09/26/2010 (5:36 pm)

San Antonio stocks snap back after two-day slide

Filed under: online |

San Antonio’s publicly traded companies witnessed a rebound of their stocks on Friday, a day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 200 points.

A total of 14 local stocks tracked by the San Antonio Business Journal increased in value, compared to the previous market close on Sept. 23.

The Alamo Group’s stock rose the most among area stocks on Friday. The company’s stock closed at $22.84, up 7.63 percent on Sept. 24.

The Alamo Group manufactures agricultural and right-of-way maintenance equipment.

Only one local stock declined in value, while one was unchanged from the previous trading day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 198 points, or 1.86 percent, to close at 10,860.

Friday’s closing tally:

Abraxas Petroleum Corp.’s (NASDAQ: AXAS) — $2.83, up 3.66 percent.

Alamo Group Inc.’s (NYSE: ALG) — $22.84, up 7.63 percent.

CC Media Holdings’ (Pink Sheets: CCMO) — $7.50, unchanged.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc.’s (NYSE: CFR) — $53.69, up 2.33 percent.

GlobalSCAPE Inc.’s (AMEX: GSB) — $2.60, down 2.62 percent.

• Harte-Hanks Inc.’s (NYSE: HHS) — $11.17, up 5.88 percent.

Kinetic Concepts Inc.’s (NYSE: KCI) — $35.94, up 2.89 percent.

• NuStar Energy LP’s (NYSE: NS) — $60.36, up 0.37 percent.

NuStar GP Holdings LLC’s (NYSE: NSH) — $33.39, up 0.66 percent.

Pioneer Drilling Co.’s (AMEX: PDC) — $6.23, up 5.41 percent.

• Rackspace Hosting’s (NYSE: RAX) — $24.46, up 5.75 percent.

Rush Enterprises’ (NASDAQ: RUSHA) — Class A stock closed at $15.01, up 4.02 percent.

• Rush Enterprises’ (NASDAQ: RUSHB) — Class B stock closed at $13.52, up 4 percent.

Tesoro Corp.’s (NYSE: TSO) — $12.89, up 4.04 percent.

U.S. Global Investors’ (NASDAQ: GROW) — $6.58, up 4.9 percent.

Valero Energy Corp.’s (NYSE: VLO) — $16.82, up 1.08 percent.

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09/23/2010 (3:06 pm)

NYSE accepts Magnetek listing plan, moves up deadline

Filed under: money |

Magnetek Inc. said Tuesday that the New York Stock Exchange has accepted the company's plan to regain compliance with the exchange's listing standards, but is giving the company less time to do so.

Magnetek (NYSE: MAG), a Menomonee Falls manufacturer of digital power and motion control systems, had previously announced that it was notified June 21 by the NYSE that its shares have again fallen below the listing standards of the exchange. At the time, Magnetek was below criteria because its average market capitalization had been less than $50 million over a consecutive 30 trading-day period and its last reported shareholders’ equity was less than $50 million.

The new warning came about two months after the NYSE notified Magnetek that its shares had regained compliance with the exchange's minimum market cap listing standard.

Given the company's recurrence of having fallen below the continued listing standards, Magnetek said the exchange's Listings and Compliance Committee elected to truncate the plan period for regaining compliance from 18 months to 12 months.

Acceptance of the plan allows the firm to continue to be listed on the NYSE during the plan period.

Magnetek Inc.'s products are used in material handling, people moving and energy delivery. The company operates plants in Pittsburgh and Canonsburg, Pa., and in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, as well as Menomonee Falls. The firm's revenue was $98 million for fiscal 2009, which ended June 28, 2009.

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09/19/2010 (5:42 pm)

First Phila.-area bank failure since crisis is ISN Bank of Cherry Hill

Filed under: management |

The Philadelphia region has had its first bank failure since the onset of the financial crisis: ISN Bank of Cherry Hill, N.J., was closed Friday by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as receiver.

The FDIC then sold ISN’s assets to New Century Bank (which is changing its name Customers USA Bank) of Phoenixville, Pa., which has now acquired two failed banks this summer.

The sole branch of ISN will be open for business Monday as a division of Customers. ISN will be led by Warren Taylor, New Century’s executive vice president. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage. The FDIC said customers of ISN Bank should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from New Century that it has completed systems changes to allow other New Century branches to process their accounts as well.

On Friday evening and over the weekend, ISN depositors can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual, officials said.

As of June 30, ISN Bank had about $81.6 million in total assets and $79.7 million in total deposits. New Century Bank did not pay the FDIC a premium to assume all of the deposits of ISN. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, New Century agreed to buy essentially all of the failed bank's assets.

The FDIC and New Century entered into a loss-share transaction on $64 payday lenders.8 million of ISN Bank's assets. New Century will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement.

Last year, regulators nixed a potential acquisition of ISN Bank by MidCap Financial Holdings of Bethesda, Md., for $1.3 million in a deal set up to avoid an FDIC takeover. About 26 percent of ISN’s assets are nonperforming. Its risk-based capital ratio is dangerously low at 3.6 percent. The bank lost $1.4 million in the first two quarters of this year and $2.1 million in 2009.

ISN opened its doors in 2001 as interSTATE Net Bank and changed its name five years later to ISN Bank. Its website lists offices in Cherry Hill, Woodstown, and Somers Point, N.J., but the FDIC news release said it only has one. A list of its board members can be found here.

In August, New Century, now run by former Sovereign Bancorp CEO Jay Sidhu, said it planned to acquire Reading, Pa.-based Berkshire Bancorp in an $11 million stock deal expected to close in the first quarter of 2011. In July, it acquired the failed USA Bank of Port Chester, N.Y., with assistance from the FDIC. New Century has grown its assets from roughly $250 million when Sidhu became its CEO in summer 2009 to more than $1 billion. It has raised roughly $70 million during that time.

With the ISN acquisition, Customers will enter New Jersey for the first time. In the next three years, Taylor said the bank plans on building a $500 million bank in the state.

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09/15/2010 (6:57 am)

Dollar remains ’stuck’ on uncertain outlook

Filed under: money |

The dollar drifted lower against the euro this week, but held its own against the Japanese yen, as investors remain wary about the outlook for the global economy.

Concerns about the health of European banks boosted the dollar early in the week. But the currency settled in to a narrow range later on as investors had few economic reports to set the tone.

"The U.S. dollar has been stuck in somewhat of a range since early August, lacking a catalyst to push it decisively in either direction," Camilla Sutton, a currency strategist at Scotia Capital, wrote in a research report.

Many investors view the U.S. dollar as a safer alternative to currencies such as the euro and the Canadian dollar, which are more sensitive to economic growth. As a result, the dollar tends to rise when economic conditions are uncertain and fall when the outlook brightens.

A snapshot of regional economic conditions across the 12 regions in the Federal Reserve system underscored the cloudy outlook for U.S. growth on Wednesday.

The economy grew at a sluggish pace during the summer months, but there are now "widespread signs" that activity is slowing, according to the Fed’s Beige Book cash advance.

Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, signaled last month that the central bank is willing to apply additional "unconventional measures" to boost the economy if the outlook were to "deteriorate significantly."

Given a consensus in the market that the Fed will continue to do what is necessary to support the economy, Sutton said she expects the dollar to remain weak as investors gravitate towards higher yielding currencies.

Meanwhile, investors continued to flock to the Japanese yen this week. The yen, which is also seen as a safe haven, rose to a fresh 15-year high against the dollar earlier this week on jitters about Europe’s financial institutions.

But the dollar rose against the yen Friday after Japanese officials signaled that the government is willing to intervene in the currency market to halt the yen’s meteoric rise.

A stronger yen is a major concern for Japan’s export driven economy, since it undermines profits for companies that do business overseas and gives rivals an advantage. 

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09/11/2010 (3:03 am)

Drummond looking to unload Colombian mines

Filed under: technology |

Drummond Co. is looking to sell its Colombian mining operations, according to a report from Reuters.

The international news agency is reporting that Drummond is seeking up to $8 billion to selling the operations and the deadline is next week.

The company, which has mining and real estate development operations, is the largest private business in Birmingham, with $2 guaranteed personal loan approval.8 billion in revenue last year.

For the Birmingham Business Journal's Birmingham 100 listing earlier this year, Drummond reported 1,370 local employees and 6,300 total employees.

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09/09/2010 (3:36 am)

Nationl Fuel sells landfill gas unit

Filed under: online |

National Fuel Gas Co. said it has sold off its landfill gas business and has raised its anticipated earnings guidance for 2010.

The completion of the sale to Toro Energy GP II LLC, Toro Energy Holdings II LLC and an undisclosed buyer is expected by Sept 30. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Williamsville-based national Fuel operated the business under its subsidiary Horizon LFG Inc.

National Fuel (NYSE: NFG) said as a result it will raise its earnings per share for this year to a range of $2.65 to $2.75 from $2.60 to $2.70.

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09/04/2010 (4:18 pm)

Orange County resort tax up 20%

Filed under: legal |

Collection of Orange County resort tax increased 20 percent to $13.1 million in July from $10.9 million last July, according to Orange County statistics released Sept. 2.

The county collected $126.3 million from September through July, up 2.4 percent from $123.3 million reported for the same period last year.

Resort taxes are charged on short-term hotel and motel rentals and are used to market the area and build and market facilities like the Orange County Convention Center and Amway Arena.

“We have now had six months of [resort tax] collections exceeding the same months in 2009,” said County Comptroller Martha Haynie, in a prepared statement. “Congratulations to Universal Studios for bringing us the real magic of Harry Potter, and to our entire tourism industry for its resilience,” she said.

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