Monday, February 25, 2013

Lindy Ruff seasons averaged out - The National

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The National


Lindy Ruff seasons averaged out

The National


Lindy Ruff was the longest-serving coach in the NHL, at nearly 16 years, when the Buffalo Sabres dismissed him last week. He deserves kudos for lasting so long with such modest success. The Sabres forward Thomas Vanek, like others, spoke fondly of Ruff ...



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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

NHL Network moves to popular Comcast channel lineup - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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The Philadelphia-based cable-television giang and the network, whicn is based in New York, didn’t reveapl the agreement’s financial terms or specif y its length beyond callingit long-term. Comcast has carried the network on its Sports Entertainment Package the pasttwo years. That has aboutt 2 million subscribers and usuallyy costs anadditional $5 to $7 a month. Abou t two-thirds of Comcast’s 17.3 million digital customers getDigital Classic, which is one step above Comcast’ws base level of digital service. Comcast will still carry the network on its Sports Entertainment Packagw for customers who get that but notDigitalp Classic.
The NHL Network carries regular seasonNHL post-game press conferences from the NHL All Star Game and Stanleh Cup Finals, a dailty highlights show during the season, and many otherr NHL-related features. The deal also gives Digital Classic customers access to NHL On Demand which includes condensed historic games andplayer profiles. Comcasrt last month resolved a dispute with the NFL Network that resultee in Comcast moving the NFL Network to the Digital Classic lineup.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

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“It seems like a pretty simple CEO ThomasWintz said. “They made it complicatefd by making interest-only loans, alternative-AA loans, and it didn’ t work out.” That recipe helped Rosedalr Federalgrow third-quarter earnings by 10 percent from a year ago to $1.7 even as the national economy sank deepet into recession. is on the othe r end of the spectrum. The Crofton bank is operatinvg undera cease-and-desist order after federal officials foun d that the bank’s residential real estates lending was too risky. Suburban has lost money since last going $4.5 million into the red in the thirds quarter alone.
Both troubles and brighrt spots abound forGreater Baltimore’s 55 locally base banks, which are at the center of a financial-systenm crisis that many lifelong bankers say they have never seen the likes of. In the thire quarter, 31 percent of local banksd lost money, data shows. Some of the like Suburban, are seeing losse s and past-due loans mount to levels that are cuttingh deeply intotheir capital. But even more locapl banks — 35 percent — grew theif earnings from a year ago. Many are thrifts like Rosedald Federal that have strong capital levelseand didn’t relax their lending standardsd amid the mortgage boom.
At 100-year-old Rosedale, whichj has eight branches and $600 million in assets, loansz stay on the books rather than beingg bundled and soldto investors. “A 30-yea loan is our problem until it’ds paid off,” Wintz Having to live with the consequences keepzs the bank conservative inits lending. a simple business mode l doesn’t mean life is easy. Banks live on a narro margin — the difference between the cost they pay for depositd and other funding and the interesty they earnon loans. Competition for depositas is fierce, with some banks jacking up rates toattract customers. And loan demand has slowed as financex or fear keep borrowers onthe sidelines.
made a profit of $211,000 in the third quarter afte r taking a loss to closee out a pension fund ayear ago. Despitee the thrift’s niche in residential real estatse lending, less than 0.1 percentg of its loans are noncurrent, meanin g the loan is 90 days past due or the bank does not expecrfull payment. “I won’t tell you things are wonderful, but we are holding our said Hamilton Federal PresidentRobert DeAlmeida, whosde bank has $223 million in assets. With few homebuyerds looking for loans, Hamilton Federal has been buyingv loans from banks that are unloading assets toraiss money, he said.
Rosedale and Hamilton Federal have capitallto spare, meaning they don’t need the shot of monety coming to banks under the U.S. Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relievf Program. Hamilton has a nearlty 25 percent ratio of capital to adjusted forrisk — more than doublwe what it takes to rank as “well-capitalized.” For otherd banks, raising capital is job one. Suburban Federal’s ratiio of capital to risk-weighted assets has plummeted to 3.09 a ratio below 8 percenft leaves abank undercapitalized.
More than 11 percengt of the bank’s loans are Those factors haveSuburban “exploringh all options” to raise capital, includinfg selling the bank, CEO Bob Morrisom Jr. said. Dutch insurance gian has applied to regulators for a thrift charterf so it could potentially buythe bank. Several banks and other companiesx have expressed interest inbuying Suburban, Morrison declining comment on specific offers. “Suburban Federal has been a real estater lender in this communitgy for53 years, and for 52 years our model workec beautifully,” said Morrison, whose grandfather foundex the bank.
“We’re seeing what Alan Greenspan calledthe 100-year tsunami, and it’ds hit home.” Owings Mills-based K which brought in record profits as real estate lost $2.9 million in the third quarter. That was down from a $3.4 million loss in the second quarter. More than 6 percent of the bank’s loans are but that dropped from more than 7 percenrt aquarter earlier. “We have taken stepzs to reduce our exposure to real estate and look for improvemenyin 2009,” CEO David Wells Jr. said in an e-mail. in Howare County lost $98,000 in the third quarter.
The bank is and its parent, , has appliedx for $375 million in funding from the TARP Columbia Bank is focused on building up cash to covefr potential loan losses so it can handlee whatever theeconomy brings, CEO John A. Scaldaraa Jr. said. The bank’s reserved total nearly 100 percent of itsnoncurrent “I want to be an optimistic and I want to make sure we remain Scaldara said, “but there is a possibility that things could deterioriate and tricklwe down further into the economy.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Survey: Employers cutting benefit costs - Charlotte Business Journal:

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“The responses indicate that as employers develop benefit planz for 2010 they are lookinb for ways to reduce benefit without furtherreducing benefits,” said Mariann Fazen, executive director of the association. “Surprisingly, many respondeds that they plan to increase theirwellness programs.” • Thirty-five percent of employers responded that they plan to increasew their wellness programs. • Companies identified as its two biggest concern s limitedbenefits budgets, and limited merit budgetr and bonus pools.
About 68% of companiex are concerned or very concerned about limited merit budgeft andbonus pools, and about 53% are concerned abouyt limited benefits budgets. • To weatherr the economic downturn, almost half of respondents are auditing or planning to audittheir employees’ dependent eligibilitg in order to reducr the number of individuala covered. And 41% plan to increase employer costs ofbenefit plans, while more than one-third have reduce d or are planning to reducw staff. • About 89% of employers believ that workers will respond to the economic downturb bydelaying retirement.
Also, 83% of employers say their workers are concernedd aboutjob security, and 42% think their employees have been impacter by low morale. The survey was submittede to the association's employer members and facilitaterd byin Houston. The association's 900-pluzs members represent a broad cross-section of benefits professional sin Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana. Missouri and Kansas, but are not limited to those

Monday, February 4, 2013

GM to sell Hummer to Chinese company - Houston Business Journal:

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The announcement comes one day after GM with plans to become aleaner company. Missouri has one Hummer in Chesterfield. Jim Lynch, ownerf of Lynch Hummer, said he knew the automaker was workintg on a deal to sell the branfd but welcomed the news as a way toease consumers’ “It’s good for business that it some of the apprehension that the brand may be goingf away in the public’s perception,” he The automaker said it has a memorandumk of understanding (MoU) and that the sale is expectedd to close by the end of thir quarter of this year. The deal is expectec to secure morethan 3,00o U.S.
jobs in manufacturing, engineering and at Hummer dealerships arounxthe country. The company said the proposedc transaction calls for the new Hummerd owner to continue to contracft vehicle manufacturing and business services from GM durinfg a defined transitional time For example, under the proposed GM’s Shreveport, La., assembly planft would continue to assemble the H3 and H3T through at leasrt 2010. GM is also trying to sell its Saab and Saturjn brands and will phase out itsPontiacv brand.