Sunday, February 27, 2011

Headsets: HIGA and Sysna Distribute Bluetooth Earpiece Securing Device - TMC Net

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Headsets: HIGA and Sysna Distribute Bluetooth Earpiece Securing Device

TMC Net


Global NuTech, Inc's Joint Venture partner, HIGA Corporation, has inked a deal with Sysna, Inc., for the distribution of a unique foam rubber device that can securely fit a Bluetooth earpiece in the user's ear. ...



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Friday, February 25, 2011

Bekaert to Expand China Cord Capacity as Profit Climbs 73% - Bloomberg

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Bekaert to Expand China Cord Capacity as Profit Climbs 73%

Bloomberg


Bekaert NV, the world's largest maker of steel cord for tires, will expand production capacity in China after second-half profit beat analyst estimates because of accelerating growth in its higher-margin ...



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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Garage pried open, but nothing taken - NorthFulton.com

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Garage pried open, but nothing taken

NorthFulton.com


CUMMING รข€" A vandal pried open the door to a garage in the 5000 block of Pittman Road, broke a board and damaged the deadbolt about noon on Feb. 14, but got nothing for his troubles. A board was broken and a bolt lock was bent. ...



Sunday, February 20, 2011

Survey: Employers cutting benefit costs - Denver Business Journal:

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“The responses indicate that as employers developl benefit plans for 2010 they are looking for ways to reducdbenefit costs, without further reducing benefits,” said Marianne Fazen, executive director of the association. many responded that they plan to increase theirwellness • Thirty-five percent of employerse responded that they plan to increase their wellness • Companies identified as its two biggest concerns limitedd benefits budgets, and limited meri t budget and bonus pools. About 68% of companiese are concerned or very concerned about limitedx merit budget andbonus pools, and abouty 53% are concerned about limited benefita budgets.
• To weather the economicf downturn, almost half of respondents are auditing or planning to audittheire employees’ dependent eligibility in orderr to reduce the number of individualas covered. And 41% plan to increase employee costs ofbenefiy plans, while more than one-third have reduced or are planningh to reduce staff. About 89% of employers believe that workers will responed to the economic downturn bydelaying retirement.
Also, 83% of employersd say their workers are concerned abouytjob security, and 42% think theitr employees have been impacted by low The survey was submitted to the association's employert members and facilitated by in The association's 900-plus members represent a broard cross-section of benefits professionals in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana. Arkansas, Missourk and Kansas, but are not limited to thoser states.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

MONEY MARKETS-Euro funding disparity highlighted by ECB lending - Reuters

http://www.amazines.com/view_author.cfm?authorid=359400


MONEY MARKETS-Euro funding disparity highlighted by ECB lending

Reuters


LONDON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Euro zone interbank lending rates eased on Thursday, pulled down by an overall excess of liquidity in the banking system, but a sharp rise in overnight emergency lending from the ECB highlighted the ...



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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Arizona Cardinals close in on Phoenix Suns, Diamondbacks, Coyotes lag all - Houston Business Journal:

http://accenthomestaging.biz/whobenefits.htm
Market research conducted as part of a possible relocation of the to Canada showxs the Cardinals and National Football League catapulting in popularity among localpsports consumers. Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie wantzs to buy the Coyotesfor $213 million and move the team to Ontario. His relocation plan submitted to the Nationapl Hockey League includes market the The surveys, conducted in late May for Balsillis by Hotspex Inc., show the Cardinals gaining favor in a Phoenis sports market traditionally dominated by the and . One surveyh looked at the overall appeal among fans forthe region’ four major sports teams.
The Cardinalsw garnered 53 percent support equal to the Diamondbacks and just behinx the 54 percent mark received by the Phoenix The Coyotes came in at 29 The survey did not say how many fans were The survey also found that footbalo is the most popular sporty in the Phoenix area with 53 percent of residents followinh the NFL on aregulare basis. Major League Baseball was second at 45 percentg followed by the National Basketball Association at 44 percent and National Hockey League at 20 percent of according to the surveyand Balsillie’s application to move the team.
The Cardinalxs and NFL also did the best when it comex to consumers choice of sportsto Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed showed a strongh desire to attend an NFL game. That compares to 51 percenft who strongly wanted to see a Major LeagueBaseball game, 46 percent an NBA game and 30 percentt for hockey. The Cardinals traditionally have been a doormat both in the NFL and the Phoenic sports market wherethe D-Backds and Suns have made multiple playoff appearances. The Cards, whicgh moved to University of Phoenixz Stadiumin 2006, had not hosted a home playoffd game since 1947 and team owners the Bidwillo family were unpopular among local fans.
But the Cardinalxs playoff winslast season, a National Football Conferencd championship and last-second Super Bowl loss pushed them highee in a market struggling with cuts in consumer The Cardinals playoff success also compares with this season’sd failures by Suns and Coyotes to make theire playoffs and a slow 2009 season start by the D-backs.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Outlook unclear: CFOs navigate cloudy financial times - Boston Business Journal:

takes-trendsthe.blogspot.com
The Boston Business Journal recentlyy hosted four area CFOs for an involved discussio n that touched on issues ranging from the rising cost of healtuh care to concerns over thebanking industry. The participants in the Bostohn Business Journal roundtable wereDarlene Deptula-Hicks of in Plaistow, Louise Mawhinney of Ikonisys in New Conn.; Kevin Walsh of in Boston; and Stevd Wasserman of in Waltham. The BBJ wouls like to thank these executives for taking time out of theirt busy schedules tojoin us. We’x also like to thank the Massachusetts chapter of for its assistance in setting upthe discussion.
Boston Business Journal: What on earthn happened in the lastsix months, and how does it affecf you in your day-to-day life? What do you say to folks What do you say to your mother when she asks you what’sx going on? Deptula-Hicks: These are very unprecedentee times. I’ve never seen anythiny like this before, and I thinkm it brings a whole new host of challenges in this I know forus particularly, last year was a gangbustee year — we broke We put record Q2 results on the we beat it with a record Q3, and we thought we were goingv to put a record Q4 on the table. And the botton just sort of dropped out.
While I think we had a respectabl e fourth quarter because we had a lot of thingx going on in the it just became a very different I think what we can look forwar to this year is a great level of uncertainty because of these sort ofunchartecd waters. We’re having difficulth understanding where the business is goinfg to end up forthe year. Have we hit bottom ? Clearly we’re a strong company, so we’ll be able to weathe r this fine, we’re not worriesd about that. But we’re really sort of forecastintg what is this year going to looklike It’s a very big question.
I don’t remember this much uncertainthy inan economy, and I’mm old enough to remember other I’m knocking on wood — I’mk with Constant Contact, we offer a very low-pricew for a high-value proposition, and it’s a very under-penetrated so we’ve guided Wall Streety revenue growth this year in the mid 40 percenr range. Now having said that, we are changingh things. One of the things we’re doing differentlhy is we’re changing our marketing messaging — how to help smal businesses prosper in apoor economy.
BBJ: It strikez me that no matter what kind of businesseyou run, you’ve probably all had to make a starjk assessment of your cost structure. Talk about what kindzs of thinking is goinginto Deptula-Hicks: I think we’ll be successfu this year, I’m not too worrierd about a decline in revenue, I thinok we’ll still be cash-flow positive. We’ll be able to see our way to the otherr sideof this, we will continue to investg in research and development, maintain our cash base and come out on the othet side of this a stronger company in a position with a broader breadth of product than My hope is that this quarter is the worsyt quarter in the year.
I could be totallyt wrong, but typically in our businessa we have a strongfourth quarter, and the first quarter is a lower quarter I’m feeling encouraged about the second quarted with what we see now, so I think if we hunkerr down, we conserve our cash and we invest in our R& program, we do everything to maximize our continue our partnerships with we’ll come out on the othefr side of this.
Walsh: Our cost structurd is very heavily weightedf towards people andreal estate, we’re constantly evaluatingh our cost structure — making sure that our needs are met, looking at ways to improvee efficiency, our use of technology — and real estate is a huge part of that too. We recentlt moved to 53 Statew St. from the Hancock In doing so, we created a different type of space that allowsa us to share ideas more easilyu and bemore transparent.
The building is set up to be more collaborativsin nature, which we think drives Mawhinney: Our company has an automated digital microscope, so we have customerxs who buy that, and we also have commercial lab for diagnostic tests, so the challenge for us is we’ve got to keep the commercia arm and we’ve got to support the instruments we have out in the field. We’re growinfg our lab, and we have three majord projects that we need to move The second big thing is to use our the digital microscope that can look for that one cell in a to detect circulating tumor And the third area isour non-invasive test for fetal abnormalities.
Sl moving all three of those forward, plus keepinf our Ikoniscope customers happy and growint the lab is the challenge. BBJ: A recen t Duke University/CFO Magazine poll indicates most CFOs plan to raise salariexsthis year. What’s your take on that Wasserman: We expect to give normal raises. ... We get approximatelyu 35 percent of our new employees through referral. We want to keep our employeed basevery happy, so we continue to have employeexs referred to us.
And I know from anothef CFO group I belong tothat it’s split there are a few companies doingf what we’re doing, there are some companies that are goin g to zero, and there are some companieds that are going in the middle. Walsh: I would be shockedc if we saw lots of companiexs approve raisesin 2009. I know ther are a lot of companies who already came out and said theree are going to be cuts or We haven’t figured out yet what we’re goinvg to do, but I’m pretty confident it will not be to the extent that it was last I think it’s importanr to realize that top talent is always in and you need to protect top talent because that’s what generatesz the best ideas and services our needs.
We’re actually using this time to look at acquiringgtop talent, because we are doing pretty well,anrd it’s a rare opportunity to build for the BBJ: What would you consider to be the biggesft cost drivers for your company? Deptula-Hicks: Our big variabls yearly is centered around our products’ clinical We just completed most of the trials a couple of weekws ago and that cost us $1 million, and the reasobn we had to do that is the FDA is changingg their guidelines, so that’s becoming a larger cost driver. So we’lp have about a six-monthu reprieve and then we’ll have another product going throughclinicapl trials.
And it’s becoming more and more difficult to get productsa throughthe FDA. BBJ: Is a lot of that cost legal?? Deptula-Hicks: No, it’s actually the cost of healtj care, the cost of the doctors, the gathering the data and statisticians andso forth. Walsh: For us, one cost driverd that I have not mentionex yet is healthcare costs. They continue to rise by high single-digi t or double-digit levels and there’s no end in sight.
We also face the challengse of being located in And no matter what study youlook at, Bostoj is always in the top five when it comesz to high cost of We’re seeing some breathin g room in that, housing costs are cominbg down, energy costs are coming down, but it’s stil l a costly place to live whichn impacts labor costs. BBJ: How do you grappls with healthcare costs?

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Investors empty 401(k)s to take control of their money - Baltimore Business Journal:

http://annearundelagent.com/real-estate-agents-and-selling-a-home.htm
Sandidge, president of Scottsdale financialfirm , has lost more than $250,00o from his 401(k) since September — more than half its “I just got tired of watching my monegy disappear,” he said. More investorws are pulling money from their individuak retirement accountsand 401(k)s and investingb in alternative assets such as real estate, oil and gas private businesses and precioua metals.
The stock market crashy in 2008 — which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average sink 32 percenty and the Nasdaq nearly 41 percent cracked millions ofnest eggs, prompting investorsx to trade some of their staker in the equity markets for illiquid either through their employer-offered retirement plans or by establishing self-directec accounts. “People just want more said J.P. Dahdah, president of LLC, which providees retirement plan administration and recordkeeping servicees for individualsand small-business owners who want to invesrt in nontraditional assets.
The Scottsdale firm administers morethan $250 millionj in retirement plan assets, and its client list of 2,500 continues to grow. Under federal law, individuald cannot administer their ownretirement accounts, so approvecd custodians such as Entrust Arizona are in demaned as the stock market remains volatile, despitew gains in the past two months. Entrusf charges a one-time account setup fee of $50, then $250 for every asset held and a $95 fee when a clieng buys or sellsan asset. Real estat is the preferred alternative investment, especially in It has made uneducated investors but its perils have been justas well-publicized.
Skimmingh through unemployment reports and bankruptcyh and foreclosure listings tellsthat story. When the real estats market tanks here, so does the Nevertheless, it remains an attractivre alternative, especially if you have staying Barbara Mackerman can attestto that. In Aprill 2008, she purchased a four-bedroom home in Mesa for $110,000 paid for entirely with cash she pulles fromher IRA. Given Wall Street’d collapse shortly after that investment, Mackermanb likely will turn a nice profigt when the housingmarket recovers. For now, she’s renting out the propertyu for $1,450 a month.
“I think we made the right decisioh at the right said Mackerman, director of financed at Sunrise Health and Hospice in Gilbert. “Imn the long run, we might be further ahea becauseof what’s happened to the stock Time will tell.” Valley companies that offer alternativ investments say business is up, especially since the stock market obliterating millions of retirement plans in a matter of More than $1 million a day is traded at , whichh buys and sells coins, silver, and other precious metals. Senior portfolilo manager Richard Cromwell said the Phoeni x firm has seen IRA contributions and volume triplre in the pastfew years.
“Thisa gives you an opportunity to controloyour investment,” said Cromwell. “ believe self-directed IRAs will be the wave of the Swiss America manages morethan $1 billion in assetsd for more than 40,0009 clients. For decades, adviserxs and investment firms touted the stock markeft as the premier outlet forinvestinb 401(k)s and IRAs, while trusts avoidede the illiquidity of private-sectord investments. But that sentiment is changing in the wake ofWall Street’a historic collapse, which buried some of the nation’se largest financial firms — and countless retirement dreams. Trusts are takinhg a more entrepreneurialposition now.
“People are very quicklgy learning there is risk in all levelsof investing,” said Glen managing partner of HSL Financial Group LLC. The Scottsdaler investment firm manages theHSL Fund, which invest in small, private businesses with provenb models. The private equity fund has more than 20 accredited investorss with morethan $1 million in net “We only invest in businessew we know,” Hinshaw said. “A lot of wealt is still sitting insmall business.” Entrusgt Arizona LLC: Swiss America Trading Co.
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Saturday, February 5, 2011

Museum of Science says topping 2007 a challenge - Boston Business Journal:

uhalugupuzyma.blogspot.com
During its past fiscal year, which runs from July to the museum staff saw close to 2 milliohn visitors come throughits doors. The primaryu drivers were the museum's "Body Worlds" and "Star exhibits. In one day the museum brought in a recorsd attendanceof 21,158 visitors, said Ioannis Miaoulis, the museum's president and director. "In the last two years we raisef more money than the museum has probabl y raised in its he said. Its revenue went from aboutg $30 million in 2003 to $48 million in 2007. Miaoulis expected less attendance in its newfiscak year, primarily because the popularity of the Body Worldsx and Star Wars exhibitsz is hard to duplicate.
But the museum has attemptee to create new revenue streams by establishing morebusiness "One of the things I wanted to do when I came here was diversify our business," Miaoulis said. The museun unveiled a publishing project, developing textbooks as part of an engineerinbg curriculum for highschool students. Miaoulis said the museuj plans to expand itstraveling programs, whic h bring exhibit items and learning tools to classroomds around New England. But that doesn't mean he's givingh up on the exhibitg model. Next spring a baseball exhibitwill arrive, which, giveh the fervor around the , Miaoulis believes could draw a new recordc crowd.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

NFL concussion class action: Could the league withstand a lawsuit from players ... - Slate Magazine

http://pigeonforgelogcabinrentals.com/homepage/testimonials.html


NFL concussion class action: Could the league withstand a lawsuit from players ...

Slate Magazine


You could forgive football fans if they watched this year's Super Bowl with their hands tented ...



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