Professor Art Hinshaw of the Arizona State University College of Law, & Professor Jess K. Alberts of the Arizona State University School of Human Communication, have published Doing the Right Thing: An Empirical Study of Attorney Negotiation Ethics, a paper delivered at CELS 2009: The 4th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies. Here is the abstract:

“The code of ethical conduct for lawyers — the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct (the ‘Model Rules’) — legitimizes a certain amount of dissembling and misdirection in the negotiation realm, only prohibiting legal negotiators from making fraudulent misrepresentations about material matters. To determine if attorneys are meeting this low standard, the authors surveyed practicing lawyers and asked them if they would agree to engage in a fraudulent pre-litigation settlement scheme if a client requested them to do so. Nearly one-third of the respondents indicated they would agree to the client’s overtures, and only half indicated that they would refuse the client’s overtures, thereby following the Model Rules. Follow-up questioning suggested several reasons for these results: there appears to be substantial misunderstanding as to what constitutes a fraudulent misrepresentation, there seems to be considerable confusion surrounding the rule’s operative term ‘material fact,’ and it appears that some of the attorneys believe that other legal rules, including other portions of the Model Rules, either gave them permission or required them to engage in the fraudulent negotiation scheme. To rectify these apparent misunderstandings among practicing lawyers, the article offers three interdependent means for improving lawyer negotiation ethics – rule clarification, education, and increased rule enforcement.”

HT @thetrialwarrior.

Il vaccino contro l’influenza A è messo sotto accusa in Canada. Si tratta di Pandemrix, il prodotto della GlaxoSmithKline. In Italia non esiste, il governo ha firmato contratti con Novartis e Sanofi-Aventis. Non è previsto che sia acquistato anche Pandemrix, sebbene sia fra i prodotti autorizzati dalla UE. Pandemrix aveva sin dall’inizio preoccupato il mondo medico poiché realizzato con tecnologie innovative ma poco sperimentate: coltivazione del virus non nelle uova ma in coltura cellulare, nuovo tipo di adiuvante testato “solo” su 50.000 persone (contro le milioni di somministrazioni dello squalene contenuto nei vaccini stagionali prodotti dalla Novartis fin dal 1997).

La pandemia in Italia ha smesso di essere nei primi titoli dei giornali. I morti sono saliti a 82, ma ricorderemo a stento forse solo i primi dieci.

• Inquiétude au Canada après une série de réactions allergiques au vaccin contre la grippe A – LeMonde.fr

  tags: no_tag

  • Quant à la trentaine de décès signalés dans le cadre des vaccinations à grande échelle, rien ne permet, selon l’organisation, d’établir, pour le moment, un lien avec les vaccins. Un cas d’effet secondaire indésirable est rapporté pour 10 000 doses de vaccin administrées. Sur 100 effets secondaires indésirables, cinq sont sérieux, y compris un décès, avait alors expliqué une responsable de l’organisation onusienne.
  • Per quanto riguarda i trenta decessi registrati nel contesto della vaccinazione su grande scala, non vi è alcuna prova, secondo l’organizzazione, di stabilire, per il momento, un legame con i vaccini. Un caso di effetto collaterale è stato segnalato ogni 10 000 dosi di vaccino somministrate. Di 100 eventi avversi, cinque sono gravi, compresa la morte, ha poi detto un funzionario dell’organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite.

• Virus A, allarme dell’Oms in Canada “Gravi casi di allergia dopo il vaccino” – LASTAMPA.it

  tags: no_tag

  • Un numero insolito di reazioni allergiche «gravi» al vaccino contro il virus H1N1 dell’influenza pandemica è stato registrato recentemente in Canada, dove un lotto della casa farmaceutica GlaxoSmithKline è stato richiamato.
  • «Un numero insolito di allergie gravi al vaccino è stato registrato in Canada», ha dichiarato un portavoce dell’Oms, Thomas Abraham
  • «Le autorità canadesi hanno richiamato un lotto del vaccino di Gsk» ed «effettuano le ricerche» necessarie per stabilire le cause di queste allergie
  • Allarme anche per un possibile mix tra l’influenza aviaria e la A. Il virus dell’aviaria si è risvegliato in Nord Africa e in Asia, e l’Organizzazione mondiale della sanità (Oms) invita i Paesi interessati a tenerlo sotto stretto controllo. Il timore è infatti che l’H5N1 si combini con il virus H1N1 dell’influenza A, dando origine a una nuova variante più letale per l’uomo.
  • L’allerta arriva dall’Ufficio regionale Ovest Pacifico dell’agenzia ginevrina, che mette in guardia contro nuovi focolai di aviaria tra il pollame in Egitto, Indonesia, Thailandia e Vietnam.
  • «Non sappiamo se accadrà – precisa Shin Young-Soo, direttore dell’Ufficio regionale Oms Ovest Pacifico – ma siamo consapevoli del rischio e siamo in allerta»

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Europa
Seguindo a tendência de Wall Street, as principais bolsas da Europa fecharam esta sexta-feira em queda. O destaque da sessão ficou por conta da revisão de estimativas de bancos para grandes corporações do velho continente.

Ásia
O índice Nikkei fechou o dia com desvalorização, pressionado pelo desempenho das empresas do setor de tecnologia.
Em uma reunião em Pequim nesta sessão, o porta-voz do banco central chinês, Zhou Xiaochuan, afirmou que “o país deve permanecer vigilante sobre a excessiva produção industrial depois que o plano de US$ 586 bilhões impulsionou novos investimentos urbanos”.

Essa declaração foi o suficiente para provocar incerteza em relação a China e fez com que o índice Xangai também encerrasse o dia em queda.

Der Verband APMF hat diese Woche zur nationalen Woche der Mediation ausgerufen.

Überall im Land finden Veranstaltungen statt, um die Mediation hauptsächlich im Bereich Trennung-Scheidung bekannter zu machen – und um für die Alternativen zu streititgen Auseinandersetzungen zu werben.

Die nationale Woche der Mediation findet nach Auskunft des APMF nun schon zum fünften Mal in Serie statt.

A broker noted something about this yesterday as a gold bug, and frankly it seemed far-fetched considering the size of the move we have already seen in recent weeks and months.  But the talk was about John Paulson, the great bank and financial short seller who cleaned up betting against housing and financials, opening a gold fund.  We noticed he held some miners, but after the chase up in gold bullion prices this seemed and still seems late to the party even if there is room to run.  Today’s report from the Wall Street Journal shows that this may be more of a reality than a hope.

Paulson already has large stakes in key gold exposure with SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD), Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC), and Anglogold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU).  The tally on these three positions alone at today’s closing bell was about $5.5 billion if the stakes have remained the same.  His stakes already listed are as follows:

• SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) 31,500,000 shares, worth some $3.5 billion today if that stake is still the same.
• Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC) 30,780,800 shares worth $589 million today if that is still the stake.
• Anglogold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU) 42,849,864 shares worth over $1.9 billion today if that is still the stake.

This seems the right move, but it also seems late for Paulson even if he is right about this just being the beginning for gold or its miners and producers.  He was so early in betting against US housing and financial institutions that he saw extraordinary gains.  With India creating that huge transaction and other recent moves, it seems that the gold trade is getting to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.   One of our affiliates, INO’s Adam Hewison, has been very bullish on gold as you can see in his November 4 audio-video presentation.

None of this is good for what it says about the value of those greenbacks in your wallet.  If the gold trade continues, the U.S. Dollar could be marginalized into becoming El Peso del Estados Unidos.

It will be interesting to see if Paulson will ever be able to make bets against gold in the fund.   Until his fund really does launch, we will still treat this as a rumor status.  Many things can happen over a period of six weeks or more.

JON C. OGG
NOVEMBER 17, 2009

Dati Aifa sulle ADR, reazioni avverse, in seguito alla somministrazione del vaccino A-H1N1. Viene segnalato anche un caso di morte avvenuta in vicinanza alla somministrazione del vaccino ma non si riscontrano correlazioni con essa.

• Report settimanale e cumulativo delle segnalazioni di sospette reazioni avverse ricevute – Aifa.gov.it

La tipologia di reazioni osservate più frequentemente è simile a quella delle reazioni ai vaccini stagionali, si tratta di reazioni previste anche per il vaccino pandemico.
Quattro segnalazioni sono relative a bambini fino ad 11 anni, 2 riguardano gli adolescenti e tutte le altre le fasce di età più elevata, nel 75% dei casi la reazione era già risolta o in miglioramento all’atto della segnalazione stessa, in circa il 16%il paziente non era ancora guarito e l’esito non era disponibile nel 8%.
E’ stato segnalato un decesso in vicinanza temporale con la vaccinazione occorso in un paziente con polipatologie, l’analisi dei dati parziali finora presentati porta a considerare il decesso non correlabile alla vaccinazione.
Le reazioni segnalate con maggiore frequenza sono la cefalea (reazione del sistema nervoso più frequentemente riportata ), la febbre ed i dolori articolari, segnalate anche diverse tipologie di reazioni locali come dolore, gonfiore, eritema nella sede di somministrazione.
La tipologia di reazioni osservate più frequentemente è simile a quella delle reazioni ai vaccini stagionali, si tratta di reazioni previste anche per il vaccino pandemico.
Allo stato attuate non sono stati evidenziati segnali di pericolo con la somministrazione del vaccino pandemico.

If you thought you might not see another green energy or less-dirty energy exchange traded-fund, there is a new ETF for you.  First Trust Advisors is launching the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index Fund of the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index Fund (NASDAQ: GRID) today.  So far we are seeing a gain in the ETF by 0.8% to $30.39, but on fairly thin trading volume of about 134,000 shares as of 11:20 AM EST.  We have seen many other green ETFs, but this is actually the first designated ETF or ETN that is geared solely toward the smart-grid rather than just to green energy.  There will be some overlaps in this ETF with others, but that is often the case.

This ETF aims to track equity index called the NASDAQ OMX Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index, which is designed to act as a “transparent and liquid benchmark” for the grid and energy infrastructure sector.  The most interesting aspect of this is that it may highlight which individual companies are making leaps and bounds here in the smart grid.  As you might expect, there are many overlaps in here with the other clean or green ETF products via the PowerShares Global Clean Energy (NYSE: PBD), PowerShares Cleantech (NYSE: PZD), PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (NYSE: PBW), and the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy (NASDAQ: QCLN).

The Index is a modified-market cap weighted index and includes companies that are “primarily engaged and involved in electric grid, electric meters and devices, networks, energy storage and management, and industry-related software.”  The index is also jointly owned by the NASDAQ OMX Group,
Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) and Clean Edge, Inc.

There are many overlaps in here as you might expect with electric and clean/green ETF products already on the market.  We have listed notes here on each if they are in the top ten components of other ETFs such as PowerShares Global Clean Energy (NYSE: PBD), PowerShares Cleantech (NYSE: PZD), PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (NYSE: PBW), and the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy (NASDAQ: QCLN).

Some of the components are as follows (and noted if they are in top ten holdings in other clean or green ETFs):

• Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ: AEIS)
• American Superconductor (NASDAQ: AMSC) (also in PBW, PBD)
• Comverge Inc. (NASDAQ: COMV)
• Digi International Inc. (NASDAQ: DGII)
• Echelon Corp. (NASDAQ: ELON) (also in PBW)
• EnerNoc Inc. (NASDAQ: ENOC)
• ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ESE)
• General Cable (NYSE: BGC)
• General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE)
• Intellon Corp. (NASDAQ: ITLN)
• ITC Holdings Corp (NYSE: ITC)
• Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) (also in PBW and QCLN)
• Mastec Inc (NYSE: MTZ)
• Pike Electric Corp. (NYSE: PIKE)
• Power-One Inc. (NASDAQ: PWER)
• Quanta Services Inc. (NYSE: PWR)
• Satcon Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: SATC)
• Valmont Industries Inc. (NYSE: VMI)
• WESCO International Inc. (NYSE: WCC)

The larger ADRs listed in the index are as follows:

• ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB) ADR (also in PZD)
• Cooper Industries Plc (NYSE: CBE) ADR
• Jinpan Intl Ltd. (NYSE: JST) ADR
• National Grid PLC (NYSE: NGG) ADR
• Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) ADR (also in PZD)
• Telvent GIT SA (NASDAQ: TLVT) ADR

In order to keep companies like GE from being the entire weighting, there is a methodology used to keep the weighting down or in-check.  These have to have smart-grid exposure and traded on an eligible stock exchange.  Pure-play components are given a collective 80% weighting, and the more diversified components not deemed pure-plays are given a 20% total weighting.  The pure-play components must derive 50% or more of revenues from smart grid, electric infrastructure, and other grid related activities.  Companies with a market cap of under $100 million are not eligible and the average daily share trading volume must have averaged $500,000 per day.

What is important to look at is the disclosures and risks associated with all ETF and ETN products so you know exactly what you are investing in…

There is a tracking-risk here which the release noted as “NON-CORRELATION RISK” where the ETF’s return may not match the return of the Index for a number of reasons: operating expenses for the fund not applicable to the index itself, and costs in buying and selling securities.  The ETF will generally not sell a stock because the stock’s issuer is in financial trouble, unless that stock is removed or is anticipated to be removed from the index.  The ETF will also invest in securities of non-U.S. issuers, which can be subject to additional matters of U.S.-traded stocks; and that also brings in a currency risk into play as the Net Asset Value is determined on the basis of U.S. dollars each day.

JON C. OGG
November 18, 2009

This morning we have a syndicate bonanza with a very solid IPO pricing and many secondary offerings getting priced.  Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) priced 12.5 million shares in IPO at $12.50, above the $9.00 to $11.00 range.   There are also many secondary offerings:  American Water Works (NYSE: AWK) 37.35 million shares priced at $21.63; Boise Inc. (NYSE: BZ) 17 million shares priced at $4.85; Longtop Financial Technologies Limited (NYSE: LFT) 3.7 million shares priced at $31.25; Smith International Inc. (NYSE: SII) priced 28 million shares priced at $26.50.

We have detailed information on the size, use of funds, underwriters, and performance on each below.

At Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) and the priced 12.5 million shares in IPO at $12.50, the deal breakdown is as follows for the $156 million offering: 5,781,683 shares are being sold by the company and 6,718,317 shares are being offering by selling stockholders. Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, and Deutsche Bank are joint book-runners; Robert W. Baird, RBC Capital Markets, ThinkEquity, and JMP Securities, and Signal Hill Capital Group LLC are co-managers. In addition, Fortinet has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,875,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments.  Fortinet is in the field of network security and unified threat management solutions, and it priced above the $9 to $11 indicated range.

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK), the largest water utility in the U.S., priced a 37.35 million shares at $21.63 per share after a closing bell price of $21.63 yesterday for a sale of close to $800 million.  This stake is entirely from RWE AG, the former parent and majority/largest holder, so none of the $784 million in gross proceeds go to American Water itself.  BofA Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, and Morgan Stanley are joint book-runners.  Shares are up 0.3% at $21.71 after a $21.63 close yesterday.

Boise Inc. (NYSE: BZ) 17 million shares priced at $4.85, and all shares here are also being sold by shareholders and insiders in the $82+ million raise.  Goldman Sachs was the sole book-runner.  Boise Cascade Holdings, L.L.C. (and trusts affiliated with Jason Weiss) will now ‘only’ hold about 25% of Boise’s common stock after the offering.  Shares are down 3.3% at $4.92 after a $5.09 close yesterday.

Longtop Financial Technologies Limited (NYSE: LFT) is actually trading way up this morning after it priced 3.7 million shares (ADS’s) at $31.25 per share, for more than $115 million raised.  Longtop is into software development and solutions which target the financial services industry in China.  The use of the net proceeds of the offering are earmarked for potential acquisitions and for general corporate purposes.  Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley were the joint book-runners.

Smith International Inc. (NYSE: SII) priced 28 million shares priced at $26.50 in a $730 million approximate raise.  Oddly enough, Citigroup just raised the rating on Smith International.  The net proceeds from the offering will be used for debt repayment, general corporate purposes, and funding of potential acquisitions or investments.  J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. is the book-running manager for the deal.  Shares are actually up 4% at $27.97.

We are seeing a whole new slate of S-3 secondary filings and still seeing plenty of S-1 IPO filings at the SEC each day.  If the market holds up, there will be many more days where the stock market has to absorb the $1.86 billion absorbed by the market this morning in new shares on the market.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear more news on IPOs, secondary offerings, key analyst calls, top day trader alerts, mergers and acquisitions, Buffett and other investment gurus, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG
November 18, 2009

Prezentările proiectelor de succes prezentate la lucrările „Forumului Regional al Oportunităţilor Europene, 2009” desfăşurate miercuri, 18 noiembrie, vor fi susţinute de structurile regionale care implementează programele de finanţare şi de beneficiarii finanţărilor.

ADR Nord-Vest a prezentat „Reţelele europene de informare şi consiliere – modele de bună practică”, “Noutăţi la Fabrica de idei a Regiunii Transilvania de Nord – Institutul Regional de Cercetare, Educaţie şi Transfer Tehnologic (IRCETT)” şi „Programul Operational Regional – Povestea din spatele poveştii”.

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) just hexed its investors who were hoping to see the stock keep running over the $7.00 hurdle.  The company just announced that it has commenced a public offering of $300 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes.  The company listed the use of proceeds as being for vessel acquisitions, working capital, and other general corporate purposes.  These are under an existing shelf, but the offering method here may sour some investors who recently bought stock.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. is the sole book-running manager for the offerings and it will also have the option to purchase up to $45 million of additional notes to cover any over-allotments.

There is an issue here that many investors hate to see, and that DryShips concurrently intends to enter into a share lending agreement with Deutsche Bank. It will loan approximately $150 million worth of shares to Deutsche Bank and will enter into an equity underwriting agreement with Deutsche Bank to sell common shares that they will be entitled to borrow.

DryShips will not receive any of the proceeds from this sale of common stock, but will receive a nominal lending fee from Deutsche Bank AG. Deutsche Bank will be required to return the borrowed shares on or about the maturity or conversion of the convertible notes.

Shares are down 6.9% at $6.56 after closing up 0.5% at $7.05 today.  It seems that the insatiable appetite for raising capital is not entirely in the rear view mirror after all.

JON C. OGG

Hello Everyone! For those of you are who are visiting this blog for the first time, please visit the What it’s About page and familiarize yourself with the purpose of this blog.

As this is the first post, I will simply try to summarize what is going on in the RE market as of November 2009. Commercial real estate market is currently witnessing never before seen levels of  vacancy, drop in demand for office/industrial space, drop in asking rents for office or ADR’s if you are looking at hotels, limited available capital and no lending either for acquisitions or refinancings from local banks. Without capital or credit, the majority of businesses cannot operate which means they cannot purchase raw material or pay out salaries to name a few uses of cash hence resulting in lay offs and even store closures which triggered falling demand for the office/retail/industrial space.

While the above constituents are a result of rising unemployment and shrinking pockets of consumers, that directly affect all businesses, direct lending from banks to businesses is not. Lending to small business that are a major part of the U.S. economy is shrinking due to lack of confidence by the banks in the system. Banks are somewhat hesitant to lend to small business simply because they need to reserve more for the loan loss provisions. Each quarter all banks try to forecast what percentage of their assets (loans) will not be able to generate enough cash to repay the debt they owe the bank. These loans are mostly sub-prime loans which were originated since 2003 – 2007 (for the most part, but sub-prime lending has been around since many years before that) Seeing huge amounts of losses ahead on their own balance sheets, banks witnessed evaporating capital and stopped lending in order to secure their own going concern over maintaining confidence in the financial system. The evaporating confidence is somewhat stable now since the Federal Reserve has guaranteed losses incurred from sub-prime mortgage for major banks. So then what is stopping the banks from lending. The one and only – VALUE. Commercial banks lend in RE by the underlying value of the property and the cash that it generates. There isn’t any cash in the hands of the owners because businesses are not generating enough cash to sustain operations. If there isn’t any positive cash flow from the business, the underlying value of the property falls compared to the rest of the peers. When there is no underlying value or collateral for the property, banks or commercial finance companies will not finance or refinance the project. For instance, a $10MM property which was purchased with 90% debt and 10% equity at the top of the boom of the CMBS lending market now has value of approximately $6.0MM (General consensus is values are down 40% since the recession started in 2007). The current outstanding loan balance is approximately between $8.0MM – $8.5MM. Now this is not rocket science that any bank will refinance this for $8.0MM at a lower rate to reduce annual debt service when the value is $6.0MM, is it?

Apart from commercial and residential real estate lending, banks are trimming down on personal credit to consumers in the forms of HELOCs and Credit Cards. Credit card lines are getting slashed as consumers become cautious of spending. Approximately $5 trillion of Credit Cards are issued in U.S. out of which $800 billion is drawn upon by the consumers. Credit cards are the most important medium of purchase for American consumers and slashing available limits from credit cards will only hurt consumer in the belly. United States economy is consumer and credit driven. Without credit, consumer is less effective in driving the $14 Trillion economy only on personal income and savings.

More to follow on values and where they are headed.

Till then, Happy Reading!

The Opportunist!

]]> http://steinbeissigmaringen.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/immer-noch-gut/ Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:45:14 +0000 rhgsig http://steinbeissigmaringen.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/immer-noch-gut/

Die Studie von PriceWaterhouseCoopers zu alternativen Konfliktlösungsmodellen stammt zwar aus dem Jahre 2005 und scheint daher etas angestaubt zu sein.

Tatsächlich aber bietet sie auch für heutige Verhältnisse ein unglaublich gut aufgearbeitetes Material. Das zentrale Ergebnis – nämlich dass in den Unternehmen Wunsch und Wirklichkeit auseinanderfallen, hat auch heute noch Bestand.

Insgesamt bietet die Studie reichlich Ansatzpunkte – von der Konfliktlösungsstrategie zwischen Unternehmen und dem dort vorhandenen Optimierungspotential bis hin zur Verbesserung innerbetrieblicher Kommunikationswege. So ist eine enge Absicherung der Rechtslage unabdingbar, wenn es darum geht, Verhandlungsoptionen überhaupt erst zu eröffen. So verwundert es nicht, dass eine frühzeitige Einbindung von rechtlicher Unterstützung im Vorfeld der Konfliktklärung angestrebt wird.

Die Studie steht hier auf den Seite von PWC zum download bereit.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Mediation would be a good way to expedite a flood of mortgage foreclosures [in Tampa and the rest of Florida], members of a foreclosure task force said Wednesday, but some disagreed on the details in oral arguments before the state Supreme Court.

Florida’s courts are currently trying to cope with more than 290,000 foreclosure cases.

“What this court system has is virtually a tsunami of these filings,” said Justice Barbara Pariente.

A majority on the high court’s Task Force on Residential Mortgage Foreclosures recommended trying mediation on owner-occupied homes before cases go to court, with lenders picking up the tab. Borrowers would be contacted by phone and mail and asked to participate. The high court did not immediately act on the proposal.

“The data that the banks have says the earlier in the process you get into mediation, the better and more likely you are to resolve the case,” task force chair Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey of Miami said in an interview. She argued for a statewide managed mediation system.

Minority members said mediation should be offered only if ordered by a judge, and the costs — an estimated $750 per case — should be split 50-50 between lenders and borrowers.

Chief Circuit Judge Lee Haworth of Sarasota said borrowers who have the means to pay should have “skin in the game.”

The Florida Bankers Association supports that option. Without making a financial commitment to the mediation process, borrowers may try to use it to delay foreclosure, association lawyer Virginia Townes said in an interview.

“If the borrower is mediating in bad faith or is really not available or able to engage in a meaningful mediation then we’ve wasted the court’s time,” Townes said.

Bailey said the value of getting the cases decided sooner will outweigh the lenders’ upfront costs. If loans can be restructured through mediation those costs would be included and ultimately paid by the borrowers.

Rebecca Storrow, alternative dispute resolution director for the 15th Circuit Court in Palm Beach County, argued for the traditional court-ordered mediation system. She said it is working well in her system and is cheaper than the task force’s proposal.

The justices also heard arguments on proposed emergency rule changes.

One would require lenders to verify they hold mortgages before going forward with cases. Many lenders initially say they have lost the note, which can result in wasted court time because the notes eventually are found in nearly every case, Bailey said.

She said the rule would tell lenders to double-check before filing. Townes argued it would be a costly and needless step.

The other contested rule would require lenders to cite a reason and get a court order to cancel a foreclosure sale. Now all they have to do is not show up at the sale.

Bailey said 65 percent of sales in Miami-Dade County are canceled that way every month, causing delays for all sales.

Marc Ben-Ezra, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer who represents lenders, opposed the rule. He said it would result in unintended sales if lenders settle with borrowers at the last minute or if delayed by a flat tire.

The sale delays can be costly for borrowers who often mistakenly think they must move out before their homes are sold, Bailey said.

“They’re still on the hook for these houses,” she said. “They’re on the hook for the taxes. They’re on the hook for any code violations.”

It’s also costly for condominium and homeowner associations because no one’s paying monthly fees on those properties, Bailey said.

By BILL KACZOR

Het tekort aan donoren in Nederland eist nog steeds levens. Vorig jaar waren er dat 150 volgens NIGZ-donorvoorlichting. En dat kan flink teruggedrongen worden door, heel voordehand liggend, meer donoren te werven. Schrijver dezes is daar wellicht wat stoïcijns i:, als ik dood ben, ben ik dood en wat er daarna aan mogelijk bruikbaar materiaal in rook op gaat vind ik jammer. Ach, misschien is het wel dat ik vroeger leerde dat je potten pindakaas écht leeg moet maken voor je ze weggooit, maar ik vind donorregistratie een bijzonder normale zaak. Registratie lag daarom voor de hand. 
In Nederland moet je daar echter moeite voor doen. Je moet je registreren als je donor wilt worden.  Maar er zijn echter nog een dikke 7 miljoen mensen van wie niet bekend is of ze al dan niet donor willen zijn, ondanks de aandacht en de Emmy Award die ‘de Grote Donorshow’ van BNN kreeg.

Een andere mogelijkheid, zoals die in België wordt toegepast, is dat er standaard vanuit wordt gegaan dat je donor bent. (volgens mij noemt men dat officieel ‘tacit consent’: wie zwijgt, stemt toe) Als je dan geen zin hebt om donor te zijn, geef je dat aan en wordt je registratie doorgehaald. Men noemt dit systeem ‘Actieve Donor Registratie’, oftewel ADR.

De stichting 2 miljoen handtekeningen heeft daarom een petitie opgezet om (verrassing) 2 miljoen handtekeningen in te zamelen en zo het draagvlak aan te tonen voor het invoeren van een ADR systeem in Nederland. Tekenen dus! De teller staat momenteel bijna op 30.000, dus er is nog een lange weg te gaan…

Tot die tijd blijft het echter van groot belang om even dat Burger Service Nummer op te duikelen en de registratiegegevens op donorregister.nl in te voeren. Normaalste zaak van de wereld wat mij betreft, in afwachting van het ADR-systeem.

I have been reading a bit about Demand Response and Energy Efficiency. Utilities  both public and investor owned are trying to implement joint programs for energy efficiency and demand response. Few pertinent questions come to my mind.

What does this sync up mean for the end users.. commercial and large industrial end users of electricity and what does this partnership provide the utilities?  What are the resources and services available in the market for businesses to analyze and implement such a program?

EE and DR are kinds of demand side energy management techniques. EE is permanent while DR is temporary based on time, season, price and load conditions on the grid. Utilities benefit from EE as they are able to reduce their base load. Energy efficiency is a kind of permanent demand side energy management slightly different from temporary load based demand response. Utilities need both kinds of demand side energy management . They embrace EE for long term load curtailment and DR for active load management.

As for the business customer of the utility, demand response until now was an option which the Facilities/Operations/ Management decided to participate in or opt out under various kinds of programs offered by the utility. However, the stage is being set for automated demand response (ADR), due to the communication upgrade by the utility in terms of smart meter and automated servers (the whole AMI infrastructure). If utility’s infrastructure becomes capable of sending price signals to the business customer  via smart meter/server in near real time, demand response gets a higher value and attention as a demand side management tool. This is because of real time based pricing instead of negotiated flat rate, DR has the capability to provide potential monetization for the customer.

The big question is are businesses ready for that kind of scenario. Based on my experience, very few commercial/ industrial customers have the tools, resources or management approval for DR, leave aside ADR. DR impacts business operations and reliability in most energy intensive enterprises. Hence it has always been an item with pending decision.

What are the resources available for large business customers to analyze and explore the combination of EE and DR. EE is being implemented in almost all companies where the ROI is less than one year. In addition where incentives and subsidies bring ROI to a palatable level such as solar, the projects get funded. Most utilities provide DR programs. If the in-house demand side management resources are tight and a company needs outside help in analyzing and managing DR there is help in the marketplace.

Based on my research I have found consulting and DR service providers who offer help in understanding all the variables in EE/DR/ADR . Some firms are pure consulting firms that help the companies understand the energy market holistically from supply and demand side and optimize an energy strategy for them, which includes EE/DR planning and implementation. Such as KEMA (http://www.kema.com/services/consulting/utility-future/smart-grid/demand-response-market.aspx), Navigant Consulting (http://www.navigantconsulting.com/industries/energy/energy_efficiency/) and many more. Typically you would also need in house resources for implementation. There are others that operate as pure DR providers. They are regional or national aggregators who work with end users, utilities and RTO/ISO’s to solve the problem of oversized demand. Companies such as CPower http://www.cpowered.com/about.php; EnerNOC http://www.enernoc.com/index.php; Ziphany http://www.ziphany.com/drp.html; Eisenbach Consulting http://www.eisenbachconsulting.com/demand-response.php .

Below are few details on offerings from different providers.

EnerNOC: offers both DR and EE. EE uses Monitoring based commissioning for uncovering savings. They monitor all the systems of the building after integrating the systems with their central control panel. Based on monitoring and analysis they offer EE opportunities.

Ziphany: offers mainly DR along-with meter data management platform. They do not provide integration service with building systems and equipment such as EnerNOC.

Eisenbach Consulting: offers mainly DR along-with energy procurement services.

CPower: offers both DR and EE. However, the target market for EE is Utilities and not business owners.

I am not advocating any provider over the other. I am sure there are more DR providers that provide load management solutions and consulting firms that can help companies analyze their business needs and align the energy strategy with the company’s goals. My aim to let the business managers, operation managers know that if DR is getting ignored due to other priorities they can seek help. The best way to address EE and DR is to define a comprehensive energy strategy for the company- both from the supply and demand side. If the supply side is the constant, then they can focus their resources on demand side management. Defining overall strategy should be the first goal and action plans & resource allocation should be developed later. This is crucial since in the future companies will have to factor in cost of carbon in their energy strategy from procurement to end use.

This article is not intended as a technical  resource but my attempt at defining the constraints, barriers for widespread adoption of demand response by end users. Hope you enjoy reading.

7 Days Group Holdings Limited is national economy hotel chain based in China, and it has just filed to come public via an Inital Public Offering.  No terms were disclosed other than it will sell up to $100 million in common stock via ADRs.  It plans to list its stock under the “SVN” ticker on the New York Stock Exchange with J.P. Morgan and Citigroup as the lead underwriters.

To many investors, this will sound  like the story of Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc. (NASDAQ: HMIN).

The company is an economy hotel chain based in China which converts and operates limited service economy hotels across major metropolitan areas in China under its “7 Days Inn” brand for value-conscious business and leisure travelers. The company noted that two important drivers of its business are its 7 Days Club and its eCommerce platform.  The company also says that it is the third largest economy hotel chain in China based on the total number of hotels as of December 31, 2008.  Furthermore, it said that it is the fastest growing among the top ten economy hotel chains in China in 2006, 2007 and 2008 based on the number of new hotels opened.

As of September 30, 2009, it had 283 hotels in operation.  Of those hotels, 48 were managed hotels with 28,266 hotel rooms in 41 cities, and an additional 77 hotels with 7,476 hotel rooms under conversion.  These hotels will cover 59 cities in China and the company noted that over eight million members have registered with the 7 Days Club.

Revenues have grown from grew from RMB54.9 million in 2006 to RMB721.4 million (US$105.7 million) in 2008; and revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 were RMB830.8 million (US$121.7 million). During 2008 and for the nine months ended September 30, 2009, its net losses were RMB209.9 million (US$30.8 million) and RMB9.3 million (US$1.4 million), respectively.

For a comparison on the size, Home Inns & Hotels Management in China generated $257.922 million in 2008 revenues and 2008 net income applicable for holders of $14.838 million.

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JON C. OGG

Das Handelsblatt hat hier unter dem Titel: Mediatoren-Streit ist nicht immer ein Fall für das Gericht die Vorteile von alternativen Konfliktlösungsmodellen herausgestellt.

Das Blatt weist darauf hin, dass Streit in Unternehmerfamilien dazu führen kann, dass das Unternehmen in die Insolvenz gerät. Die Zeitung hat den Zwist innerhalb der Familien als einen der größten Wertvernichter ausgemacht.

Deputaţii Alianţei pentru Integrare Europeană au schimbat din mers în interes personal şi de partid regulile privind alegerea şefului statului. Modificările operate de deputaţii majoritari le vor permite liberal-democraţilor să guverneze practic până în septembrie 2010, când se va desfăşura un nou scrutin parlamentar, în cazul în care, bineînţeles, între timp nu va fi ales un preşedinte al Republicii Moldova. Deputaţii AIE au schimbat din mers regulile jocului privind alegerea şefului statului, ceea ce bineînţeles constituie o practică eminamente antidemocratică. Cu toate acestea, adoptarea acestei legi (nu avem nici o îndoială că va fi votată şi în lectura a doua) va institui o nouă situaţie care ar putea să-i convină atât puterii, cât şi opoziţiei comuniste. Guvernanţii speră că timp de un an vor reuşi să redreseze situaţia din Republica Moldova, astfel ca să câştige detaşat viitoarele alegeri anticipate. Comuniştii, care acum nu sunt gata de noi alegeri, dimpotrivă, speră că lucrurile în ţara noastră vor merge din prost în tot mai prost şi că AIE va călca pe urmele ADR, adică va aduce ţara la sapă de lemn. Mai ales că la capitolul „abuzuri şi practici antidemocratice” coaliţia de guvernământ PDLM, PL, PD şi AMN (Filat-Ghimpu-Lupu-Urechean) deja a reuşit să bifeze câteva reuşite remarcabile: deţinerea concomitentă a calităţii de deputat cu cea de ministru sau de primar general al municipiului Chişinău, subordonarea audiovizualului în interesul politic al puterii.

Deşi îndepărtează data unor eventuale alegeri parlamentare anticipate, această iniţiativă legislativă nu este de natură să le evite în general şi, din păcate, nici să asigure stabilitatea politică din Republica Moldova. De fapt, prin adoptarea acestei legi, vom intra într-o campanie electorală care va dura aproape un an.

În concluzie: Mihai Ghimpu va deţine două funcţii concomitent: pe cea de preşedinte al Parlamentului şi pe cea de şef al statului. Nu ştim cât va avea de câştigat PL din această dublă calitate de demnitar al unchiului Mihai. În mod sigur însă, marele perdant este Marian Lupu. Acesta nu s-a ales cu nimic şi s-ar putea nici să nu să se aleagă cu ceva important, chiar şi după alegerile anticipate din 2010.