|
September 18, 2001 Please forward to a colleague as we are trying to build our readership ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Headlines--- Stock Market Stabilizes Today Finova Offer Terminated American Express Re-Builds--Story Still Alive –They also Expect 3rd Quarter Earnings to Be Negatively Affected By Recent Terrorist Attacks Airline Industry Drops 26,000 --Serious Problems with their Leases to Follow IRS Gives Postponement of Estimated Payments Streamlined Sales Tax Project Postponed until Oct 22-23 S. F. Bay Area Residents Find Housing More Affordable Seismiq adds resources expand its national sales efforts Web-enabled solutions Sharon K. Davis Joins Textron Financial’s Finance Company Services Paragon Leasing Finalizes Purchase e-lease.com/leasingexchange.com ( formerly known as equipmentleaisng.com
) www.balboacapitalbitesme.com - RIP!? #### denotes press release __________________________________________________________________ Finova Offer Terminated Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. announced that it has invoked an "act of war" clause in order to terminate its offer to buy up to $500 million of Finova Group, Inc.'s 7.5% Senior Secured Notes. Berkadia further stated that termination of this purchase offer does not affect Berkadia and Leucadia National Corp.'s joint rescue package for Finova. __________________________________________________________________ American Express Business Finance Looks like AmX is pulling a “United Capital.” Steve Dallas was very adept at “closing it down” and moving to “Spectrum,” but then, United Capital was not a publicly held company such as American Express. It appears AmXBF exec’s are running around looking for a scapegoat among themselves, that they were not aware of the problem(s) at Sierra Cities nor potential stock fraud, that “due diligence” was done and any of the rumors floating before the acquisitions were just “smoke” and not “fire.” In fairness, they did have serious problems with the New York office. It will have to be torn down due to structural damage. About 8% of their work force was in that building and they are being relocated to their New Jersey office, new offices in NYC, and Connecticut, we are told. Some will be working out of their homes for the time being. The Business Finance division is annoyed they don’t get e-mail, whereas other “departments” and “executives” do from Leasing News. All telephone lines, we are told by other executives are being monitored, and e-mail from home and cellular telephone from home are the only means Leasing News is getting information. The AmX execs are reportedly trying to find all the skeletons and bring them out in the open so they can say it did not happen on their watch. Others believe the terrorist activity has let the issue die down, except for Leasing News that has two ex-Sierra Cities directors, three individuals directly involved, seeking information from collectors no longer there ( collectors know everything ), plus we are talking to another who knows the story about the stock---but will he talk. He might. Stay tuned. This story is not going to go away. _____________________________________________________________ ### ##################### ######################### American Express Expects Third Quarter Earnings to Be Negatively Affected By Recent Terrorist Attacks
NEW YORK, / -- American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) said today that it expects third quarter earnings to reflect a negative impact relating to the recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. American Express said that prior to the attack, it expected quarterly results to be in line with Wall Street estimates. The Company now believes its third quarter EPS will be below that level. The recent terrorist attacks have already created, and are likely to continue to generate, additional economic and market weakness throughout the travel, payment services and financial services industries. In addition to the anticipated weaker business volumes, the Company's headquarters at the World Financial Center is adjacent to the World Trade Center area and cannot be occupied for at least several months due to the damage caused by the collapse of the World Trade Center towers and related structures. The building is believed to be structurally sound. Notwithstanding the inability to use the company's headquarters building and office space in the World Trade Center complex, the Company said its business operations and customer service activities continue to function normally around the world. The Company is implementing previously designed business continuity plans and is in the process of relocating its employees based at the World Financial Center to other locations in the New York City metropolitan area. American Express said that while it continues to assess the impact on its businesses and the expected costs related to these events, it does expect a significant negative effect within its third quarter results due to the following: * Temporary curtailment last week of all air travel within the U.S. and the likelihood of reduced corporate and consumer travel volumes for the near term; * Reduced corporate and consumer spending levels in reaction to the events and their potential impact on global economic activity; * Lower financial product sales volumes and assets under management due to the temporary halt in securities trading and weakness in the financial markets; and * Costs related to leasing alternative headquarters facilities, and relocating and equipping up to 5,000 employees within those facilities. Also, as previously announced, the company also expects to recognize a restructuring charge of $310-$370 million pre-tax ($200 to $240 million after-tax) in the third quarter as it launches accelerated reengineering initiatives originally planned for 2002. This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the expected economic and financial impact of recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include, but, are not limited to the following: restrictions imposed on air travel by the federal government and the willingness of passengers to continue to travel generally; insurance reimbursements to the company; the willingness of consumers and corporations to spend notwithstanding fears relating to the global economy; the response of investors to developments in the financial markets; and actual expenses relating to the dislocations caused by the need to occupy alternative headquarter facilities. ### ######################## ######################### -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stock Market Stabilizes on Tuesday Amy Baldwin ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK – Wall Street found some stability Tuesday when investors curtailed their selling and did some buying, but ran into late resistance in its attempt to rebound from Monday's shock wave that sent blue-chip stocks tumbling to their largest one-day point drop. The market gave up earlier gains that had pulled the Dow back above the 9,000 level, as investors turned their attention late in the day to the political uncertainty following last week's terrorist attacks. "Uncertainty is a primary enemy for the market, and the events of the last week have created a high level of uncertainty. The market was in a downturn before, and this only exacerbates that," said Ricky Harrington, technical analyst for Wachovia Securities. European markets slide, Asian stocks lose momentum amid uncertainties over terror attack The Dow closed down 17.30 at 8,903.40, according to preliminary calculations. However, the slump in the Dow paled in comparison with the decline Monday – the first day of trading since hijacked jetliners smashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon – when the blue chips lost a record 684.81 points and fell below 9,000 for the first time since December 1998. The broader market also retreated from an earlier advance Tuesday. The Nasdaq composite index fell 24.47 to 1,555.08 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 6.03 to 1,032.74. Major indexes aside, a sign of the market's attempt to stabilize was apparent in New York Stock Exchange trading volume, which returned to a more moderate level of 1.65 billion after a record-breaking session Monday when 2.33 billion shares were traded. Still, analysts expect the market to be weak and vulnerable throughout this week as skittish investors rush to adjust their portfolios. Investors now have more to be nervous about – namely national security – than the weak economy, which had been pulling stocks lower for weeks. "What is holding it down are the new questions political uncertainties," said Joseph V. Battipaglia, chief investment strategist at Gruntal & Co. Battipaglia expects the market to move in a range of 5 percent in either direction until it becomes clearer what form the war on terrorism pledged by President Bush will take. Over the longer term, however, analysts say stock prices will recover. In fact, they say massive selling like Monday's might be what is needed to finally form the market bottom that investors have been longing for. "Weak now, stronger later. There is no question there," said Jon Brorson, director of Northern Trust in Chicago. "The question is how much weakness do we get and when does the turn (upward) come." Tuesday's losers included sectors, such as travel services and insurance, that were weak Monday. Online travel agent Expedia dropped $4.36 to $19.64. Insurers again traded lower as the industry faces big losses following last week's attacks. American International Group fell 95 cents to $70.05. Financial companies suffered as Wall Street expects that investors and consumers will invest, spend and borrow less amid greater uncertainty about the economy. Dow industrial American Express, which issued a third-quarter profit warning late Monday, skidded $2.87 to $27.38. But winners included airlines, which endured double-digit dollar losses Monday. AMR, the parent of American Airlines, gained $2 to $20, and UAL, the parent of United Airlines, rose $1.49 to $18.99. The boost to airlines also came as Wall Street expected the government to announce relief for the industry. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said the Bush administration was preparing an aid package, noting that the attacks are costing airlines $250 million to $300 million a day. Since the attacks, all major U.S. airlines have announced reduced flight schedules, anticipating that a fear of flying will curb demand. Other winners included technology companies, which analysts said could benefit as businesses, particularly in the financial sector, spend more money to revamp offices in the wake of the attacks. IBM rose $3.06 to $94.86, while Microsoft advanced $1.41 to $54.32. Both are Dow industrials. Retailing issues also moved higher after selling off Monday amid concerns that consumers would further curb spending. Wal-Mart rose $1.35 to $45.35. Declining issues outnumbered advancers slightly more than 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange. The Russell 2000 index, which measures the performance of smaller company stocks, fell 6.01 to 411.66. Stocks were mixed overseas Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei stock average ended the day up 1.9 percent, but European markets fell. France's CAC-40 finished down 1.1 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 declined 1.0 percent, and Germany's DAX index lost 0.9 percent. IRS Gives Postponement of Estimated Payments You mentioned in today's news that quarterly estimated payments are due. Just thought you and your readership might be interested in this IRS notice regarding the postponement of tax obligations, including estimated payments, with due dates falling between September 10 and September 24th. Nancy Geary, CPA, CLP Edwin C. Sigel, Ltd. Portfolio Management Services www.edwinsigel.com 800-826-7070 Part III - Administrative, Procedural, and Miscellaneous Additional Disaster Relief for taxpayers on account of the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attack Notice 2001-63 The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service recognize that the continuing disruption to the nation's financial markets, transportation system, and telecommunication and computer networks, and continuing security concerns have made it difficult for many taxpayers to meet their September 17, 2001, filing and payment requirements, and for their representatives to assist them in doings of. This notice provides additional tax relief under sections 6081, 6161, and 7508A for taxpayers who, regardless of their location, are continuing to experience difficulties in meeting their filing and tax payment requirements on account of events related to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack. The Internal Revenue Service has determined that the due date for all federal tax obligations falling between September 10, 2001, and September 24, 2001, is postponed to September 24, 2001. This postponement of time covers the filing of returns and claims for refund, the payment of tax (including estimated tax payments), making elections, and filing any other federal tax documents. The postponement does not apply to deposits of federal taxes. For relief with respect to deposits of federal taxes, see Notice 2001-61 and IRS News Release IR-2001-79. The relief provided by this Notice is in addition to the relief provided in Notice 2001-61 and IRS News Release IR-2001-79. _________________________________________________________________ Streamlined Sales Tax Project Postponed until Oct 22-23 The Streamlined Sales Tax Project is canceling the September 20-21 work group/committee meetings in Chicago. SSTP leaders apologize for the inconvenience but the consensus of the registrants is that we should cancel due to world events. SSTP will still plan on the October 22-23 meeting in Louisville for which online registration is available at web address www.streamlinedsalestax.org. There may be teleconferences scheduled as well. Dennis Brown DBROWN@ELAMAIL.COM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bulletin Board Complaint www.balboacapitalbitesme.com
- RIP!? Jerry Gonzales had a site up: Balboa Capital Bits Me.com The attorneys for Balboa have threatened legal action if he did not take it down. Leasing News made a copy before this order was given, and we have tried on several occasions to obtain a statement from Balboa Capital. This Leasing News is not in text, we cannot reproduce it here, and for the time being, will not produce it on line. It did have the Baboa Capital logo. "This letter is being sent to you because you have been identified as representing Jerry Gonzalez dba Lone Wolf Productions. It's purpose is to demand the immediate cessation of your client's conduct that has and will cause Balboa Capital Corporation irreparable harm. If you do not represent Mr. Gonzalez, then please contact the undersigned immediately to confirm that fact.
As you may or may not be aware, your client is currently maintaining a website with the domain name "balboacapitalbitesme.com". Included in the domain name and the website itself are numerous instances of infringement on Balboa Capital's registered Trademark.
Further, the comments posted by your client are defamatory and untrue. He makes allegations of illegal conduct, which will subject him to per se damages.
Further still, your client has ma a point to send emails with a link to the site to numerous persons and entities within and without the leasing industry. This will undoubtedly have an impact on Balboa Capital's business, for which Mr. Gonzalez will be held responsible.
Balboa Capital will file a complaint in the District Court for the Central District of California, ----Division, for Trademark Infringement, Defamation, Intentional Interference with Contractual Relations, and Intentional Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage among other claims, seeking compensatory and punitive damages. This deadline will not be extended, and the complaint will be filed on Monday morning should your client fail to immediately cease and desist."
Very truly yours,
Christopher G. Parsons General Counsel Jerry Gonsales is considering making some changes to allow him to again post the webite and find other Balboa Capital customers with a complaint. The introduction was basically a question that asked you to “agree” or “disagree” It began The intention of this web-site is to inform potential customers about the particular leasing practices of Balboa Capital Corporation®™, a Fortune 500 Company. Before you agree to enter this site, I would like to brief you on my experience with the hopes that if you are thinking about leasing you will be better informed before accepting any financial terms and conditions with any lending institution. As I turned to the web for research and information
regarding leasing
standards and practices,
I was unable to
find any site that
could answer my
concerns regarding
leasing company
conduct and complaint
outlet. As
I turned to state
agencies, the BBB
but they were of
little help.
The reality is that
these organizations
are toothless and
ineffective. Many
attorneys and financial
professionals all
varied in opinions
with regards to
leasing issues and
questions.
There are few if
any experts visible.
I hope that we can collectively develop a site for the honest and hard working small business owners who depend on lending institutions. I invite you to post your experiences both good and bad regarding Balboa Capital®™ and any other leasing company. I have posted what I believe to be the “get you clauses” in |