Landes Capital Management, LLC and Altmark Holdings Limited reach resolution

Altmark Holdings Limited, the issuer of bonds baring CUSIPs 021503AC1 and 021503AD9 has reached an agreement with bondholder Landes Capital Management, LLC after receiving a notice of default in February 2014. The details of the agreement have not been made public; however, what is known is that Altmark Holdings Ltd has agreed to retroactively make the coupon payments to Landes Capital Management, LLC. In exchange Landes Capital Management, LLC has agreed to cease all collection efforts connected with the January default event. Altmark Holdings Ltd. operates as a special purpose entity and has paid down much of its debtload. The Company issued various asset-backed debt instruments. Altmark Holdings Ltd. is located at Britannic House, P.O. Box 25, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Island, B.W.I. Registration number: E.35648. Mr. Peter Burstam, Director: +46 70 3301505 E-Mail: altmark@altmarkholdingsltd.com Landes Capital Management, LLC is a multi-discipline strategy asset management company focusing on the effect preservation and efficient growth of capital. Our mission is to provide our clients with clarity for their most complex financial situations. We offer financial clarity through expert advice and superior customer service. We feel that every client matters. Landes Capital Management, LLC strives to satisfy our clients, while offering each one a unique set of financial and business products and services. We take a practical and pragmatic approach to investing.

No Confidence in the Actions of Senior Management of Leeward Group Holdings, Inc.

For Immediate Release:

PENNINGTON, NJ, June 20, 2011 – Shareholders in Leeward Group Holdings, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Principle Security International, Inc. (OTCQB: PCPZ) have sent a VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE letter to the current Senior Management and Board of Directors. This VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE is in response to the policies, actions, omissions, and failures of the Board of Directors and Senior Management. Leeward shares are down more than 99%, and is currently trading at $0.0045 off from its 52-week high of $0.80, with very low volume. Leeward has a negative earnings-per-share ratio and have never paid a dividend. Senior Management has failed to provide reasonable opportunities for Shareholders to participate in the elections of Leeward leadership, including the creation of proxy voting procedures; appoint Board members; publish Board minutes; or hold shareholder meetings. Further Leeward failed to deliver stock certificates to Shareholders in a timely fashion and the stock has been suspended from electronic trading. The Senior Management has held a tight grip over control of Leeward, and therefore the Board and Senior Management bear the responsibility for Leeward’s poor performance.
Leeward continues to perform poorly, consistently delivering less than stellar revenue-to-cash flow growth and significantly high debt-to-free-cash flow ratios. Even in this challenging economy Leeward is well positioned for growth, however Senior Management has failed to focused its efforts on shareholder value and ways to increase revenue. Leeward’s inability to remain intensely focused on executing its strategic plan has left the Shareholders with no other option but to express their dissatisfaction in Senior Management.
The group of Shareholders seeking change at Leeward has invested more than $1,000,000.00 collectively. Further, the Shareholders have retained the counsel of Washington, D.C. attorney William C. Johnson Jr., MBA, LL.M to explore the possibility of shareholder derivative action.
It is the opinion of the Shareholders that the integrity and business interest of Leeward (and its Affiliates and subsidiaries: Flagship Insurance Agency; Brady-Rogers, Inc.; American Bar Insurance Plans Consultants, Inc.; and Platinum Leisure Risk Purchasing Group, Inc.) will be better served through a change of leadership.
Forward-looking statements:
This press release contains "forward-looking statements", as that term is defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future, including but not limited to that the company may: that our social media networks will provide shareholders with an understanding of our industry and business model, or that it will be an effective means to communicate our company's message; or that our investor relations section of our website will be an effective means to communicate our company's information. The user should read statements that contain these words carefully because they discuss future expectations, contain projections of future results of operations or of financial condition, or state other forward-looking information. The risk factors listed in our disclosure documents provide examples of risks, uncertainties and events that may cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations and projections described by the Company in its forward-looking statements. Actual results relating to, among other things, reserves, results of exploration, capital costs and production costs could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors affecting forward-looking statements include: changes in anticipated acquisition and operating costs; changes in economic conditions and conditions in the insurance industry and other financial markets; changes in the interest rates on borrowings; hedging activities; changes in the prices for services that the Company provides; litigation; legislation; environmental, judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments in areas in which the Company operates; technological, mechanical and operational difficulties encountered in connection with the Company's activities; and labor relation matters and costs. The user should refer to the risk disclosures set out in the periodic reports and other disclosure documents filed by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities.

Contact:
Leeward Group Holdings, Inc.
65 S. Main Street, Suite A300
Pennington, NJ 08534
Phone: (888) 392-6671

AND

Shareholders are represented by:
William C. Johnson, Jr. Esq., MBA, LL.M
1229 15th St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20005
(800) 394-0498 ext. 1

Not-so Friendly Skies

The Events of Sept 11 rocked the Nation at its very foundation. Three jet aircraft set off a tidal wave who's ripple affected every sector of life in America. The economy was crippled, and consumer confidence took years to recover. One of the industries hardest hit was, not surprisingly, the airlines industry. Americans responded to the "need" of the airline industry and then-President Bush signed the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act (Public. Law 107–42). This bill effectively bailed out the entire air travel industry, and was funded by the US taxpayers.

Its important to note that the airlines lost millions of dollars due to mandatory ground stops and were powerless to do anything about that. Not to mention the fact that many were too scared to fly. The bill also provided the airlines compensation for grounded flight and lost revenue. The Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act is a great example of Americans supporting America.

Six years later, rising fuel prices "forced" many major air travel providers to begin charging a surcharge for checked luggage. The rationale behind this was that the additional weight of the baggage caused the aircraft to burn more fuel, and the price of fuel was affecting the profit margins of the airlines.

Not to quietly, the American air traveler accepted this new practice and understood that business much make money -- for the greater good.

In 2008 the USA was again under attack, not by a violent foe, but by a recession the likes of which most American's have never seen. Through no fault of Main Street America citizens were robbed of their homes, jobs, pensions, and dignity. The culprits wore business suits and not a ski mask, but teh results were the same. In our time of need, how does the Airline Industry repay its once generous lenders? By increasing fees, cutting flights, eliminating meals and other services.

Gas prices are stable again, yet baggage fees are still being charged... why? In fact now there is an inverse corrilation with the baggage fees: fuel prices are down, yet the price that the airlines charge for checked luggage is going up? In additional to this sckewed accounting, Spirit Airlines has reported that it will now charge as much as $45 for carry-on luggage. This is ridiculous,and orders on criminal.

If we, The People, treated the airlines the way they treated us, there would be no more airlines.

RIM is rough around the edges

Research In Motion (RIM.TO) (RIMM.O) shares fell 6 percent on Thursday after the company posted quarterly results that magnified market jitters about rivals stealing market share from the BlackBerry smartphone.
RIM reported quarterly profit, revenue, and phone shipments that were below expectations after markets closed on Wednesday, but it also posted forecast-beating gross margins and subscriber growth.

The company, which has promised that analysts will be "blown away" by product launches it has planned for the year ahead, said a one-time customer inventory adjustment hurt both sales and shipments in its fourth quarter.

But questions linger about the health of RIM's North American operations and its high-profit corporate customer base. Corporate demand sagged during the recession and executives are now slower to replace phones with new models that boast extra features.

"What I see going on here is that RIM is encountering an increasingly competitive landscape in the U.S. and that's to be expected with Android starting to gain traction and the iPhone doing well," said Needham & Co analyst Charles Wolf in an interview.

Stock picks

Adobe Systems Inc.: Standard & Poor's equity analyst Zaineb Bokhari maintained a strong buy recommendation on shares of Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) on Mar. 24.

Adobe, the world's biggest maker of graphic-design programs, jumped the most in 11 months in Nasdaq trading on Mar. 24 after saying it will introduce a new version of its most profitable software on Apr. 12. Adobe said on Mar. 23 that it will host an event next month to unveil Creative Suite 5, also called CS5, comprising design products including Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Illustrator. The suite will ship late this quarter, Adobe said.

The company also forecast sales that beat analysts' estimates. Second-quarter sales will be at least $875 million, Adobe said. Analysts projected $862.2 million, the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Excluding some costs, profit this quarter will be 39 cents to 44 cents a share, Adobe said. Analysts estimated 41 cents on average.

First-quarter net income fell 19 percent to $127.2 million, or 24 cents a share, from $156.4 million, or 30 cents, a year earlier, partly because of costs related to its October purchase of Omniture Inc. Excluding some costs, profit in the period ended March 5 was 40 cents, topping analysts' 37-cent average estimate. Sales rose 9.2% to $858.7 million. Analysts estimated $826.4 million.

In a posting on the S&P MarketScope service, Bokhari said she sees the release of Creative Suite 5 (CS5) driving fiscal 2010 (ending November) and fiscal 2011 sales for Adobe. She added that while the health of the economy will impact the strength of the upgrade cycle, she thinks market conditions are more favorable for CS5 than for its predecessor, CS4.

The analyst said she sees higher stock compensation and interest costs ahead for Adobe, and cut her fiscal 2010 earnings per share (EPS) estimate by 7 cents to $1.40; she kept her fiscal 2011 EPS projection at $1.79.

Bokhari lifted a target price on the shares to $44 from $43.

MF Global Holdings Ltd.: Sandler O'Neill equity analyst Richard Repetto kept a buy rating on shares of MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MF) on Mar. 24.

On Mar. 23, MF Holdings, the futures and options broker, announced that former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has accepted offers to lead the company and become an operating partner of buyout firm J.C. Flowers & Co.

Corzine, 63, who ran Goldman Sachs Group Inc. from 1994 to 1999, becomes chairman and chief executive officer immediately, MF Global said. He takes over from Bernard Dan, 50, who is leaving for personal reasons and will stay until May 16 to aid in Corzine's transition, the company said. MF Global shares gained as much as 13% in after-market trading on Mar. 23.

Corzine said MF Global's plans to become a primary dealer in government securities are a major part of his strategy to increase revenue. He will be paid an initial salary of $1.5 million and a $1.5 million signing bonus, the company said in a Mar. 23 regulatory filing.

Repetto said in a note that Corzine has an "impressive" resume: 24 years at Goldman Sachs, including serving as CFO and Chairman; Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006; and Governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. "Perhaps most significantly for MF, he began his career at Goldman Sachs as a fixed income trader," he wrote. In recent quarters, MF has been expanding its fixed income offering, and the company has applied for status as a primary dealer to the New York Federal Reserve Bank, Repetto said.

"[W]e suspect the relationship between J.C. Flowers and Corzine (both prior Goldman Sachs executives) facilitated the quick appointment of Corzine as CEO," the analyst wrote. Repetto noted that J.C. Flowers & Co. holds $150 million of MF Global's Series A convertible preferred shares, and played a significant role in the restructuring of MF Global's balance sheet in mid-2008.

"A former senator could have a useful set of experience in uncertain regulatory times," Repetto said. "With OTC derivatives legislation pending before the Senate and a host of other potential U.S. and international regulatory changes possible, the appointment of Corzine could be timely."

Repetto said that MF Global disclosed that fiscal fourth quarter net revenue would be $235 million to $245 million, which at the midpoint is $30 million below his prior forecast of $270 million. He lowered his fourth-quarter EPS estimate to 2 cents from 5 cents. He also reduced EPS estimates for fiscal 2010 (ending March) to 9 cents from 12 cents, and for fiscal 2011 to 37 cents from 40 cents.

The analyst raised a price target on the shares to $8.00 from $7.50.

Swine Flu vaccines and Wall Street

Some of New York's biggest companies, including Wall Street giants Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, received doses of swine flu vaccine for at-risk employees, drawing criticism that the hard-to-find vaccine is going first to the privileged.

Hospitals, universities and the Federal Reserve Bank also got doses of the vaccine for employees who need it the most, such as pregnant women or chronically ill workers, according to the city's health department.

In order to receive the vaccine, companies had to have their own medical staff. Distributing large doses of the vaccine to such businesses is "a great avenue for vaccinating people at risk," said Jessica Scaperotti, spokeswoman for the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

But critics said Wall Street firms should not have access to the vaccine before less wealthy Americans.

"Vaccines should go to people who need them most, not people who happen to work on Wall Street," Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut said Thursday.

"Wall Street banks have already taken so much from us. They've taken trillions of our tax dollars. They've taken away people's homes who are struggling to pay the bills," union official John VanDeventer wrote on the Web site of the 2 million-member Service Employees International Union. "But they should not be allowed to take away our health and well-being."

Meanwhile, the director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent a letter Thursday to state and local health departments asking them to review their distribution plans and make sure the vaccine is getting to high-risk groups.

Dr. Thomas Frieden said any decisions that appear to send vaccine beyond high-priority groups "have the potential to undermine the credibility of the program."

Swine flu vaccine has been in short supply nationwide because of manufacturing delays, resulting in long lines at clinics and patients being turned away at doctor's offices. The vaccine started trickling out in early October, and there are now nearly 36 million doses available.

The government-funded vaccine is being distributed to states, where health departments decide where to send the limited doses.

In New York, doctors at companies that have employee health services can request the vaccine along with other doctors but must agree to vaccinate only high-risk employees, Scaperotti said.

Last month, the city began offering vaccine to schoolchildren, as well as to pediatricians and obstetricians who asked for it. Scaperotti said two-thirds of the pediatricians in New York City have requested vaccine.

New Yorkers who cannot get the vaccine at work are receiving it from their doctors — if their doctors have it — or at community health clinics.

About 50 people waited to be vaccinated Thursday at a city-run clinic in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. Matt Bohart said he and his 82-year-old father, Eugene Bohart, had been waiting for three hours for both swine flu and seasonal flu vaccines.

The younger Bohart said the fact that employees of some companies can get the vaccine at work seemed "not really fair."

But he added, "I don't begrudge the people who get it as long as others can get it as well."

Dr. William Schaffner, a flu expert at Vanderbilt University, said allocation of limited vaccine is tricky. CDC guidelines provide a list of patients who should be at the front of the line: children and young people through age 24, people caring for infants under 6 months, pregnant women, health care workers, and adults with health conditions such as asthma and diabetes.

Schaffner said that if corporations are giving shots to at-risk people, the distribution may have been appropriate. But he acknowledged there's "an appearance of potential irregularity."

Still, he said, "I have a feeling that if it were a Ford dealership that got vaccine, there wouldn't be quite as much excitement."

Scaperotti said 50 employers in New York City have received the vaccine so far. Besides Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, they include Time Inc. and hospitals such as Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Goldman Sachs has received 200 doses, and Citigroup has received 1,200, health officials said.

In statements, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs said the vaccine would only go to those in high-risk groups.

"Goldman Sachs, like other responsible employers, has requested vaccine and will supply it only to employees who qualify," spokesman Ed Canaday said.

Morgan Stanley received 1,000 doses of the vaccine for its New York and suburban offices, but the company turned over its entire supply to local hospitals when it learned it received shipments before some area hospitals, spokeswoman Jeanmarie McFadden said.

Associated Press writers Stephen Bernard and Sara Lepro in New York City, Mike Stobbe in Atlanta and Valerie Bauman in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.

When do you shower?

It should come as no suprise that those who take a shower before they leave for work are being treated, by the Federal Government, better than those who shower after they come home form work. What I mean is that banks get 700 billion dollars, while auto makers get 30 billion. That hardly seems fair, when those same banks could forgive the auto-makers debt. Also the auto industry employees three times as many people as the financial indstry; in fact auto-makers are some of the banks biggest clients.

Why is a semi-socialized banking system OK but the same is not acceptable for the automakers. Unlike Citi, GM didn't have a bad business model. This hardly seems fair.

The new 40 acres and a mule

On paper Citi's common stock has a book value of approximately $22 billion dollars. However, the US Governement has given the bank more than $45 billion dollars in taxpayers money. For an investmetn like that each tax payer could and probably should have recieved 18.4 shares of Citi. But that did not happen, instead the executives adn VPs there keep hundreds of thousands of shares adn the US citizens got the sort end of the stick. All because Citi was "too big to fail". So its OK if a homeowner failes, he can be kicked out f his home; but if the mortgage company failes then its a problem.

U.S. Bank Stress Test Results Delayed

May 1 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve is postponing the release of stress tests on the biggest U.S. banks while executives debate preliminary findings with examiners, according to government and industry officials.

The results, originally scheduled for publication on May 4, now may not be revealed until toward the end of next week, said the people, who declined to be identified. A new release date may be announced as soon as today, they said.

Regulators and bank executives are concerned about how the disclosure is handled because weaker institutions could suffer a collapse in their stock prices.

“Everybody understands they’ve got a tiger by the tail here,” said Mark Tenhundfeld, a senior vice president at the American Bankers’ Association in Washington. “If they don’t let him go gently, there will be a lot of mauling going on.”

The 19 firms include Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., GMAC LLC, MetLife Inc. and regional lenders including Fifth Third Bancorp and Regions Financial Corp. The banks in the test hold two-thirds of the assets and more than half of the loans in the U.S. banking system, according to a Fed study released April 24.

Regulators are pushing higher minimum capital levels for the banks to determine whether they can survive a worsening recession.

Officials favor tangible common equity equal of about 4 percent of a bank’s assets and Tier 1 capital worth about 6 percent, according to people familiar with the tests of the largest 19 banks. Financial institutions received preliminary results and are being judged on whether they need more capital to ensure they stay above those levels. Earlier in the process, regulators discussed a TCE target of 3 percent, said two people with knowledge of the deliberations.

‘Dominant’ Element

The Fed, which oversaw the stress tests, wants common equity to be the “dominant” element in a bank’s primary capital, according to a central bank report on the test methodology released a week ago. TCE is a measure of a bank’s financial health that excludes intangible assets such as brand names that can’t readily be used as payments.

Investors and analysts have focused on the TCE ratio as a more accurate benchmark of a bank’s ability to absorb losses. Tier 1 capital is a broader measure of bank health that is commonly used by regulators. Regulators typically look at risk- weighted assets when assessing banks’ financial strength.

Stocks Rally

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Financials Index, which comprises 80 companies, is up 30 percent in the past month as officials played down the prospect of nationalization and the economy showed signs of stability. Shares of Goldman Sachs are up 28 percent over the same period and JPMorgan Chase & Co. has rallied 33 percent.

“One thing the stress tests will do is herald a fundamental shift in approach toward the financial system,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Securities Inc. in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Initially, Stanley said, the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program treated all banks equally. “Now, finally, there is going to be differentiation. Some banks will get a clean bill of health and others will not,” he said.

The Fed led the stress tests, using as many as 140 staff members working in consultation with 60 people from other bank oversight agencies.

Goldman Sachs Signal

While the banks were ordered not to release the results of the stress assessments prematurely, Goldman Sachs yesterday may have provided a hint with its decision to sell bonds and shares, issuing $2 billion in five-year notes without a government guarantee and making a $750 million stock offering. A spokesman for Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

“You can read between the lines on it that nothing adverse will be coming out next week” about Goldman Sachs, said Ralph Cole, a money manager at Portland, Oregon-based Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc., which oversees $2.2 billion.

At least six of the 19 largest U.S. banks require additional capital, according to preliminary results of government stress tests, people briefed on the matter said this week. While some of the lenders may need extra cash injections from the government, most of the capital is likely to come from converting preferred shares to common equity, the people said.

By pushing conversions, rather than federal assistance, the government would allow banks to shore themselves up without the political taint that has soured both Wall Street and Congress on the bailouts. The risk is that, along with diluting existing shareholders, the government action won’t seem strong enough.

Geithner TARP Reassurance

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told U.S. lawmakers yesterday that there is no need for new bank bailout money as of now, said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad.

“He said ‘no, not in the foreseeable future and they’re hoping not at all’,” Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, said in an interview after Democrats held a closed meeting with Geithner in Washington.

Geithner has said that banks can add capital by a variety of ways, including converting government-held preferred shares dating from capital injections made last year, raising private funds or getting more taxpayer cash. With regulators putting an emphasis on common equity in their stress tests, converting privately held preferred shares is another option.

To contact the reporters on this story: Craig Torres in Washington at ctorres3@bloomberg.net; Robert Schmidt in Washington at rschmidt5@bloomberg.net.

TIPS

Buying TIPS through a mutual fund (or ETF) is a good idea, because it gives you a lot of convenience for a small price. Pros for investing in a fund include:

1. Buy at any time without a transaction fee. Although there is no charge to buy individual TIPS bonds at auctions through certain places (Fidelity, Schwab or TreasuryDirect), the auctions only come up a few times a year. If you want to buy individual TIPS bonds when there's no auction, you must use a brokerage account. Some brokerage firms charge a commission for bond orders. Vanguard charges minimum $40. You also pay a higher price ("markup") than the wholesale price when you buy on the secondary market. Or you will just have to wait until the next auction, but the prices will have changed by then.

2. Instant diversification. A mutual fund holds about 20 bonds with different maturities. You get all of them with one purchase. If you are buying individual TIPS bonds, they don't come on auction at the same time. You must wait for the auctions or pay commissions to establish your positions.

3. Sell at any time without a transaction fee. If you have individual TIPS bonds, there is no fee if you wait until they mature. If you want to sell before they mature, you may have to pay a commission. TreasuryDirect charges $45. Vanguard charges at least $40. You also receive a lower price ("markdown") than the wholesale price when you sell on the secondary market.

4. Buy or sell for any random amount. Minimum additional investment in the Vanguard TIPS fund VIPSX is $100. Want to buy $456.78? No problem. The individual TIPS bonds are in $100 increments at TreasuryDirect or in $1,000 increments in a brokerage account.

5. Reinvest interest payments immediately without charge. If you have individual TIPS bonds, you must hold the interest payments elsewhere. Reinvesting in another TIPS bond is also subject to the auction cycles and $100 increments at TreasuryDirect or $1,000 increments in a brokerage account.

6. Easy tax handling (for taxable accounts only). TIPS bonds in a taxable account have a unique phantom income issue. I won't go into the details here. The fund shields that issue away from you. You receive regular dividends from the fund and you get a 1099 at the end of the year, just like any other mutual fund.

All of these convenience come at a cost of 0.20% a year for the Vanguard TIPS fund VIPSX. That's $20 a year for each $10,000 invested. If you have $100,000 or more for TIPS, Vanguard's fund offers Admiral shares which cut down the expense ratio to 0.11%, or $11 a year per $10,000 invested. It seems very reasonable to me. Why bother buying individual bonds then? Because,

1. Low expenses. If you buy at auctions and hold to maturity, there is no extra expense. If you buy a large amount of TIPS, you can save money by building your own fund with individual bonds. Fidelity, Schwab and TreasuryDirect charge no fee or commission if you buy at auctions and hold to maturity. Even if you buy on the secondary market, as long as you buy long-term bonds in large chunks and hold the bonds to maturity, a one-time commission and markup can be less expensive than having to pay an ongoing expense year after year.

2. Be your own fund manager. You get to decide what maturity you buy. When you buy fund shares you buy a basket. The fund's (experienced) managers decide what to buy and when to buy. With individual bonds, now you become the (amateur) manager for your own fund. Want short maturities? Buy 5-year notes. Want long ones? Buy 20-year bonds.

I've bought all of these before, the Vanguard TIPS fund VIPSX, the iShares ETF TIP, and the individual bonds. They all worked the way they're supposed to. Right now I'm buying individual bonds and holding them to maturity because I want to save the ongoing expenses.

Buying at auctions and holding to maturity is not that hard. I have a step-by-step guide for doing so. If you buy long-term bonds at least $10,000 at a time, the secondary market can also be cost effective. If the the yield becomes attractive between auctions, I will not hesitate to buy on the secondary market. After all, for a 20-year bond, paying a one-time 1% commission plus markup beats paying a 0.2% expense every year for 20 years.

The Big 3... 2... ...1?

The WSJ is out with a muchly regurgitated piece, which may, however, finally end up being right. Turns out the negotiations between bondholders, General Motors (GM) and the intractable UAW are moving at the same pace as cars on a showroom floor. On February 17 GM is set to give the taxpayers a progress to report; and probably as for more money. With 48 hours to go, there has been minimal progress, it may finally be time to pull the plug.

GM's options are asking the administration for more money, which at this point has a one in a million chance of being granted (so I'm saying there's a chance), or filing for some kind of bankruptcy protection. Bankruptsy may be teh only truly viable long-term option, GM does still have solid revenue, despite low profit margins. Hopefully it also takes Chrysler with it.

One plan includes a Chapter 11 filing that would assemble all of GM's viable assets, including some U.S. brands and international operations, into a new company. The undesirable assets would be liquidated or sold under protection of a bankruptcy court. Contracts with bondholders, unions, dealers and suppliers would also be reworked.

Now is the time to short the stock.

Gee Whiz

New York - General Motors Corp, the largest US automaker, is offering another round of early buyouts, this time to 22,000 older and relatively expensive union workers, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing unnamed GM managers.

The sources told the Journal they hope at least half will accept the deal.

The cuts would come on top of the elimination of 10,000 salaried

jobs around the world that the ailing auto company announced on Tuesday as part of its plan to prove financial viability to the US government.

The company would apparently draw a line under the offer to 22,000 members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and warn that it would be the last sweetened deal the company would offer, according to a GM spokesperson who talked to the industry magazine Automotive News.

It would be the third such offer in four years.

All told, GM still employs 62,000 UAW members. Worldwide, the company employs 245,000 people, including 55,000 in Europe.

The company is trying to hang on to 13.4 billion dollars in government loans, which could be withdrawn if GM does not come up with a survival plan by Tuesday. Chrysler motors has a similar condition hanging over its head for billions of dollars in government loans.

Both companies must tell the US Treasury Department how it will reorganize, restore profit and repay US loans by the end of 2011.

Amidst the year-old US recession, auto sales have dropped to their lowest in more than a decade.

Scott trade

There are consumer staples and then there are consumer staples. Coca-Cola is sometimes called a consumer staple, but come on, nobody really needs to drink a coke. Toilet paper and paper towel, on the other hand, are about as staple as staple gets. You need toilet paper. But maybe we don't need as much of it as we've been buying.

In its earnings report today, Kimberly Clark (KMB) says volumes for these basic products significantly tailed off in the quarter:

In North America, sales of consumer tissue products increased more than 3 percent in the fourth quarter, as an increase in net selling prices of almost 13 percent and improved product mix of about 1 percent were partially offset by a 10 percent decline in sales volumes and currency effects of 1 percent. The improvement in net selling prices reflects price increases implemented across the bathroom tissue, paper towel and facial tissue categories during the course of 2008. This focus on improving revenue realization, along with slower category growth and consumer trade-down, particularly in paper towels, contributed to the lower sales volumes. For the quarter, shipments were down more than 10 percent for Viva and Scott paper towels, approximately 7 percent for Cottonelle and Scott bathroom tissue and about 3 percent for Kleenex facial tissue. A portion of the overall volume decline also was due to the company's decision in late 2007 to shed certain low-margin private label business.

We suspect that people aren't necessarily using less toilet paper, so much as they're buying white-label 1-ply, sandpaper-textured toilet paper. Maybe Kimberly-Clark shouldn't have shed that low-margin business.

Wall Street's (still) Big Bonus

The cataclysm on Wall Street did not stop New York City-based employees from collecting $18.4 billion in bonuses for 2008. Sure, that pool is down 44% from the prior year but still represents the sixth-largest bonus haul on record, according to the NY State comptroller's office.

So after the worst year ever, Wall Street collected its sixth-biggest bonus pool. Makes perfect sense.

But whether its John Thain's rationale for paying Merrill employees accelerated bonuses (or any bonus for that matter), Citigroup's purchase of a $50 million corporate jet (before reneging), or the sickening vapidity of the DABA blog, it's clear many people on Wall Street remain completely out of touch with reality.

"The sense of entitlement that's been engendered in this group of people has clearly not been beaten out of them by the brutal performance of the financial sector over the course of the last year," says Bob O'Brien, stocks editor at Barrons.com.

Of course, what's most sickening to the vast majority of Americans is these bonuses were paid (mostly) by the same firms who've received TARP funds. The rationale that "bonuses must be paid or we'll lose our best people" doesn't hold water when everybody on Wall Street is suffering and cutting back. Similarly, the idea "there are separate pools of capital for bonuses vs. lending" doesn't hold water when Wall Street CEOs say "money is fungible" as a way of explaining why they can't track TARP funds.

Since Wall Street is clearly incapable of policing itself, the biggest question now is whether the Obama administration, Congress and Treasury Secretary Geithner will summon the political will and do the right thing -- attach major strings on future bailouts, including:

Severe limitations on bonuses and executive pay at TARP recipients. (I know many people want 'clawbacks' but let's start with the future first, which is simpler.)
Elimination of dividends paid by TARP recipients. (Even after "slashing" their dividends to a penny per share each, Citigroup and Bank of America are set to collectively pay approximately $425 million in dividends this year.)
Force banks to write-down bad debts before injecting capital, a.k.a. The Swedish Solution.
Elimination of lobbying by TARP recipients. (Sorry Tim Geithner, "imposing restrictions" isn't enough.)

Obama keeps his blackberry

WASHINGTON – The first family settled into their new lives in the White House on Thursday as President Barack Obama won an important personal victory: He gets to keep his BlackBerry.

Obama will be the first sitting president to use e-mail, and he has been reluctant to part with his ever-present handheld device. Its use will be limited to keeping in touch with senior staff and personal friends, said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

And though Gibbs said Obama had to ask at one point where to go next in his "pretty big house," he also said the president was enjoying living above the store and had time for dinner with the family on Wednesday.

"I think that obviously means a lot to him as a father," Gibbs said.

It was back to business for daughters Sasha and Malia, too, who returned to classes at the private Sidwell Friends School on Thursday.

The girls were allowed to play hooky Wednesday after a late-night scavenger hunt at the White House that ended when they opened a door and found their favorite band, the Jonas Brothers.

But two days of frivolity was, apparently, enough. First lady Michelle Obama has worked hard to maintain a strong routine for Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10.

"I know the family's moved now three times in only a few weeks. But if you know them and you know their family, they've had a routine for a long time," Gibbs said. "This is a monumental testament to Michelle."

The monumental testament to her husband? He won the BlackBerry battle.

Gibbs joked that the development was "almost as exciting as the presidential dog." He poked fun at the White House press corps for stirring at the news during his briefing. "Let's make sure the pen still works."

But the BlackBerry victory is a big concession. Obama said earlier that he was working with the Secret Service, lawyers and White House staff to keep the device.

Gibbs said the president will limit its use, and security has been enhanced to ensure that Obama can communicate in a way that's protected. Only a small number of senior staff members and personal friends would be given his e-mail address.

Previous presidents chose not to use e-mail because it can be subpoenaed by Congress and courts and may be subject to public records laws. And Gibbs said the presumption from the White House counsel's office is that Obama's e-mails will be subject to the Presidential Records Act, which requires the National Archives to preserve presidential records.

But he also said there are exceptions for "strictly personal communications."

Obama has often been seen checking his e-mail on his handheld device, even when it meant getting his hands slapped by Michelle during his daughter's soccer game.

Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton didn't e-mail while in office, although Bush was an active e-mailer before becoming president.

That was before the era of the BlackBerry, a device now ubiquitous in Washington and precious to Obama. When asked by The Associated Press about his worst habit during the campaign, Obama responded, "Checking my BlackBerry."

Gibbs said the president believes that using the device is an effective way to keep in touch with people without "getting stuck in a bubble."

He said Obama's e-mails to him personally have ranged "from something that's very strictly business to, why did my football team perform so miserably on either any given Saturday or any given Sunday?"

Those who have access to the president's e-mail will be briefed about appropriate communications, Gibbs said, without offering specifics.

So the president who gave up smoking — mostly — managed to avoid withdrawal from his other addiction — mostly.

All in all, Gibbs said, Obama looked comfortable in his new surroundings.

"They're very much the same four people that I met five years ago when I went to work for them," he said, before conceding, "Obviously, it's a little different."

Mad off

As a fund manager, its been hard for me not to weigh in on the Madoff scandle, but as a human, I find it hard not to. Option collars are a very simple (to the savvy) way to control losses and moderate gains. Berrnie Madoff was a very bight man, in fact he was once the chairman of NASDAQ, but why isn't he in jail?

Bernie Madoff's investment fund may never have executed a single trade, industry officials say, suggesting detailed statements mailed to investors each month may have been an elaborate mirage in a $50 billion fraud.

An industry-run regulator for brokerage firms said on Thursday there was no record of Madoff's investment fund placing trades through his brokerage operation.

That means Madoff either placed trades through other brokerage firms, a move industry officials consider unlikely, or he was not executing trades at all.

"Our exams showed no evidence of trading on behalf of the investment advisor, no evidence of any customer statements being generated by the broker-dealer," said Herb Perone, spokesman for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

What perplexes me is that I can not get a non-solicitation past FINRA, but they missed this? The key to this scam was verticle integration. Madoff was a market maker, and he controlled the accountants, the brokers, the compliance department, and even the exchange. This is asad day for roberbarrons; it looks lik ethey are all theives.

Posion Apple

I think that many accross America were shocked to find out that their Microsoft Zune media players were experienceing Y2K-like problems on January 1, 2009. However, it was even more of a shocker to find out that this mysteriousn "bug" was caused by "The Man" AKA Aaple.

Confronted by a variety of Internet sources, Apple Inc. executives are admitting that the bug which crashed Microsoft Zune music players on New Year's Eve was the work of pranksters within their organization -- and say more tricks may be coming.

"Microsoft really needs to get a sense of humor," said an Apple executive, who spoke to CAP News by phone yesterday under condition of anonymity. He declined to say exactly how they executed the Zune crash, other than to say it involved a massive circuit board, some very skilled hackers and "lots of fuzzy navel Jell-O shots."

He did say that Apple did not have anyone "on the inside" at Microsoft to help them execute the prank. "We can't stand dealing with anybody over there," he said. "You know the PC in our Mac and PC commercials? They're all just like that."

Zune owners are crying foul over the crash, particularly given that it kept them from using their Zunes on New Year's Eve. "Yes, we're sure all the Zune owners were crushed at not being able to hear their ABBA and Carpenters songs when the clock struck 12," said the Apple exec. "I'm rolling my eyes now."

There were reports of complaints, however, including several New Year's Eve gatherings of Zune-owning accountants, engineers, IT technicians and others that had to go without music.

"We wound up just breaking the party up around 10 p.m.," said Neal Smerlitz, who plans the annual New Year's Eve gala for the Chess Lovers of San Bernadino, a California hobbyist group, all of whose members are Zune owners. "Although come to think of it, that's when it ended last year too."

The Apple executive also admitted that other pranks may be in the works. These include a plan to make Microsoft Word programs around the world type "Macs rule, PCs drool" no matter what letters are keyed in. Also, an Internet Explorer bug will make every Web page point to a video of Rick Astley singing "Never Gonna Give You Up."

"Let's face it, that never gets old," chuckled the exec.

He said they also considered a bug that would make the Vista operating system slow, clunky and incompatible with a score of programs, "but Microsoft did that themselves already!" The executive could then be heard cracking up and high-fiving his friends in the room.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs declined to comment on the Zune crash specifically, but did admit that Microsoft is notorious for its lack of humor. "Did you see those commercials with Jerry Seinfeld?" he asked. "They were about as funny as whatever disease it is that I have."

Next time Apple employees use company resources to take down their reval, let's hope the rest of Silicon Valley doesn't find out.

Eat Fruit

Over the past few weeks Apple (AAPL) has lost around 15% of its stock value. That makes this a good time to buy, and buy big. Apple is a bit price, its around $88/share, but when the market gets back to fundamentals it will climb up over $115/share.

Right now AAPL has 25 billion in the bank, and that is a nice stockpile to fund its research and development operations. While speculation continues about Steve Job's future role in the company, he has created an anti-establishment, anti_Microsoft juggernaut. Some of that R&D money is already paying dividends, like the improved iPod Nano. The new Nano has a great screen, better backlight, and an improved interface.

The other big news out of AAPL is the fact that they are now selling iPhones for less than $200 at Walmart. We believe that if Apple's push into Wal-Mart stores goes successfully, it will be creating a situation "to sell a relatively complex piece of computing to folks who may never have touched a computer, or who didn't think they'd ever want to carry one around with them." Further, this could drive a wedge between Apple and competitors Research In Motion and Palm, as the latter two have so far had a tough time selling their smartphones to non-corporate consumer types, a market which, for the most part, is dominated by Apple.

All of this is bad news for Blackberry and even worse news for Palm. The new Palm Centro has had a big marketing push over the Holidays, but it wont matter. The lack of push technology makes its too inefficient.

Also, a recent demographic shift in smartphone users from corporate users to individual consumers has created a margin issue at Research In Motion. As more than half of RIM's new subscriptions are now coming from consumers, the company now sees its gross profit falling from 45.6% to in the range of 40-41%.

Shares of Research In Motion are now down nearly 3% this week alone. Elsewhere in the sector, shares of Palm are down 3.4% to $3.10 and Nokia stock is also down 3.4% to $14.93. Meanwhile, shares of Apple, which initially traded up as much as 2%, are now up about 0.5% to $86.23.

stay bullish

Yesterday was not real. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the securities firm that reported its first quarterly loss yesterday, fell 2.7 percent in Germany, while
International Business Machines Corp., the world’s largest provider of
computer services, dropped 2.9 percent.

I am bullish on GS, mainlly because it is over-valued, and not by a small amount, y at least 25%. If you can take a short position on the stock.

Futures suggested the S&P 500 will decline after a 5.1 percent rally
yesterday spurred by the Fed’s move to cut its benchmark interest rate
to as low as zero. The central bank’s decision came after simultaneous
recessions in the U.S., Europe and Japan dragged the S&P 500 down
almost 45 percent from its 2007 record.

Following interest-rate cuts you always see an initial reaction and
then you get back to your senses. All the structural indicators, such as the economic cycle and profit outlook, remain negative.

GM?

The collapse of the automobile bailout plan raises the prospects of bankruptcy for General Motors and Chrysler.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 135.96 points (1.59 per cent) to 8429.13 in opening trades and the Nasdaq composite fell 14.45 points (0.96 per cent) to 1493.43.

The broad Standard & Poor's 500 dropped 13.43 points (1.54 per cent) to 860.16. ANd guess which stock is actually up, General Motors. AFter taking a beating early this morning, GM bounced back up, almost as if the market knew that a bailout (in some form) was on its way. Sahers should have taken a big hit, but they didn't, why? If GM were in Illinois I would assume corruption, but this time I think it is more global, simply put - speculation.

The White House said on Friday it would consider tapping a $US700 billion ($1.04 trillion) financial rescue fund "to prevent a collapse of troubled automakers" after lawmakers failed to pass an alternative.

On Wednesday Sen. George V. Voinovich, Ohio Republican and a leading supporter of the emergency measure, said that the bill didn't have the necessary Republican votes to pass Congress. And he was right.

If you are an average investor stay away from GM right now, it is not trading on fundamentals, its more emotion. If you are looking to short GM, stay away from it, because you just can't tell what will happen next. If you are an options trader, avoid GM like Bird Flu, it is toxic.