plus 4, Coinstar names former Lenovo exec as new CFO - Tacoma News Tribune

Coinstar names former Lenovo exec as new CFO - Tacoma News Tribune
Chamber shifts plans for information center to downtown - Newark Advocate
Big Banks Post Mixed Results, But the Worst Could Be Over - CNBC
JAG Advisors CIO Reveals His Top Technology Stock Picks And Gives ... - Yahoo Finance
Crews restore power after West Allis outage - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Coinstar names former Lenovo exec as new CFO - Tacoma News Tribune

Posted: 20 Jan 2010 07:55 AM PST

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Chamber shifts plans for information center to downtown - Newark Advocate

Posted: 20 Jan 2010 08:17 AM PST

The Granville Area Chamber of Commerce has big plans for a modest-size office on East Broadway.

It hopes to convert a former clothing store at 125 E. Broadway into a community visitor and information center that would be a central location for information about community events, organizations and businesses.

The space also would house the chamber's offices, which currently are located above Park National Bank offices at 119 E. Broadway.

The chamber announced its plan at a pizza luncheon Tuesday before about 50 members. The plan is contingent on enlisting Granville Village and Township and Denison University as partners, chamber member Rob Cathcart said.

Getting the word out about local attractions and businesses will help the local economy, chamber president Drew Bennett said.

"It is going to help to sustain and grow the local economy," Bennett said. "If we lose businesses in Granville and the tax revenue they generate falls, it will hurt the local economy."

While Bennett did not have data on how the recession has affected the local economy, he said "intuitively, I know it has been hurt."

The center's role would be to promote local businesses and events and encourage visitation of local historical and cultural sites, according to a prepared statement from the chamber. While some larger organizations and businesses have the capability to publicize their activities, services and products, many smaller ones don't, according to the statement.

Reader's Garden bookstore owner JoAnn Geiger said she foresees the center bringing more traffic her way. But more importantly, she said, it will have a catch-all question-answering function for people who aren't familiar with Granville's attractions.

"People don't come here just to shop," she said. "They are interested in the bike path, nature trails and the eateries."

On a local level, the center can help seniors and people without school-age children find out about recreational activities, said Lesa Miller of the Granville Recreation District. They don't receive the mailings on recreation activities that are regularly sent to parents, she said.

The chamber is spending some of its own funds to furnish the office and install racks for magazines and brochures. But to make the plan a reality, it needs financial and material assistance from the village, township and Denison University, Cathcart said.

"If they don't share in the initiative, it won't happen," he said.

The chamber hopes to have the center up and running by May 1, Cathcart said. It plans to approach the two local jurisdictions and Denison for assistance in the near future, Cathcart said.

In 2009, the chamber was in active negotiations with the owner of the old train depot, the Montgomery family, about its plan to open a welcome center there. But Cathcart said prospects of leasing the building have faded, and the chamber began looking at other locations.

With the advantages of available parking and accessibility (being on the first floor), the new Broadway location might turn out to be ideal, Cathcart said, but added, "We would not exclude moving to another location in time if something more favorable presents itself."

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Big Banks Post Mixed Results, But the Worst Could Be Over - CNBC

Posted: 20 Jan 2010 08:09 AM PST

Major banks continued to post mixed results on Wednesday, reflecting the industry's slow recovery, but there were some signs that the worst may be over for the battered sector.

"I think we are approaching some sort of normality here,'' said Mal Polley, chief investment officer, Stewart Capital Advisors. "I think chargeoffs will still be high, but it's definitely stabilized.''

Reflecting the uneven results, bank stocks were mixed. Traders were encouraged by an improving credit trend in Bank of America and other banks. There also was optimism that the Republican victory in the Massachusetts Senate race could push financial regulation to the back burner in Congress.

Still, analysts remained cautious about the outlook for financials. Even with the "huge variability" in financial results, there is still a common trend of "high volumes of writeoffs," Bob Parker, vice chairman at Credit Suisse Asset Management, told CNBC

In addition, big banks' performances will rely heavily on the strength of the economy in 2010, and a slow recovery could have a negative impact on their future earnings, Paul Miller, head of financial services at FBR Capital Markets, said in a separate interview on CNBC.

"If the economy doesn't recover by the mid-part of 2010, losses are going to stay elevated and banks' earnings are going to be under pressure," Miller said.

Miller said he is particulary worried about the housing market and what will happen to it once the Federal Reserve halts its purchasing of mortgage-backed securities.

He doesn't think the housing sector will recover anytime soon, and as a result, he said it will be difficult for banks to trade at above two times their book value. He specifically pointed to Wells Fargo, which is currently trading at almost 2 1/2 times its book value, saying it is overvalued.

But Miller said investors should focus more on banks' topline revenue and outlook than their earnings.

"I think investors have accepted the fact that credit costs are going to be high and elevated for a long period of time, but the issue is can they earn themselves out of it," he said.

Here's a rundown of the results posted Wednesday.

Bank of America [BAC Loading... () ] led a parade of banks earnings, disappointing investors with a loss of $5.2 billion, or 60 cents a share, which was worse than the 52 cents expected.

Morgan Stanley [MS Loading... () ] was profitable for the second consecutive quarter but earnings fell short of analysts' expectations.

Wells Fargo [WFC Loading... () ]posted an unexpected profit of 8 cents a share, despite having to repay $25 billion in government bailout money.

Bank of New York Mellon [BK Loading... () ]reported its earnings rose sharply amid an increase in assets.

US Bancorp [USB Loading... () ] said its profit more than doubled as mortgage banking revenue and deposits grew but continued to see more bad-loan writeoffs.

Slideshow: Top Buyers of Failed US Banks

—Reuters and AP contributed to this report.

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JAG Advisors CIO Reveals His Top Technology Stock Picks And Gives ... - Yahoo Finance

Posted: 20 Jan 2010 08:02 AM PST

67 WALL STREET, New York - January 18, 2010 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Large-Cap Growth and Other Investing Strategies Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This 53 page feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: Consistent Earnings Power; Accelerated Earnings Power; Dividend Consistency And Balance Sheet Strength; Fundamental Analysis With Quantitative Disciplines; Low-debt Companies; Growth Component; Listed Private Equity; Alternate Investments And Tactical Strategies; Thinking And Acting Differently From The Crowd

Companies include: Altria Group (MO); Bank of America (BAC); Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B); Edwards Lifesciences (EW); Electra Private Equity (ELTA); Ethan Allen (ETH); 3i Group (III); 3i Infrastructure Fund (3IN); AB (INVEB); ARM Holdings (ARMH); Abbott Labs (ABT); Adobe (ADBE); Agrium (AGU); Akamai (AKAM); Allied Capital (ALD); Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY); American Capital Ltd. (ACAS); American Express (AXP); Apache (APA); Apollo Investment Corp.  (AINV); Apple (AAPL); AstraZeneca (AZN); Automatic Data Processing (ADP); BHP Billiton (BHP); Blackstone Group (BX); Cabela's (CAB); CarMax (KMX); Central European Distributors (CEDC); Cerner (CERN); Cheesecake Factory (CAKE); Cisco Systems (CSCO); Citigroup ©; Clorox (CLX); Dell Computer (DELL); Devon Energy (DVN); Eli Lilly (LLY); Eurazeo (RF); ExxonMobil (XOM); FactSet Research (FDS); Fortress Investment Group (FIG); Freeport McMoran (FCX); Fresenius Medical Care (FMS); Garmin (GRMN); General Dynamics (GD); General Electric (GE); Genzyme (GENZ); Google (GOOG); Hewlett Packard (HPQ); Ingersoll Rand (IR); Intel, (INTC); Intermediate Capital Group (ICP); International Business Machines (IBM); Intuit (INTU); Israel Corp. (ILCO); Johnson & Johnson (JNJ); KKR Group (KKR); Lazard Ltd. (LAZ); MDC Holdings (MDC); Marvell Technology (MRVL); Masco (MAS); McDonald's (MCD); McKesson (MCK); MetLife (MET); Microsoft (MSFT); Monsanto (MON); Mosaic (MOS); NY Community Bancorp (NYB); Newmont Mining (NEM); Novartis (NVS); Novo Nordisk (NVO); Occidental Petroleum (OXY); OpenText (OTEX); Paychex (PAYX); Pepsi (PEP); Petrobras (PBR); Plexus (PLX); Polaris Industries (PII); Procter & Gamble (PG); Quest Diagnostics (DGX); Ralph Lauren (RL); Suncor (SU); Surgical (ISRG); Sybase (SY); TJX Companies (TJX); TOTAL (TOT); Transocean (RIG); Trimble (TRMB); Varian Medical Systems (VAR); Visa (V); Wal-Mart (WMT); Wells Fargo (WFC); Wendel Investment (MF); Williams Company (WMB); YUM Bransd (YUM); eva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA); exas Instruments (TXN).

In the following brief excerpt from the 53 page report, Norman B. Conley III discusses the outlook for the Investment sector and for investors.

NORMAN B. CONLEY III, President/CIO of JAG Advisors, is the Portfolio Manager for JAG Advisors Large Cap Growth portfolio. He entered the investment industry in 1994 and joined JAG in 1999. Mr. Conley earned his Bachelor's degree on a Naval ROTC scholarship at the University of Notre Dame and spent three years as an officer in the United States Navy. He has a Master's degree in Business Administration in Finance from Washington University.

TWST: Why don't you please start with an overview of JAG Advisors?

Mr. Conley: JAG Advisors is a dually-registered asset management firm in St. Louis, Missouri. We manage both equities and fixed income and our total Assets Under Management is approximately $850 million.

TWST: What is your investment philosophy? What approach do you take?

Mr. Conley: On the equity side focus on large-cap growth investment firm. Our fixed-income strategies center on intermediate-term corporate bonds.

TWST: Tell us about that process and how you identify large-cap growth stocks for your portfolio.

Mr. Conley: Our process attempts to identify companies that we believe have superior earnings and revenue growth prospects versus their peers and versus the overall market. The rationale behind that is that we believe that ultimately price follows earnings. So, to the extent that we can identify faster growing companies on both the top and bottom lines, our expectation is that those types of equities will be more or likely to produce excess returns versus a passive benchmark.

TWST: Would you tell us about some of the stocks that you feel are representative of your investment approach and the reasons why you are attracted to them?

Mr. Conley: Our largest holding is currently Google (GOOG), which is a familiar name. We think Google is poised to have a very strong 2010 as the economy recovers and ad spending picks up. It is a global company with a global reach, and it is dominant in Internet advertising which continues to gain share from other forms of advertising such as broadcast or print. Google is becoming a very effective way for corporations worldwide to advertise their products and services. We think they are going to continue to develop new ways to monetize advertising, whether through continued optimization of Gmail and YouTube, or through the more traditional Google click-ad platform. So we like Google a lot, especially given the fact that the stock remains well off of its 52-week and two-year high's. Another name that we like a lot is Cerner (CERN), which is one of our top 10 holdings. Cerner is a leader in using automation to improve the efficiency of healthcare organizations.

No matter what shape healthcare reform takes in the U.S., Cerner's applications have a good chance to be part of the solution. While we cannot characterize Cerner stocks as "cheap" at over 30x trailing earnings, we think 2010 earnings could come in enough ahead of expectations to justify current prices. If we are right about the potential for an upside earnings surprise, we think Cerner's stock will be rewarded with an expansion in its P/E multiple in the coming year. Put all of these pieces together, and add in a small chance of a larger player pursuing an acquisition of a Cerner's leading healthcare technology franchise, and we think the investment prospects for Cerner are bright. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention our position in Microsoft (MSFT).

TWST: What are some examples of the companies that you were attracted to since the lows in March of this year?

Mr. Conley: One of the positions that we were able to pick up almost exactly at the bottom is Marvell Technology (MRVL). Marvell makes chips that go into a wide variety of technology devices, including hard drives and mobile phones. It was at an obscenely cheap valuation when we first purchased it in March 2009, and we think it is still cheap despite the fact that it has more than doubled in price since then. Another example is our position in Masco (MAS), which we first established in August in the range of $14/share. This is a controversial idea due to its status as the industry leader in the dreadful homebuilding and home products industry. They make things like plumbing, drywall, and all the stuff that goes into residential building. We think Masco could actually have a really solid 2010 and 2011 assuming there is any pickup at all in new home sales. From a macro perspective, it's likely in our view that there will be a rebound some magnitude in homebuilding in the United States in 2010 and 2011.

The Wall Street Transcript is a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs and research analysts. This 53 page special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online .

The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse the views of any interviewees nor does it make stock recommendations.

For Information on subscribing to The Wall Street Transcript, please call 800/246-7673

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Crews restore power after West Allis outage - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Posted: 20 Jan 2010 08:31 AM PST

Jan. 20, 2010 9:50 a.m. | Waukesha - All Waukesha Metro Transit system buses will be equipped with security cameras in about two months, thanks to federal stimulus funds.

Robert Johnson, transit manager, said eight buses have had six cameras installed beginning in 2004. Some also have microphones. They have proved useful in the case of accidents, for example, Johnson said, but he added that there has not been a serious crime on a bus that has prompted the need for recovered camera images.

With the allocation of $1,277,951 in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Waukesha Transit Commission Board has authorized spending $72,389 to equip the remaining 20 buses with cameras, Johnson said. They have been ordered and are being installed.

Other stimulus funds have been used for a new roof and parking lot repaving at the Waukesha transit garage on Badger Drive. Bids have come in under budget on the roof, paving and cameras, Johnson said, so the Transit Board asked for and got Common Council approval Tuesday to spend the surplus on other things - $67,000 on replacing an automatic vehicle location system and radio network controller and replacing a staff car for $32,000.

The city transit commission also administers county transit funds, and $200,000 in federal stimulus funds is being spent to buy eight vans for a van pool that can help get workers to jobs where regular transit routes do not exist. »Read Full Article

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