "failed or nearly failed" have done so "to a great extent because of…inaccurate…unsound, and possibly fraudulent" ratings. Unsurprisingly, Egan suggested that the market should rely more on companies like his. "We should go back to a model that's worked since biblical times…[and] represent those who invest in securities, not those who issue them," he said.
Baker said the best way to solve the conflict of interest problem is to take away issuers' right to choose which company rates their products. Instead, he suggested, the exchange that the product is listed on should select the rating agency. The issuer would just pay the bill.
On Tuesday, the top executives of Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch argued that there was no way they could have anticipated the collapse in the subprime market. The CEOs also disputed the conflict of interest charges, arguing that an investor-pays model could potentially involve just as much conflict, since investors have much at stake in ratings as well. "Potential conflicts exist regardless of who pays," said McDaniel, the Moody's CEO. But he said that his company "will adopt whatever additional policies and procedures may be necessary" to implement the Securities and Exchange Commission's forthcoming revised rules on conflicts of interest.
Despite Egan's warning that action is needed, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) asked the witnesses how to keep Congress from "doing what we do best: either doing nothing or overreacting." But Issa focused mostly on a fear of overreaction, noting that conflicts of interest exist in many other business situations—accounting, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and underwriting, among others. Egan pointed out that in most of those situations, the entities with conflicts still have something to lose. They can be held criminally liable or sued if they issue false or misleading statements. But ratings are treated as opinions and protected under the First Amendment, so there's little downside for misrating financials. Indeed, since issuers want good risk ratings, the agencies could conceivably attract more business by rating products too highly.
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) emphasized the impact of the rating agencies' failures on individual investors. Lynch explained that most everyday investors have no way of understanding the actual composition of the complicated financial products. Instead, they rely on the ratings to let them know the level of risk an investment carries. "People in my district knew what 'triple A' meant and they relied on that," he said. "And now a lot of people in my district feel that they have been defrauded."
THEY SHOULDN'T FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE BEEN DEFRAUDED, THEY SHOULD KNOW THEY HAVE. LIKE EVERY OTHER FRAUD THAT WALL STREET SERVES UP, THEY ARE PROTECTED IN SOME FORM OR THE OTHER. THIS IS EVERY BIT AS BAD AS ANY HIGH PROFILED AUDITOR COOKING THE BOOKS. THE RATINGS ARE NOT SUGGESTIVE, BUT CONCLUSIVE BASED ON WHAT IS BACKING THE BONDS, AND IN THIS CASE SHODDY, SHADY MORTGAGES, AND THESE AGENCIES KNEW THE BULK OF THE CDO'S WERE MADE UP OF B BONDS OR MINUS TRIPLE B BONDS, 80% IN FACT, WHICH MADE THEM EXTREMELY RISKY, AND PRONE TO DEFAULT. THESE AGENCIES GAVE THESE CDO'S TRIPLE A RATINGS FOR MONEY AND TO KEEP THE BUSINESS FLOWING THEIR WAY.
THE PEOPLE INVOLVED SHOULD BE FIRED AND HELD ACCOUNTABLE, THESE WEREN'T HONEST MISTAKES, THEY INTENTIONALLY CREATED A PRODUCT THEY KNEW WAS JUNK, AND UNTIL THE GOVT STEPS IN AND DOES WHAT THEY SHOULD WHY SHOULD ANY OF THESE AGENCIES BE TRUSTED ANY MORE THAN ARTHUR ANDERSON?
Breaktime: Have a good weekend everyone!
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=tommy+james&src=2#
#2 For best sound.
Sweet Cherry Wine
This one is worth keeping an eye on, its cheap.
Hedgies and mutual funds started buying into the market when stocks couldn't get a whole lot cheaper, but remain on guard. I expect things to begin getting rough again next month and thru the summer. The same problems exist, there's gonna be more realestate, and problems within the financials. The 1st round of mortgage issues were approx a trillion dollars, the next round pending is for 1.5 trillion. Hedgefunds are pumping various securities on Cnbc, and even though things may look like a rally mode I think more problems are gonna surface on the horizon. More than anything else these are technical plays, like all this stuff is behind us, far from it. Shorting and profit taking is right around the corner.
Remember!!!......Made'Off told the Investigators that his brother, and sons ran the legal part of his Ponzi, He ran the fraud side:)))))))))))
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Authorities-seize-Madoffs-apf-14822666.html
Breaktime: Simply Politics!