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Becton Dickinson Spent $1.2M Lobbying
Monday April 7, 6:34 pm ET
Devicemaker Becton Dickinson Spent $1.26 Million Lobbying the Federal Government Last Year
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Medical device and supplies maker Becton Dickinson spent $1.26 million lobbying the federal government last year.
The company lobbied on funding for the Food and Drug Administration, which reviews the safety and effectiveness of medical devices. The group also lobbied on bills aimed at preventing tuberculosis and funding for vaccine development.
Becton also lobbied on a bill that would have required makers of device and drugs to disclose gifts and payments used to court physicians. The bill's sponsors, Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Herb Kohl, D-Wis., hope to pass the measure this year.
The Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based company spent $740,000 lobbying in the second half of 2007, according to a government disclosure form posted online Feb. 12.
Lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches, under a federal law enacted in 1995.
Great Mango Harvest Expected in Hainan China
Monday April 7, 8:00 am ET
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eternal Technologies Group, Inc. (0TCBB:ETLT) today announced Eternal’s mango plantations in Hainan China are expected to produce record outputs this year as the mango harvest season draws near. Both Eternal’s main products, Golden Mango and Imperial Mango, appear to have a great harvest. Prices of mangos have gone up 30% compared to last year as demand outstrips supplies.
The company imported mango seeds from Australia and successfully cultivated the brand mangos in Hainan China. Imported breed mangos continue to fetch premium prices just as other imported fruits do. The company has planted up to several hundreds acres of mangos.
The company plans to test its biological fertilizing and pest control technologies after the harvest season to further increase outputs and quality of mangos. “Our goal is to produce the best quality organic mangos in our eco-friendly plantations,” said Wu Jijun, Chairman of Board.
About Eternal Technologies
Eternal is a major agricultural genetics and biopharmaceutical R&D firm operating in China with the support of the Chinese Government. Eternal's animal breeding division has a strong asset base, cash position and net income. Eternal has become one of China's leading institutions for biopharmaceutical and biotech research, pure breed cultivation and breed stock production. The Company has secured a key market niche by commercializing gene engineering technologies and providing superior breeding stock, allowing China's citizens the ability to improve their living standards. With the world's largest population, a double-digit national growth rate and entry into the WTO, Eternal Technologies has a playing field set for tremendous opportunity. As a prominent player in the agricultural genetics industry, cash in the bank and an untapped market, Eternal has the potential to become a major player in China's national growth.
For more information please visit website:
http://www.eternaltechs.com
Contact:
Heron public Relations Group Inc.
Annie Shi, 281-683-2395
info@heronpublic.com
Source: Eternal Technologies Group, Inc.
I think the recap closed.
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Ailing money-transfer firm MoneyGram International Inc. completed a recapitalization with investors led by Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s Goldman Sachs & Co.
The Minneapolis payment services company, which has been hurt by losses on mortgage-related investments, said the investors purchased $760 million of Series B and Series B-1 preferred stock, convertible into 79% of the common equity of the company at an initial price of $2.50 a share.
MoneyGram also received $500 million in debt financing from affiliates of Goldman Sachs and an additional $250 million in senior debt financing.
The company now has $100 million of revolving credit available under its previously existing $350 million credit agreement, which has been modified to provide for an extended term.
Chief Executive Philip W. Milne said, "With the completion of this important transaction, MoneyGram now has the financial resources to support our customers and their growth plans."
MoneyGram, which provides bill payment services at more than 3,500 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. stores, added Scott L. Jaeckel and Seth W. Lawry, principals of Thomas H. Lee Partners, to its board of directors. Jess Hay, Albert M. Teplin and Othon Ruiz-Montemayor will continue as members of the board along with Milne, chairman and CEO.
After the deal receives regulatory approval, Thomas H. Lee Partners is expected to appoint a majority of the board of directors.
Before the recapitalization, MoneyGram completed the sales of certain portfolio assets, resulting in a loss of about $1.6 billion.
The terms of MoneyGram's deal with investors were revised earlier this month. The prior deal, agreed to in February, had the group investing up to $775 million in preferred stock, which would have converted into a 63% stake. The conversion price also was halved from $5.
Write to Kathy Shwiff at kathy.shwiff@dowjones.com
---
Level 2
http://66.201.236.134/export/level2.jsp?symbol=ttch
Bid
ETRD 0.0090 5000 10:08:24
DOMS 0.0090 5000 12:52:45
NITE 0.0090 5000 15:40:41
UBSS 0.0090 5000 08:08:30
Ask
AUTO 0.0100 5000 09:36:20
VERT 0.0110 5000 15:40:50
ETRD 0.0130 5000 10:08:24
DOMS 0.0150 5000 12:52:45
American Cancels More Flights
Wednesday April 9, 10:38 am ET
By David Koenig, AP Business Writer
American Cancels 850 More Flights Wednesday
DALLAS (AP) -- American Airlines canceled 850 flights Wednesday -- more than one-third of its schedule -- as it spent a second straight day inspecting the wiring on some of its jets, the same issue that caused the nation's biggest airline to scrub hundreds of flights two weeks ago.
American canceled nearly 500 flights on Tuesday, stranding hundreds of passengers. Federal inspectors found problems with wiring work done two weeks ago, although the airline says safety was never jeopardized.
Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American, said cancellations could continue beyond Wednesday as the airline works on its MD-80 jets.
American uses the MD-80s mostly on mid-range flights, particularly from hub airports in Dallas and Chicago. Wagner said 208 of Wednesday's cancellations would occur at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and 138 at Chicago O'Hare.
At New York's LaGuardia Airport, hundreds of passengers stood in a check-in line. The airline offered free doughnuts, coffee and orange juice, but there were few takers.
Bishop Bernard Jordan, a Harlem minister, was in a first-class line trying to catch a flight to Atlanta, where he was scheduled to preach Wednesday night.
"It would have been good to know in advance," said Jordan, who said he has 4 million frequent-flier miles with American and flies to Atlanta every other week. "I would have booked with another airline."
The Fort Worth-based airline said it would put displaced travelers on other American flights or those operated by competitors. Wagner said that because the delays were "within our control" and not weather-related, American was offering meals, lodging and ground transportation to affected travelers.
American operates about 2,300 daily flights, more than one-third with MD-80s.
It was American's second bout with mass cancellations in less than two weeks for failing to meet the same wiring rules set by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is cracking down on airlines after admitting its inspectors were too lax last year with Southwest Airlines Co.
Since the FAA began looking more closely at airlines' compliance with safety directives, there have been cancellations at Southwest, Delta Air Lines Inc. and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines. The agency levied a $10.2 million civil penalty against Southwest for using planes that had missed inspections for cracks in the fuselage.
Wagner said an FAA inspector checked several MD-80s Monday and found that some of the wiring work performed two weeks ago didn't meet FAA standards. At issue: the spacing and direction of cords used to secure bundles of wires in the planes' auxiliary hydraulic systems.
The airline said flight safety was never compromised, but, beginning around midafternoon Tuesday, American began yanking planes out of service so that wiring bundles could be inspected and stowed properly in the wheel wells.
Gerard Arpey, the chief executive of American and its parent, AMR Corp., apologized for the inconvenience and said the airline was working to comply with FAA orders.
The cancellations and resulting loss of revenue could hardly come at a worse time for American, which is facing high fuel prices and a weakening economy that could hurt demand for travel.
AMR is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings in two weeks, and analysts are forecasting a loss of more than $300 million, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.
Jamie Baker, an analyst with JPMorgan, said in a recent note to clients that he expects airline revenue to decline significantly beginning in the April-June second quarter due to the one-two punch of costly fuel and a possible recession.
Associated Press writer Ula Ilnytzky in New York contributed to this report.
Revenue. Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2007 was $134.0 million, an increase of $29.0 million, or 27.6%, from $105.0 million for year ended December 31, 2006. The increase in revenue between the two periods resulted from increased sales of our DC to DC converters of $15.0 million, LCD backlight inverter products of $6.5 million and audio products of $7.5 million. For the year ended December 31, 2007, despite a decline in our average sales price for certain of our units, revenue from our DC to DC converters increased 20.9% due to increased sales of flat panel TVs and other consumer devices. Revenue for our CCFL products, which are a part of our LCD backlight inverter family increased 22.3% due to strength in the notebook market over the same period in 2006. However, given the uncertainty of the outcome of our litigation with O2, we cannot predict the impact that such litigation will have on such revenue in the future. Revenue for our audio amplifier product family increased by 182.8% primarily due to increased demand for new and existing products used in consumer electronic applications.
Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2006 was $105.0 million, an increase of $5.9 million, or 5.9%, over $99.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2005. The increase in revenue primarily resulted from increased sales of our DC to DC converter products, which increased $14.0 million, or 24.2%. The increase in DC to DC products was mainly due to higher sales volumes from existing products used in consumer electronic applications, including TVs and portable DVDs. Revenue from LCD backlight inverter products decreased $8.9 million, or 23.4%, for the year ended December 31, 2006 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2005, primarily due to customer concerns resulting from our lawsuit with O2 and the availability of alternative solutions from parties not involved in the litigation. Revenue for our audio amplifier product family increased $0.8 million, or 26.1%, primarily due to increased demand for existing products used in consumer electronic applications.
Gross Profit. Gross profit as a percentage of revenue, or gross margin, was 63.6% for year ended December 31, 2007 and 63.7% for the year ended December 31, 2006. Our gross margin remained relatively flat year over year. There was a decline in our average sales prices for certain of our mature DC to DC products, which was offset by a shift in product mix and certain production efficiencies at our Chengdu facility.
Gross profit as a percentage of revenue, or gross margin, remained constant at 63.7% for the years ended December 31, 2006 and 2005. In the first half of 2006, we incurred start-up costs for our Chengdu facilities in the amount of $0.8 million; however, due to a change in product mix and efficiencies in test costs resulting from the start-up of our Chengdu operations, we were able to absorb those costs and maintain our margins.
Source: www.sec.gov
Pericom Expands PCIe Offering With Industry First One Chip PCIe to UART 'Serial Bridge' Family
Monday March 31, 12:00 pm ET
New SBridge product family offers complete one chip cost effective design solution for expanding UART market requirements
SHANGHAI, China, March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM -- Pericom Semiconductor Corporation (Nasdaq: PSEM - News), a worldwide preferred supplier of PCI Express technology used for switching, timing, bridging and signal integrity, today announced the addition of a new industry first PCI Express SBridge(TM) (serial bridge) product family offering a complete one chip cost effective solution for the expanding CPU to UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) I/O market. Moxa is the first customer to incorporate Pericom's new UART offering.
The new product family integrates a complete PCI Express interface bridge with a fully featured multi port, multi protocol UART controller, and is targeted to volume industrial and building control, point of sale, instrumentation, PDA, and GPS system I/O applications. Pericom will showcase these new products with a 'live' demonstration at booth CE 002 at the Intel Developer Forum, Shanghai International Convention Center, April 2-3, 2008.
"The UART controller market TAM is expected to grow to over 60 million ports by the end of 2008," according to Jag Bolaria, senior analyst at semiconductor market research firm The Linley Group. "Pericom is well positioned to capitalize on this growth with leading edge single chip solutions required by next generation embedded control systems."
"Pericom's one chip UART solutions give MOXA the performance, flexibility, footprint, and cost savings we require to deliver the most competitive industrial and commercial platforms to our customers," said Sureen Lee, director of HA Strategic Business Unit for Moxa, Inc., a global company that designs and manufactures device networking products for industrial automation (http://www.moxa.com).
"Pericom is pleased to add these three new advanced performance SBridge products to our industry leading variety of PCI Express product functions," said Bill Weir, Pericom's senior marketing director for Connect Products. "UART market growth is fueled by accelerated adoption of embedded UART I/O in building control systems for HVAC, environmental, emergency, and communications control to host CPU applications. We have completed our beta testing and now have design wins with Tier 1 embedded controller providers, such as Moxa."
Key Features and Benefits:
The Pericom SBridge PCIe to UART family consists of three different UART port count configurations: 2 ports (PI7C9X7952), 4 ports (PI7C9X7954), and 8 ports (PI7C9X7958). The product family is specifically designed for low power consumption and small package size, optimized PCB layout, fully meets the requirements of the latest PCI-SIG PCIe 1.1 and PCI 1.2 specifications, and is listed on the PCISIG certification list. Unique features include:
-- Complete one chip PCIe to high performance UART solution
-- High performance 16C950 (RS-232) UART ports
-- Backward compatible to 16C550/650/750/850 software
-- Supports Baud rates to 62.5Mb/sec (sync mode)
-- RoHS compliant and small footprint packages (PQFP and BGA)
-- Customer programmable EEPROM port for ultimate flexibility
-- Software drivers for major OS -- Windows, Linux
In addition to displaying its new SBridge product family at IDF Shanghai, Pericom will present live demonstrations of its new PCI Express to HDMI/DisplayPort switch, a Pericom PCIe enabled video surveillance system, and display various PCIe applications cards. The demonstrations and cards utilize Pericom's PCIe Packet Switch, Bridge, ReDriver, Signal Switch, and Timing products.
Pricing and Availability:
-- Samples, eval board and OS driver development kits are available now,
with production quantities available in May, 2008. OEM retail pricing
in 10Ku quantities: PI7C9X7952 -- $5.3
-- PI7C9X7954 -- $6.8
-- PI7C9X7958 -- $9.5
Further information is available from Pericom sales representatives, with offices worldwide, or by visiting http://www.pericom.com/pciexpress/
High Resolution Press Graphic:
For high-resolution graphics go to
http://www.pericom.com/img/press/high/167_high.jpg
About Pericom
Pericom Semiconductor Corporation (Nasdaq: PSEM - News) enables serial connectivity with the industry's most complete solutions for the computing, communications and consumer market segments. Its analog, digital, and mixed-signal integrated circuits and SaRonix-eCERA frequency control products are essential in the timing, switching, bridging, and conditioning of high-speed signals required by today's ever-increasing speed and bandwidth demanding applications. Company headquarters are in San Jose, California, with design centers and technical sales and support offices located globally. http://www.pericom.com
PCI Express is a registered trademark of PCI SIG (pcisig.org)
Source: Pericom Semiconductor Corporation
Veeco Instruments Inc. Earnings Conference Call (Q1 2008)
Scheduled to start Mon, Apr 28, 2008, 5:00 pm Eastern
http://biz.yahoo.com/cc/3/91453.html
After the event has finished, the audio will be available
from that page until Wed, Apr 29, 2009
Presstek Appoints Frank D. Steenburgh to Board of Directors
Tuesday April 8, 10:31 am ET
Digital Printing and Publishing Pioneer Strengthens Strategic and Operational Talent of Board of Directors
HUDSON, N.H., April 8, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Presstek, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRST - News), the leading manufacturer and marketer of digital offset business solutions, today announced that Frank D. Steenburgh has been appointed to Presstek's Board of Directors. Mr. Steenburgh, who has more than 25 years of senior management experience in digital printing, will focus on helping Presstek expand its role in the growing digital color printing market.
Mr. Steenburgh retired from Xerox Corporation in 2005 as the Senior Vice President, Business Growth. He joined Xerox in 1967 and held a range of management positions. He was responsible for growing Xerox's $4.5 billion production business, with a strong focus on digital color, in his most recent position. He currently serves as the Chief Marketing Officer at ColorCentric Corporation.
"I am thrilled to welcome Frank to our Board," said Jeff Jacobson, Presstek President and Chief Executive Officer. "Frank is one of the most respected and experienced leaders in the graphic arts industry. He brings a breadth of global industry experience and vision and will provide tremendous input towards our evolving digital growth strategies. We welcome his many insights as we capitalize on our growth opportunities and build a sustainable profit orientated company."
"Presstek has a strong history of innovation and is an established leader in digital offset printing," said Frank Steenburgh. "I look forward to joining the board and providing counsel that will help shape the future direction of the company."
About Presstek
Presstek, Inc. is the leading manufacturer and marketer of high tech digital imaging solutions to the graphic arts and laser imaging markets. Presstek's patented DI®, CTP and plate products provide a streamlined workflow in a chemistry-free environment, thereby reducing printing cycle time and lowering production costs. Presstek solutions are designed to make it easier for printers to cost effectively meet increasing customer demand for high-quality, shorter print runs and faster turnaround while providing improved profit margins. Presstek subsidiary, Lasertel, Inc., manufactures semiconductor laser diodes for Presstek's and external customers' applications. For more information visit http://www.presstek.com, or call 603-595-7000 or email: info@presstek.com.
DI is a registered trademark of Presstek, Inc.
Contacts
Investor Relations Trade Relations
Kathleen Makrakis Betty LaBaugh
Director of Investor Relations Public Relations Manager
203-485-7534, ext. 1432 603-594-8585, ext. 3441
kmakrakis@presstek.com blabaugh@presstek.com
Top Public Cos. Last Year Saw First Loss Since 2002
By Michael Lyster
Orange County Business Journal Staff
2007 was a transition year for Orange County’s largest public companies as the expansion of the past few years met the slowed economy of today.
The county’s 75 largest public companies by sales saw a 10.6% rise in revenue last year to $97 billion, according to this week’s Business Journal list. Technology companies Ingram Micro Inc. and Western Digital Corp. drove the gain.
But big losses at real estate companies First American Corp., Standard Pacific Corp. and Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc. spurred a $981 million net loss for the group, versus a profit of $6 billion a year earlier.
The loss is the first for the county’s largest public companies since 2002, when the companies on our list posted $1.2 billion in red ink amid the recession and technology downturn.
Local employment at the 75 companies was down 2% to 37,493 people as mortgage investor Impac and others pared jobs faster than the county as a whole.
Last year, Orange County lost 6,600 jobs, a 0.4% decline from a year earlier, according to the state’s Employment Development Depart-ment.
The list ranks companies by sales, most for the 12 months through Dec. 31.
2007 was a good year for many of the companies, which represent a broad mix of technology, healthcare, real estate, apparel and other businesses.
Nearly 75% of them, or 56, posted higher sales. About two-thirds, or 48 companies, were profitable.
But those that lost money lost big.
No. 13 Irvine-based Impac drove this year’s collective loss with $1.5 billion in red ink for the 12 months through Sept. 30. Much of the loss came from the third quarter’s $1.2 billion loss, which included a $628 million rise in costs to account for losses on loans it owns.
Impac acquires mortgages as investments and for a time made loans itself.
No. 6 Irvine-based Standard Pacific posted a $767 million loss spurred by accounting for a big drop in the value of land and housing projects it owns.
Other losses extended beyond real estate to companies that are restructuring or dealing with their own downturns.
No. 22 Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc. lost $412 million, the fourth most of any company on the list. The chipmaker’s losses mounted as sales fell amid a glut.
The company makes chips for set-top boxes and “all-in-one” printers that fax, scan and copy as well as for DSL high-speed Internet connections.
No. 21 Santa Ana-based Powerwave Technologies Inc. posted a $310 million loss. The maker of equipment for wireless networks saw much of the loss in the fourth quarter, when it posted a $188 million loss driven by write-downs on intangible assets and restructuring charges.
The company has seen losses for the past two years as it has struggled with manufacturing missteps and integration of acquisitions.
No. 8 Quiksilver Inc., a maker of clothes inspired by surfing and skateboarding, lost $146 million from its Rossignol unit, a maker of skis and related gear it bought for $560 million in 2005. Quiksilver is looking to sell the business.
Santa Ana’s Ingram Micro, a distributor of technology products, easily held the No. 1 spot on the list with $35 billion in 2007 sales, up 12% from 2006.
Ingram largely drove the revenue gain accounting for a third of the added sales.
No. 3 Lake Forest-based Western Digital, a maker of disk drives, also saw a big gain, rising 38% to $6.7 billion in revenue.
The company, which has enjoyed steady demand, pricing and supply of drives for the past year, was a standout on the list. Western Digital posted the largest profit of any company at $707 million, which was up 56% from a year earlier.
No. 4 Irvine-based Allergan Inc. saw a 29% rise to $3.9 billion in revenue on strong sales of its medical cosmetics and eye and skin drugs. 2007 was the company’s fist full year with Santa Barbara-based Inamed, a maker of breast implants and other products acquired in 2006 for $3.2 billion.
The list includes newcomers.
No. 32 Brea-based Fremont General Corp. moved its headquarters from Santa Monica in February. The onetime subprime mortgage lender is trying to regroup as a community bank under Chief Executive Stephen Gordon, who was recruited last year and sold Irvine’s Commercial Capital Bancorp to Washington Mutual Inc. for nearly $1 billion in 2006.
Fremont’s entry comes with a caveat: The company’s $462 million in interest income (its equivalent of revenue) is a nine-month figure through Sept. 30. So is Fremont’s $838 million net loss (which, even at nine months, is the second largest loss after Impac’s).
The struggling company hasn’t released fourth-quarter earnings yet and has restated past results, making a reliable 12-month figure hard to come by.
No. 50 Grubb & Ellis Co. debuted on the list after Santa Ana-based real estate investor NNN Realty Advisors Inc. last year bought Chicago-based brokerage Grubb & Ellis and adopted its name and ticker symbol.
No. 63 Seal Beach-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a natural gas supplier to taxis and other fleet vehicles that’s backed by T. Boone Pickens, made the list after raising $120 million in a public offering a year ago.
Five companies on last year’s list are gone.
Irvine-based computer maker Gateway Inc., last year’s No. 4, was bought by Taiwan’s Acer Inc. for $710 million in October.
Cooper Cos., a contact lens maker that had been based in Lake Forest and ranked No. 21 last year, shifted its headquarters to Pleasanton in the past year.
Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc., a maker of glasses and clothes that ranked No. 23 last year, was bought for $2.1 billion in November by Italy’s Luxottica Group SPA.
Tustin-based MTI Corp., a seller of computer products that ranked No. 58 last year, filed for bankruptcy protection in October and is out of business.
Irvine’s Printronix Inc., a printer maker that ranked No. 65 last year, was bought and taken private by San Francisco private equity firm Vector Capital late last year.
The departures of MTI and Printronix opened up spots for companies from last year’s list of the next 50 public companies ranked by revenue to move into the bottom tier of this year’s top 75.
Our list of the next 50 public companies for 2008 is set to appear in the April 21 issue.
JDSU Provides IPTV Test Solution to Global Carrier
Wednesday March 12, 9:28 am ET
MILPITAS, Calif., March 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- JDSU today announced that its service assurance test solutions have been selected by Deutsche Telekom to support delivery of its IPTV service.
JDSU's NetComplete service assurance system and associated IP test probes will be deployed in Deutsche Telekom's network. The NetComplete solution also includes software that enables monitoring of service quality from central network operations centers, increasing efficiency and reducing the need to deploy technicians to the field. It ensures early recognition of changes in the quality of the streaming video signals, including any decrease in signal strength, prioritizes issues based on alarm levels, identifies the cause of service quality problems and provides reporting tools.
ADVERTISEMENT
"By selecting JDSU's NetComplete solution, service providers choose a partner with worldwide experience in IPTV test," said Jerry Gentile, general manager of JDSU's Service Assurance Solutions business segment. "Customer demand for high-quality IPTV services is growing rapidly. In today's intensely competitive environment, it is a strategic imperative to deploy proven, cost-effective communications test solutions that help ensure service quality and subscriber satisfaction."
The IPTV Challenge and NetComplete Solution
The most important aspect of sending TV and video content over IP networks is ensuring picture quality for the consumer. Frozen pictures, pixelization or lack of sound are among the service impairments that challenge IPTV service providers to offer end users an experience that is as good as or better than conventional TV. Without the right test solutions, service providers risk the service impairments that reduce customer loyalty and lead to subscriber churn.
JDSU's NetComplete offers a solution to address these challenges by constantly monitoring IPTV video streams at the most important points in the network. For example, NetComplete monitors IPTV signals at the head end as they are fed into the telecommunications network, as well as at points of presence throughout the network as signals leave the core network and enter the access network. This end-to-end approach ensures the correlation, capture and confirmation of network performance data necessary for top-quality transmissions. Most importantly, NetComplete enables proactive measures to address service issues before they diminish the end-user's experience. Over time, the data generated and captured by NetComplete provides valuable insight into the overall health and tendencies in the network.
JDSU's "head end-to-home" IPTV test solutions also include field instruments such as the HST-3000, a triple-play services handheld tester specifically designed to meet installation and maintenance needs for access networks, including higher bit-rate triple play services like IPTV and HDTV.
About JDSU
JDSU (Nasdaq: JDSU; and TSX: JDU) enables broadband and optical innovation in the communications, commercial and consumer markets. JDSU is a leading provider of communications test and measurement solutions and optical products for telecommunications service providers, cable operators, and network equipment manufacturers. JDSU is also a leading provider of innovative optical solutions for medical/environmental instrumentation, semiconductor processing, display, brand authentication, aerospace and defense, and decorative applications. More information is available at http://www.jdsu.com.
Contact Information
Investors: Michelle Levine,408-546-4421,michelle.levine@jdsu.com
Press: Bernie Tylor, 240-404-1913, bernie.tylor@jdsu.com
JDSU Introduces Industry-First 30 MHz Bandwidth Tester to Support High-Bandwidth Service Deployment
Wednesday March 5, 8:30 am ET
Test Process Once Requiring Two Technicians Now Takes One
MILPITAS, Calif., March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- JDSU today announced the addition of the industry's first 30 MHz far-end device (FED), the UltraFED, to its leading portfolio of triple-play service testers. Designed to meet the test needs of field technicians who install and maintain VDSL access networks, the UltraFED is fully interoperable with the JDSU HST-3000 and enables the turn up and troubleshooting of 30 MHz VDSL2, typically the "last mile" technology in FTTx networks. The UltraFED will be on display at CeBIT 2008 in Hannover, Germany, March 4-9 (Hall 13, stand B20).
The UltraFED combines advanced copper FED test features and process improvement applications using a variety of user-configured test states and modes. In the past, two high-end test instruments (like the HST-3000) operated by two technicians at each end of the circuit were required for VDSL pre-qualification and troubleshooting. Using the UltraFED and an HST-3000, only one technician is needed.
Challenges associated with the deployment of VDSL services emerge because the VDSL technology uses frequency bands in the copper plant outside of the current ADSL usage spectrum. This makes VDSL services more susceptible to impulse noise (unwanted electrical signals of short duration) and short bridge taps. Bridge taps are copper wires connected to, but not part of, a direct electrical path between the central office and the user premise. Detection of short bridge taps 20 feet to 100 feet in length is critical because they dramatically impact digital services carried across copper lines by introducing unwanted disturbances that increase electrical loss.
"The increase in broadband access speeds to accommodate services like IPTV, and the associated need to pre-qualify and troubleshoot high-bandwidth copper access networks, have created an ever-increasing strain on service provider field teams," said Jim Nerschook, vice president and general manager of JDSU's telecommunication field services (TFS) Communications Test and Measurement business segment. "The addition of the JDSU UltraFED puts greater testing power in the hands of field technicians and enables them to turn up and troubleshoot with 'one man out'."
JDSU Introduces New Additions to WaveReady(TM) Family of Optical Network Modules and Systems
Wednesday March 5, 8:30 am ET
MILPITAS, Calif., March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- JDSU today announced the release of new additions to its WaveReady(TM) product line of scalable wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical transport solutions designed for metro, access and enterprise optical networks. Added to the portfolio are the flexible WRT-780 compact dual transponder designed for the transport of any service (OTN, SONET, Ethernet, Fibre channel) between 125 Mbps and 4.25 Gbps and new WRA-series user-configurable erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) designed to transport DWDM optical network services up to 43 Gbps.
The new WaveReady products will be on display at CeBIT 2008 in Hannover, Germany, March 4-9 (Hall 13, stand B20).
"Leveraging its position as the premier supplier of optical communications technology, JDSU designed WaveReady to address the full range of requirements for today's optical network operators," said Bill Mortimer, vice president and general manager of JDSU's Lab, Production and Fiber Optic test businesses. "Whatever the technology-specific optical network requirements, WaveReady offers high-value solutions that service providers need to maximize the capacity of their networks, improve service delivery flexibility, and ensure long-term investment protection."
WaveReady WRT-780 Dual Transponder
Requiring no provisioning, the WRT-780 is a carrier-grade dual transponder that is simple to use, allowing service providers to easily and rapidly turn-up any new service (including OTN, SONET, Ethernet, and fibre channel) between 125 Mbps and 4.25 Gbps. The WRT-780 is a flexible, high-bandwidth transport solution that can be combined with other WaveReady WDM modules and chassis to provide cost-effective and industry-leading density for WDM transport, including Ethernet-over-WDM transport, 4.25 Gbps fibre channel for storage area network (SAN) extension, and many other WDM transport applications.
WaveReady WRA Optical Amplifiers
The new WRA series of user-configurable EDFAs are designed to transport DWDM optical network services up to 43 Gbps. The series includes configurable and cost-effective WRA-100 single-channel optical amplifiers which are offered in four different gains or output powers to accommodate various optical link budgets, boosting service providers' ability to rapidly deploy new services in their network and increase their revenue. The WRA-200 series features C-Band multichannel optical amplifiers with an ultra-fast transient response that reduces the complexity of DWDM optical networks and increases their robustness by greatly reducing the impact of optical transients on existing wavelengths and network elements. The WRA-217 and WRA-219 are user-configurable multichannel optical amplifiers well-suited to agile optical networks with their industry-leading transient response of 75 micron/sec.
About WaveReady
Addressing existing customer needs and anticipating future requirements of optical networks, JDSU's WaveReady product line offers a wide variety of transport solutions giving services providers and network operators a simple and cost-effective optical platform to address their diverse optical networking needs. The WaveReady platform offers compact and flexible CWDM and DWDM optical transponders and regenerators capable of transporting services (including OTN, SONET, Ethernet, and fibre channel) at any rate between 125 Mbps and 11.1 Gbps. The platform also includes single channel and multichannel (DWDM) optical amplifiers, CWDM/DWDM optical multiplexers/demultiplexers, optical add/drop multiplexers (OADMs), dispersion compensation modules, as well as optical protection and network monitoring solutions. The platform offers a robust "plug-and-play" solution that is very simple to operate and manage using the WaveReady node manager graphical interface. The flexibility, density and compact size of the WaveReady platform makes it an ideal optical transport solution.
About JDSU
JDSU (Nasdaq: JDSU; and TSX: JDU) enables broadband and optical innovation in the communications, commercial and consumer markets. JDSU is the leading provider of communications test and measurement solutions and optical products for telecommunications service providers, cable operators, and network equipment manufacturers. JDSU is also a leading provider of innovative optical solutions for medical/environmental instrumentation, semiconductor processing, display, brand authentication, aerospace and defense, and decorative applications. More information is available at http://www.jdsu.com.
Contacts
Press/Industry: Nick Rowan, +1 240-404-1924 or nick.rowan@jdsu.com
Investors: Michelle Levine, +1 408-546-4421 or michelle.levine@jdsu.com
Source: JDSU
JDSU Achieves Manufacturing Milestone for Linear Variable Filters
Tuesday March 4, 8:00 am ET
Customizable Solutions Enable Reduced Cost, High-Volume Production and New Market Solutions
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080304/aqtu170.html?.v=29
Norilsk to increase nickel output in Finland
Tue Apr 8, 2008 8:41am EDT
MOSCOW, April 8 (Reuters) - Russian metals company Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) (NKELyq.L: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to increase the capacity of its Harjavalta refinery in Finland to 66,000 tonnes a year in 2009, a senior Norilsk official said on Tuesday.
"It's a tough target," Norilsk deputy chief executive for production Tav Morgan told a nickel conference.
But the target was feasible, he said, as Harjavalta was working above its capacity in some months and refining nickel in volumes exceeding an equivalent of 60,000 tonnes per year.
Norilsk previously set the target of raising production to 60,000 tonnes in 2008 from around 54,000 tonnes in 2007.
Norilsk acquired the Finnish refinery last year when it bought the nickel assets of U.S.-based OM Group (OMG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) for $409 million. It is now part of the company's international division created after the separate acquisition of Canada's LionOre Mining International.
Some of the concentrate treated at Harjavalta comes from mines in Australia formerly owned by LionOre.
Morgan said Norilsk was expanding nickel briquette production capacity at Harjavalta to 40,000 tonnes per year from 36,000.
Norilsk planned to invest 9.5 million euros ($14.98 million) in the expansion of the refinery in 2008 and 2009, he said.
Morgan said Norilsk was also investing 64 million euros over two years in a decalcination facility, which will be able to treat intermediate products containing 33,000 tonnes of nickel from Finnish Talvivara Mining Co. (TALV.L: Quote, Profile, Research). Continued...
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINL0826105920080408?rpc=44
Steve Cohen's SAC Capital is a group of hedge funds considered by many to rank among the top investment firms in the world. In 2007, its International Fund was up a reported 13% for the year.
At Stockpickr.com, we keep track of Cohen's stock moves with the SAC Capital portfolio.
One position of SAC's worth keeping an eye on is Cabot (CBT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), the fund's second-largest position.
Cabot is a maker of specialty chemicals and carbon black, which is by weight the biggest ingredient in making tires. The carbon black business may not be the most dynamic business, but it's a necessary one, and it supplies 90% of the company's current cash flow.
Back in September, the board authorized the repurchase of 5 million shares of common stock. This massive increase brings the total number of shares authorized for repurchase to 10 million in total.
Cabot, which trades near its 52-week low, has a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 11. On valuation terms, I believe the stock could be undervalued by as much as 60%, as its business model is misunderstood. Cabot shares have been under pressure for some time, mostly due in part to its tire business. However, the global trend for auto sales and tire sales worldwide is up.
When you factor together management's push into Asia, its carbon black business, its drilling-fluid business and the $20-per-share that the company's inkjet business is worth, Cabot shares should see some nice upside.
Another one of SAC's holdings is Wyeth (WYE - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), which just received Food and Drug Administration approval for the antidepressant Pristiq. Some analysts believe that Pristiq could help offset the loss of revenue the drugmaker will encounter when antidepressant Effexor, one of its top-selling drugs, loses patent protection in 2010.
Cohen has been very active in the biotech sector, especially with Pharmion (PHRM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), which has a forward P/E of 50 and a P/E-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 10.3. Cohen has been actively talking with Pharmion management about the pharmaceutical company's operational plans. That suggests he believes there is much more value to unlock.
Keep an eye on these as well as his other positions -- such as Albemarle (ALB - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Century Aluminum (cenx - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Mylan (MYL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Armstrong World Industries (AWI - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and OM Group (OMG - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) -- in the SAC Capital portfolio.
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/stockpickr/10406090.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
OM Group 4Q Profit Falls on Tough Comps
Thursday February 28, 12:38 pm ET
OM Group Posts 16 Percent Drop in 4th-Quarter Profit, but Beats Wall Street Estimates
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Specialty chemicals company OM Group Inc. said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit fell 16 percent on tough comparisons to a prior-year quarter boosted by profit from a nickel business that was later sold.
OM Group earned $48 million, or $1.58 per share, compared with $56.8 million, or $1.93 per share, for the same quarter in 2006.
The prior-year period included a profit from discontinued operations of $73.8 million related mainly to the operations of the company's nickel business, which was sold in the first quarter of 2007.
OM posted a profit from continuing operations of $46.4 million, or $1.53 per share, compared with a loss from continuing operations of $17 million, or 58 cents per share, in the 2006 period.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a profit from continuing operations of $1.30 per share.
OM credited the increase in earnings from continuing operations to higher operating profit, lower interest expense, higher interest income and favorable foreign currency exchange gains.
Revenue rose 80 percent to $309.4 million from $172.1 million in the year-ago period.
OM said increased product selling prices, strong demand across most of the company's end markets, and the resale of cobalt metal drove the increase in sales.
The average cobalt reference price in the fourth quarter of 2007 was $32.68, up from $18.66 in the 2006 quarter, OM said.
For the full-year 2007, OM earned $246.9 million, or $8.15 per share, compared with $216.1 million, or $7.31 per share, in 2006. Revenue rose to $1.02 billion from $660.1 million the year before.
OM Group shares fell 98 cents to $61.88 in midday trading.
OM Group Announces Record Results for 2007 Fourth Quarter, Full-Year
Thursday February 28, 7:00 am ET
- Strong End-Market Demand, Favorable Pricing Fuel Performance -
- Company Remains 'On Target' for 2010 Goals -
CLEVELAND, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OM Group, Inc. (NYSE: OMG - News) today announced record results for the fourth quarter and full year periods ended December 31, 2007.
ADVERTISEMENT
Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2007 were $309.4 million, compared with $172.1 million in the corresponding period of 2006. Excluding the impact of the Borchers acquisition, which added $12.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, revenue grew 72 percent. Increased product selling prices, strong demand across most of the company's end markets, and the re-sale of cobalt metal drove the increase in sales. The average cobalt reference price in the fourth quarter of 2007 was $32.68 compared with $18.66 in the 2006 period.
"We are quite pleased with the company's financial performance in 2007," said Joseph M. Scaminace, chairman and chief executive officer. "As was the case consistently throughout the year, we enjoyed strong customer demand for our products in nearly every end market we serve, most notably battery, chemical, powder metallurgy, and tire. Similarly, we benefited from favorable pricing for our products, which resulted in higher gross profit. And, thanks to our ongoing operational excellence initiatives, we were able to leverage operating expenses to achieve operating profit nearly five times greater than the same period last year."
Gross profit increased to $84.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2007 versus $46.8 million in the comparable 2006 quarter. The increase was primarily attributable to a higher cobalt reference price, greater volume, and an unrealized gain on cobalt forward purchase contracts. As a percentage of net sales, gross margin was flat due to an increase in low-margin cobalt metal resale. Operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2007 was $55.5 million versus $11.8 million in the prior-year quarter.
Income from continuing operations was $46.4 million, or $1.53 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2007, compared with a loss of $17.0 million, or $0.58 per diluted share, in the 2006 period. The significant increase is attributable to the higher operating profit, lower interest expense due to the redemption of the company's long-term Notes earlier this year, higher interest income as a result of the company's higher cash balance, and favorable foreign currency exchange gains.
Income from discontinued operations was $1.5 million in the 2007 fourth quarter, compared to income from discontinued operations in the 2006 period of $73.8 million, related primarily to the operations of the Nickel business that was sold in the first quarter of 2007.
Net income in the fourth quarter of 2007 was $48.0 million, or $1.58 per diluted share, compared to last year's fourth quarter net income of $56.8 million, or $1.93 per diluted share. The decrease was due to the income of the discontinued Nickel business in the 2006 period.
Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses fell to $28.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, compared with $35.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. Corporate expenses, a component of overall SG&A expenses, declined to $11.4 million in the 2007 fourth quarter from $12.6 million in the comparable quarter a year ago. The overall decline in SG&A was due primarily to expenses in the fourth quarter of 2006 that did not repeat in 2007 such as $4.2 million in environmental charges and $3.2 million related to the former CEO's termination.
FULL-YEAR RESULTS
Net sales for 2007 were $1.02 billion versus $660.1 million for 2006. Income from continuing operations was $111.5 million, or $3.68 per diluted share, compared to $23.6 million, or $0.80 per diluted share, a year ago. Net income was $246.9 million, or $8.15 per diluted share, in 2007 compared with net income of $216.1 million, or $7.31 per diluted share, in 2006.
Gross profit rose to $313.2 million in 2007, compared with $184.7 million in 2006. As a percentage of net sales, gross profit increased to 31 percent from 28 percent. Operating profit increased to $196.2 million in 2007 from $75.3 million in 2006. The increases reflected higher cobalt prices and higher-priced sales of finished products manufactured with cobalt raw materials purchased at lower prices. Higher sales volumes across all three product line groupings also contributed to the more favorable 2007 results.
SG&A expenses were $117.0 million in 2007, compared with $109.4 million one year-ago. The increase was due to higher selling expenses as a result of higher net sales and SG&A expenses of the acquired businesses that were not included in full-year results for 2006.
OUTLOOK
"While the company's record-setting financial performance is impressive, I believe it was our operational success during the year that makes 2007 a watershed year in the transformation of OM Group," said Scaminace. "From the acquisitions of the electronics businesses of Rockwood Holdings and Borchers to our unwavering financial discipline, this is already a much different company from even one year ago. We enter 2008 with tremendous momentum, a portfolio more appropriately balanced, true financial flexibility and exciting, long-term growth opportunities before us."
According to Scaminace, despite the mixed opinions and indicators concerning global economies, "We remain resolute that the company is on the right track. We continue to believe that our efforts will result in a company with consolidated revenues of $2 billion to $4 billion by 2010 and a ranking in the top quartile of specialty chemicals and specialty materials companies in terms of EBITDA margins and other financial metrics."
WEBCAST INFORMATION
The company has scheduled a conference call and live audio broadcast on the Web for today at 10 a.m. (ET). Investors may access the live audio broadcast by logging on to www.omgi.com. A copy of management's presentation materials will be available on OMG's Web site at the time of the call. The company recommends visiting the Web site at least 15 minutes prior to the webcast to download and install any necessary software. Also, a webcast audio replay will be available on the "Investor Audio Archive" page of the company's Web site, commencing three hours after the call.
ABOUT OM GROUP, INC.
OM Group, Inc. is a diversified global developer, producer and marketer of value-added specialty chemicals and advanced materials that are essential to complex chemical and industrial processes. Key technology-based end-use applications include affordable energy, portable power, clean air, clean water and proprietary products and services for the microelectronics industry. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, OM Group operates manufacturing facilities in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. For more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.omgi.com/.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The foregoing discussion may include forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based upon specific assumptions and are subject to uncertainties and factors relating to the company's operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the company. These uncertainties and factors could cause actual results of the company to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements contained in the foregoing discussion. Such uncertainties and factors include: the direction and pace of our strategic transformation, including our use of proceeds from the sale of our Nickel business on March 1, 2007 and identification of potential acquisitions; the successful integration of certain Electronics businesses of Rockwood Holdings, Inc.; the operation of our critical business facilities without interruption; the speed and sustainability of price changes in cobalt; the potential for lower of cost or market write-downs of the carrying value of inventory necessitated by decreases in the market price of cobalt or the selling prices of the Company's finished products; the availability of competitively priced supplies of raw materials, particularly cobalt; the risk that new or modified internal controls, implemented in response to the Company's examination of its internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, are not effective and need to be improved; the demand for metal-based specialty chemicals and products in the Company's markets; the impact of environmental regulations on our operating facilities and the impact of new or changes to current environmental, health and safety laws on our products and their use by our customers; the effect of fluctuations in currency exchange rates on the Company's international operations; the effect of non-currency risks of investing and conducting operations in foreign countries, including political, social, economic and regulatory factors; the effect of changes in domestic or international tax laws; and the general level of global economic activity and demand for the Company's products.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080228/clth003.html?.v=101
National Semiconductor to Showcase High-Performance Analog Products for Professional and Broadcast Video at NAB 2008
Tuesday April 8, 8:00 am ET
What: National demonstrates its high-performance analog chip solutions at NAB
Where: Booth N1720 at Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
When: April 14-17, 2008
SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 8, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: NSM) will showcase its latest industry-leading analog-intensive video products for the professional and broadcast markets at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show, April 14-17, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada. National will conduct live demonstrations of its analog solutions, including a 3 Gbps (3G) serial digital interface (SDI) product family addressing the new Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) 424M specification, an analog video matrix switcher, a low-jitter video clock generator, and a low-noise audio buffer teamed with operational amplifiers (op amps) that deliver ultra-low distortion and high-fidelity performance.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080408/aqtu010.html?.v=43
Solutions Supporting Video Systems
National's high-performance analog technology can help video engineers differentiate their products. National provides the key functions every system engineer requires, including operational amplifiers, power management, data conversion, interface and serial digital video products, audio subsystems, display ICs and networking products.
About National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor, the industry's premier analog company, creates high-value analog devices and subsystems. National's leading-edge products include power management circuits, display drivers, audio and operational amplifiers, interface products and data conversion solutions. National's key analog markets include wireless handsets, displays, communications infrastructure, medical, automotive, industrial, and test and measurement applications. Headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., National reported sales of $1.93 billion for fiscal 2007, which ended May 27, 2007. Additional company and product information is available at http://www.national.com.
Media Contact Reader Information
Mark Alden Design Support Group
National Semiconductor (800) 272-9959
(408) 721-6929 World Wide Web
mark.alden@nsc.com http://www.national.com
Source: National Semiconductor Corp.
Fremont General Corporation Announces Receipt of New York Stock Exchange Notification That the Company's Common Stock Price has Fallen Below the Quantitative Continued Listing Requirements
Fremont General Corporation Announces Receipt of New York Stock Exchange Notification That the Company's Common Stock Price has Fallen Below the Quantitative Continued Listing Requirements
BREA, Calif., April 8, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fremont General Corporation ("Fremont General" or the "Company") NYSE: FMT, doing business primarily through its wholly-owned bank subsidiary, Fremont Investment & Loan ("Bank"), announced today that on April 3, 2008, Fremont General received written notice from the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") that the Company's common stock price was below the quantitative continued listing standard that requires a listed company's security to maintain an average closing price of not less than $1.00 over a consecutive 30 day trading period. The Company was also advised that NYSE Regulation staff reserved the right to take accelerated action in the event the Company's common stock traded at levels deemed to be "abnormally low" over a sustained period of time.
About Fremont General
Fremont General Corporation is a financial services holding company with $8.8 billion in total assets, at September 30, 2007. The Company is engaged in deposit gathering through a retail branch network located in the coastal and Central Valley regions of Southern California and residential real estate mortgage servicing through its wholly-owned bank subsidiary, Fremont Investment & Loan. Fremont Investment & Loan funds its operations primarily through deposit accounts sourced through its 22 retail banking branches which are insured up to the maximum legal limit by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC").
The Retail Banking Division of the Bank continues to offer a variety of savings and money market products as well as certificates of deposits across its 22 branch network. Customer deposits remain fully insured by the FDIC up to at least $100,000 and retirement accounts remain insured separately up to an additional $250,000.
To find out more about Fremont General, or to subscribe to the Company's email alert feature for notification of Company news and events, please visit http://www.fremontgeneral.com.
Regulatory Filings
The Company's periodic reports as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") can be accessed at http://www.fremontgeneral.com and on the EDGAR's section of the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations and beliefs of the Company and its subsidiaries. These statements and the Company's reported results herein are not guarantees of future performance or results and there can be no assurance that actual developments and economic performance will be those anticipated by the Company. Actual developments and/or results may differ significantly and adversely from historical results and those anticipated by the Company for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2008 as a result of various factors which are set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and its reports on Form 8-K and other documents filed by the Company with the SEC from time to time. The Company does not undertake to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the date the forward-looking statements are made, except as required under applicable securities laws.
Website: http://www.fremontgeneral.com/
Thanks for the DD!
Micrel Powers Up With Latest Family of Micro-Power Dual LDOs for Today's Demanding Battery-Powered Applications
Monday April 7, 7:00 am ET
SAN JOSE, California, April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Micrel Inc., (Nasdaq: MCRL - News), an industry leader in analog, high bandwidth communications and Ethernet IC solutions, today launched the MIC5331/32/33 a new dual channel micro-power LDO regulator family ideally suited for today's power-hungry, battery-powered electronics including mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 players, personal navigation devices (PND), digital still cameras and handheld instruments. This MIC533x family integrates two low quiescent current 300mA LDO regulators and up to two Power On Resets (POR) circuits into a 2mm x 2mm Thin MLF® package, allowing hand-held customers to power up and still save precious battery time. The MIC5331/2/3 family is currently available in volume quantities with pricing starting at US$0.66 for 1K quantities.
"Today's portable applications continue to increase functionality while demanding equal or improved operating times from a single battery charge," noted Andy Khayat, Micrel's director of marketing for portable power products. "Micrel's new MIC533x family of LDO regulators gives customers the ability to power up the most advanced features and the integration to reduce the solution size while using the absolute minimum amount of power. This gives designers the space savings and flexibility they need to create the latest and most feature-rich hand-held products possible."
The MIC533x family provides two 300mA LDO regulators with very fast transient response to any load change condition and up to two POR circuits with adjustable delay time. The MIC533x family achieves this in spite of only consuming 40uA total while both outputs are enabled. This combination of integration, high performance and low power consumption makes the MIC533x family suitable for all applications in portable electronics. The MIC5331/32/33 is a micron Cap design, operating with very small ceramic output capacitors, which reduces required board space and component cost; and it is available in fixed output voltages. In addition, this family offers high PSRR and full protection circuitry including current limit and thermal shutdown protection, with an operating junction temperature range of -40 degrees C to 125 degrees C.
About Micrel, Inc.
Micrel Inc., is a leading global manufacturer of IC solutions for the worldwide analog, Ethernet and high bandwidth markets. The Company's products include advanced mixed-signal, analog and power semiconductors; high performance communication, clock management, Ethernet switch and physical layer transceiver ICs. Company customers include leading manufacturers of enterprise, consumer, industrial, mobile, telecommunications, automotive, and computer products. Corporation headquarters and state-of-the-art wafer fabrication facilities are located in San Jose, CA, with regional sales and support offices and advanced technology design centers situated throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. In addition, the Company maintains an extensive network of distributors and reps worldwide. Web: http://www.micrel.com.
Note: MLF is a registered trademark of Amkor Technology.
Web site: http://www.micrel.com
Obrem Capital Management, LLC Files Initial Materials in Advance of Requested Special Meeting of Micrel Shareholders
Wednesday April 2, 5:22 pm ET
NEW YORK, April 2, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Obrem Capital Management, LLC ("Obrem"), today announced that it has made a Rule 14a-12 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to its request to the Board of Directors of Micrel, Inc. (Nasdaq: MCRL - News) to call a special meeting of shareholders, and in advance of filing additional materials detailing its position more fully.
Obrem said that today's filing highlights its belief that the current Micrel Board is unable to create permanent value for all shareholders. Obrem believes the Board is unwilling to facilitate a serious exploration of strategic alternatives that could result in a sale of the company. Obrem continues to believe that a sale to a strategic buyer, with clear opportunities to realize cost and growth synergies, is the best near and longer-term outcome for Micrel and its shareholders, and could be accomplished at a significant premium to current prices. Further, Obrem believes the Micrel Board and management have under-delivered in terms of operating performance and shareholder value creation. Obrem's director-nominees for consideration at the special meeting collectively combine deep experience in the industry and in value creation for shareholders.
Contacts:
Media Investors
Jeremy Fielding/Lin Wu Arthur Crozier
Kekst and Company Innisfree M&A Inc.
(212) 521-4800 (212) 750-5833
AmTech downgrade
Micrel downgraded from BUY to NEUTRAL
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ud?s=MCRL
Micrel Sets May 20, 2008 Special Shareholder Meeting
Friday April 4, 5:27 pm ET
SAN JOSE, Calif., April 4, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Micrel, Incorporated (Nasdaq: MCRL - News; "Micrel") today announced, in response to the request received from Obrem Capital Management LLC ("OCM") and certain of its affiliates, that a Special Meeting of Shareholders will be held on Tuesday, May 20, 2008. The meeting will take place at Micrel's Worldwide Headquarters at 2180 Fortune Drive, San Jose, California, at 10:00 am PDT. Shareholders as of the record date of April 3, 2008, will be eligible to vote at the meeting.
"We believe Micrel's Directors bring a valuable blend of deep strategic and operational expertise to their work on the Board and are taking important, measurable steps to ensure the Company continues to outperform its peers and expand market share while continuing to reduce costs and increase profitability," said Raymond Zinn, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Micrel who, together with retired co-founder Warren Muller, currently owns approximately 30% of total shares outstanding. "We continue to oppose OCM's nominees on the basis that they have very limited semiconductor industry and operating experience and we believe it is clear that OCM is attempting to take control of Micrel in order to secure a quick, opportunistic gain for themselves at the expense of other shareholders. We believe Micrel is taking the necessary steps, both in terms of its board of directors and the senior management of the Company, to outpace our industry's revenue growth rate. We look forward to the Special Meeting, which will provide shareholders an important opportunity to support our deeply committed Board of Directors, and to putting this matter behind us and focusing exclusively on running the Company and creating shareholder value."
Micrel intends to file a proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the Special Meeting, which will be mailed to shareholders along with a white proxy card.
About Micrel, Incorporated
Micrel, Incorporated is a leading global manufacturer of IC solutions for the worldwide analog, Ethernet and high bandwidth markets. The Company's products include advanced mixed-signal, analog and power semiconductors; high performance communication, clock management, Ethernet switch and physical layer transceiver ICs. Company customers include leading manufacturers of enterprise, consumer, industrial, mobile, telecommunications, automotive, and computer products. Corporation headquarters and state-of-the-art wafer fabrication facilities are located in San Jose, California with regional sales and support offices and advanced technology design centers situated throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. In addition, the Company maintains an extensive network of distributors and reps worldwide. Web: http://www.micrel.com.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION / SOLICITATION PARTICIPANTS LEGEND
Micrel, Incorporated and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of Micrel, Incorporated in connection with any meeting of shareholders that may be held. Information regarding the interests of these directors and executive officers in connection with the matters to be voted on at any meeting that may be held will be included in the proxy statement filed by Micrel, Incorporated in connection with any such meeting. In addition, Micrel, Incorporated files annual, quarterly and special reports, proxy and information statements, and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These documents are available, and the proxy statement, when it is filed, will be available free of charge at the Securities and Exchange Commission's web site at www.sec.gov or from Micrel, Incorporated at www.micrel.com. SHAREHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT CAREFULLY WHEN IT IS AVAILABLE, AS IT WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT SHAREHOLDERS SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR INVESTMENT DECISION.
Investor Contact: Media Contacts:
Richard Crowley P. Kranhold/A. Cole
Micrel, Incorporated Sard Verbinnen & Co
(408) 944-0800 (415) 618-8750
Source: Micrel, Incorporated
TI Boost Controller Drives Industrial Lighting Innovation
Monday April 7, 9:00 am ET
LED driver supports 1- to 5-W high-brightness LEDs
DALLAS, April 7, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Opening the door to new technology advancements in industrial and architectural lighting, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN - News) introduced today a 4.5 V to 52 V wide-input voltage, non-synchronous boost controller, intended for applications where the output is a regulated current instead of a regulated voltage. The new TPS40211, demonstrated at the Light+Building Frankfurt show (April 6 - 11, 2008) at the "LED Light for you (LLFY) - powered by OSRAM" booth (Hall 4.1 / D31), allows designers to efficiently manage LED lighting, industrial control and battery-powered systems. See: http://www.ti.com/tps40211-pr.
The TPS40211 efficiently drives high-power LEDs when the input voltage is less than the voltage to turn on the LEDs. The LED driver is designed to power multiple 1- to 5-W high-brightness LEDs in a series, and features a programmable closed soft start, over current protection with automatic retry and a programmable oscillator frequency. The device's fixed frequency current mode control provides improved transient response and simplified loop compensation. Designers have the flexibility to use the TPS40211 for boost, flyback, SEPIC and various LED driver topologies.
TI features lighting technology advancements at Light+Building
TI is featuring a variety of product demonstrations at the Light+Building conference this week in the LLFY booth, including a lighting driver with the TPS40211 device, a brightness control application and an inverter implementation. Three TPS62260 2.25 MHz 600 mA buck converters power a RGB color-mixing demonstration, featuring 252 color values, provides color adjust through an incremental decoder; an LED driver demonstration features TI's TCA6507 seven-channel, I2C LED blinker and dimmer, 16-step intensity control and easy control with a parallel port-to-PC interface. The TLC5940 16-channel driver IC is featured in an LED video wall driver demonstration with 12-bit grayscale PWM (pulse width modulation) control, 6-bit dot correction and driver capability of 120 mA per channel.
Pricing and availability
The TPS40211 is available today in volume from TI and its authorized distributors. The device is offered in a 10-pin PowerPAD(TM) and a 10-pin SON package, and suggested resale price is $1.40 in 100-unit quantities.
LED driver and display solutions
TI provides the broadest portfolio of high-performance products for today's LED design requirements, including power management, such as AC/DC, power factor correction, DC/DC and linear power conversion; RF transceivers; digital signal processors (DSPs); and ultra-low-power microcontrollers. TI's products support applications ranging from ultra-small portable displays to the largest lighting and display panels in the industry. Additionally, TI's local support and applications expertise help designers get to market faster. See: http://www.ti.com/led. TI is a certified partner of LLFY, which supports designers with outstanding and forward-looking solutions for Solid State Lighting (SSL).
About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN - News) helps customers solve problems and develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier, safer, greener and more fun. A global semiconductor company, TI innovates through manufacturing, design and sales operations in more than 25 countries. For more information, go to http://www.ti.com.
PowerPAD is a trademark of Texas Instruments. All registered trademarks and other trademarks belong to their respective owners.
Source: Texas Instruments Incorporated
MKS Instruments Announces First Quarter 2008 Earnings Conference Call
Thursday April 3, 11:35 am ET
ANDOVER, Mass., April 3, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MKS Instruments, Inc. (Nasdaq: MKSI - News), a global provider of technologies that enable advanced processes and improve productivity, today announced that it will release first quarter 2008 financial results prior to market opening on Thursday, April 24, 2008. A conference call with management will be held the same day at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern Time). The call will be broadcast live and available for replay at www.mksinstruments.com. Dial-in numbers are 1-800-240-2430 for domestic callers and 303-262-2130 for international callers. A telephone replay can be accessed for one week at 303-590-3000, pass code 11111743#.
MKS Instruments, Inc. is a global provider of instruments, subsystems and process control solutions that measure, control, power, monitor and analyze critical parameters of advanced manufacturing processes to improve process performance and productivity. Our products are derived from our core competencies in pressure measurement and control, materials delivery, gas composition and analysis, electrostatic charge management, control and information technology, power and reactive gas generation, and vacuum technology. Our primary served markets are manufacturers of capital equipment for semiconductor devices, and for other thin film applications including flat panel displays, solar cells, data storage media, and other advanced coatings. We also leverage our technology in other markets with advanced manufacturing applications including medial equipment, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and energy generation and environmental monitoring.
Source: MKS Instruments
Some distressed-debt investors are buying
Activity may help stabilize markets, but most action limited to mortgages
By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch
Last update: 7:14 p.m. EDT April 3, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Some distressed-debt investors have begun buying and if such activity picks up later this year it could help stabilize credit markets, experts said this week.
The strategy involves buying bonds and other securities of companies that are near or in bankruptcy, then hopefully selling later when they recover or reorganize under court protection from creditors. See story on hopes for strategy
Credit markets have been hit by a dearth of buyers in recent months as some hedge funds and other leveraged investors have been forced to sell positions to meet margin calls. Banks and brokerage firms have been particularly hard hit as dwindling activity in some markets made some holdings tougher to value, leading to billions of dollars in write-downs.
In this environment, the emergence of new buyers would be a welcome sign and could help set prices on a firmer footing.
The leveraged loan market, which finances private-equity buyouts and other acquisitions, has become particularly reliant on distressed debt investors, according to David Resnick, co-head of investment banking at Rothschild, a note restructuring and bankruptcy advisor.
"They're crucial to the liquidity of the market now and are really setting the terms," Resnick explained. "That's a very interesting dynamic that's different from previous cycles."
Dan Och, head of Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, said in late February that the firm's largest hedge fund - the $20 billion OZ Master Fund - has put 10% of its money into credit strategies, up from zero before the crunch hit last summer. Most of that has been invested in senior, secured loans. See full story
"Banks are constrained and off-balance sheet conduits are no longer buying. Insurers probably won't be buying either," said Ron Greenspan, senior managing director at FTI Consulting, which advises creditors and lenders on corporate bankruptcies and re-organizations. "So the hedge funds will be the first big movers and the good news is that they have abundant capital to do it."
Mortgages
Despite a slowing economy and credit market turmoil, corporate bankruptcies have yet to increase much. That's leading some distressed debt investors to focus on trouble mortgages.
Indeed, Och said his firm's main fund has begun buying beaten-down home loans.
"We're likely to get more aggressive over the next six to 12 months," he added. "We see more opportunity in that area going forward."
Fortress Investment Group plans to raise $15 billion to $20 billion in new capital this year to pounce on opportunities created by the credit crunch.
Distressed mortgage-related securities may offer the most compelling investment opportunities, Wes Edens, chief executive of the hedge fund and private-equity firm, said.
Edens described the current crisis as "one of the great de-leveraging events of our lifetime," in which far too many assets are for sale with not enough financially strong buyers around to snap them up. See story on the 'Great Unwind'
That's left some assets trading at very cheap prices, relative to the outlook for actual credit losses, Edens said.
"Now is the time to look to buy," he said. "The gap between the market's perception and the actual risk is the widest I've ever seen."
In late March, BlackRock Inc. and hedge fund firm Highfields Capital Management unveiled new $2 billion vehicle called PennyMac that will buy distressed home loans. See full story
Citadel Investment Group, a big hedge fund firm run by Ken Griffin, bought a $3 billion portfolio of troubled mortgage-related securities for $800 million from struggling broker E-Trade Financial late last year.
Marathon Asset Management LLC, a $9 billion distressed debt hedge fund firm, rolled out a new fund to buy distressed mortgage assets in the summer.
Fremont Investment servicer quality rating cut to 'SQ4-' from 'SQ4' - Moody's
04.07.08, 3:16 AM ET
BANGALORE (Thomson Financial) - Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded the servicer quality rating of Fremont Investment & Loan to 'SQ4-' from 'SQ4' and that it maintains the rating on review for possible further downgrade.
The ratings agency said the downgrade follows the continued deterioration of financial and operating conditions, as well as the regulatory actions impacting Fremont and its parent, Fremont General Corp.
Moody's also said the rating action was prompted in part by recent management turnover at both Fremont and its parent.
The outlook for Fremont and Fremont General remains negative.
TFN.newsdesk@thomson.com
Bob Brinker said the markets will hit new highs mid-2009. Will this include iStar? Most likely imho.
http://www.bobbrinker.com/
Count on it. You can take it to the bank imho.
Agree 100%. 'Red' hot.
Yes, seem to be growing exponentially imho.
I think he/she already owns quite a few shares. Could be wrong, jmho.
Please post the financials. Thanks.
Thanks for the DD. Keep up the great work. I hope you and your's have a very merry weekend.
What is your take on the D, E, F, G and I preferred series? TIA
Agree 100%. Have you looked at the Stanford Venture website?
http://www.thestanfordventuregroup.com/pages/team.htm
Very interesting.
Indofood's Fourth-Quarter Net Rises 92% on Higher Noodle Prices
By Naila Firdausi
March 31 (Bloomberg) -- PT Indofood Sukses Makmur, Indonesia's biggest instant-noodle maker, posted a 92 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit after boosting prices, more than offsetting increased raw-material costs, including wheat.
Net income rose to 297.1 billion rupiah ($32 million) from 155.1 billion rupiah, according to figures derived by Bloomberg from full-year earnings released today. Company Secretary Werianty Setiawan confirmed the figures. Sales rose 39 percent to 8.19 trillion rupiah.
Indofood has been raising prices of its Indomie, Sarimi and other brands to bolster profit margins. The Jakarta-based company, which controls the nation's second-largest publicly traded agriculture company, also benefited from record palm oil prices.
``Indofood has strong brands,'' Siswa Rizali, who helps to manage $391 million at PT NISP Sekuritas, said before the results were announced. Pack-price increases help ``offset rising production cost of noodles and the flour business,'' he said.
Full-year profit rose 48 percent to 980.4 billion rupiah, or 115 rupiah a share, from 661.21 billion rupiah, or 78 rupiah, a year earlier, Indofood said in a statement. That exceeded the median estimate of 870 billion rupiah from 14 analysts compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose 27 percent to 27.85 trillion rupiah.
Indofood, which has gained 55 percent in the past year in Jakarta trading, rose 1.1 percent to 2,375 rupiah on March 28. Of the 18 analysts whose recommendations are tracked by Bloomberg, 16 have a ``buy'' rating on the stock.
Price Increases
Indofood on March 12 confirmed a Credit Suisse Group report that it raised noodle prices earlier this month, the fifth gain in ten months, to recover costs. The company began boosting prices last May after keeping rates unchanged for more than three years.
The latest price increase, of 100 rupiah a pack, ``reaffirms our view of Indofood's focus on profitability and a better competitive environment,'' Credit Suisse's Arief Wana said in the report.
The price of wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade, the global benchmark, has more than doubled in the past 12 months, touching a record $13.495 a bushel on Feb. 27 on speculation world growers won't produce enough to meet needs. Wheat is used to make instant noodles, a staple food in Indonesia.
The price of palm oil, also used in noodle manufacture, surged to a record 4,486 ringgit ($1,406) a metric ton in Kuala Lumpur on March 4, spurred by rising demand and increased investor interest in commodities.
Indofood, on balance, benefits from higher palm oil prices as it makes the commodity at its own unit, Indofood Agri Resources Ltd., Morgan Stanley analysts Hozefa Topiwalla and Kalpesh Makwana said in a March 18 report.
The company also controls PT Perusahaan Perkebunan London Sumatra Indonesia, which on March 13 said full-year profit almost doubled to 564 billion rupiah on rising palm oil prices.
The pack-price increases will improve Indofood's profit margins, wrote Topiwalla and Makwana, who raised the stock to ``overweight'' from ``equal-weight'' and boosted their 2008 earnings estimate.
To contact the reporter on this story: Naila Firdausi in Jakarta at nfirdausi@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: March 30, 2008 21:35 EDT