All about business

Dr. David Poplack has been awarded a $953,000 grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Initiative of Texas to expand the Passport for Care program for pediatric cancer survivors.

Poplack, professor of pediatric oncology at Baylor College of Medicine and director of the Texas Children’s Cancer Center, helped develop the web-based program designed to guide health care for pediatric cancer survivors.

He will use the grant to expand the program to 12 treatment centers in Texas, including in Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, the Rio Grande Valley and north Texas.

Launched in October 2008, more than 1,000 patients have been enrolled in the program, which is currently used at Texas Children’s Hospital’s Cancer Center.

The CPRIT grant also includes a research component. A series of studies will be conducted to examine the current standard of care and follow-up information survivors are getting, and how the implementation of Passport for Care will improve that low fee pay day loans.

More than 75 percent of pediatric cancer patients are cured; however many have late effects of their treatment than can be serious or even life-threatening.

“Passport for Care provides the physician with a detailed summary of the survivor's treatment and individualized guidelines for their follow-up screening. It essentially makes every physician a survivor expert,” Poplack said in a statement.

Passport for Care was also developed by Dr. Marc Horowitz, professor of pediatrics ­ hematology-oncology at Baylor College of Medicine, and Dr. Michael Fordis, director of BCM's Center for Collaborative and Interactive Technologies.

Source

Source

Even with the Democrats playing defense as President Obama enters his second year in office, his Republican opponents face a fundamental problem going into the midterm elections: How do they champion a vibrant free market?

It’s a more prickly question than party leaders want to admit. Robust free enterprise is hardly a slam-dunk cause with voters right now. Public anger over taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street and Detroit is the common thread that runs through the tea party movement and the vivid disdain for Washington that shows up among more traditional voters in both parties.

For Republicans the question has to be asked, If the free market works, how did a huge swath of it fall into the hands of the federal government?

Indeed, as many GOP incumbents get ready to hit the campaign trail, they are trying to figure out how best to explain their support of TARP, the $700 billion rescue package. A deeper conversation is mostly still confined to the scholars who populate idea-producing journals and think tanks. In recent months they’ve churned out works with titles like After the Fall: Saving Capitalism From Wall Street And Washington (a book by the Manhattan Institute’s Nicole Gelinas) and Recovering the Case for Capitalism (a speech by National Interest editor Yuval Levin).

Their arguments — from Levin’s plea for a return to old-fashioned market values like diligence and frugality to Gelinas’s urging that the system be cleansed of implicit government guarantees that cushion risk takers — are not easily translated into election-year stump speeches, but some lawmakers are trying.

Most notable is Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin wonk who has emerged as the House Republicans’ go-to ideas guy. Borrowing from University of Chicago economist Luigi Zingales, Ryan distinguishes being pro-market (a good thing) from being pro-business (not a good thing).

As Zingales puts it in his own capitalism-after-the-crisis treatise, keeping markets free means maintaining an open and level playing field. But, he adds, Washington’s pro-business lobbyists work to corrupt a fair system by persuading Congress to tilt the balance in favor of their own industries.

Fairness might be a good place to start if Republicans want to find the inner capitalist in voters angry at big business. Americans instinctively favor free markets.

As Zingales writes, "Until recently Americans stood out for their acceptance of basic market principles and even for their tolerance of some of the negative side effects, such as marked income inequality." In other words, the class warfare rhetoric coming out of middle America is pretty atypical in modern times. Most Americans haven’t minded seeing the other guy get wildly rich as long as they felt they had their own opportunities to succeed.

What also appeals to Americans are calls to inject fairness back into the marketplace. Today’s taxpayer-funded backstops suggest a market that is tilted toward the survival of the big, wealthy, and powerful.

Public-opinion scholar Michael Barone argues that Americans like social programs — such as veterans benefits and Social Security — when effort and reward are linked. You can make the same argument about capitalism: Americans support sensibly regulated markets where opportunity — and failure — is afforded everyone.

The most thoughtful Republicans get this. Lawmakers like Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker want to shape reforms that will end the idea that any company — from GM in Detroit to AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) on Wall Street to Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) in Washington — is too big and far-reaching to fail without taking the economy down with it.

Green-eyeshade issues like reforming a regulatory system that brought the economy to near collapse have taken a back seat to partisan passions over health care. But that’s a banner that free-market-minded politicians need to carry this election year. As Gelinas writes, "Bad companies … must be allowed to fail so that their bad ideas can have a chance of dying with them."

Somewhere in those words are the beginnings of a compelling campaign slogan.  

Source

Jack Gold has resigned as executive director of San Francisco Architectural Heritage.

Gold, who led the organization for two years, will return to Providence R.I., where he owns a home and his partner lives. His last day is March 25.

“I deeply appreciate and value Jack’s two-plus years of service here at Heritage. Jack joined Heritage during a period of significant transition and helped stabilize and strengthen the organization,” said Heritage President Charles Olson.

Gold said he was “proud of the organization’s accomplishments during the past two years.” While at Heritage, Gold advocated for the new Proposition J, the legislation that established a new more powerful Historic Preservation Commission cash advance no faxing. He worked to attract younger members and grew the Heritage board by 50 percent.

Heritage, founded in 1971, is an advocacy and education organization whose mission is to protect and enhance San Francisco’s unique architectural identity. It owns and operates the historic Haas-Lilienthal House Museum at 2007 Franklin Street.

Source

The question is being raised more and more: Can Toyota recover its reputation?

There is no simple answer. The automaker once enjoyed exceptional renown. In addition to being the largest and most profitable auto company on the planet, Toyota was the most studied and copied. Its production system became a benchmark and a model for competitors to emulate around the world.

On top of that, Toyota (TM) was known for always putting the customer first, hence its passion for building cars with the highest quality and reliability. The automaker obsessively studied car buyers to find out what they wanted and then provided it for them. It became a leader in new vehicle segments like crossovers, and new technologies like gas-electric hybrids.

But when a crisis arose in the form of complaints about unintended acceleration, Toyota didn’t know what to do. Rather than make a forthright statement about the problem, its history, and its proposed solution, the automaker responded with obfuscation, delay, blame-shifting, and denial.

Not until last August, when a Lexus driven by an off-duty California highway patrolman rolled over and burst into flames, killing the driver and three members of his family, did the issue reach widespread public awareness. And when the time came to apportion responsibility for the incident and outline a new direction for the company, top Japanese executives were nowhere to be seen. When president Akio Toyoda first came forward to take responsibility and promise solutions, he seemed to do so with reluctance.

Compare that to the Tiger Woods scandal. Like Toyota, Woods had a reputation for excellence that far exceeded other golfers.

Like Toyota, Woods was widely emulated for his faultless behavior and superb sportsmanship.

Like Toyota, Woods initially put out a story about his wife, a golf club, and the shattered windows of his SUV that bore little relation to reality.

Like Toyota, the news about Woods’ missteps was allowed to trickle out day by day without being effectively refuted.

Like Toyota, Woods refused to make a public appearance to apologize for his misdeeds (and still hasn’t), preferring to issue press releases instead.

And like Toyota, Woods promised to mend his ways, without offering any convincing evidence of exactly how he will do that.

Just as Toyota has seen sales crumble and its used car values plummet, Woods has been abandoned by his corporate sponsors and shunned by other golfers business cards design.

Does this mean that Tiger and Toyota have seen their reputations permanently destroyed? Witnessed the domination of their respective enterprises ended? Are about to be permanently consigned to the ranks of the disgraced and the second-rate?

The betting here is that the answer to all three questions is "no."

Tiger Woods remains one of the best golfers in history, and assuming he can regain his form and start to win again, his fans will return.

The American public has a short memory, an inclination to forgive, and a willingness to extend second-chances. History is full of examples. After declaring he was leaving politics in 1962, Richard Nixon came back and was elected president in 1968. There have lately been reports that Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in disgrace as governor of New York two years ago, is considering a comeback of his own, thanks to an understanding electorate.

The same is true with Toyota, although the reasoning is more economic and less emotional.

American customers want to buys cars they like, and if they decide they still like Toyotas, they will continue to buy them. Ford (F, Fortune 500) was rattled by the Explorer-Firestone tire crisis in 2001, but it eventually recovered because the Explorer was a popular SUV.

Rehabilitation comes down to dollars and cents. If Toyota can convince shoppers that it still offers a strong value, then they will find their way to Toyota dealers.

The critical ingredient that is still missing from the rehabilitation of both Tiger and Toyota is that convincing personal apology. Tiger hasn’t been seen in public since the night of the accident and needs to make a believable account of his behavior along with a statement of his determination to change.

Likewise, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, as well as his management team, must make a complete explanation of their response to unintended acceleration and answer a comprehensive set of questions from outside experts. Only then will its slate be wiped clean, and Toyota will be free to begin the long process of rebuilding its reputation. 

Source

JetBlue inaugurated new service between Orlando and Montego Bay, Jamaica, on Feb. 8 with a daily round-trip flight out of Orlando International Airport.

Montego Bay is the 23rd nonstop destination served by JetBlue from Central Florida. The airline offers flights to six other destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America: Bogota, Colombia; Cancun, Mexico; Nassau, Bahamas; San Jose, Costa Rica; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and Aguadilla, Ponce and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU) currently serves 60 cities with 600 daily flights.

Source

Investor Stacy Hastie says One City Centre will soon look more like 600 Washington, the new name given to the downtown St. Louis office tower, which will undergo a $29 million overhaul.

An investment entity managed by Hastie bought the 25-story building Wednesday by placing the only bid — $12.7 million — at a foreclosure sale. The sale extinguished the interest held by Pyramid Cos., which had planned to renovate One City Centre as part of its ambitious Mercantile Exchange project. Financial problems forced Pyramid to close in 2008.

Hastie is part of the effort to redo One City Centre and St. Louis Centre, a former mall that will be converted largely to parking. He said the foreclosure "is a big step forward" and means work is about to begin to move the building’s entrance to Washington Avenue. The building’s new name will reflect the reconfiguration.

In two weeks, the law firm Lewis, Rice & Fingersh will move to One City Centre, while LarsonAllen, an accounting firm, will move its St. Louis County offices to the building by June 1, Hastie said.

The foreclosure occurred a day after the Missouri Development Finance Board, a state agency, approved a $5 million loan for the One City Centre overhaul. It will be packaged with about $15 million in funds and debt from Hastie’s entities and $10.1 million in tax credits and city funds to pay for the rehab.

Less certain is the future of the Arcade building, at 800 Olive Street, which another Hastie-run investment entity bought out of foreclosure Wednesday. Hastie’s $9 million bid gave him control of the building, which Hastie plans to sell to another developer.

Earlier this week, investment entities managed by Hastie agreed to pay off the loans Bank of America made to Pyramid for the One City Centre and Arcade projects. Conversion of the Arcade into condos was under way in 2007 when Pyramid halted work. Bank of America filed a foreclosure notice in early December.

Source

Missouri may have given birth to “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm and Grammy-winning singer Sheryl Crow but the state ranks 44th on a list of the best-looking states.

In light of Miss Virginia winning the Miss America crown Saturday, The Daily Beast ranked the states based on the hometowns of the winners of the Miss America and Miss USA pageants for the past decade, more than 300 male and female fashion models and the 125 men mentioned in 10 years’ worth of People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” issues. The list also factored in health and fitness data for each state from 2006-2008, ranked by the Trust for America’s Health.

Illinois, home of supermodel Cindy Crawford, comes in at No. 11.

Washington, D.C., ranked No. 1 for its beautiful people, and North Dakota came in last.

Source

The National Hockey League said Friday night it has signed a letter of intent to sell the financially struggling Phoenix Coyotes to a new ownership group from Toronto.

"The NHL and Ice Edge Holdings announced today that they have entered into a letter of intent to proceed in attempting to document and close a proposed transaction pursuant to which Ice Edge would purchase the Phoenix Coyotes’ franchise. While much remains to be done, the NHL looks forward to working closely with Ice Edge to bring the sale to conclusion as expeditiously as possible. Ice Edge has committed to keep the Coyotes in Glendale, Arizona," NHL Commssioner Bill Daly said in a statement.

The Coyotes are in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and were bought by the NHL in October for $140 million.

Ice Edge investors include Canadians and Americans. The group wants to keep the team in Arizona but previously had talked about playing some home games in Canadian cities without NHL teams.

Ice Edge needs to finalize the purchase of the Coyotes from the NHL and then will work on an arena lease deal with the city of Glendale. The Phoenix suburb owns Jobing.com Arena where the Coyotes play.

"The city of Glendale is pleased that the National Hockey League has concluded the initial negotiations for the sale of the Coyotes and is entering into a letter of intent with Ice Edge Holdings to immediately assume operations of the team Faxless payday loans. The transfer of ownership and possession to Ice Edge Holdings is a major and final step in establishing the long-term presence of hockey in Glendale, Arizona," Glendale said in a statement.

Source

Technology has been a driving force in this year’s initial public offerings.

Consider ChangYou.com Ltd., a Chinese online game developer whose stock price jumped 25 percent at its offering day in April on the NASDAQ. It is now up more than 100 percent from its IPO price.

The company recently had the U.S. launch of its Dragon Oath martial-arts online game, a hit in Asia for the past three years. It has three more online games scheduled for release here and is opening a subsidiary in Santa Clara, Calif.

Among the 16 other tech IPOs in 2009, price gains of better than 30 percent since their offering have been produced by SolarWinds Inc., a management and monitoring software firm; A123Systems Inc., a manufacturer of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries; and Opentable Inc., an online reservation site.

In a year of other IPO gains by familiar names such as Hyatt Hotels and Vitamin Shoppe, the average first-day IPO price "pop" has been 7 percent, and the average overall return 10 percent, according to RenaissanceCapital.com.

But don’t get the impression we’ve returned to the wild-and-crazy IPO markets of the past. Some planned IPOs haven’t even hatched and others have quickly laid an egg because investor caution rules the roost.

"Demand for IPO money continues to run off the scale, as the need for companies to access the capital markets increases," observed David Menlow, president of IPOfinancial.com in Millburn, N.J. "However, the tug of war is between the comfort level of potential investors and the need for capital for these companies."

Investors are wary of debt-laden companies put on the IPO block by private-equity firms. An example is the Dole Food Co. IPO that was priced at the low end of its expected range, closed lower on its offering day in October and has since declined.

Rather than focus on one market sector, an investor should examine each IPO carefully to see if it makes sense, Menlow advised. Years ago, investors couldn’t care less what an IPO did because they just wanted in on the deal, resulting in "a lot of dogs with fleas" among those IPOs, he said.

"We’re in the last stage of a double-dip recession and starting to see some rays of sunshine in the IPO market," said Linda Killian, portfolio manager of IPO Plus Aftermarket Fund in Greenwich, Conn., up 16 percent over the past 12 months. "The IPOs that have come to market have been priced to sell."

Getting the 2009 IPO market off on the right foot was Mead Johnson Nutrition Co., a quality spin-off from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. whose IPO was priced right, Killian noted. When that success was followed by Rosetta Stone Inc instant payday loan., another viable growth company, other firms were enticed to come to market, too.

IPO Plus Aftermarket Fund, which requires a $5,000 initial investment, buys a portfolio of IPO stocks at the time of the offering and in their subsequent aftermarket trading. The largest of the fund’s 23 holdings were recently Visa Inc., Constant Contact Inc., Athena Health Inc., Mead Johnson and Rackspace Hosting Inc.

"Individual investors can look for good IPOs that have traded down since they were offered," said Killian. "For instance, RailAmerica Inc. is below its IPO price and, although leveraged, is a well-run regional freight railroad operating in 27 states and part of Canada that has fared well in the economic downturn."

Institutional investors still drive the overall IPO market, since only select investors at full-service brokers typically get the opportunity to invest in IPOs. Most average investors invest in IPOs on the secondary market after their initial price pop. IPO Plus Aftermarket Fund is another way of doing that.

"The overall stock market is driving the IPO market, which is playing catch-up," explained John Fitzgibbon, founder of IPOScoop.com in Edison, N.J. "The IPO market is a follower, not a leader, and you must have a good stock market in order to get a good IPO market."

Among financial IPOs, Cypress Sharpridge Investments Inc. and Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. have made gains, pointed out Fitzgibbon, but "the rest are underwater." Some real estate investment trusts also attempted to sweep up toxic assets into IPOs to get rid of them, but those IPOs have stumbled, he said.

"I always keep an eye on the initial IPO filing versus the final filing, since an increase indicates excessive demand and therefore likely good aftermarket performance," he said.

Rue21 Inc., a fast-growing specialty retailer for young women and men whose recent IPO was priced above its expected range and ended its offering day up 28 percent, is "a barn-burner," believes Fitzgibbon. It has had rapid growth and rising profits while displaying ability to predict fads, he said.

He is less enthusiastic about Dollar General Corp., the largest retail-store IPO in more than a dozen years, because it was loaded with debt by Kolberg Kravis Roberts and "pushed out the door as an IPO." But even though that IPO was priced at the low end of its expected range, it has since risen in price based on current investor confidence in discount retailer prospects.

Source