IPIP Blog

Enterprise Products Partners LP and Energy Transfer Partners LP have agreed on a 50/50 joint venture to construct a 584-mile pipeline from Cushing, Okla. to Houston, allowing more than 400,000 barrels of crude per day to flow into the Bayou City.

The pipeline, which would be among the longest in North America, would originate at a storage facility owned by Houston-based Enterprise (NYSE: EPD) and terminate at Enterprise’s ECHO terminal in Southeast Houston. Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE: ETP) is also based in Houston.

The pipeline is expected to go into service in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Click here to read the Enterprise press release.

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Slow population growth rate could lead to a relaxation of Chinas one-child policy, experts say.

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WWE Superstars and Divas create artwork for charity and put smiles on kids faces at a hospital.

Joe Carter has our report.
Body slams, choke holds, high-flying action out of the ring.

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• First quarter net income of $7.1 million or $0.42 per fully diluted share
• Pre-tax, pre-provision operating earnings up 56% over prior year period
• Core deposits increase 28% and demand deposits up 49% over prior year
• Net interest income increases 44% over prior year period
• Nonperforming loans drop 22% from one year ago

ST. LOUIS, April 28, 2011(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Enterprise Financial Services Corp (Nasdaq:EFSC) (the Company) reported net income of $7.1 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 compared to a net loss of#xA0;$3.0 million for the prior year period.#xA0;After deducting dividends on preferred stock, the Company reported net income of $0.42 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2011 compared to a net loss of $0.25 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2010.#xA0;The first quarter net income and diluted earnings per share figures represented record quarterly financial results for the Company.

As previously reported, on January 7, 2011, Enterprise Bank amp; Trust (the Bank), the Companys banking subsidiary, entered into a loss share agreement with the FDIC and acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities of Legacy Bank of Scottsdale, Arizona (Legacy).#xA0;The acquisition consisted of assets with an estimated fair value of approximately $128.7 million and liabilities with an estimated fair value of approximately $130.6 million.#xA0;#xA0; Approximately $43.5 million of the deposits were assumed at a premium of 1%.#xA0;The assets were purchased at a 7.6% discount to their historic book value.#xA0;In addition, the Bank acquired approximately $69.2 million in trust assets.#xA0;#xA0; Pursuant to the loss share agreement, the FDIC will reimburse the Bank for 80% of losses incurred on certain loans and other real estate.#xA0;As part of the acquisition, the Company provided the FDIC with a Value Appreciation Instrument whereby 372,500 units were awarded to the FDIC at an exercise price of $10.63 per unit.#xA0;The units were exercisable at any time from January 14, 2011 until January 6, 2012.#xA0;#xA0; The FDIC exercised the units on January 20, 2011 at a settlement price of $11.8444 and a cash payment of $452,364 was made to the FDIC on January 21, 2011.

Peter Benoist, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, The Companys operating performance continues to show strong improvement with first quarter net income increasing 10% over last quarter.#xA0;Robust growth in core deposits and a solid rebound in commercial and industrial loans, coupled with continued improvement in asset quality, bode well for future results.#xA0;#xA0;#xA0;

Benoist added, We also look forward to further growth in Arizona.#xA0;The completion of the Legacy Bank acquisition in Scottsdale during the first quarter expands our footprint in the greater Phoenix area and positions us to focus on organic deposit and loan growth in that market.#xA0;

On a pre-tax, pre-provision basis, the Companys operating income was $14.1 million in the first quarter of 2011, a 4% increase from the linked fourth quarter and a 56% increase from the prior year period.

Pre-tax, pre-provision income , which is a non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) financial measure, is presented because the Company believes adjusting its results to exclude loan loss provision expense, sales and fair value writedowns of other real estate, and sales of securities provides shareholders with a more comparable basis for evaluating period-to-period operating results.#xA0;A schedule reconciling GAAP pre-tax income (loss) to pre-tax, pre-provision income is provided in the attached tables.

Banking Segment

Deposits

Core deposits, which exclude brokered certificates of deposit and include reciprocal CDARS deposits, increased $132.7 million, or 6%, in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.#xA0;First quarter deposit growth included an $81.9 million increase in demand deposits, an $80.6 million increase in money market accounts and other interest-bearing deposit accounts, and a $55.9 million increase in non-CDARS certificates of deposit.#xA0;Reciprocal CDARS certificates of deposits decreased by $85.7 million in the first quarter of 2011 to $74.8 million compared to $160.5 million at December 31, 2010 and $147.9 million at March 31, 2010.#xA0;#xA0;Approximately $36.6 million of the money market increase was the result of a new CDARS money market sweep product, of which approximately $32.0 million, or 88%, were transfers from CDARS certificates of deposit.#xA0;

Strong deposit growth was attributed to the Companys marketing and sales activities, as well as the continuing cash accumulation trend among our commercial clients.#xA0;The Company completed a successful deposit promotion in Arizona, generating more than $22.9 million in money market balances in the first quarter of 2011.#xA0;In addition, approximately $12.0 million of the money market growth and $33.0 million of the certificate of deposit growth in the first quarter of 2011 was related to the Companys Enterprise Advisory Services initiative, a proprietary deposit platform marketed to registered investment advisory firms.#xA0;

Noninterest-bearing demand deposits rose $147.2 million, or 49%, compared to March 31, 2010 and increased to 18% of total deposits at March 31, 2011 from 16% at December 31, 2010 and March 31, 2010.

On a year over year basis, core deposits increased $501.7 million, or 28%. #xA0;#xA0;Total deposits at March 31, 2011 were $2.4 billion, an increase of 6% over December 31, 2010 and 28% higher than March 31, 2010.#xA0;

Loans

Portfolio loans totaled $2.0 billion at March 31, 2011, including $191.4 million of loans covered under FDIC loss share agreements.#xA0;#xA0;Since December 31, 2010, portfolio loans covered under FDIC loss share agreements increased $64.7 million, or 51%, as a result of the Legacy acquisition.#xA0;Excluding the loans covered under loss share, total portfolio loans were essentially flat in the first quarter of 2011, although Commercial amp; Industrial loans increased $19.0 million, or 3%, during the quarter and represent almost one-third of the Companys loan portfolio at March 31, 2011.#xA0;The net increase in Commercial amp; Industrial loans was a result of strong new business activity rather than higher credit line utilization rates.#xA0;The increase in Commercial amp; Industrial loans was offset by a decrease of $29.1 million in Construction and Residential Real Estate loans as the Company continued to reduce its exposure to these sectors.#xA0;#xA0;

On a year over year basis, total portfolio loans increased $153.3 million, or 9%.#xA0;Excluding the loans covered under loss share, portfolio loans decreased $25.1 million, or 1%.#xA0;Commercial amp; Industrial loans increased $61.6 million, or 11% from March 31, 2010 to March 31, 2011.

Asset quality

Nonperforming loans, including troubled debt restructurings of $9.7 million, were $43.5 million at March 31, 2011, down from $46.4 million at December 31, 2010 and $55.8 million at March 31, 2010.#xA0;During the quarter ended March 31, 2011, there were $18.5 million of additions, $4.0 million of chargeoffs, $6.4 million of other principal reductions, $7.0 million of assets transferred to other real estate, and $4.0 million of assets transferred back to performing status.#xA0;Of the $18.5 million in new nonperforming loans, five construction real estate loans representing three relationships comprised over $15.7 million, or 85% of the total.#xA0;Of these, two relationships totaling $6.0 million were transferred to other real estate during the quarter.

Nonperforming loans represented 2.23% of total loans at March 31, 2011 versus 2.45% of total loans at December 31, 2010 and 3.10% at March 31, 2010.#xA0;

Nonperforming loans by portfolio class at March 31, 2011 were as follows (in millions):

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This week, from April 24-30, is administrative professionals week, and Wednesday, April 27, is Administrative Professionals Day.

The Eloy Enterprise wants to thank Esther Cazares, who has been our dedicated administrative assistant for nearly a year and a half.

Although we only get her part-time, the office runs smoother with her in the office, said Enterprise editor, Lindsey Gemme. Shes always there to help, and makes everyone feel welcome at our office.

According to the International Association of Administrative Professionals, Wednesdays observance is one of the largest workplace observances outside of employee birthdays and major holidays, it said on their Web site.

In the year 2000, IAAP announced a name change for Professional Secretaries Week and Professional Secretaries Day. The names were changed to Administrative Professionals Week and Administrative Professionals Day to keep pace with changing job titles and expanding responsibilities of todays administrative workforce.

Over the years, Administrative Professionals Week has become one of the largest workplace observances. The event is celebrated worldwide, bringing together millions of people for community events, educational seminars and individual corporate activities recognizing support staff.

Today, there are more than 4.1 million secretaries and administrative assistants working in the United States, according to US Department of Labor statistics, and 8.9 million people working in various administrative support roles. More than 475,000 administrative professionals are employed in Canada. Millions more administrative professionals work in offices all over the world.

APW is always the last full week in April. In 2011, Administrative Professionals Week is April 24-30 with Administrative Professionals Day on Wednesday, April 27.

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Since the DoJ took the dot com domains of PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker, condemnations against the US have been steady. Parties within the EU have expressed their disgust at the action, Kahnawake is clearly upset and Antigua threatened to sue the US government and take them back to the WTO courts. In the past this reaction may have initiated some concern at the offices of the US Trade Representatives (USTR) and even in the White House, but now it almost certainly just results in a shrug. And the world that now condemns the US only have themselves to blame for that indifference.

Let’s start with the WTO itself. Throughout the years the United States has been the biggest beneficiary of WTO decisions and when decisions are made in the favor of the United States, the USTR expects immediate compliance. However when the WTO has ruled against the USTR in almost every instance the United States has dithered and in some cases even refused to comply. This happened with the Canadian softwood lumber dispute where the WTO ruled for Canada and the US refused to accept the ruling; it happened with Brazil over the cotton dumping dispute; and it appears it will happen with the ruling in favor of China regarding the anti-dumping complaint by the United States. But for gamblers the decision that almost always comes to mind is the Antigua gambling complaint where the USTR has steadfastly refused to accept the ruling.

In 2003 the tiny island of Antigua issued a WTO complaint against the US regarding America’s prohibition of cross border gambling services. According to Antigua, the US signed a GATS agreement that permitted the offering of cross border services to US citizens including remote gambling. The US chose to ignore the complaint and simply stated that gambling that does not take place on US soil is illegal stateside. Antigua requested the US to discuss it over and over but the USTR said there was nothing to talk about. So Antigua went to the WTO with their complaint and documentation and in 2004 the WTO ruled in favor of Antigua. The WTO agreed that the US signed a GATS agreement that required them to allow for free trade in the area of gambling. The US stated it was a mistake, ignored the ruling and said they would not comply although they did appeal the decision suggesting that remote gambling goes against the country’s “morals”. The USTR stated this despite the amounts of legal gambling in the United States including remote gambling on horse racing and lotteries. The WTO Appellate court upheld the original decision stating that the morals defense was invalid because the US already allowed for remote gambling in the area of horse racing. In better words, the US are hypocrites and the WTO weren’t going to fall for it. The Appellate Court did, however, give the United States an “out” suggesting that if the US revoked the Interstate Horse Racing Act, then they would reconsider the morals argument. Not surprisingly, the horse racing industry called foul and the USTR didn’t budge. The US ignored the decision as long as they could and at one point even said they were in compliance with the WTO decision despite doing nothing. By April 2006, the United States’ time to comply with the decision ran out so the US instead announced it would rewrite its commitments. That announcement was unprecedented, unethical and unfair. If any other country tried that tactic against the US no doubt there would have been hell to pay but the WTO agreed they could rewrite their commitments provided they agreed to the provisions of rewriting them.

The provisions for rewriting commitments meant that the US had to come to terms with concessions for any countries who claimed they were affected by the decision and Canada, Japan, India, Antigua, Macao and the EU all asked for concessions. At the same time Antigua, as the initiator of the dispute was entitled to further compensation as a penalty against the US This is where the WTO failed miserably. Antigua asked for $3.4 billion in annual concessions which may have appeared high but when one considers the $100,000 license fee Antigua charges and the percentage of revenue from the multi-billion dollar industry it was likely not unreasonable. One can’t forget that projections were that hundreds of companies would operate in Antigua prior to the US interfering with their industry. Antigua also factored in the projected growth of poker. But to the WTO’s failing they only considered the amount of money they believed Antigua lost from horse racing when they announced the penalty and in December 2007 awarded Antigua a measly $21 million per year in annual concessions. This didn’t even cover the cost of the dispute. The WTO could have made a bold statement to the United States that they were not so important that they could skirt their responsibilities and commitments but instead, as they have always done, the WTO backed down in the face of controversy and gave the US a sweetheart deal. To the WTO’s credit they allowed the concession in the area of TRIPS, ie allowing Antigua to receive its settlement by ignoring US intellectual property rights.

Antigua’s failing in the whole situation involved the latter. Antigua couldn’t be faulted for any of their actions up until the final decision by the WTO and in fact should be commended for agreeing to take on the challenge. Where Antigua was to blame was their inaction after the award. Without question $21 million was a fairly insignificant sum but what was relevant was the WTO allowing them to apply it to intellectual property rights. In fact the USTR were so concerned about that award they told Antigua not to do anything drastic until the US could come to a different settlement. That statement itself should have caused Antigua to jump on the opportunity and flood the market with cheap knockoffs of American products. Five dollar copies of Windows 2007, $1 DVDs etc. all fully legal and functional with product key codes should have been available from the island of Antigua. Even if the products weren’t sold in the United States it would have certainly had management at Microsoft, Warner Brothers, etc. screaming foul and forced the USTR to meet with the country to work out some kind of settlement that was more realistic. However, Antigua chose to sit on the judgement and to date never took up the option or for that matter even threatened to use the judgement. It’s not surprising, therefore, that when Antigua now threatens to take the US back to the WTO courts it results in nothing but a laugh.

The other countries like Canada and Macao can be blamed for not demanding the United States live up to their commitments, particularly when those countries have been screwed over by the US on other WTO issues, but the EU especially deserves responsibility. There was absolutely no question that the US actions were going to affect the EU drastically. After the passing of the UIGEA numerous European companies, including Party Poker and Neteller had to leave the US market. Billions were wiped off the AIM stock market and estimates had the UK alone losing billions in potential revenue by the decision. Groups within the EU like the Remote Gaming Association cried foul and practically begged the EU to stand firm against the United States and force them to live up to their agreement. If not, the groups demanded that the US pay upwards of a billion dollars in trade concessions, which could be given to affected gambling operators. The billion dollars was seen as a conservative estimate of how much gambling operators like William Hill, Party Poker and Bwin could have made offering gambling to the US market. Instead, Peter Mandelson, the man in charge of the EU trade negotiations, came to an agreement with the USTR for $14.4 million in trade concessions in the areas of shipping and storage. The gambling groups in the EU were naturally disgusted. Not only did the EU not get what they deserved, but they also allowed for the trade concessions in areas that wouldn’t benefit EU gambling entities one iota.

So is it any wonder the US could care less about the threats made to them now? Actions speak louder than words and the actions of all countries that are now threatening them again have proven fruitless in the past. Perhaps the best analogy of what is occurring would be a schoolyard bully who routinely picks on other kids. Whenever a kid is picked on, that kid goes to the principal, who in turn tells the bully to smarten up or he’ll receive a stiff punishment. When the bully acts out again the penalty given by the principal is a short detention. The next time the bully picks on a different kid the same result occurs. Naturally at some point the bully just shrugs at the threats by the principal or the kids he bullies. He knows full well the principal won’t take real action against him and the other kids won’t go over the principal’s head because they fear later retribution from the bully. The actions by the other countries have proven just that. They have set a clear precedent that the WTO is a paper tiger that either fears the US or just doesn’t have the power to mete out real penalties against them. And the other countries have shown that they aren’t willing to challenge the US in any real way for fear of later retribution. To make matters worse, to date the US has not rewritten their WTO commitments, no countries have received any compensation from the US yet the United States rules their world in the area of trade.

If the WTO and the other countries want the US to take them seriously, they need to stand up to the USTR and force them to live up to their commitments. The US may threaten retribution but at some point the WTO needs to call their bluff. If they don’t, the US will continue to rule the roost in all areas of trade.

Read insights from Hartley Henderson every week here at OSGA!

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CALGARY – Relaxation was just what retired couple George and Margaret Garbutts wanted when they jetted to sunny Arizona for the winter.

Instead, they received an expensive and stressful lesson.

It all began with an emergency appendix surgery at Yuma Hospital and a nasty hospital bill to follow; $27,964 for a day and a half of care plus surgeons fees.

The couple didn’t panic because George’s travel medical insurance protected him against unforeseen health emergencies.

Or so he thought.

Fine print on his policy reads “a failure to disclose any material fact by the insured, either at the time of application, shall render the entire contract nul and void.”

That ugly fine print cost the couple around $32,000 in total.

The problem lies with how George answered his insurance company’s medical questionnaire over the phone.

“They ask you a series of questions on a rapid fire basis, basically. You just go through the automatic answers that pop into your head,” says George.

The insurance company declined George’s claim based on a question asking if he had ever been tested, diagnosed or prescribed medication for a lung condition.

He answered no.

A recent X-ray meant to screen preventatively for heart disease had suggested George had lung disease. Further testing ruled out that possibility.

George’s doctor also confirms an inhaler he prescribed had no effect, so it was never renewed.

The insurance company, The Co-operators, says that’s not the point.

“It’s vitally important that those answers are full and accurate and that’s why a policy would be null and void if incorrect information is provided,” says Leonard Sharman, spokesperson for The Co-operators.

“Because that’s the only basis on which we can decide if you’re high risk or low risk.”

George isn’t satisfied with that explanation because the condition he made a claim for had nothing to do with lung disease or that he may have used an inhaler.

The Co-operators says it will not ask clients if they were ever prescribed medication only if they have seen a doctor for a certain concern. If the answer is yes, they will probe the issue more deeply to determine what medical problems the client has and tailor their coverage appropriately.

“It’s unfair as far as I’m concerned,” says George.

“I bought a policy to pay for a genuine medical emergency. I had a genuine medical emergency; they’re not going to pay.”

Regardless, George and the Co-operators agree on one thing – thoroughly read your insurance policy so you understand it.

“Make sure you understand exactly what you’re buying. Ask questions, review the policy when you get it. If there’s something in that policy you don’t understand, phone the broker back,” says George.

George has appealed his claim twice but isn’t hopeful he’ll ever get his retirement money back.

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New Final Fantasy Type-0 Screenshots and Artwork
Posted on April 23, 2011 by Erren Van Duine

The official Japanese Final Fantasy Type-0 site has opened, and with it comes a nice bit of new media, including screenshots and character artworks.

All screenshots are from in-game so you can see that director Hajime Tabata was not lying when he said he would push the PSPs graphical power to its limits. In addition to locations, we can see that recently revealed characters Ace, Nine, Queen, and Kurasame are represented in both scenario and battle images.

Final Fantasy Type-0 is set to release this summer in Japan. An actual date has yet to be revealed, but with increasing magazine coverage, it probably wont be too much longer until that happens. In the meantime, you can view the new screens below or in the Media Vault.

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The interruption in service to some of Amazon.com Inc.s Elastic Compute Cloud, or EC2,
customers last week prompted some sage advice for CIOs signing an enterprise cloud service-level
agreement (SLA): Dont put all your eggs into one basket. Its critical to segment cloud
applications to ensure appropriate levels of security, performance and redundancy.

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Business, The Neighborhood Files

Royal Wedding: Pamper amp; Party Overnight with Royal Products

Canonsburg Chamber president hosts an overnight viewing party with ultimate relaxation and a wedding cake!

By
Andrea Bosco
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8:26am

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