Fontainebleau Las Vegas company files Chapter 11 - Washington Business Journal:

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Fontainebleau Las Vegas LLC and two of its affiliates Fontainebleau Las Vegas Holdings LLC and Fontainebleau Las VegasCapital Corp. – filed bankruptcy petition in Miamilate Tuesday. The Miami Beacb hotel is not included inthe filing. The compan y said in a news release that the decisiob to file Chapter 11 was the direct result of litigatio with lenders on the Las Vegas hote l construction project that had to do with contractuaol disputes related tonearluy $800 million in construction funding for the $2.9 billion resort-casino project, which is 70 percent complete. Lenders includse , and Deutsche Bank Trusgt Co. Americas.
The legal dispute has effectively shut down the projectfand “put thousands of peoples out of work,” said Howard Karawan, chiefg restructuring officer of Fontainebleau Las in the release. “Our goal now is to securs funding to completethis world-clasds project and restructure our existinb debt.” Fontainebleau Las Vegaxs reached a provisional agreement with a group of its non-defaultingt lenders for the use of cash for the administratio of its bankruptcy case, and is in negotiations to obtain financingy to restart construction on that project. Fontainebleau Miam i Beach, which is a separatee legal entity, continues to operate as normal.
Turnberry West the project’s general contractor, is also not included in the according to thenews release. In 2008, Nakheel Hoteld of Dubai bought a 50 percent interest in the Fontainebleau Miami Beachfor $375 The Las Vegas hotepl companies that filed bankruptcy are baseds in South Florida because the Soffer familgy of Aventura, which also owns the Turnberrh development and construction companies, owns all the Fontainebleau companies. Jeffreyg Soffer is a principal of umbrella company FontainebleauResorts LLC, accordintg to state records.
Fontainebleau Las Vegas also withdrewa without prejudiceits $3 billionb lawsuit in Las Vegas against some of its and refiled the case in Miami bankruptcy court, wherse the Chapter 11 petitions were The lawsuit with lenders was amended on May 12 to include allegationas that Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americax was “seeking to destroy the Fontainebleau in orderf tominimize competition” with the nearby and Casino, which is whollu owned by a Deutsche Bank subsidiary. "This claim is an attempt by the Fontainebleau'as developers to distract from the fact that they have breacheed theirloan covenants.
We will defen d ourselves vigorously against this meritless Deutsche Bank spokesman John Gallagher said inan e-mailed response. Fontainebleau Las Vegas LLC lists morethan $1 billioh in debt and a similar amount in assets on its with more than 1,000 creditors. The only South Floridqa creditor listed was International Bedding inFort Lauderdale, with a claim of $498,737.

Care providers cut hundreds of jobs - San Francisco Business Times:

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will cut about 24 jobs out of roughly 6,000 overall full-time-equivalent positions by the end of according to CEOMark Laret. Thesse include management, nursing, IT, medical technician, clericaol and other jobs. Laretr said UCSF has racked up recordf patient volume inrecent months, but needsz to prepare for likely Medicare reimbursementt cuts and sharply increased pension fund obligations once the Universitty of California rejiggers its systemwide pensiob system. UCSF’s confirmation that it will tweak the size of its workforced followslast week’s news that San Francisco’s is eliminating 200 most of them non-clinical.
CPMC said it’s taking othed steps to cut costs, including a 3 percenft pay cutfor management, a hiring freeze and a freezer on capital spending. Some jobs have alread been eliminated, while others will be cut over the next few said spokesmanKevin McCormack. CPMC wants to cut $30 millioh with the latest after earlier squeezingout $30 milliohn by trimming hours and otherd measures. Sutter Health said just two ofthe 26-hospitapl system’s Northern California affiliates have instituted workforcee reductions in recent weeks, CPMC and Sutteer Solano Medical Center in Vallejo, whic h has sliced five full-time supportr and management positions.
The East Bay’s hasn’t had layoffs, said spokeswomann Carolyn Kemp, but is tweakinyg staffing patterns to save moneu in the wake of a patient census thatwas “wellk below” budget. Earlier this month, cut 70 non-clinicap positions in Northern California due todipping enrollment, and in mid-Marchb said it would slash 860 jobs as part of downsizinh and outsourcing initiatives in its IT unit. Kaiser said 160 systemwidr IT jobs would be cut for economic some 700 jobs are leavingthe Oakland-based health-card giant due to a $500 million, seven-year outsourcinv deal with .

Live: Witch Mountain Bring A Little Too Much Polish To Saint Vitus - Village Voice (blog)

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Village Voice (blog)

Live: Witch Mountain Bring A Little Too Much Polish To Saint Vitus Village Voice (blog) Overheard: Audience member Nick Didkovsky, on Pilgrim: "It's like they met in detention in high school. Like, can you imagine how many times this guy got ...

EchoStar Corporation Company Profile | SATS Company Information

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provides equipment sales, digital broadcast and satellite services thatenhance today's digitaol TV lifestyle, including products from Sling Media, Inc., a whollyg owned subsidiary. Headquartered in Englewood, Colo., EchoStar has 25 yearas of experience designing, developing and distributing advanceds award-winning television set-top boxes and related producta for pay television providers and is creating hardware and serviced solutionsfor cable, telco, IPTV and satellitd TV companies worldwide. The company includes a networkm of10 full-service digital broadcast centers and leased fibetr optic capacity with points of presence in approximately 160 U.S. cities.
EchoStadr also delivers satellite services through eighft owned andleased in-orbit satellites and related FCC licenses. EchoStar also has operationds inFoster City, California; Georgia; Steeton, UK; Holland; Madrid, Spain; and Ukraine.

MBA: Mortgage applications rise 6.6% - Business First of Louisville:

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Mortgage applications rose 6.6 percent for the week endes June 19, on a seasonally adjusted basias from the previous week and wereup 17.2 percenyt compared with the same week a year ago, according to the . The Refinancer Index increased 5.9 percent to 2,116.3 from 1,998.1q the previous week. The refinance share of mortgage activity fell slightlty to 54 percent of the totapl applicationsfrom 54.1 percent the previous The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-ratwe mortgages decreased to 5.44 percent from 5.50 with points increasing to 0.99 from 0.89. The average interesf rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreaser to 4.93 percent from 4.99 with points decreasing to 0.92 from 0.99.
The averag interest rate for one-year adjustable rate mortgages remained unchangeddat 6.54 percent, with points increasing to 0.11 from

PRWT names new executives - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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The Philadelphia-based provider of business process outsourcing, which branched out Jan. 1 by acquirinvg an active pharmaceutical ingredient plant fromMerck & Co., said Harolxd Epps had been appointed president. It is a new positiob in the company, a spokeswoman said. Epps was formerly vice presiden t of supply chain for plastics manufacturer Quadran Engineering PlasticsProducts Inc. of Reading, Pa. John Elliogt has been made president of the part of PRWT that includes the former Merckl facility incentral Pennsylvania. Elliot spent 25 yearsx with GlaxoSmithKline inpharmaceuticalp manufacturing, PRWT said.
PRWT says it is the first minoritty business enterprise in the United States to owna pharmaceutical-making It said Monday it will invest $15 milliom in the Riverside, Pa., site, which has an agreemen to supply Merck for five years that is worth betweeb $100 million and $200 million a year. The planft makes ingredients for antibiotics for humans and animalzs and has400 employees, according to PRWT, whichu has not disclosed the purchase price.
PRWT also said Mondau it "plans to invest in and grow itscore PRWT's core operations include providing customer service for parkinhg violations in Los Angeles and Philadelphia and for E-ZPass in the Delawars River Port Authority's jurisdiction.

Barbe's Cecchini is Mr. Baseball - KLFY

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Barbe's Cecchini is Mr. Baseball KLFY Acadiana's News Leader Barbe's Cecchini is Mr. Baseball. Member Center: Create Account|; Log In; Manage Account|; Log Out. SITE SEARCH WEB SEARCH ... and more »

Coffman seeks General Motors, Chrysler documents on dealer cutoffs - Houston Business Journal:

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Coffman, R-Aurora, wrote a letter Wednesday to leader of the House Committee on the asking that they subpoena documents from GM andChryslee "which will shed light on the criteria used to establisbh which automotive dealership franchises merited As part of their plans to emerge from bankruptcy protection, the two automakeres have announced plans to end franchise agreements with thousandss of dealerships nationwide, including several in Colorado. Many dealers have complained that the process used to determinew which dealers wuld be cut off is The Judiciary Committee is planning to hold a hearing July 21 on how the automake bankruptcies is affecting dealersand others.
"The recent government bailout and subsequent takeover of automotive manufacturers by the governmengt means this issue now warrant spublic scrutiny," Coffman said in his letter to the committee's chairman, Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., and its rankinb Republican leader, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz. "Thse bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler have allowex these companies the ability to shed themselves of the obligationes they had entered into through franchise agreements with countleses dealerships acrossthis country," Coffman He said the criteria "used to determine whicj dealerships survived while others were sacrificed remains shrouded in mystery.
" a freshman congressman, represents the 6th spanning the southern Denver suburbs.

Fifth Third Bank grappling with snafu by vendor affecting thousands - Business First of Columbus:

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has never visited Cincinnati, and after his experience thismonth he'es in no hurry. Rekola said he and his Karen, spent all day Dec. 3 and half of Dec. 4 tryintg to get someone at Cincinnati-basexd to correct a mistake made by a bank That mistake left them with a badlyh damagedcredit score, unable to get a student loan for theidr son's college tuition and complete a pendinh mortgage refinancing. All he's gotten from Fifthb Third, he said, are vagued assurances his problem will beaddressed eventually. "We've been shuffled around and shuffled We had to spend a lot of time retellinghour story, only to be told they couldn't help Rekola said.
"They just kept passingg us on." Fifth Third admitsx the error, which affects "several thousand" people, the exacgt number of which it hasn't It blames the mistake on , an outsourced-services vendofr it says was hiredby Florida-based , whicn Fifth Third acquired last month. Fifth Third said it found out about the mistake from another Crown customeeron Nov. 27, a week beforwe the Rekolas finally got through to a projecg manager at a Fifth Third call center who said hecoulx help.
The error "on the part of Crown'sw software vendor," said Fifth Third spokeswoman Debrwa DeCourcy, happened when Milwaukee-based Fiserv was trying to transmitg active mortgage documents to the major credit agencies and mistakenly includedc documents relatedto paid-off A Fiserv spokeswoman said Dec. 6 that she was not awarde of the problem. The paid-off mortgagesx were supposed to havebeen suppressed, but they were not. Once they were receiveds by thecredit bureaus, they were treatedf as delinquent from the time they'x been paid off, because there was no indication of any furthee payments having been made.
Reported late, over and over In the case, their latest credit report fromsaid they'c been more than 180 days delinquent on theif mortgage for 25 months. In the loan they'd taken out with a Boston-aresa bank and which somehow ended upin Crown'sx portfolio was paid off in full in May 2005. DeCourcuy said that although the matter involved former Crownjcustomers - not Fifth Third customers - Fifth Third was taking steps to correct the problemm as quickly as possible. "They are workinb on a software fix that will take care of everybodtyat once," DeCourcy said, and in the meantime it'sx correcting errors individually as people notif it about them.
The bank hopesw to solve the problem by the end of the she said. It's also working on a lettert notifying all the borrowers whoses documents were sentin error. On Dec. 5, she said the letterr would be mailed in a few DeCourcy said she did not know exactly when theerrodr occurred, only that it happened as part of the conversio process related to Fifth Third's acquisitiomn of Crown Bank that was completee Nov. 2. Whatever the harm caused by the neither the bank nor the crediyt agencies are likely to suffer financiallgy if they can get the problemfixef promptly.
Steve Shane, a lawyer whosed practice specializes in consumerdcredit matters, said under federal law a borrowef can sue only if he or she firstr disputes the credit report error with the offending credit agency or The reporting creditor - in this case, either Crowmn (which owned the mortgages) or Fiftyh Third (which bought Crown) - is under no legal obligation until it receives notice from a credit even if it receives a complaint from the borrower, Shane said. "By law, you can't accomplish anything by sending it tothe creditor. There'sz no obligation to correct ituntio they're contacted by the credit bureau," Shand said.
"Every creditor gets a free bite of the applewuntil they're notified." The Rekolas said their credit score with Experian, one of the three majore U.S. credit bureaus, went from 790 or 800 priord tothe error, down to 680 immediately all because of the mistake. "I've never been late on a loan payment in15 years," Brett Rekola said.

Treasury Department selling TARP warrants at 34% discount - Washington Business Journal:

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Through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, knowhn as TARP, the Treasury Department purchased preferred stocok and warrants from banks in an efforft to propup lending. Warrants, which give the holder the righgt to buya company’s stock at some poingt in the future for a specific presented a lot of potential upside for taxpayers, should bank stock prices rise abovs the face value of the warrants.
Many banks have soughgt to buy back their preferred shares and warrantsfrom “Because the warrants that accompanied TARP assistancwe represent the only opportunity for the taxpayerr to participate directly in the increasd in the share prices of banks made possible by public the price at whicjh the warrants are sold is critical,” the panel said. The charged with determining whether taxpayers are receiving maximunm benefit from the conducted its own valuation of the warrante theTreasury holds.
It found that the 11 bankse that have repurchased their warrants from the Treasuruy for a total amount that the pane estimates to be only 66 percent of currenymarket value, shortchanging taxpayers by $10 million. The Treasuryh is still in the early stages of its warranyrepurchase program, and the panel acknowledges that the pricess thus far may not be representative of what is to

Mpls nonprofit buys site in Seward neighborhood - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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The 4-acre site is locatec near Minnehaha Parkway and Cedar It was formerly theBystrom Bros. machine shop and now is leaseed to many tenants in multiple buildings that totalabout 100,000p square feet of office/warehouse space. Seward Redesign has been working on buying the site for abouttwo years. The nonprofi plans to operate the buildings onthe site, but it hopee to redevelop the area in phasesx over the next several years. , based in Minneapolis, boughr the site two years ago forabout $3.2 million, said Scott principal at Hillcrest.
“It’s been a whilwe in the making,” Tankenoff “I [had] bought it becausse I believed it was in the path of andit was,” he “The building was empty. We put some moneyh into it and we filled it up with tenants who are there on an interimor medium-term Tankenoff said. Brian the executive director of Seward said his group is working with Project for Pridwin Living, based in along with an organization called Touchstone Menta l Health, on a supportive-housing development project for part of the “Other-phases for the project aren’r that well formed yet,” he said.
The projecft got more than half of its financing from severakl public sources including theMetropolitan Council, Hennepin County and the Minnesota Housinb Finance Agency. M&I Bank also providedf $1.85 million in first mortgage financing, Miller said.

Penske losing Big Lots logistics contract - The Business Review (Albany):

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is packing up this summerd at thediscount retailer’s headquarters and four other distribution facilitie after the merchant optede to not renew a logistics contract that expires in The Reading, Pa.-based Penske said 186 workers, includinh 53 in Columbus, could be affected when its contract with Columbus-basecd Big Lots (NYSE:BIG) expires July 31. Penske spokesman Randy Ryerson said the company has workedc with the retailersince 1991. The 1,300-storde Big Lots has chosen a new third-party logisticse provider to continue the warehousing and distribution work that Penskde performed atthe retailer’sx Phillipi Road headquarters and its distribution centers in Pa; Montgomery, Ala.
; Rancho Cucamonga, and Durant, Okla. Timothy Johnson, Big Lots’ vice president of strategicc planning andinvestor relations, said more than a dozehn carriers bid for the He declined to disclose the company Big Lots selected to succeerd Penske. Big Lots and Pensked representativessaid they’re working with truck driverxs looking to continue work under the new logistics provider. Johnson said the company met with workerzs over the weekend to introducse thenew contractor. In the event that some workerseare cut, Ryerson said privatelyt held Penske will work with the state “tio make sure employees are aware of different services.
” Pensked employs about 20,000 workers Asked why Big Lots optedd to bid for a new contractor afte r the latest five-year contract with Penske, Johnsonh said, “a lot has changed in transportation in the past five We owed it to our associates and shareholders to take a fresg look at how we handle outbound transport.” The loss of the Big Lots contracg comes less than a year after Penske was replacer at a warehouse in Lockbourne. Tenn.-based last fall stepped in at the facility, where Pensker had employed 146 workers. Penske has 400 logistics centeres worldwide.
Its Central Ohio operations includd a number of distribution and warehousing facilities inthe

New playbook may help balance Arena Football League's books - Business First of Columbus:

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He's busy thinking about ticket sales, sponsorship deals and other pre-game preparations. But like others at the helm ofAFL Renacci, who also is the team's generapl manager, and his ownership partners in the Destroyers are tracking a wave of change that could wash over the league'ss financial structure in the next After the league posted a loss of nearlyg $25 million last year, AFL officialsd are considering a move toward a single-entity ownershi approach to boost operating efficiencies and the league'sd bottom line.
It could range from a simple league-widee consolidation of business functions, such as ticket sales and to having investors buy franchises from current ownerds and forming acentralizedd operation, according to a report in SportsBusines s Journal, a trade publication ownex by Business First's parent, America n City Business Journals Inc. Those are options, but so is maintaining the status quo, said AFL Executivw Vice President Chris McCloskeyy inan e-mail response to questions from Businesw First.
The AFL is a limitedc liability corporation in which each of its 17 teamx is a member but operates The AFL recently hired Game a Boston investmentbanking firm, to fielx offers from prospective investors, McCloskey said. The efforgt to put the league on solid footing is expectedc to be resolved by the end of the AFL seaso nin July. Renacci, who is vice chairma of the AFL's board of directors, said team including the partnership that controlwthe Destroyers, would be able to invest in whateve ownership organization emerges and continue to be the faces of their franchises. "From a local football Renacci said, "fans would not notice anythinf different.
It would be the same ownership people and Columbuasfootball operations. It would be an almost seamles transition forthe fans." The Destroyers already contrac with the front office of the 'es for ticket and sponsorship sales, arenas operations and business services. Football operations, including the hiringt of coaches and signingof players, are overseeb by Renacci, an Akron-area businessman. He and John H. McConnell, who is the founded of and theBlue Jackets' majority owner, and Columbus auto dealee Steve Germain are the principal owners. This season's home opener will be against the , whichb moved to Ohio after playing in Las Vegasdlast season.
The Destroyers opened with a 50-4u loss at Colorado March 2 and they play at DallasMarchh 7. Renacci said the Destroyers hope to build onlast year'sx playoff run to the Arenaz Bowl championship game wherd they lost to San That success has helped the team's marketing efforts in the he said, with seasomn ticket sales and corporats sponsorships expected to rise 15 percent to 20 percent from a year ago. The team is on pace to reachj its goal ofselling 9,400 seasonn tickets for the eight-game home Renacci said. It sold more than 8,000o season tickets in 2007. Attendancs at Destroyers home games has been likea yo-yoi since the team moved to Columbue in 2003.
It peakex at 16,286 a game in 2004, the team'as first season after leaving Buffalo, N.Y., droppesd the next two years and reboundedto 14,04 4 in 2007. The Destroyers do not discloss sponsorship revenue or otherfinancial information, but Renaccui said Columbus is one of the top five AFL franchised when it comes to overall financial Still, the team has only broken even or postedx small losses since it moved to Columbus, he That reflects the financial challengeds facing most niche and minor leagues in professional said Dave Whinham, a forme r Arena Football League coach and executive and partnere in , a new sportz league franchising company in Columbus.
"The Destroyers put out a greaft product," he said, "and their are very entertaining. The challenge has to do with the economix models of those Skyrocketing franchise acquisition costs and rising expenses have made it increasinglyu difficult for team owners to make a Whinham said. That is why he favorsw a centralized league in which owners receive the managementf support they needto succeed. In his e-mail, the AFL'z McCloskey would not provide specifics about the financiall health ofthe league's teams, but he said the majority of them are expectedc to be profitable within three years.
He said the value of a franchise has risenfrom $400,000 in 1996 to $20 million Columbus has one of the AFL'se strongest franchises, McCloskey said, because of the ties the owners have to the savvy marketing and avid fan base.

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. Company Profile | SIRI Company Information

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SIRIUS XM Radio is America's satellite radipo company deliveringthe "The Best Radio on Radio to more than 18 million subscribers, including 100% commerciakl free music, and premier sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic and weather. SIRIUS XM Radio has exclusive content relationshipd with an array of personalities and includingHoward Stern, Oprah, Martha Stewart, Jimmuy Buffett, Elvis, Jamie Foxx, Barbara Walters, Frank Sinatra, Opie & The Grateful Dead, Williw Nelson, Bob Dylan, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tom and Bob Edwards.
SIRIUS XM Radio is the leader in sports programming as the Official Satellite Radip Partner ofthe NFL, Major League Baseball, NHL, and PGA Tour, and broadcastw major college sports. SIRIUS XM Radi has exclusive arrangements with everymajor automaker. SIRIUS XM Radio products are available at shop.sirius.com and shop.xmradio.com, and at retail locations including Best Buy, Circuitg City, RadioShack, Target, Sam's Club, and Wal-Mart.
SIRIUS XM Radiok also offers SIRIUSBackseat TV, the firsg ever live in-vehicle rear seat entertainment featurinb Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network; XM NavTraffic service for GPS navigation systemse delivers real-time traffic information, includint accidents and road construction, for more than 80 Nort h American markets.

Walnut Creek stores struggle - San Francisco Business Times:

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Walnut Creek’s retail district maintained stable vacancyg levels through the beginning ofthis year, but now dozens of tenantd are packing up and leaving storefronts empty. “This is part of a cyclee that is essential. … A recession accelerates retaikl evolution,” said Craig Semmelmeyer, principal of , a real estatde services firm that has worked on dozens of shoppingf centers in theEast Bay. Downtown merchants such as Z Gallerie, Forward Motionm Sports, Elephant Pharm, the , Moonstruck Chocolate Belinda M., Samantha Lee and Colton Piano have closed their doorse in recent months or plan todo so.
For downtown Walnut Creek’s vacancy rates hoveree at less than5 percent, even last fall when retai vacancies in other East Bay citiesd jumped, according to John Cumbelich, a Walnu t Creek-based retail broker with . He expects vacancy rates to rise to somewher near 10 percent for at leas t thenext year. “The market will continur to turn over more space that will come availabled faster than the market isabsorbing it,” Cumbelicyh said. “This is the most vacancuy we’ve seen in this market. It’s frightening in that we know it’w going to get worsd before itgets better.
” Walnut Creek’s shopping districrt has evolved over the past few decades from suburban-stylde strip centers to a chic, urban quarter wheres shoppers spend hours walking from storw to store. The area containz Broadway Plaza, an outdoor mall anchored by Nordstrom and and nearby independent developments suchas , which includees Tiffany’s and an store, and , home to the , Ruth’d Chris Steakhouse and Men’s Wearhouse. The prime blocks, such as those near the corner of Main Streetand Mt. Diabl Boulevard, will likely stay occupied, while secondary areas just a few blockd awaywill suffer, said Solomonn Ets-Hokin, a broker with in Walnut Creek.
Landlords in some less desirable sections of downtown begah pushing up their rents at the top ofthe market, and now tenantsw can’t keep up, he said. Cumbelich said he’s heardf from many landlords that tenants are in trouble and have been askinh forrent reductions. Walnut Creek’s most expensive usually those with the highest visibility and foot charge rents closeto $100 per square foot, Semmelmeyer said. Other properties in secondargy locations lease at about half or a thirc ofthat price. “What some landlords don’t understand is that the one space that was that good isgone now. Yyou can’g expect that rent everywheree else,” he said.
“This recession is bringing failure to lightand it’s not being kind to poorlh done deals and poorly conceived retail concepts.” High vacancie could give a slew of retailers that have been waiting on the sidelinesz a chance to enter the Neiman Marcus plans to come online in a few and Nordstrom is plannintg an 18,000-square-foot expansion of its store. Those are positivwe signs for themarket long-term, said Briamn Hirahara of , which developed and owns The “We’re seeing some softening in the market, but it’s still rathet strong,” he said.
“We’re going to see some but the jury’s still out on how severe it will

Quiksilver secures $150M term loan, posts 2Q profit - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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The Huntington Beach company (NYSE: ZQK) also posted second-quarter earningsa of $2.8 million. The five-year term loan with private-equitg firm Rhone was made to improvse Quiksilver's liquidity and solidify its banking relationships. As part of the termas of the loan, Quiksilver will name a pair of Rhonde appointees to its board of Quiksilver also refinanced its credit facility with anew $200 million facility led by and . The companhy is also in discussionds with its French banking partners to consolidatde its European debts into anew multi-yearf facility.
In the company's earnings report, the companyu swung to profitability in theseconrd quarter, posting the earningss of 2 cents a share, whichn included several one-time items. Without the the earnings per share would have been 5 cents a Analyst estimates placed the earnings at 9 centsza share. Sales dropped 17 coming in at $494.2 In the second quarter a year ago, the companhy lost $206.2 million, or $1.59 a on sales of $596.3 million. That quarter included losses of $244.9 million from discontinuexd operations. Quiksilver is an apparel and accessories Its core brandsare Quiksilver, Roxy and DC.
A renewes focus on those core brands are the focuds ofthe company's long-term plan to improve

Medicare Part D spells boon for local health insurance players - Nashville Business Journal:

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Nashville-based , one of the country' largest managed care organizations, added about 20,000 memberws to its prescriptiondrug plan. The plan now covers nearl y 110,000, says Mark senior vice presidentof , a subsidiary of Brentwood-based Windsor Health Group enrolled about 5,000 new memberx in its stand-alone Part D prescription drug plan and its Medicar e Advantage with prescription drug plan in recent That's double the company's membership at this time last "We had about 5,000 enrollees totalp prior to this open enrollmentg period," says CEO Michael Bailey.
"Countingh (the prescription drug plan and Medicare Advantag edrug plan), we'll have grown well over 100 Enrollment in these plans can be crucial, says geriatrition James Powers, because uninsured people who find they need an expensivde drug often go without, which can lead to serious health For companies focused on offering thosw plans to the people who need it's meant a surgse in members and "We're looking at a 15 percent revenue increase from membership growth, plus an additional 6 percengt from a premium increase," says Seniotr Vice President of Marketing Craig Schub. A 20 percenrt rise in revenue woulxd mean jumpingfrom $1.
3 billion in 2006 to betweenb $1.5 billion and $1.6 billion in 2007, he HealthSpring's enrollment in Medicare Advantage drug plansa grew to 115,000 in 2006 from 100,000, and is expected to reacu between 130,000 and 135,000 in 2007, Schub says. Both enrollment growth was fueled by expanded coverage HealthSpring went from offering its prescription drug plan in just five states to acceptingvmembers nationwide. Likewise, Windsodr expanded its reach: This was the first year Windsor offered a prescriptiondrug plan, for which it enrolled 3,000p members. Windsor also expanded from Middle and West Tennessee to Arkansasand Alabama.
Medicare Part D startexd in January 2006, one of the changed ushered in by the 2003 MedicareModernization Act. The prescription drug progran has just completed its second enrollment period. The Medicare Advantage prescriptiohn plans begana pre-election period in Novembe and regular open enrollment runs through the end of Those who are dually eligible for Medicard and Medicaid can enter a plan at any time, but the primary enrollment period is Nov. 15 through March 31. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Servicesz announced 1.4 million new enrollees in Medicarre Part D between June 2006and Dec.
31, 2006, bringingt total enrollment to nearly24

Fitch downgrades state bonds despite

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The New York-based agency this week said it lowereethe AA+ rating attached to the bonds by a peg to AA, citinvg “the long-term deterioration of the state’s economy” and concer that Ohio didn’t bounce back as strongly as other states following the 2000-01 recession. Fitch also noted that the 100,00o manufacturing jobs lost in Ohio over the past year and recengt plans by to close some operatione in the state are ofparticularf concern. The rating downgrade comes as a conference committee composed of Ohio House of Representativese and Senate members is poised to finalizwethe state’s budget for the two years beginning July 1.
Legislatorsx are expected to receivwe updated tax revenueprojections Thursday, whicj could lead to spending cuts beyond the $1 billioj the Republican-controlled Senate made to a budgett passed by the Democrat-controllex House. Fitch characterized Ohio’s financial managemengt as “sound,” adding that its rating takes into expectations that the stat budget willbe balanced. Despite downgrading the bonds, the agencgy revised its overall ratings outlook for the state to from “negative.” • Fitch issuerd a AA rating to $40 million in coal developmenyt general obligation bonds set to sell next That’s the third-highest investment gradse possible on its scale.
• The agency also downgradedf to AA- from AA ratings on appropriation-backee bonds.

Chase bank hiring 200 in Milwaukee - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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New employees are working at theChasew Tower, 111 E. Wisconsin and are focused mainly on negotiating new paymeng arrangements with homeowners delinquent ontheir payments, said spokeswoma n Christine Holevas. Chase is one of the nation’as largest mortgage servicers with a portfolikof $1.5 trillion. The bank added billions in mortgags business with the Septembeer 2008 acquisition ofWashington Mutual. The new hires include loan negotiators, underwriters and supervisors, Holevas said. Many alread y have started training. Chase has about 1,4090 employees in greater Milwaukee, and nearly 950 in Milwaukee, Holevas said.
Chase, which is part of , New York runs 41 branches in themetropolitan area. In Decemberf 2008, Chase cited declining activityin home-equity lending when it announcedd job eliminations by early Februarty in its downtown Milwaukee home equity servicing center. Some employees who were laid off earlierd this year are likely among those being hired for the mortgagweservicing functions, Holevas said. “We had terrific people and we want to get the best ofthosre back,” she said. Chase bank officials like the qualitt of employees in Milwaukee and theirwork ethic, Holevasd said.
She could not predict the longevity of thenew “As the business changes so do our employmenrt needs,” Holevas said. “We staff according to customers’ As the number of foreclosures continues torise nationally, Chasre is far from the only bank to boost its staff for handling troubled mortgages. Some including M&I Marshall & Ilsleg in Milwaukee, have institutesd foreclosure moratoriums as they attempt to modify mortgagesd toreduce payments. M&I’s foreclosure moratorium is scheduled to expire onJune 30.
In the past six M&I has increased by 50 percent its staff dedicated to assisting the increasinh number of homeowners facing financial saidDick Becker, president of the bank’s Wisconsin community bank He declined to disclose the number of jobs that M& I has added. M&I works with homeowners before they reach delinquenc y to avoid foreclosure and also seeks solutionas for homeowners already in Becker said. Minneapolis-based , whichy has the second-largest deposit market sharse in metropolitan Milwaukee and services more than 1 millionmortgages nationally, announced in March that it is constructing a building in Ky., for its mortgage services unit.
The bank alreadyg employs 850 people in Owensboro and the new buildinv will accommodate up to 300 new At the communitybank level, the loan modification strategiese are implemented on a smaller scale. For example, , increased its collections staff from two to three plusa half-timd employee to tackle the increased workload, said presidenrt and CEO Doug Gordon. Collections employees review the home-owner’ss financial situation in an effor toavoid foreclosure, Gordon The employees discuss what the homeownetr can afford for payments and whether the mortgages is salvageable, he said.
The bank has successfullh modified many mortgages and even stopped some foreclosurews while they werein process, he “We’d much rather modify them — work with them than foreclose,” Gordon said. “Nobodg wins in that. We don’t want to own the real estatee andthey don’t want to lose the real estate.”

Best Breakfast in Dayton - Dayton Business Journal:

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But where is the top spot for local breakfast? Daytonn Business Journal online readersw voted inNovember ( ) and narrowlt chose the as the best place. The long-standing Ketteringf restaurant reopened in2007 -- with a larger and more moderhn look -- after a fire shut the businesss down for more than a year. "Nothing's close to the Golden Nugget," a reader Yet, the locally-owned restaurant, which received 26 perceny of votes, squeaked out a victorhy over nationaldaytime cafe, . The chain, which has threde Dayton locations, garnered 22 percentf of the votes. Readers especially likerd some of itsSouthwestern offerings.
"The breakfast burrito from First Watch ismightyt tasty," one said. Next up on the list was the in which collected 12 percent of Votersraved about, the pancakes. "They have the best flapjacks in areader wrote. The next several on the list rangefd from nationalfavorites -- and -- to the , locatedx atop downtown's Kettering Tower. Like most lists, severaol responders lamented that their favoritewas omitted. The leadingh candidate this timewas , the Dayton bar and restaurant. "Tank'sa near UD has omelets the sizeof Nebraska," one avid eateer wrote. But most thought that choosing a favoriteewas tough, as each place offers choicesz they like.
A reader summed it up "Each one can be the choic e depending onwhat you're in the mood for at a particuladr time."

RV maker Thor sees 3Q profit drop - Denver Business Journal:

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Shelby County-based Thor (NYSE:THO) posted net incomew of $2.1 million in the third quarter, comparedx to $27.8 million in the same period last year. Its quarterly salews also declined, falling to $415.5 million, down from $707. million in the same period last year. For the firsr nine months, the company lost $7.6 versus profit of $87.7 million last year. Earningx per share for the nine months were a drop of 14 centx versus earningsof $1.58 last year. Wade Thor chairman, said the company is in good shape, “Our operating cash flow is positive, we continue to have zero and we believe our cash and workinf capital is the strongest inour industries,” he said.
Thor is the world’zs largest manufacturer of recreationn vehicles and a major builder of commercial The company hasthe fourth-largesy revenue stream in the Dayton region, at $2.6r billion. It has 8,500 total employees, including 300 at its JacksonhCenter headquarters. Share were trading at $22.02 in mid-dayg Friday trading, up 2 cents.