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May 10, 2001 Warning !!!!! Warning!!!! Warning!!!! " Home Page" Virus I was not kidding about the "Home Page Virus" making the leasing company rounds. Bob Baker's computer sent it to me at American Leasing. Two others in the leasing industry have sent me "home page." They opened the virus, and the worm went to their mail system and re-sent the mail as if it was from them. It went to everyone on their e-mail address book without their control. Here are reports from others, that this is not just a scare, it is making the rounds of those in the leasing industry. It has gotten into the leasing circle. It will change your registry and do other damage to your computer. You will need to look at the registry, make corrections, and if you catch it early enough, uninstaller will take care of the registry for you. You need to run a current anti-virus programs. And keep it current. -- Kit, Thank you for the alert. At 8:30 AM today, one of our employees received it from his friend's email. It then infected all our company computers! Fortunately, everyone else was warned and deleted it from their Outlook in-box. Gerard Wen (408-472-1200) + + + I received it yesterday from a leasing friend, but with the vbs suffix it was easy to recognize so I immediately deleted it. In any case, he would never use the word "cool"! Bob Teichman BoTei@aol.com Thank you. Because of your excellent advice I bought PC-cillin and have it working in conjunction with Norton2000 AntiVirus. Dan <DanSorkin@msn.com + + + + Our bank is down and I am using my laptop. It is very serious. Please don't publish my name. + + + Fortunately the anti virus scan detected the virus before I opened up the attachment. I have learned that the "Homepage" virus was propagated by 3 teenagers from the Netherlands and the initial target was the Australian Parliament. Name With Held + + + The joys of MS Outlook as a mail client. One of the reasons we don't use Outlook. Charles Prael <cprael@lts.com> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Headlines--- No More First Sierra or Sierra Cities: American Express Business Finance (A Division of American Express Small Business Services ) More on "Fleet Leasing" ePlus To Acquire the Software Business of ProcureNet LeaseTeam Moves Forward with "Lease Sales Manager" PDS Financial Corporation Reports Strong First Quarter Earnings "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" ### denotes Company Press Release ___________________________________________________________________________
Time To Get Back to the Basics-- Enjoyed Wes Simkins input to Kit Menkin's news.
I started in the leasing business 10 years ago after 23 years in the computer business. When I started I used 3x5 cards for vendor records, had very limited marketing literature. My daily ritual was "smilin and dialin". Poured over every trade publication, went to the library to copy phone books, or anything else that would produce "suspects". Today we've got a computer with all the bells and whistles, internet to find anything and anyone, literature out the kazoo...but it still comes down to making the calls, developing the relationships where people like doing business with you. And if you don't stay in touch with them, there's always someone else that's trying to get their business.
It would be nice if we could just sit in the office and wait for the phone to ring, and we've had some past years where that's exactly what you could do; NOT TODAY!
Tongue in cheek comment regarding chasing the "crummy credits"; I too agree that you can beat your head against the wall chasing the "crummy credits", however, two points, 1) when business is so slow, that all you get is the weird, crummy business, and if you want to "eat" you try to get them approved, 2) you can generally put more points into a tough deal.
What's the old quote from Sales 101, "time to get back to the basics"
Like you I'm looking forward to a great 2001!
Harold E. Bailey North Texas Credit Co. 14850 Quorum Drive, Suite 380 Dallas, TX 75240 972-458-6821 Ext. 134 972-851-9999 Fax harold@ntexas.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Late, Great Sierra Cities Let me clear up the rumors, Our name is American Express Business Finance. The old Rockford group was American Express Equipment Finance, but with the merging of the two companies, we formed American Express Business Finance. We will be offering more products and services that just your vanilla lease product. Very optimistic is truly an understatement. The American Express Brand is a great closing tool. This is a 150-year-old company and one of the most highly regarded financial institutions on the planet. We already have our business cards and new web site http://www.amexbf.com that just launched yesterday, and a quiver full of new and totally unique arrows to launch during our ramp up. Competition beware, We will be a dominating force in our market sector. Volume goals are set at $2.5-$3 billion for year-end 2002. That’s quite a few small ticket lease transactions Thanks and please keep my name off this. It could be my job, which I love. + + + The meeting for Amex/First Sierra is over and the official name on the business cards issued is "American Express Business Finance (A Division of American Express Small Business Services does not appear on the business card). Depping did not attend as you might guess. The sales reps were quite impressed with the Amex personnel and approach to doing business. Looks like they will be a real force in the leasing and debt consolidation markets. name with held
+ + + ( We were told American Express likes the credit module of Sierra Cities, as it tends only to the top credits. Salesmen were allowed to find other sources and make a commission on the so-called "B", "C", and "D" credits. At one time, many of the salesmen were sending deals to super broker and Financial Pacific was mentioned a few times by several of the ex-First Sierra aka Sierra Cities sales personnel. editor ) I can confirm the Financial Pacific part of the above. The original solicitation we received from FP in 1997 quoted Oren Hall Executive VP First Sierra as one of their brokers. I can fax you the page if you like. + + + Re: SierraCities, Am Ex & Brokers--Is there no end to (our own) utterly self-destructive greed and stupidity? We are small brokers and had recently (pre-acquisition) started using SierraCities. We like their automated decision model, the rates are reasonable and we've established a nice rapport with several representatives. In short, we've enjoyed the relationship and were looking to grow it. That being said, I can assure you that the day SierraCities formally crowns itself "American Express Small Business Services," will be the last day they EVER receive another piece of business from me. American Express is THE BROKER SEGMENT'S MOST DIRECT COMPETITOR. Period. (They're not even trying to "hide" behind the Sierra name--they're putting it right in our face... and more importantly, right in our customers' faces.) Who in their right mind is going to hand their hard-earned client contacts over to the "Amex Small Business Services" marketing machine? Am Ex's entire "business services" marketing model is AIMED SQUARELY AT MINING MY CUSTOMER DEMOGRAPHIC. From business financing (first Rockford, now Sierra), to the green card, now the "revolving" blue, TV ads, direct mail, travel services, insurance and on and on. They want the exact same person I target and they want to sell him everything I sell him--AND more. They have enormous marketing resources, contacts and staying power. (And yes, "if" I were them, I might be doing what they are doing) But I am a competitor, not a stockholder. I certainly can't stop them, but WHY WOULD ANY BROKER WANT TO DO ANYTHING TO HELP THEM further penetrate these (our) markets? I'm looking for business PARTNERS to grow with, not to be trampled on by. Is there no end to (our own) utterly self-destructive greed and stupidity? Brokers: don't walk, RUN AWAY from this deal. Name With Held
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ################################################################### ePlus To Acquire the Software Business of ProcureNet
HERNDON, Va.---- Acquisition expands capabilities and domain expertise in eProcurement, eMarketplaces, MRO, eContent management, and 3rd party application integration; ePlus Gains Seventy New Active Customers; Conference Call Scheduled for May 14th at 11:00 A.M. ePlus inc. (Nasdaq: PLUS), a leader in Web-based integrated procurement and business process services including asset management and financing, today announced that it has executed a definitive agreement to purchase the commercial technology business assets of ProcureNet(TM), Inc., a company forme d in 1999 by the consolidation of several operating companies. The acquisition will further enhance ePlusSuite, a revolutionary integration of hosted e-procurement and asset management applications. ePlusSuite provides ePlus customers a seamless eBusiness interface to resolve their most costly and labor intensive challenges, reduce costs, and dramatically inc rease ROI. From online procurement, to web-enabling legacy vendor catalogues, to leasing a wide range of IT assets, to managing payables, to comprehensive back-end integration capabilities, the combined ePlus and ProcureNet solutions will deliver maximum value and dramatically lower the total cost of ownership across the enterprise. "This acquisition significantly broadens our suite of end-to-end solutions and enhances our competitive position in the market," commented Phillip G. Norton, chairman, president and chief executive officer of ePlus. "We are gaining a mature and leading edge technology solution, a blue chip custome r base, and experienced individuals with extensive domain expertise." Mr. Norton added, "ProcureNet has been a leader in providing procurement solutions to commercial, federal, and municipal customers, generating and enriching MRO content for a wide variety of vendors, and completing complex ERP integrations in both the licensed and ASP model. These capabilities will expand our end-to-end solution and help us continue to deliver best-of-breed solutions to our customers." "This acquisition is a logical extension of the ePlus offering and will enhance the value available to both ePlus and ProcureNet customers," said Lisa Williams, Program Manager for B-to-B Commerce and Applications at the Yankee Group. "Leveraging and extending the expertise embodied in ProcureNet's OneSource application and eContent factory in conjunction with ePlus's current business line creates a compelling advantage for businesses." The transaction, structured as an asset purchase agreement, has been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close May 15, 2001. Consideration will be $1 million in cash plus approximately 422,500 shares of unregistered common stock. The primary assets acquired include: --OneSource(TM), a comprehensive e-procurement software solution --MarketBuilder(TM), a robust marketplace software solution --Common Language Generator(TM) software, used for eContent cleaning and enrichment --Several registered and applied for patents, trademarks, and copyrights --The entire commercial and municipal customer list, including more than 70 active licensees --All reseller and partnership agreements and related contracts --Key personnel, including development, sales, marketing, and implementation staffs John Sanford, chief financial officer of ProcureNet, Inc., said "ePlus has the best solution for middle-market customers, both in terms of concept and execution. The addition of ProcureNet's technology and domain expertise should substantially increase ePlus' competitiveness. OneSource is a very comprehensive and functional solution that has successfully competed against leading e-procurement solutions. The content factory, driven by a patented software application Common Language Generator (CLG), provides the best tool in the industry for eContent management. We look forward to a long term alliance, one where ePlus and ProcureNet combine their best-in-class solutions to further grow and expand our respective businesses." ProcureNet and ePlus will agree to resell each other's best-in-class services and technologies. For example, ePlus will be able to resell ProcureNet's Spot Buying and Logistics and Fulfillment Services, and ProcureNet will be able to resell Manage+, ePlus's asset management service. The customers acquired from ProcureNet are commercial and municipal enterprises, further leveraging ePlus's public sector finance and services business. Some of these customers include Forbes, Inc., Summit Bank, World Savings, CMS Energy, Amica Mutual Insurance, Emory University, Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, Santa Clara, and Fresno County. ePlus will host a conference call to discuss the acquisition Monday, May 14 at 11:00 A.M. The call is open to the public and may be accessed by calling 800-683-1535 or 973-633-1010. Simply ask to be connected to the ePlus conference call. A replay will be available through May 22, 2001 by calling 877-519-4471 or 973-341-3080 and using the passcode 2592197. In addition, a live Webcast and archived replay are available as follows: Live Windows Media format: http://orion.inet-images.com/servlet/ estreamgetevent?id=356&folder=webstream Live Real Player format: http://orion.inet-images.com/servlet/ estreamgetevent?id=357&folder=webstream Archive Windows Media format: http://orion.inet-images.com/servlet/ estreamgetevent?id=358&folder=webstream Archive Real Player format: http://orion.inet-images.com/servlet/ estreamgetevent?id=359&folder=webstream (Due to the length of these URLs, it may be necessary to copy and paste these hyperlinks into your Internet browser's URL address field.) ePlus(TM), ePlusSuite(TM), Procure+(TM) , Manage+(TM), and Service+(TM) are trademarks of ePlus inc. Finance+(SM) is a registered service mark of ePlus inc. ProcureNet(TM), B14ZR(TM), OneSource(TM), OneReq(TM), CLG(TM), and MarketBuilder(TM) are trademarks of ProcureNet, Inc. At closing, all but ProcureNet(TM) will become trademarks of ePlus. Other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. About ProcureNet Inc. ProcureNet (http://www.procurenet.com/) is the pioneer and a leading provider of Internet B2B, B2G, and eContent solutions and services. Its flagship product suite, OneSource(TM), uniquely integrates Web-based procurement applications, global buying portals, and value-added purchasing services. The company recently received the prestigious "Hammer Award" from the U.S. Government's National Performance Review for helping DoD employees reduce inventory and cut costs. ProcureNet provides solutions to more than 125 public and private sector organizations and is headquartered in Great River, NY. About ePlus: ePlus is a leading provider of hosted Web-based e-procurement, asset management, and financing solutions. ePlus both simplifies and shortens the implementation process by including customized workflow management and hosting the Procure+ and Manage+ solutions for its customers. ePlus has over 173 e-commerce customers, including over 100 implemented customers. Founded in 1990, ePlus is headquartered in Herndon, VA and has more than 20 locations in the US. For more information, visit our website at www.eplus.com, call 800-827-5711 or email to info@eplus.com . ############################################################### " Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? " ( Pee Wee Hunt, best known for his Banjo hit " Twelth Street Rag," and "Peg of My Heart" was a great Dixieland trombonist, with the Glen Gray Casa Loma Band, but did play the song " Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?" I think the best recording made of this song was either Hoagy Charmichael, a great one, or perhaps my favorite Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden (Teagarden was the vocalist ). Also Turk Murphy has a great version of this, and he sang it, too, one of the rare ones wear he signs. editor.)
If you are in search of new funding sources, the NAELB New Orleans Conference, May 17-20, 2001 is the place to be! A few of the conference highlights include: * 30 Educational Workshops * Chances to win A Palm Pilot * Chance To Win A Round Trip Airline Ticket To Europe * Social Events * All the fun and excitement of New Orleans * Plenty of time to meet with the MONEY SOURCES! Below is a list of Exhibiting Companies to date: Padco Lease * National Leasing * Government Leasing * FNF Capital * Capital Stream Secure Lease * Centerpoint Financial * Pioneer Capital * Marlin Leasing * 1st Financial ParaLease * Farm Credit * Business Capital * TelLease Financial * Butler Capital Edwin Sigel, Ltd. * TCF Express Leasing * Standard Professional Services * LeaseLoan Commercial Money Center * Bank of the West * Dodson Group * BSB Capital * Creative Capital 1st National * GE Capital * SierraCities.com * Financial Pacific * Information Leasing Fisher-Anderson * The Manifest Group * Amembal Capital * Pawnee Leasing * Unicyn Funding Leverage Leasing * Republic Leasing To register for the NAELB Conference visit us at www.naelb.org/meeting%20promo.pdf Buzz Thomas bthomas@clemonsmgmt.com ( Don't forget Bob Baker's Video Tape, available to members and all those who attend for $199, I believe. Six video tapes on leasing from the Grand Master himself, especially made for the NAELB Conference. Also a chance to get the great book on leasing by Barry Marks. The most current information, accurate, and especially helpful in today's marketplace. You heard the kudos's about the United Association of Equipment Leasing Conference in Scottsdale...this New Orleans Conference will be double in attendance, meaning more opportunities!!! editor ). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LeaseTeam Moves Forward with "Lease Sales Manager" Tim Szczygiel has left NovaMetric to pursue other opportunities; NovaMetric is now a LeaseTeam Company, of which Russel Hallberg is the President and Randy Haug is the Vice President. The NovaMetric platform is for sale and is called the Lease Sales Manager. LeaseTeam, Inc., was incorporated in January of 1989. It's niche is the small to medium sized leasing company, although it has some major clients. It is well respected for its premiere lease accounting software solution provider in the equipment leasing industry with "LeasePlus" software. In September of 2000 LeaseTeam purchased NovaMetric Development Group, which developed the e-commerce, web-based software solution called Lease Sales Manager. With the merger of these two companies and products, Vice-President Randy Haug says they now can offer a complete software solution from pricing,proposal letter, credit application, credit decision, documentation, and funding, into lease booking, servicing, and accounting. "We also provide additional services such as consulting, implementation,integration and custom development through our staff of almost 100 people located in Omaha, NE and Southbury, CT.," he added. " We are very excited to be able to offer this exciting new front-end solution, Lease Sales Manager, to our nearly 300 LeasePlus users, as well as the entire leasing industry. In addition to LeasePlus, Lease Sales Manager interfaces with other back-office software solutions including DSI InfoLease and McCue LeasePak." Perhaps LeaseTeam, who had a "partner" arrangement with System 1, for a documentation and sales force automation, thought Novametric would replace this with Lease Sales Manager. System 1 Capital Stream is very popular with brokers and small leasing companies, but its sales automation side is "lite" compared to Lease Sales Manager. The Lease Sales Manager front-end solution is available today as either an ASP Hosted Solution, or as an In-House Application. Additionally it is their plan to market strategy includes offering our software products as either stand alone solutions as either front-end (Lease Sales Manager), Back-End (LeasePlus), or as a complete "End to End " Solution. LeaseTeam, Inc. and "... our large lessor client base is very excited about the value added advantages our solutions offers to them and their business partners," VP Haug says. "One of these key advantages of an 'End to End' solution is that it gives our clients the ability to deliver front end content but also customer service content and reporting content to their business partners in a secured web environment, " Randy Haag adds. ". Business partners include but are not limited to brokers, vendors, dealers, funders and sales representatives both internal and external as well as executive management. " In order to do that you have to have access to content to both the front end and back end solutions," he explains ". That's what LeaseTeam's solutions provide, and we wrap these products and services around a dedicated team of experienced client service professionals that deliver "best of breed" implementation services, application support and on-going software enhancements." Haug concludes, " Best of all its a complete solution from a single provider that is dedicated our clients and the leasing industry." Summitt National has such software, including internet abilities, and there are other leasing software stand alone programs that are compatible with all types of software from Seibel, Oracle, or off the shelf Act or Goldmine. LeaseTeam is unique as its concept is a flowing start with application, approval to accounting and tax preparation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fleet Leasing Vern's title ( Vern Schroeder ) was Group President of Fleet Leasing Corp. Vern started when the current entity was Lake Leasing which subsequently was sold to Sanwa Business Credit. I believe that he started at Lake Leasing around 1988. Prior to that he was with ITT Finance. Yes I remember Denrich. I also got the sense after speaking with some current Fleet Leasing employees that the parent had a less than enthusiastic view of small ticket. If they associated Fleet Leasing even in the most remote way with Denrich, I can see why. Sadly, I was with AT&T Capital/Eaton when we purchased a huge amount of leases from Denrich in the December of 1993 (I believe that was the year). What a pile of junk. Name With Held --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ################################################################ PDS Financial Corporation Reports Strong First Quarter Earnings; Diluted E.P.S. of $0.12 Compared With $0.05 in Prior-Year Period
LAS VEGAS, May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- PDS Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: PDSF), d/b/a PDS Gaming, a diversified gaming company that finances, leases, sells, manufactures and refurbishes gaming equipment for the casino industry and operates gaming facilities, today reported its operating results for the first quarter of 2001. For the three months ended March 31, 2001, the Company reported net income of $464,000, or $0.12 per diluted share, compared with net income of $175,000, or $0.05 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2000. Revenues totaled $9.4 million in the most recent quarter, versus $18.0 million in the prior-year period. The first quarter of 2000 included a record $9.8 million in sales-type lease revenues, which was not repeated in the quarter ended March 31, 2001. The Company completed $6.3 million in finance originations during the first quarter of 2001, compared with $8.1 million in the year earlier quarter. Fee income increased to $2.5 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2001, from $0.3 million in the year-earlier period, which was substantially offset by decreases in operating lease rentals. Equipment sales increased approximately 35%, from $2.6 million in the first quarter of 2000 to $3.5 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2001. The Company's Casino Slot Exchange division shipped approximately 2,100 gaming devices during the most recent quarter, which represented a 91% increase when compared with 1,100 units shipped in the quarter ended March 31, 2000. Inventory decreased by approximately 19%, from $7.0 million at December 31, 2000 to $5.7 million at March 31, 2001. "We are pleased to report a very strong first quarter, with triple-digit growth in earnings relative to the prior-year period," stated Peter D. Cleary, President and Chief Operating Officer of PDS Gaming. "These results exceeded our expectations and reflect the success of effectively managing our loan and lease portfolio and our various business segments within the gaming industry. The earnings momentum that was evident last year has continued into 2001. All of our income earning assets increased during the first quarter, and we significantly decreased inventory in line with our plan. In addition, we earned a modest profit at our new casino, The Gambler, during the slowest seasonal time of the year for the Reno area, even after absorbing start-up costs. Consistent with our strategy of acquiring additional gaming facilities, we announced yesterday our intent to acquire PT's Pubs, the largest licensed chain of 'sports bar' gaming and pub establishments in the Las Vegas area. This acquisition, which is expected to be completed by September 1, 2001, will increase PDS Gaming's annualized revenue by almost 50% and is expected to be accretive to earnings per share during our initial twelve months of ownership. The closing of this acquisition is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals." PDS Financial Corporation, d/b/a PDS Gaming, provides customized finance and leasing solutions, used gaming devices and digital table game products to the casino industry in the United States. The Company also operates The Gambler casino in Reno, Nevada and plans to acquire additional gaming facilities. PDS Financial Corporation is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, and its common stock trades on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol "PDSF". For additional information, please contact: Martha Vlcek, Chief Financial Officer of PDS Financial Corporation d/b/a PDS Gaming at (702) 736-0700 Or RJ Falkner & Company, Investor Relations Counsel at (800) 377-9893 or via e-mail at info@rjfalkner.com. ################################################################ May 10, 1907 Pee Wee Hunt Birthday ------------------------------------------------------------- E-mail: Kit Menkin <kitmenkin@leasingnews.org> Date: 05/10/01 Time: 09:34:17 www.leasingnews.org 346 Mathew Street Santa Clara, Ca. 95050 Voice: 408-727-7477 E-Fax: (781)459-4789 ------------------------------------------------------------------- The first attempt for colonial government was the United Colonies of New England, organized on May 10,1643 in Boston, MA, by the colonies of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Haven, and Plymouth as " a firm and perpetual league of friendship and amity for offense and defence, mutual advice and succor, upon all occasions, both for preserving and propgating the truth and liberties of the gospel and for their own mutual safety and welfare. " A board of eight commissioners, two for each colony, formed the "consociation." Issues could be referred to the general courts for appeal, if not approved by six votes. John Winthrop of Massachusetts was the first president. Massachusetts, the largest colony, gradually withdrew because it did not have proportional representation. The first Revolutionary War military action occurred this day in 1775 when Ethan Allen and 83 men who called themselves the Green Mountain Boys crossed Lake Champlain from Vermont in scows, entered Fort Ticonderoga, NY, through the south gate, and swarmed into the barracks while the soldiers were asleep. Allen demanded the surrender of the fort " in the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress. " the fort, commanded by Capital William Delaplace and Lieutenant Jocelyn Feltham, was captured with 78 guns, 6 mortars, 3 howitzers, thousands of cannot balls, 30,000 flits, and other supplies. 1865, Jefferson Davis was captured at Irwinville, Ga., by a contingent of Gen. James H. Wilson's calvary, led by Lt. Col. Benjamin Pritchard. There was a contingent of soldiers and general who wanted to hang him, including the U.S. Congress, but General U. S.Grant put the care of Jefferson Davis under a personally chosen cadre of troops. 1872, Victoria Claftin Woodhull became the first woman nominated for president by the National Radical Reformers at Apollo Hall, New York. Frederick Douglass was the vice-presidential candidate. One of her campaign themes was " free sex." By the way, Douglass was the first African-American vice-presidential candidate. In 1888, he became the first African American candidate for president at the Republican Convention, that eventually choose Benjamin Harrison. Douglass was later appointed U.S. Minister to Haiti.
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