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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SiouxPal who wrote (161176)	2/19/2009 5:53:34 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362852

The Space Plane... news.bbc.co.uk

To: SiouxPal who wrote (161176)	2/19/2009 9:24:52 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362852

Turnaround specialists see a bright future in near failures ______________________________________________________________ by Ed Duggan South Florida Business Journal Friday, February 13, 2009 Turnaround experts are in growing demand as business values nosedive amid a prolonged credit freeze. “It just seemed like the opportune time to start our own shop,” said CPA Jim Martin, managing partner of the newly formed Coral Gables-based ACM Capital Partners. (ACM doesn’t stand for something mysterious: It’s the initials of Martin’s 11-month-old daughter, Aubrey Claire Martin.) Martin said hundreds of turnaround professionals have been sucked up into the restructurings of major banks. Scores more are giving advice to manufacturers, distributors, retailers and real estate developers nationwide that are in financial agony. Unprecedented demand “It has created unprecedented demand for experienced turnaround professionals who can step into the breach for mid-size companies and quickly start solving problems,” Martin said. West Palm Beach-based attorney Andrew Billig, of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP – who has no connection to the new firm or its principals – agreed there is a premium on both people and organizations that can facilitate company restructurings of equity and debt. “It used to be that Chapter 11 was the easy workout method, with plenty of financial institutions ready to provide DIP [debtor-in-possession] financing,” Billig said. “That spigot has been turned off.” Business turnaround and workout competition in Florida exists from representatives of local and national companies. On the national scene are Chicago-based Mesirow Financial and New York-based FTI Consulting (NYSE: FTC). Locally, a number of law and accounting firms have set up restructuring departments, but, unlike restructuring specialty firms, they usually don’t have the operational executives to place in the distressed firms. Other traditional investment banking firms see the potential, as well. Eye on the future With an economic weather eye on the future, Fort Lauderdale-based Farlie Turner & Co., which specializes in mergers and acquisitions in the mid-market sector, recently established a special situations group for underperforming companies. It is designed to help mid-market companies, which are in financial distress, avoid litigation, according to its managing director, Craig Farlie. Heading the new group is Steven Zuckerman, an attorney experienced in bankruptcy and restructuring who was formerly with Berger Singerman. The key to any business restructuring is money, time and talent. While, Martin said his 12-person restructuring team has access to more than $100 million of equity or debt through a number of separate equity firms, ACM Capital plans to shortly raise its own opportunity fund of $10 million to $25 million from accredited investors and private equity funds. Brian Davies, the other ACM Capital managing partner, has 14 years of experience in corporate finance, operations and large refinance deals. He said the in-house fund will add greater flexibility to dealmaking, allowing for quicker action and lower workout fees with a bonus arrangement on the back end, as opposed to getting multiple fund agreement on a deal-by-deal basis and going in with high market-rate fees. “What differentiates us is both initial cost and how we align ourselves with our clients and their stakeholders,” Davies said. “We are willing to step into their shoes, so when we are successful, they are successful.” ACM CAPITAL PARTNERS Managing partners: Jim Martin and Brian Davies Web site: acmcapitalpartners.com

To: SiouxPal who wrote (161176)	2/19/2009 11:15:39 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 362852

You probably already know this. How Long Before Uranium Shortages? Posted by Gail the Actuary on February 19, 2009 - 9:16am There is a great deal of controversy about how much uranium will be available for future use. I decided to check to see for myself, and came to the conclusion that we are likely headed for problems within the next ten years. Below the fold are a few things I discovered, in looking through reports available on the Internet.... The Energy Watch Group is not the only one who has looked at the question of the adequacy of uranium resources. The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a study in 2001 called Analysis of Uranium Supply to 2050. Its analysis also shows a peak and decline of uranium supply, with a peak occurring in 2024, assuming all resources, including the highest cost resources, can be extracted. If only lower cost resources can be extracted, the peak will be sooner.... The World Nuclear Association (with the above faith-based statements) also published a report for £375.00 called The global nuclear fuel market: supply and demand 2007-2030. I do not have a copy of this report, but according to the EIA Energy Outlook 2008, WNA is forecasting that world uranium production will peak in 2015, before slowly declining to 90% of its peak level in 2030. It is strange that the report I quoted above, available on their website, fails to mention this. theoildrum.com