| Cost of corn pinches plants
High corn prices have created a cash-flow problem for a South Dakota ethanol plant.
Poet Biorefining in Chancellor has borrowed $6.3 million from its partner, Poet, in response to an increase in the price of corn futures that shows little sign of abating.
On Jan. 14, the Chancellor ethanol company and Poet agreed to a short-term loan to be repaid Feb. 13, including interest at an annual rate of 9.25 percent. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the money was needed to cover margin calls triggered by a price increase in the corn futures market at the Chicago Board of Trade. "We did not have the necessary funds from operations to cover the margin calls," General Manager Rick Serie wrote in the filing.
The plant, which produced about 51 million gallons of ethanol last year, was securing grain with plans to distill 100 million gallons this year.
Australian stock exchanges loses $100bn amid panic selling
THE Australian market ended the day down 7 per cent, losing about $100 billion and facing its biggest losses since 9/11, amid concerns of a global recession. 0The 7 per cent slump was the 12th consecutive day of falls, as bourses across the Asia Pacific region slumped on fears of a US recession. "This has been a crash and it might take a year to get back to where it was last week,'' Michael Birch, who helps manage the equivalent of $140 million at Wallace Funds Management in Sydney, told Bloomberg News. "It might be the second half of the year before people have the confidence to weigh back in.'' Brokers said panic selling was the order of the day, but they still expect the market to stabilise in the near term. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 7.05 per cent or 393 points to 5186.8 - its biggest one-day decline since 1997.
Survival strategies: Recession-proof your life
In the 1970s, the trap was stagflation, a combination of high inflation and low growth. The U.S. was already burdened by Vietnam War-related inflation when the Arab oil embargo sprung the snare. The economy jerked to a stop, but energy costs kept the inflation rate up and made recovery painfully hard to come by. The 1973-75 recession lasted 16 months, about double the typical one. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 40% from its pre-recession high, or more than triple the decline we've seen since October's top. Unemployment peaked after the recession ended, at 9.1%. Before you reach for the medicine cabinet, take comfort in some important then-vs.-now differences. The Fed, and the feds, today act earlier in a downturn. The Federal Reserve has cut interest rates 2.25 percentage points since August.
Alpha Omega Jewelers
In March, Forrester said an internal probe into its past stock-option practices found option grants, mostly between 1998 and 2004, that had exercise prices below the fair value of the common stock on the appropriate dates. That investigation and restatement cost the company $668,000 last year. Chief Executive George Colony said the company is "pleased" with 2007 performance, which he said exceeded the company's expectations. Forrester's full-year profit rose 6.7 percent to $18.9 million, or 80 cents per share, from $16.1 million, or 77 cents per share. Revenue rose 16.9 percent to $212.1 million from $181.5 million. Adjusted 2007 profit rose 22.5 percent to $27.6 million, or $1.16 per share, from $22.5 million, or 98 cents per share. Forrester shares rose $3.36, or 14.2 percent, to $26.96 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
AHH YEAR IN REVIEW 2007: American Gangster All-Star Review
It is still a good possibility that people can do different things and still be accepted commercially as well. I think that was a highlight for me. It's hard to tell if this is a classic, classics are defined by time. I don't know if it has that quality to it. I think for me it was more a refreshing kind of change of what was going with all the ringtone rapping. - JR Writer: No comment. - Mr. Collipark: Can I be honest with you? I didn't buy it. I tried to buy it once on I-Tunes (laughs). Quite honestly I don't go to the store that much. From what I heard so far though, I like it better compared to what I heard on the last album (Kingdome Come). That's why I probably didn't make a point to just go get that record feel me? I feel like music is going through something right now and for me I'm playing my old music.
JAMIE SAMUELSEN'S BLOG: The Lions shouldn't be interested in Al Wilson
Im not all that interested in a player that missed an entire season with a neck injury. Its not that Wilson cant come back. Maybe he can. Maybe he can be one hundred percent by training camp. But where the Lions are now, Im not willing to take the chance.
Doesnt it seem like its always a bunch of question marks? Why cant we ever get an exclamation point? A dominant pass-rusher or a stud offensive lineman. Instead its always a guy coming off injury or a guy playing out of position or a guy who has always been a back-up finally getting his starting shot in Detroit.
How many absolute known commodities are there on this team right now? Five or six? And maybe thats being generous. Why then would you want to spend money on another unknown commodity just to add to the mix? The Lions will have to take some chances to get this thing headed in the right direction, but this isnt one of them.
Share market plunges
Wall Street itself was closed for a holiday, but a big fall on a key futures contract signalled a slump on the opening tonight. Tags: business-economics-and-finance, finance-markets, stockmarket, futures-markets, currency-markets, australia .
|
