Thursday, December 17, 2009

plus 4, TBWA\Chiat\Day New York Strengthens Management Team - Stockhouse

plus 4, TBWA\Chiat\Day New York Strengthens Management Team - Stockhouse

TBWA\Chiat\Day New York Strengthens Management Team - Stockhouse

Posted: 17 Dec 2009 08:14 AM PST

--Hires Carla Serrano as Chief Strategy Officer, Stephanie Retcho as Managing Director

NEW YORK, Dec 17, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ --

TBWA\Chiat\Day New York today announced key additions to the management team following the hires of Carla Serrano as Chief Strategy Officer and Stephanie Retcho as Managing Director. In addition, the agency has promoted Jonathan Lee to Planning Director to work alongside the previous hires of Devrin Carlson-Smith, Executive Digital Director and Matt Bijarchi, Executive Director of Media Arts.

"We have been transforming the agency around a Media Arts model, delivering an array of digital and marketing services capabilities," said Jamie Gallo, President TBWA\Chiat\Day New York. "With the addition of Carla and Stephanie to our leadership team we put in place a group of the passionate business leaders that get the Chiat\Day culture and how deliver effective, forward thinking strategic and creative solutions to help lead our clients brands."

Carla Serrano re-joins TBWA\Chiat\Day from Berlin Cameron United in NY where she served as President of the 70+ person agency whose clients included Comcast, Belvedere, Hennessy, Wyndham, Amazon, Modells and Ford. She joined Berlin Cameron Untied in 2003 as Director of Planning. Serrano began her career in 1994 at Chiat\Day in Toronto. She joined BBDO Toronto in 1998 before moving to TBWA\Chiat\Day New York in 2000 as Group Planning Director.

Stephanie Retcho re-joins TBWA\Chat\Day New York from McCann Erikson where she was EVP, Group Managing Director for the Verizon business. Retcho's 15+ years of marketing and communications experience spans traditional and non-traditional work for Compaq, Allstate and Sprint-Nextel, as well as SIRIUS Satellite Radio, where she was the Director of Interactive and Relationship Marketing. Prior to joining McCann she served as Executive Group Director on Sprint-Nextel at TBWA\Chiat\Day.

Prior to his promotion Jonathan Lee was brand leader on Vonage and Deputy Director of Strategy. He began his career in 1992 at Chiat\Day New York where he successfully worked his way from receptionist to Account Planner and learned his trade on New York Life, NYNEX and Starter. He has worked at a variety of agencies including Mullen, Ingalls, DiMassimo and FCB. Following a short tenure at the Sterling Group as a Brand Consultant for U.S. Trust, PepsiCo and Reuters, he returned to TBWA\Chiat\Day in 2005. His additional brand experience includes JBL, Kosmo.com, T.J. Maxx, Radisson Hotels, Sprint, Nextel, Chase, Samsung Global, The Plaza Hotel and SmartMoney.

Devrin Carlson-Smith joined from Droga5 where he was Partner and EVP Digital. His career over the last 14 years has been entirely spent in the digital media and technology space, with roles in Microsoft's Media and Entertainment practice in New York and international positions in London, Sydney and Melbourne for Cable and Wireless and Singapore Telecom.

Matt Bijarchi oversees the agency's integrated production efforts. He was previously an Agent in the marketing division of Creative Artists. In his role at CAA, Matt worked on branded entertainment initiatives for clients that included eBay, Sprint, Disney, GAP, Hasbro and Coca-Cola. Bijarchi began his career in advertising at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco, working on Budweiser, HP, Nike and the California Fluid Milk Processor Advisory Board. He then moved onto Cliff Freeman and Partners in New York where he produced for Fox Sports Net, Quiznos and Staples. In early 2002 Matt joined Young & Rubicam/Chicago, as Head of Production working across the agencies accounts which included integrated production work for Nascar, Sears, Miller, Hilton, Orbitz and Live Earth.

About TBWA\Chiat\Day

TBWA\Chiat\Day is part of TBWA\Worldwide and was recently recognized as 2nd on Advertising Age magazine's exclusive 2009 list of top U.S. agencies.

TBWA Worldwide (www.tbwa.com) creates Disruptive ideas for global clients, including ABSOLUT, adidas, Apple, Beiersdorf, GSK, Henkel, Kraft, Infiniti, Mars, McDonald's, Michelin, Nissan, Pernod Ricard, Pioneer, Samsonite, Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore Airlines, Sony PlayStation and Visa. TBWA is one of the fastest-growing networks in the Top-Ten worldwide advertising agencies, and was named 2008 Global Agency of the Year by Advertising Age and Adweek, magazines. Fast Company Magazine placed TBWA 24th on its 2009 list of "The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies." TBWA has 267 offices in 77 countries, and approximately 12,000 employees worldwide.

TBWA is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com), a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.

SOURCE TBWA Worldwide

http://www.tbwa.com

Copyright (C) 2009 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

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Stocks fall on weak jobs data, rising dollar - Quad Cities Onlines

Posted: 17 Dec 2009 08:35 AM PST

NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market fell Thursday as an unexpected increase in unemployment claims stirred concerns about a still-weak job market.

Stocks also fell after a forecast from FedEx Corp. fell short of expectations and Citigroup Inc. priced a stock offer at a steep discount.

The Labor Department said that the number of new jobless claims rose to 480,000 last week, up 7,000 from the previous week.

A rise in the dollar against the euro also put pressure on stocks. A stronger dollar can cut into profits of U.S. companies that do business abroad.

Improved economic reports did little to shore up the market. A private research group said its forecast of U.S. economic activity rose in November for the eighth consecutive month. The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators jumped 0.9 percent last month after gaining 0.3 percent in October.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve said manufacturing in its region is increasing. Its index of manufacturing conditions rose to 20.4 in December from 16.7 in November.

In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 83.66, or 0.8 percent, to 10,357.46. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 9.14, or 0.8 percent, to 1,100.04, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 21.07, or 1 percent, to 2,185.84.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.53 percent from 3.60 percent late Wednesday.

The dollar rose against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Crude oil fell 46 cents to $72.20 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In earnings news, FedEx provided a cautious outlook for its fiscal third quarter after reporting second-quarter results fell 30 percent from a year earlier. Shares of the shipping company fell $4.31, or 4.8 percent, to $85.64.

Credit card lender Discover Financial Services fell $1.05, or 6.4 percent, to $15.37 after reporting that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 19 percent because of bad loans.

In other news, Citigroup fell 26 cents, or 7.5 percent, to $3.19 after the Treasury Department backed out of its plans to sell its 34 percent stake in the company.

The move came after investors responded tepidly to a massive stock offer by the New York-based bank, which is trying to repay $20 billion of the $45 billion in government support it received to weather the financial crisis.

Four stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 438.9 million shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 6.74, or 1.1 percent, to 604.47.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.9 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 1.1 percent, Germany's DAX index was down 0.8 percent, and France's CAC-40 was down 0.7 percent.



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Inflation: We have shot ourselves in the foot but it is just too cold ... - Stockhouse

Posted: 17 Dec 2009 07:31 AM PST

Just got my 'daily' from Statistics Canada and surprise the CPI is up again!

Of particular interest:

 

"Downward movements from homeowners' replacement cost (-2.1%) andmortgage interest cost were also recorded.

 

The mortgage interest cost index, which measures the change in theinterest portion of payments on outstanding mortgage debt, fell 4.0% inNovember, following a 3.1% decrease in October."

 

So we have positive CPI with a prettyheavy fall in mortgage costs b/c of crazy low interest rates.

 

It will be interesting trying to figureout how to raise interest rates to slow inflation when that is going to end upbeing a shock to mortgage prices.

 

There you go, a dose of gloom and doomfor your day :)

Following is the full report on the CPI from Statistics Canada, you can find this information on their website at:

www.statcan.gc.ca

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Consumer Price Index

November 2009

 

 

Consumer prices rose 1.0% in the 12 months to November, following a 0.1%increase in October.

 

The rise in the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI) was due primarilyto gasoline prices. Prices at the pump are now exerting upward pressure on theCPI after an extended period in which they were the main contributors toyear-over-year declines in overall consumer prices.

 

In November, gasoline prices were 14.1% higher than they were inNovember 2008. This follows a 13.1% decline between October 2008 and October2009.

 

Overall, energy prices rose 1.3% between November 2008 and November2009, following a 12.7% decline the month before.

 

 

Seasonally adjusted monthly CPIincreases

 

 

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI went up 0.6% fromOctober to November, after rising 0.4% from September to October. November'sincrease was due mainly to a 1.8% rise in the transportation index.

 

The seasonally adjusted monthly CPI has gone up in six of the past sevenmonths.

 

 

12-month change: Seven of the eightmajor components in the CPI record increases

 

 

Except for shelter, all major components of the CPI recorded priceincreases in November. The three components exerting the greatest upwardpressure on the CPI were transportation, household operations, furnishings andequipment, and food.

 

Transportation prices, which rose 1.9% in the 12 months to November,exerted the largest upward pressure on the CPI due primarily to higher gasolineprices. It was the first 12-month increase for this component since October2008.

 

In addition to higher prices at the pump, consumers paid 7.8% more forpassenger vehicle insurance premiums. However, prices for passenger vehicleswere 6.0% lower than the same period last year.

 

The cost of household operations, furnishing and equipment rose 2.8%during the 12-month period to November. Upward pressure came fromcommunications, child care and domestic services, furniture and householdtextiles, household appliances, and other household goods and services.

 

Food prices rose 1.7%, following a 2.3% increase in October. November'sadvance was the smallest since April 2008.

 

Prices for dairy products and eggs rose 2.1% while prices for fish,seafood and other marine products rose 5.4%. Prices for food purchased fromrestaurants went up 2.7%. On the other hand, prices fell for fresh fruit(-5.7%) and fresh vegetables (-5.9%).

 

Recreation, education and reading costs advanced 1.8% in the 12 monthsto November. Major contributors to the increase were tuition fees and readingmaterial and other printed material. In contrast, prices for computer equipmentand supplies and other electronic equipment items such as video, audio, andphotographic equipment continued to fall.

 

Broad-based price advances occurred in the health and personal carecomponent (+3.2%).

 

Shelter costs declined 1.7% between November 2008 and November 2009.This drop was mainly the result of price decreases in natural gas (-29.7%) andfuel oil and other fuels (-10.6%). Unlike gasoline, prices for natural gas andfuel oil and other fuels were still exerting downward pressure on the CPI inNovember.

 

Downward movements from homeowners' replacement cost (-2.1%) andmortgage interest cost were also recorded.

 

The mortgage interest cost index, which measures the change in theinterest portion of payments on outstanding mortgage debt, fell 4.0% inNovember, following a 3.1% decrease in October.

 

On the other hand, homeowners' maintenance and repairs costs andproperty taxes both increased by 4.3% in November.

 

 

Provinces: Consumer prices up in allprovinces

 

 

Consumer prices rose in all provinces in the 12 months to November. Thelargest increases occurred in New Brunswick (+2.2%), Prince Edward Island(+1.9%), Nova Scotia (+1.7%), and Quebec (+1.7%).

 

Consumers in all Atlantic provinces saw price increases between November2008 and November 2009. Increases in the all-items CPI in these provinces weremostly due to higher gasoline prices and less downward pressure from fuel oiland other fuels.

 

Price increases in Quebec were driven by higher prices for gasoline andfood purchased from restaurants.

 

In Ontario, prices rose 1.0%. This growth was primarily due to the risein gasoline prices (+17.5%) and passenger vehicle insurance premiums (+11.6%).Price decreases for natural gas eased the upward pressure.

 

Prices in British Columbia rose 0.1%. This was the first 12-monthincrease in the province since May 2009.

 

 

12-month change in the Bank of Canada'score index

 

 

The Bank of Canada's core index advanced 1.5% over the 12 months toNovember, following a 1.8% rise in October.

 

The seasonally adjusted monthly core index increased 0.2% from Octoberto November, following a 0.3% increase in October.

 

For a more detailed analysis, consult the publication The Consumer PriceIndex.

 

Available on CANSIM: tables 326-0009,326-0012, 326-0015 and 326-0020 to 326-0022.

 

Definitions, data sources and methods:survey number 2301.

 

More information about the concepts and use of the CPI are also availableonline in Your Guide to the Consumer Price Index (62-557-X, free) from the Keyresource module of our website under Publications.

 

The November 2009 issue of the Consumer Price Index, Vol. 88, no. 11(62-001-X, free), is now available from Key resource module of our websiteunder Publications. A paper copy is also available ($12/$111). A more detailedanalysis of the CPI is available in this publication. See How to orderproducts.

 

The December Consumer Price Index will be released on January 20, 2010.

 

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or dataquality of this release, contact the Dissemination Unit (toll-free1-866-230-2248; 613-951-9606; fax: 613-951-2848; prices-prix@statcan.gc.ca),Consumer Prices Division.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table: Consumer Price Index and majorcomponents, Canada(1)

(2002=100)

____________________________________________________________________________

October

2008 to

Relative NovemberNovember October

importance(2) 2008 2009 2009

____________________________________________________________________________

Unadjusted UnadjustedUnadjusted Unadjusted

------------- -------------------- ----------

% change

----------

All-items 100.00(3) 114.1 115.2 0.1

Food 17.04 119.5 121.5 2.3

Shelter 26.62 123.4 121.3 -1.6

Household operations,

 furnishings and

 equipment 11.10 105.5 108.5 2.6

Clothing and footwear 5.36 94.1 95.1 0.6

Transportation  19.88113.2 115.4 -3.1

Health and personal care 4.73 110.1 113.6 3.4

Recreation, education

 and reading 12.20 101.9 103.7 1.5

Alcoholic beverages and

 tobacco products 3.07 128.5 131.3 2.7

All-items (1992=100) 135.8 137.2 0.1

Special aggregates

Goods 48.78 108.1 108.6 -1.7

Services 51.22 120.0 121.8 1.8

All-items excluding food

 and energy 73.57 111.3 112.2 1.3

Energy 9.38 130.7 132.4 -12.7

Core CPI(4) 82.71 113.0 114.7 1.8

____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________

November

2008 to

November

2009

_____________________________________

Unadjusted

----------

% change

----------

All-items 1.0

Food 1.7

Shelter -1.7

Household operations,

 furnishings and

 equipment 2.8

Clothing and footwear 1.1

Transportation 1.9

Health and personal care 3.2

Recreation, education

 and reading 1.8

Alcoholic beverages and

 tobacco products 2.2

All-items (1992=100) 1.0

Special aggregates

Goods 0.5

Services 1.5

All-items excluding food

 and energy 0.8

Energy 1.3

Core CPI(4) 1.5

_____________________________________

1. The month-to-month percentage changesare available from

the monthly publication TheConsumer Price Index.

2. 2005 CPI basket weights at April 2007prices, Canada:

Effective May 2007. Detailedweights are available under

the Documentation sectionof

survey 2301(www.statcan.gc.ca/imdb-bmdi/index-eng.htm).

3. Figures may not add up to 100% due torounding.

4. The measure of Core Consumer Price Index(CPI) excludes

from the All-items CPI the effectof changes in indirect

taxes and eight of the mostvolatile components identified

by the Bank of Canada: fruit, fruitpreparations and nuts;

vegetables and vegetablepreparations; mortgage interest

cost; natural gas; fuel oil andother fuel; gasoline; inter-

city transportation; and tobaccoproducts and smokers'

supplies. For additional informationon Core CPI, consult

the Bank of Canada website

(www.bankofcanada.ca/en/inflation/index.htm).

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table: Consumer Price Index by province,and for Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit

(2002=100)

____________________________________________________________________________

October

2008 to

Relative NovemberNovember October

importance(1) 2008 2009 2009

____________________________________________________________________________

Unadjusted UnadjustedUnadjusted Unadjusted

------------- -------------------- ----------

% change

----------

Canada 100.00(2) 114.1 115.2 0.1

Newfoundland and Labrador 1.27 114.3 115.6 -0.4

Prince Edward Island 0.35 116.9 119.1 -0.8

Nova Scotia 2.56 115.0 117.0 -0.4

New Brunswick 1.97 112.6 115.1 0.5

Québec 21.05 112.4 114.3 0.5

Ontario 41.22 113.5 114.6 0.2

Manitoba 3.06 113.8 114.7 0.1

Saskatchewan 2.64 116.7 117.6 0.3

Alberta 11.43 121.6 122.6 0.1

British Columbia 14.29 112.3 112.4 -0.6

Whitehorse 0.06 114.6 113.9 -1.3

Yellowknife 0.08 116.1 116.7 0.0

Iqaluit (Dec. 2002=100) 0.02 111.9 111.2 0.5

____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________

November

2008 to

November

2009

_____________________________________

 Unadjusted

----------

% change

----------

Canada 1.0

Newfoundland and Labrador 1.1

Prince Edward Island 1.9

Nova Scotia 1.7

New Brunswick 2.2

Québec 1.7

Ontario 1.0

Manitoba 0.8

Saskatchewan 0.8

Alberta 0.8

British Columbia 0.1

Whitehorse -0.6

Yellowknife 0.5

Iqaluit (Dec. 2002=100) -0.6

_____________________________________

1. 2005 CPI basket weights at April 2007prices, Canada:

Effective May 2007. Detailedweights are available under

the Documentation section of

survey 2301 (www.statcan.gc.ca/imdb-bmdi/index-eng.htm).

2. Figures may not add up to 100% due torounding.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table: Consumer Price Index and majorcomponents

(2002=100)

____________________________________________________________________________

Relative SeptemberOctober November

importance(1) 2009  20092009

____________________________________________________________________________

Seasonally SeasonallySeasonally Seasonally

adjusted adjustedadjusted adjusted

------------- -------------------- ----------

All-items 100.00(2) 114.4 114.9 115.6

Food 17.04 121.3 121.4 121.8

Shelter 26.62 120.9 121.2 121.3

Household operations and

 furnishings 11.10 107.7 108.0 108.6

Clothing and footwear 5.36 92.7 93.4 93.9

Transportation 19.88 113.6 113.4 115.4

Health and personal care 4.73 113.6 113.0 113.3

Recreation, education

 and reading 12.20 103.4 103.7 103.8

Alcoholic beverages and 

 tobacco products 3.07 131.3 131.4 131.3

Special aggregates

All-items excluding food 82.96 113.5 113.5 114.0

All-items excluding food

 and energy 73.57 111.6 111.8 111.9

All-items excluding

 eight of the most

 volatile components 82.71 112.5 112.8 113.1

Core CPI(3) 82.71 113.9 114.2 114.4

____________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

September October

to to

October November

2009 2009

_________________________________________________

Seasonally Seasonally

adjusted adjusted

---------- ----------

% change % change

---------- ----------

All-items 0.4 0.6

Food 0.1 0.3

Shelter 0.2 0.1

Household operations and

 furnishings 0.3 0.6

Clothing and footwear 0.8 0.5

Transportation -0.2 1.8

Health and personal care -0.5 0.3

Recreation, education

 and reading 0.3 0.1

Alcoholic beverages and

 tobacco products 0.1 -0.1

Special aggregates

All-items excluding food 0.0 0.4

All-items excluding food

 and energy 0.2 0.1

All-items excluding

 eight of the most

 volatile components 0.3 0.3

Core CPI(3) 0.3 0.2

_________________________________________________

1. 2005 CPI basket weights at April 2007prices, Canada:

Effective May 2007. Detailedweights are available under

the Documentation section of

survey 2301 (www.statcan.gc.ca/imdb-bmdi/index-eng.htm).

2. Figures may not add up to 100% due torounding.

3. The measure of Core Consumer PriceIndex (CPI) excludes

from the all-items CPI the effectof changes in indirect

taxes and eight of the mostvolatile components identified

by the Bank of Canada: fruit, fruitpreparations and nuts;

vegetables and vegetablepreparations; mortgage interest

  cost; natural gas; fuel oil andother fuel; gasoline; inter-

city transportation; and tobaccoproducts and smokers'

supplies. For additionalinformation on Core CPI, consult

the Bank of Canada website

(www.bankofcanada.ca/en/inflation/index.htm).

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canada's international transactions insecurities October 2009

 

 

Canadian securities continued to draw significant foreign investment inOctober. Non-residents acquired $5.8 billion during the month, mainly federalgovernment bonds. Non-residents have added $86.4 billion of Canadian securitiesto their portfolios so far in 2009, already exceeding any previous annualforeign investment.

 

Meanwhile, Canadians removed $4.2 billion from their holdings of foreignsecurities in October, divesting both debt and equity instruments. Thisfollowed a $4.7 billion divestment in September.

 

 

Strong non-resident demand for Canadianfederal government bonds

 

 

Foreign investors continued to adjust their holdings of Canadian debtsecurities to longer term instruments in October. They added $6.0 billion ofCanadian bonds to their portfolios, the largest inflow since May 2009, anddisposed of $1.6 billion of Canadian money market instruments.

 

This activity was largely comprised of the Canadian federal governmentsecurities. Non-residents acquired $4.5 billion of federal bonds throughsecondary markets in October, covering nearly all benchmark bonds. At the sametime, they reduced their holdings of federal paper by $1.9 billion, mainly dueto retirements.

 

Foreign investment in Canadian private corporate bonds was also sizableat $1.8 billion in October, and was dominated by secondary markets purchases.Bonds backed by mortgages and credit card receivables attracted the bulk of theforeign buying.

______________________________________________________________________

 

Note to readers

 

All values in this release are net transactions unless otherwise stated.

 

The data series on international security transactions cover portfoliotransactions in stocks, bonds and money market instruments for both Canadianand foreign issues.

 

Stocks include common and preferred equities, as well as warrants.

 

Debt securities include bonds and money market instruments.

 

Bonds have an original term to maturity of more than one year.

 

Money market instruments have an original term to maturity of one yearor less.

 

Government of Canada paper includes treasury bills and US-dollar Canadabills.

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Norcraft Holdings, L.P. Announces the Expiration of its Tender Offer ... - Investors Business Daily

Posted: 17 Dec 2009 07:38 AM PST

EAGAN, Minn., Dec 17, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Norcraft Holdings, L.P. (the "Company") announced today that its previously announced tender offer (the "Offer") for up to $64,300,000 aggregate principal amount (the "Tender Cap") of its and Norcraft Capital Corp.'s 9.75% Senior Discount Notes Due 2012 (the "Notes") expired at 12:00 midnight, New York City Time, on December 16, 2009 (the "Offer Expiration Time").

As of the Offer Expiration Time, $118,000,000, or 100%, of the aggregate outstanding principal amount of Notes was tendered. Because this amount exceeds the Tender Cap, the Company will purchase all Notes accepted in the Offer on a pro rata basis as described in the Offer to Purchase and Consent Solicitation Statement dated November 17, 2009, as supplemented by the Company's press release on December 2, 2009.

Holders of Notes that validly tendered their Notes prior to the Offer Expiration Time, and whose Notes are accepted for purchase, are entitled to receive the early tender premium of $10.00 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes and the tender offer consideration of $1,013.38 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes plus accrued and unpaid interest from the last interest payment date for the Notes to, but not including, the payment date for the Notes. The payment date for the Notes is expected to be on or about December 17, 2009.

This press release is for informational purposes only and is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities of the Company or any of its subsidiaries. The offers to purchase the securities were made only pursuant to the offer documents, including the Offer to Purchase and Consent Solicitation Statement that the Company distributed to holders of securities. No offers are being made herein to holders of securities in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities, blue sky or other laws of such jurisdiction.

UBS Investment Bank served as the Dealer Manager for the tender offer and consent solicitation. Global Bondholder Services Corporation acted as the Information Agent and as the Depositary. Persons with questions regarding the offer should contact the Dealer Manager, toll-free at (888) 719-4210 or collect at (203) 719-4210. Requests for documentation relating to the tender offer and consent solicitation may be directed to the Information Agent, toll-free at (866) 873-7700.

SOURCE: Norcraft Holdings, L.P.

Norcraft Holdings, L.P.
Leigh E. Ginter, 651-234-3315
Chief Financial Officer
leigh.ginter@norcraftcompanies.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009

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Bills would restore ban on big bank-insurer firms - Business Insurance

Posted: 17 Dec 2009 08:43 AM PST


WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Financial giants such as Goldman Sachs Group could be broken up under two bills introduced in Congress Wednesday, one with the backing of former Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

Both would reinstate the 1930s-era Glass-Steagall laws that barred large banks from affiliating with securities firms and engaging in the insurance business. Those limits were largely repealed in 1999, a high-water mark for deregulation.

"It is time to put a stop to the taxpayer financed excesses of Wall Street...This country would be better served if we limit the activities of these financial institutions," Sen. McCain, R-Ariz., said in a statement with Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington.

Passage of the Cantwell-McCain bill would force firms at the center of last year's financial crisis—such as Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo—to spin off investment and insurance operations, said Demos, a progressive think tank in New York.

A similar measure was offered Wednesday by six House Democrats.

The bills come as Congress debates a sweeping overhaul of financial regulation more than a year after a severe banking and capital markets crisis rocked economies worldwide.

"Restoring Glass-Steagall may have populist appeal, but it is hard to see how one finds 60 votes for it" to win passage in the Senate, said financial services policy analyst Jaret Seiberg, at investment firm Concept Capital.

"This will be painted as a jobs killer, especially for New York. Plus, conservatives in both parties will balk at having the government forcibly break up private companies," he said.

The House approved a regulatory reform bill last Friday that would empower a new systemic risk regulator to order the break-up of risky financial firms in extreme circumstances.

The 1933 Glass-Steagall laws were adopted at the same time the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was set up. Both reforms came in the Great Depression, when thousands of banks collapsed, wiping out the savings of millions of Americans.

Glass-Steagall was largely repealed in 1999 under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act during the Clinton administration amid lobbying pressure from bankers, including those keen to merge the financial firms that later came to comprise Citigroup.

Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley declined to comment. No immediate comment was available from Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo.

Copyright 2009 Reuters Limited. Click for restrictions.

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