| Bush asks perseverance, action on sagging economy, patience on Iraq in ...
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Several banks report earnings declines
For the full year, Wachovia earned $6.31 billion or $3.31 per share, down 19 percent from the $7.79 billion or $4.72 per share earned during 2006. Full-year revenues were $31.5 billion, compared with $30.0 billion. Total assets were $782.9 billion, deposits were $449.1 billion and loans were $462.0 billion. Wachovia shares closed at $31.91 on the New York Stock Exchange, up $1.11. l l l Bank of America Corp.'s fourth-quarter earnings fell 95 percent to $268 million or 5 cents per share, compared with $5.26 billion or $1.16 per share a year ago. Fourth-quarter revenue was $12.67 billion, compared with $18.49 billion last year. Bank of America's results included $5.44 billion of trading losses, compared with profits of $460 million a year earlier. This reflected a $5.28 billion write-down related to collateralized debt obligations, which the bank said reduced trading profit by $4.5 billion and other income by about $750 million.
Quanah Sets New Records with Multiple Hotel Openings
DALLAS, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Quanah Hospitality Partners, LP (quanah.com), a leading franchise developer of Value Place extended-stay hotels, has announced the opening of three new properties. The locations, all in Texas, at The Trophy Club, Rockwall and Forest Hill, bring the total number of Quanah properties open or in development to 29. The three concurrent openings represent a landmark achievement for the developer, which opened its first Value Place only 12 months ago. In late summer Quanah unveiled a 5-year plan to develop more than 100 Value Place properties, an industry leading pace. Quanah has been securing the necessary capital to fuel this unprecedented expansion effort, including a $100 million transaction in Summer 2007. Additional financial milestones will be reported shortly.
Dwek had angered investors
For more than a year before Solomon Dwek's empire collapsed amid accusations that he masterminded one of the largest real estate frauds since the early 1990s, his biggest investors believed Dwek was fooling them. An uncle suspected Dwek was taking kickbacks from deals the uncle had paid for, but couldn't imagine his own nephew would rob him of millions of dollars. Another, Isaac S. Franco, a sharp, hard-charging businessman, repeatedly accused Dwek of lying to him about numerous property sales. At one point, he threatened in an e-mail to "kick the " out of Dwek. Franco and the uncle, Joseph Dwek, pumped tens of millions of dollars into Dwek's holdings far more than other individual investors. As long as Dwek eventually turned up with long-delayed profits or documents, they kept on shoveling money at him.
Fortis Earns $30.8 Million in Third Quarter
Fortis Inc. ("Fortis" or the "Corporation") (TSX: FTS), reported net earnings applicable to common shares of $30.8 million, or $0.20 per common share, for the third quarter of 2007, compared to earnings of $38.8 million, or $0.37 per common share, for the same quarter last year. Year-to-date earnings applicable to common shares were $113.8 million, or $0.86 per common share, compared to earnings of $113.3 million, or $1.09 per common share, for the same period last year.
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PR pros smooth paths for developers
A new breed of public-relations experts is helping developers head off neighborhood dissent even before rumors that a project will block views, lower property values or snarl traffic sweep up and down the block. Professionals in this niche of community outreach may sit with a single resident on a Saturday morning at Starbucks, walk door to door with site plans in hand, make phone calls or even develop Web sites - all to make the details of a proposed project accessible and understandable to neighbors. "Most people are not very excited about a change and are concerned what it will do to impact them," says Susan Bitter Smith, who along with her husband Paul, runs Technical Solutions. Their neighborhood work on Grace Communities' proposal for a mixed-used project on the southwestern corner of Camelback Road and 44th Street paid off when local residents recently backed it while protesting two other proposals at the intersection.
Dems, economy upstage Bush's speech
In a riveting speech just hours before Bush's, Sen. Ted Kennedy attacked the underpinnings of Clinton's candidacy and passed the baton of his late brother's iconic presidency to Obama. A third candidate to succeed, GOP Sen. John McCain, did not even show up, remaining in Florida to campaign in a key primary Tuesday. Facing a hostile Congress, abysmal public approval ratings (his latest Gallup Poll rating is 32 percent) and even presidential candidates of his own party running away from him, Bush's only strategy is to play "small ball and defense" for the remainder of his term, said Texas A&M presidential scholar George Edwards. "The odds are against him doing almost anything except motherhood resolutions." Bush got little credit when the economy grew robustly during most of his term.
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