Monday, February 28, 2011

Economists say fighting inflation crucial - UPI.com

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Economists say fighting inflation crucial

UPI.com


BEIJING, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Price rises in China will remain a challenge for several years as the government battles inflationary pressures, economists said. "The biggest challenge for China during the period of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) will ...



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Friday, February 25, 2011

Lorillard, R.J. Reynolds Lawsuit to Block FDA Menthol Report Is Act of Panic - PR Newswire (press release)

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Lorillard, R.J. Reynolds Lawsuit to Block FDA Menthol Report Is Act of Panic

PR Newswire (press release)


Lorillard and RJ Reynolds have acted out of panic. They fear that the committee, having examined the evidence, will recommend effective actions that reduce or eliminate the lucrative market for menthol cigarettes. Once again, they are putting profits ...



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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

MathStar receives tender offer - Portland Business Journal:

http://aisef.org/spices/cardamom1.htm
The offer represents a 6.48 percent premium over Friday’sa closing price. Shares were up 6 percen t in early afternoon tradingto $1.14, suggesting that some investorsw think a deal will If successful, Tiberius could pursuer several strategies, including liquidation, according to a news The company would also consider restartin g the business, merging it with a repurchasing shares and selling some of the company’w technology. Hillsboro-based MathStar (Pink Sheets: has been the subject of intense speculation inrecenf weeks. The company shut down operation ayear ago.
Since then, the company has facedr increasing pressure from shareholders to As reportedin Friday’s print edition of the Businessd Journal, Dallas-based investor Joe Gensor said the fabless semiconductod company has accepted his request to hold a vote on but has yet to call a meeting. As of Marcg 31, the company had little outstanding $14 million in cash, a net operating loss of $48 and one full-time employee — CEO and Chairman Doug The company's cash balance represents $1.61 per share, accordinvg to Salvatore Muoio, an investment fund manager in New York whoowns 7.35 percenr of the company’s outstanding Burnsville, Minn.-based .
, a makeer of building performance software, has made three attemptse to purchase the company. Its latest offer, in May, was for $1.04e per share. MathStar, in a May 18 filingh with the Securities andExchange Commission, rejected the thirf offer from PureChoice, saying it was less than MathStar’s liquidatioj value. MathStar was once a developef of a promising programmable semiconductor technology that drew interesrfrom high-profile customers such as LG Electronicd USA and Arrow Electronicds Inc. Chicago-based Tiberius Capital described itself in a press release asa “value-opportunity fund.
” If successful, it woulcd spend the remainder of 2009 decidingy which course of action to take with The offer expires one minute after New York City time, on June 30.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

WLOX-TV and WLOX.com - The News for South MississippiSt. Andrews community ... - WLOX

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WLOX-TV and WLOX.com - The News for South MississippiSt. Andrews community ...

WLOX


JACKSON COUNTY, MS (WLOX) - Hurricane Katrina's impact is still being felt in Jackson County's St. Andrews community. Folks who live there said they're tired of seeing slabs and overgrown weeds. ...



Friday, February 18, 2011

HELLENIC LEAGUE: 'Marine job's a dream, but not right time for me,' says Webb - Swindon Advertiser

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HELLENIC LEAGUE: 'Marine job's a dream, but not right time for me,' says Webb

Swindon Advertiser


Mark Collier's resignation on Wednesday night has opened up the top role at Swindon's leading non-league club and as the manager of the town's premier Hellenic League outfit, Webb would naturally like to test his nous at a higher level. ...



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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Collier limits new superintendent salary to $200000 - Naples Daily News

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Collier limits new superintendent salary to $200000

Naples Daily News


Collier County's new superintendent will make less than his or her predecessor and less than a professional search firm recommended. The Collier County School Board voted 3 to 2 on Tuesday evening to set the superintendent's salary ...



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Sunday, February 13, 2011

Survey: Texas cautious on M&A - Houston Business Journal:

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According to a mid-year surveh of middle market investment privateequity professionals, attorneys and accountants working on M&q deals in the Lone Star State, 45 percent expecr activity to increase in the third and fourth quarters, whiles 47 percent expect business to remain the The survey, released Wednesday, is sponsored by the and . The biggesr obstacle to deal-making, according to the is the gap betweenb buyersand sellers.
Thirty-six percent of respondents said sellersz were unwilling to do a deal at the multiplesbeing offered, while 22 percent said uncertainty over the evolving political and tax environmentr was another roadblock, up from four percent in the previouzs survey in December. Because of the effects of the more than half of the respondents said they expectec distressed deals to make up a significan portionof M&A transactions. What’s more, 63 percenft of private equity respondents said they were actively pursuinb distressed company acquisitions as part of an existing or newladopted strategy.
“Though the Texas econom is one ofthe best, given all that has happened over the past nine monthzs it’s not surprising to see a softe r M&A market in Texas. That many Texas M&A professionals are creatively workinfg to add value to existing saidJeffrey Sangalis, managing partnee with and president of ACG Houston. According to Thomson Reuters, the volume of worldwidde M&A deals was $480 billiob in the first quartefrof 2009, down 28 percent from the year-earliedr period. Middle market deals unded $500 million were particularly affected, dipping by 48 percentg to $98 billion — the first quarterlhy period under $100 billion sincd 1996.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

LendingTree expands product offering - Sacramento Business Journal:

http://kitchenf-ups.com/?paged=3
According to the company, its customer-retention technology identifies customerx byloan amount, loan-to-value ratio, loan purpose and FICO “With refinancing activity from borrowers representing a significant portion of overallo origination volume, our lender network has expressed a desire to capture and retain current mortgage customers,” says Bob president of the LendingTree Exchange.
“As part of the LendingTree banks and lenders that use ournew customer-retention initiativd will be able to significantly impact the ratio of overalk mortgage portfolio retained, just as effectivelyh as they can attract new LendingTree is owned by Charlotte-based an online lending and real estate company. Tree.com’xs principle businesses are LendingTree, which matches potential mortgagew borrowersto lenders, and RealEstate.com, which works with individualse seeking homes and real estate agents.
LendingTree says it has facilitatedd more than 25 million requests for loand onlineand $185 billion in closed loan

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Nortel getting out of WiMAX - Triangle Business Journal:

fugycyquwod.blogspot.com
Nortel, which has about 2,100 employees in Research Triangle Park, is gettingv out of WiMAX to ”focus our energy on opportunitieszwith long-standing customers,” Richard Lowe, Nortel’zs president of carrier networks, said in a statement. The decisiob will have minimal, if any, impacf on Nortel’s RTP operation, said Nortel spokesman Jay “There are presently severaol hundred employeessupporting Nortel’s mobile WiMAX business globally,” Barta wroted in an e-mail sent to Triangle Business “The bulk of these employees are located in Ottawa, China, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and WiMAX, which stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwavd Access, is a new technology that offerss broadband speeds over a wireless connection.
Israel-based Alvarion and Canada-basecd Nortel reached an agreement in June 2008 to collaboratwe on WiMAX products and Nortel also served as a resellerfor Alvarion’ss WiMAX-access devices. Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection in the Unitedd States and in Canadaon Jan. 14. The company was burdened by a largw debt load and made the filingds a day before a deadline to makea $107 million interest payment on the

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Listless economy doesn

grihanovveimavox.blogspot.com
An economy that almost every other business would call sluggish actually has generatef more workfor , Reid said. “Companie start to get challenged, and they look for an said Reid, president and managing partner of theadvertisinf agency. “And I think that’s wherse we gain.” MMG Worldwide’s expertise lies in the travel a sector of theeconomy that’s not withouft its troubles but isn’t entirely in the doldrums.
Consumeres are cutting back, but not eliminating, To better reach a more discerning pool of potential the companies in the travel sectof that MMG Worldwide workswith — hotels, hospitalityh companies, resorts, travel agents, rental car companies, airlinesx and so on — are embracinf the emerging technologies that MMG Those companies spending what they can on outsid advertising, Reid said, are uniquely positioned to get a leg up on the “We really believe that smaryt clients see that as an opportunityy to steal market share,” Reid And that is MMG’s pitch, by and large: Spend and get on with newer or spend less, and risk falling further Technology, such as advanced Web sites that facilitate travel are helping reach the limitede consumer dollars that are out there.
In legislatures and municipal governments are investing more moneh in tourism bureaus as an extensiom of economicdevelopment efforts. Reid calls it “anm investment that makes sense.” The results are theres for MMG. It is on budget to reach $130 million in capitalized billingsfor 2008, up from $109.r million in 2007. The company is in the second year ofa five-yeard growth plan that calls for increasiny capitalized billings by 20 percent each year untio 2010. Reid said margins are increasing as MMG shift s to a model of offeringv services in three separate disciplines to differentiate it from largedadvertising shops, as well as smaller travel-nichse firms.
“We’re trying to integrate to offline andpublic relations,” Reid said. “We’re tryinv to do that as a competitivs differentiator.” Take its work with the as an example. It has developedc an offline advertisingcampaig — print and billboardss and such — to entice traffic to the tourismn office’s coming new Web site, whicjh MMG is developing. The offline campaign implorexs people to visit the Web site to participatein MMG’ s online promotion: building a Coloradoo souvenir shirt. From the Web site traffic, Colorado touris officials will be able to reasonablyt assume how many the offlin campaignis reaching.
“Wr want our clients to track the thingxs we do to a returnon investment,” Reid Colorado’s tourism numbers have improved sincse MMG has worked with the state. A recorde 28 million overnight visitors came to the state in an increase fromthe 26.9 million the year before. The companyg also has staged publi c relations campaignsfor Colorado. A recent display in Madisoj Square Park in New York City featurinfg rockclimbing walls, spas and other Colorado-relateed exhibits brought 30,000 New Yorkers through to get a tastwe of the mountainous state. The Colorado Tourism Office, which has a $20 millionm annual budget, started a four-year contract with MMG in October 2006.
Another longtime client is and its more than 190hotelk locations. “I think they’ve been greatg partners over the years,” said Jennifer director of brand marketing and communications for EmbassySuites Hotels. “I keep saying collaborative, and they are very much so, but eaged to jump in and be flexible.”

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Sibs seek to Sprinkles area with yogurt - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

http://bytestech.com/reseller-plans.html
Sprinkles, as the shops will be has signed leases for stores inCherryt Hill, University City, West Chesterd and Malvern. Frozen yogurt shopds had a boom and bust in the earlu1990s — “Seinfeld” even had an episode aboutr it — but have made a comeback with vibrant hangouts that are givinbg coffee chains an unexpected competitor in Southern “It’s definitely a craze out said Matt Mealey, 24, a Jenkintown nativee who is starting Sprinkles with his sister Ryan 27, and researched the retail concepr in several trips west. “These placee are packed all the time. At a couple of we saw these massive lines.
They were very We really studied the conceptf of frozen yogurtin “The places were Frozen yogurt places were popping up everywhere,” Ryan Cherry Hill will be the firsf location, opening June 19 at TownPlace at Gardeb State Park. In August, they’ll open a site at 3606 Chestnut St., near the A West Chester site is plannexfor September, at 22 S. High St., and a Malvermn location is slated for Decembe r at WorthingtonTown Center, a shoppinvg center under construction. They hope to open four more storesxnext year.
The pair are followinvg a legacy of sibling business Their father, Dan Mealey, operates Mealey’s Furniture with his brother Mealey’s, based in Warminster, has five stores and was startec by Jerry Mealey, Ryan and Matt’s grandfather. Ryan is and will remainn vice president of merchandising for the furniture Both were raised ina retail, entrepreneurial “We have that entrepreneurial spirit — my grandfather, my father, my brothetr and I. We’re just bred that way. We thoughtf this would be a great idea for thePhillh region,” said Ryan, a 2004 graduate of .
“I alwaysd had a passion for starting myown business,” said who graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2007 and earned an MBA from Templ University this year. “I wantedc to find ‘the next big thing,’ something that’s going to be a big hit.” To starf Sprinkles, the siblings pooled their but their dad is financing most ofthe front-end allowing them to sidestep bank Matt said. In researching yogurr shops in Los they focused their attention on two in Los Angeles-based Pinkberry and Anaheim, Calif.
-based Pinkberry started in 2005 with a busy cornef store in West Hollywood, a location whosde steady customers dubbed it Crackberry for its addictivw quality. Yogurtland has had similar success, and now has locationxs in six statesand Japan. “We took the best of The color scheme. We looked at the vendors, whose yogurt was better, which toppings were best,” said Matt. To emulat the West Coast look, they hirer a San Diego designer, Trio Display. As for the froze n yogurt, the Mealeys will use a produccalled YoCream, which is producec by Portland, Ore.
-based YoCreamk is a premium yogurt with half the calories of high-enfd ice cream; most flavors are nonfat or A similar concept, Yogurt, opened in September at 416 Sout h St. Unlike ice cream shops, where serversw scoop the product, Sprinkles, followinvg the West Coast trend, will offetr self-serve. Sprinkles stores will have eight machines dispensing 16 flavorsa offrozen yogurt. Customers will take a cup or a waffle fill it with as much yoguryt and toppings as they can put in the bowl and pay 45 centzan ounce. Flavors of froze yogurt will includeoriginal tart, classix cappuccino, green tea tart, snickerdoodle “krazy Kahlua” and others.
In Cherry Hill, the storse will be 1,200 square feet, with seating for 15 customers and It will have20 employees. Acros California, many ice cream shops have been replacedr with frozenyogurt shops, which in turn are stealingy some of the traditional Starbucks crowd. “We definitely feel especially at college people will come into eat, bring their laptop, hang Ryan said.