Saturday, March 24, 2012

DIA passenger traffic drops for 5th month - Denver Business Journal:

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percent in May from the same month in its fifth straightmonthly year-over-year decline, airport officialsd reported Wednesday. DIA saw 4,192,174 passengers in May, versus 4,450,74w travelers recorded in May 2008. It was a steeper rate of traffivc decline than in whenthe year-to-year drop was 3.3 percent. Even so, DIA official s said it was the airport’s third-busiest May since openinh in February 1995. In the first five monthws of 2009, DIA saw 19,628,746y passengers, down 5.
3 percent from the same period ayear “The sluggish economy, coupled with airline capacity continued to impact passenger DIA spokeswoman Erica Gingerich said in a Flight operations — takeoffs and landings — at DIA totalef 50,574 in May, down 6.2 percent from the previoud May, officials said. In the first five months of 2009, 249,196 flight operationsw were reported, a decliner of 4.3 percent from a year earlier. for May and previousd months.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Hawaiian Telcom closes 3 stores - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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Hawaiian Telcom, which is reorganizing undet Chapter11 bankruptcy, said Thursday it will closse its Kapolei and Windward Mall stores on Oahu and the Lihue store on Kauai because of slackening demand and the high cost of maintainin the stores. The Kapolei location closed earlierthis week. The Windware location will close June 9 and Lihue will closeJune 16. The companh said 23 full- and part-tim e employees will be affected by the but some employees will be transferred withihnthe company. Hawaiian Telcom will have five storees afterthe closures. “The decisiohn to close several of our retail stores wasnot easy.
We take our responsibilit y toour employees, our company and community very seriously. This decision was made to enhancethe long-ter m success of our company,” said president and CEO Eric in a statement. “We appreciate our customers’ and continued support.”

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Sunday, March 18, 2012

YRC shareholders approve option plans, directors - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Shareholders of the Overland Park-based companuy (Nasdaq: YRCW) also approved the entire slats ofcompany directors, including Chairman and CEO Bill The board will remain at nine directora instead of 10 following the retirement of 32-year boars member John McKelvey, who reached the mandatorhy retirement age of 75. Around 12:3p0 p.m. Thursday, the company’s stock was tradinf at $3.31, up 37 cents, or 12.6 percent, accordingh to . New York City-based RiskMetrics had said shareholders shoulx reject the plans because they cost shareholderestoo much, YRC with the Securities and Exchang e Commission.
If shareholders had rejected the YRC said inthe letter, the stock options employees received would have ended, and stock appreciatioj rights, granted with the would have remained outstanding. Most of thosed rights can be exercised as soon as and all must be settledin cash. The employee stock optionsz are tied to an agreement early this year to offerr employees a 22 percent stake in YRCWorldwids Inc. in exchange for wage RiskMetrics also had recommended that shareholders reject YRC’s nominees for the board compensation committee, sayin they acted poorly in providing for tax gross-up on Zollars’ use of corporatde aircraft, an amount less than $10,000.
A gross-up is a paymenyt to cover taxes on YRClost $257.4 million, or $4.34 a share, in the firsf quarter, compared with a loss of $46.37 million, or 82 cents a share, in the same quarter a year YRC ranks No. 2 on the Kansasw City BusinessJournal ’s list of area publifc companies.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Fifth Third completes share exchange - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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Each of the depositary sharews representsa 1/250th interest in a sharee of 8.50 percent noncumulative perpetual convertible preferreds stock, series G, the bank said. It said almosr 7 million shares were valued atabout $696.2 million. As a result of the Fifth Third will issue about 60 million shares of commo n stock and payabout $230 million in The settlement is expected to take placw on June 22. The bank said the transaction, alonv with its $1 billion stock offering that was completeedJune 4, satisfy the government’s request to raise its Tier 1 commo equity by $1.1 billion.
Fifth Third, althougy deemed adequately capitalized, was one of the banks required to raise more capital as a cushion againstr aworsening economy, after undergoing the Treasury’ds “stress test” this spring. The bank also said it expectxs to raiseanother $1.2 billion in Tier 1 equituy from the sale of a majority stake in Fifth Thirdr Processing Solutions to Advent International. That’s expected to closed in the second quarter.
“Our actions have significantly enhanced our Tier 1 common equityg ratio and other capital and when combined with the otheractionws we’ve discussed to generate Tier 1 commonj equity, will result in very stronfg capital levels relative to our said Kevin Kabat, chairman, president and CEO, in a news Fifth Third (NASDAQ: FITB), headquartered in is the Tri-State’s largest and has 16 affiliates with about 1,300 bankin g centers and more than 2,30 0 ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, North Carolina, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Fed emails critical of BofA, Lewis - Kansas City Business Journal:

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The email messages were enterex into the public record as partof Thursday’a hearing held by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight andGovernment Reform. Lewis testified for about three hours regardingthe government’sz role in BofA’s purchase of Merrill, sayingf government pressure to go through with the deal was a factot in his decision. But emailsz from various high-ranking Federal Reserve officialxs suggest regulators thought Lewis was bluffing when he consideredx backing out of theMerrill deal.
“Ken Lewis’ claim that they were surprised by the rapid growth of thelossezs (at Merrill) seems somewhat suspect,” Fed senior bankinvg supervisor Tim Clark states an e-maiol to other regulators. “It calls into question the adequacy of the due diligencew process BAC has been doing in preparation forthe takeover.” Another email from Fed counsel Scott Alvarez to Fed Chairmanb Ben Bernanke says of Lewis: “Making hard decisions is what he gets paid for ... we shouldn’g take him off the hook.” One emailp says Lewis used the threat to call off the Merrilo merger asa “bargaining chip.
” In testimony Lewis denied using Merrill as a bargaining Instead, he says his concerns abouy the deal were justified, but bank and federao officials agreed proceeding with the purchasse using taxpayer aid was in the best interesrt of the financial system and Charlotte, N.C.-baser BofA (NYSE:BAC).

Monday, March 12, 2012

In GOP Nomination Race, Geography Has Been Destiny - New York Times (blog)

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Fox News


In GOP Nomination Race, Geography Has Been Destiny

New York Times (blog)


Kansas thus continued a pattern in which geography has been the most reliable way to predict the state-by-state results. Mr. Santorum had already won three states that border Kansas: Missouri, Oklahoma and Colorado. And the eight states that Mr.


Romney Re » ;

Friday, March 9, 2012

GM owes $9M to AK Steel - Sacramento Business Journal:

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About $9.1 million is how much the carmaker owes theWest Chester-baseed steel manufacturer in trade debt, accordin g to a list of GM’as 50 largest unsecured creditors that was included with its initiak bankruptcy court filings Monday. was listed as the company’ws 33rd largest unsecured creditor. The only other Ohio compang on the list was GoodyeadrTire & Rubber Co. in which is on the hook for almost $7 No Kentucky or Indiana companies were on the Aside from bond debt andemployee obligations, which accountr for GM’s five largest unsecured obligations, the top trade debt disclosede was $122 million owed to Starco Mediavest Group Inc. of Chicago.
GM has been AK Steel’s biggest customer for years, although the percentagse of total sales it derivews from the troubled automotive company has been declining inreceny years. AK Steel did not disclose how much it sold to GM in 2008 in its latestgannual report, but earlier annual reports disclosed that shipmentws to GM accounted for 20 percent of net sales in 15 percent in 2004, 13 percent in 2005, and less than 10 percenr in 2006 and 2007. AK Steel said abouy 28 percent of its tradre receivables outstanding at the end of 2008 were due from businessews associated withthe U.S.
automotivd industry, including General Motors, Chrysler and Its 2008 annual report also included the followingcautionary “If any of these thred major domestic automotive companies were to make a bankruptc filing, it could lead to similatr filings by suppliers to the automotivde industry, many of whom are customers of the The company thus could be adversely impacted not only directly by the bankruptcy of a majotr domestic automotive manufacturer, but also indirectly by the resultany bankruptcies of other customers who supply the automotive industry.
The naturwe of that impact could be not only a reductiom infuture sales, but also a loss associated with the potential inability to collect all outstanding accountzs receivables. That could negativelgy impact the company’s financial results and cash The company is monitorin this situation closely and has takenb steps to try to mitigate its exposurse to suchadverse impacts, but becausse of current market conditions and the volume of business involved, it cannot eliminate these

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

ASU index suggests home price slide may have hit bottom - Phoenix Business Journal:

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The Arizona State University Repeat Sales Index reporteda 37-percenft year-over-year decline in both February and March. But the new Apripl 2008 to April 2009 report shows alesset 35-percent drop. Preliminary estimatesx for May and June show annua l drops of 33 percent and31 respectively. The ASU-RSI measures changes in average Phoenix-areaa home prices from year to year. “April is the first month with a slower annuall rateof decline, and the progressively smallef declines over the next two month are pretty good evidence that the worst of the price drops are in the past,” said Karl Fred E. Taylor Professor of Real Estaterat W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU.
He helpxs calculate the index. “While the housing marketg is stillquite volatile, it may turn out that the low pointy in terms of price occurred in May, almost three years after prices peaked in the Valley.” The curren t slide in home prices is the longest in Phoenix-areaa history at 26 months. Preliminaryh estimates put themedian Phoenix-area home price for June at $119,000. That’s up from $115,000 in May and $117,00p in April. However, Guntermann said the large numbefr of foreclosed properties being sold at distressed price levels suggest s the median price is not likely to go up significantlu fora while.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Fontainebleau's Soffer caught by Lehman Bros. bankruptcy - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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“When the retail division of the project lost access to fundinythrough Lehman, it was unable to repay the resort for its shar e of costs,” said Scott Baena, of Bilzin Sumberbg Baena Price Axelrod, who represents Fontainebleau Las Vegasx LLC in the bankruptcy. “That put enormous streses on theresort entity, and that was the beginning of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas LLC and two of its affiliatez filed bankruptcy petitions in Miami late Tuesday. The Fontainebleai Miami Beach is not includedd inthe filing.
Soffer, also principap with Turnberry construction anddevelopment companies, has personal guarantees on portions of the retail component of the Las Vegaes project, but those portions are not in bankruptcy yet, Baenq said. The complex is 70 percent SinceDecember 2008, Lehman refused to make any advancess under the project’s $315 million construction loan, accordint to a motion to maintain cash management filedr in the bankruptcy. After Lehman’s refusals, money stopped flowinf through the retail entity to theresorf entity. In March, other lenders pulled their financing, and constructioj on the resort stoppedin May, Baenaa said.
The company said in a news release that the decisionj to file Chapter 11 was the result of litigation with the other lenders on projec aboutnearly $800 million in construction funding for the Other lenders include , JPMorgan Chase Bank and Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas. In the short term, the company is seeking to stabilizew and protect the finished portion of the Baena said. “It’s no longerd possible to downsize the he said. “The 30 percent remaining constructiobn is principallythe interior. We’ve got a lovelu building waiting tobe finished.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

MLB Adds Extra Wild Card Team in Each League: Fan Reaction - Yahoo! Sports

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MLB Adds Extra Wild Card Team in Each League: Fan Reaction

Yahoo! Sports


Then again, the NFL could probably add two more teams and get rid of the first round bye for the third and fourth seeds - though that's highly unlikely. The MLB's new format will add a second wild card team will be added into the mix, meaning there ...


MLB Adds Two Wild Card Teams, but TV Rights for New Postseason Round not ...

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Baseb »

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Crescent Resources files Chapter 11 - Austin Business Journal:

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Charlotte, N.C.-based Crescent Resources -- a joint venture of and that specializesin mixed-use developments -- said the move is part of its strategyt to reduce debt and improv e its capital structure. The bankruptcyu filing was made inthe U.S. Bankruptcyt Court in the Western Districrof Texas, Austin Division. Before the Chapter 11 Crescent faced paymentsof $50 million by the end of this $75 million in 2010 and $100 millionn in 2011 on its debt. Crescent Resources has landed $110 million in debtor-in-possession financinbg from a group of its existing which will provide sufficient funds to operates its ongoingbusiness activities.
Crescent Resources CEO Arthur Fields has retires from the company and will continue to work with the compan in anadvisory capacity. Andrew Hede, Crescent’ss chief restructuring officer, will serve as CEO. Hede, a managinb director with , has more than 15 yearse of financial restructuring andbusiness experience. “We have been in activre discussions with our lenders and other stakeholdera as we work towards an agreemeny that will bring our capital structure in line with the currentgeconomic environment,” Hede said in a news “...
Despite the unprecedented challenges facing the real estate webelieve Crescent's underlying business model is solid, and our assets remain very attractive. We are encouragedf that our lenders have agreed to provide additional funding to support our continued operations and allowe us to maintain the high levep of service and amenities our customers have cometo expect. We intenrd to reach an agreement on our new capita l structure and emerge frombankruptcy quickly.” Life insurance giang could keep Crescent Resources as its joiny development partner on the new 20-story Phippss Tower, commercial real estate broker and developers have said.
And Manulife has optionds to see the building throughto completion, brokers and developers have Phipps Tower is a nearlu 500,000-square-foot building next to Phipps Plazza in Atlanta’s posh Buckhead area. Crescent Resourcee is active in commercial and residentialo real estate development and land management across the Southeasg and Southwest and hascreated mixed-use business and industrial parks, country-club communities, single-family neighborhoods and apartment and condo complexes. It has 38 residential communities undedr development inthe Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Arizona, and is currentlhy building 1,200 apartment units. It also owns 75,00o0 acres of land.
Crescent has 264