Evolving.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
CDL insider buys and some observations.
Lots of insider buys in Dec 08 but not a lot of shares. Especially when IMO the O/S is rather high for a NYSE company.
http://206.222.29.162/history/company.jsp?company=cdl
Outstanding Shares
269,944,781 as of Oct 31, 2008
Number of Share Holders of Record
1,200,000 as of Feb 29, 2008
http://www.pinksheets.com/pink/quote/quote.jsp?symbol=cdl
BKUNA insider info - although the last 4 insider trades reported were in Aug and Sep 08, and were sells, note that American Holdings, Ltd. still owns 7,031,740 shares, which is about 20% of the O/S of 35,170,593.
http://206.222.29.162/history/company.jsp?company=bkuna
BGP Insider "wash" buy / sell 12/03/08. Note total shares owned 10,597,880.
http://206.222.29.162/history/company.jsp?company=bgp
Some spell checkers allow manual addition of words not already in the spell checker.
More VM news
Exclaim Launches 'MyApps' on Virgin Mobile USA's On-deck Storefront
Sat. December 20, 2008; Posted: 03:10 PM
BALTIMORE, Dec 19, 2008 (ASCRIBE NEWS via COMTEX) -- Exclaim, a publisher of user-generated content, socialization and infotainment community applications for mobile consumers, announced the launch of its MyApps portfolio of mobile applications on Virgin Mobile USA's on-deck storefront.
MyHoroscope, MyLovesigns, and MyFaith, part of the MyApps Infotainment Community portfolio of mobile applications, are immediately available on select Virgin Mobile USA handsets as a downloadable monthly subscription application. MyApps are available on more than 30 carriers worldwide since their launch two years ago, and with the addition of Virgin Mobile USA, expands its reach with an additional five million subscribers.
"Exclaim's MyApps mobile lifestyle applications enable consumers to have more fun with their phones," said Jiren Parikh, President of Exclaim. "By expanding distribution to Virgin Mobile USA, we are reaching a well sought after demographic on a mobile carrier with a terrific brand and fantastic line up of devices."
"We are delighted to offer Exclaim's MyApps to Virgin Mobile USA customers with a variety of subscription based content that they can choose based on their interests. MyApps allows customers to keep up with their interests conveniently right on their mobile phone," said Hila Dar, product manager for mobile content for Virgin Mobile USA.
((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))
((Distributed via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com))
http://www.10meters.com
Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com
VM news
Virgin shuts Walnut Creek office; 200 jobs gone
Tue. December 16, 2008; Posted: 12:41 PM
Today’s top stocks. Click here
WALNUT CREEK, Dec 16, 2008 (Contra Costa Times - McClatchy-
Virgin Mobile USA has decided to shut its offices here in a move that will eliminate nearly 200 jobs once the cutbacks are complete by early 2009, the wireless services provider said Monday.
For the most part, the devastating economic slump nationwide and globally did not unleash these job reductions at Virgin Mobile.
Rather, they result from a decision to outsource some I.T. (information technology) services to IBM Corp. and Virgin's purchase of Helio, a rival wireless carrier.
In recent months, Virgin has been trimming jobs at its Walnut Creek operation, located at 2185 N. California Blvd. The office is scheduled to close sometime during the first three months of 2009. All told, 192 jobs will be lost in Walnut Creek, a filing with state labor officials shows.
Virgin seeks to add new wireless services and offerings, Dan Schulman, Virgin Mobile USA's chief executive officer, wrote in a memo in late November.
"To do so profitably, we must continue to identify opportunities to reduce operating costs across all areas," Schulman wrote.
The Helio merger allows Virgin Mobile to offer new wireless technologies. It also means more demands on its I.T. operation. That's why Virgin turned to IBM.
"Even with our terrific I.T. team in place, our needs are stretching beyond what the current system could provide," said Jayne Wallace, a Virgin Mobile USA spokesperson.
About 45 Virgin Mobile I.T. workers
in Walnut Creek are landing new jobs with IBM via the outsourcing deal. Some will work out of an IBM office in San Ramon, Wallace said. Others will transfer to locations outside of the Bay Area.
"Virgin Mobile USA is well positioned to weather these tough times and build our business in 2009," Wallace said.
Reach George Avalos at 925-977-8477 or gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com.
To see more of the Contra Costa Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.contracostatimes.com/. Copyright (c) 2008, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
UIS news
UNISYS CORP (U-UIS) - News Release
Unisys Awarded Contract to Provide Support Services for Defense Information Systems Agency Ogden Data Center
2008-12-17 08:00 ET - News Release
Contract Extends Unisys 15-Year Relationship with Defense Department Systems Management Center
Company Website: http://www.unisys.com
BLUE BELL, Pa. -- (Business Wire)
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and the Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization have awarded Unisys (NYSE:UIS) a task order to provide services supporting and maintaining a myriad of mission-critical Department of Defense applications at DISA’s Systems Management Center (SMC) in Ogden, Utah. The award, valued at approximately $15 million if all options are exercised, is a recompete of a contract for services Unisys has provided since 1992. The new agreement will run one base year followed by four one-year options, exercisable at the discretion of the government.
The Ogden SMC provides centralized information system processing services to a diverse and geographically dispersed community of end users from across the Department of Defense. Unisys will support the SMC by providing services including systems management, system software administration, information assurance security, data replication support, database administration, service desk support and Unix system administration. The services support mission-critical applications for logistics, maintenance, finance, planning and support, and other functions for Defense organizations such as the Defense Logistics Agency, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service and the Air Force.
This task order was awarded to Unisys under DISA’s $12.225 billion ENCORE II multiple award indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract. Unisys was one of the 26 vendors selected by DISA earlier this year to compete for task orders under the ENCORE II program.
“These support services will assist DISA in providing the secure and reliable IT services essential to the mission of the Department of Defense,” said Jim Geiger, managing partner, Department of Defense, Unisys Federal Systems. “Thanks to the many years of experience we have supporting the Ogden SMC, we have a unique understanding of the center’s needs and goals and we look forward to continuing this relationship.”
About Unisys
Unisys is a worldwide information technology services and solutions company. We provide consulting, systems integration, outsourcing and infrastructure services, combined with powerful enterprise server technology. We specialize in helping clients use information to create efficient, secure business operations that allow them to achieve their business goals. Our consultants and industry experts work with clients to understand their business challenges and create greater visibility into critical linkages throughout their operations. For more information, visit www.unisys.com.
SANM news
More job cuts for Sanmina
Around 50 people laid off from circuit board company
By My-Ly Nguyen • mnguyen@gannett.com • Staff Writer • December 20, 2008
Buzz up! OWEGO -- Sanmina-SCI Corp. in Owego conducted another round of layoffs recently, the state Labor Department confirmed, but corporate officials refuse to discuss the cutbacks.
"Last weekend, they let go a little more than 50 people," Labor Department spokeswoman Jean Genovese said Friday.
The cuts follow the company's layoff of about 110 workers last month at the local printed circuit board plant.
Executives at Sanmina-SCI headquarters in San Jose, Calif., remain unwilling to discuss the company's actions.
"We don't provide comments on layoffs," said Michael Kovacs, company director of worldwide marketing and public relations. "The corporation wouldn't be able to give you a response at this time."
The local facility employed more than 700 people before the November layoffs, Genovese has said.
The cuts leave about 540 workers remaining, according to the Labor Department figures provided.
Genovese said the state agency hopes to match the laid off workers with jobs requiring similar skills at area employers that are hiring.
Don Williamson, 50, of Binghamton, said Sanmina-SCI laid him off Nov. 21.
He worked as a calibration coordinator in the plant's quality department and spent 29 years with the company.
"They just said they were doing it because they were downsizing," Williamson said. "They didn't really have a whole lot of work going on."
Finding a new job will be tough, Williamson said, though he's applied for work at some other area companies.
Williamson said he's considering starting his own business, a deli offering homemade kielbasa, sausage and other items.
"With the economy, there's not a whole lot of employers who are going to hire someone who's 50 years old," he said.
RFMD news
RF Micro Devices to cut production, 250 employees
MORE FROM BUSINESSWEEK
FedEx Ditches Kinko's - BusinessWeek
Are You Fit for the FBI?
DHL Deal with UPS Turns Political
Six Reasons to Run From a Job Interview - BusinessWeek
China Makes Wal-Mart Toe the Labor Line
More from BusinessWeek
Yahoo's Yodel Turns Into a Whimper
The Lesson of Societe Generale
FBI Widens Its Subprime Net
Altria's Split: Where There's Smoke…
Under Armour's Footwear Foray
Story Tools
order a reprint
digg this
save to del.icio.us
GREENSBORO, N.C.
Semiconductor maker RF Micro Devices Inc. said Wednesday it will eliminate 250 employees and scale back production as it seeks to reduce costs.
The company said it will idle its 4-inch wafer fabrication facility at its Greensboro campus and transition gallium arsenide chip manufacturing to the campus's 6-inch wafer facility. The 4-inch facility accounted for less than 10 percent of gallium arsenide chip production, the company said.
RF Micro also said it will reduce 6-inch wafer production at its U.K. facility by operating on eight-hour shifts five days a week. Currently, the facility operates around the clock seven days a week.
The job cuts, which represent 5 percent of the company's work force, will take place by March, RF Micro said. The head count and production cuts will help free cash flow by $15 million in 2010, according to the company.
Shares of RF Micro Devices closed Tuesday at 86 cents and have lost 85 percent so far this year.
QTM news
SOURCE: BlueArc
Dec 18, 2008 08:00 ETBlueArc Announces Interoperability for Titan Storage Solutions and Quantum DXi7500 Disk Backup and Deduplication System
Together, Companies' Solutions Offer Speed, Reliability, Savings
Highlighted Links
www.bluearc.comSAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - December 18, 2008) - BlueArc® Corporation, the leader in scalable, high-performance unified network storage, today announced that the company's Titan storage solutions have been certified for interoperability with Quantum Corporation's (NYSE: QTM) DXi7500 disk backup and deduplication system. Titan's world-record performance and the DXi7500's deduplication capabilities dramatically reduce disk space requirements, with significant storage cost savings and flexible, faster and more reliable data management.
"As companies optimize environments for streamlined management and consolidation of tiered storage assets, they are seeking the cost efficiencies that BlueArc's Titan series and Quantum's DXi-Series of data deduplication products can provide," said Jim Jonez, senior director of disk product and program management at Quantum. "Joint certification of our products demonstrates our commitment to extending the DXi7500 platform to provide advanced solutions to an expansive range of customers."
Titan's certified interoperability with the industry's leading deduplication systems lets customers take advantage of world-record performance and data management features along with the benefits of deduplication, whether automatically migrating data to deduplication storage or enabling access to that data during peak demand.
"Quantum certification is a powerful complement to BlueArc's recent data management enhancements," said Jon Affeld, senior director of product marketing and business development at BlueArc. "It's an important step toward helping customers address massive data growth and long-term retention requirements."
Integrated Solution Strengthens Data Management
The exponential growth of unstructured data is pushing up storage requirements and costs, while data retention policies increase the longevity of that data. Data deduplication is crucial to handling large, growing data sets efficiently without excessive investment in storage media. Along with Titan's world-record speed and capacity, customers can take advantage of Quantum's patented data deduplication technology that cuts required disk capacity by 90 percent or more, to save space, power, cooling and other storage costs while sustaining enterprise-class performance.
Certified interoperability makes it easy for storage managers to deploy BlueArc Titan and Quantum DXi7500 as the foundation of a multi-tier storage infrastructure, where BlueArc's software makes the DXi7500 and its contents part of Titan's unified directory structure -- always visible and accessible. BlueArc and Quantum solutions give customers greater control and more flexible use of their storage infrastructure with user-defined functionality.
The DXi7500 incorporates remote replication as well as flexible policy-based deduplication, which enables customers to deduplicate during ingest or in a post process mode. BlueArc's policy-based snapshot and replication capabilities further streamline data recovery, eliminating the need for nearline restoration from tape as well as automating both mass and incremental backups.
BlueArc's policy-based Intelligent Tiered Storage simplifies management by moving data to and from Quantum and other storage tiers as appropriate, without manual administration. Rules based Dynamic Read Caching automatically moves a read only copy of deduplicated data to a high speed data cache when unexpected read activity occurs, enhancing customer data access. Customers can use these features to implement the best storage and recovery strategies for their business.
About BlueArc
BlueArc is a leading provider of high-performance unified network storage systems to enterprise markets, as well as data intensive markets, such as electronic discovery, entertainment, federal government, higher education, Internet services, oil and gas and life sciences. Our products support both network attached storage, or NAS, and storage area network, or SAN, services on a converged network storage platform.
We enable companies to expand the ways they explore, discover, research, create, process and innovate in data-intensive environments. Our products replace complex and performance-limited products with high performance, scalable and easy to use systems capable of handling the most data intensive applications and environments. Further, we believe that our energy efficient design and our products' ability to consolidate legacy storage infrastructures, dramatically increases storage utilization rates and reduces our customers' total cost of ownership. Information about BlueArc solutions and services can be found at http://www.bluearc.com/.
Contact:
Louis Gray
BlueArc Corporation
(408) 576-6684
Email Contact Digg this Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine
Technorati: bluearc nas san storage Titan quantum deduplication dedupe backup tape tiered tiers
Click here to see all recent news from this company
Privacy Statement | Terms of Service | Sitemap |© 2008 Marketwire, Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Your newswire of choice for expert news release distribution.
1-800-774-9473 (US) | 1-888-299-0338 (Canada) | +44-20-7562-6550 (UK)
MGI news
MONEYGRAM INTL INC (U-MGI) - News Release
MoneyGram Doubles Number of ExpressPayment® Locations in Two Years
2008-12-18 10:00 ET - News Release
Consumers can now access MoneyGram bill payment, prepaid and money transfer services at 40,000 locations nationwide
Company Website: http://www.moneygram.com
MINNEAPOLIS -- (Business Wire)
MoneyGram International, a leading global payment services company, announces it has expanded to 40,000 ExpressPayment® agent locations in the U.S. with the rollout of its payment services at CVS and 7-Eleven stores across the country. MoneyGram agents provide consumers with a variety of payment solutions including urgent bill payment, prepaid card and money transfer services.
In the past two years, MoneyGram has nearly doubled its number of its ExpressPaymentlocations, which include prominent retailers such as Walmart, Advance America and Albertsons stores as well as U.S. Bank branch locations. MoneyGram recently completed rolling out its services in 6,200 CVS stores and, through an agreement with Cardtronics, in 2,250 7-Eleven locations.
“The addition of the CVS and 7-Eleven stores allows MoneyGram to provide consumers with more convenient locations to choose from when they need to transfer money, pay bills, reload cards or top up phones,” said Greg Waltz, vice president and general manager of payment products at MoneyGram. “With our robust network of 40,000 ExpressPayment locations, it is likely that a consumer will be able to access MoneyGram’s affordable payment services in their own neighborhood and in the establishments they are likely to frequent on a regular basis.”
Waltz expects more retailers to add financial services in the near future as they seek ways to increase foot traffic and generate revenue. He says retailers are also recognizing an opportunity to serve the growing number of Americans who do not use banks or prefer to pay bills in-person.
“Urgent or same-day bill payment, in particular, is on the rise as more Americans are waiting longer to pay bills and looking for last-minute bill payment alternatives,” said Waltz. “Our agents provide a valued service with our ExpressPayment service that enables consumers to make a same-day, cash payment to MoneyGram’s more than 2,300 direct billers including credit card, telephone, mortgage and auto finance companies.”
About MoneyGram
MoneyGram International, Inc. is a leading global payment services company. The company’s major products and services include global money transfers, money orders and payment processing solutions for financial institutions and retail customers. MoneyGram is a New York Stock Exchange listed company with approximately 162,000 global money transfer agent locations in 180 countries and territories. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.moneygram.com.
Contacts:
For MoneyGram International
Lynda Michielutti, 952-591-3846
lmichielutti@moneygram.com
or
Sarah Peterson, 651-646-8233
sarah@megaphonepr.com
KFN news
KKR’s debt-management unit, KKR Financial Holdings LLC, said in a regulatory filing last month that it expects three of five CLOs it issued in 2006 and 2007 to fail valuation tests after declines in loan prices of “historic magnitude.” The San Francisco-based company sold pools of high-yield loans to fund the purchase of more than $8 billion of leveraged, or speculative grade, loans.
A KKR affiliate invested $525.4 million in the “junior notes,” the company’s November regulatory filing said. Interest payments from the loans the private-equity firm bought will likely be directed to paying down the top-rated slices of the CLOs, according to a KKR Financial conference call with analysts on Dec. 16.
KKR Financial replaced Chief Executive Officer Saturnino Fanlo Dec. 15 after losing 95 percent of its value this year on the New York Stock Exchange. David Lilly, a New York-based spokesman for KKR, declined to comment.
Carlyle “assembled the assets in the CLO portfolios in a way to perform through a recession,” said Michael Zupon, head of the company’s U.S. leveraged finance team in New York. He wouldn’t comment on the performance of the loan pools.
To contact the reporters for this story: Pierre Paulden in New York at ppaulden@bloomberg.net; Neil Unmack in London nunmack@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: December 19, 2008 10:10 EST
KEM news
Kemet Adopts the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct
Kemet Electronics Corp.
Release date: December 11, 2008
Greenville, South Carolina (December 11, 2008) - KEMET Corporation (NYSE:KEM) has announced today that it has officially adopted the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct (EICC).
The EICC is a comprehensive code of conduct that addresses all aspects of corporate responsibility including labor, health and safety, the environment, and business ethics. It outlines standards to ensure working conditions in the electronic industry supply chain are safe, that workers are treated with respect and dignity, and that manufacturing processes are environmentally friendly.
"KEMET's Guiding Principles support a strong commitment to economic, environmental, and socially sustainable development of our products. As a result of this commitment, KEMET has adopted the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct," stated Per Loof, KEMET's Chief Executive Officer. "KEMET strongly believes that it is in the mutual interest of our employees, our customers, and our suppliers to meet the present and future requirements of the markets and society. This is done by demonstrating responsibility toward the people taking part in the manufacture of products and services that make KEMET a global leader within our industry. Therefore, KEMET is requiring compliance with the EICC of all of its employees and organizations as well as all of its suppliers."
As part of the adoption of the EICC, KEMET is developing a comprehensive corporate policy to address the core topics of the EICC, is establishing a process for flow-down to suppliers, and has started to communicate the adoption of the Code internally throughout KEMET and externally to their supply base and customers.
KEMET Corporation (KEM) applies world-class service and quality to deliver industry-leading, high-performance capacitance solutions to its customers around the world. KEMET offers the world's most complete line of surface-mount and through-hole capacitor technologies across tantalum, ceramic, film, aluminum, electrolytic, and paper dielectrics. KEMET's common stock is listed on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KEM.
Additional information about KEMET can be found at http://www.kemet.com .
Contact: Dean W. Dimke Director of Corporate and Investor Communications 954-766-2806 deandimke@kemet.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Company Information:
Name: Kemet Electronics Corp.
Address: P.O. Box 5928
City: Greenville
State: SC
ZIP: 29606
Country: USA
Phone: 864-963-6300
FAX: 864-967-6322
http://www.kemet.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More New Product News from this company:
Multilayer Capacitor is offered in 630 V version.
Multilayer Ceramic Capacitor reduces cracking.
Surface-Mount Capacitors come in case 1812 and 2220 sizes.
Capacitors target military and aerospace applications.
SMPS Stacked Capacitors meet military specifications.
Tantalum Capacitors can handle 46 V surge applications.
MLCC comes in EIA 0603 to EIA 1210 case sizes.
Polymer Capacitors suit space-restricted applications.
MLCC Capacitors suit audio and microphonics applications.
Ceramic Chip Capacitors feature flexible termination.
Other News from this company:
KEMET Shows Environmentally-Driven Capacitance Solutions at Electronica 2008
Kemet Receives 'Best Paper Award' for Second Consecutive Year at CARTS-Europe
KEMET Statement Regarding New York Stock Exchange
KEMET Announces Closing of New Medium-Term Credit Facility
KEMET Announces Release of New Military and Aerospace Tantalum Capacitors
KEMET Announces Dates for the September 2008 Quarter Earnings Release
Kemet Awarded Certificates of Registration to the Aerospace Quality Standard AS9100
KEMET Enters into Agreement for New Credit Facility
KEMET Announces Prepayment of Senior Notes
KEMET Announces New Leadership Position: Senior Vice President, Operational Excellence and Quality
KEMET Announces the Sale of Its Wet Tantalum Assets
KEMET Announces Amendment to Senior Notes
KEMET Announces New Director of Investor Relations
KEMET Announces Dates for the 2008 Annual Shareholders' Meeting and June 2008 Quarter Earnings Release
KEMET Announces New EVP and CFO
KEMET Receives Junior Achievement of Greenville's Chairman's Award
KEMET Receives TTI Asia's 2007 Supplier Excellence Award
KEMET Receives TTI North America's 2007 Supplier Excellence Award
KEMET Releases New MIL-PRF-123 Space-Level Ceramics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here for copyright permissions!
Copyright 2008 Thomas Publishing Company
Newsroom Advertisers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tools for cutting and machining tube and pipe prior to welding, Buy or Rent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IFX news
Infineon Wins European Podcast Award - Best German Podcast in the Business Category
Neubiberg, Germany – December 19, 2008 – Infineon Technologies (FSE/NYSE: IFX) has won the European Podcast Award for the best German podcast in the business category.
Selected from 749 podcast services, the jury chose Infineon as the winning German entry, claiming victory over companies such as BASF, TÜV SÜD, Hannover Messe and DATEV
“Short interviews with our engineers give listeners condensed but not overly technical insight into Infineon’s chip solutions which address the three central challenges to modern society: energy efficiency, communications, and security,” says Christoph von Schierstaedt, in charge of podcasts at Infineon. “Our podcasts throw light on the people who stand behind our chips and show the new applications which our chips enable.”
Launched in September 2007, Infineon podcast service has reported on intelligent automotive seatbelt pretension systems or radar applications, internet telephony (Voice over IP), the world’s smallest protection diode and other subjects from the world of the chip industry.
The podcasts are issued monthly in German and English and can be downloaded from iTunes and from the Infineon’s website at:
The pan-European winners of the European Podcast Award will be announced in February 2009.
About Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG, Neubiberg, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions addressing three central challenges to modern society: energy efficiency, communications, and security. In the 2007 fiscal year (ending September), the company reported sales of Euro 7.7 billion (including Qimonda sales of Euro 3.6 billion) with approximately 43,000 employees worldwide (including approximately 13,500 Qimonda employees). With a global presence, Infineon operates through its subsidiaries in the U.S. from Milpitas, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore, and in Japan from Tokyo. Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX).Further information is available at www.infineon.com.
HPOL news
Harris Interactive Cuts 51 Jobs
Move Comes Amid Restructuring of U.S. Biz
By Rupal Parekh
Published: December 18, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Harris Interactive has cut 8% of its U.S. staff, or 51 employees -- an indication that even high-growth sectors of the business such as market research are taking steps to weather the economic storm.
On a global basis, Harris has about 950 staffers and annual revenue close to $240 million. Havas Chairman Vincent Bollore holds a 14.9% stake in the company.
U.S. restructuring
The Rochester, N.Y.-based independent firm known for its public-opinion polls made the reductions across various positions, including research, operations, sales and marketing.
The layoffs come as newly installed President-CEO Kimberly Till undertakes a restructuring of Harris's U.S. business, including senior-management changes. Ms. Till joined Harris in October from Taylor Nelson Sofres North America in the midst of that company's sale to WPP.
As a result of the cuts, Harris will have to take a $2.4 million charge, but the moves are estimated to save the company as much as $6 million annually.
CMRG news
Do You Believe?
December 20, 2008
A suit filed against Knicks center Eddy Curry in Chicago on Wednesday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, says he racked up more than $41,000 at Casual Male Retail Group in 2006 and that the bill remains unpaid.
Edward Margolis, the attorney representing Casual Male, told the paper, "It's just a matter of him buying clothing he didn't pay for."
Curry, who has yet to play this season because of a bone bruise in his knee, was not available for comment before Friday night's game. The clothing was purchased from Jared M. Custom Clothing, which is popular among professional athletes and once was owned by Casual Male.
According to the Sun-Times, the suit says Curry purchased $22,000 in suits and $3,700 in ties, along with eight sweaters, including a $1,390 cashmere V-neck. The suit also says Curry owes the company an additional $5,424 in interest from his purchases.
BKUNA news
BankUnited Financial expects $327M loss, gives cautions about futureSouth Florida Business Journal - by Brian Bandell
BankUnited Financial Corp., the holding company for the largest bank based in Florida, expects to lose at least $327 million in the fourth quarter and warns of "substantial doubt" of its ability to operate as a going concern if it fails to raise capital.
In a notification of late filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, the Coral Gables-based parent of BankUnited (NASDAQ: BKUNA) also acknowledged that the SEC’s Miami office began an informal inquiry into the company in October.
BankUnited said it could not file its financial statements for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 by Dec. 15, the SEC's usual 45-day window, because of adverse market conditions and an additional review of complex accounting and disclosure issues. That review is examining the company’s regulatory issues, liquidity and capital.
One discovery made by the bank is that it misclassified $449 million from securities sales as investing cash flows when they should have been classified as operating cash flows. The mistakes were made over a two-year period that ended Sept. 30, 2007.
The bank said it would restate its consolidated statement of cash flows if the mistake is determined to be a material event.
However, that accounting change would not impact cash, net income or earnings per share, the bank stated.
BankUnited said it expects to file its annual report with the SEC sometime in January.
In a research note to clients Wednesday, Raymond James associate analyst Michael Rose said BankUnited appears to be in a "race against the clock in its efforts to survive." He maintained an underperform rating on its shares that encouraged investors to sell.
After signing a cease and desist agreement with the Office of Thrift Supervision in September, BankUnited has been working with federal regulators, who placed restrictions on its business practices and set a Dec. 31 deadline for the bank to raise its capital-to-asset ratios.
BankUnited, which previously said it was seeking $400 million, continues to seek more capital through an asset sale or an equity investment. The bank stated that if it does not raise the money by the end of the year, it doesn’t expect to meet the capital ratio requirement and could face “various enforcement actions regarding the bank” from federal regulators.
“We are in negotiations with a fund to raise capital and restructure our balance sheet,” BankUnited stated in the filing. “We cannot assure you that these negotiations will be successful. If such negotiations are not successful, there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.”
Philip van Doorn, senior banking analyst for The Street.com Ratings in Palm Beach Gardens, said BankUnited faces significant challenges in raising capital. It would be unlikely to receive federal aid, and it is hard for a potential investor to evaluate the bank's finances when it's having difficulty preparing financial statements, he said.
"A potential acquirer looking to expand its deposit footprint into BankUnited's territory might find other opportunities to acquire one or more healthier institutions," van Doorn said. "The potential acquirer could also wait until BankUnited or another local institution fails, so they could scoop up deposits and branches on the cheap, without being forced to take on the failed institution's bad loans."
After losing $209 million over the first three quarters of its fiscal year, BankUnited's holding company said it expects a loss of $327 million in its fourth quarter ended Sept. 30. That loss would be greater than the $261.6 million loss its BankUnited savings and loan subsidiary reported to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for that quarter.
However, BankUnited cautioned that the holding company’s loss could grow “substantially larger” when it completes an analysis of how much it should reserve for loan losses to cover its payment option adjustable-rate mortgage portfolio.
These types of loans, where borrowers can pay less than the monthly accrued interest and let the balance grow, were major factors in the downfall of Washington Mutual and Wachovia Corp. this year.
“If the final earnings analysis results in a material level of additional losses and we are unsuccessful in our negotiations with a fund to increase capital, there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern,” BankUnited stated in its filing.
BankUnited’s liquidity improved, as it had cash and equivalents of $1.2 billion as of Sept. 30. The bank’s management stated it believed there are enough liquid assets to meet the potential demands of customers “in an environment where financial institutions have experienced unexpected withdrawal rates.”
However, the holding corporation has a potential liquidity issue after pumping $80 million into the bank during the fiscal year and the cease and desist order prohibiting it from taking dividends from the bank. As of Sept. 30, the holding company had $28.4 million in liquid assets against $5.3 million in annual administrative expenses and $16.2 million in corporate debt that can’t be deferred.
The BankUnited holding company has sufficient liquid assets to meet its obligations for about 16 months, but it can’t be assured that it can make debt payments once those assets are depleted, the company stated.
Info for new list - names and if there is an IHUB board.
Y = yes there is an IHUB board, N = no. Sorry about the bad spacing.
AVR Aventine Y
BGP Borders Group Inc Y
BKUNA BankUnited Financial Corp N
CDL Citadel Broadcasting corp Y
CHTR Charter Communications Y
CMRG Casual Male Retail Group Inc N
COT Cott Corp N
HPOL Harris Interactive Y
IFX Infineon Y
KEM Kemet Corporation Y
KFN KKR Financial Corp Y
MGI Moneygram International Inc Y
NXST Nxstage Medical Inc Y
PWAV Powerwave Technologies Inc Y
QTM Quantum Corporation Y
RFMD RF Micro Devices Inc Y
ROIAK Radio One Inc N
SANM Sanmina-Sci Corp Y
SBSA Spanish Broadcasting System Inc Y
TVL LIN Television Corp Y
UIS Unisys Y
VM Virgin Mobile USA, Inc N
VRNM Verenium Corp Y
I set up a QuoteTracker portfolio for the new list. This time I set up 1,000 shares for each stock, cost based on last close price.
The last close total value was 13,009, current "cost" is 11,999, so my "loss" (had I bought at previous close) would be 1,010.
CHTR news
Nelson: Size limits may stop collapses
Athens Banner-Herald | Story updated at 5:17 pm on 12/19/2008
Don Nelson
more Nelson columns...Does anyone else think the corporate collapses and financial ruin we have been witnessing in the past year or two have anything to do with companies trying to squelch competition by buying them up?
Take the most recent news about how the enormous debt load borne by Charter Communications, the company that provides cable TV, Internet and phone services and is the fourth largest cable company in the nation, might be pushing the telecommunications company to bankruptcy.
With nearly $21 billion in debt and a cash flow too low to cover interest payments on that debt, Charter announced Dec. 12 that the company would begin discussions with its bondholders to restructure the company's balance sheet, including the option of swapping debt for equity, the Wall Street Journal reported. Following the news, credit rating firm Moody's Investors Service lowered its credit rating on Charter Communications Inc. and reported that Charter likely will default on the debt and end up filing for bankruptcy in 2009.
Charter, which reported strong revenues and customer growth in the third quarter, said it had $900 million in cash to cover operating costs as it negotiates its debt load. Charter president and CEO Neil Smit downplayed the likelihood of bankruptcy for the company in a Thursday Athens Banner-Herald story by Lee Shearer.
"Our objective in these discussions is to improve our balance sheet, which will better position Charter for the future, while we continue to focus on delivering quality service to our customers and growing our business," Smit said in a prepared statement.
Adding to its troubles, Charter's stock plummeted to 13 cents a share last week from a 52-week high of $1.68. That past year's high of $1.68 is way off from the $5 per share the stock drew less than two years ago. Stockholders likely are going to be left holding the bag with the company renegotiating its debt.
News stories report that Charter built its overwhelming financial obligations to build infrastructure but also by buying up other cable companies, competitors large and small, in order to fuel rapid expansion of the company. As companies like Charter swallow up their competitors, the concept of competition driving better service and prices for consumers seems to be taken off the table.
Isn't that what has been happening in many other business sectors such as the mortgage industry, the national banking competition, airlines and others?
So buying up the competition and creating these corporate behemoths can create an overbearing debt and potential bankruptcy. These precarious financial situations for these mega-corporations lead to the idea that if these companies go under they will start a domino effect on an already dismal economy. As has been argued in the recent proposed government "bailouts" of the Wall Street banks and the Big Three automakers, the companies are just too large to be allowed to fail.
As we move forward, perhaps our leaders should concentrate on ways to avoid the trend of companies getting so large that we can't afford to let them collapse. Especially when the corporate captains have not managed their businesses very well.
If Congress is going to give the car manufacturers a loan, the package needs to ensure not only that the taxpayers will be repaid, but that the companies operate using a different business model than before.
Congress and business leaders should discuss incentives and even regulations that would encourage less large conglomerates and mega-corporations. Looking to the 1984 breakup of AT&T might present a starting point.
The bottom line, though, should be to foster a climate where entrepreneurship and competition reign through more manageable, small companies.
Where if a business does get into trouble, getting out wouldn't cost so much because it's not such a huge entity, and if it does fail, it won't take the economy down with it.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, December 21, 2008
When will we get to see the new list? I am ready to build another QuoteTracker portfolio, and do some more research.
Yes and yes.
Worst case you break even (extreme worst case; most likely you will be able to sell at .0001) so that is good news. I feel better now.
The new list sounds great. I will watch for it. Thank you for all of your hard work.
Calm down, for starters.
Gail - I saw your posts on CIRT - keep it up and you will have more people buying CIRT and if it fizzles what then? Please consider the possibility that they will sell into the good news / video. They have five BILLION A/S and only 1.6 billion O/S which leaves them a LOT of shares to dump. Set your sell at .0002 and pray you can get rid of them. That is not my advice - that is Gail's advice - yes, you told me many times don't be greedy, be happy with a buy at 1 and a sell at 2.
who who who who who who Hope that is the correct way to talk to a night owl who is working hard for us.
Wow. Skimmed the last 3 pages; will look in more detail later. Thanks.
LVWR post from http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=34308875&txt2find=lvwr
Posted by: GaryS Date: Friday, December 19, 2008 1:36:40 PM
In reply to: None Post # of 32055
bot LVWR...(Dec 19-12:35) shep: Posted by: Threeflight Date: Friday, December 19, 2008 1:27:55 PM
In reply to: Threeflight who wrote msg# 342731 Post # of 342736 [Send a link via email]
LVWR heres the $28 M in cash they got, it closed on Dec 5. Gives them around $33 M in cash, their debt was wiped out. So that means they 73 cents in cash for a 9 cent stock. Still listed on the Nasdaq.
http://ir.livewiremobile.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=334114
LVWR - here's a later O/S as of 11/03/08
Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer's classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.
Class Outstanding at November 3, 2008
Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share 45,941,700 shares
from 10-Q
http://www.pinksheets.com/edgar/GetFilingHtml?FilingID=6240162
LVWR latest O/S per pinksheets
Outstanding Shares
45,921,025 as of Aug 6, 2008
http://www.pinksheets.com/pink/quote/quote.jsp?symbol=lvwr
IOA has an IHUB board - forgot I was in IAO earlier this year.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=3614
LVWR - Karen Singer seems to be the most significant insider.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?Message_id=34328584&txt2find=lvwr
Here is a reference (Sunil is one of the 2 insider buyers). Was a director until 11/24 and is one of the signatures at the bottom of the document below. But I don't know the answer to your question.
http://www.pinksheets.com/edgar/GetFilingHtml?FilingID=6277506
Sunil Dhaliwal (“Dhaliwal”) may be deemed to have been a member of the reporting group during the period February 24, 2006 to November 24, 2008 when he served as a director of the Issuer as a designee of the Managing Members. Prior to the date of this filing, Dhaliwal resigned as a director of the Issuer. Although he remains an affiliate of BP7, Dhaliwal does not exercise control of the shares reported herein.
XTLB - lots of insider sales Nov 08.
http://206.222.29.162/history/company.jsp?company=xtlb
WSTM Michael Mullarkey bought 6,701,000 shares 10/30/08, total shares owned 11,192,668.
http://206.222.29.162/history/company.jsp?company=wstm
WAVE - insider purchase on 12/9, but insider sells on 12/9 and 12/11.
http://206.222.29.162/history/company.jsp?company=wave
UNCL 13 months ago 2 insiders bought 850,000 shares each for $4.98 per share.
http://206.222.29.162/history/company.jsp?company=uncl
LVWR 2 insider buys 12/15, 12/16/08 - total shares owned 5,390,160 Karen Singer.
http://206.222.29.162/history/company.jsp?company=lvwr
ILC 12 insider buys Nov and Dec, not a significant number of shares owned, though.
http://206.222.29.162/history/company.jsp?company=ilc