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LEASING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Seeking an experienced Leasing Professional who has: Home State Leasing Corporation, a subsidiary of Home State Bank, N.A., has been serving the needs of our clients since 1915.
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Friday, May 8, 2009
One of the worlds greatest insult stand-up comics Donald Jay "Don" Rickles ("Mr. Warmth") born May 8, 1926 Queens, New York, still performing today. While working in a Los Angeles nightclub early in his career, he spotted Frank Sinatra. Rickles said "I just saw your movie, The Pride and the Passion and I want to tell you, the cannon's acting was great." He added, "Make yourself at home, Frank. Hit somebody!" He appeared on the Johnny Carson show over 100 times, was quite famous in Las Vegas. You were not anybody until he insulted you. |
Headlines---
Bulletin Board Complaint
IFC Credit, Morton Grove, Illinois
Classified Ads---Syndicator
Marlin: “The Axeman Cometh”
by Christopher Menkin
Cartoon—Dan Dyer, George Pelose, Joe Dyer
42% More Approvals at BSB last Week
Classified Ads---Help Wanted
Cartoon---New from Lease Accounting!
FASB Issues New Lease Accounting Paper
by Shawn Halladay
New Hires---Promotions
Placard---Everyone’s Brings Joy to the Room
ELFA's TALF Finance Securitization Web Seminar
An Advertising Campaign Works on Leasing News
Star Trek/Rudo y Cursi/Taken (my favorite)
Of Time and the City/Galaxy Quest
Fernando’s View by Fernando F. Croce
Bank of West loses $85 million
US Bancorp sees signs loan stability
AIG First Quarter loss $4.35 billion
N.Y. Fed chief resigns 'immediately'
Stress tests 10 big banks need $75 billion
News Briefs---
California Nuts Brief---
Sports Briefs---
"Gimme that Wine"
Today's Top Event in History
This Day in American History
Baseball Poem
SuDoku
Daily Puzzle
GasBuddy
Weather, USA or specific area
Traffic Live----
######## surrounding the article denotes it is a “press release”
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Bulletin Board Complaint
IFC Credit, Morton Grove, Illinois
"Below is a recap of the conversation I had with Tom Laury (consultant who claimed to be working with and on the behalf of IFC Credit/First Corp):
"On Friday, May 1st I received a call from Tom Laury with IFC/FirstCorp (847-663-6724) in response to an email that I had sent and he mentioned he was on his way back to Illinois and would like to discuss the un-funded lease for over $25,731.43 on Monday May 4th.
“Monday afternoon, Tom and I discussed the un-funded $25,731.43 lease that was to have been funded in January. "He explained that IFC didn't have any money and wanted to try to work out a payment plan again" "His offer was that after IFC billed the customer and received their payment, they then forward these monies to us."
“This arrangement would start for the billing cycles of April and May. When I questioned what about December, January, February, March lease payments (approx $1,723.00 per month) that the lessee had already made to IFC, his response was "I haven't been authorized to release that money and any payments would be for future billings", our response was to immediately reject this offer and was reiterated that "we are not a finance company they supposedly are".
"I then questioned the lack of professionalism and courtesy exhibited by IFC's & FirstCorp's senior management: Marc Langs (CFO) and Beth Anne Alcantar (Senior Litigation Attorney), Brad Wheatly, (Senior VP) and Kevin Collins (VP of Vendor Sales) and their not returning any phone calls or responding to any emails.
"In addition to the statements that IFC Credit/FirstCorp would file suit if the lessee didn't make their payments to IFC, regardless of whether they had made payment(s) to the supplier/vendor and was once again informed that was and is a separate matter...
“Thought your readers would like to know about this.”
Sincerely,
Jerry Temple
Accounts Receivable Manager
Texas Medical Distributors
Rockdale, Texas
Leasing News attempted to reach CEO Rudy Trebels, CLP, Executive Vice President Patrick Witowski, Chief Financial Officer Marc Langs, Senior Vice President, Controller and Treasurer David Keenan, IFC Credit Attorney Beth Anne Alcantar. No response was received.
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Classified Ads---Syndicator
Chicago, IL |
| Overland Park, KS Top Syndicator from single deal to portfolios. 20+ yrs exp. Available for contract work or full time position. Nationwide contacts. E-mail: FFLLeasing@aol.com |
| Westchester County, NY 7+ years in pricing, credit, and syndications. Strong credit skills and marketing experience at VP level. All collateral. MBA in Finance. Email: Joe.Sears@gmail.com |
For a full listing of all “job wanted” ads, please go to:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted.htm
To place a free “job wanted” Leasing News ad:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted-post.htm
ELFA Career Center: Job Seekers ( free ):
http://careers.elfaonline.org/search.cfm
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Marlin: “The Axeman Cometh”
by Christopher Menkin
(If you were on the Leasing News Mailing List, you would have received the news yesterday: more layoffs at Marlin, including top VP of credit, all made public after the stock market closed. The up-dated and full story follows. editor.)
Marlin Business Services, Mount Laurel, New Jersey (NASDQ: MRLN) reports a first quarter revenue loss of $879,000 compared to a profit of $1,359,000 the first quarter of 2008. The company also announced it has closed its Denver office, plus has let additional 53 employees go,
many of them have been with the company ten to eleven years.
First Quarter Financial Statements shows Marlin is down to 58 salesmen. They completed 3,811 lease totaling $36,280,000 in the first quarter of 2009. Compared to the same time period of 2008, here were 108 salesmen who completed 6,836 leases for $70,500,000. It seems almost half. It also reflects the number of employees and performance of the company.
Compared to year-ending numbers:
2007 year-end employees: 357
2008 year-end employees: 284
It was announced before the year-end that 68 workers were no longer employed. The announcement was in 2009 and does not match the SEC numbers, so the company is down to 163 employees. With the broker division off, and direct sales personnel let go, the number could be 163. The second quarter SEC filing should be able to give the correct numbers as the announcement of those let go occurred in the second quarter, May 7, 2009.
To understand the changes, perhaps the year-end SEC filing gives a more accurate picture by indicating the type of equipment that was being leased.
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/Marlin_2008_year_end.pdf
Note, the two employees responsible for the copier leases were let go last year;
both now working for Cannon Financial.
The categories security systems, commercial and industrial are growth industry products tied to real estate expansion.
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/Marlin_2008_year_end.pdf
The states tie into this as the two hardest hit states are California and Florida with the most real estate foreclosures (Las Vegas as a city is high, but not the numbers of the two larger states.) In fact, Resource America financial indicate the same problems in commercial real estate, which they specialize in. The regional banks that have closed in these area were hit hardest by commercial developments rather than residential homes.
Hit hard was the credit department, where Vice-President Vince Drobniak from credit was given the axe. Approval ratings went from 50% to 41%.
2008 year-end describes the operation: “The vast majority of our credit analysts are centralized in our New Jersey headquarters. At December 31, 2008, we had 20 credit analysts managed by 5 credit managers having an average of more than 9 years of experience.”
http://www.snl.com/Cache/7495974.pdf?O=3&IID=4089372&OSID=9&FID=7495974
In the latest layoff, there were veterans with ten to eleven years let go.
Daniel P. Dyer, Marlin’s CEO, said basically it was the economy, took no blame or remorse in cut backs, which did not include the raises, bonuses, and officer pay as well as director's pay.
His comments in the press release began, "“This past quarter was extremely difficult for the economy and the capital markets and I am quite pleased with the steps we have taken to manage through this challenging period and position ourselves for the future.
“These results demonstrate clearly the resiliency and strength of our business model during even the most difficult of times. Our capital position remains very strong and is a significant source of financial strength to Marlin Business Bank and our lenders. On the funding side we continue our efforts working with the FDIC toward a final decision on our order modification request to grow Marlin Business Bank.”
It appears the difficulties with the Utah Industrial Bank have not been cleared up. (Leasing News is told Dan Dyer’s brother Joe is responsible for the 12.8MM charge for the swap loss. He is the head of their treasury group.)
The press release stated, "The current limitation on asset growth at Marlin Business Bank has led to lower lease originations and an overall decline in our portfolio size, which has required us to further proactively lower expenses in the second quarter of 2009, including reducing our workforce and closing our satellite office in Denver. A total of approximately 53 employees company-wide were affected as a result of this recent staff reduction. We expect to incur pretax severance costs in the quarter ended June 30, 2009 of approximately $700,000 related to this staff reduction. The total annualized pretax salary cost savings that are expected to result from this reduction are estimated to be approximately $2.8 million. Although we believe that these estimates are appropriate and reasonable based on available information, actual results could differ from these estimates."
Net lease charge-offs in the first quarter were $8.0 million, or 5.03% of average net investment in leases on an annualized basis, compared to $7.9 million or 4.7 1% of average net investment in leases on an annualized basis during fourth quarter 2008.
Leases over 30 days delinquent were 4.87% as of March 31, 2009, an increase compared to 3.72% at December 31, 2008. On a dollar basis, leases in the 30+ delinquency category totaled $33.9 million at March 31, 2009, up from $28.1 million at December 31, 2008 and $25.8 million at March 31, 2008. Leases over 60 days delinquent were 2.34% as of March 31, 2009, an increase from 1.53% as of December 31, 2008 and 1.09% at March 31, 2008. On a dollar basis, leases over 60 days delinquent totaled $16.3 million at March 31, 2009, an increase compared to $11.6 million at December 31, 2008 and $9.2 million at March 31, 2008.
First Quarter Press Release with Financial Statements:
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/Marlin_2009_Q1.pdf
Marlin’s Dan Dyer/George Pelose get Raises + stock
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/December%202008/12-24-08.htm#marlin
Officers/Directors get Raises/Bonuses
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/May%202009/05-01-09.htm#marlin
 |
Dan Dyer, George Pelose, Joe Dyer, Lynn Wilson
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42% More Approvals at BSB last Week
Don Myerson, President, BSB Leasing, Englewood, Colorado, Leasing News Advisor and advertiser, reports "...a week that saw us approve 42% more transactions than the week before.”
Don Myerson
President
BSB Leasing, Inc.
dmyerson@bsbleasing.com
800-945-3372 Ext. 336
“We received approximately the same amount of applications but we actually were able to approve 42% more of what we reviewed.
"The average transaction size was $25K. The average FICO score was 700 and the average time in business was 6 years. Just about the same as the previous week. So the deals looked about the same but we were able to approve 42% more. What changed from one week to the next?
"After reviewing all of the approvals I could tell that our brokers are now starting to 'get it.' For the most part, the approved transactions were either submitted with complete credit write-ups that included the necessary information that our credit department needed or our brokers responded to our credit departments questions with detailed answers.
"When I reviewed similar transactions that were declined the common theme was we didn't have enough information to overcome perceived weaknesses in the credit or we just didn't understand the deal."
Examples of recent approvals:
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/BSB_Approvals.pdf
As Don stated above, he believes the approvals are coming from better packaging. He did not mention it may also be coming from information that he has been sending out to his brokers,
such as:
Send us a “Complete Package”
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/April%202009/04-10-09.htm#pkg
Bruce Zwillinger
VP Broker Services
bzwillinger@bsbleasing.com
800.945.3372 x306
Direct Line 303.376.4669
Direct Fax 800.338.5225
Tom Kulisan
East Coast Broker Services
tkulisan@bsbleasing.com
800.945.3372 x334
Direct Line 303.376.4691
Direct Fax 800.338.5225
Randy Propeck
Broker Services
rpropeck@bsbleasing.com
Direct Line 520.638.6789
Direct Fax 888.693.1020
Vicki Shimkus, CLP
West Coast Broker Services
vshimkus@bsbleasing.com
Direct Line 425.373.4731
Direct Fax 888.488.4702
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Classified ads---Help Wanted
Leasing Account Executive
|
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LEASING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Seeking an experienced Leasing Professional who has: Home State Leasing Corporation, a subsidiary of Home State Bank, N.A., has been serving the needs of our clients since 1915.
|
Sales
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The iFinancial Group is looking for highly motivated individuals with experience originating equipment lease transactions . We offer a relaxed work environment, provide leads and offer above industry standard commission. Call Todd Clark 888-852-5155 x223 Ten years providing financing nationwide |
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Like selling vendor programs and large transactions? CLICK HERE to find out how to have fun again. |
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FASB Issues New Lease Accounting Paper
by Shawn Halladay
(This is a synopsis of Mr. Halladay’s 4,500 word article to appear in the next edition of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association “ELT” magazine, available for members. Mr. Halladay is a member of the Leasing News Advisory Board.)
The FASB has issued a Discussion Paper on lessee accounting for leases. As expected, the requirement to classify leases as capital or operating is gone and lessees must capitalize all leases. This one-size-fits-all model, which treats dollar-outs and FMV leases the same, accounts for very different transactions in the same way.
Under the new rules all leases will be treated essentially the same as current capital leases. In a significant departure from FAS 13, though, lessees must assess the impact on the lease term of options to return, renew, or purchase the leased asset.
For example, if the lessee expects to renew the lease, the base term plus the renewal payments now must be capitalized. Furthermore, these assumptions are reassessed each reporting period. Lessees also must estimate and capitalize the amount of any contingent rents and residual guarantees likely to be paid.
The capitalized asset and liability are amortized to depreciation and interest expense whether the lease represents an in-substance financing or a usage agreement. ELFA, however, is fighting to keep the periodic expense of usage/operating leases under the new model the same as the current FAS 13 rent expense so as to better represent the transactions’ economic substance.
The requirement to capitalize operating leases will, of course, cause a decline in volume due to the loss of off balance financing and the time and cost of estimating lease terms, options, and contingent rents on each lease. Capitalizing operating leases will, of course, impact lessees’ ratios, even though their financial health remains unchanged. Lessees also can expect to incur costs associated with rearranging capital structures and avoiding technical default on outstanding debt.
Off balance sheet leases will not disappear, however, as lessees seeking partial off balance sheet financing will adopt structures that minimize the present value of the lease obligations. Certain asset classes will create significant off balance sheet benefits for lessees due to residuals and/or tax benefits. Lessees also will seek shorter-term leases and leases structured with subjective options and contingencies, allowing lessors to charge a premium for this greater risk and flexibility.
Yes, my friends, the smell of opportunity is in the air for those lessors willing to take residual risk and fine-tune their business model. There will be opportunities to provide accounting-based products, plus, lessees will continue to utilize leasing for its many other benefits. Keep on leasing!
(This is a synopsis of Mr. Halladay’s 4,500 word article to appear in the next edition of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association “ELT” magazine, available for members. Mr. Halladay is a member of the Leasing News Advisory Board.)
Shawn D. Halladay
Managing Principal
124 South 400 East Suite 310
Salt Lake City, UT 84111-2135
Phone: (801) 322-4499
Fax: (801) 322-5454
E-mail: shalladay@thealtagroup.com
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New Hires---Promotions
Balboa Capital, Irvine, California--- Leasing News is aware of some recent hires. President Phil Silva said he would put Leasing News on the press release mailing list and send us this information. May 5th he wrote, “I will make sure that we begin to send you these press releases.” Complaints about not seeing the posting here, please contact: phils@balboacapital.com
Cindy Fleck is now MCA Relationship Manager for Channel Partners April 22, 2004 she was named Director of Sales for the West by Brad Peterson, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Manifest Funding Services, who is head of Channel Partners today. She rose up the ladder at Manifest and everyone thought it a big surprise that she left. Reportedly there are changes going on at US Bank Manifest, but that has been the history of the company,
and perhaps the leasing industry in general. So what else is new?
Key Finance, Superior, Colorado /Downers Grove, Illinois/Cleveland, Ohio --- Following up on a key appointment at Key (Peter K. Bullen to senior vice president and national sales manager for the direct sales group). Started sending emails to Patricia Akins, who handled these in the past, on April 28th. Somehow Leasing News was no longer on the press list. After no response in trying the next day again, tried President Adam Warner, Downers Grove, Illinois on April 29th. May 1st started telephoning media contacts at Key Bank; several replied, they were not the ones for Key Equipment Finance, kept referring me to another person, higher I guess, and have been working my way up to the ladder. Looks like it might speed things up if I call up the secretary to Mr. Henry L. Meyer III, the chairman. Perhaps she (or he) will ask me to write a letter. I was a founding director of a regional bank that grew in Northern California and was sold to Wells Fargo, sat on the executive committee. They know more than you think about what is going on at their bank. Leasing News has supported their position for several years and Meyer might remember that as it was early on. I’m going to tell him I never had these problems when Paul Larkins, CLP, was in charge at Key Equipment Finance.
If there are others who wonder why they never made this list,
talk to the next person in your chain of command because maybe
they never intended for it to be printed in Leasing News.
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ELFA's TALF Finance Securitization Web Seminar
Tuesday, May 12th at 1pm EDT
The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association will present a web seminar on the Federal Reserve/Department of Treasury TALF - Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility. A panel of experts will discuss the Federal Government's effort to jump start the securitization market for commercial and consumer loans, including equipment leases and loans through the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility or "TALF". Panelists will discuss the mechanics, legal requirements and market acceptance of this new federal program.
Presenters include:
Daniel Chen, Vice President-Global Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley
Vishwanath Tirupattur, Executive Director-Credit Strategy, Morgan Stanley
Evan Wilkoff, Director-Commercial Asset Finance, Wachovia Securities
Stephen Whelan, Partner, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP
Who Should Attend?
The following individuals would benefit from attending: CFOs, CEOs, In-house and Outside Legal Counsel, and any individuals responsible for funding through Syndications or the Capital Markets.
To register, go to:
http://webinars.elfaonline.org/session.php?id=2522
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An Advertising Campaign Works on Leasing News
Banner Advertising
The editor tries to place banner ads where they will be read by those the advertisers want to reach, rather than placed at random. News stories that will have an “ill” effect are avoided as best as possible. Often it is the position of the banner ad that attracts more response. This is at the sole discretion of the editor.
Banner ads may appear under the headlines at the choice of the editor, but are not guaranteed. An attempt is made to share them on a rotation basis with other banner advertisers.
Pricing Information |
|||
Price |
Ad Size |
Pixels Size |
Term |
| $395.00 | 6.5W X 1.5 H |
468W X 180H |
21 days |
| $595.00 | 6.5W X 2.5 H |
468W X 180H |
21 days |
| $750.00 | 6.5W X 4" H |
468W X 288H |
21 days |
| $850.00 | 6.5"W x 5"H |
468W X 360H |
21 days |
21 Days on the Leasing News web site ( holidays not included.) They are placed by the editor in an appropriate position near a story that may be more compatible to their ad. They also appear under the headlines in each News Edition on a rotation basis instead of being placed by a news story.
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$595---six months $500 month/12 months $475 Combination discounts are further available with Help Ad "contracts." |
Two month, three month, six month and one year contracts are available with a discount. Ads for employment should be placed in the classified ad section, where it is possible to also appear at the top of the headlines.
Email: Kitmenkin@leasingnews.org
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Fernando’s View
By Fernando F. Croce
“Star Trek” lives up to its hype, while “Rudo y Cursi” offers laughs for the art-house and the frat-house. Meanwhile, DVD renters can choose action (“Taken”), drama (“Of Time and the City”), and comedy (“Galaxy Quest”).
In Theaters:
Star Trek (Paramount): Following a legendary cult TV series, a string of big-screen movies, and a legion of faithful fans, the new “Star Trek” feature has much to live up to. Fortunately for audiences, this highly-awaited science-fiction movie delivers enough thrills to move out of its predecessors’ shadow. Taking place at the very beginning, the film chronicles how the crew of the galaxy-cruising starship Enterprise was assembled, focusing on the growing friendship between the young, rebellious James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and quizzical Spock (Zachary Quinto). Director J.J. Abrams (“Mission: Impossible III”) keeps up a ferocious pace, and the cast also includes Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Winona Ryder and Leonard Nimoy. The result is like a sci-fi version of “Superman Returns,” less a prequel than a re-imagining.
Rudo y Cursi (Sony Pictures Classics): Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna (“Y Tu Mama Tambien”) team up once more for this screwball comedy, which hits theaters after a crowd-pleasing run in film festivals. The stars play Mexican brothers who work in a banana plantation and spend their free time playing soccer and dreaming of moving to Mexico City. Cursi (Garcia Bernal) wants to become a singer, while Rudo (Luna) is a family man obsessed with gambling and sports. When a talent scout comes to the field and picks Cursi for the major leagues, Rudo goes after them with comic consequences. A mix of social commentary and raucous jock humor, it may be the rare film to please fans of “Amores Perrors” as well as “Wedding Crashers.”
New on DVD:
Taken (20th-Century Fox): Liam Neeson gives the secret agents from the “Bourne Identity” a run for their money in this breathless action picture. He stars as Bryan Mills, a former spy who wants to put his brutal past behind him and take care of his estranged young daughter. Problem is, he can’t seem to escape from violence and, as his daughter is kidnapped while vacationing in Europe, he must make use again of the fighting skills developed during his CIA days. The story of paternal revenge hasn’t been fresh since the original “Death Wish,” yet “Taken” works like a charm due to the amazing flair director Pierre Morel brings to the action sequences and, above all, to the conviction Neeson brings to his role.
(“Taken” is one of my favorites. I took my son Dash to see it while he was visiting me. He said it was very factual, not only in the story line but in the action sequences where he says you are trained to automatically react as in the knife sequence with the rock star. Even though maybe a fifty guys are killed in the movie, he said it was “realistic” to the training by Blackwater as well as the army, navy, and marines; who also constant re-train everyone, including the veterans, as there is always something new in the training exercises.. Editor)
Of Time and the City (Strand): In his first film in almost a decade, British filmmaker Terence Davies (“The Long Day Closes,” “The House of Mirth”) reminds movie fans why his absence from the screen has been so galling. Davies also narrates this documentary-essay about his hometown Liverpool, where his often harsh experiences as a boy would later find their way into the director’s simultaneously brutal and lyrical movies. Using archival footage of the town in its post-World War II period and mixing it with music by Brahms, Liszt, and Peggy Lee, Davies creates flowing, often acidic and visually beautiful waves of emotion. Highly personal and affectingly universal at the same time, it’s one of the year’s most unique experiences so far.
Galaxy Quest (Paramount): Talk about a timely release! For those who like their science-fiction adventures seasoned more with laughs than thrills, the DVD re-release of this enjoyable 1999 comedy should make the perfect alternative to the new “Star Trek.” When a TV show suspiciously like the one with Kirk and Spock is cancelled, its cast (which includes Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman) must get by on convention appearances and meetings with overeager fans. When aliens who think their TV adventures were real come to ask for their help, however, the washed-up actors finally get a chance to show real heroism. Making good-natured fun of space-adventure clichés, this mischievous parody can be enjoyed by Trekkies and non-fans alike
#### Press Release ##############################
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News Briefs----
Bank of West loses $85 million
http://www.mercurynews.com/businessheadlines/ci_12319276?nclick_check=1
US Bancorp sees signs of capital spending loan stability
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/8495417
AIG First Quarter loss $4.35 billion (would you lease them a computer?)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aMDAl0sDqVBY
N.Y. Fed chief resigns 'immediately'
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2009/05/07/NY-Fed-chief-resigns-immediately/
UPI-79451241743130/
Stress tests show 10 big banks must raise total of $75 billion
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2009-05-07-stress-tests-
banks-needs_N.htm
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Sports Briefs----
Favre's agent reiterates client's intentions to remain retired
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2009-05-07-favre-agent-update_N.htm
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California Nuts Briefs---
Santa Barbara wildfires force thousands to evacuate; mansions, humble homes destroyed
http://www.contracostatimes.com/localnews/ci_12310462
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that Californians should debate whether to legalize and tax marijuana. More than 600,000 people were arrested for marijuana between 1997 and 2006, state figures show.
Interactive map: See where marijuana busts happen most
http://www.sacbee.com/1098/story/1843314.html
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“Gimme that Wine”
Demand Soft for California Vineyards
http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=news&content=64312&htitle=
Demand%20Soft%20for%20California%20Vineyards
Wine Prices by vintage
http://www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/
US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/
Winery Atlas
http://www.carterhouse.com/atlas/\
Leasing News Wine & Spirits Page
http://two.leasingnews.org/Recommendations/wnensprts.htm
The London International Vintners Exchange (Liv-ex) is an electronic exchange for fine wine.
http://www.liv-ex.com/
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Today's Top Event in History
1941 – Gene Krupa with Anita O'Day record "Let Me Off Uptown" (Okey) “Say, Roy, Have You Ever Been Uptown?”
http://www.anitaoday.com/
http://www.drummerman.net/
[headlines]
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This Day in American History
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1541 - South of present-day Memphis, Tennessee, Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River, one of the first European explorers to ever do so. After building flatboats, de Soto and his 400 ragged troops crossed the great river under the cover of night, in order to avoid the armed Native Americans who patrolled the river daily in war canoes. From there the conquistadors headed into present-day Arkansas, continuing their fruitless two-year-old search for gold and silver in the American wilderness.In late May 1539, de Soto landed on the west coast of Florida with 600 troops, servants, and staff, 200 horses, and a pack of bloodhounds. From there, the army set about subduing the natives, seizing any valuables they stumbled upon, and preparing the region for eventual Spanish colonization. Traveling through Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, across the Appalachians, and back to Alabama, de Soto failed to find the gold and silver he desired, but he did seize a valuable collection of pearls at Cofitachequi, in present-day Georgia. NBA Finals Champions This Date • 1970 New York Knicks |
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Baseball Poem
THIS IS THE DAY by Tim Peeler When every relationship and previously |
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SuDoku
The object is to insert the numbers in the boxes to satisfy only one condition: each row, column and 3x3 box must contain the digits 1 through 9 exactly once. What could be simpler?
http://leasingnews.org/Soduku/soduko-main.htm
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Daily Puzzle
How to play:
http://www.setgame.com/set/puzzle_frame.htm
Refresh for current date:
http://www.setgame.com/set/puzzle_frame.htm
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http://www.gasbuddy.com/GB_Map_Gas_Prices.aspx
http://www.gasbuddy.com/GB_Mobile_Instructions.aspx
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See USA map, click to specific area, no commercials
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You can save up to 20 different routes and check them out with one click,
or type in a new route to learn the traffic live
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