At present, China’s rapid economic growth in the second quarter, up 11.9% of GDP, trade surplus with the highest level of exports than in June of this year’s estimates. In the past year, a Chinese second-tier cities, housing prices soared, developers benefit from quite good. Based on prices in 70 large and medium cities in the survey, from 2009 until January of this year house prices rose 9.5%, to 19 months, the fastest growth rate, in part because a large number of developers to buy land. Government to curb the housing bubble, a series of measures, including improving security conditions require developers to pay a minimum of 20% of the land acquisition costs, increase the reserve ratio, increase in housing sales tax, to limit the volume. Therefore, investors are increasingly worried that the Chinese government in the real estate market within the next few months to make the major adjustment, so the adjustment will fall 40% of the real estate market. Currently, investors in Asia there is a good opportunity for both efficient use of China’s rapid economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region to create a favorable situation, but also lower the risks of Chinese real estate bubble. New Zealand, Australia, rely mainly on exports to China, to maintain high economic growth. Australia is expected this year, exports to China will increase 15%, reaching 186 billion U.S. dollars, with exports to New Zealand almost. Australia, New Zealand, strong export growth to a significant appreciation of the currency between the two countries. Asian investors can take advantage of Australia and New Zealand’s economic growth, investment in their real estate market, this can reduce the risk of investing in China market premises. Australia’s economic growth this year expected to reach 2.5% in 2011, will reach 3.5%, New Zealand up 3.2% this year. At present, the rate of housing starts in New Zealand.

To view full article, please click the link provided here.

“New Zealand’s real estate market was impacted by the global financial meltdown, with property prices dropping 20% to 30%,” said William Nobrega, a managing partner and founder of the Conrad Group and an advisor to Du Val Group. “But it is getting very …

To view the original article, please click the link provided here.

SAMANTHA REGO, Contributor
Community Newspapers

South Florida teachers were recognized for their contributions to environmental education and conservation during the recent 2009-10 Fairchild Challenge Educator of the Year Awards ceremony.

Maria Francesca Violich of Hubert O. Sibley Elementary School, Marina Midence of Shenandoah Middle School, and Pamela Shlachtman of Miami Palmetto Senior High School, were presented with awards during the Teachers’ Luncheon celebration that took place at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (FTBG) in Coral Gables.

The teachers were selected from a pool of highly qualified applicants and represent faculty from more than 150 Fairchild Challenge (FC) schools in South Florida. The FC is an environmentally based, interdisciplinary education outreach program that is provided by FTBG at no cost to participating schools every academic year.

The program is comprised of a series of individual projects, contests and performances in which students participate. Some of the options include: writing opinion and research papers; performing songs and skits; creating school gardens, artwork and newsletters; collecting school energy, water and treecanopy data; designing solar-powered devices, and formulating “green” cuisine menus. Students are awarded points for their schools that count toward their overall FC ranking.

This year’s winning educators consistently proved their commitment to the program by helping their schools achieve a top ranking for several consecutive years.

“We work with such an inspirational group of teachers who motivate students and ignite a passion within them to become environmentally conscious,” said Amy Padolf, director of education with the FTBG. “Our winners this year are role models who have successfully launched ‘green’ initiatives at their schools. We are proud to work with such a dedicated group of teachers who have the ability to significantly impact the future of our environment.”

Pamela Shlachtman, high school teacher of the year, began participating in the FC eight years ago and consistently has placed in the top 10 high schools in the FC. She organizes Miami Palmetto High School’s annual “Plant the Pride” event, in which students plant trees and shrubs, mulch trees, trim bushes and pick up trash to beautify the school. The Fairchild Challenge, established in 2002 by South Florida’s 70-year-old Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, seeks to reconnect America’s youth with nature through a multi-disciplinary program available free to elementary, middle and high schools.

For more information, visit www.fairchildchallenge. org or call 305-667-1651.

Special to the the Miami Herald

To view an original copy of the article, click here

In discussions surrounding the new healthcare reform law that will usher millions of new patients into our hospitals and physicians’ offices, at least one issue deserves greater attention: the role of our professional schools, namely, medical, nursing, public health and allied health (e.g., physician assistants, occupational therapy). If these institutions are to be part of the solution to our healthcare challenges — and they should be — meaningful changes in curriculum, resources and focus are essential.

 Fortunately, a new breed of medical school education is arising. Increasingly, components of health science centers, professional schools have far-ranging ability to integrate such seemingly disparate interests as research, community issues and public health. Medical schools in particular may transform the way healthcare is practiced and viewed by the general community and its leaders. The medical school with this focus will not only pursue traditional missions like research and teaching students diagnostic skills but also emphasize community involvement, local medicine, social consciousness and local cultural issues. Such efforts could go far toward making healthcare more affordable and accessible.

 Here in South Florida, the new medical school at Florida International University seeks to achieve just this goal by an innovative curriculum that engages medical students in the community as a part of an interdisciplinary team. In the NeighorhoodHELP — Health Education Learning Program at The Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at FIU — medical students work in our region’s underserved communities.

The FIU program exemplifies a new, innovative, curriculum that has a social mission: improved quality of life in communities as we educate men and women in medicine. FIU medical students work in interdisciplinary teams with community organizations and individual households to identify and address existing healthcare needs and gaps in services. The teams include students from four disciplines that often don’t work closely enough — medical, nursing, public health and social work. Under this model, future physicians learn to utilize and conserve resources to tackle our biggest healthcare needs. By being in communities, they help our most vulnerable families, those who often count on the government for medical support.

Students are also partnering with families to administer and increase preventative care, reduce emergency room visits and improve health literacy, thus addressing the healthcare crisis at the most granular level.

 In the United States, we indeed face daunting healthcare challenges. Our growing population, the aging of the baby-boom generation and the retirement of a great number of physicians demand attention at the highest, most influential levels.

We should be encouraged by the changes under way and diligent about meeting future needs. But improved healthcare will not be realized without innovative changes in fundamental medical school educationWe need a new breed of physician, and from my perspective extension of the traditional medical school mission. These changes deserve our support; they will be a great investment.

 John A. Rock, M.D. is the Founding Dean of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and is the Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs at Florida International University.

As mobile technology changes fast, so do chances to invest in it. The popularity of Facebook pages and smartphone apps may signal the death of dot mobi.

By Bridget Carey. Click here to view the original article in the Miami Herald

Click here to view the original article in IMedia Connection

Article Highlights:

• More than 70 percent of U.S. internet users watch video clips monthly, making video viewing bigger than blogging and social networking
• Video PR can be the “show me, don’t tell me” vehicle that communicates compelling stories to target audiences
• Knowing the challenges of capturing eyeballs on top video sites, marketers are also looking for ways to optimize their videos and ensure they’re SEO-ready

As media fragmentation and transformative new media render centralized broadcast and top-down marketing models virtually ineffective, marketers are looking for ways to leverage the power of online video.

Marketers recognize that consumers are giving less validity to expert reviews and instead turning to their peers for the real skinny. Recent studies show more than two thirds of online users — a whopping 70 percent — prefer product ratings and reviews when researching online to purchase from e-tailers or brick-and-mortar retailers. Knowing this, marketers are asking themselves: If strong peer reviews and high consumer ratings can move more product, how can we best tell our story, differentiate our brands, influence and motivate our consumers, and capture more market share? Consider:

• 72 percent of U.S. internet users watch video clips monthly, making video viewing bigger than blogging and social networking.
• The most widely used platform for discovering and viewing videos online is YouTube, followed by email, music sites, Yahoo, and news sites.
• YouTube is the second most popular search engine after Google.

Without doubt, the answer is video. Clearly, online video is engaging, but before embracing this strategy, marketers must:

• Develop concrete video marketing plans. Video PR can be the “show me, don’t tell me” vehicle that communicates compelling stories to target audiences, including the press, and motivates people to take the desired actions.
• Stay clear of gimmicky tactics like “viral videos” and video news releases (VNRs) and stick to basic, fundamental messages that showcase pragmatic proof-points via video.
• Take inventory and begin to use all your hidden “PR gems.” Most companies aren’t aware of the vast arsenal of resources they possess that could be leveraged for online video, including testimonials, awards, case studies, and media publicity. All these independent third-party endorsements possess greater credibility than any paid advertisement toward influencing target audiences.
• Keep it real. Videos that seem scripted and salesy are the least credible. A quick way to amass powerful video testimonials is to review existing written testimonials from consumers and other credible third-party sources and ask them to record brief videos of themselves. They’ll be more likely to participate if the process is made easy for them and they don’t have to travel anywhere to be recorded. For example, they appreciate receiving guidance as to how to tape the video and being provided with a list of key talking points. It also helps if video cameras, such as the easy-to-use Flips, are shipped to their homes or offices. Although it’s important to keep the videos as authentic and on-message as possible, it’s also important to keep them concise and visually appealing. For this reason, it’s critical to conduct basic video editing to ensure smooth transitions. Also, to support branding efforts, company logos should be tastefully incorporated within the videos.
• Diffuse videos to as many online video aggregators as possible. TubeMogul and VideoEgg are helpful sources. These services also provide great video analytics to track and measure efforts.

Creating effective videos is only the first part. Ensuring they’re seen online is equally tricky. Knowing the challenges of capturing eyeballs on top video sites, marketers are also looking for ways to optimize their videos and ensure they’re SEO-ready. Doing some savvy social media relations in these environments makes sense. Marketers should invest in their companies’ profile pages and make sure the messaging within those profiles is consistent with their overall messaging and positively reflects their brands. They should find, engage, and invite subscribers to their companies’ profile pages and online videos. Patience is key, as videos will begin to rank higher when they receive more views. These aggregator platforms are highly optimized, especially Google’s YouTube. As such, having the right titles, descriptions, and tags can help ensure videos rank highly in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Here are some quick tips to maximize the organic exposure of videos in algorithmic results. On video sites:

• Add compelling titles. “How-to” approaches work very well on YouTube.
• Add keywords to the titles, descriptions, and tags. Don’t leave any fields blank!
• Develop keywords based on keyword analysis or, better yet, the advice of SEO specialists.

On company websites:

• Add meta data to the pages.
• Embed videos on pages, and also encase them with keyword-rich copy to enable bots to read the pages.
• Include keywords in filenames, images, anchor-text links, and RSS feeds to further support page optimization.

Video aggregators are great for hosting videos, but not always great for driving actionable results. Marketers should capitalize on their highest-converting clients on their own websites by showcasing these video testimonials on high-value homepage real estate. Companies with several video testimonials should make sure to rotate them and link the homepage video elements to pages where visitors can view their entire portfolios of testimonials.

A third key to mastering video PR: the social web. Yes, Facebook pages will benefit greatly from video testimonials. Facebook even provides a crafty video box that enables companies to showcase all their videos. It’s smart to invite the same customers who provided the testimonials to the page as fans so that they can disperse the videos to their networks as well. After all, those are the best brand ambassadors for companies. In addition, a short URL for video pages should be generated and posted to Twitter and microblogging environs.

New media marketers understand the power of social media news releases (SMNRs) and e-newsletters. Embedded videos can greatly enhance the effectiveness of SMNRs and e-newsletters. Marketers should include the embed codes to enable online journalists and bloggers to easily plug videos into their platforms. Unlike search, SMNRs and e-newsletters are effective push-marketing vehicles that stimulate demand.

In short, marketers can maximize video exposure by leveraging the following extensions:

1. Video sites
2. Corporate sites/landing pages
3. Social media profiles
4. SMNRs
5. SERPs
6. Email newsletters

In today’s new media world, online video PR is a valuable communications tool that provides companies with priceless credibility that paid advertising cannot buy. The trick is doing it right by developing credible, relevant videos; posting and optimizing them while monitoring dialogues and engagement; analyzing data and metrics; and remembering that measurement should be based on outcomes, not outputs. Smart marketers who do so will effectively brand and differentiate their companies, stimulate demand, and provide their companies with a significant competitive advantage.

Roar Media will implement a public relations program designed to support SFTA’s goals, including raising awareness and visibility as well as supporting membership growth. Hart, a 15-year Internet marketing and business-development executive, will serve as SFTA’s marketing chair.

“We selected Roar Media as our PR partner based on the firm’s unique in-depth understanding of technology and the new-media space,” said Kevin Brady, SFTA’s board president. “We are optimistic that Roar Media will help brand South Florida as a technology hub and elevate our members’ profiles.”

Added Hart: “The rapid pace of innovation and technological development in South Florida is creating tremendous opportunities for regional economic growth. Roar Media is thrilled to support the SFTA in maximizing this unique opportunity for its members and the region.”

RM’s objectives include further branding the SFTA, promoting its events and showcasing the positive economic impact SFTA’s member companies, which include South Florida’s leading high-tech, high-growth companies, have on the region. The integrated PR and Internet marketing firm also will support SFTA by leveraging social media and promoting its events and networking activities.

About Roar Media (RM)

Roar Media (RM), with headquarters in Miami, is a national public relations and digital communications consultancy helping professional services firms and emerging high-tech/high-growth companies establish their brand equity and achieve their business goals. RM is differentiated for its integration of traditional public relations with advanced Internet marketing, including social media and search marketing, to maximize client’s success. The firm’s team is comprised of award-winning journalists, digital-marketing pioneers, professional writers, event specialists, social media practitioners and business-development executives who work together to implement practical, results-focused marketing programs that produce meaningful results for their clients. For more information, visit www.RoarMedia.com

About South Florida Technology Alliance (SFTA)

With more than 11 years of leadership as the region’s most effective technology organization, the South Florida Technology Alliance (SFTA) promotes the growth, success and awareness of the South Florida technology community. Its member roster includes South Florida’s leading high-tech, high-growth companies. Through events, networking, programs and education, the SFTA provides south Florida’s technology-related companies, academic institutions, entrepreneurs, governments and related organizations with an active forum to grow the business of technology. For more information about the SFTA, visit www.SouthFloridaTech.org.

May 03, 2010

Article Highlights:

• Google uses the same PageRank algorithm to determine organic rankings in SERPs for computers as it does for the mobile web
• Because of slow mobile download speeds, ensure that your site is built with lightweight pages and limited graphics
• Do away with Flash and Java. These protocols are not currently supported by mobile devices and carriers

A spatial shift from web search to mobile search is creating powerful new opportunities for savvy marketers.

More than 400 million internet users currently access the web exclusively via their mobile phones — far surpassing those who access it at least part of the time via computer browsers. By 2011, 86 percent of all mobile internet users will be mobile search users. We have reached a tipping point.

Traditionally, internet marketers could focus almost exclusively on optimizing websites for maximum visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) on computer browsers. Those days are gone. The widespread popularity of new mobile devices such as smartphones (web-enabled phones that act like mini-computers) and tablets (fully functional laptop PCs equipped with a touch screen or a stylus) are enabling consumers to instantly find and filter information anytime, anywhere.

As consumers embrace mobile search, so too will advertisers. Annual mobile search advertising revenues are expected to skyrocket from $20 million in 2008 to $1.3 billion in 2013, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 130.5 percent. What’s not as clear is who will win the coveted title of mobile search leader. Major mobile carriers, search engines, and a gaggle of mobile search start-ups will battle during the coming years in an aggressive tug-of-war to capture mobile search eyeballs and revenues. However, these competitors will remain united on at least one point: the need to keep quiet the secret that organic search engine presence is platform-agnostic.

What this means: As long as companies continue to invest in search engine optimization (SEO) to maintain a healthy presence in SERPs, they will not be disenfranchised by the seismic shift to the mobile web. Companies that optimize their websites for search engines and their crawlers will enjoy the same rankings in the mobile world as in the PC world. For instance, Google’s search engine platform is being propagated for the mobile web. Google uses the same PageRank algorithm to determine organic rankings in SERPs for computers as it does for phones (the mobile web). SEO bridges the gap between the second and third screen.

Already considered the most effective online marketing strategy for generating conversions, SEO will become even more critical with the proliferation of smartphones and other mobile devices and as the mobile web surpasses the world wide web in usage. Currently, SEO accounts for more than $1.4 billion in total annual U.S. ad spend.

SEO is even more critical for companies that depend on local sales and traffic, such as retail, hospitality, dining, and entertainment. For instance, it has been estimated that the percentage of mobile searches with local intent will increase to 35 percent in 2013, up from 28 percent in 2008. In addition to the SEO implications, marketers should consider delivering their paid search ads to mobile devices. In the past, most marketers have not selected this option and, instead, chose to deliver their paid search ads only to computers. This outdated strategy must be reconsidered because it leaves out a huge market segment.

So, now that you have opened up the mobile search floodgates to your site, what do your mobile visitors see when they surf your site? Chances are, it’s not pretty. In fact, it’s probably a real eye-sore: strange layout, clumsy navigation, distorted graphics, broken file images… the list goes on. As marketers, we spend fortunes perfecting our sites for the web, and it’s time to do the same for the mobile web. Three key fundamentals to keep in mind:

• Because of slow mobile download speeds, ensure that your site is built with lightweight pages and limited graphics.
• Do away with Flash and Java. These protocols are not currently supported by mobile devices and carriers.
• Ensure that your site is formatted for the most popular mobile devices and platforms. Each device screen has a different size, so it is critical that you offer a version for the most popular devices.

A major turf war is heating up between Google and Apple. With the launch of Nexus One, Google plans to capitalize on the “superphone” to expand its reach from the PC to the mobile phone and ensure its online products and ads get prominent placement on a new breed of wireless Internet devices. In addition, its Android mobile operating system is currently being leased to more than 20 new smartphone devices.

The launch of the iPad will make Apple the world’s most coveted mobile device maker with a huge loyal consumer base. Recently, Apple announced iAd, an advertising platform integrated into Apple’s operating system that will deliver ads to mobile apps. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, is banking on the idea that ads inside apps will be attractive to advertisers. However, he fails to realize that this is “push” marketing and not “pull” marketing — the latter of which having been proven to convert at much higher levels. As such, Apple has blocked Google’s search app on the iPhone and the iPad; however, one can simply open a browser and access Google directly. Moreover, Bing and Yahoo offer mobile search applications that may be downloaded to smartphones for rapid search results.

Without doubt, a real land grab is occurring in the mobile space. To take their share, marketers must understand that mobile is simply another platform in the communications ecosystem in which consumers are media-agnostic. Let’s break this down:

• Mobile is just another touchpoint for reaching target markets
• Information in our new complex ecosystem is highly interconnected — from print to web, web to mobile, etc.
• Consumers are in the driver’s seat and consume information how and when they want it, irrespective of the medium.

With tight budgets and time constraints, marketers are scrambling to seize the opportunities created by mobile search and should embrace this mantra: Don’t reinvent yourself; simply leverage your strengths and adapt them to new platforms. In other words, propagate your site for mobile and continue optimizing your site and content for search engines, and your story will be found in the new mobile world.

Usuarios de celulares recibirán publicidad en sus móviles a cambio de minutos gratis, entre otras ventajas. Entrevista de CNN por Gabriela Frías (31 de marzo)

Search Engine Optimization is Killer App for Mobile

The emergence of the smartphone – a Web-enabled phone that acts like a mini-computer – as the hottest new consumer device in decades is creating powerful new synergies for savvy marketers.
Here is the little secret that Google and Bing want to keep quiet: organic search engine presence is platform-agnostic.

As long as companies continue to invest in search engine optimization (SEO) to maintain a healthy presence in search engine results pages (SERPS), they will not be disenfranchised by the shift to the mobile Web.

Companies that optimize their Web sites for search engines and their crawlers will enjoy the same rankings in the mobile world as in the PC world.

SEO bridges screens

Indeed, SEO bridges the gap between the second and third screens.

Already considered the most effective online marketing strategy for generating conversions, SEO will become even more critical with the proliferation of smartphones and as the mobile Web surpasses the World Wide Web in usage. SEO currently accounts for an estimated $1.4 billion-plus in total annual U.S. ad spend. SEO is even more critical for companies that depend on local sales and traffic, such as retail, hospitality, dining and entertainment. For instance, the percentage of mobile searches which have local intent will increase from 28 percent in 2008 to 35 percent in 2013.

In addition to the SEO implications, marketers should consider delivering their paid search ads to mobile devices. In the past, most marketers have not selected this option and instead have chosen to deliver their paid search ads only to computers. This outdated strategy must be reconsidered as it will leave out a huge market segment.

Smartphones are set to surpass laptops this year in unit sales and by 2012 in revenues.

Surf wars

Not only are the giant mobile phone device makers awakening to this trend, but so are some other unusual suspects – Google, Dell, Microsoft, and HTC, among others. This turf war for market share is pushing down price points and increasing consumer demand and adoption. Each one of these players has a stake in mobile. For Google, it is search. Mobile search advertising revenues are expected to increase from $20 million in 2008 to $1.3 billion in 2013, a compounded annual growth rate of 130.5 percent. With the launch of its Nexus One mobile phone, Google plans to capitalize on the “superphone” to expand its reach from the PC to the mobile phone and ensure its online products and ads get prominent placement on a new breed of mobile Internet devices. In addition, Google’s Android mobile operating system is currently being leased to more than 20 new smartphone devices.

In doing so, Google’s search engine platform will be repurposed for mobile phones and the “third screen.” Google uses the same PageRank algorithm to determine organic rankings in search engine results pages (SERPS) for computers (the World Wide Web) as it does for phones (the mobile Web).

Consumers are media-agnostic

Google’s mantra is simple: mobile is just another platform in the communications ecosystem in which consumers are media-agnostic. Let us break this down:

1. Mobile is just another touch-point for reaching target markets.
2. People are consumers of information in a complex ecosystem in which information is interconnected from print to Web and Web to mobile.
3. Consumers are in the driver’s seat and consume information how and when they want it, irrespective of the medium.

Currently, more than 35 percent of all new mobile phone sales are smartphones, and it is no surprise they are selling like hotcakes. After all, these mobile mini-computers enable consumers to do, from almost anywhere, many of the same tasks they do via their computers. One could argue that thanks to all the made-for-mobile applications, user experiences with the third screen are actually richer than with the second screen.
In 2008, the total users who accessed the Web via mobile surpassed the total users who access it via a PC at least part of the time.

Already, more than 400 million Internet users access the Internet exclusively via their mobile phones. We have reached a tipping point.

With tight budgets and time constraints, savvy marketers should embrace the Google mantra: do not reinvent yourself – simply leverage your strengths and adapt them to new platforms.
In other words, keep building content, continue optimizing your site, and your story will be found in the mobile world.

Jacques Hart is CEO of Roar Media, a Miami, FL-based integrated public relations and digital communications firm. Reach him at jacques@roarmedia.com.

Call them snuggies for dirty bombs.

Some of New York’s newest high tech weapons in the war on terror look like ordinary blankets. Others resemble bulletproof vests or shields commonly used by riot cops.

But they’re all made of state-of-the-art material that can protect civilians and rescuers against chemical, biological and radiological attacks.

The shield and vests would be used by first responders.

The blankets come in two models.

One would be thrown over radiation victims to keep them from irradiating others.

Also in the depart ment’s arsenal is a “Hi-Energy Nuclear Suppression Blanket,” designed to be placed over a dirty bomb about to go off.

COMFORTER: FDNY has two new blankets to block the radiation spewed by dirty bombs.

It has twice the capabilities of a standard bomb blanket in reducing the force of a blast.

It also traps chemical, biological and nuclear agents, reducing by more than half the distance they can spread, said Ronald DeMeo, CEO of Radiation Shield Technologies.

All of the new equipment is made of Demron, a state-of-the-art fabric blend that blocks chemical, biological and nuclear agents, according to DeMeo

“If you talk about terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, you’re talking about biological, chemical and nuclear devices,” he said.

Firefighters in Manhattan’s HazMat 1 team are already equipped with both types of blankets, according to Deputy Chief Nicholas Del Re, head of the city’s HazMat units.

He said the FDNY plans to purchase more protective blankets for HazMat crews throughout the city.

“It doesn’t completely eliminate the risk, but it certainly reduces the risk,” he said.

Click here to download a PDF version of the news release.

News Conference with Attorney, Victim at 10:30 a.m. Today

ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 1, 2010 – Richard B. Schwamm, managing partner of the Orlando office of Haliczer Pettis & Schwamm (HPS), will announce during a news conference today the filing of a lawsuit on behalf of a woman who alleges she was raped by an Orlando bail bondsman at a bonding agency. The news conference takes place at 10:30 a.m. today at the law firm of Haliczer Pettis & Schwamm, 225 East Robinson Street, Suite 475, Orlando, Fla., 32801. The victim will provide interviews under conditions of anonymity.

According to the complaint filed today in Orange County Ninth Circuit Court, the victim was sexually assaulted by Allen Robert Burns Jr. while completing bond paperwork at Michael C. Snapp Bonding Agency in Orlando, Fla. The suit, which alleges sexual assault, battery, infliction of emotional distress, negligence and false imprisonment, seeks compensation for the physical injuries and psychological damages the 20-year-old woman suffered.

Burns, 36, who lives in Apopka, Fla., was arrested Jan. 20 on sexual battery charges. According to the arrest report, Burns had called the woman Jan. 19 about the status of her account. When she arrived at the agency, he demanded more collateral and threatened to revoke her bond and put her back in jail, where she had been sent on a 2009 theft charge, unless she had sex with him. She complied with Burns’ demands, according to the report. Orange County Sheriff’s deputies investigated and arrested Burns, who was released on $10,000 bond. On Jan. 25, authorities dropped the woman’s 2009 theft charge.

“This is a sad case of a man abusing his authority and position of power to instill fear and take advantage of a woman he should have been helping,” said Schwamm, an AV-rated attorney who regularly helps victims seeking civil legal remedies. “The Michael C. Snapp Bonding Agency is equally negligent by not properly investigating Burns’ background and allowing this crime to occur at its facility.”

Added Schwamm: “Haliczer Pettis & Schwamm is dedicated to helping victims seek civil justice and works hard to raise public awareness of these issues with the hopes of preventing similar tragedies from happening to others.”

A spokesperson with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office has been quoted in the news media as saying that other victims are expected in this case. He has told the media that this isn’t the first time Burns has been accused and investigated for a crime, citing an alleged 2005 assault and 2008 sexual battery claim.

About Haliczer Pettis & Schwamm, P.A.
Haliczer Pettis & Schwamm, P.A., with Florida offices in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, is a full-service law firm known for litigating complex, multi-party cases to help individual, corporate and governmental clients achieve their goals. The firm’s trial attorneys have decades of experience in civil and commercial litigation, personal injury and wrongful death, medical malpractice, health care law, employment law, workers’ compensation, professional liability and appellate practice. The diverse law firm provides clients with litigation teams that reflect Florida’s unique racial and ethnic makeup. The firm, founded in 1996, is rated “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell. For more information, visit www.haliczerpettis.com or call (407) 841-9866.

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Editor’s notes:    Copies of all court filings, statutes and other documents are available.
The victim and her family must remain anonymous. ]]> http://mediacentermanager.com/%e2%80%9cwoman-alleges-rape-by-orlando-bail-bondsman-lawsuit-filed-today-%e2%80%9d-02-01-10/feed/ 0 http://mediacentermanager.com/miami-today-another-challenging-year-for-dade-service-firms/ http://mediacentermanager.com/miami-today-another-challenging-year-for-dade-service-firms/#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:22:17 +0000 jacques http://mediacentermanager.com/?p=2209 Jacques Hart, CEO of Roar Media is featured in Miami Today’s article: Another Challenging Year for Dade Service Firms

By David Bogoslaw: click here to view the original article.

After two years of frigid credit and economic turmoil, it would seem the floodgates for merger activity would be well-primed to open in 2010. Yet guarded expectations regarding economic recovery — tempered by doubts about employment, credit access, and the robustness of consumer spending — hardly encourage companies to pursue aggressive growth.

Some experts sense a better disposition toward acquisitions and divestitures among strategic and financial buyers than just six months ago, but that may not translate into a big boost in completed deals this year.

Speakers at a panel discussion during an M&A leadership conference in New York on Jan. 26 told the audience they expect more of an M&A burp than a boom in 2010. That assessment is based not only on a sober view of the U.S. economic recovery but also on a wide gap between how sellers and buyers are valuing assets that might go on the block. More than 200 people attended the conference, a mix of private equity executives, M&A strategic and business development professionals, and attorneys from advisory firms.

Paul Schneir, co-head of M&A at KeyBanc Capital Markets in Cleveland, said he detects a pickup in momentum for M&A among private equity firms and other financial sponsors, who bring capital and expertise to deals but rarely manage the companies they buy. These firms are looking to sell businesses they have owned for several years, which generally performed well through 2009. They believe strategic buyers may currently value these assets much the way they would have valued them several years ago.

Data Don’t Reflect Pent-up Demand

Strategic players — companies that seek to buy assets that match their core strengths either to improve their position in existing markets or to gain access to new ones — may need to act quickly if they want to be ready for the return of consumer spending, says Howard Silverblatt, head of index services at Standard & Poor’s (MHP). “Companies have record amounts of cash and shares [to offer]. They have all the tools they need” to make acquisitions, he says.

Despite the belief that there’s a lot of pent-up demand for acquisitions, the latest data suggest otherwise. Year-to-date as of Jan. 27, 642 acquisitions worth a total of $31.69 billion had been announced by U.S. companies for target assets around the world, according to data research firm Dealogic. That’s a 7% decline in volume, and a 67% drop in value, from 694 deals worth a total of $95.18 billion announced in the same period of 2009.

Excluding Williams Companies’s (WMB) restructuring, announced on Jan. 19, of its natural gas pipeline and processing operations through a $9.8 billion cash-and-stock sale to its limited partner, Williams Partners (WMZ), the biggest deal of 2010 so far is Tyco International’s (TYC) purchase of Broadway Securities for $1.95 billion, announced on Jan. 18. Other large transactions include Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRKA) proposed acquisition of Swiss Re’s U.S. individual life reinsurance business for $1.27 billion, and two deals by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and a consortium that includes Blackstone Real Estate Partners (BX). In addition, Bank of New York Mellon (BK) may buy PNC Financial Services Group’s (PNC) global investment servicing unit for as much as $2.5 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Jan. 28.

More Aggressiveness by Buyers Abroad

A look at deals announced by non-U.S. acquirers of assets outside the U.S. shows a 19% drop in volume from a year ago, to 1,556 deals, but a 49% jump in the total value of transactions, to $130.17 billion, according to Dealogic. That would seem to suggest greater willingness among non-U.S. acquirers to pay more for assets, or at least a sunnier outlook for economic growth outside the U.S.

As for the U.S., there’s growing interest in energy deals, partly due to recovery expectations and rising oil prices, and in the metals and mining sector, driven by a better forecast in the end markets that metals and mining serve, along with underlying strength in commodities in general, says KeyBanc’s Schneir. The gaming industry is also drawing a lot more attention, thanks to added opportunities for casinos to expand and diversify as states loosen restrictions on gambling in the hope of raising money to close budget deficits, he said.

He projects a 15% hike in total M&A volume in 2010 over last year — and potentially more if the economy recovers more quickly. Schneir expects to see more foreign buyers acquiring U.S.-based assets than the other way around — continuing a trend of the past few years. International buyers are pursuing access not only to U.S. customers but also to U.S. companies’ intellectual property, he adds.

Why the Value Gap Exists

The value gap between buyers and sellers stems from sellers’ inclination to price assets based on the full recovery they expect by 2012, rather than on current conditions, and buyers’ refusal to overpay for them, says David Blumberg, head of strategic development at Iconix Brand Group (ICON). The gap could be up to two times the target company’s most recent 12 months’ earnings before income taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or Ebitda, according to 45% of respondents to a fall 2009 survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Another 45% of respondents said such a price gap could be as much as two to four times Ebitda.

William Nobrega, managing partner of The Conrad Group, an investment advisory firm in Miami, believes valuations are an excuse U.S. companies use to justify their reluctance to buy assets in emerging markets such as Brazil and China. “It’s more cultural nervousness, uncertainty, [and] very real balance-sheet issues” such as cash shortages, he says. “It’s also the perception that the rest of the world is in the same boat as the U.S. economy, which is certainly not the case.” Given the strength of economic growth in some of the larger emerging markets, sellers in those markets are right to insist on high valuations for their assets, Nobrega says.

Take the $3.8 billion fertilizer deal announced on Jan. 27 by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, better known as Vale (VALE), Brazil’s biggest metals and mining company. Vale is paying a 30% to 40% premium to acquire Bunge’s (BG) fertilizer nutrients subsidiary in Brazil. On Jan. 28, Vale said it had entered into an option contract with Yara Brasil Fertilizantes that gives it the right to buy Yara’s shares in two other firms, Fosfertil (FFTL4.SA) and Fertifos. Bunge has a 42.3% stake in Fosfertil.

“Vale wants to be a dominant player in the global fertilizer business. That would have been a great acquisition for a U.S.-based company, because Brazil is such a high-growth market for foodstuffs and still imports some of its fertilizer,” says Nobrega. [The Conrad Group had no role in the Vale deals.)

"Got-to-Have" Deals

Prospective buyers are also spending greater time on due diligence-- another factor likely to limit M&A volume this year. Cross-border transactions with joint-venture partners in emerging markets generally require more scrutiny because of how reliant U.S. companies will be on these companies. Henry Schein (HSIC), a distributor of health-care products and services, has set up partnerships in 25 countries, and each has required two to three years of due diligence, Mark Mlotek, the company's executive vice-president for corporate development, said at the M&A leadership conference.

The only deals Karl Kleiderer, vice-president for acquisitions and divestitures at aerospace/defense manufacturer Goodrich (GR), said he expects to see this year are ones involving what are perceived as "got-to-have assets" by strategic buyers.

Companies are now defining their core competencies more narrowly than in the past, says Schneir. "Over the past 24 months, many U.S. companies have really sharpened their focus as to where they really have a discernible core competency that allows them to be world class," he says. He thinks companies may also be studying which markets hold the most potential, where the strength of end-market demand would justify committing more time, effort, and resources. In some cases, would-be acquirers may decide they're happy with their customer base and technology expertise but need greater geographic diversity or something to fill a hole in their product line, he says.

When a company finds an asset that truly fits its strategy, management needs to be more flexible on price, Blumberg at Iconix told attendees at the M&A conference. "Until strategic [buyers] take some risk and decide to move on assets they see they’re not going to get anywhere else, the M&A market will go sideways,” Blumberg says.

White Plains, N.Y. – Jan. 7, 2010 – A.M. Best Company (A.M. Best) has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of “A-” (Excellent) and the Issuer Credit Rating (ICR) of “A-” (Excellent) for Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE) and the PURE Group of Insurance Companies.  PURE, a member-owned reciprocal insurer, provides customized property and casualty insurance for well-built, high-value homes, as well as automobile, jewelry, art, personal liability and watercraft insurance to qualified successful individuals and families.

“We are very proud of A.M. Best’s continued positive assessment of PURE’s financial strength, and we are confident our members will appreciate the significance of these prestigious ratings and enjoy the peace of mind of knowing they’re well-protected by PURE,” said Ross Buchmueller, president and chief executive officer of PURE Risk Management LLC.

In its 2009 report, A.M. Best cites PURE’s positive rating factors, including the PURE Group’s “strong risk-adjusted capitalization” and “very modest operating leverage measures” along with the “growing impact of surplus contributions from PURE subscribers.”  In addition to their annual premiums, PURE members make contributions to the surplus capital of the insurer.  These contributions provide an important and steady source of capital to support PURE’s growth.

A.M. Best also notes that “PURE has maintained adequate reinsurance protection, using a combination of quota share, excess of loss, and catastrophe reinsurance programs to protect its surplus from catastrophe events.”  Additionally, the group’s management has “extensive experience, with favorable operating results associated with starting and managing similar niche books of business with other carriers.”  Buchmueller founded AIG Private Client Group in 1999 and served as its president until 2006 when he and his partners established PURE.

PURE, which began writing policies in 2007, currently serves more than 5,000 members in Connecticut, Florida, South Carolina, New York and New Jersey. PURE has also recently obtained licenses in Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington, D.C., as part of its ongoing nationwide expansion.

About PURE
PURE refers to Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange, a member insurer of the PURE Group of Insurance Companies.  Licensed in 11 states, PURE provides coverage for high-valued homes, automobiles, jewelry, art, personal liability and watercraft to successful individuals and families. PURE is a member-owned reciprocal insurer and is rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best. PURE is committed to helping its members reduce the price of insurance today while controlling the long-term cost of risk. PURE Risk Management LLC serves as the attorney-in-fact for PURE. For more information, visit www.purehnw.com.

About A.M. Best Company

Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a global full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial and health care service industries, including insurance companies, banks, hospitals and health care system providers.  For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

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Editor’s Notes:          Interviews with PURE’s executives, agents and members may be
coordinated

Copies of the A.M Best report are available upon request

Annual premium savings based on all members who reported prior carrier premium. This material is descriptive only. The precise coverage offered is subject to the terms and conditions of the policies issued. The rights and responsibilities of members are subject to the Subscriber’s Agreement and Power of Attorney. Coverage may not be available in all jurisdictions. Actual savings, if any, will vary.

U.S. consumers may soon be able to click on ads for Bertolli pasta meals and Dove soaps on their smartphones, and then redeem the coupons in exchange for free cell phone minutes and other perks.

Unilever and Grupo Bimbo—a Mexican food products maker that sells brands like Arnold breads and Boboli in the U.S.—are among the first to use the technology, which was developed by MyScreen Mobile. The Miami, Fla.-based developer today (Wednesday) unveiled its new mobile ad platform.

MyScreen will roll out the technology in Latin American countries like Brazil, Mexico and Argetina first, with an implementation slated for the U.S. and Europe in 2010. MyScreen CEO Maurizio Angelone said the ad platform is in the final stages of deployment and will likely be active in the next three to four weeks in Latin America. His company is currently in talks with several large carriers in the U.S. and Europe, Angelone said.

Advertising on mobile phones isn’t new, but MyScreen claims its technology is different in that it has higher visibility compared to SMS text messaging and banner ads, which are only visible when a cell phone user is surfing the Web. Ads pop up at the end of every call, meaning marketers get higher engagement and click-through rates. This means that a brand manager on Wish-Bone, for instance, could offer $1 off salad dressings and then track the ad’s performance across cell phones (how many users viewed and responded to it) and its effect on sales.

The driving force behind all this is a points-based rewards system, where consumers can get bonuses like free mobile minutes and free trials of new products. And, it’s an opt-in service, meaning consumers can choose to sign up and withdraw from the program at any time. (MyScreen selects ads for viewers based on their user preferences when signing up with a wireless cell phone provider.)

MyScreen is promoting the platform by having wireless carriers send invites to consumers to join the service via a “very simple, three-screen registration process,” Angelone said. What follows is a “seamless” downloading of the application, and, once installed, the consumer’s smartphone is ready to receive ads.

Julie Ask, an analyst who covers mobile advertising at Forrester Research, said the idea of rewarding consumers for viewing ads on smartphones has been around. In 2007, Blyk, a U.K.-based company, ran a mobile virtual network operation that rewarded 16- to 24-year-olds with free cell phone minutes and text messages in return for viewing ads.

“There has to be some value proposition,” Ask said of MyScreen’s new platform, adding that many U.S. wireless carriers already offer unlimited monthly cell phone plans, or pre-paid programs such as Boost Mobile’s $50 a month “unlimited nationwide talk, text, web and walkie-talkie.”

A Forrester study conducted in April 2008 found that 61 percent of consumers were opposed to the idea of cell phone advertising. That is down from a high of 80 percent in 2006. Consumers ages 18-24, and those under 35, generally, are more open to the idea. Ask concluded: “Once you get down to it, it tends to be lower for younger age groups. People will trade advertising for free minutes.”

“As a global company of leading home, personal care and foods products, Unilever feels a great responsibility to the millions of consumers whose lives we touch every day,” said Enrique Tron, communication channels director for Unilever in Mexico. “We believe MyScreen’s rich media, full-screen delivery platform will provide us with a powerful new way to directly communicate and interact with our consumers. We are pleased to be one of the first companies to work with the MyScreen mobile advertising tool.”

Jose Manuel Gonzalez, Bimbo’s vice president of marketing, said: “The Bimbo brand has been the favorite of young and old, generation after generation. It has enjoyed a long history in Mexico and can now be enjoyed in Mexico, the United States, China, and other twelve Latin American countries. Always dynamic and innovative, through its different product lines it has captured the palates of millions. Finding new ways to communicate and engage with our customers in important to us. MyScreen fits these priorities perfectly in Mexico and across Latin America.”

Maurizio Angelone, MyScreen’s CEO, added: “MyScreen is proud of our partnership with Unilever and Grupo Bimbo, which will be among the first to advertise with us.  We look forward to meeting the Mexican consumers’ demand for better access and closer interaction with their favorite brands. These companies are among many companies recognizing the value of the new advertising channel that MyScreen is creating, and we are very pleased with the overwhelming positive reception we are receiving from advertisers and consumers worldwide.”

“With MyScreen’s unique business model, every advertising dollar is shared between MyScreen, network operators, end subscribers and advertising agencies,” Angelone said. “This way, all partners are incentivized to participate and help grow the mobile advertising channel.”

Angelone said the MyScreen technology differs from the other mobile advertising vehicles that are currently available, as MyScreen’s ads are:

• • Full-screen, visually engaging graphics that convey the advertisers’ brand image
  • Delivered in a non-shared advertising environment that provides brand exclusivity. MyScreen ads are delivered at the end of every call, creating much better visibility than SMS texts and banner ads. Banner ads are only visible to consumers when they are browsing the Internet.
  • Designed to enable consumers to respond directly to the ads with MyScreen’s proprietary “ad value hot keys” functionality. MyScreen ads have generated click thru rates (CTR’s) that exceeded 20 percent. MyScreen greatly outperforms Internet CTR’s, which are widely known to average less than 1 percent. According to the latest industry data, the average CTR is only .1 percent.
  • Individually targeted to match each subscriber’s self-created demographic and psychographic profiles, making the ads are highly relevant to their unique interests and lifestyles
  • Incentive-based, with subscribers accumulating reward points for every ad they view on their phones. Points are redeemed in the form of free and bonus telecom services provided by Claro. Exclusive “made-for-MyScreen” offers, such as free trial products or special promotional pricing, are provided by participating advertisers.

Moreover, MyScreen’s mobile advertising solution is designed to integrate seamlessly without interrupting users’ regular call behaviors. Subscribers choose the type of content and ads they receive from categories such as sports, entertainment, lifestyle and health. Advertisers can use MyScreen’s unique “ad value hot keys” to raise brand awareness, launch products and services, promote special offers, generate traffic to retail locations, improve customer loyalty and drive sales. MyScreen currently has a potential 182 million mobile subscribers under contract worldwide and expects that number to jump to almost 500 million during the next 12 months.

About Unilever
The Unilever mission is to add vitality to life. We meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. Unilever is a worldwide leader in consumer products, with a strong presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. Its portfolio includes some of the world´s best known and consumer-preferred brands, including 12 brands with a market value of more than one billion Euros and global leadership in many categories. For more information about Unilever, please visit www.unilever.com.

About Grupo Bimbo
Grupo Bimbo (GB) is a leading Mexican baked products company with worldwide reach due to its production and sales volumes.  It has 99 strategically located plants in 18 countries of the Americas, Europe and Asia.  Its product lines include: loaf bread, buns, cookies, pastries, packaged products, tortillas, salty snacks and confectionery products, among others.  GB produces almost 5,000 products and has one of the world’s most extensive distribution networks, with more than 39,000 routes and more than 102,000 associates. Grupo Bimbo strictly complies with the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health.  In 2002, Grupo Bimbo founded the civil association Reforestamos México, A. C., whose mission is to preserve and recover Mexico’s green areas by promoting a sustainable environmental culture and the participation of all social sectors.  Since 1980, Grupo Bimbo shares are traded in the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV), under the ticker code BIMBO.

About MyScreen
MyScreen (Pink Sheets: MYSL) (Frankfurt: WICI) is a first-of-a-kind mobile advertising technology platform that provides advertisers with a new channel for reaching consumers. Its unique patent-pending technology delivers full-screen, incentive-based ads directly to the mobile phones of opt-in subscribers. The visually engaging ads target subscribers based on their demographic and psychographic profiles and provide them with rewards such as free services, special offers and discounts. As mobile innovators, MyScreen has forged extensive advertiser and operator relationships and functions as an industry advocate. Through its mobile marketing consultancy, the MyScreen Agency, the company collaborates with traditional ad agencies and brand advertisers to optimize their mobile advertising programs. For more information, visit www.MyScreen.com.

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Para Jacques Hart, CEO de la agencia Roar Media (Miami), el acuerdo recientemente anunciado entre Univision Interactive Media y YouTube para la difusión de contenidos de Univisión, TeleFutura y Galavisión en el sitio de videos online tenía que ocurrir. “Univisión era el canal más pirateado en YouTube. Los clips piratas de Univisión en YouTube tienen más de 580 millones de views” comenta Hart a PRODU.

Si hoy se busca la palabra “Univision” en YouTube, aparecen más de 9.500 clips que usuarios han subido al portal que se popularizó como un sitio de Contenido Generado por el Usuario (UGC, por sus siglas en inglés). “Eso forzaba a Univisión a hacer dos cosas: una, tenía que monitorear YouTube regularmente y eso es bastante costoso, y dos, debido a que era pirateado, ellos no podían monetizar ninguno de esos contenidos y por eso es que esta alianza es muy natural”.

Hart no tiene dudas de que la disponibilidad de estos contenidos beneficiará no sólo a las dos partes del acuerdo sino también a los usuarios, que desean buscar el contenido en donde esté, sea en el site de quien lo produce o en el de su competidor. “Tendrá un gran impacto y creo que lo que veremos es que otros canales harán algo similar y se adaptarán a este ambiente nuevo donde los consumidores han dicho que son agnósticos ante los medios”.

Sobre los temas aún no revelados del acuerdo, Hart comenta: “Hasta este punto se sabe que es un trato de ganancias convertidas, pareciera que una parte un poco mayor de las ganancias irá a Univisión por ser el proveedor de contenido. Sin embargo, históricamente ha sido YouTube quien ha vendido la publicidad en YouTube. Esto deja abierta la pregunta de si Univisión venderá la publicidad en YouTube. Univisión tiene la fuerza de venta, conoce el mercado, conoce las marcas, pero si vendes en YouTube eso significa que tienes que compartir las ganancias” cierra el ejecutivo.

A Unilever mobile coupon

Consumer-products giant Unilever and food corporation Grupo Bimbo will run full-screen ads across Latin America and the Caribbean beginning in the fourth quarter of this year.

These brands will target the 190 million subscribers of carrier América Móvil, which has partnered with MyScreen Mobile Inc. to integrate its full-screen interactive mobile advertising service. MyScreen’s patent-pending technology platform delivers full-screen advertisements to the mobile phones of opted-in subscribers and provides them with rewards such as free services, special offers and discounts.

“We met with large advertisers and operators, and we immediately saw a positive response from both parties, because we can deliver a similar brand experience to what advertisers can deliver on a billboard or TV commercial,” said Maurizio Angelone, CEO of MyScreen Mobile, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. “We’re launching commercially in Latin America with the biggest mobile network operator, América Móvil, which will use our platform to deploy this new way of delivering advertising to mobile consumers.

“For the first campaigns in December, we’ll start with the biggest markets—Brazil, Mexico and Argentina—then continue the roll out of commercial deployment across Latin America” he said. “We’re lining up large advertisers to start deploying on our platform, and we’ve agreed on mobile campaigns with Unilever, the Bimbo bread company and others.

“There’s clear interest from these major brands, and they see for the first time an opportunity to engage with consumers in a completely different way leveraging our platform, which delivers greater ROI and click-through rates than banners or text messaging.”

Get a bite of full-screen mobile advertising

Unilever is a multinational corporation, formed of British and Dutch parentage, that owns many of the world’s consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products.

Grupo Bimbo is a giant Mexican food corporation with brands in Latin America, Europe, China, the United States and Canada. One of its subsidiaries is Bimbo Bakeries USA, the largest bakery company in the U.S., owning six of the top 12 fresh bread brands nationwide.

América Móvil taps MyScreen
América Móvil S.A.B  de C.V. is a provider of wireless services in Latin America, with operations in 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, with more than 194.3 million subscribers as of Sept. 30.

MyScreen ads target subscribers based on their demographic and psychographic profiles, with the goal of making the ads relevant to their unique interests and lifestyles.

Through its mobile marketing consultancy, the MyScreen Agency, the company collaborates with traditional ad agencies and brand advertisers to optimize their mobile advertising programs.

Together, MyScreen and América Móvil will deliver ads to the carrier’s users who voluntarily subscribe to the service.

América Móvil has already begun to integrate MyScreen’s platform and has initiated plans to roll out the service in the region in December. Ads for large consumer brands, including several under the Unilever and Grupo Bimbo umbrellas, are slated to be among the first to be delivered to América Móvil’s users.

According to 2009 Juniper Research data, mobile advertising revenues in South America from 2009 to 2013 are projected to be approximately $1.3 billion.

América Móvil believes that mobile advertising has tremendous potential, as the penetration and individuality of mobile phones lets the carrier reach a significant and highly segmented public.

Yo quiero mobile advertising
MyScreen’s platform joins other mobile advertising services already offered by América Móvil.

However, MyScreen claims that it differs from the other mobile advertising platforms available, as MyScreen’s ads are full-screen graphics that convey the advertisers’ brand image and are delivered in a non-shared advertising environment that provides brand exclusivity.

MyScreen ads are delivered at the end of every call, which the company claims creates better visibility than text messages and banner ads.

The full-screen ad units are designed to enable consumers to engage directly with the ads using MyScreen’s “AdValue HotKeys” feature, with calls-to-action urging consumers to press a key to be connected to a call center or forwarded to a mobile Web site, among other possibilities.

MyScreen claims that its full-screen ad units outperform mobile Internet click-through rates, which according to some analysts average less than 1 percent.

During a 2009 commercial trial with Turkish carrier Turkcell, MyScreen ads generated click-through rates that exceeded 20 percent. According to industry data cited by MyScreen, the average CTR for mobile ads is only 0.1 percent.

MyScreen mobile ads are incentive-based, with subscribers accumulating reward points for every ad they view on their phones.

Points are redeemed in the form of free and bonus telecom services provided by the carrier.

Exclusive “made-for-MyScreen” offers, such as free trial products or special promotional pricing, are provided by participating advertisers.

MyScreen’s mobile advertising platform is designed to integrate onto a carrier’s deck without interrupting users’ regular call behaviors.

Subscribers choose the type of content and ads they receive from categories such as sports, entertainment, lifestyle and health.

“We believe developing countries provide a great opportunity for mobile advertising, because mobile subscribers have not been exposed to large the pool of advertising you have in developed countries like the U.S. and Europe, so they’re much more open to receiving advertising and rewards on their handset,” Mr. Angelone said.

“The mobile phone is one of the best ways to reach them, because mobile devices are the most-used personal device,” he said.

“The penetration of mobile devices is much bigger than landlines, the Internet and TV in Latin America, and it’s still been largely unexploited today, so it’s a great opportunity.”

Staff Reporter Dan Butcher covers ad networks, banking and payments, carrier networks, manufacturers, and software and technology Reach him at dan@mobilemarketer.com.

A piece of clothing is being marketed as an incredible medical breakthrough; and it’s all about saving women from breast cancer. You can’t buy it yet. But you can see what it is and how it works right here.

By M.P. MCQUEEN. Click here to see the original article.

At least two home insurers in Florida have begun dropping policyholders who filed claims for property damage linked to drywall imported from China.

Disputes with insurance companies are increasing as a growing number of homeowners file claims for property damage they say is caused by defective Chinese drywall. Insurers are fighting the claims and in some instances using the information in them to drop the policies.

Black dust covers tubes in the air conditioner of a Parkland, Fla., home that has Chinese drywall. Homeowner Mary Ann Schultheis displays the dust in April.

The Chinese drywall, also known as gypsum or wallboard, is under investigation by federal and state agencies, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, for emitting sulfide fumes suspected of causing corrosion of electrical wires and plumbing.

Many affected families also have reported health symptoms, including skin irritation and respiratory difficulties, to the CPSC and state health agencies. As many as 100,000 houses across the country, most built in 2006 and 2007, may be affected based on estimates of the amount of drywall imported into the U.S. during the period.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp., a state-created, nonprofit corporation in Tallahassee that is the largest home insurer in Florida, confirmed that it has notified some policyholders who recently had filed claims for damage linked to Chinese drywall that their policies won’t be renewed if the damage isn’t repaired within six months of the date of notice. Citizens also holds the position that the claims aren’t covered.

Citizens spokesman John Kuczwanski said the insurer hasn’t paid any damage claims for Chinese drywall, citing policy exclusions for pollution and builder defects. He said it is standard procedure to require homeowners to repair conditions that could lead to further property damages and additional claims. “Corrosion leads to a likely future claim for a covered peril such as fire or a water leak,” which the insurer would be responsible for covering, he said.

Replacing drywall and corroded components in a house of average size costs $80,000 to $100,000, according to builders’ estimates.

Universal North America, a unit of Universal Group Inc. in Puerto Rico, sent a notice of cancellation, which is more serious than a nonrenewal, to at least one policyholder in Hallandale Beach, Fla., who asked not to be identified. The letter, dated Sept. 24, 2009, states that the reason for the action is an “unacceptable condition — the dwelling was built with Chinese drywall, which has been shown to have adverse long-term effects on the plumbing and other dwelling components.”

The Universal homeowner policy was effective July 20, 2009, and had been scheduled to continue until July 20, 2010. But the notice states that the cancellation is effective Oct. 19 at 12:01 a.m. Universal has about 105,000 home-insurance policies in the state, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

Universal, the 12th largest insurer in Florida, didn’t return repeated calls seeking comment.

In August, one major manufacturer of Chinese drywall, Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co., said its tests indicate that its drywall isn’t harmful. Carbon disulfide and carbonyl sulfide are being emitted by some of its drywall, but not at levels that would damage health, said Phillip T. Goad, principal toxicologist and partner at the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health in North Little Rock, Ark. The center is a private company hired by Knauf Tianjin that consults for corporations and government agencies.

In July, Lennar Corp. said it had identified 400 houses in Florida with confirmed problems with defective Chinese drywall and set aside $39.8 million to repair the homes. Several other large home builders also have set aside funds to repair homes with imported drywall from China from a number of manufacturers.

An attorney for both the Citizens and Universal policyholders, David Durkee of Coral Gables, Fla., said that “if you go ahead and disclose and do the honest thing you are subject to possible cancellation or nonrenewal. It is truly a cruel predicament.”

Write to M.P. McQueen at mp.mcqueen@wsj.com

MIAMI (CBS4) ―Environmental education has never looked like so much fun! “The Fairchild Challenge” is a unique program offered at more than 100 schools across South Florida that encourages students to become advocates for the environment.

“It lets them take science and be creative, and I think that’s the best thing you can do,” said Pam Shlachtman, Department Chair for Science at Palmetto Senior High School. She has been with the Challenge since its inception 8 years ago.

“I think they start to realize as an individual, you really can make a difference,” Shlachtman said. Students learn this through various contests throughout the school year. Teens prepare everything from essays to watercolor paintings, showcasing their new knowledge about the environment. Points are awarded for each contest and at the end of the year, the tallies are released and prizes handed out.

Phillip Weiner, a senior at Palmetto Senior High School, told me, “It’s all science and art at the same time, so it’s pretty fun.” Phillip played his guitar for a contest last year.

Caroline Lewis, Director of Education at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens says that it’s all part of the plan to have the program appeal to all types of students.

“So we created a program that had something for the artist, the performer, the scientist and the researcher, the writer and the designer, so that everybody could find their little voice in nature,” Lewis said.

It’s a little voice that’s inside every teen, like Mia Goodnature (perfect last name Mia!) Mia has been with the challenge for 2 years and tells me it’s affected how she acts at school and at home.

“It just changed my whole perspective on life. At home, I’m like ‘Mom! You should recycle that! Don’t kill the environment,’” Mia said. She especially likes the Fairchild Challenge because it gets her out of the classroom.

“Last year we went on a boat, and we learned about the water and we saw coral reefs and it inspired me and I kind of think that I want to do something related to the environment and maybe I’ll be some marine biologist, I don’t know, it was just really cool,” Goodnature said.

The best part about this really cool program is that it’s free to any school that wants it; so all students can learn about the world around them and their role in protecting it.

BY BEATRICE E. GARCIA AND NIRVI SHAH

Rapper Pitbull is done fighting with former label TVT Records.

That’s because three attorneys from Coral Gables, Fla., helped Pitbull get out of his recording contract with the Independent record label in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, according to the Miami Daily Business Review. Coralee Penabad, Andrew Hellinger and Angela N. Martinez helped Pitbull wrangle out of the contract by focusing on its inability to reorganize in bankruptcy.

Pitbull’s troubles with the company first started after TVT lost a $9 million lawsuit in 2007 to recording label Slip-n-Slide, which had rights to some of Pitbull’s earlier recordings. Company President Steve Gottlieb had faulted Pitbull, born Armando Christian Perez, and refused to promote his CD when the label started struggling, according to Penabad. Pitbull also wasn’t given permission to appear on other artists’ records.

TVT then filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2008. A slew of TVT’s clients, including Pitbull, objected to a sale of some of the company’s assets to digital-music distributor Orchard in June 2008, with Pitbull even pushing for a conversion of the company’s case to Chapter 7 liquidation. The company’s Chapter 11 case was converted to Chapter 7 in October.

“Steve Gottlieb was like my Castro. As soon as I got out of TVT, I knew I would be able to maneuver,” said Pitbull, a Cuban-American who often calls himself “Mr. 305” as a tribute to his Miami roots. “We had the opportunity to beat him at his own game.”

Pitbull risked becoming irrelevant on the music scene unless he got out of his TVT contract, Hellinger said. “Instead, here he is writing about how he is on top of the world.”

Pitbull’s newest album, “Rebelution,” released by RCA’s Polo Grounds, points to his contentions with his former record company in several songs, including “Can’t Stop Me Now” (“They said I couldn’t do it, but I did it: fought TVT…”) and “Triumph.”

“They thought he was done, dawg,” Pitbull says at the beginning of “Triumph.” “But he’s back bigger, better and free.”

By Tasha Cunningham: BizBytes101@MiamiHerald.com

While the U.S. housing market climbs back from the abyss, China’s has been on fire for months after a much briefer slump last year.

State-run banks in China are in better shape. They have stricter lending terms and they didn’t buy toxic U.S. mortgages.

As Beijing cuts off a flood of easy credit to the economy, real estate and other assets might suffer.

But as U.S. investors wait for a bottom in many of the hardest-hit real estate markets, opportunities exist in Chinese properties. The average American isn’t going to buy a Shanghai high-rise – but he can play the market via a few mutual and exchange-traded funds as well as Chinese stocks in New York and Hong Kong (See box).

China’s biggest publicly traded developers – most listed on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges – have seen their share prices rise 50% to 80% this year.

Many of those stocks have sold off in recent weeks along with Chinese equities overall on concerns that the government would tighten lending and other policies to cool the market. Late last week the government said it would try to curb overcapacity in steel, cement and other commodity-type industries.

The Shanghai composite dived 6.7% Monday to a three-month low and into bear-market territory.

But most observers believe housing still has room to run and that the government won’t tighten mortgage policies too much. Morgan Stanley noted that China’s premier has expressed the need for “policy continuity.”

“It’s a market with a lot of capital and a lot of liquidity coming in and out, so clearly you’re going to have these boom and bust cycles,” said William Nobrega, managing partner of investment advisory firm Conrad Group.

However, the supply-demand equation certainly favors more building over the long term.

“So many people are moving from the countryside to the cities that there’s enough demand to sustain building and development activity for the next 15 or 20 years,” said Sam Crispin, managing direc tor of Shanghai-based Crispin Property Investment Management.

New estimates suggest that around 300 million people living in rural areas will migrate to urban centers in the next 15 to 20 years, he says. By the end of 2009, about 45% of China’s 1.3 billion people were expected to call cities home, up from just 17% in the late 1970s.

China’s 2008 housing downturn followed a five-year construction boom that drove up prices by double digits annually. The government tried to cool the market. Then the global recession slowed China’s exports and GDP growth for the first time in years.

But it didn’t take too long for buyers to return after the government late last year cut minimum down payments to 20% from at least 30% and slashed interest rates and taxes to make homes more affordable.

China’s $586 billion stimulus approved in November also helped, pumping up the domestic economy and consumer spending. State-run banks unleashed massive lending.

Developers had already cut prices to spur demand. Along with new incentives, homebuyers returned in droves starting in March.

In the first half of 2009, sales volume rose 33% from a year earlier while values jumped 57%, according to a Morgan Stanley report.

Boom In Big Cities

In major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, prices are back near their 2007 peaks. Shanghai, China’s financial center, is down to about two months of supply. Home prices are up 5% to 15% in many other cities.

“Right now we have listing shortages in China,” said Harry Lu, president of Century 21 China Real Estate, which entered the country in 2000 and now has 1,300 offices.

Developers that had pulled back on building and buying land last year in fear of oversupply are now scrambling to buy land at reactivated government land auctions and ramp up new projects.

“When it heated up all of a sudden, everyone, including developers, were caught by surprise,” said Michael McGowan, portfolio manager of the Forward International Real Estate Fun d . The fund has 32% of its portfolio invested in Hong Kong and China real estate, mostly in shares of large developers.

After a surge in the first half of the year, home sales have cooled. But July and August are typically slow for homebuying. Unless policy tightens sharply, watchers expect sales to pick up again in the usually busier months of “Golden September” and “Silver October.”

Supply is 7 million units shy of demand, Nobrega says. Midpriced apartments for China’s swelling middle class are especially scarce.

“We think there is a lot of opportunity in China,” said Christian Magoon, president of Claymore Securities, sponsor of Claymore/Alphas Shares China Real Estate ETF (TAO).

He cited a study that projects 50% population growth in Shanghai and Beijing by 2015. Each would have populations of over 20 million.

China’s modern housing industry is still young. It started with reforms in the mid- to late-1990s to open up the state housing sector to private ownership and development. State-run banks began offering mortgages.

“Before 1995 we never heard of mortgages,” said Matthews China Fund manager Richard Gao, who grew up in China.

Banks’ conservative lending policies suited buyers in China, a nation of savers. About half still pay in cash.

The rest that finance purchases with mortgages “tend to pay as much as they can for the down payment,” said Gao, whose China fund puts about 8% into real estate.

Private developers (some are partly state owned) rushed to buy land at auctions, using bank loans or equity raised in the public markets.

“It was essentially a land grab,” said Jeff Papp, senior analyst at Oberweis China Opportunities Fund , which has some $300 million invested in China, including several developers.

Developers built high rises in and around major and second-tier cities throughout China. At the same time, huge swaths of the population moved from the countryside for urban jobs in the fast-industrializing and market-driven economy.

“It took four years (from 1998) before wealth caught up with the policy and the Chinese people had sufficient wealth to buy homes in significant numbers,” Crispin said.

By 2006 and well into 2007, prices in Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen and Guangzhou in the south were overheating.

Development went especially wild in the southeast coast near Hong Kong, especially in luxury housing.

“In southern China everything seems to be a bit extreme,” Crispin said. “It’s a slightly different economic beast than the rest of China, with a lot of rich people and speculative buying. And there are more Hong Kong-based developers with access to Hong Kong capital.”

Distressed Property Bargains

The Guangzhou area is where Hong Kong real estate entrepreneur William Yip sees opportunities in dis tressed real estate. He’s eyeing four unfinished residential towers for initial investments, using funds from his new CDL China Real Estate Opportunity Fund, set to close this fall.

“In southern China there are several hundred towers in varying degrees of completion. Many of these are simply projects that need to be topped off,” said Nobrega, who is Yip’s investment adviser.

China’s government doesn’t use the word “distressed,” he said. “But the fact is, many projects have simply stopped.”

Foreclosures aren’t common, but many smaller developers closed or merged with bigger firms when the market stalled last year. Banks would rather extend deadlines than force a sale or take over a property.

But the government might now be taking a tougher stance. The local government in Guangzhou recently said it would confiscate five prime pieces of land sold to developers in 2007 because of unpaid fees and failure to build, according to CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets.

Crispin expects homebuying to slow in the winter after pent-up demand exhausts, with “normal” activity resuming in the spring.

Please click here to download the original article or visit Investors.com to view the article.

Special to The Miami Herald

Scientific tests have shown that toxic China-made drywall installed in homes beginning in 2001 emits harmful gases that corrode copper wiring and other parts of people’s homes. In addition, these gases harm people’s health, making many homes uninhabitable. Homeowners must not be left to shoulder this burden alone.

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, an active ally of these victims, has written to the Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service to determine if the current tax code would permit some sort of deduction. George J. Blaine, associate chief counsel of the Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, responded that if it can be proven drywall emits an unusual or severe concentration of chemical fumes causing extreme and unusual damage, then the homeowner can qualify for a casualty loss deduction. This deduction is found in Section 165 of the Internal Revenue Code (http://tiny.cc/cp0S0).

The law currently allows a deduction for qualifying casualty losses sustained during the taxable year and not compensated for by insurance or otherwise. The amount of the casualty loss can be calculated by taking the difference between the fair market value of the home immediately before and immediately after the casualty, limited to the adjusted basis of the home.

Our law firm, Roberts & Durkee, recommends that homeowners review the most recent IRS Publication 547, Casualties, Disasters and Thefts, which explains in detail the requirements for claiming a casualty loss deduction. At www.chinesedrywallproblem.com, our firm has posted the IRS letter to Nelson clarifying this deduction, the tax-code provision relating to it and IRS Publication 547.

Although the casualty loss deduction allows victims to deduct the home’s loss of market value from their taxes, the current tax code does not allow them to deduct for the additional living expenses incurred when homeowners must move and live elsewhere to escape toxic drywall emissions.

In the letter to Nelson, the IRS specifically states that costs incident to a casualty (for example, additional living expenses such as moving expenses and rent) are nondeductible personal expenses and nondeductible casualty losses. However, for the victims of this terrible tragedy, this is an equally important deduction.

By changing this provision of the tax code and allowing for this deduction, the federal government would provide victims with much-needed assistance to move out of their toxic homes and seek safer accommodations. In addition, this deduction could positively impact the foreclosure crisis. If more people can afford to move into temporary accommodations because of this tax change, then many folks who need to rent their investment homes to continue to pay their mortgages would be able to avoid foreclosure.

In short, there’s still more to be done to ensure the victims receive the protection they deserve. Victims of Chinese drywall deserve a safe alternate residence for themselves and their families.

If the current tax code does not allow victims to deduct costs incident to a casualty, then this law must be changed. We encourage all victims to contact lawmakers and make this message clear.

C. David Durkee is a partner with the Florida law firm of Roberts & Durkee, which is currently helping homeowners with their toxic Chinese drywall problems.

Please visit The Miami Herald to view the original article.

Eugene K. Pettis, a co-founder and managing partner of Haliczer, Pettis & Schwamm PA, never wanted a career in law.  In spite of being urged by his mother to become an attorney, he chanced other careers, none of which he said were satisfying.

“As far back as I could remember, my mom always said, ‘You talk so much you need to be a lawyer.’ Although I remembered that phrase, I wanted to be everything else,” he said.
Influenced by the 1960s television show Adam-12, Pettis first dreamed of becoming a police officer, a choice that, he said, “My parents were not excited about.’’

He added, “I later studied science with plans of becoming a dentist; I hated that. I was miserable.  Approved for an interdisciplinary study, I planned to study environmental engineering and law. After the first day, I knew that was not for me. So I redirected my studies and went to law school. Mom was right.”

As an attorney, Pettis has earned numerous legal awards and accolades.  He has been named to the list of Florida Super Lawyers from 2006 to 2009 as selected by Law & Politics magazine; the South Florida Legal Guide “Top Lawyers” list in South Florida for 2008 and 2009, and Florida Trend’s peer-voted
“Legal Elite” 2008 and 2009 lists.

“It’s about respect,” Pettis, the youngest of seven children, said of his achievements. “Those publications are driven by fellow peers nominating and voting for you. Lawyers know who the best lawyers in town are; it was driven by those with whom I litigate with and against.”

James Haliczer, Pettis’ law partner, agreed, describing Pettis as “a wonderful partner, a great guy and great friend.”

He said the two met 25 years ago while working in the same law firm.

“We left there and opened another practice. Later, we left there and started Haliczer Pettis & Schwamm,’’ said Haliczer, who is also a managing partner at the firm.

“There has never been a question in my mind about his integrity, ability or anything else,” he said of Pettis. “And there certainly has never been an issue we haven’t been able to resolve before the last sip of the first beer.”

Pettis, 48, is admitted to practice in all District Courts in Florida, including Southern District, Middle District and Northern District.

He also earned Martindale-Hubbell’s top AV rating for his high professional and ethical standards. The system is based on the confidential opinions of members of the Florida Bar and the Judiciary, including both those who are rated and those who are not.

A Fort Lauderdale native, Pettis began practicing in Broward County in 1985 after graduating from the University of Florida in Gainesville. His practice, which services clients in areas including South Florida, Naples, Ocala, Orlando and Tampa, has always been based in Fort Lauderdale.

“My family base is here,” he said of his reasons for returning to Broward County after graduating from the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law.

“I felt Broward County was a growing area; promising. I wanted to be a part of it. Although I could have experienced success in other areas, it makes a huge difference returning to your hometown; a community in which you are deeply rooted and have a positive family image.’’

He continued: “I stand on the shoulders of my parents and my siblings before me, and I build on that.”

Pettis, for the last eight years, through the Pettis Family Endowed Scholarship, his family foundation, set up scholarships at Broward College to help students make the transition into higher education. 

Preference is given to African-American students.

“It eliminates some of the financial burdens,” he said. “Education is important.”

Pettis served on BC’s foundation for 15 years and chaired the board for three.

Dating back to his years at Stranahan High School, Pettis has been involved as a public servant.

While attending U-F, Pettis said he quickly realized that the black students, comprising a distinct minority on campus, were not involved.

“There were all sorts of reasons not to be, but I didn’t think there was a reason to attend a university of that size, with all its richness and opportunity, and not to engage in activities,” he said.

Becoming president of the Black Student Union his freshman year, he said his focus was to encourage black students to get involved in all aspects of the university’s student government.

“That started my service there. Later I became the first African-American student body treasurer,” he said.

Pettis continues his involvement as a member of the U-F law school board of trustees.

“It’s important to give back to the community and be a public servant,” he said.

Pettis admitted that while he is happy with his career and all that he has achieved, “when it comes down to it, I want to be known as a good lawyer—and, more importantly—a good public servant.’’

CynthiaRoby@Bellsouth.net This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Photo by Elgin Jones/SFT STAFF. Eugene K. Pettis

To view and download the original article, click here.

By KRISTIN NEHLS
Updated 12:15 PM CDT, Wed, Jun 24, 2009

Toning your bod for the beach this summer? Try simultaneously toning your mind.

Thanks to the NeuroActive Bike – aka the “brain bike” – working out your brain can be as easy as jumping on an exercise machine.

The brain bike, released yesterday by Brain Center America, offers 22 brain-stimulating exercises that help improve memory, concentration and energy via software programs reminiscent of video games.

Can’t fuss with consoles while working out? Prepare yourself for this one, computer geeks: the brain bike is powered by a wireless mouse activated from pedaling.

Dr. Stephane Bergeron, president and CEO of Brain Center America, said the Brain Bike helps to re-grow and re-wire brain cells.

“There’s a fun factor. You’ve experienced hopping on every common bike and trying to pedal for 15 or 30 minutes. Sometimes people get bored and try to have new activities,” Bergeron said. “This is certainly very engaging and time flies by while you’re on the bike.”

Bonus! It’s fun for the whole family. Even grandma and grandpa.

The bike has been ordered by fitness centers, schools and, brace yourselves, retirement homes.

That’s because it’s basically botox for the brain, keeping your mind youthful and strong. Brain Center America even claims it can help prevent Alzheimer’s.

Students at Madison Junior High School in Naperville were the premiere testers of the brain bike this morning.

“It was amazing and stimulated team building” Bergeron said. “There was one kid on the bike and four or five kids standing around saying, ‘oh! I’d answer like this!’ They said it was just like a video game.”

So I know, I know, right about now we’re all way more concerned with looking hot in a bikini rather than hot in the classroom.

Lucky for you, the brain bike will make you look hot in both.

To see the Interactive news release, click here.

MIAMI – Aug. 11, 2009 – Stephane Bergeron, M.D., CEO of Brain Center America (BCA), today announced the launch of NeuroActive LEARNING, a new scientific edugame that develops and accelerates learning abilities, for anyone 11 years of age and older, including high-school and college students, adults and seniors. The doctor-developed computer program hits the market Aug. 11.

Scientifically developed by BCA’s international team of physicians and brain specialists, LEARNING is the world’s only software program that predisposes the brain to easier learning. It is powered by an advanced artificial intelligence that customizes training in real-time to fit every user’s skills.

“LEARNING is the fastest-working, most fun solution for people seeking to boost their learning abilities. It accelerates the learning process and makes learning easier by developing the skills, abilities and mechanisms the brain uses to learn: from reading comprehension and retention to problem-solving skills, critical thinking, speed of analysis, memory and more,” Dr. Bergeron said. “Brain Center’s newest program helps students improve their grades, employees master new skills at work, and boomers and seniors learn new languages and keep their brains sharp. This fun and engaging program also includes five bonus tutorials on memory training and speed-reading to ensure maximum results.”

Added Dr. Bergeron: “Having invested 23 years of my life in my own education, and with three kids currently in high school, I know the countless hours and efforts parents and students devote to education. There are now proven ways that help students learn faster, get better grades and make learning easier for everyone. I am proud we are receiving great interest from schools seeking to incorporate LEARNING into their curriculum and from businesses wanting to offer this training to their employees.”

LEARNING, available in English and Spanish, may be used on any PC or Mac at homes, schools and offices. It sells for $79 and is available online at www.neuroactiveprogram.com and at retail outlets. It is part of BCA’s complete suite of NeuroActive brain-fitness programs, including the NeuroActive Brain Bike and iBrainFIT for iPhone, which exercise the entire brain to produce a sharper, more youthful mind.

Scientific research proves that the brain, at all ages, has significant potential to acquire new knowledge and skills with proper training and exercise. Known as neuroplasticity, or brain plasticity, that recently discovered ability to change and map new neural pathways, stimulate new cell growth, and deliver better blood flow and oxygen to the brain is at the heart of BCA’s groundbreaking NeuroActive.

About Brain Center America
BCA is a U.S. neuroscience company and member of the Brain Center International group that developed the NeuroActive Program and the NeuroActive Brain Bike. Its innovative programs exercise the entire brain to produce a sharper, more youthful mind and improve memory, concentration, learning abilities. Created by physicians and brain specialists, the programs are the only ones that target 16  functions throughout the entire brain and are powered by advanced artificial intelligence to customize training and generate maximum gains in minimal time. BCA’s programs include Complete Brain Training, Memory&MultiTasking Booster, Learning, and iBrainFIT for iPhone. For more information, visit www.neuroactiveprogram.com or call 888-780-2724.

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Editor’s Notes:     Interviews, photographs, product samples and demos are available upon request

By Bob Goldsborough and Robert Channick | Special to the Tribune
June 24, 2009

Like most youngsters, Connor Tobin, 14, of Naperville still is tired during his first period of classes. His body feels sluggish, and his brain’s gears are struggling to turn.

Now, with the use of a specially designed stationary bike that just arrived at Tobin’s junior high school, teens like him not only can improve their cardiovascular fitness, but they also can pump up that oft-neglected organ between the ears, making brain-training an integral part of their fitness regimen.

While many pieces of exercise equipment promote a full-body workout, this new machine takes it a step further. Incorporating cognitive software that features a series of animated 3-D training programs, the NeuroActive Bike is aimed at creating a new niche in the health industry by exercising the mind and body simultaneously.

Summoned by a teacher who put out the call through Facebook for students who would like to test the bike, a group of youngsters at Madison Junior High School in south Naperville, where the bike arrived a few weeks ago, returned to school on June 18 — a couple of weeks after their academic year had ended — to give the bike a try.

The teens pedaled away at variable resistances, with one hand using a wireless mouse to select from 22 training programs, each geared to developing different regions of the brain. Exercises include Security Officer, where one’s inner mall cop tries to remember a series of distinctive mug shots, and Software Debugging, a cognitive jumble of shapes, sizes and colors that accelerates along with the user’s heart rate.

“It really wakes up your brain,” said Megan Gorsky, 14. “They’re easy games, but you do have to think about them when you’re doing them. And you don’t even realize you’re exercising.”

Paige Gutierrez, 14, said students at Madison are fortunate to have top-of-the-line computing equipment like laptops and state-of-the-art exercise equipment like treadmills and ellipticals. However, the brain bike, she said, “kind of brings both of those things together.”

A physician and longtime advocate of brain fitness, Stephane Bergeron, 43, invented the bike. Bergeron, president of Brain Center International, the Quebec-based company that developed the bike, began work on its design in 2006, he said, as part of a transition in his professional life from creating products for people with brain problems to developing products with health benefits.

“For years, the medical community has professed the virtues of keeping physically fit,” he said. “Nowadays we know the brain behaves like a muscle — the more you train, the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets and the better it performs.”

Selling for $3,200 for home models, the brain bike was rolled out June 17 at its first Chicago-area retail location, Marbles: The Brain Store in Skokie.

“You hop on this bike and you do 20- or 30-minute sessions and time really flies by,” said Bergeron. “Your brain cells are getting all fired up, especially when you’re doing that while pedaling.”

To view the original article click here.

BY NIRVI SHAH
nshah@MiamiHerald.com

HONG KONG, June 26 (Reuters) – China-focused real estate developer Canada Land Ltd (CDL.AX, 0.060, +0, +0%) on Friday said it aims to raise $200 million in the fourth quarter for a fund focused on investing in distressed assets in major Chinese cities.

The company aims to launch new, separate funds every year for the next few years, with a target size of $1 billion.

The company hoped to capture potential growth in the real estate market amid urbanisation in the country, chairman William Yip told Reuters in an interview.

A 30 to 40 percent drop in asset prices had provided an investment opportunity for investors to capturing potential growth in the Chinese real estate market as the economy recovered, Yip said.

“It’s a very rare opportunity and good timing to invest in China when costs for land, projects and labour have fallen to such an attractive level,” Yip said. “It will provide a more secure investment channel for institutions and pension funds looking for longer-term growth in their investments.”

Real estate is a mjor component of the Chinese economy, accounting for a quarter of all investment. Residential sales revenue fell 20.1 percent in 2008, with residential prices down over 30 percent in some cities as growth in the world’s third- largest economy slowed.

Property adviser CB Richard Ellis said Chinese property prices would stabilise over the remainder of 2009, supported by government stimulus measures.

Residential property prices have rebounded since March and were up 0.6 percent in May from April. A Reuters poll forecast prices to rise a further 10 percent between now and the end of 2010. [ID:nHKG180365]

The fund aims to attract institutions from the U.S., Europe and China, and will focus on distressed residential assets in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing, as well as in second-tier cities Zhuhai and Dalian, Yip said.

The Australia-listed Canada Land would manage the five-year fund to make good use of its expertise in the mainland real estate development arena, Yip said.

China’s economy has shown some signs of a recovery in recent months, with strong auto and housing sales, and a faster pace of industrial output. Yet the country’s top leadership has warned repeatedly that the foundations of growth remain weak. (US$1=HK$7.8) (Reporting by Donny Kwok; editing by Chris Lewis)

To view the original article, please click here: Reuters 6 29.

Each switch boosted the men’s salaries by an average of 40 percent, to about $20,000 apiece. Both are ready to jump ship again if their current employer, whom they decline to name, doesn’t transfer them to the U.S. so they can get more sales experience — and another raise.

Is their job-hopping mercenary? “Absolutely,” says Agashe, seated in the coffee shop of the Taj Residency hotel in Bangalore. “I get into a job, I expect certain things,” he says. “If it doesn’t happen over a period of time, this is not the place for me to work. I’ll search for a better company.”

Agashe and Singh — young, educated and mobile — are the faces of India’s boom. They’ve helped spur the fastest growth in more than five decades — an average of 8.6 percent a year during the past three years. They invest in stocks, hang out at Western- style malls and catch such movies as “Live Free or Die Hard,” fostering an image of India as a rising economic power.

Bogus Theory

With 54 percent of India’s population of 1.1 billion made up of people age 24 or younger, outsiders view the country as flush with English-speaking workers who can fill advanced jobs in technology, medicine and finance and attract foreign investment, says T.V. Mohandas Pai, director of human resources at Bangalore- based Infosys Technologies Ltd., India’s second-largest software services company. That perception is wrong, he says.

“The demographic dividend theory in India is bogus,” Pai says. “They are not trained people.”

Agashe, Singh and others with the know-how employers require are rare. And their successes are masking a potentially crippling shortage of skilled employees that threatens India’s economic growth, Pai says.

“This is the single biggest factor that is going to hurt India,” says Pai, 48, who wants to hire 26,000 people during the year that ends on March 31, 2008, to add to Infosys’s 76,000 employees.

“It is not the lack of power, because you can set up a generator. It is not lack of roads, because it will take you an hour more. It will not be an airport, because you can fly from many places. It is lack of qualified people.”

Precious People

Along with Infosys and other Indian companies, scores of international firms such as Citigroup Inc., General Electric Co. and Google Inc. are looking to India for engineers, accountants and programmers and coveting people like Agashe and Singh.

India’s expansion — and the expectation that it will continue — has lured asset managers such as Janus Capital Group Inc. Its $8.7 billion Overseas Fund jumped 55 percent in the year ended on June 30, ranking it first out of 1,024 funds that invest in stocks outside the U.S., according to the company’s Web site.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the world’s most profitable securities firm; Morgan Stanley, the No. 2 securities firm; and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the third-biggest U.S. bank, are all buying shares of Indian companies, pushing the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index to a record 15,794.92 on July 24.

India’s manpower shortage threatens to dampen the frenzy. Underneath the growth is a gap between India’s haves and the larger percentage of have-nots.

Millionaires, Illiterates

The number of Indian millionaires rose 20.5 percent in 2006, the fastest pace after Singapore’s 21.2 percent gain, according to the June 27 World Wealth Report by Cap Gemini SA and Merrill Lynch & Co. At the same time, about 40 percent of adults in India are illiterate. Only 10 percent of Indians ages 18 to 24 are enrolled in higher education compared with 45 percent in developed countries, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a June speech marking the 150th anniversary of the University of Mumbai.

Those who do graduate from college aren’t good enough for most jobs, says Sanjeev Bikhchandani, chief executive officer of Info Edge (India) Ltd., which runs naukri.com, the country’s biggest employment Web site. Naukri means job in Hindi.

In-demand job-hoppers such as Agashe and Singh, who have master’s degrees in business management, are increasing companies’ attrition rates to more than 20 percent a year, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India.

Twenty-four percent of India’s information technology workers left their firms in 2005, Lincolnshire, Illinois-based human resources consultant Hewitt Associates Inc. says.

Rising Salaries

India’s middle class, which New York-based consulting firm McKinsey & Co. defines as people with annual disposable income of $4,380-$21,890, has more than doubled to 50 million in the past decade.

At the same time, 54 percent of the population earns an annual household income of less than $1,970 a year, or $5.40 a day — putting Agashe and Singh and their $20,000 salaries ahead of most. According to McKinsey, $21,890 in India equals $117,650 in purchasing power parity, which corrects for differences in price levels between nations.

To keep skilled employees, companies in India are boosting salaries at the fastest pace in Asia. Wages are likely to surge an average of 14.5 percent in 2007 after a 14.4 percent rise last year, Hewitt predicted in March. Companies may start investing elsewhere — such as in China or the Philippines — where average wage increases are 8-9 percent a year, Hewitt said.

“If you don’t fill the gap — and I mean today, because the problem is already becoming pressing — it will cause companies, multinationals and others to think twice about setting up operations,” says William Nobrega, president of the Conrad Group Inc., a Miami-based firm that advises U.S. and European companies on investing in India and Brazil.

Trailing China

Chakri Lokapriya, who manages $534 million at BNP Paribas Asset Management in London, says illiteracy is one reason India trails China’s 11.1 percent growth.

“China’s GDP has grown faster than India’s for many years because in part it recognized and addressed literacy levels,” he says. In China, the literacy rate for people older than 15 was 90.9 percent in 2000, according to the Montreal-based Unesco Institute of Statistics. In comparison, 61 percent of Indians that age were literate in 2001.

Beyond India’s looming manpower crisis, the gap extends to health care, housing and sanitation. India has among the world’s highest prevalence of underweight children at 47 percent compared with 28 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund. About 22 percent of the country’s 193.6 million households don’t have safe drinking water, the 2001 Indian census found. Singh’s government plans to spend 1.76 trillion rupees ($43 billion) by 2009 to help rural India modernize.

Government Control

Pai says India’s greatest calamity is the government’s failure to improve education. India, which gained independence from British rule in 1947, still hasn’t succeeded in providing universal elementary education. The percentage of first graders who continue to the fifth grade was 78.5 in 2003, according to the South Asia Economic Report by the Asian Development Bank. The global average is 86 percent.

“Excessive control on education by government has been one of the biggest flaws,” says Ajit Gulabchand, managing director at Hindustan Construction Co., a Mumbai-based engineering and construction firm. “The numbers being educated are far too low compared to what India would normally require.” India’s soaring growth puts an extra burden on the workforce, Gulabchand, 59, says.

In Ganangur, a village of about 1,500 people 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast of Mysore, the primary school is one of the better ones. The single-story building, built in 1950, has five rooms and a sloping tile roof. The classrooms each have rows of benches and attached desks, a blackboard and a cupboard. The government supplies textbooks, a midday meal and uniforms.

Barefoot Children

On a July afternoon, the children stare excitedly at visitors. The boys wear khaki pants and light-blue shirts, and the girls wear dresses. Some of the students are barefoot. During summer, when the outside temperature reaches 35 degrees centigrade (95 degrees Fahrenheit), there’s no electricity from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. while children are present.

Most people in Ganangur are either farmers or laborers who earn about 100 rupees, or $2.50, a day. The village got its first high school last year. Before, students who wanted to continue on to grades eight to 10 after primary school had to travel 10 kilometers each day to attend another village’s high school. Most boys at the high school will attend nearby colleges, and most girls will drop out and get married by the time they’re 15, says Krishna Kumar, who teaches English and history at Ganangur.

Below Average

“Because of mass media — television, computer, newspaper — the parents get some knowledge, and they are eager to send their children to school, even though they themselves are illiterate,” Kumar, 38, says.

India’s federal and state governments, municipalities and village committees control and fund 90 percent of schools for grades one to five, 72 percent for grades six to eight and 41 percent for high schools. Most universities are government controlled — and in poor shape.

“Almost two-thirds of our universities and 90 percent of our colleges are rated below average on quality,” Singh said in his June speech.

Christ Church College in Kanpur, 434 kilometers southeast of New Delhi, opened in 1866. In August, the red-brick buildings have no electricity. Paint peels from the walls of the theater- style lecture rooms, which have six rows of wood-and-iron benches for about 90 students.

“The classrooms haven’t changed in two decades,” says Ramit Mitra, head of the economics department.

Prized Hires

Salaries set by the University Grants Commission, an arm of the government, discourage teaching as a profession. Without a college degree, an employee at a call center can make 30,000 rupees a month after a few years — twice as much as a university lecturer.

“We are not getting faculty,” says Kalyani Gandhi, chairman of the Nadathur S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, one of the country’s premier management schools. The Bangalore college has positions for 110 teachers. There haven’t been more than 80 for the past few years, she says.

The country’s six Indian Institutes of Management turn out a total of about 1,500 graduates a year, making the students with their master’s-level degrees prized hires.

In 2007, the 235 graduates of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad received 493 offers from 91 firms, according to its Web site. Of the offers, 120 were from overseas, up from 86 in 2006. Students accepted 64 of the foreign offers at salaries as high as $300,000. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm, made the most offers at 17. It got 14 acceptances.

$17 Billion Market

Permitting foreign universities to operate in India would improve quality and enable more students to attend, Conrad Group’s Nobrega says. Singh’s government deferred introducing a law to allow international universities to open campuses after its communist allies opposed the idea. The July 29 issue of People’s Democracy, a weekly magazine of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), says foreign institutions would lead to commercialization and deterioration of quality.

“This is a country of a billion people, and there are people going to bed hungry at night,” says Nobrega, who estimates that a $17 billion-a-year market for higher education awaits foreigners. “The government is going to have to quickly embrace public-private partnership in education to bring in the best minds and bring in the capital.”

Arjun Singh, minister for human resource development, didn’t respond to requests for an interview.

Engineers From Philippines

Strapped for employees and with the government at a standstill on foreign universities, Indian companies are courting workers from other countries, making training part of the on-the- job experience and trying to hold onto the people they have.

Hindustan Construction is bringing in civil engineers from the Philippines. In 2006, it put overseas expansion on hold for three years because that would have stretched it too thin, Gulabchand says. It’s making do with fewer people and updating its job sites with cameras to monitor construction rather than assigning engineers to supervise.

“There was a time when engineers used to come very cheap,” he says. A civil engineer with 10 years of experience gets about 1 million rupees a year.

Last year, the company boosted salaries 52 percent across the organization, the most in a decade. Even so, employees have been hard to land. Hindustan Construction has endured three instances in the past year and a half in which candidates accepted a vice president job, which pays about 15 million rupees a year, and then backed out because their current employers agreed to pay more.

`War for Talent’

“People are behaving in unethical ways,” says Dinesh Mirchandani, regional managing director for Asia-Pacific in the Mumbai office of Boyden Global Executive Search, based in Hawthorne, New York. “There is an absolute war for talent.”

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., India’s largest software services provider, plans to add 5,000 workers in Mexico because people aren’t available in India, says Gabriel Rozman, who heads the Mumbai-based company’s operations in Latin America, Spain and Portugal. In April, Tata raised salaries by 12-15 percent to stem defections.

Some Indian companies are luring employees with the promise that they can gain work experience while they earn a college degree. Genpact Ltd., an outsourcing company in Gurgaon that raised $494.1 million in an August U.S. IPO, attracted 18-year- old Manali Bhatnagar straight out of high school.

College a Waste?

“What’s the point in attending college?” says Bhatnagar, who works as a recruitment executive. “Usually, there are no classes, or teachers don’t show up. I did not want to waste three years of my life.” Instead, she takes classes while working for Genpact.

As Pai carries out Infosys’s hiring plans, he knows he’ll have to train most of his 26,000 proposed new workers — if he can find them. The company spent $145 million on training, or 4.7 percent of its annual revenue, in the year that ended on March 31.

“The information technology industry may be spending $1.5 billion a year on educating and training its people, half of which may not be required if the education system was up to speed,” Pai says.

Infosys puts fresh graduate recruits through a 14-16 week boot camp at a 110-hectare (270 acre) campus on the outskirts of Mysore, 150 kilometers southwest of Bangalore.

The campus, a slice of developed-world nirvana in the heart of southern India, is a city in itself. Students stay in three- story dorm-like buildings, two to a room. The glass-and-concrete main education center features classrooms that bear the names of famous personalities such as Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Co., and Akio Morita, co-founder of Sony Corp. There’s a computer for each student.

Finishing Touches

A short walk past landscaped lawns leads to the recreation center, which looks like a hacienda. It has a gym, a bowling alley, badminton and tennis courts, snooker tables, a supermarket and an open-air pool complete with deck chairs and umbrellas.

On a Friday afternoon in July, students mill around in jeans and T-shirts. Next door, there’s a four-screen movie theater. The Floating Restaurant, surrounded by a fishpond, serves Indian and international dishes such as Indonesian nasi goreng, Thai vegetables and lamb, bean and artichoke stew.

Pai says the training center is essential to give Infosys’s recruits the finishing touches — how to dress, speak, use the correct cutlery during official dinners and master phone and e-mail etiquette to communicate with global clients such as Airbus SAS and Sears Holdings Corp. Because it can’t find enough engineers, Infosys has hired geologists and turned them into software developers.

`Gray Hair’

“We have taken away all the civil engineers everywhere, and we are going to take away more of them,” he says. “We have taken away all the accountants everywhere, and we will take away more of them.”

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India’s biggest maker of tractors and sport utility vehicles, may be one victim of Pai’s talent stealing. Pawan Goenka, president of Mahindra’s automotive unit, wants the company to develop SUVs with as much global brand recognition as Land Rover’s.

A lack of engineers is making that difficult, he says. The company designed and built the Scorpio SUV in 2002. Today, only about half of the 120 engineers who worked on it are still with Mahindra. The rest have moved to other industries such as telecommunications, Goenka says.

Singh’s Dilemma

“Our biggest problem is we do not have enough experienced manpower to design the last 5 percent,” he says, referring to the troubleshooting stage. “The last 5 percent is not something you read in textbooks. It’s what you get after getting gray hair. Unfortunately, before someone gets gray hair, he moves on because of the way the whole job market is churning in India today.”

Agashe and Singh are prime examples of the churn. As they debate yet another job switch, they have their resumes posted on job search Web site naukri.com. They say they’re getting lots of interest from headhunters. A year after quitting Oracle, Singh says, the company phoned to invite him back to a better job at a higher salary. Oracle wasn’t the only one.

“I get a call from a consultant who offers me the same role, with more money,” says Singh, who shares an apartment with a friend. “I’m in a dilemma: Should I take it, or should I honor my commitment to my present employer?”

Singh’s dilemma is one symptom of his country’s talent shortage. Key to India’s economic future and its attraction to investors is providing the training and education that will produce millions more skilled workers like him.

To contact the reporters on this story: Abhay Singh in New Delhi at abhaysingh@bloomberg.net; Subramaniam Sharma in New Delhi at ssharma@bloomberg.net

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By JOHN MURPHY and ERIC BELLMAN

June 6, 2008; Page B1

Most of the world’s global auto giants are rushing to supply low-cost cars to the masses in India. But Honda Motor Co. is taking another route.

The Japanese company, along with its local partner, produced more than half the eight million motorcycles and scooters sold in India last year, and it probably has the most to lose if its competitors’ strategy works. Rather than betting that Indian consumers will buy their first cars if they are cheap enough, Honda is promoting its motorcycles and scooters for entry-level drivers and reserving its cars for India’s burgeoning middle class, whose status-minded members often aspire to own a Civic or an Accord.

“It’s hard to imagine that Indian customers would buy cars just because they’re cheap — and accept the fact that quality is sacrificed,” says Takeo Fukui, Honda’s chief executive officer.

Honda’s counting on drivers like Mumbai’s Mustafa Badshah. The 40-year-old business owner, who shared one scooter with his wife and two children, recently considered buying a car. But he decided instead to get a second scooter, a Honda Aviator, because it could more easily navigate the city’s traffic congestion. “It’s always better to own two bikes than a car in this city,” Mr. Badshah says.
To keep sales healthy, Honda is aggressively promoting its motorcycles and scooters, adding models like the newly launched Aviator, a stylish scooter selling for about $900, and the sporty Unicorn, which sells for $1,400 and features swift acceleration and “macho” styling to appeal to urban males.

Honda’s main targets are young students and professionals. An ad for the Unicorn shows a young medical student explaining that he is willing to sacrifice for his “dream of becoming a doctor.” Beside him, a slogan says, “Real men never lose sight of their goal.”
For car companies, getting this market right is crucial. As growth slows in developed countries, auto companies are increasingly relying on fast-growing emerging markets like China and India to pick up the slack. While sales growth in the U.S. and Japan are declining, CSM Worldwide Inc., a market research firm, expects auto sales in India to nearly triple to 4.6 million by 2014 from 1.6 million units last year, fueled largely by the growth of small and low-cost cars.

The Indian car giant Tata Motor Ltd. is hoping to persuade millions of motorcycle drivers to upgrade to their first four-wheel vehicles by launching a super-cheap car costing roughly $2,500 in the fall. To cut costs, Tata has done everything from equipping the four-seater, called the Nano, with just one windshield wiper to stripping out the radio and air conditioning.

Renault-Nissan, Toyota Motor Corp., Hyundai Motor Co., Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor Co. are also racing to come up with their own small, budget-minded vehicles.

Honda responds that the Nano will still cost almost twice as much as one of its upscale motorcycles and that the economics of manufacturing such a low-cost car will be challenging, especially at a time when raw-material costs are rising sharply. Soaring fuel prices may also enhance the appeal of motorcycles, which are about three times more fuel efficient than the Nano. Just this week India raised the retail prices of gasoline and diesel by about 10%, lifting prices for the second time this year.

Then there is the condition of the roads and the lack of parking space for cars in big cities. In Mumbai, streets are so clogged that drivers can spend more than two hours making the 19-mile drive from downtown Mumbai to the city’s airport. In rural areas, where road construction projects are under way, many roads remain potholed, making passage easier on motorbikes than in cars.
Honda and its Indian partner, Hero Honda Motors Ltd., expect the total Indian two-wheeler market to nearly double to 15 million units within a decade, which would make it three times larger than the projected car market.

“Indians will be pressed for mobility but lack public transportation,” says Masahiro Takedagawa, who heads Honda’s India operations. “We believe there is a growing motorcycle market for commuting.”

Analysts’ forecasts for the Indian two-wheeler market differ, but all of them expect sales to continue to rise despite the slew of low-cost cars coming into the market. That’s happening in another emerging auto market, China. There, new entry-level drivers are expected to keep motorcycle sales growing about 13.9% annually, reaching 44.4 million units by 2011, even with the increasing popularity of cars, according to a study by market-researcher Freedonia Group Inc.

Meanwhile, Honda is trying to project an upscale image in the car market, where it already has 30% of premium car sales. To meet demand from wealthier consumers, it plans to nearly double its vehicle production in India, expand dealerships throughout the country and offer new models, including India’s first hybrid. While the popular Civic may be considered an entry-level car in the U.S., Honda is marketing the sedan in India as a luxurious vehicle with a “futuristic cockpit” and “ultramodern style.”

Honda’s cheapest car, expected to be introduced next year, is a small hatchback. It will likely sell for less than $15,000, but that will still exceed the price of rivals’ planned low-cost car models, which are projected to sell for less than $10,000.

William Nobrega, an emerging-market consultant and the author of “Riding the Indian Tiger,” on India’s rapidly growing market, says Honda may profit more from going after the “sweet spot” of higher-end vehicles. “There is a rapidly growing middle class making $20,000 or more a year. and they don’t want to buy a Nano,” he says. “They want to buy a Honda or a Toyota or — if they’ve really made it — a Jaguar.”

Honda’s two-pronged approach does have a potential flaw: It leaves a sizeable gap in the company’s product lineup, making it impossible for most consumers to go directly from a Honda motorcycle to a Honda car. The Unicorn, Honda’s most expensive motorcycle, is $1,400, while its least expensive car, the City subcompact, goes for more than $16,500. That’s “quite a big jump,” concedes Masahiro Takedagawa, head of Honda’s operations in India.

Honda’s cautious approach to the Indian market dates back to 1984, when it first teamed up with the Hero Group to produce motorcycles. Its early entry allowed Honda to quickly become the dominant motorcycle maker in India.

It wasn’t until 1997, through a local joint venture, that Honda started manufacturing cars. Sales have been modest but have climbed steadily, reaching 60,000 units in 2007. This year Honda has set a sales goal of 80,000 units, and next year — with the addition of a new plant — will expand total production capacity for India to 160,000 units.

For the foreseeable future, though, Honda expects to sell many more motorcycles than cars because of customers like Pritesh Gohel. The 22-year-old cook at a five-star hotel in Mumbai says he bought a Unicorn because it sips fuel and catches the attention of young women.

He might consider buying a low-cost car when he has a family and starts to earn more money, he says. For now, his motorcycle suits his life better. “I don’t want a Nano,” he says. “I don’t need it.”

—- Tariq Engineer contributed to this article.

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INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 9/9/2008

Russian stocks have been free-falling since May amid a steep correction in commodity prices, accusations of corporate malfeasance and mounting political tensions over Russia’s military actions.

The only U.S. ETF tracking solely the Russian market, Market Vectors Russia, (RSX) has plunged 46% from its May peak and 37% year to date.

The ETF swings up and down with energy prices, as it is weighted 39% in oil and gas companies. Metals, the second-largest sector, is weighted at 22.3%, telecom 13%, financials 12% and agriculture 3.8%.

Russia’s well-being hinges on energy these days. It accounts for a fifth of Russia’s GDP, which grew 8.1% in 2007. Oil and gas generated 65% of export revenues and made up 30% of all foreign direct investment in the country last year, according to the World Bank and IMF.

The World Bank forecasts GDP growth of 7% for 2008. The Russian economy has grown more than 7% in each of the past five years, except 2005, when it grew 6.4%.

Russia’s stock market, as gauged by the MSCI Russia index, has plunged 37.09% year to date and 18.95% in the past year, as of Monday’s close. It has trailed its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets index. That fell 27.54% and 17.09% over the same time periods.

“Russia was the darling of emerging-market strategists heading into this year and through much of the first half of the year,” said Brad Durham, managing director of EPFR Global, which tracks global fund flows. “Russia equity funds had net inflows of $3.2 billion this year through the first week of July.”

But investor sentiment has reversed since then, and Russian equity funds have been disgorging assets for 10 weeks straight. In that time, outflow totaled $859 million as of Sept. 5.

Exiting Russia

EPFR’s data — the firm tracks the buying and selling of a group of about 1,000 equity funds with about $900 billion in assets — show that fund managers have been selling more Russian stocks than buying. Just in June and July, they unloaded $1.5 billion of Russian equities.

“There is significantly more downward pressure than upward pressure,” said ETF strategist Mike Turner, founder and president of Turner Trends. “More shorting opportunities exist than buying.”

Considering that foreign investors continue to pull money out of Russia, a rebound is unlikely in the near future, according to a Merrill Lynch research report.

But the Russian ruble is likely to appreciate against other major currencies this year if the political situation stabilizes, the report said.

The market saw another potential setback this week. The Bush administration on Monday canceled a potentially lucrative agreement with Russia for civilian nuclear cooperation.

It’s the biggest show of displeasure so far by the U.S. toward Moscow’s invasion of Georgia, which started Aug. 7.

The deal would have let U.S. and Russian companies in the nuclear sector form joint ventures and exchange technologies. The pact could have generated billions in revenue.

But some advisers voice long-term optimism. The crisis over Georgia may be hurting Russia’s market now, but it will have a negligible effect in the long run, says William Nobrega, founder of Conrad Group, an investment advisory firm specializing in emerging markets.

“Once you get through all the hubris and chest-thumping, this will be a non-issue,” said Nobrega. “Western Europe is too beholden to Russia for energy. . . . It would be a very cold winter in Germany if they made too big a deal about this.”

A Need To Make Nice

Russia has reason to appease Europe as well. It needs support to gain membership in the World Trade Organization, Nobrega says.

Nobrega is bullish on the Russian stock market, but only in the financial services, distribution and logistics, and media and entertainment sectors. He expects oil to fall to $80 a barrel by the end of the fourth quarter. And he sees the sector’s stocks falling with crude.

“Oil at $150 is not sustainable, because global economies can’t afford it,” Nobrega said.

Current valuations may appeal to patient bargain-hunters if the erstwhile red-hot market can get back on track.

Over the past three, five and 10 years, the MSCI Russia index has returned an average annual 13.26%, 19.01% and 32.00%. The MSCI Emerging Markets returned 12.75%, 18.51% and 13.73% over those periods.

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by William Nobrega

Welcome to the “Next Wave.” We are living in an unprecedented point in human history when the new consumer, technology, infrastructure, and environments begin to converge and create one of the world’s greatest eras of economic growth and technological innovation.

During the next 20 years, the Next Wave will create more new consumers than the previous millennium did. Investments in infrastructure will exceed the total investments in the reconstruction of post-war Europe. Technology and the Internet will be the great enabler, facilitating the development of multiple centers of innovation across a wide range of geographies. And the environment will be a critical thread within this new tapestry, as climate change and the need for resources push humankind to find new approaches to economic development and sustainable growth. Although China, Brazil, Russia, and other emerging markets will drive much of this, India stands at the forefront with its rapidly growing middle class, massive investments in infrastructure, a technology-based culture, and growing need for energy and other natural resources.

Many companies will benefit from the Next Wave, but some verticals will capture the lion’s share of the growth and profits. Among the most significant of these “Next-Wave Verticals” are media and entertainment groups. They are gaining importance in India because of the country’s growing middle class, improving literacy rates and increasingly organized retail sector driving demand for print, radio, and TV content. Improvements in infrastructure and advances in technology are also rapidly increasing media penetration in rural areas of the country where more than two-thirds of the population resides.

Tapping into the “Teenager Effect”

Advertising spending in India is roughly one-third of that in the U.S. and Europe, but that’s rapidly changing as retailers find competition growing and consumers become more sophisticated and discerning in their buying decisions. There are now more Indian homes with television sets than homes with telephones. India’s 119 million television households comprise about 60% of the total households in the country. About 50 million receive cable-television services, leading to a penetration of about 42%. The television-distribution market consists of revenues generated by companies that distribute television programming to viewers. This includes spending by consumers on subscriptions to basic and premium channels delivered by cable operators, satellite providers, or Internet protocol television (IPTV) services, as well as on video-on-demand (VOD).

The Indian DVD market now exceeds 1.5 billion units per year. This figure is expected to grow to 4.5 billion units per year by 2010. The explosive growth in DVD sales also is attributed to the predominance of single-TV households. However, this is expected to change as rising incomes and a large pool of teenagers fuel mushrooming growth of multiple-TV households, commonly known as the “Teenager Effect.” These factors will continue to drive high revenue growth and profitability for such media and entertainment companies as TV18, ENIL, and D.B. Corp., which are leaders in this space.

Private education will also ride India’s Next Wave as an aspiring population seeks to give its children and itself the greatest opportunity to succeed and prosper in the new economy. With the exception of the world-renowned Indian Institutes of Management & Technology, the Indian public school system has proved to be a dismal failure. As a result, Indian citizens of all socio-economic brackets have looked increasingly to the private sector for their education needs.

All Eyes on Manipal Education

As with other Next Wave Verticals, technology and infrastructure have fostered the rapid expansion of private education as Internet-based learning programs create opportunities for distance-learning, and improvements in communications and roads have created new education institutions in rural areas of the country. Private education in India is growing more than 30% per year, and the profitability of this sector exceeds that of most North American institutions. Companies like Manipal Education are at the forefront of this growth as they continue to develop innovative solutions to meet the increased demand.

Environmental services is becoming one India’s the fastest-growing Next Wave Verticals, as an increasingly industrialized economy and wealthy population elevates the need for clean air and water and the recycling of scarce natural resources. The Indian government is looking to the private sector to build and manage numerous aspects of environmental services to include waste-water treatment, hazardous waste disposal and air-quality control systems. Considering that approximately 70% of India’s cities do not have adequate waste-water treatment, the financial opportunities in this area alone are significant. India’s carbon-credit market is currently valued at $5 billion and is expected to double to $10 billion by 2009. This will create a significant opportunity for carbon-capture equipment and for environmental consulting services that focus on reducing greenhouse gases.

Renewable energy is a global issue that could define India’s long-term economic success. India has very little in the way of crude oil reserves and finding new fields will become a costly proposition. As India’s economy continues to grow, so will its energy needs. Developing renewable sources of energy is a national priority. Renewable energy only accounts for about 5% of India’s total energy consumption. The Indian government has set a goal of generating 50% of the country’s energy needs by 2050. This will require massive investments in a wide range of renewable energy sources.

Moser Baer Photovoltaic Planning an IPO

India is already developing technical and manufacturing leadership in several areas including wind, solar, and biomass. Suzlon Energy, a publicly traded Indian company, is now the world’s fifth-largest wind energy provider, and its ranking is expected to climb in the near future. Moser Baer Photovoltaic, which is planning an initial public offering in 2009, is becoming a global leader in the development and manufacture of thin-film solar technology. And Bhoruka Power has become a leading player in the small hydro segment for power generation in India.

But the largest manufacturer of agricultural vehicles in India, Mahindra & Mahindra, is taking the lead in biodiesel. In February, 2007, the company introduced versions of its two most successful sport-utility vehicles, Scorpio and Bolero, which run on biodiesel. Scorpio is the first Asian vehicle in its class running on 100% biodiesel.

Mahindra also unveiled a biodiesel tractor for the first time in India. The company had set up its own biodiesel plant in 2001. It completed extensive studies and worked with IIT Kanpur, a leading Indian technology institute recognized globally, and the R&D center of Indian Oil Corp. Mahindra is also simultaneously working on its vehicles’ fuel adaptability and trying to position itself for when India matures to the point of requiring better fuel sources.

Second Largest Producer of Sugar Cane

That day may not be far off, as India is the world’s second-largest producer of sugar cane, which is a preferred source for ethanol. Renewable energy will provide investors and joint venture partners with significant returns during the coming years. And with opportunities in solar, wind, ethanol, and biodiesel, numerous global synergies are emerging exist between homebuilders, power companies, and automotive firms. Savvy investors and corporations already recognize the significant potential of the Next Wave. They know another wave like this won’t crest for another 20 years or 30 years, and they’re eyeing opportunities to capitalize on this unique opportunity.

William Nobrega is president and founder of the Conrad Group, an emerging-market strategic planning and M&A facilitation firm based in Miami. He has more than 10 years experience in this field and is widely credited for initiating global business models in emerging geographies including Brazil, India, and China. He is co-author of the recently published book, Riding the Indian Tiger: Understanding India, the World’s Fastest Growing Market.

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Peter Wolf is tired of the soaring cost to insure his bayside Longboat Key home.

“I was very concerned with the skyrocketing premiums I was paying,” he said. “They had at least doubled.”

After asking his insurance agent to find cheaper coverage, Wolf got a deal that saves him about $6,000 a year.

“I was absolutely amazed,” he said.

While many large property insurers are scaling back in hurricane-prone Florida, one new company is welcoming customers from the dangerous coastal areas.

Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange, or PURE, offers policies only for homes valued at more than $1 million. The homes must be relatively new and well-built, with storm shutters or impact windows.

Since offering coverage earlier this year, the Plantation-based company has taken on $1.2 billion in exposure, about $75 million of it in Sarasota and Manatee counties, said the company’s president, Ross J. Buchmueller.

“We insure very large property values, so it adds up quickly,” he said.

It is not as risky as it sounds, he said. Catastrophe modelers, along with results of the 2004-’05 hurricanes, show that larger, high-value houses withstand storms better than average houses.

PURE is writing about 100 new policies a week, Buchmueller said, and will pace its growth. It expects to cover about 2,500 homes this year.

Many customers are switching from major private insurers like State Farm and Nationwide, as well as from the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp., he said.

Citizens will further restrict its coverage of $1 million-plus properties after next year, which could boost PURE’s business.

Some customers had dropped their coverage because of high prices.

“People who had decided to go bare, now that it’s hurricane season, they are getting back to buying wind coverage,” Buchmueller said.

PURE was set up as a reciprocal exchange, in essence a nonprofit company owned by the policyholders.

At first, new customers had to pay a one-time surplus contribution equal to 50 percent of their first-year premium. That contribution would be returned as dividends or policy credits, depending on losses for the year.

That contribution was just restructured to 10 percent a year over five years after the company received a $17 million surplus note through the state’s Insurance Capital Build-up Incentive Program, increasing PURE’s total surplus to more than $50 million.

Even with the homeowner contribution, Buchmueller says PURE’s rates will often be lower than other carriers that lost billions of dollars during the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons.

Customers also can save with the option of windstorm deductibles of up to 25 percent and lower prices for jewelry, auto and excess flood coverage.

Wolf says he was paying about $16,000 per year for windstorm coverage from Citizens and homeowners coverage from a private carrier.

His package from PURE will run about $10,000, including the 10 percent charge.

“I was surprised to see that even with the contribution, the premium would still be dramatically less,” he said.

Homeowners can tailor their policies to reject insurance that other companies require, such as for garages and other structures that can add 20 percent to the coverage value.

“If the house is insured for $2 million, that could be $400,000 of coverage you didn’t ask for,” Buchmueller said.

PURE does not insist on “additional living expense” coverage, standard in most homeowners policies, for its high-end clients who may own more than one home.

“If you can’t live in your Longboat Key house because of an event, you can stay up north. You don’t need to buy that coverage,” he said.

Premiums will drop about 11 percent through the state-ordered reductions in the insurance reform law passed in January, he said.

Prior to founding PURE last year, Buchmueller was president of AIGPrivate Client Group and before that was an executive with Chubb Group of Insurance Companies.

He says that experience and track record helped convince international reinsurance companies to cover 75 percent of PURE’s potential losses.

Some homeowners may be skeptical about doing business with an insurer with no track record of paying claims, he acknowledges.

But he says PURE comes in with a clean slate, unburdened by any of the $38 billion in losses incurred by Florida insurers in 2004 and 2005.

“I don’t know of a single existing insurance company in Florida that wouldn’t desire to be new,” he said. “Part of the reason they can’t respond to new business is they have too much existing exposure.”

The company spreads risk throughout Florida but plans on expanding later to other states.

“We diversify Sarasota with Martin County,” he said. “Over time, we can diversify Florida by exchanging risk with New York or Chicago.

“But nothing is going to happen until this hurricane season is over. Our eye is on the Florida ball right now,” he said.

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Most insurance executives look at the lavish houses and condominiums along the Florida coasts and cannot help thinking: hurricane, wreckage, financial ruin.

But Ross J. Buchmueller sees opportunity. As most big insurers are cutting back coverage in Florida and other coastal states after a string of catastrophic hurricanes, Mr. Buchmueller has started a company offering policies that hardly anyone else wants to sell — and at as little as half the going rates.

His strategy, he says, is not as daring as it seems. By studying industry statistics, he has found that big, expensive houses have fared the best in hurricanes. And his company will sell only to owners of those homes.

To be covered, a home must be worth more than $1 million. It must be fairly new, solidly built and equipped with the strongest shutters, or such high-grade windows that flying debris merely bounces off them.

Mr. Buchmueller said that to further reduce his risk, sales in the first year will be limited to a few thousand policies and he will buy insurance from big international insurance companies, known as reinsurers, that will cover 75 percent of his potential losses.

The cost of the reinsurance will sharply lower his profit. But Mr. Buchmueller, 41, has set up his company, Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange, as a nonprofit concern, owned by its policyholders. His reward, Mr. Buchmueller says, will come from a management fee, which should rise as the company grows and expands into a national business.

Mr. Buchmueller has been quietly selling policies for several weeks and plans to announce the opening of his new company formally today.

Some insurance experts say the venture may inspire other entrepreneurs — or groups of property owners, like condominium associations — to create similar arrangements. Doing so could help break the crippling pattern in which big, established insurers reduce coverage, and investors in new companies chase ever-higher premium prices.

But others are skeptical. “It’s a creative approach,” said Michael Koziol, a public policy specialist at the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, a large insurance trade group, “but like any new company, there’s a certain risk. More new companies go under than old companies.”

Robert P. Hartwig, the president and chief economist at the Insurance Information Institute, a trade group in New York, said that even with insurance premium prices at a record high in Florida, they were still not high enough to offset all the potential damage that many weather analysts expect over the next decade or so.

Mr. Buchmueller says his company will have considerably more capital than most Florida start-ups — an estimated $45 million by the end of the year. And he says that he is confident that he has found a gap in the market where the going prices are higher than the actual risk. “Everyone in Florida thinks they’re paying too much for insurance,” he said, “and some of them are right.”

Florida has been hit by a number of hurricanes in the last few years. Insurers have paid billions of dollars in claims, and the price of coverage for homes in the state is the highest in the nation. Some people are paying almost as much for insurance as for mortgage payments. And every week, 15,000 homeowners in Florida are requesting bare-bones coverage from the state-run insurance agency because no one else will sell it to them — at any price.

In January, Florida’s Legislature went into special session to deal with the insurance crisis and decided to force down prices for all companies, including Mr. Buchmueller’s, by perhaps 20 percent.

But many insurance experts say that if hurricane damage is heavy in the next few years, the state will probably have to make up for the price cut and possibly a lot more in claims costs by issuing bonds and passing on potentially enormous expenses to all policyholders.

Florida regulators welcomed Mr. Buchmueller’s company as a new source of coverage. They approved his plan in mid-January, and he has started selling policies through independent agents across the state. Mr. Buchmueller previously spent about 20 years working for the Chubb Corporation and the American International Group.

Charles Kilvert, the owner of the Claude D. Reese insurance agency in Palm Beach, said the first question he hears is: “Are these guys going to pay their claims?”

“I tell them, ‘These guys are top-flight industry insiders,’ ” he said. “And they’re very conservative. Whereas the state allows an insurance company to take in $10 of premium for every dollar it’s got for paying claims, these guys are coming in at less than one to one.”

One of Mr. Buchmueller’s first customers, Ellis Kern, owns a two-story pale yellow Mediterranean-style home on a golf course several miles inland from West Palm Beach. Mr. Kern, a manufacturing executive, said he had been paying $15,175.86 a year for $1.2 million in coverage from a unit of Lloyd’s of London. He is now paying $6,845 to Mr. Buchmueller’s company for $1.7 million in coverage.

“Obviously,” he said, “the first thing was that there was a savings.”

But Mr. Kern said he was also drawn to the company by its business plan. “They were limiting their risk, being selective in who they were taking,” he said.

Patrick Lacy, a manager at the Plastridge Insurance Agency in Delray Beach, said he had been talking to a homeowner who had been paying $32,637 for $2.8 million in coverage. From the new company, Mr. Lacy said, the same coverage would cost $18,812.

Customers of the new company are required to make an additional one-time payment equal to half their first-year premium into a fund for paying claims. Even then, costs are often lower than before. At the end of each year, Mr. Buchmueller said, any company money left over from claims and other expenses is to go into holding accounts for the policyholders, from which they can collect if they decide to drop their coverage.

In the meantime, putting money that would otherwise be termed profit into special accounts will add to the company’s ability to pay claims and also provide tax benefits.

The structure Mr. Buchmueller chose has been used by groups of professionals — doctors, lawyers and architects — and some industries, including pharmaceutical manufacturers, when coverage they need has become scarce and extremely high priced. One of the biggest, most successful insurance companies in the country, USAA, is organized along the same lines. But recent start-ups have been structured to yield high profits as quickly as possible.

One quirk of Mr. Buchmueller’s company is that his rates, as approved by regulators, are about the same or higher than those of other insurers catering to the rich, like Chubb. A big difference is that the others routinely refuse to sell new coverage. And the few companies willing to provide the coverage can charge much higher rates.

“It’s like going to the butcher,” Mr. Buchmueller said, “and he tells you that rib-eye sells for $1 a pound. But you go to buy it, and you can’t have it.”

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Discussing China’s volatile market, with William Yip, CDL China Fund; William Nobrega, The Conrad Group; and CNBC’s Mark Haines.

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Debating whether American companies can capitalize on the rise of India, with William Nobrega, The Conrad Group president & founder and CNBC’s Erin Burnett.

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By David Bogoslaw

Until a game-changing election on May 16, India had been a laggard among Asia’s markets, which have been advancing at a fairly strong clip since earlier this year. The victory of a coalition led by a recharged Congress Party, which won 262 of 543 legislative seats, brings the promise of long-awaited economic reforms, reduced corruption, and a younger, more vigorous leadership. The news drove the Indian equity benchmark Sensitive Index, or Sensex, up 17.3% on May 18 and has people taking a closer look at investment opportunities on the subcontinent.

Those opportunities are abundant, ranging from financial services to infrastructure to consumer goods and private education, says William Nobrega, a managing partner at Miami-based Conrad Group, which provides business consulting and investment banking services.

India’s economy has had investment pros worried, with recent reports showing the country experiencing its biggest production decline in 16 years, and declines of 33% for both imports and exports, in the first three months of 2009. The International Monetary Fund said it expects the economy to grow by 5.1% in calendar 2009, vs. a rate of nearly 9% between 2003 and 2008. India needs to keep gross domestic product growing at 8% or more in order to continue to eradicate poverty, says Nobrega; he estimates current growth at 4% to 5%.

Business Reforms Expected

Just 10 seats short of a majority of 272 seats, the Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance doesn’t need the support of the Hindu Nationalist or Communist parties, both of which have long blocked the Congress Party’s attempts at economic liberalization, says Nobrega. The new government should have the smaller centrist parties clamoring to join and fill the remaining 10 seats needed to form a majority and push through reforms, such as removing caps to foreign investment in and ownership of Indian businesses. “This shows that Indian democracy has finally come of age,” says Nobrega. “In the past, it’s just been coalition after coalition or radical right or radical left, like the Hindu Nationalists and the Communist Party,” whose corruption had become a growing frustration to the electorate.

Another much-needed area of reform will be private education, which has become entrenched as part of Indian society but couldn’t expand due to opposition to for-profit alternate providers from outside the Congress Party.

However encouraging the political signs, Nobrega sees the surge in the stock indexes as overdone. “The earnings don’t support it. I think there’s a little exuberance going on,” he says.

A Chance to Catch Up

Over the longer term, however, he expects the more liberal government that was voted in to provide a major push for India’s business fundamentals and growth trajectory. After years of frustration among the Indian populace about its progress compared with China, “this will help India begin to achieve the type of gains that China has done in the areas of infrastructure and foreign investment,” says Nobrega.

A big driver of that will come from all the new faces coming into government, including some key cabinet posts, he says. He expects to see the first tangible results from this generational shift in the next three to six months, but others are more conservative. “This isn’t something that’s going to change overnight,” says Nick Beecroft, a portfolio specialist at T. Rowe Price International (TROW) in London. But led by a government with a much stronger mandate, “there’s a possibility that over the next few months and years we could start to see a real benefit to some sectors” of the economy.

Beecroft expects the banking and insurance industries to be among the first to benefit, as large capital inflows into the country start to reverse the “massive withdrawals of foreign capital in 2008.” The return of foreign investments will provide the high liquidity that the financial-services industry needs to flourish, he says. Capital inflows will probably also be a boon to infrastructure and real estate companies. There are many domestic investors who took refuge in cash during the runup to the election and will now be ready to jump back into the stock market, he says.

No Quick Fixes

But Beecroft is prepared for a slight pullback in stocks over the next few weeks as people come to realize there won’t be a quick fix for India’s economic woes.

Not least of those woes is the country’s poor public finances, which RBC Capital Markets (RBC) agrees will be hard to repair. While a greater mandate for the prime minister to pursue economic reforms should boost the economy and the value of the rupee, RBC’s Emerging Markets Research Group warned against excessive optimism.

“Its weak fiscal position not only constrains the government from providing significant fiscal stimulus in a period of slower growth, but also represents the chief risk that India’s sovereign debt may be downgraded into subinvestment-grade status,” RBC said in a May 18 note. “For these reasons we think that the upside for the [rupee] coming from the election results will be limited.”

Government Has Limited Options

India’s current account deficit is expected to shrink from 3.5% of GDP in fiscal 2008-2009 to about 1.3% in the current fiscal year, a Goldman Sachs (GS) economist said in April. Official estimates of the total fiscal deficit, for the federal government plus the individual states, range between 9.8% and 11%, London-based Lombard Street Research said in a May 14 note. But Lombard puts the total deficit closer to 13%, since it adds in off-balance-sheet subsidies such as oil bonds.

With its finances so thinly stretched, the government has little flexibility to fund initiatives needed to fuel economic growth, such as expanded education for a growing middle class. One of the reforms people are expecting is the privatization of some of India’s state-owned and operated companies, says Beecroft.

With change on the horizon, where should India-focused investors be looking now?

Underrepresented in Indices

T. Rowe Price has broad exposure to Indian stocks, from infrastructure and real estate development names to television broadcasting companies, alcoholic beverage makers, and personal product manufacturers.

T. Rowe’s $2.0 billion New Asia Fund (PRASX), a dedicated Asian strategy that excludes Japan, held 36% of its assets in Indian stocks at the end of March, compared with a typical 9% weight in Indian stocks, says Beecroft. He expects that fund to benefit directly from the 17% bounce on May 18. The more geographically diverse Global Emerging Market Stock Fund (PRMSX) was 1% to 1.5% overweight in India in March.

T. Rowe’s large overweight position stemmed from a view that there are a lot of well-managed entrepreneurial companies in India and that the country’s stocks are generally “quite heavily underrepresented in indices that cover emerging markets,” he says.

Infrastructure Investment Expected

One of the New Asia Fund’s top five holdings is Container Corp. of India, a transport company. Another key holding is GMR Infrastructure, which builds and operates hydropower plants and airports and owns a 50% interest in InterGen, a global independent power producer based in the Netherlands.

Industrial-materials producers and financial services dominate the Eaton Vance All India Fund (ETGIX), with $421 million in assets. More than 25% of its assets were invested in the fund’s top five holdings as of Mar. 31, which included Reliance Industries, Bharat Heavy Electricals, and HDFC Bank.

Another way to gain access to India is through the Morgan Stanley India Investment Fund (IIF), an exchange-traded fund whose shares can be purchased fairly cheaply at the moment. On May 18, its closing net asset value was $19.03, down almost 58% from its 52-week peak NAV. The ETF’s largest holdings include tech-services provider Infosys Technologies (INFY), HDFC Bank, Bharat Heavy Electricals, and Bharti Airtel, an integrated telecom services company that’s a unit of Bharti Enterprises. The fund’s share price has risen 10.8% over the five years and is up 52% year-to-date after a 42% decline in 2008.

Big-Box Stores Could Benefit

In addition to the Indian equities, there are several U.S. and European stocks that will be better bets for investors as a result of those companies’ newfound access to Indian consumers, once proposed reforms have been passed. With publicly funded education unable to keep up with demand from such a large population of young people, there’s a great need for the private, for-profit education companies. India has some already, but all the major education companies in Europe and the U.S. will also be eager to enter the market, he says. Western insurance companies will also be more welcome.

Big retailers such as Home Depot (HD) and Lowe’s (LOW) will also start to see the market potential in India, says Nobrega.

And for investors who may have had qualms because of the mounting geopolitical risks between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, not to mention the uncertainty in Afghanistan, there’s another bonus from having the Congress Party in power.

Political Thaw Possible

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the people he has surrounded himself with will refuse to be “baited by pseudo-nationalist tendencies,” says Nobrega. “They don’t see Pakistan as an overt threat that the Hindu Nationalists see. They see terrorism as a threat and [they will] move forward on security reform.”

He also expects the new government to move forward with more international trade agreements and security arrangements, which should further the political thaw between India and its neighbors, he says.

Regardless of the scope and pace of change, the results of the Indian election will have investors around the globe looking for opportunities on the subcontinent for some time to come.

Bogoslaw is a reporter for BusinessWeek’s Investing channel.

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From the button-down shores of America, India’s version of capitalism seems less like a business model and more like a monsoon. Harnessing the erratic winds for the good of your portfolio hasn’t proven easy. After soaring 620% between April 2003 and January of this year, the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index (kind of like India’s Dow) has since dropped about 18%.

You can ride the whole monsoon by buying an exchange-traded fund that tracks an index of India stocks, or you can go for a big score and try to identify a few individual companies with outstanding potential. If you want to take the latter approach, listen to William Nobrega, co-author of Riding the Indian Tiger(John Wiley & Sons, $30).

Nobrega is a consultant who specializes in helping institutional investors and companies do business in emerging markets. In India specifically, he sees opportunities in mega trends, what he terms “next wave verticals.” The strongest of these is the media sector.

Behind Nobrega’s bullishness on Indian media companies is the growing middle class and increasing literacy rates. As retail chains develop and the middle class grows and becomes more mobile, the media industry will grow to deliver news and advertising via radio, TV and newspapers, he says.

He points out that Indian retailers’ advertising budgets are only one third of what Western retailers budget, on a percentage-of-sales basis. Says Nobrega: “So the growth of media and entertainment companies will be phenomenal. The demand is far outstripping supply. In the near term, three to five years, the returns in that industry will far outweigh other industries.”

Among media companies, Nobrega likes Entertainment Network (India) Ltd., commonly called ENIL. This profitable company dominates FM radio in India, with 31 stations that cover all the major markets and then some. In the quarter that ended January 31, revenues increased 46% from the year-earlier period.

The stock is listed on India’s Bombay Stock Exchange under the symbol 532700.BO and on India’s National Stock Exchange under the symbol ENIL. It closed April 29 at 410.20 rupees a share, or about $10.17.

Nobrega says that ENIL’s share price, like much of the India market, had been highly inflated. ENIL’s 52-week-high was about 700 rupees, or $17.32 a share. At its current price, the stock has a price to earnings ratio of 100, based on trailing twelve months earnings.

India doesn’t have a large analyst community, so earnings estimates are scant and what estimates exist are not terribly reliable. At any rate, buying ENIL isn’t a bet on short-term profits, but on Nobrega’s premise about India’s media industry and ENIL’s envious position in it.

Nobrega also suggests that investors keep an eye out for a private media company planning to go public this year. DB Corp. publishes 31 newspapers and operates 13 radio stations, with licenses to set up more stations in major cities Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi.

When will India’s market emerge from its current slump? Although India isn’t as tied to the U.S. economy as much as other Asian nations are, the U.S. credit crisis has contributed to the chill in Indian stocks, Nobrega says. However, he expects the Indian market to be “back to high growth mode again” by the fourth quarter of this year.

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Even with the weak dollar, a looming recession, the troubled housing and credit markets, and record oil prices, Nobrega has a positive outlook on the U.S. economy as a whole. Dealmakers may also find safe havens in certain markets in Brazil, India and the “big story in 2008,” China. – Baz Hiralal

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South Florida Business Journal – by Paul Brinkmann

Miami Airport Center is in receivership, following an attempt by lenders to foreclose on the 597,901-square-foot office and warehouse complex.

Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Maxine Lando appointed Andrew Hellinger, chief executive officer of Liberty Pointe Advisors, as receiver.

Judge Lando had turned over the troubled project to Liberty Pointe on April 27, after the senior lender and mezzanine lender commenced foreclosure actions against the original owners.

The Business Journal previously reported New York-based Banco Popular had filed a foreclosure lawsuit in December against the center’s owners, Tamach Airport and Carlos Gonzalez, president of Tamach Group of Coral Gables.

Banco Popular’s mortgage to Tamach Airport was last modified at $45 million in 2007. However, in February, the bank assigned the mortgage to FVP Airport, which is managed by Miami Lakes-based Miami Value Partners – the same company that recently purchased a foreclosed mortgage on a Florida City townhome project from Regions Bank.

“Miami Airport Center is among countless projects throughout Florida that have encountered difficulties in this market but may be repositioned,” Hellinger said in a press release.

Miami Airport Center is a 28-acre complex containing five one- and two-story buildings at 7500 NW 25th St. in unincorporated Miami-Dade County near Doral. It has frontage on the Palmetto Expressway.

Liberty Pointe said Hellinger has already begun to reposition and market the commercial, industrial and office space for sale or lease.

The company said it focused initial efforts on seizing control of the leasing and management operations, condominium association operations, and undertaking initial maintenance and repairs to the property.

Liberty Pointe said the center includes: 77,718 square feet of office suites; 485,396 square feet of warehouse space; dock-high rear loading, platform truck positions and street-level loading; 20-foot to 24-foot clear ceiling height; 1,075 parking spaces; zoning for industrial and manufacturing uses.

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South Florida Business Journal – by Ed Duggan

Fractured condominiums and broken townhome communities are limping onto the market in Palm Beach County, with single units and blocks offered via auctions and negotiated sales.

Sheldon Good & Co. will auction 30 condominium units at the three-tower Landmark at the Gardens in Palm Beach Gardens, on Nov. 9. According to the auctioneer, minimum bids start at $350,000 for condo units that were originally priced from $700,000. Bids for penthouse units once priced to $3.5 million now start at $700,000.

The single-unit sale has become a popular choice for sellers because buyers have been reluctant to purchase condominiums in bulk deals, according to real estate analyst Jack McCabe, CEO of Deerfield Beach-based McCabe Research & Consulting.

“Bulk condo buyers risk assuming the legal liabilities and construction warranties of the original developer if they resell seven or more units a year,” he said. “It has been a drawback, unless they can also gain control of the condominium association.”

Construction looks to start again at Talavera, a former Sterling Communities gated project of single-family homes in Lake Worth.

Coral Gables-based Liberty Pointe Advisors has been named a court-appointed receiver for the project, after Bank of America commenced foreclosure proceedings. Located at the corner of Palomino Drive and U.S. 441, the undeveloped portion of Talavera will include 29 home sites, selling for between $500,000 and $800,000.

Liberty Pointe is affiliated with Boymelgreen Developers of Florida, along with Liberty Pointe Bank and Liberty Pointe Capital, both at the same 120 Broadway address in New York.

Lynn M. Coulter, a Liberty Pointe Advisors VP, has been named project manager; Carlos Berrios is construction manager. The company said in a statement that it expected to reposition and complete the stalled project within eight months.

The remnants of two Riviera Beach townhome communities – Sonoma Bay and Marsh Harbour – are on the market with purchase bids solicited during the next three weeks.

“Response has been strong so far,” said Gerard Yetming, who, along with Robert Given, leads the selling team at CB Richard Ellis.

Coral Gables-based Cornerstone Group, a company ranked eighth in the nation for building affordable home communities, developed the two properties.

But, like many real estate developers, it has experienced problems.

South Florida Business Journal reported in May that Cornerstone had given Laguna Bay, a Naples condo conversion, back to its lender, Chicago-based Corus Bank. At the time, a source said about $50 million was owed on the partially sold project, which was later resold by Corus for $29 million to Santa Monica-based Strategic Realty Capital.

The current Cornerstone Riviera Beach projects for sale include Sonoma Bay, with 77 units of its original 302 for sale. The first 225 townhomes sold for an average of $219,964 each between 2006 and 2008.

Marsh Harbour, which covers 34.6 acres, is the second townhome community for sale, with 84 units left of its original 402. The first 318 sold at an average price of $194,500 from 2006 to 2008.

The townhomes are expected to sell to bulk buyers, as they are not in the same legal position as condominium purchasers because they are deeded in fee simple.

eduggan@bizjournals.com | (954) 949-7512

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Saturday, June 06, 2009

It sounded like the perfect community to so many people: solidly built luxury homes from a well-regarded builder, a cozy neighborhood with just 77 homes, plus great public schools and lots of shopping nearby.

Talavera sounded so great, in fact, 77 families and investors signed contracts for up to $1.5 million, selling out quickly in the real estate run-up before the bust.

But as the market began to crash, construction slowed down. Lots remained vacant. Homes that should have closed months earlier were still empty or incomplete. Just 48 of the original sales went through.

Then, after months of inactivity inside the gated community in Lake Worth and a foreclosure suit against the builder, things began turning around late last year.

Construction started again. Overgrown lots were mowed. Common areas were improved. Messy home sites were cleaned up. Since then, three homes have sold and five others are under contract.

Steady work continues at the development, and residents hope Talavera is on its way to becoming a turn-around model for foreclosed developments.

“This community was in disrepair and abandoned for nine months,” says Andrew Hellinger, CEO of Liberty Pointe Advisors, the court-appointed receiver overseeing the development. “But I really think it’s turned around.”

When Liberty Pointe Advisors took over in August 2008, it made improving the common areas – such as landscaping and the pool area – one of its priorities, Hellinger says, because they knew it would help sell the community.

“We dealt with the things that would make owners happier to live in Talavera and talk about it,” he says. “By no stretch are we done, but we’re working on it.”

They also focused first on finishing the 17 nearly complete homes in the neighborhood so they could be sold.

“We wanted to present Talavera as we thought it was originally proposed,” Hellinger says. “It’s really a little enclave of serenity, a little boutique community.”

That is how Sterling Communities, the original developer, had marketed the community, promoting the houses as “grand estate homes” and selling them on the heels of finishing nearby Cedar Creek Ranch and other high-end developments in the area.

Pre-construction started in 2004 and the company began closing on homes in 2006. But it soon became clear that progress was too slow, residents say.

Sterling blamed delayed permits, increasing costs and other problems for its six- to 18-month delays, residents say. Along the way, the company also exercised a clause in its contracts to increase prices – to the tune of $25,000 to $80,000 per home, one resident says.

(It’s a clause put in many contracts, typically used to handle small increases if the cost of materials increases, for example.)

Buyers balked at the combination of delays and price increases, just as investors ran out of cash as the economy tanked.

“The builder had a great reputation, but got caught up in hard times,” says Ken Mione, a Realtor with Prudential who is handling sales in Talavera. “Everybody had the opportunity to walk away and they did.”

Not everyone, of course.

Some, like Tony and Janet Thompson, called lawyers about getting out of their contracts. But when they learned they probably would face long, expensive and perhaps unsuccessful legal fights to get their hefty deposits back, they decided to wait it out.

Today, the Thompsons are happy residents looking forward to the future of their neighborhood, which already looks better than it used to. Landscaping is kept up along the wide, winding street. The vacant lots aren’t overgrown and the incomplete homes … well, workers are there, trying to finish up exteriors and roofs as hurricane season begins.

Buyers like the development’s small size and the homes’ custom features, Mione says.

“They feel like the value of the homes in a smaller community will turn around faster than in a larger community,” he says.

Lots are bigger than average. Most homes have lake or preserve views. As “semi-custom” homes, many luxury upgrades are standard – things such as arches, central vacuums, oversized wood trim, granite and many other features.

Prices originally ranged from $700,000 to $1.5 million for the three- to six-bedroom homes, although some pre-construction prices were lower.

But the market and the builder circumstances now make this a bargain-hunter’s dream: Take the Siena model, with four bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms, library, three-car garage and 3,414 square feet of living space.

Once priced at $887,990, a finished model is now priced at $489,000. This year’s two recorded sales in Talavera were for $500,000 each.

Despite the plummeting prices, however, many things about this community remain unchanged. It’s still in an ideal location for many, close to the turnpike, the Mall at Wellington Green and all the shopping and restaurants along State Road 7. A-rated schools are nearby: Discovery Key Elementary, Emerald Cove Middle and Palm Beach Central High.

And the amenities remain the same: security, a community basketball court, playground, clubhouse and pool, plus common-area maintenance, alarm monitoring and basic cable for $170 a month.

Residents are thrilled that things are cleaned up and homes are selling.

Says Dawn Paris, who moved in with her family last year: “We’re really excited about having our community finished up and having a full community of people who care about where they live.”

HAROLD and DAWN PARIS

THEIR HOME: 4 bedrooms, plus an office, 312 bathrooms with about 3,500 square feet along with a three-car garage and pool

WHEN THEY MOVED IN: September 2008

WHAT THEY PAID: $540,000

CURRENT VALUE (from Zillow.com): $497,000

WHY THEY LOVE IT: Dawn and Harold had been living in their dream house in a lovely golf community not far away from Talavera – and then they had a baby.

And their dream home and great neighborhood suddenly weren’t quite what they wanted anymore. There weren’t any kids or playgrounds or even any sidewalks.

So they started looking around in the many new communities in and around the Wellington area.

“Compared to a lot of the other new communities, we really loved this one,” Dawn says. “All the homes aren’t alike – in here every house has just a little bit of a different twist, different extras on the exterior so it really does make it look a little bit custom.”

Inside, they loved all the extras and upgrades. They didn’t get to choose their details but the original owners, who never moved in, made nice neutral choices, Dawn says.

“We fell in love with the house right away,” she says.

And they didn’t mind the price, of course. The original owner had paid $703,188 for the home in October 2006. Since Dawn and Harold bought, others have paid even less than the $540,000 they paid.

But Dawn says they don’t mind that some residents are paying less.

“We feel lucky that we bought for a lot less than our neighbors, and we’re just happy that someone who’s going to care about their house is going to move in and be our neighbors.”

She also loves the location, the kids in the neighborhood, the friendly neighbors and even the ranches and little bit of “horse country” down Palomino Drive from Talavera.

Asked what she likes most, however, she admits it is hard to choose one thing.

“It’s a toss-up because I really like the houses,” she says. “I like the semi-custom look, but over that I like the family atmosphere, because I think you can get a nice house anywhere.

“I like that there are kids and friendly people. I like that family-friendly small town kind of feel but still having the convenience of Wellington.”

TONY and JANET THOMPSON

THEIR HOME: 4 bedrooms, 412 bathrooms with about 3,700 square feet of living space, plus a three-car garage and a view of the preserve across the street

WHEN THEY MOVED IN: November 2006

WHAT THEY PAID: $680,000

CURRENT VALUE (from Zillow.com): $518,000

WHY THEY LOVE IT: The housing market was red-hot when Tony and Janet decided to put their Broward County home on the market and start looking around in Palm Beach County.

They first found Cedar Creek Ranch, a recently completed community also built by developer Sterling Communities, and liked the homes there. When they heard about Talavera, they were thrilled. It was small, in a great location and the homes were spacious and functional.

“We liked the aesthetics of the home,” Tony says. “We went with Talavera because it was a small, intimate community, and we knew it would end up being a close-knit community.”

Unfortunately, they’re still waiting for that to happen.

The Thompsons signed a contract for their home in March 2004, committing to pay about $645,000, which included several customizations of the floor plan that required extra deposit money. They paid Sterling a deposit of between $110,000 and $120,000, Tony says, and were told they could move in around September 2005.

But construction took ages, Tony says. Everything was delayed. The builder cited a variety of reasons: permit problems, hurricanes, worker shortage and material shortages.

Then, the builder raised prices, Tony says. Anywhere from $25,000 to $80,000 per home, depending on the price of the homes.

“To me and a lot of original homeowners in the community, that was just sheer greed,” he says.

Faced with the delays and the increases, several buyers, including the Thompsons, consulted lawyers.

“We thought about walking away,” Tony says. “We struggled with the decision.”

Ultimately, they decided to stick it out, particularly after lawyers told them they probably faced a long, expensive fight – which they might well lose – to get their deposit back.

“For us, the sizable deposit that we had with the builder made it hard to walk away from that amount of money,” says Tony, a real estate agent and IT consultant.

Finally, after 212 years, they closed on their home.

Tony feels great about the potential of his community, despite the wide disparity in price histories on homes, which could hurt resale values in the future. He lives in a comfortable, safe place for his son, and he and the other residents now look forward to getting their neighborhood back.

“It’s a beautiful community,” he says. “We’re now spending money on the aesthetics of our homes. My neighbors and myself wouldn’t do that if we didn’t think it would bounce back.”

- Elizabeth Clarke

To view the original article click here or on the image below.

As large, mass-market homeowner-insurance companies continue withdrawing from coastal areas because of the hurricane threat, a small, high-end insurer is making a push for the wealthy among these customers.

Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange, a company headquartered in Fort Lauderdale and White Plains, N.Y., recently received licenses to sell policies in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and the District of Columbia.

Founded in Florida in 2006, the company also sells policies there and in South Carolina, and has applications pending with regulators in seven eastern states.

The company currently serves about four thousand member-policyholders.

PURE’s expansion comes even as Florida state regulators announced Tuesday that a unit of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., intends to drop more than 700,000 homeowner policies there, a continuation of a trend that began several years ago after the record hurricane seasons of both 2004 and 2005.

About 20 smaller companies have started up in Florida recently to take away business from Citizen’s Property Insurance Corp., a nonprofit alternative insurer, which is currently the largest property insurer in Florida. Meanwhile, eight new companies have been licensed to sell homeowners insurance in New York since 2007.

PURE President and CEO Ross Buchmueller, who formerly was president of American International Group Inc.’s Private Client Group and an executive at Chubb Corp., says PURE is able to write competitively priced policies in high-risk areas because it specializes in large, well-built homes valued at $1 million or more, which industry data suggest have held up well in recent disasters.

PURE competes primarily with high-end insurers like AIG, Chubb and Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., as well as excess and surplus lines in the unregulated market, to cover high-value luxury and waterfront homes and various other properties in communities like the Hamptons in New York, according to Mr. Buchmueller.

Scott Edwards, 63 years old, a retired banker who owns homes in North and South Carolina, said that he switched to PURE insurance in 2008 from an excess and surplus lines insurer for his retirement home near Georgetown, S.C., on the recommendation of his insurance agent.

He said that he initially paid about $7,000 in annual premiums to insure the newly built 4,000-square-foot home with wind- and flood-resistant construction and a replacement cost of more than $1 million.

But in 2006, after Hurricane Katrina, his premium doubled to $14,000.

Since switching to PURE, he said his premium is back to $7,000 again and he has a substantially lower deductible for windstorm damage.

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Friday, March 28, 2008

South Florida Business Journal – by Ed Duggan

A Coral Gables anesthesiologist’s office is the unlikely birthplace of the high-tech Demron, called the first protective material developed to defend against radiation, chemical and biological agents.

It is now being manufactured in a Medley facility into first-responder body suits, tactical vests, suppression blankets and tents.

“Demron has done exceptionally well for us,” said Jonathan Elkoubi, GM of Safer America, a New York-based firm specializing in homeland security and personal protection products. His company offers an adult radiation kit, including full Demron body suit, gas mask and filter, gloves, booties and tape for $1,845.

The idea started as a form of self-protection from X-rays that Dr. Ronald F. DeMeo, an interventional pain medicine specialist, used for treating patients with chronic skeletal pain.

At that time, a heavy, shrouded lead vest with matching gloves and goggles was deemed best practice for physician protection. DeMeo found it uncomfortable and inconvenient, and questioned its reliability over time.

His answer – after years of outsourced research, trial and error – was a lightweight polymer composite, cool to the touch and similar in appearance and weight to a velvety inner tube material. The material is a sandwich of woven and non-woven materials comprising polyurethane, polyvinylchloride and a mixture of high-atomic-number salt particles that either absorb or disburse radiation as the sandwich filling.

It has been successfully tested to block gamma rays and X-rays, as well as other nuclear emissions, by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, an applied science laboratory that is part of the National Nuclear Security Administration within the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

“It started out as an idea in 1998, and developed into five issued patents with 250 claims over time,” DeMeo said.

He put in $1 million as startup capital and raised another $1 million from 16 investors in a private placement. By 2002, his company, Radiation Shield Technologies, was registered as a corporation and began beta- and field-testing Demron products for the next three years to prove their efficacy against radiation, chemical and biological hazards.

The first products made with Demron – a word DeMeo coined as a compilation of his name – hit the market in late 2005. Revenue for 2006 was “under $1 million.” For 2007 it was “over $1 million,” and DeMeo said he is looking for $15 million to $16 million in 2008.

“We have a lot of contracts pending and we’re finally making some money,” he said.

A NATO-funded contract for 250 first-responder suits is currently being filled for Belarus, a former Soviet Union state that is now independent. National Guard units in Michigan, Colorado and Texas are also customers.

Safer America’s Elkoubi said he expects the Demron suit will become the industry standard within the next three years as it becomes better known.

“The [Demron suit] price is much cheaper than just a Level B first responder’s chemical protection suit,” he said. “And this is a suit that protects three ways.”

To get bigger than $16 million in annual sales would require additional equipment and an increase in manpower from the current 20 employees in Medley. DeMeo said he is already planning for it.

“We are in an exclusive niche and we have the luxury of doing a joint-venture with a public company, raising additional money on our own or a master licensing agreement,” he said. “Our growth has been truly amazing.”

RADIATION SHIELD TECHNOLOGIES

President/CEO: Dr. Ronald F. DeMeo
Web site: www.radshield.com
Address: 1825 Ponce De Leon Blvd., Suite 456, Coral Gables 33134
Phone: (866) 733-6766
E-mail: rdemeo@radshield.com

SAFER AMERICA

GM: Jonathan Elkoubi
Web site: www.saferamerica.com
Address: 226 E. 54th St., Suite 502, New York 10022
Phone: (866) 723-3799
E-mail: jonathan@saferamerica.com

eduggan@bizjournals.com | (954) 949-7512

To view the original article click here.

A Hong Kong developer is getting ready for a U.S. road show to raise $1 billion to buy distressed apartment buildings in China, but the company’s fund-raising team appears pessimistic about its chances here.

“I’m becoming a bit jaded on Americans, and a little bit hung up,” says William Nobrega, a Conrad Group managing partner advising Hong-Kong based Canada Land Ltd. on its fund-raising efforts for its CDL China Real Estate Opportunity Fund LP. Asian and European institutional investors are bullish on Chinese real estate, Mr. Nobrega says, but not so for their U.S. counterparts. “In many cases, what we have found is that many American investors have pulled out of the Asian market.”

CDL has already raised $220 million, Mr. Nobrega says, mostly from big investors in other countries. In the U.S., CDL will face a tough audience. Cash-strapped pension funds and college endowments are dialing down their exposure to real-estate risk in the midst of a disastrous year for commercial-property investments. Just three Americans attended a CDL-sponsored property conference in Singapore recently, Mr. Nobrega said.

To view the original article click here.

To view the original article, click here or on the image below.

White Plains, New York-based Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE) said it has received approval from the State of Connecticut Insurance Department sell homeowners’ insurance and other personal lines of insurance coverage throughout the state, including its coastal communities.

The company, which caters to high net worth individuals, said it plans to begin writing policies in early 2009. In addition to high value homeowners’ insurance coverage, the specialty insurer provides automobile, jewelry, art, personal liability and watercraft coverage.

PURE said it plans to begin appointing local independent insurance agents to help enroll members.

“PURE is proud to offer our customized insurance coverage and personalized service for successful families in Connecticut,” said Ross Buchmueller, president and chief executive officer of PURE Risk Management. “We recognize the challenges of insuring coastal properties, including some homes of the highest values. By managing the company for the benefit of policyholders – not shareholders – we can provide high-quality coverage at very reasonable prices backed by excellent financial strength.”

gtasker@MiamiHerald.com

To view the original Miami Herald article, please click here or on the image below.

BY ERIKA CAPEK
ecapek@MiamiHerald.com

To view the original Miami Herald article, click here or on the image below.

NBC South Florida Today showcases Fairchild Challenge students and their research projects.

By Zoe Hughes

Chinese development firm, Canada Land, is raising a $1 billion opportunity fund to target distressed residential assets in Greater China.

The Hong Kong-based firm said the closed-ended CDL China Real Estate Opportunity Fund was expected to hold a first close around June, with a final close expected in August.

The fund will primarily focus on residential multifamily assets, with around 40 percent of the vehicle targeting commercial and mixed-use opportunities in cities such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Macau and Guangzhou. It will also look to second tier cities across Greater China.

In an unusal move, the firm has told investors it will consider liquidating part of the fund in an IPO after the second or third years, provided the Chinese real estate market warranted such a move. “This would create liquidity for LPs as opposed to them being tied up for the full five or seven years. We think that’s a pretty interesting option for investors to consider,” Nobrega added.

William Nobrega, managing partner of the Conrad Group, which is advising the CDL fund, told PERE the seven-year fund, which is targeting IRRs of around 22 percent, was also focused on the “long-term fundamentals” of the Chinese economy, particularly the expected growth in domestic consumption.

Dr. William Yip, chairman of Canada Land and author of books such as Riding South on a Crane and Doing Business in China, said in a statement the current economic downturn had “set the stage for one of the most lucrative investment opportunities in recent years and in the history of Chinese real estate”.

However, he added that demand for residential housing would rise in the future, not least given current China’s housing shortfall of almost seven million homes.

Canada Land is expecting to launch other property funds in the future.

HONG KONG-Canada Land Ltd., a publicly traded Chinese real estate development company, will create a fund to focus primarily on distressed assets throughout China. The fund, CDL China Real Estate Opportunity Fund, is being headed by CDL chairman William Yip.

William Nobrega, managing partner of the Conrad Group, an advisor of CDL, tells GlobeSt.com that the fund is expected to total $1 billion. “The fund will use leverage so that the actual investment capability of the fund will be larger than the fund capital,” he says.

“The current global economic downturn and numerous fundamentals have set the stage for one of the most lucrative investment opportunities in recent years and in the history of Chinese real estate,” says Yip. “We believe that capitalizing on the current correction in Chinese real estate requires extensive market analysis and due diligence as well as a focus on quality over quantity, an investment strategy that’s weighted toward multi-family, multi-tier residential developments, and an ability to leverage strong relationships with Chinese government authorities and the local real estate community.”

The CDL Fund will focus primarily on “mid-tier multifamily residential developments but will also look consider mixed-use and commercial developments,” Nobrega says. Areas of the country they plan to focus on will be Tier I and Tier II cities in the Pearl River basin. This includes cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Macau and Hong Kong.

By the end of Q3, the fund should close; giving CDL the chance to begin investing toward the end of the third quarter and certainly by the beginning of the fourth quarter of this year, Nobrega says.

“Based on CDL’s proven history of success in the Chinese real estate market as well as our alliances with other highly esteemed experts worldwide, our team is exceptionally well-positioned to leverage the opportunities emerging in Chinese real estate,” Yip says.

MIAMI–(EON: Enhanced Online News)–Consistently good food and drinks combined with chic crowds in a relaxed atmosphere have made 11-year-old Balans restaurant a star of Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road scene, and today owner Prady Balan announced his new Brickell hotspot at 901 South Miami Avenue will introduce that winning recipe to downtown Miami.

Following the tradition begun 15 years ago when the first Balans restaurant opened on London’s Compton Street, the new Brickell venue will cater to its surrounding neighborhood in Miami’s business and financial district by offering executive lunches, happy hour drink specials, extended evening hours, customer-loyalty discount programs and other perks to pique the local community’s interest. This Thanksgiving, both restaurant locations will offer a special that includes choice of an appetizer, turkey dinner with roast ham and all the fixings, pecan pie for dessert and a bottle of house chardonnay or cabernet, for $50 per couple.

Split between a minimalist-mod interior created by designer Lisa Halloran and a happening street-side patio at the new Mary Brickell Village, the latest restaurant in Miami’s trendy dining and entertainment complex serves up to 200 at breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. Business lunch specials are available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays, and happy hour drink specials are available every day from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. with two-for-one cocktails, half-price beer and wine by the glass. Hours are extended until 5 a.m. Thursday through Saturday with a late-night chill-out lounge scene with food and full bar facilities – making Balans the top spot for downtown night owls. Quick seating and efficient service, for which the Balans restaurants are known, will carry through to the Brickell location. Valet and self-parking are available.

Created by London-based executive chef Crispin Chetwyn and supervised by resident chef Paula Pirichinsky, the ample menu of appetizers, sandwiches, salads, pastas, and entrées is an eclectic mix of comfort food (spaghetti with meatballs, ribeye steak, flourless chocolate-pecan brownie) and the more exotic (pumpkin mascarpone tortellini, tilapia channa masala, Thai red curry); an occasional “Miami touch” is lent by dessert and breakfast/brunch items incorporating dulce de leche. A boon in a time of tightened budgets, prices are moderate, with appetizers around $8, pastas $13 to $17, and most entrées in the $12 to $23 range. An early bird special knocks $2 off all entrées 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, excluding holidays and special events.

Meanwhile, the acclaimed cocktail list, designed by mixologist Milo Rodriguez, includes creative concoctions such as lychee champagne, açai & pear caipiroska, and – in a tip of the bowler to the restaurant’s London origins – Pimms Royale and the “British Bramble” (Bombay Sapphire with crème de cassis and fresh lemon). A two-for-one happy hour is offered from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays.

“I’m excited to introduce our restaurant concept to a broader audience in Miami outside of South Beach,” Balan says. “We aim to serve as an extension of people’s dining rooms, where they can come to enjoy good food several times a week and enjoy breakfast in the morning, an executive lunch at midday, and a delicious dinner in a cool setting at night.” He means it, too, encouraging people to linger with perks such as complimentary Wi-Fi.

Balan says he’s so committed to Miami that he’s following this expansion by opening another Balans restaurant, with 400 seats, in mid-2009 in the heart of Miami’s trendy Upper East Side, at Biscayne Boulevard and N.E. 67th Street.

About Balans Restaurant Group

Balans Restaurant Group, founded in 1993 by Anglo-Indian entrepreneur Prady Balan on Old Compton Street in London’s Soho neighborhood, currently includes five stylish locations in Britain’s capital, as well as South Beach’s Lincoln Road and downtown Miami’s Mary Brickell Village, with a third South Florida location slated to open in mid 2009. Aiming to serve as an extension of their locals’ dining rooms, all locations emphasize fresh, simple comfort foods with exotic touches. For more information, call (305) 534-9191 or visit www.balans.co.uk.

Editor’s Notes: To schedule a media interview or restaurant visit, call 727.644.5010 or send an e-mail to jeannie@roarmedia.com.

Copies of the menu and photographs are available upon request.

For Balans Restaurant Group
Roar Media
Jolie Balido, 305-586-0419
jolie@roarmedia.com
or
Jeannie Salameh, 727-644-5010
jeannie@roarmedia.com
www.roarmedia.com

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – March 31, 2009 – Ross Buchmueller, president and chief executive officer with PURE Risk Management LLC, today announced the expansion of Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE) to offer comprehensive, customized property and casualty insurance coverage for owners of high-value homes in New York.  The specialty insurer is rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best, a leading independent insurance ratings agency.

In addition to homeowners’ insurance, PURE provides automobile, jewelry, art, personal excess liability and watercraft coverage tailored to fit the unique needs of its members (policyholders). PURE is an admitted insurance company whose products and prices are regulated by the New York State Insurance Department.

“PURE recognizes that homeowners today are seeking smarter financial alternatives and access to the right insurance coverage, and as a specialist insurer that carefully selects its members and runs the company for its members’ benefit, PURE can meet those needs and provide significant insurance savings, higher quality coverage and superior service,” said Buchmueller, who founded AIG Private Client Group and served as its president until 2006 when he and his partners established PURE. “By providing customized coverage options and not imposing mandatory hurricane deductibles, PURE will provide cost-effective flexibility not easily found in today’s New York insurance market.”

Added Buchmueller: “We’re delighted to welcome New Yorkers to PURE’s membership, and we expect our strategy for providing superior coverage will appeal to owners of high-value homes, particularly in New York’s downstate counties and especially in Long Island. We look forward to continuing our expansion to serve other parts of the U.S.”

Compared with New York’s largest insurer of high-valued homes, PURE expects to provide New Yorkers with savings of 25% or more. In 2007, PURE’s members in Florida reported average savings of $4,700 on their annual insurance premiums.  In 2008, when the company expanded to South Carolina, its members in that market reported average annual savings of $2,700. PURE earned its reputation by selectively providing insurance, including windstorm coverage, for several thousand Florida families and individuals who had taken significant steps to protect their million- dollar homes from hurricane damage.  The company has grown to become a market leader for insuring large, well-built homes in such communities as Hilton Head Island and Kiawah, S.C.

PURE provides significant insurance benefits not offered by other providers. Highlights include:

• In response to a growing trend of people storing more cash at home, PURE has increased to $10,000 the coverage available for money that’s stolen from a home safe.
• Unlike other insurers, in addition to covering the costs to repair or replace damaged property, PURE will contribute up to $2,500 to help prevent large losses from recurring and to control the long-term cost of risk. For example, if a lightning strike causes an electrical surge and damages electrical appliances valued at $10,000 or more, PURE may cover the replacement of the appliances and install a lightning-suppression system to help prevent similar incidents.
• PURE will insure luxury condominium and cooperative units in New York City with personal property limits of $1 million or greater. PURE will pay up to $25,000 for damage caused to a neighboring unit, even if the PURE member is not legally liable.

Other unique features that have attracted members include:

• Flexible coverage limits and options for deductibles
• PURE will cover the cost to rebuild or replace damaged property with environmentally friendly materials or appliances.

“We are excited for the opportunity to introduce PURE’s unique solutions to families on the East End, and we believe our clients will love the idea of an insurer with excellent financial strength that manages its business for the benefit of its policyholders,” said Chris McDonald, a principal with Amaden Gay Agencies in East Hampton, N.Y., an independent insurance agency that specializes in personal insurance for high-net-worth individuals and families.

As a reciprocal insurance exchange, PURE is member-owned.  Members pay a surplus contribution of 10% of their high-value homeowners’ premium and 4% of their premium for all other policies, for each of the first five years of membership.  PURE and the PURE Group of Insurance Companies serve more than 3,200 members who enjoy the security of approximately $100 million of surplus capital, fueled in part by these contributions.  PURE has been awarded licenses in New Jersey and Connecticut and will soon begin accepting new members in those states.

About PURE

PURE refers to Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange, a member insurer of the PURE Group of Insurance Companies.  Licensed in six states, PURE provides coverage for high-valued homes, automobiles, jewelry, art, personal liability and watercraft to successful individuals and families. PURE is a member-owned reciprocal insurer and has been rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best. PURE is committed to helping its members reduce the price of insurance today while controlling the long-term cost of risk. PURE Risk Management LLC serves as the attorney-in-fact for PURE. For more information, visit www.purehnw.com.

###

Editor’s Note:   Interviews with PURE’s executives and policyholders available upon request

Policyholder surplus estimates as of 12/31/2008

Annual premium savings based on all members who reported prior carrier premium

This material is descriptive only. The precise coverage offered is subject to the terms and conditions of the policies issued. The rights and responsibilities of members are subject to the Subscriber’s Agreement and Power of Attorney. Coverage may not be available in all

SINGAPORE – June 16, 2009 – Dr. William Yip, managing director of the CDL China Real Estate Opportunity Fund L.P. (CDLF), today announced CDLF’s sponsorship of the Real Estate Investment World Asia (REIW) 2009 conference and its June road show.

REIW takes place June 23-24 at the Raffles City Convention Center in Singapore. There, Dr. Yip will participate in a panel discussion at 2 p.m. June 24 titled, “Country Chronicles: Exploring Direct and Distressed Real Estate Investment Opportunities.” CDLF’s road show for potential investors, which kicks off June 22-25 in Singapore, includes Hong Kong (June 26-29) and Shanghai (June 30-July 2).

CDLF invests in distressed Chinese real estate and other real estate opportunities in Greater China. The Fund, with a $1 billion target size, leverages a seasoned group of more than 400 professionals in Greater China and global real estate and finance partners. More information about CDLF is available at www.cdlchinafund.com.

“The global economic downturn and numerous fundamentals have set the stage for one of the most lucrative investment opportunities in the history of Chinese real estate,” said Dr. Yip, chairman of Canada Land Limited (ASX: CDL) and a world-renowned author and international businessman known in academic and business circles as an authority. “Capitalizing on the current correction in Chinese real estate requires extensive market analysis, due diligence, focus on quality over quantity, an investment strategy that’s weighted toward multi-family, multi-tier residential developments, and an ability to leverage strong relationships with Chinese government authorities and the local real estate community.

“Based on CDL’s success in Chinese real estate and our alliances with other highly esteemed experts worldwide, our team is exceptionally well-positioned to leverage the emerging opportunities in Chinese real estate.”

Canada Land Limited, established in 1972 by Dr. Yip, is a publicly traded Chinese real estate development firm with headquarters in Hong Kong and successful real estate operations in the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong and mainland China.

###

CDL intends to develop investment funds in the future that will seek to exploit the current correction in the Greater China real estate market in order to achieve maximum long-term gains.

“The current global economic downturn and numerous fundamentals have set the stage for one of the most lucrative investment opportunities in recent years and in the history of Chinese real estate,” said Dr. Yip, chairman of the fund and a world-renowned author and international businessman known in academic and business circles as an authority. “We believe that capitalizing on the current correction in Chinese real estate requires extensive market analysis and due diligence as well as a focus on quality over quantity, an investment strategy that’s weighted toward multi-family, multi-tier residential developments, and an ability to leverage strong relationships with Chinese government authorities and the local real estate community. To that end, we will work with a group of seasoned investment professionals and our preferred real estate services provider, Colliers International.”

“Based on CDL’s proven history of success in the Chinese real estate market as well as our alliances with other highly esteemed experts worldwide, our team is exceptionally well-positioned to leverage the opportunities emerging in Chinese real estate.”

Dr. Yip, who also is director of Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited (HKSE: 0027) and
K. Wah International Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0173), cited numerous reasons for China’s real estate investment appeal, including:

• The Chinese government, recognizing that economic growth has previously been overly weighted toward exports, is now shifting the economy to a more balanced growth model with heavier emphasis on domestic consumption. Backed by more than $2 trillion USD in foreign currency reserves and very little debt, the Chinese government already has fired the first salvo with a $585 billion USD infrastructure stimulus package equal to 20% of total GDP in 2008.
• Chinese banks, which require 30% or more in equity (cash) for all mortgages, do not have the exposure to subprime loans and toxic debt that have afflicted other markets.
• Demand for housing in China far exceeds supply, with an estimated shortfall of 6.8 million units.
• China is an emerging economy with an industrious population that maintains some of the world’s highest rates of personal savings, and home ownership is highly esteemed.

A frequent author on the subject of international real estate investment and development, Dr. Yip is widely recognized as a leading expert on the Chinese real estate market. In addition to publishing a broad array of business articles in the Hong Kong and international news media, Dr. Yip published the book Riding South on a Crane (China Books, 2005) and co-authored Doing Business in China (McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1995), which is currently used as a textbook in several master of business administration (MBA) programs.

About Canada Land Limited (ASX: CDL)
Canada Land Limited (ASX: CDL), established in 1972 by Dr. William Yip, is a publicly traded Chinese real estate development firm with headquarters in Hong Kong and a successful history of real estate operations in the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong and mainland China. CDL has been known for its broad range of projects throughout Southern China, especially in and around Hong Kong and the city of Guangzhou (Canton), where it is one of the city’s largest developers. Its best-known project is the Wong Tai Sin temple tourist complex in Guangzhou, which was completed in 1999. More information is available at www.cdlchinafund.com.

###
Editor’s Note: Interviews may be coordinated upon request

Balans restaurant, which has been an anchor on the west side of Lincoln Road Mall since 1997, five weeks ago opened its’ second South Florida location in Mary Brickell Village (there are five London brances as well). The interior is modern and minimalist, with outdoor tables spread upon the Village patio. Anglo-Indian proprietor Prady Balan tells Short Order the new Balans menu is “pretty much the same” as the one in South Beach, although the downtown venue dictates that this one cater to the executive lunch crowd — business lunch specials run weekdays from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Another distinguishing factor for the new Balans is that it hosts a late night lounge scene with DJ and full bill of fare until 5:00 a.m. every Thursday through Saturday. “At 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning, some people want breakfast, others want burgers, some want pasta.” Still, the late night menu will get whittled down once they see how the public responds. As Prady puts it, “At the end of the day, the business is very much dictated by the customers.”

Apparently customers have dictated that they want deals. Weekdays, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m, brings two-for-one cocktails, half-price beer and wine by the glass, and $2 off all entrees (price range: appetizers around $8, pastas $13 to $17, and most main courses $12 to $23).

A third local Balans will be opening “sometime in June” at Biscayne Boulevard and N.E. 67th Street. The moderately priced comfort food concept will remain the same, but Prady promises a decor that is “going to be completely different to what Brickell or Lincoln Road looks like.”

Created by London-based executive chef Crispin Chetwyn and supervised by chef Paula Pirichinsky, the menu offers comfort food (spaghetti with meatballs, rib-eye steak, flourless chocoloate-pecan brownie) as well as international flavors (pumpkin marscapone tortellini, tilapia channa masala, Thai red curry).

Appetizers are about $8, pastas $13-$17 and entrees $12-$23 range, with a $2-off deal on entrees ordered between 3 and 7 p.m. Happy hour specials — two-for-one cocktails and half-price beer and wine by the glass — are available from 3 to 7 p.m. daily; 305-534-9191, www.balans.co.uk.

Balans restaurant, which has been an anchor on the west side of Lincoln Road Mall since 1997, five weeks ago opened its’ second South Florida location in Mary Brickell Village (there are five London branches as well). The interior is modern and minimalist, with outdoor tables spread upon the VIllage patio. Anglo-Indian proprietor Prady Balan tells Short Order the new Balans menu is “pretty much the same” as the one in South Beach, although the downtown venue dictates that this one cater to the executive lunch crowd — business lunch specials run weekdays from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Another distinguishing factor for the new Balans is that it hosts a late night lounge scene with DJ and full bill of fare until 5:00 a.m. every Thursday through Saturday. “At 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning, some people want breakfast, others want burgers, some want pasta.” Still, the late night menu will get whittled down once they see how the public responds. As Prady puts it, “At the end of the day, the business is very much dictated by the customers.”

Apparently customers have dictated that they want deals. Weekdays, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m, brings two-for-one cocktails, half-price beer and wine by the glass, and $2 off all entrees (price range:appetizers around $8, pastas $13 to $17, and most main courses $12 to $23).

A third local Balans will be opening “sometime in June” at Biscayne Boulevard and N.E. 67th Street. The moderately priced comfort food concept will remain the same, but Prady promises a decor that is “going to be completely different to what Brickell or Lincoln Road looks like”

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May 21 (Bloomberg) — William Yip, chairman of Canada Land Ltd. and managing director of the CDL China Real Estate Opportunity Fund, talks with Bloomberg’s Bernard Lo about Yip’s investment strategy for Chinese real estate.

Yip, speaking in Hong Kong, also discusses the impact of government stimulus measures on China’s property market and his development plans. (Source: Bloomberg)

Please visit CDL China Fund to view the original news clip.

By William Yip and William Nobrega

Please visit CDL China Fund or Business Week to view the original article.

A well-known Chinese curse, loosely translated, says: “May you live in interesting times.” Indeed, China and the rest of the world are living in interesting times. For China, the music stopped when the U.S. financial system collapsed, bringing America’s domestic consumption to a virtual standstill. China, which had become far too dependent on exports to fuel robust economic growth, found itself heading over a cliff as exports came to a screeching halt.

The impact that the collapse in exports has had on the Chinese economy cannot be overstated. In the past six months, thousands of factories, including more than 4,000 toy manufacturers, have been shuttered. Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong have plunged more than 60% from their peak in October 2007. Approximately 20 million migrant workers have lost their jobs, and while there are signs the Chinese government’s stimulus package is helping prop up the economy, Chinese leaders will count themselves lucky if China manages to achieve their 8% GDP growth target this year.

At the epicenter of this economic downturn is China’s real estate market, which experienced unprecedented growth during the past eight years. Cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Beijing were awash in a sea of cranes and high-rise building construction. Growing exports fueled an influx of workers from the interior to areas like the Pearl River basin, and with them came increasing wealth and a demand for housing, offices, and shopping centers.

That boom has now turned into bust as aspiring homeowners retrench, canceling contracts for new apartments or, in many cases, demanding a reduced purchase price for apartments that they have already committed to buy. The situation is even bleaker in the commercial sector, as speculative building ran into the harsh realities of a global economic meltdown. The numbers speak for themselves as thousands of projects have been halted or canceled and real estate prices have already dropped by 30% to 40% in many cities.

ENCOURAGING SIGNS
As the saying goes, though, “whenever there is a risk, there is an opportunity.” So the stage is set for what may be the most opportunistic point in the history of Chinese real estate. While the correction in the Chinese real estate market may not be over, numerous fundamental issues will create one of the most lucrative investment opportunities that we have seen in recent times.

First, the Chinese government recognizes the fact that economic growth was overly weighted to exports and the government is now in the process of reorienting the economy to a more balanced growth model that has a heavier weighting on domestic consumption. While this task will not be easy, the Chinese government is well-equipped for the challenge with more than $2 trillion in foreign currency reserves and very little debt. The Chinese government has already fired the first salvo with a $585 billion infrastructure stimulus package, equal to 20% of total GDP in 2008. That stimulus package includes massive investments in roads, mass transit, bridges, nuclear power plants, education, and health care.

Second, Chinese banks do not have the exposure to subprime loans and toxic debt that other markets have. In fact, the exact opposite is true as Chinese banks typically demand a 30% down payment for residential property and up to 50% for commercial property. Additionally, asset-backed securities are still in their infancy, and the concept of debt is still regarded as a negative by Chinese society in general.

Third, the demand for housing in China far outstrips supply with an estimated shortfall of 6.8 million units. This stands in stark contrast to the U.S., where 20 million homes stand empty.

Finally, China is an emerging economy with an extremely industrious population that maintains some of the highest personal savings rates in the world. The Chinese economy and society is rapidly evolving from one that favored large state-owned enterprises with semi-skilled manufacturing processes to one that favors entrepreneurs and promotes highly skilled, sophisticated manufacturing and design processes. This will serve to create a much higher per capita income contribution going forward, which will have a significant impact on future GDP growth. So, while the Chinese economy may struggle this year, it will most undoubtedly pick up steam and head strongly into 2010.

LOCAL RELATIONSHIPS ARE KEY
So how can you capitalize on the current correction in Chinese real estate? Based on our experience in the Chinese real estate market, we know that success will require focusing on quality over quantity. Just as important, the investment strategy must be more heavily weighted toward multifamily, mid-tier residential developments as opposed to commercial. Moreover, acquiring bankrupt developers is not an option in China, as the court system does not lend itself to simple dispositions of property. A well-capitalized fund or investor must leverage strong relationships within the Chinese real estate community that respects the need to save face.

Additionally, history has shown that a successful investor or fund manager must have strong relationships with local and national governmental authorities, as these are critical to getting deals done. It’s also important to conduct rigorous market analysis and due diligence on the target investments. This entails finding a strong and reputable real estate service provider. Finally, patience and persistence are essential.

The music may have stopped for the moment in China but, that said, some of the most attractive dance partners have yet to arrive at the party. The challenge, of course, is to ensure that investors do not miss the unique opportunity.

Dr. William Yip, is chairman of Canada Land Limited (CDL), a Chinese real estate development firm publicly traded on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX: CDL), and managing director of the CDL China Real Estate Opportunity Fund (CDLF), created to invest in distressed real estate and other unique real estate opportunities in the Greater China region. He also is director of Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited (HKSE: 0027) and K. Wah International Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0173). William Nobrega, an adviser to CDLF, is managing partner and founder of The Conrad Group, an emerging-market investment advisory and mergers-and-acquisitions facilitation firm with more than 115 consultants worldwide.

Soon after Danie Beck and her husband bought their two-story town house west of
Miami in the summer of 2006, she thought an animal had died somewhere behind the walls. The strong sulfurous odor lingered, she says, and she began having dizzy spells that would keep her in bed for days. She began suffering from insomnia and sore, swollen joints. The house, too, appeared to be ailing: lights began blinking on and off, and Beck noticed discoloration of her wood furniture. The air conditioner, an indispensable appliance in South Florida, kept conking out. “It was an absolute nightmare,” the 67-year-old dance teacher says. “I felt as if something in this house was hammering me into the ground every day.”

It wasn’t until her repairman got fed up with fixing inexplicably corroded air-conditioner coils that Beck finally discovered what she and her home builder suspect is the source of the poltergeist: the Chinese drywall inside the house. Beck is among hundreds of homeowners in Florida alleging that toxic levels of chemical pollutants like sulfur are issuing from contaminated drywall made in some Chinese factories. At least four class actions have been filed in Florida; others have been filed in California, Louisiana and Alabama. (See pictures of China’s electronic-waste village.)

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating the complaints. If the drywall proves to be the culprit, plaintiffs’ attorneys say tens of thousands of potentially affected homes could see a further drop in prices already hammered by the credit crisis.

“A lot of these people are just getting hit over the head a second time,” says David Durkee, a Miami attorney who has filed one of the suits. “This could have a further impact on the mortgage crisis by giving overwhelmed homeowners another incentive to just walk away from their houses.”

During the heady but reckless days of the recent U.S. housing-construction boom, builders were desperate for materials, and drywall was especially in demand. Before 2005, drywall imports to the U.S. from China were negligible; since 2006, more than 550 million lb. of it has been shipped here, mostly to Florida. The imports amount to a fraction of the 15 million tons of drywall produced domestically each year, but it was used to build more than 60,000 homes in at least a dozen states – including some post-Katrina reconstruction in Louisiana.

More than half the homes built with Chinese drywall are in Florida. Some of the suits there target construction companies; others include German drywall manufacturer Knauf and its Chinese subsidiaries – which are in turn being sued by at least one Florida home builder, Lennar Corp. Miami-based Lennar, which is also suing the U.S. suppliers from which it bought the Chinese drywall, has confronted the problem and initiated a program to do inspections and remove the offending wallboard in many homes, including Beck’s. (The process usually involves moving a family out of the house for at least six months to replace its interior.) Another lawsuit defendant, Engle Homes, based in Hollywood, Fla., has also admitted that the drywall problem exists in at least a small number of its homes. In a statement about houses near Fort Myers, Fla., that are part of Durkee’s suit, the company says, “Our initial findings tell us that that this seems to be an isolated incident that has affected a small number of Engle Homes in the Fort Myers, Fla., area and we are currently developing a plan to assist our affected homeowners.”

Drywall is made from gypsum, a soft mineral, that is pressed between thick paperboard. Plaintiffs’ attorneys say the allegedly toxic drywall material probably originated in at least one gypsum mine in China and possibly others. (A few years ago, Knauf and other drywall producers received complaints about a mine in Tianjin, China; Knauf says it stopped using the mine toward the end of 2006.) But Knauf denies that its product is toxic and argues it is not the only supplier of Chinese-made drywall to the U.S. Contacted by TIME, the company referred to a statement by its subsidiary, Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Ltd.: “Any low levels of sulfur compounds present in the air in homes are not a health risk … The substances identified in testing are in no greater amounts than [in] the air found outside homes or in soil, marshes or the oceans.”

The Florida Department of Health has not yet concluded its own tests of the drywall in question. But Beck and other homeowners insist the common symptoms suffered by the Chinese-drywalled houses and their occupants can’t be mere coincidence. The problem came to light last year as those homeowners began commiserating on the Internet about rotten-egg smells in their houses and rashes of nosebleeds and other ailments. At the same time, exasperated air-conditioner repairmen began complaining to builders about copper-coil corrosion in newly built houses. The air-conditioning
companies concluded it was caused by high levels of airborne sulfur and moldy toxins. Wires in outlets, appliances and lamps were going bad too, as was wood. That in turn raised red flags for consumer-protection groups, already alarmed in recent years by the flood of defective Chinese-made products like toothpaste and toys.

Depending on how many homes ultimately prove to be contaminated, the repair costs – Beck says Lennar promised to tear her house down “to the studs” – could run into the tens of millions for builders. And that does not include the unspecified damages sought in the lawsuits. One problem plaintiffs face, however, is that many of the builders being sued have gone bankrupt in the recent housing bust. And even if homes are repaired, they may still carry the taint of having been drywall victims. Beck paid $344,000 for her town house; it is now worth $245,000 – less than the amount owed on her mortgage. And she worries that she may not be able to sell it at some point in the future even after Lennar fixes the drywall problem. “I’ll admit there are moments when I’m tempted to ask Lennar to just buy the house back,” says Beck, whose husband died last year of cancer. (His illness was not related to the drywall.)

Beck’s fortunes have taken a pummeling in recent years. She and her husband bought the town house after an arson fire destroyed the Miami home they had lived in for 39 years. And she has become accustomed to seeing its value jeopardized by the threat of hurricanes and by Wall Street malfeasance. But she wasn’t expecting any trouble from China.

Please visit ChineseDrywallProblem.com to view the original TIME article.

Please visit the original source, ChineseDrywallProblem.com, for more information.

When we use exercise equipment at the gym, little pictures tell us which muscles in our body we’ll be working, like our biceps, triceps or quads. But now there’s a program that does the same thing for the brain, and one expert says it’s changed his life.

Click here to view the NeuroActive Complete Brain Training Web site.

Many of us focus on working out our body, but what about our brain. Experts
say getting that going is key to your overall health. Now a new machine
is hitting South Florida gyms, the only place right now in the country.
And it promises to stimulate those brain cells.

It’s the normal equipment in the Lady of America gym in Jupiter. But this bike is not so typical.

“I think its the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. It is so much fun,” said gym-goer, Dee Hunt.

It’s called the NeuroActive bike. The machine was engineered by Dr. Stephan Bergeron, president of Brain Center America.

Not only does the bike give your body a workout, it also works out your brain. It has a total of 22 different exercises.

Dr. Bergeron developed the machine after hearing claims that there
just isn’t enough time in the day to do the brain exercises, pioneered
through the BCA. Workouts that the doctor says is so important.

“Exercising your brain has the same benefits as exercising your
body. It keeps it more youthful, it keeps it more dynamic and it boosts
its performance, said Dr. Bergeron.

The exercises, which include matching and remembering sequences, work different parts of the brain.

“You look down at the time to see how long you’ve been on it and
you’re like wow, I feel like I’ve been on it for five minutes, but I’ve
been on here for 20 minutes,” said personal trainer at Lady of America,
Christina Nasuti.

And on the bike the exercises are more beneficial, since you’re pumping more blood and oxygen to the brain.

“I need that, you know. You worry about the brain going before the body does and I don’t want that to happen,” said Hunt.

Dr. Bergeron says it only takes 20 minutes a day, three days a week. And some already can’t live without it.

“I wish I could take it home with me,” said Hunt.

There are three Lady of America gyms in South Florida that have the
NueroActive bike. Again, it’s the only place in the country right now.
Dr. Bergeron says eventually more areas will have the bikes.

JUPITER, FL–How would you like to exercise and have fun, save time…and improve not only your body, but your mind, too?

Now, there’s a way to work up a sweat and exercise your brain. Introducing the ‘Brain Bike.’

Amy Murphy has always kept her body fit.

“Active in running and cycling and that kind of thing,” Amy explains. Now, she’s focusing on keeping her mind fit. “I notice the older I get, my memory is kind of going.”

Amy is staying fit, both physically and mentally with the neuro bike-a recumbent bicycle set up with a computer screen that is programmed with all kinds of brain games.

Dr. Stephane Bergeron helped develop the neuro bike. New to the market, this bike is at Lady of America Gym in Jupiter.

“We all need to exercise our bodies, now research has proven that we need to exercise our mind to keep it sharp.”

“As you continue your workout and you continue working on these programs with the neuro bike, they get more difficult and while the program gets more difficult, you’re working up a sweat…I got that one wrong…Hey, I got that right.”

“In about 2 months with about an hour a week training you can boost your brain power by about 20%, increase your memory, your brain speed your concentration.”

All that? We asked registered nurse and wellness coach Dara Carvalho to give the neuro bike a ride.

“My heart rate is going up and in addtion to working out your brain it helps you pass the time. Those people who don’t like to workout or who are watching the clock all the time, I can see where…I’m breathless paddling and talking at the same time.”

“Mentally and physically I would say it’s a pretty decent workout.”

That’s enough for Amy to make it a point to get to the gym.

“The workout flies by. I was on an hour the other day and usually I do 20 minutes, so that’s the best benefit.”

Exercise may really be mind over matter.