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August 16, 2007
Mortgage
Industry
name='1'>Eyeing Mortgage Crisis, Congressional Panel Could Strike
Deal on FHA Bill
As investors and lenders
steer away from subprime loans, Senate Banking Committee Chair
size='3'>Chris
ranking member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) are likely to strike a deal soon
on legislation sponsored by Dodd and Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) to
revitalize the federal agency that guarantees home loans to people who
may not otherwise qualify for mortgage insurance,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>The Hill
size='3'>reported yesterday. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA),
which fell into the doldrums in recent years with the explosion of
exotic mortgage products, is seen by many as the best hope for keeping
distressed borrowers in their homes and preserving access to mortgages
for first-time or low-income homebuyers. In May, the House Financial
Services Committee passed legislation to modernize the FHA. The Bush
administration and the financial services industry now are seizing on
the turmoil in the mortgage market to prod the Senate to act following
the August recess. By contrast, other proposals for easing the turmoil
in the mortgage market seem to face a steeper climb. Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton (D-N.Y.) last week announced she would unveil legislation to set
up a $1 billion fund to prop up state programs that help borrowers avoid
foreclosure. But President Bush has rejected calls to use taxpayer funds
to bail out borrowers, and voiced doubt about appeals by Sen. Charles
Schumer (D-N.Y.), Dodd and others to lift the caps on Fannie Mae’s
and Freddie Mac’s mortgage portfolios so that they can provide
more liquidity in the market.
href='http://thehill.com/business--lobby/eyeing-mortgage-crisis-panel-could-strike-deal-on-fhabill-2007-08-15.html'>Read
more.
name='2'>Corporate Bond Risk Rises as Bankruptcy, Default Fears
Spread
The volatility of
corporate bonds rose after a Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst said that
Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>mortgage lender, may have to file for bankruptcy, Bloomberg
News reported yesterday. Credit-default swaps on Countrywide widened
after Merrill Lynch analyst Kenneth Bruce raised the possibility that a
loss of access to short-term loan markets could force Countrywide into
bankruptcy. Contract prices for mortgage lender Residential Capital LLC
and for home-loan insurer Radian Group Inc. are also trading as if
investors see a high probability of default. Deutsche Bank AG and
Barclays Plc and other banks refused to provide emergency loans for 17
Canadian finance companies managing funds of C$27 billion ($25.3
billion) after the firms failed to sell asset-backed commercial paper to
repay maturing debt. The Canadian issuers may default if they can't
raise the money elsewhere, ratings company DBRS in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Toronto
yesterday.
href='http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a.TCzAjLnkKY'>Read
more.
name='3'>Study: Minorities Likely Victims of Wall Street Credit
Crunch
The Center for American
Progress, a liberal think-tank, reported in a study that
African-American and Hispanic families face pervasive discrimination in
loan markets and are likely to be the chief victims of the credit
squeeze that has roiled Wall Street,
size='3'>CongressDaily reported yesterday. As
banks move to tighten credit standards in response to the rise in
mortgage and other loan defaults, 'minorities and low-income families
will disproportionately feel the effects,' predicted the 40-page study
by Center fellow
size='3'>Chris
and economist Darrick Hamilton of the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>New
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>School
size='3'>for Management and Urban Policy in
w:st='on'>
York called for government
initiatives -- such as mortgage assistance programs -- to prevent
minorities from being shut out of the credit market as a result of the
crisis.
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Hamilton
also recommended tougher anti-discrimination laws and
perhaps caps on interest rates and penalty fees.
href='http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/08/pdf/credit_access.pdf'>Click
here to read the study.
name='4'>Treasury Secretary Expects Markets to Slow, Not
Stall
Treasury Secretary Henry
Paulson, in his first public comments since the sharp downturn in
financial markets, said the turmoil 'will extract a penalty on the
growth rate' of the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>economy, but expressed confidence that there would not be a
recession, the Wall
Street Journal reported today. Some funds or
businesses may go under and the 'adjustment' in financial markets is
likely to continue, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chief executive
said, but he emphasized that he expects the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>economy to keep growing nonetheless. He said that the recent
'reassessment or repricing of risk,' as he termed the widespread
reluctance to make loans to more-risky home buyers and firms and to hold
securities backed by such loans, 'shouldn't surprise anyone.' The
current strength of the global economy, he said, is one major difference
between this crisis and the one it most closely resembles -- the 1998
episode in which
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Russia
debt default and currency devaluation and the implosion of hedge fund
Long Term Capital Management led credit markets to seize up.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118720935994998792.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='5'>Stock Trades by AHM's CEO Come under
Scrutiny
American Home Mortgage
Investment Corp. CEO Michael Strauss faces scrutiny over the auspicious
sale of his stake in the bankrupt lender just five days before the
beleaguered lender filed for bankruptcy,
size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360 reported yesterday.
Strauss told the SEC that the common stock shares were liquidated by a
third party to satisfy a margin call and were initially pledged in
October 2005 to secure a revolving margin loan, but the well-timed fire
sale has raised suspicions of insider trading. The SEC declined to
comment on whether or not the commission would investigate the Aug. 1
trade, which generated $3.5 million, but said that the regulator had the
“authority and responsibility to look into situations where
securities laws may have been violated.” On Aug. 1, Strauss sold
2.9 million of his 4.4 million common stock shares at $1.172. Two days
later the lender laid off over 6,500 workers and, on Aug. 6, it filed
for bankruptcy.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=32587'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='6'>Indicted Donor Poses Quandary for GOP Lawmakers Who
Accepted Contributions
Seven vulnerable House
Republicans face difficult decisions about whether to return
contributions from a major Republican donor who was charged last week on
23 counts of bankruptcy fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, obstruction
of justice and perjury,
size='3'>The Hill reported yesterday. The
donor, Alan Fabian, is the CEO of the Centre for Management and
Technology, a Baltimore-based company, and until last week, he was also
a co-chairman of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s national
finance committee. A federal grand jury has indicted Fabian for
allegedly making $32 million in false purchases of computer equipment.
Prosecutors are seeking $32 million worth of Fabian’s assets,
including beach real estate in
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>North Carolina
size='3'>, property in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Maryland
yacht. Romney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, both GOP
presidential candidates, have decided to refund contributions Fabian
made to them this year. This may put pressure on seven vulnerable House
Republicans to do the same. Otherwise, they will likely face Democratic
criticism in the run-up to the 2008 election. The charges against Fabian
stem from his employment with Maximus Inc., a government consulting
company located in
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Reston
size='3'>,
size='3'>Va.
have alleged that Fabian made sale-leaseback transactions for computer
equipment that he never purchased. They claim he created phony companies
href='http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/indicted-donor-poses-quandary-for-goplawmakers-who-accepted-funds-2007-08-15.html'>Read
more.
SEC,
Hedge Fund Settle on Disclosure
The Securities and
Exchange Commission reached a settlement with a
w:st='on'>
York hedge fund for
failing to disclose its investment holdings for three years, a move that
spotlights a debate over how much hedge funds should disclose about
their activities, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
Quattro Global Capital LLC, a hedge fund with $900 million in assets,
agreed to a cease-and-desist order and to pay a $100,000 penalty for not
disclosing its investment positions from 2002 through the middle of
2005. The SEC found that Quattro, which invests in convertible
securities, violated rule 13F, which requires any investment adviser
with $100 million or more in investment assets to disclose its holdings
every quarter. The firm settled without admitting or denying the
allegations. The issue has been at the forefront in recent weeks as
stock-market volatility left investment banks and others scrambling to
figure out how to value derivatives tied to subprime mortgages. The
illiquid instruments can be difficult to price as many hedge funds,
including ones managed by Bear Stearns Cos. and Goldman Sachs Group
Inc., have suffered heavy losses as a result of the fallout.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118722283268399102.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
Group Agrees to Second Round of Settlements
Bayou Group LLP has
agreed to a second round of settlements with investors that allegedly
pulled their money out of the bankrupt hedge fund before it
collapsed, Bankruptcy
Law360 reported yesterday. The news comes on
the heels of a round of settlements last week, which netted Bayou $8.2
million. Bayou filed a motion last Monday asking the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court for the Southern District of New York to approve settlement
agreements with 36 defendants. The settling defendants, which were
advised by Altegris Investments Inc., invested a total of almost $12
million in Bayou's private pooled investment funds, and pulled out
approximately $14.4 million, including about 2.4 million in
“fictitious profits,” court papers said. Under the
agreements, each settling defendant will cough up an amount equal to 50
percent of their principal investment, and 100 percent of the purported
profits on those investments, for a total of about $8.2 million.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=32610'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
PT
Holdings Set to Emerge from Chapter 11
A federal court in
size='3'>Seattle
Holdings Inc.'s reorganization plan, clearing the way for the company
and
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>subsidiaries
size='3'>Port
Paper Corp. and PTPC Packaging Co. Inc. to emerge from chapter 11 after
nearly seven months in bankruptcy protection,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360
size='3'>reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Samuel J. Steiner on
Tuesday entered an order confirming the debtors' chapter 11 plan, which
the company said received overwhelming creditor support, and would
provide for the payment of creditor claims, liens and contract cures
within 5 days of the plan's Aug. 27 effective date. Only three
objections were filed to the proposed confirmation of the restructuring
plan, all of which were withdrawn, resolved or overruled, according to
court papers.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=32559'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='10'>Dura Receives Bankruptcy Court Approval for Equity
Rights
Dura Automotive Systems
Inc. Wednesday won court approval to sign California hedge fund
Pacificor LLC to backstop a deal to raise $140 million to $160 million
in new equity to help it out of bankruptcy, the Associated Press
reported yesterday. Dura's draft chapter 11 plan leaves wipes out about
$600 million in subordinated debt and convertible trust preferred
securities. Bankruptcy Judge
size='3'>Kevin Carey overruled objections from
holders of the jeopardized debt securities who said that Dura should
sell itself outright instead of selling equity. The judge's decision
cleared the way for Dura to sign a deal that positions Pacificor to own
as much as 60 percent of the automotive industry supplier.
href='http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070816/UPDATE/708160445'>Read
more.
name='11'>Jury Orders BDO Seidman to Pay $521 Million in Punitive
Damages
Accounting firm BDO Seidman LLP
must pay a total of $521 million in damages to a
face='Times New Roman'>Portuguese bank after it was found
guilty of failing to discover a fraud that led to the collapse of
a
size='3'>Florida financial
services company,
size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360 reported yesterday.
A jury handed down the $351 million punitive portion of the award in a
state court a day after ordering the firm to pay $170 million in
compensatory damages. The jury had earlier found the firm, which audited
the books for Miami-based E.S. Bankest, guilty of gross negligence for
failing to uncover a fraud by executives that allegedly led to $170
million in losses by the bank. Banco Espirito sued BDO Seidman three
years ago, accusing the firm of certifying hundreds of millions of
dollars worth of E.S. Bankest assets as real when they did not actually
exist.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=32602'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='12'>Bank to Pay $4.5 Million to Settle
w:st='on'>
York Lawsuit over Credit
Cards
A bank has agreed to pay
$4.5 million to settle a claim by the New York State attorney general
that it deceptively marketed credit cards to people with bad credit
ratings, the New York
Times reported today. In some cases, New York
Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said that recipients were charged fees
in advance for cards that used up most of their credit limit, even
though the bank had promised no processing fees for opening an account.
Cuomo said that under state law, customers are not required to pay such
upfront fees until they start using the cards. The bank, First Premier
Bank, of
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Sioux Falls
size='3'>,
size='3'>S.D.
pay $105,000 in penalties and costs, Cuomo said. The bank did not admit
liability in the settlement.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/nyregion/16subprime.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
name='13'>Sharper Image Claims Reimbursing Customers Will Cause
Bankruptcy
Financial experts for
retailer Sharper Image are expected to testify today that the company
could be pushed into bankruptcy if it is forced to pay up to $900
million to settle a class action lawsuit being pushed by 27 state
attorneys general and several plaintiffs attorneys, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Daily Business Review
size='3'>reported today. At a final fairness hearing today, U.S.
District Judge Cecilia Altonaga must weigh Sharper Image's financial
health against the demands of various plaintiff groups and attorneys
general who want customers compensated for $300 air purifiers they say
were ineffective. An estimated 3 million consumers have purchased the
San Francisco-based company's Ionic Breeze purifiers since 1999. The
machine, which was supposed to remove dust, pollen and other pollution
from household air, did not work and in some cases caused more health
problems, such as allergies, according to consumers.
href='http://biz.yahoo.com/law/070816/0f451868d85ad1187e8442ceba33792e.html?.v=1'>Read
more.
International
name='14'>Global Markets Tumble Amid Mortgage
Crisis
Stocks in Asia continued
their downward spiral today amid the widening fallout from the
size='3'>United States
size='3'>’ subprime mortgage crisis, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>New York Times
size='3'>reported today. The decline was led by shares in
size='3'>South Korea
size='3'>, as local investors returned from a national holiday there and
joined the stampede by foreign investors trying to sell. The South
Korean benchmark stock index suffered its biggest decline in more than
five years today, falling nearly 7 percent late in the afternoon
in
size='3'>Asia
percent plunge that forced the Korea Exchange to suspend trading for 20
minutes.
size='3'>Australia was also
hit today by more repercussions from the credit crisis in the
size='3'>United States
size='3'>. Rams Home Loans Group, a nonbank lender which earlier in the
week warned that its earnings could be hurt by rising costs for its
United States borrowings, confirmed today that it had been unable to
refinance $5 billion in debt.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/business/worldbusiness/16cnd-asiastox.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=business&pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/business/worldbusiness/16cnd-asiastox.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=business&pagewanted=print'>
name='15'>TROUBLED COMPANIES IN THE NEWS
The business news
articles below are taken from the U.S. Business Journal’s Daily
Summary of Troubled & Fast Growing U.S. Companies which is published
by Bastien Financial Publications.
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>ABI
size='3'>Members receive a 50% discount off of our regular subscription
rate of $500 when subscribing to the complete Daily Summary.
To subscribe email
steve@creditnews.com or call 800-407-9044—use
size='3'>ABI
37
size='3'>Allied Defense Group Inc., the
Vienna, Va. defense and security firm which, only last month, agreed to
sell its SeaSpace Corp. operations to Acetopia Holdings of South Korea
for nearly $2 million, reported its second quarter loss increased, from
$5 million for the same period in 2006, to $24 million for its current
quarter. Revenue declined from $30 million
to $15 million. While the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Virginia
solidified a $90 million contract last month, a delay in new orders,
related to weapons contracts, was one reason for the revenue
decline.
size='3'>American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc.
size='3'>, the Detroit, Mi. firm which is trying to reign in costs, is
offering buyouts to as many as 650 of its hourly workers at its Buffalo,
N.Y. facility. The company may end up taking
a charge against earnings of as much as $85 million as a result of the
buyout.
size='3'>Armin Koch Furniture Co., the
fifty-five-year-old privately-held
w:st='on'>Whitefish
Bay,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Wi
size='3'>. retailer, is now closing its doors.
size='3'>Bradley Pharmaceuticals Inc.
size='3'>of
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Fairfield
size='3'>,
size='3'>N.J.
second quarter net loss of $1.7 million, on a 13% revenue
decline–to $32.2 million.
size='3'>Delphax Technologies Inc., a
size='3'>Bloomington
manufacturer of print production systems, reported a third quarter net
loss of $370,000, on a 6.2% revenue decline–to $10.7
million.
size='3'>Dot Hill Systems Corp., a
size='3'>Carlsbad
maker of redundant array of independent disks (RAID) storage products
for the telecommunications and financial services industries, reported a
second quarter net loss of $3.7 million, on a 15% revenue
decline–to $56.2 million.
size='3'>Electronic Clearing House Inc., a
Camarillo, Ca. financial transaction and processing services firm,
reported a third quarter net loss of $680,000, on a 4.2% revenue
decline–to $19 million. The results
include merger and legal settlement charges of
$260,000.
size='3'>4Kids Entertainment Inc., the
size='3'>New York
size='3'>entertainment licensing firm, reported a second quarter net
loss of $2.2 million, on a 28% revenue decline–to $12
million.
size='3'>Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc.
size='3'>of
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>Columbus
now laying off more than one third of its employees at its Pleasant
Prairie, Wi. plant as a result of the company not only changing its
business strategy but exiting a product line.
size='3'>IMAX Corp., the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Ontario
size='3'>Canada
size='3'>maker of projection and sound systems for IMAX theaters in
forty countries, reported a second quarter net loss of $4.6 million, on
a 28% revenue decline–to $27.5 million.
size='3'>MarkWest Hydrocarbon Inc., the
Denver, Co. firm which manages the operations of MarkWest Energy
Partners, a processor and transmitter of natural gas, reported a second
quarter net loss of $7.2 million, on a 6% revenue decline–to $163
million.
size='3'>James River Coal Co. of
size='3'>Richmond
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Va.
second quarter net loss of $18.6 million, on a 6% revenue
decline–to $132 million.
size='3'>Middleton Doll Co., the Heartland,
Wi. designer and marketer of collectible dolls which reported its second
quarter net loss more than doubled, from year-earlier figures–to
$748,000, has sold its headquarters building for more than $4 million in
a sale-lease back agreement. The company is
also liquidating its financial services operation in order to pay off
certain debt.
size='3'>Movie Gallery Inc., the Dothan, Al.
firm which is the second-largest video and game rental retailer in the
nation, owning or franchising more than 4,500 rental stores, reported a
second quarter net loss of $310,000, on a 7% sales decline–to $561
million. The loss included a $115 million
charge from the impairment of goodwill and the write-off of certain
debt.
size='3'>Overland Storage Inc., the
size='3'>San Diego
seller of data storage products, reported a fourth quarter net loss of
$6 million, on an 18% revenue decline–to $34 million.
For the year, the company reported a net loss of $44
million, on a 23% revenue decline–to $160 million.
The annual loss included an impairment charge of $8.4
million.
size='3'>Restoration Hardware Inc., the Corte
Madera, Ca. home furnishings firm which is trying to reduce costs, is
cutting its headquarters payroll by 100 jobs as part of its efforts to
save $9 million annually.
size='3'>Suburban Propane Partners LP, a
Whippany, N.J. firm which is a leading U.S. retailer in the propane
market, behind both Ferrellgas and AmeriGas, reported a third quarter
net loss of $1.1 million, on a 10% revenue decline–to $272
million.
Young Broadcasting Inc., the New York firm which operates ten
television stations ranging from such markets as Nashville, Tn. to San
Francisco, Ca. and Sioux Falls, Sd., reported a second quarter net loss
of $18.2 million, on an 8% revenue decline–to $52 million.