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Friday, June 6, 2003
Headlines---
What
Lessors (And Funders) Are Saying About. . .Funding
Classified
Ads---Senior Management Jobs Wanted
U.S.
Economy: Initial Jobless Claims Rose Last Week
Unbelievable--
Mortgage Rates Drop Again to Record Level
Bid
Process Continues in CapStream/Decision Systems bid
Highlights
This Day in American History
--includes Patton's D-Day Speech
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pictures
from the Past---1995---McCommon, Malone,Monlux, Lowe, Wehner, Dislip,
Kruse
http://two.leasingnews.org/imanges_uael_wael/McCommon,Malone,Monlux,Lowe.jpg
“Left
to right—Jim McCommon, LaVergne Malone, Cliff Monlux, Loretta Lowe,
Skip Wehner, Alan Dishlip, and John Kruse packing heat at Wings Over
the Rockies (Denver, Colorado United Association of Equipment Leasing
Conference)
June,1995, Regional Report, United Association
of Equipment Leasing
What
Lessors (And Funders) Are Saying About. . .Funding
ELT News ( Equipment Leasing Association )
The
funding climate remains tough, but there are reasons for optimism, say
industry leaders. Throughout 2002, the credit culture continued to tighten.
2003 is still tight as lessors experienced less business overall and
less business that fit into the new credit standards.
John
Jankowski, Summit Funding Group, Inc., said, “Everyone we’ve talked
with, both funding sources and lessors, say that things are still tight.
A general fear exists about making a mistake. Funding sources don’t
want charge offs or write downs, and they don’t want auditor’s questions.
It’s a nervousness that won’t go away.”
However,
community banks, a slight loosening of funds from banks, and deal flow
consistency have lessors feeling better about year-end.
“The
good news is that 2003 has been a little bit more consistent as far
as deal flow goes,” said Pete Darin, TCF Leasing, Inc. “In general,
the economy has leveled out and funding sources have stopped tightening.
Their credit culture has stabilized and the businesses they are serving
now understand what is necessary to go to work. This has created a more
consistent environment, which is always a good thing.”
Don
Kincaid, KVI Capital, Inc., said, while the environment is not like
the 1990s, he is “seeing an improvement.” He added, “I’m finding that
there are a lot of funding sources, especially banks, that have money
and are trying to lend it. Their rates are lower than before, and it’s
a little more flexible out there. “
Funding
sources have funds, noted the lessors interviewed. And, if no one can
meet their stringent requirements then the criteria must change even
if just a little in order for them to continue.
“Credit
standards are not loose, but they have softened in last 6 months,” offered
Kincaid. “That is a function
of a bank sitting on a lot of money.”
“Most
banks have money coming out of their pockets,” agreed John Jankowski,
Summit Funding Group, Inc. “They need deals, but have tight standards.
On one end of the house, they have a very high filter so nothing gets
through. On the other end, they have more money than they can spend.
It’s still a tug of war.”
Kincaid
added, “I do see a softening of rates, a higher appetite for loans and
people more willing to work on a story credit. That’s different from
18 months ago. They will at least look at anything I’ve sending them.”
Kincaid also points out, however, that the economy is stronger in Florida
than some other areas of country. “We’re not booming, but Florida is
having rapid expansion.”
Overall,
however, the credit environment has a long way to go before getting
to where it was three short years ago.
Darin
said, “Until the economy perks up and stays there consistently people
won’t feel comfortable moving their credit culture in the other direction
for a while. It’s at least a year to 18 months before it will turn around,
noticeably.”
In
the meantime, lessors say there is enough funding to go around if you
know where to look.
“There
is enough funding,” said Louis Brill, Vision Financial Group, Inc. “though,
not as much as a few years ago. We’ve done almost 60% of business that
we did the entire last year already this year, so the money is out there.”
Community
banks were consistently offered as one group of funders.
“The
days of national funders are gone. But, more community banks are offering
funding now,” said Brill. “It is time consuming to create relationships
with community banks, but it’s time well spent.”
KVI
also is finding success among community banks, both as a vendor and
a funding source.
“We
are seeing more transactions coming in from community banks,” said Kincaid.
“Community
banks are getting into leasing in a big way. Banks that don’t offer
leasing are missing transactions. Every relationship manager in a community
bank has a customer who has a lease proposal on his desk right now from
someone else. The customer wants to lease and if the community bank
doesn’t offer it, they will go elsewhere.”
Can
community banks fill the hole of the larger funding sources, however?
“To
a degree community banks are making up for loss of some national funding
sources,” said Kincaid. “There
are some deals that a large funder would never do (but where a community
bank will) simply due to the transaction size. And, the community banks
are standing in line to take that [smaller] business. ”
Other
good news is most lessors believe the economy has hit bottom and there
is no where to go but up.
“I
do think things are turning,” said TCF’s Darin. “What funding sources
had to do (pulling back) wasn’t easy, but it will assure we have good,
well-managed funding sources in the future. The downturn has lasted
so long it has forced everyone to manage their portfolio well – both
lessors and funding sources.
Brill
agrees. “We’re doing much better this year, so either we’re getting
better or things are getting better overall. It’s probably both,” he
said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Classified
Ads---Senior Management Jobs Wanted
Senior
Management: Baltimore, MD
25
year veteran of commercial and equipment leasing seeking a senior management
position with leasing or asset based financing company in the southeast
(Florida preferred)
email:
kellogg_md@yahoo.com
Senior
Management: Chicago, IL 15 yrs.of exp., w/global-vendor-programs;
sales, marketing, business-development, P&L responsibilities. Seeking
senior leadership-role w/captive lessor or global- leasing company.
Will relocate for right opportunity. email:InternationallyAdept@hotmail.com
Senior
Management: Long Island, NY
Degree
Banking/Finance. 13 years leasing exp. Now prez young leasing company
where promises were not met. Interested in joining established firm
with future. Email:bob33483@yahoo.com
Senior
Management: San Francisco, CA., 25 years experience w/global leasing
company, sales,marketing,business dev., P&L responsibility, asset
mgmt, brokering and remarketing. Interested in joining an est. firm
with a future. email:rcsteyer@yahoo.com
Full
list of Jobs Wanted at: http://65.209.205.32/LeasingNews/JobPostings.htm
U.S.
Economy: Initial Jobless Claims Rose Last Week
(Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans filing
for first-time unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week to
the highest since the end of April, a sign the U.S. economy may be restrained
and may give the Federal Reserve more reason to cut interest rates.
States
received 442,000 new claims in the week ended Saturday, up from 426,000
in the prior week, the Labor Department said in Washington. The four-week
moving average, a less volatile measure, also increased.
``The
labor market remains the weakest link in the economic recovery story,''
said John Ryding, chief economist at Bear, Stearns & Co. in New
York, who estimates tomorrow's monthly employment report will show the
U.S. lost 40,000 jobs in May.
Factory
orders in April fell the most since November 2001 as manufacturers waited
for stronger consumer and corporate demand, a Commerce Department report
showed today. The reports bolster Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's comments
Tuesday that while the economy may be poised to speed up in the second
half, the pickup ``has not yet begun.''
Orders
placed with the nation's factories fell in April by 2.9 percent after
a 2.1 percent increase. Excluding transportation equipment, orders slumped
2.4 percent, the biggest since the September 2001 terrorist attacks.
Demand weakened for machinery, electronics and defense aircraft.
Companies
including La-Z-Boy Inc., the largest U.S. home furniture maker, and
WestPoint Stevens Inc., one of the largest U.S. makers of towels and
bedding, are among those that have cut jobs because of slowing sales
or increased productivity.
Jobless
Claims
The
Labor Department will issue its May employment statistics tomorrow.
The unemployment rate is estimated to have increased to 6.1 percent,
the highest in almost nine years, based on the median of 67 forecasts
in a Bloomberg News survey.
Last
week's jobless claims were the highest since 453,000 in the week ended
April 26, and some economists consider claims above 400,000 a sign of
a weak labor market. Employment typically lags any improvement in the
economy because companies want to see sustained increases in demand
before hiring.
Economists
surveyed by Bloomberg News expected the number of initial claims to
decline to 420,000, based on the median of 40 estimates. The Labor Department
had been anticipating a larger decline in unadjusted jobless claims
than what occurred during the week of the Memorial Day holiday.
``We
were expecting a 7 percent drop'' in filings during the holiday week,
``but we actually got a drop of around 3.5 percent,'' said Tom Stengle,
a Labor Department spokesman. So, the seasonally adjusted figure rose
during the week.
The
four-week moving average of claims increased to 430,500 from 427,500
the prior week.
Market
Reaction
Treasury
prices rose after the claims report and gave up the gains at midday
as investors shunned yields at 45-year lows. The benchmark 3 5/8 percent
note maturing in 2013 fell about 1/4 point, pushing down the yield up
3 basis points to 3.32 percent at 2:23 p.m. in New York.
U.S.
stocks were little changed as sales increases at Wal- Mart Stores Inc.
and J.C. Penney Co. lifted retailers and renewed optimism that consumer
spending may hold up. The Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index slipped
3 points, or 0.3 percent.
Traders
now fully expect the central bank will lower the benchmark interest
rate by at least 25 basis points on its next meeting on June 24-25,
using the 1 percent yield on the July fed funds futures contract as
the gauge of their expectations. The Fed last lowered the benchmark
bank overnight lending rate in November to 1.25 percent, the lowest
since 1961.
Bentonville,
Arkansas-based Wal-Mart said open at least a year rose 2.1 percent from
a year earlier, within its forecast. Sales rose 3.2 percent at J.C.
Penney, while Gap Inc., the largest U.S. clothing retailer, had a 10
percent gain.
Continuing
Claims
The
number of people still on jobless benefit rolls fell in the week that
ended May 24 to 3.705 million from 3.723 million a week earlier. The
four-week average of continuing claims rose to 3.710 million, the highest
since May of last year.
``Continuing
unemployment claims have been creeping upward and that suggests that
when people do become unemployed, it's taking longer for them to find
jobs,'' said Kevin Logan, senior market economist at Dresdner Kleinwort
Wasserstein in New York.
Investments
made in the last decade have helped companies be more productive while
keeping a lid on payrolls. U.S. productivity grew almost three times
faster in the first quarter than in the previous three months, revised
data from the Labor Department showed yesterday.
The
rise in efficiency came at the expense of more than a quarter million
jobs cuts during the three months. Tomorrow, the Labor Department is
expected by economists to report that the jobless rate in May increased
to 6.1 percent and that the economy lost 30,000 jobs, based on median
forecasts.
Planned
Job Cuts
La-Z-Boy
on Tuesday said it will close plants in Tennessee and North Carolina
and cut 405 jobs as sales slow. The Monroe, Michigan-based company said
production will shift to other plants, adding back 75 jobs in those
locations.
On
Monday, WestPoint Stevens Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection. The
West Point, Georgia-based company, which makes Ralph Lauren Home, Martha
Stewart and Joe Boxer bedding and bath products, said in April it would
shut two plants and a distribution center by the end of June and fire
320 workers.
Other
recent data have signaled the recovery may be starting to strengthen
and with it, the labor market may follow. Service industries, the largest
part of the economy, expanded in May for a second straight month, the
Institute for Supply Management reported yesterday. The group's manufacturing
survey also showed improvement.
``To
get anywhere close to the type of increases that economists are forecasting
for July, August and September on average, the monthly data -- indeed
the weekly data -- have got to start moving in a positive direction
fairly quickly,'' Greenspan said Tuesday.
The
rate of planned firings is beginning to ebb, according to a private
survey released yesterday. U.S. employers in May announced the smallest
number of intended firings in 30 months, a survey by the Chicago- based
placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. found. The 68,623
announced job cuts represented a 53.1 percent drop from April's 146,399.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
last bad jobs report?
May's
job numbers will almost certainly be bad. Is improvement coming -- or
more pain?
By
Mark Gongloff, CNN/Money Staff Writer
NEW
YORK (CNN/Money) - You can pretty much bet today's employment report
will be bad -- the only question is what comes next.
Some
economists hope the report will mark the end of the bad news for the
nation's labor market, which is in its longest slump since World War
II, while others worry there's more heartbreak to come.
A
vast majority of economists expect the Labor Department to say the unemployment
rate rose to at least 6.1 percent in May -- the highest level since
July 1994 -- and that employers cut tens of thousands of jobs.
Their
worries are not unfounded -- most signs have been pointing to a weak
report, including:
weekly
jobless claims staying well above the 400,000 level, indicating labor
market weakness
83
percent of employers plan to cut jobs or hold payrolls steady in the
second quarter, according to the latest Manpower Inc. survey of corporate
hiring plans
the
number of people who think jobs are hard to get rose in May while those
thinking jobs easy to get fell, the Conference Board found in its latest
consumer survey
employers
in both the factory and service sectors kept cutting jobs in May, even
as business conditions improved, purchasing manager surveys by the Institute
for Supply Management (ISM) found
"I
don't think we're back to a stable employment level; we're in for another
decline, certainly in manufacturing employment," said Conference
Board economist Ken Goldstein. "This should be the best month in
the past three, but that's damning with faint praise, given how bad
March and April were."
But
other economic indicators have improved recently, raising hopes -- on
Wall Street, at least -- that the worst might be over for the labor
market, which typically lags behind the rest of the economy. Among these:
both
ISM surveys showed business activity recovering well from what most
economists say was a war-induced drop in March and April
Chicago
outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which keeps track
of corporate layoffs, said May saw the lowest number of job-cut announcements
in 30 months
consumer
confidence about the economy's future has been rising, according to
surveys by the Conference Board and the University of Michigan.
"I'm
hoping that, if we do get bad numbers, the markets may take it in stride
and say, 'We know employment is a lagging indicator' and focus on the
other things happening that are decidedly positive," said Citigroup
economist Brian Jones.
Data
revisions could cloud picture
Before
investors react to Friday's report, however, they may spend some time
scratching their heads about it. The Labor Department is revising the
numbers in its surveys of employers' payrolls.
In
addition to changing seasonal adjustments and updating benchmark figures,
the department is shifting some job descriptions and moving some jobs
from manufacturing into services in what it says is an effort to more
accurately reflect the current economy.
Economists,
on average, expect employers cut 39,000 jobs outside the farm sector
last month, according to a Reuters poll, down from 48,000 job cuts in
April -- but prior data, going all the way back to 2001, are being revised,
so comparisons to prior months might be difficult.
"We
expect markets to focus, as usual, on headline hiring and the jobless
rate. Whether these figures should be judged according to the usual
principles is less clear, however," said UBS Warburg economist
Susan Hering in a research note.
Analysts
will probably focus on whether the payroll survey more closely reflects
the numbers from the department's household survey, which produces the
unemployment rate.
The
household survey has shown employment growing by about 1.5 million jobs
in the past 12 months, contradicting the employer survey, which says
payrolls shrank by about 300,000 jobs during that time.
"At
labor market turning points, the household survey does better because
it picks up self-employed workers and others not reflected in the business
survey," said former Federal Reserve economist Wayne Ayers, now
chief economist at Fleet Boston Financial. "But I'm still not convinced
the labor market is quite as strong as the household data say it is."
How
long will the pain linger?
One
last time, then, let's review the soon-to-be-obsolete payrolls data:
Payrolls have lost 2.7 million jobs since March 2001, when most economists
think a recession began. Excluding government workers, payrolls have
been underwater for 22 straight months, the longest such stretch since
1944-46.
Ayers
doubts the labor market will improve much this year, due in part to
productivity gains, which let companies make more goods with fewer workers
-- great news for profits, which could boost hiring in the long run.
It hurts in the short run, however.
John
Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Securities, noted other reasons
employers might be slower than ever to hire new workers, including employee
health-care costs and a rising level of overseas production.
He
warned that even the Federal Reserve's campaign of cutting interest
rates to 40-year lows, as well as the tax cuts recently signed into
law by President Bush, might not help create many new jobs, even if
they boost the economy.
"If
we get increased demand, where is the supply coming from? Is it domestic,
or is it imported from Canada, Latin America and Asia? That's still
an open question," Silvia said.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cartoon---BBQ
http://two.leasingnews.org/cartoons/BBQ.gif
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unbelievable--
Mortgage Rates Drop Again to Record Level
Freddie
Mac, the mortgage cmpany, reported the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate
mortgage dropped to a record low of 5.26 percent for the week ending
June 5.
This
is both the ninth time this year, and the fourth consecutive week that rates on this benchmark mortgage fell to
an all-time weekly low.
The
previous low rate of 5.31 percent was set last week. The new rate is
the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking 30-year mortgages in 1971.
For
15-year fixed-rate mortgages rates also fell to a record low of 4.66
percent this week. That surpassed last week's rate of 4.73 percent.
This week's rate was the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking 15-year
mortgages in 1991.
The
low mortgage rates continue to fuel the economy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bid
Process Continues by CapitalStream for Decision Systems
Here is the “official” declaration in the stock
market bid offer statement:
•Capital
Stream Minnesota has received irrevocable undertakings and
non-binding letters of intent to accept, or
to procure acceptance of, the
Offer in respect of an aggregate of 26,515,384
IDS Shares, representing
approximately 46.6 per cent of the IDS Shares
currently in issue.
•IDS is a holding company of a group of companies
specialising in the
provision of software and services for the leasing
and wholesale finance
industries.
•The Capital Stream Group provides software
and related services to the
commercial finance industry. Capital Stream's
flagship product,
FinanceCenter, is a browser-based software platform
that allows customers to
automate and integrate front office operations
including application
processing, deal structuring, credit analysis, document generation
and
workflow management. FinanceCenter is used by
small business lending,
commercial lending and equipment finance groups
to originate leases, loans,
credit lines and credit cards.
Commenting
on the Offer, Kevin Riegelsberger, President and Chief Executive
Officer
of Capital Stream, said:
"We
believe that the combination of the IDS Group and the Capital Stream
Group
has
merits in terms of both technology and customer base and that the combined
group
can be a significant competitor within the leasing software industry
by
providing
an integrated front and back office solution.
By
acquiring IDS, Capital Stream will be able to utilise the scale of the
IDS
Group's
sales and marketing resources to accelerate revenue growth and build
critical
mass quickly."
Commenting
on the Offer, Thomas Glucklich, Chairman of IDS, said:
"The
Independent Directors believe that the Offer from Capital Stream provides
IDS
Shareholders with the opportunity to obtain a cash return over the near
term
at
a price which represents a premium of approximately 72.7 per cent to
the
Closing
Price of an IDS Share of 11.0 pence on 22 October 2002, the Business
Day immediately before the IDS Board announced that it had resolved
to undertake a strategic review of all options open to IDS".
At
the opening of the London Stock Exchange this morning, there was
no
up-dated report.
________________________________________________________
How
Do I subscribe?
---
Customer information ---
Name = Matt Welly
Email = mattwelly@1acg.com
Comments or Questions= I would like to subscribe
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From: matt welly <mattwelly@1acg.com>
Thanks
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Is
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(The
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HTML
version is sent between 8:00am and 8:30am California time.
(The
HTML is superior in everything but the time it is sent out. In the
up-grade
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
News
Briefs---
Home starts up by 27.2% in California
http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?file=
/chronicle/archive/2003/06/05/BU268473.DTL&type=business
UCLA
scales back forecast for California's resurgence
Only
slight improvement predicted in jobs and personal income
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Highlights
This Day in American History
1755- birthday of Nathan
Hale. The American Patriot was caught behind lines gathering troop movements
by General William Howe, who ordered him to be hung in the morning,
as he was a spy. His alleged last words have become a symbol
of American Patriotism: " I only regret that I have but one life
to lose for my country." They were attributed to a news story printed
in the 19th century, and were not heard by contemporaries
of his time, nor commented upon. A 1777
newspaper article reported Hale as saying that ``if he had ten thousand
lives, he would lay them all down, if called to it, in defense of his
injured, bleeding country.'' Four years later another newspaper story
quoted Hale's last words as: ``. . . my only regret is, that I have
not more lives than one to offer in its service.'' Hull's 1848 memoirs
give us the pithier version we know today: ``I only regret that I have
but one life to lose for my country.'' According to Captain Frederick Mackenzie, a British officer who witnessed
Hale’s death, he may have been young and courageous, but he never said
these words. According to Mackenzie’s diary, he wrote that Hale’s last
words were: “ It is the duty of every good officer to obey any orders
given him by his commander-in-chief” James A. Barnes,” Myths of the
Bryan Campaign,” Mississippi Valley Historical Review (1947).
Also see: http://www.lihistory.com/4/hs413a.htm
1756-birthday of American
painter John Turnbull, Lebanon, Conn.
lower half of: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jun06.html
1831- “People of Color”
Convention held for the first time.
1833-In Ellicott's Mills,
Maryland, President Andrew Jackson boards a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
train for a pleasure trip to Baltimore. Jackson, who had never been
on a train before, was the first president to take a ride on the "Iron
Horse," as locomotives were known then. The steam locomotive was
first pioneered in England at the beginning of the 19th century by Richard
Trevithick and George Stephenson. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
began operation in 1828 with horse-drawn cars, but after the successful
run of the Tom Thumb, a steam train that nearly outraced a horse in
a public demonstration in 1830, steam power was added. By 1831, the
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had completed a line from Baltimore to
Frederick, Maryland. Two years later, Andrew Jackson gave railroad travel
its presidential christening. The acceptance of railroads came quickly
in the 1830s, and by 1840 the nation had almost 3,000 miles of railway,
greater than the combined European total of only 1,800 miles. The railroad
network expanded quickly in the years before the Civil War, and by 1860
the American railroad system had become a national network of some 30,000
miles. Nine years later, transcontinental railroad service became possible
for the first time.
1862-Confederate gunboats
engaged a Union flotilla near Memphis, TN. As crowds of spectators watched
from the riverbanks, the outgunned Confederates were defeated. The city
had no fortifications, because the Confederates had directed their resources
toward strengthening the installation upriver. All that stood between
the Yankees and Memphis was a Rebel fleet of eight ships. Three Confederate
ships were rammed and sunk, and one Union ship was struck and severely
damaged. Union guns aboard the other ships began a devastating barrage
that destroyed all but one of the Confederate vessels. The Rebel fleet
was decimated with only four Union casualties and one damaged ship.
The city of Memphis surrendered shortly before noon of that day, effectively
opening up the Mississippi region. . The war would rage on as the Union
Army through shear source of "numbers of soldiers" would prevail.
1872- Susan B. Anthony
tests the rights of women and black males to vote under the 14th and
15th amendment, registering and voting in Rochester, New York.
She would be arrested, tired, and sentenced to pay a fine. She refused. The judge backed down, fearing
she would take this to the Supreme Court for appeal, but nevertheless,
the votes were all disqualified and both women and blacks would not
be allowed to vote in this century.
1892-birthday of bandleader
Ted Lewis, Circleville,OH http://www.redhotjazz.com/tedlewis.html
1899-birthday of pianist
William “Fats” Jefferson, Waco, TX
1902—Great jazz band
leader Jimmy Lunceford Birthday http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_lunceford_jimmie.htm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/104-3603723-3237564
1918-Casey Stengel returned
to Ebbets Field for the first time since being traded from the Brooklyn
Dodgers to the Pittsburgh Pirates over the winter. Stengel celebrated
the occasion by striding to the plate for his first at-bat, calling
time, doffing his cap and letting a live bird fly out. Fans broke into
laughter. He was giving them
the bird.
1925-birthday of trombonist
Al Grey, Aldie, VA, died March 24,2000
http://www.jazzcanadiana.on.ca/_GREY.htm
http://www.trombone.org/articles/library/algrey-tribute.asp
1930-Dillard University
charged in New Orleans, LA http://www.dillard.edu/
1931-birthday of guitarist
Grant Green, St. Louis, Mo.
http://website.lineone.net/~johnharris/grant_green.htm
http://members.tripod.com/vermontreview/CD%20Reviews/gamut.htm
1933-Richard M. Hollingshead,
Jr. opened America’s first drive-in movie theater in Camden, NJ. At the height of their popularity in 1958, there were more than 4,000
drive-ins across America. In the 1990s, fewer than 600 remained opened.
1934- President Franklin
D. Roosevelt signed the Securities Exchange Act that established the
SEC. Wall Street had operated almost unfettered since the end of the
eighteenth century. However, the stock market crash of 1929 necessitated
regulation of the exchanges. The Securities and Exchange Commission
is composed of five members appointed by the president of the US.
1942-Congress on Racial
Equality founded http://www.core-online.org/
1944-birthday of pianist
Monty Alexander, Kingston, Jamaica
1942-birthday of Marian
Wright Edelman, activist and found of the Children’s Defense Fund.
http://bss.sfsu.edu/edelman/aboutmwe.htm
General Patton joined the war with his tank brigade,
pushing toward the
Rhine River before the other generals told him he
couldn’t do that.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jun06.html
General George S. Patton’s D-Day Speech Printed at
the end ***
1946-The Basketball Association of America was founded
at a New York meeting of hockey team owners and arena managers interested
in having their buildings used on open dates. The BAA played three seasons
(1946-47, 1947-48, 1948-49), after which it merged with the National
Basketball League, founded in 1937, to form the National Basketball
Association. Three original BAA
teams remain: The Boston Celtics, The Golden State Warriors ( originally
the Philadelphia Warriors) and the New York Knics. 1949---Top Hits
Riders in the Sky - Vaughn Monroe
Again - Doris Day
Some Enchanted Evening - Perry Como
Lovesick Blues - Hank Williams
1956 - Gogi Grant (born Audrey Brown) reached the
top spot on the "Billboard" singles chart for the first and
only time in her career. Her hit, "The Wayward Wind", stayed
at the top of the top-tune tabulation for eight weeks and on the music
charts for 22 weeks. It was her second record release. The first, in
October, 1955, was "Suddenly There’s a Valley" which climbed
to number nine. http://www.gpproductions.com/acts/grant.html
http://art.staviator.com/G/Gogi_Grant.html
1956- Gene Vincent's recording of "Be Bop A Lula"
was released. The song was co-written by Vincent and (Sheriff) Tex Davis,
a deejay at a Norfolk, Virginia radio station. "Be Bop a Lula"
was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, selling a million copies. Vincent
never was able to match the success of his initial hit. He died in 1971.
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/LatestNewsGV.html
http://www.tsimon.com/vincent.htm
1957---Top Hits
Love Letters in the Sand - Pat Boone
A Teenager’s Romance/I’m Walkin’ - Ricky Nelson
A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation) - Marty
Robbins
Four Walls - Jim Reeves
1960- Tony Williams of the Platters left the group
for a solo career. Williams was the lead singer on the Platters' big
hits in the '50s - "Only You," "The Great Pretender"
and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," among others. In the 1970's,
Williams and Buck Ram, manager of the Platters, battled in court over
who had the right to use the group's name. Ram won the case, but both
later toured with groups billed as the Platters. Died February 22, 1997
http://www.hotshotdigital.com/OldRock/PlattersBio.html
1960- Roy Orbison's "Only the Lonely" was
released. It would reach number
two on the Billboard Hot 100 and inspire Bruce Springsteen to write
"Born to Run."
http://www.srv.net/~roxtar/orbison_roy.html
1965---Top Hits
Help Me, Rhonda - The Beach Boys
Wooly Bully - Sam The Sham and The Pharoahs
Crying in the Chapel - Elvis Presley
What’s He Doing in My World - Eddy Arnold
1966-James H. Meredith, who in 1962 became the first
African American to attend the University of Mississippi, is shot by
a sniper shortly after beginning a lone civil rights march through the
South. Known as the "March Against Fear," Meredith had been
walking from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi, in an attempt
to encourage voter registration by African Americans in the South.
A former serviceman in the U.S. Air Force, Meredith
applied and was accepted to the University of Mississippi in 1962, but
his admission was revoked when the registrar learned of his race. A
federal court ordered "Ole Miss" to admit him, but when he
tried to register on September 20, 1962, he found the entrance to the
office blocked by Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett. On September 28,
the governor was found guilty of civil contempt and was ordered to cease
his interference with desegregation at the university or face arrest
and a fine of $10,000 a day. Two days later, Meredith was escorted onto
the Ole Miss campus by U.S. Marshals, setting off riots that resulted
in the deaths of two students. He returned the next day and began classes.
In 1963, Meredith, who was a transfer student from all-black Jackson
State College, graduated with a degree in political science.Three years
later, Meredith returned to the public eye when he began his March Against
Fear. On June 6, just one day into the march, he was sent to a hospital
by a sniper's bullet. Other civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther
King, Jr., and Stokely Carmichael, arrived to continue the march on
his behalf. It was during the March Against Fear that Carmichael, who
was leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, first spoke
publicly of "Black Power"--his concept of militant African
American nationalism. James Meredith later recovered and rejoined the
march he had originated, and on June 26 the marchers successfully reached
Jackson, Mississippi.
1966-civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael launches
“Black Power” Movement.
Died Nov 15,1998.
1968-New York Senator Robert Francis Kennedy dies
after being shot while campaigning for president. There are many who
believe this was a conspiracy,
and there are many sites on the internet making all
kinds of noise, but history is
full of loners who manage to assassinate famous people,
including American presidents.
1973---Top Hits
My Love - Paul McCartney & Wings
Daniel - Elton John
Pillow Talk - Sylvia
Satin Sheets - Jeanne Pruett
1978---Top Hits
Too Much, Too Little, Too Late - Johnny Mathis/Deniece
Williams
You're the One that I Want - John Travolta and Olivia
Newton- John
Shadow Dancing - Andy Gibb
Do You Know You Are My Sunshine - The Statler Brothers
1981---Top Hits
Bette Davis Eyes - Kim Carnes
Being with You - Smokey Robinson
Stars on 45 medley - Stars on 45
Friends - Razzy Bailey
1986-Manager Steve Boros of the San Diego Padres was
ejected before the first pitch of a game with the Atlanta Braves when
he attempted to give umpire Charlie Williams a videotape of a disputed
play in the previous night’s game, a 4-2 Braves victory.
1986---Top Hits
Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston
All I Need is a Miracle - Mike + The Mechanics
Be Good to Yourself - Journey
Whoever's in New England - Reba McEntire
1989---Top Hits
Rock On - Michael Damian
Soldier of Love - Donny Osmond
Wind Beneath My Wings - Bette Midler
Where Did I Go Wrong - Steve Warine
1971 – Ed Sullivan said goodbye. He reportedly lived in my home time of Port
Chester, New York, an Irish Catholic married to a Jewish lady who reportedly
ruled the roost at home. As a
newspaper columnist, he was extremely popular and it was told a mention
in his column was very important for your career. When his variety shows
appeared on television, with he as the host, due to his fame as a columnist,
he was able to attract the top stars who were originally afraid of the
medium. He also brought in new talent and had a real circus from Polish dancing
bears, a little mouse named Topo Gigio, and “discovered” Elvis Presley,
The Beatles, The Dave Clark Five, the comedy of Jackie Mason, John Byner,
Rich Little, Allen King, Richard
Pryor and so many more, as "The Ed Sullivan Show" left CBS-TV.
Gladys Knight and The Pips and singer Jerry Vale appeared on the final
show. "The Ed Sullivan Show" had been a showcase for more
than 20 years for artists who ranged from Ethel Merman to Ella Fitzgerald,
from Steve and Eydie to the Beatles. "The Ed Sullivan Show"
was the longest running variety show on TV .
1973 - Barry White was awarded a gold record for "I’m
Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby". It was his first hit and
his first of five number one million-sellers. White began recording
in 1960. He formed the group, Love Unlimited, in 1969 and married one
of the group’s singers, Glodean James. He also formed the 40-piece Love
Unlimited Orchestra which had the number-one hit, "Love’s Theme"
in 1973. http://members.rott.chello.nl/p.klein6/bwindex.htm
1978 - Proposition 13 passed in California. Voters
joined Senator Howard Jarvis in cutting property taxes by 57 percent.
This was seen as the birth of a taxpayer’s revolt against high taxes
and excessive government spending. It also spelled the end of the higher
education system in California, and brought the secondary schools from
number one to number thirty and lower in score testing today.
1978-“20/20” premiered on TV.
An hourly news magazine developed by ABC to compete with CBS’s
“Sixty Minutes”. Its original hosts, Harold Hayes and Robert Hughes,
were cut after the first show and replaced by Hugh Downs.
Barbara Walters became co-anchor in 1984. the show consisted of investigative and background
reports. Contributors to the
show have included Tom Jarriel, Sylvia Chase, Gerald Rivera, Thomas
Hoving, John Stossel, Lynn Sher and Stone Phillips.
1998 - "The Boy is Mine", by Brandy and
Monica, zoomed to number 1 on the "Billboard" pop chart. It
ruled the Hot 100 roost for 13 weeks -- putting it in the top ten of
longest-running #1 singles in the modern rock era.
NBA
Finals Champions This Date
1976 Boston Celtics
***
General
Patton's Address to the Troops
General
George S. Patton, Jr.
Before
the commencement of Operation Overlord.
Somewhere
in England.
Men,
this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out
of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit.
Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love
the sting and clash of battle. You are here today for three reasons.
First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones.
Second, you are here for your own self respect, because you would not
want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men
and all real men like to fight. When you, here, everyone of you, were
kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner,
the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American
football players. Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate
a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the
time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed.
That's why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the
very idea of losing is hateful to an American.
You
are not all going to die. Only two percent of you right here today would
die in a major battle. Death must not be feared. Death, in time, comes
to all men. Yes, every man is scared in his first battle. If he says
he's not, he's a liar. Some men are cowards but they fight the same
as the brave men or they get the hell slammed out of them watching men
fight who are just as scared as they are. The real hero is the man who
fights even though he is scared. Some men get over their fright in a
minute under fire. For some, it takes an hour. For some, it takes days.
But a real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor,
his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood. Battle is
the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge.
It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base. Americans
pride themselves on being He Men and they ARE He Men. Remember that
the enemy is just as frightened as you are, and probably more so. They
are not supermen. All through your Army careers, you men have bitched
about what you call "chicken shit drilling". That, like everything
else in this Army, has a definite purpose. That purpose is alertness.
Alertness must be bred into every soldier. I don't give a fuck for a
man who's not always on his toes. You men are veterans or you wouldn't
be here. You are ready for what's to come. A man must be alert at all
times if he expects to stay alive. If you're not alert, sometime, a
German son-of-an-asshole-bitch is going to sneak up behind you and beat
you to death with a sockful of shit!"
There
are four hundred neatly marked graves somewhere in Sicily, all because
one man went to sleep on the job. But they are German graves, because
we caught the bastard asleep before they did. An Army is a team. It
lives, sleeps, eats, and fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff
is pure horse shit. The bilious bastards who write that kind of stuff
for the Saturday Evening Post don't know any more about real fighting
under fire than they know about fucking!
We
have the finest food, the finest equipment, the best spirit, and the
best men in the world. Why, by God, I actually pity those poor sons-
of-bitches we're going up against. By God, I do.
"My
men don't surrender. I don't want to hear of any soldier under my command
being captured unless he has been hit. Even if you are hit, you can
still fight back. That's not just bull shit either. The kind of man
that I want in my command is just like the lieutenant in Libya, who,
with a Luger against his chest, jerked off his helmet, swept the gun
aside with one hand, and busted the hell out of the Kraut with his helmet.
Then he jumped on the gun and went out and killed another German before
they knew what the hell was coming off. And, all of that time, this
man had a bullet through a lung. There was a real man!
All
of the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters, either. Every
single man in this Army plays a vital role. Don't ever let up. Don't
ever think that your job is unimportant. Every man has a job to do and
he must do it. Every man is a vital link in the great chain. What if
every truck driver suddenly decided that he didn't like the whine of
those shells overhead, turned yellow, and jumped headlong into a ditch?
The cowardly bastard could say, "Hell, they won't miss me, just
one man in thousands". But, what if every man thought that way?
Where in the hell would we be now? What would our country, our loved
ones, our homes, even the world, be like? No, Goddamnit, Americans don't
think like that. Every man does his job. Every man serves the whole.
Every department, every unit, is important in the vast scheme of this
war. The ordnance men are needed to supply the guns and machinery of
war to keep us rolling. The Quartermaster is needed to bring up food
and clothes because where we are going there isn't a hell of a lot to
steal. Every last man on K.P. has a job to do, even the one who heats
our water to keep us from getting the 'G.I. Shits'.
Each
man must not think only of himself, but also of his buddy fighting beside
him. We don't want yellow cowards in this Army. They should be killed
off like rats. If not, they will go home after this war and breed more
cowards. The brave men will breed more brave men. Kill off the Goddamned
cowards and we will have a nation of brave men. One of the bravest men
that I ever saw was a fellow on top of a telegraph pole in the midst
of a furious fire fight in Tunisia. I stopped and asked what the hell
he was doing up there at a time like that. He answered, "Fixing
the wire, Sir". I asked, "Isn't that a little unhealthy right
about now?" He answered, "Yes Sir, but the Goddamned wire
has to be fixed". I asked, "Don't those planes strafing the
road bother you?" And he answered, "No, Sir, but you sure
as hell do!" Now, there was a real man. A real soldier. There was
a man who devoted all he had to his duty, no matter how seemingly insignificant
his duty might appear at the time, no matter how great the odds. And
you should have seen those trucks on the rode to Tunisia. Those drivers
were magnificent. All day and all night they rolled over those son-of-a-bitching
roads, never stopping, never faltering from their course, with shells
bursting all around them all of the time. We got through on good old
American guts. Many of those men drove for over forty consecutive hours.
These men weren't combat men, but they were soldiers with a job to do.
They did it, and in one hell of a way they did it. They were part of
a team. Without team effort, without them, the fight would have been
lost. All of the links in the chain pulled together and the chain became
unbreakable.
Don't
forget, you men don't know that I'm here. No mention of that fact is
to be made in any letters. The world is not supposed to know what the
hell happened to me. I'm not supposed to be commanding this Army. I'm
not even supposed to be here in England. Let the first bastards to find
out be the Goddamned Germans. Some day I want to see them raise up on
their piss-soaked hind legs and howl, 'Jesus Christ, it's the Goddamned
Third Army again and that son-of-a-fucking-bitch Patton'."
We want to get the hell over there. The quicker we clean
up this Goddamned mess, the quicker we can take a little jaunt against
the purple pissing Japs and clean out their nest, too. Before the Goddamned
Marines get all of the credit.
Sure,
we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to
get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it. The quicker
they are whipped, the quicker we can go home. The shortest way home
is through Berlin and Tokyo. And when we get to Berlin, I am personally
going to shoot that paper hanging son-of-a-bitch Hitler. Just like I'd
shoot a snake!
When
a man is lying in a shell hole, if he just stays there all day, a German
will get to him eventually. The hell with that idea. The hell with taking
it. My men don't dig foxholes. I don't want them to. Foxholes only slow
up an offensive. Keep moving. And don't give the enemy time to dig one
either. We'll win this war, but we'll win it only by fighting and by
showing the Germans that we've got more guts than they have; or ever
will have. We're not going to just shoot the sons-of-bitches, we're
going to rip out their living Goddamned guts and use them to grease
the treads of our tanks. We're going to murder those lousy Hun cocksuckers
by the bushel-fucking-basket. War is a bloody, killing business. You've
got to spill their blood, or they will spill yours. Rip them up the
belly. Shoot them in the guts. When shells are hitting all around you
and you wipe the dirt off your face and realize that instead of dirt
it's the blood and guts of what once was your best friend beside you,
you'll know what to do!
I
don't want to get any messages saying, "I am holding my position."
We are not holding a Goddamned thing. Let the Germans do that. We are
advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything,
except the enemy's balls. We are going to twist his balls and kick the
living shit out of him all of the time. Our basic plan of operation
is to advance and to keep on advancing regardless of whether we have
to go over, under, or through the enemy. We are going to go through
him like crap through a goose; like shit through a tin horn!
From
time to time there will be some complaints that we are pushing our people
too hard. I don't give a good Goddamn about such complaints. I believe
in the old and sound rule that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon
of blood. The harder WE push, the more Germans we will kill. The more
Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing means
fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that.
There
is one great thing that you men will all be able to say after this war
is over and you are home once again. You may be thankful that twenty
years from now when you are sitting by the fireplace with your grandson
on your knee and he asks you what you did in the great World War II,
you WON'T have to cough, shift him to the other knee and say, "Well,
your Granddaddy shoveled shit in Louisiana." No, Sir, you can look
him straight in the eye and say, "Son, your Granddaddy rode with
the Great Third Army and a Son-of-a-Goddamned- Bitch named Georgie Patton!
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