| Tracking the cycle - a topsy turvy year in M&A
Downtown, almost the very tip of the island. It's a freezing grey day outside. Sat in the twentieth floor of a deep-carpeted office of a leading M&A lawyer. For all the talk of the shift in power to London, this is it. This spiky concrete jungle is still the hard-wired centre of global money-flow and still knows it. Like the steaks – they still do it bigger and better here. Talk in the meetings is of covenant-lite deals, EBITDA holidays, and private equity and bulge bracket clients tearing up the rulebooks. Barbarians at the gate? More like the barbarians guarding the gates. ‘But how long can the rule-bending last?' says my interviewee, his caution rings in my ears as I rush to my gate at JFK and the Christmas break. The New Year, however, will bring yet more record-breaking buyouts: TXU ($44bn), First Data ($27bn), and Alltel ($27bn).
Is this retail's nightmare before Christmas?
And stock-market investors appear to think not only that things are bad, but that they are going to get much, much worse. Since the beginning of the year retail share prices have dropped by more than 20%. And as the chart on the right shows, prospective price-earnings ratios – a key measure of the stock-market’s perception of company prospects – have plunged to their lowest level since the early 1990s, according to data from Thomson Financial. Companies such as Woolworths and SCS have seen their share prices drop so low they appear to be offering unprecedented dividend yields of 15% and 20%, respectively. One analyst said: "The yields are so high because everyone is worried that earnings will be slashed and the companies won’t be able to afford dividend payments." In the debt markets, the warning signals are flashing too.
Eons Fitness Survey Shows Boomers Haven't Lost a Step in Their Quest ...
CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD, BOSTON, Aug. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Eons(TM), the media company for lovin' life on the flip side of 50, today announced the results of its inaugural Eons Boomer Fitness Survey of the fitness attitudes and behaviors of the most physically active and healthy generation in history. Baby boomers who fueled the aerobics movement and who crowded running paths across the country are now reaping the dividends of their active lifestyles, with more than half saying they are in excellent or above-average condition, according to the survey. "Baby boomers are the generation that made Jane Fonda's aerobics videos best-sellers and they took up Jim Fixx's challenge to become a nation of runners," said Jeff Taylor, founder and CEO of Eons. "They have goals they want to accomplish, whether it's travel, building new relationships, or just living the biggest life possible, and boomers know they can only do that if they keep their chassis in great shape." Scott "Q" Marcus, an Eons fitness advisor whose "Walking the Walk" blog on eons.com inspires readers with practical, powerful and effective fitness and weight-loss advice, said, "The key to fitness is to remember that 'small steps done regularly always generate better results than large steps done intermittently.' In other words, it's better to walk a block - and actually do it - than promise yourself you'll run a mile, but sleep in instead.
N.S. bylaw will ban smoking in cars with kids
For two generations and millions of tax dollars it is clear that anti-tobacco organizations have completely failed and now are off-loading their responsibillity to the police with by-laws of this type. If these advocates knew what they were doing then these measures would not be needed. To date the media (with advertising bans), convenience stores and bars are doing the work of anti-tobacco advocates. Oddly, those that do the work are the only ones that don't get government funding. Anti-tobacco advocacy is a disgrace and these incompetents should no longer get a penny of tax funding. If anti-tobacco advocacy is failing because they are constantly being outsmarted by tobacco companies, then there is a simple solution. Fire all of the stupid anti-tobacco advocates and replace them with people that can actually do the work.
Transporters caught in the crossfire
We do not have enough security here (at Mlolongo) and often we have had to chase away thieves aiming to steal oil or parts of the trucks," complained another driver. Mr Paul Naubembe, a Ugandan driver headed to Juba narrated how they have risked their lives as the violence mounts in many parts of the country. "We cannot travel without escort by security personnel. We have run out of our mileage allowances and we risk starving if the crisis is not addressed," he says. He added that being a Ugandan driver in Kenya at this time when there is rumour of Ugandan soldiers involvement in Kenya is the most disquieting experience. "We are being put under a lot of stress as our brothers in Kenya think our president is involved and we have become a target.
Business Briefs
GREENVILLE — The head of Michelin North America for the past decade will retire this year to work as a consultant for the company and others in the state, Michelin said Tuesday. Jim Micali, 60, became chairman and president of Michelin North America in 1996. His retirement will be effective Aug. 15, the company said. Micali will be succeeded by Dick Wilkerson, the tire maker's executive vice president for personnel since 2006. Michelin North America has more than 22,500 employees and operates 19 major manufacturing plants. AT&T to offer free Wi-Fi to its broadband users SAN ANTONIO — AT&T said Wednesday it will make its 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots free to nearly all its broadband Internet customers starting next week. Only subscribers to AT&T's premium broadband services previously had free access to its hotspots, leaving out the majority of high-speed users.
Vols Ready For Leap
The gigantic boulder on which Tennessee students have been painting birthday messages and praise for Volunteer victories since the 1960s bore only that number painted in orange against a black backdrop on Sunday morning.
It's the ranking the No. 2 Volunteers likely will ascend to today on the heels of their 66-62 victory over top-ranked Memphis on Saturday night, their first victory over a No. 1 opponent since 1969.
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Jondi Gumz Reporter at Large: When morale slides and productivity ...
Fagan-Smith will join the other winners at a tribute Feb. 28 through March 1 at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Her clients include some of the most well-known names in Silicon Valley -- HP, Symantec, Adobe, Cisco -- and PG&E. But the issues she addresses, such as transforming a company's culture and training managers to communicate and lead change, apply to nonprofits as well as businesses. Her company employs a variety of tools: Pulse surveys and podcasts, blogs and intranets, speechwriting and social networking. The outcomes: Managers gain useful information from employees on emerging trends and can quickly address issues to improve productivity. Employees understand the company .
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