| Restructuring may be stalling Acsa listing
Pretoria - The planned listing of Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) appears to have stalled and with it the introduction of additional black shareholders to the parastatal. Acsa owns and operates the country's seven principal and three major international airports. Its management and staff were given an option to buy 7.8 percent of the company at a 10 percent discount to the price that Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) of Italy paid for its shares in 1998. However, the option can only be exercised when its shares are listed on a stock exchange. The government said in 2001 that Acsa would not be listed before 2004. The Public Investment Corporation acquired ADR's 20 percent for R1.675 billion in 2005. ADR made a profit of about R785 million on the sale of the shares, for which it paid R890 million in 1998, and has received about R180 million in dividends from Acsa since then.
China and Japan: between past and future
Shinzo Abe's most innovative gesture as prime minister of Japan came just after he assumed the post in September 2006: the decision to make Beijing rather than (as is customary) Tokyo's principal ally, Washington, the destination of his first overseas trip. The clear aim was to thaw the Sino-Japanese ties that had steadily cooled under Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi. A further contrast with Koizumi followed, namely Abe's wise decision (so far at least) to forego any official visit to Yasukuni shrine, the controversial war memorial in Tokyo which China and both parts of Korea view as a symbol of Japanese aggression in the 1930s and 1940s. The visit of the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao to Japan on 11-13 April 2007 may be regarded as one reflection of the soundness of Abe's judgment, in this important area at least.
Delta and Pine Land Company Announces Second Quarter and Six-Month ...
SCOTT, Miss., April 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Delta and Pine Land Company (NYSE: DLP) ("D&PL" or the "Company"), a leading commercial breeder, producer and marketer of cotton planting seed, today announced results for the second quarter and six-month period ended February 28, 2007. Second Quarter Results Net loss for the 2007 second quarter was $0.06 per diluted share, compared to last year's second quarter net income of $0.40 per diluted share. The second quarter net loss includes charges of $0.02 per diluted share related to the proposed merger with Monsanto. The prior year second quarter included $0.01 per diluted share in Pharmacia/Monsanto litigation expenses. Revenues were $45.0 million in the 2007 second quarter, compared to $115.0 million recorded in the year-ago quarter.
MIT Conference is Bullish on Solar Power
Rhone Resch stood at the microphone in a conference room in Cambridge, Mass., and asked for a show of hands. “How many people here,“ he demanded, “have a solar system on the roof of their house or their business?" Not more than a dozen people responded. “Now, how many people want to have a solar system on the roof of your house or your business?" This time every hand went up, accompanied by some sheepish chuckling. “People want to have solar," explained Resch, the president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, based in Washington, D.C. “There's an incredible untapped demand here." To judge by the discussion at MIT's Energy 2.0 Conference, held in early March, the public could well get its way. The conference brought entrepreneurs and inventors together with financiers to discuss not just advances in renewable fuels but in unconventional oil, hybrid cars, and climate change policy.
Business briefs
DeKalb Financial Credit Union will celebrate its 75th anniversary 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday at all five of its locations. It is a local, member-owned financial cooperative with offices in Auburn, Angola, Garrett and New Haven. Career expo is Thursday at coliseum For 16 years the Northeastern Indiana Career Employment Expo has been the leading job fair in northeastern Indiana. This year, nine accredited colleges and universities are bringing employers to a place where they can have the high-touch recruiting experience that today's college graduates and students demand. The NICE Expo is set for 2-6 p.m. Thursday at Memorial Coliseum. Resumes and professional attire are required. There is no fee for students or alumni. The job fair is sponsored by the Career Centers at Grace College, Huntington University, Indiana Institute of Technology, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Ivy Tech Community College-Northeast, Manchester College, Taylor University-Fort Wayne, Tri-State University and University of Saint Francis.
BUYINS.NET Issues SqueezeTrigger Price of $0.39 on NewMarket ...
DALLAS, TX -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 04/09/07 -- NewMarket Technology, Inc. (OTCBB: NMKT) announced today that BUYINS.NET, www.buyins.net, is reiterating coverage of NewMarket Technology after releasing the latest short sale data to April 2007. From May 2005 to April 2007 approximately 638.8 million total aggregate shares of NMKT have traded for a total dollar value of nearly $248.9 million. The total aggregate number of shares shorted in this time period is approximately 49.2 million shares. The NMKT SqueezeTrigger price of $0.39 is the volume weighted average short price of all short selling in NMKT. A short squeeze began when shares of NMKT closed above $0.39. As the price of NMKT rises, more short positions become losing positions for short sellers. NewMarket Technology pre-announced 2006 annual revenue of over $74 million, beating the company's forecast of $70 million with a record net income of more than $4 million in 2006: http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070330/20070330005184.html?.v=1.
Yet more on blog standards
While I was offline all long weekend, the blog code of conduct debate snowballed somewhat. Web veteran Tim O'Reilly waded in to the debate hand-in-hand with Wikipedia Daddy Jimmy Wales, and between the two of them came up with a seven point list of standards. Needless to say, opinion seems to be ferociously divided on this. I personally see these as standards, rather than rules, and these are all opt-in. So if you don't like it, don't use it. It's about a loose a proposal as possible. Some reaction: Dave Windass on Killing Time: "The self-appointed 21st Century bastions of morality Jimmy Wales (founder of unreliable font of non-wisdom Wikipedia) and Tim O'Reilly (the inventor of the irksome phrase Web 2.0. I am now coining Web 4.5 before anyone else does.
NAR Chief Economist Upbeat But Points To A Few Possible Problems
David Lereah, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has weighed in on the bankruptcies, foreclosures, and predicted Armageddon in the subprime mortgage market. In a column on the NAR website titled "The Subprime Mess" Lereah gives his take on what has happened and what might. Much of it is a recounting of the familiar history leading up to the current tumult, but he does have an interesting take on the psychology behind the mess. "Just as children in an orderly classroom stir up a wild ruckus when the teacher leaves the room," he says, "some people and businesses stray from fundamental behavior during a frenzied market environment." He cites the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s when S&Ls were purchasing pricy art while the bank was floundering and the all too familiar behavior of investors during the dot.com boom when fundamental investment principles were viewed as tools for sissies.
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