Home » Search

Search Results

2 results for 'blogposts'

To refine your search through our archives use our Advanced Search

INVESTING: As seeds of market decline are cast here, look to Japan

Japan has been a stock market dog for 15 years. The Japanese economy is the world’s second-largest and its resurgence after World War II is amazing, but the country has been a trap for investors. That picture might be changing. Let’s go over some history first before we talk about why Japanese stock makes sense today. By the early 1970s, Japan had lifted itself out of the war’s destruction. Then the manufacturing companies there got a miracle: the first oil…

Granting tax amnesty could pay dividends for Indiana: State estimates it could collect $100 million or more

Indiana scofflaws delinquent on their back taxes could come clean without the threat of penalties under a tax amnesty program that could generate an estimated $100 million or more for the cash-strapped state. The option of giving lawbreakers a grace period to pay their debts and have interest, penalties and fees waived has been easier for legislators to swallow given Indiana still is confronting a deficit in the $800 million range. Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, chairman of the Tax and…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Job growth, other factors portend stronger economy

While it’s not quite the job creation engine it was in the late 1990s, the newcentury U.S. economy is still one of the brightest stars on the global stage when it comes to growth. Last month’s strong employment gains, on the heels of upward revisions to overall growth and productivity, should put to rest any fears that the national economic expansion will be foundering anytime soon. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, payrolls at U.S. business establishments grew by…

GERALD BEPKO Commentary: Chicago World’s Fair is model for Indiana

Cities seem to progress in stages with moments of decline, growth, exceptional energy, and, at times, a sense of destiny. For many years, Indianapolis has been a city on the move, a little like Chicago in 1893 when it hosted a World’s Fair. Chicago sought to shed its frontiertown image and establish itself as a city of global consequence. It beat out New York, St. Louis and Washington, D.C., for the right to host the fair. In hosting it, Chicago…

Art for rent: LAMP sparks rental program: Gallery director hopes to spotlight local artists

Colorful or monochromatic, sober or whimsical, mundane or ephemeral. LAMP Fine Art Gallery Director Jennifer Kaye totes thick binders full of images of artwork espousing those qualities and just about every description in between. She hauls the binders to clients’ offices, helping them select the perfect work to hang in an office, lobby or hallway. Kaye is an artist and a gallery director, but she’s remade herself as a saleswoman for the launch of the downtown gallery’s art rental and…

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Bridging the cultural divide between banks, life insurers Gaps, barriers and challenges Making it work

In 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act removed barriers to bank and life insurance affiliations and loosened the rules for allowing bank sales of insurance. Many banks and insurers looked at their new partnership as a win-win-win: Banks added a bigger non-interest revenue source; insurers gained a more robust mode of distribution; and consumers gained the conveniences of having more of their financial matters addressed in one place. Five years ago, industry analysts projected big business as a result of this partnership,…

Local buyout specialist attracts $43 million: Hammond Kennedy Whitney & Co. targets M&A

In 2002, it took Glenn Scolnik and his partners 85 road shows to raise $57 million for their new management buyout fund. They just raised another $43 million with a single presentation. “Our investors agreed we needed more money. It was a very easy fund-raise,” said Scolnik, president and CEO of locally based Hammond Kennedy Whitney & Co. “You don’t want to crow too much, because it’s not over ’til it’s over. Until you realize an investment, you only have…

Anthem, docs still skirmish: Insurer’s new pre-approval rules rankle some A rocky marriage

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield just dumped a load of extra work on the office staff of the average ear, nose and throat specialist, according Dr. Thomas Whiteman. The WellPoint Inc. subsidiary now requires pre-approval for nonemergency, high-tech imaging such as MRI or CAT scans. The insurer started the new policy March 1 to curb overuse. Whiteman said the average otolaryngologist-or ear, nose and throat specialist-schedules as many as eight of these tests a day. If Anthem insures just…

Convention, Colts issues in play: With gambling plan off table, stadium funding gets elusive

Whether it includes taxes on players’ salaries, tickets and suite rentals remains to be seen. But early deliberations won’t include revenue from gambling, according to Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, who chairs the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee. “There’s not going to be any gambling included in the bill,” Kenley said. “It’s not going to be funded through slot machines or pull tabs.” Sen. President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus, also said he’d oppose any measure including slot machines or…

Two women succeed with their own HVAC company: The male-dominated world of sheet metal contracting has not always been hospitable to female workers

Kim Mann was 19 when she started in the sheet metal trade, installing heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment for the now-defunct Apex Ventilating. She did a five-year apprenticeship and worked on some major projects such as First Indiana Plaza and Bank One Center. The president of Apex at the time, Phil Meyers, gave Mann the chance to be a forewoman. “He stuck me with some of the old, tough men, which taught me something,” Mann said. “At that time,…

City should prepare for energy shortage:

Indianapolis city planners should begin planning for a declining energy future. “Peak oil” and natural gas (generally, the point at which worldwide production begins to decrease, and the resource subsequently depletes)-are well-documented and loom directly ahead. Yet local plans are silent on the subject. Long-term impacts on our economy and community fabric will be significant. Mobility and development patterns will be heavily affected. Politicians and the media need to inform the public and properly plan for this sobering eventuality. The…

An elegy to my departed bride, a butterfly at last:

Editor’s note: Over the past two years, columnist Bruce Hetrick has commented from time to time in this space on his wife Pam Klein’s battle with cancer. She died of complications from that disease March 5 at the age of 49. Here is the tribute to her that he delivered at the March 10 memorial service. Our next-door neighbors in downtown Indianapolis own a second home in Brown County, about an hour south of here. It’s a difficult place to…

JOHN KETZENBERGER Commentary: Let’s use the right tool for the job

Indiana is one of just four states that requires a two-thirds majority to be present in the House or Senate to conduct business. It’s a tool our constitution’s drafters granted the minority party in 1851 to protect it from a tyrannical majority. Too bad lawmakers lately have used the provision like a sledgehammer, smashing the legislative process to bits. Lawmakers aren’t the only ones choosing the wrong tool, though. Gov. Mitch Daniels took a few swings with his rhetorical sledgehammer,…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Settlement struck in case pitting Marsh vs. Marsh Guidant’s big option grants

Don Marsh is fighting enough battles in the bloody grocery business without also slugging it out with his own brother. Perhaps that’s why the Marsh Supermarkets Inc. CEO has decided to settle a lawsuit filed in August by C. Alan Marsh, a former vice chairman of the company who charged he was owed some $2 million in benefits stemming from his 1998 resignation. Attorneys for both the Indianapolisbased grocery chain and C. Alan Marsh confirm they’ve reached an agreement in…

Buckner relishes role as executive: IU great recalls lessons from Knight, Bird

Quinn Buckner has always sought out strong mentors, but he didn’t have to search for his most solid role models. From Bob Knight to Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh, Buckner has surrounded himself with some of basketball’s best minds. But he credits his parents with instilling in him the leadership skills and determination that have carried him through good times and bad. “Coach Knight was a great mentor to me at an early age,” said Buckner, who played for Knight’s…

BULLS & BEARS: Beta as a measure of risk only one factor to consider

The field of investing is constantly generating massive amounts of data that is readily compiled, measured and analyzed. Historical stock price movements are spun into charts, figures from financial statements are manipulated into ratios, and computer software allows the calculation of all sorts of esoteric statistics. Perhaps to no one’s surprise, the ease with which numbers can be mathematically massaged can often produce misleading results. As a wise prophet once said, “To a man with a hammer, everything looks like…

Convention, Colts issues in play: Hospitality: Hospitality officials say delays may scare off potential clients

Hospitality officials say delays may scare off potential clients Patience is one thing. Imprudence is quite another. The Indiana Convention Center’s largest customers are keeping a keen eye trained on Indianapolis these days, hoping for a sign that state lawmakers will find a way to fund a $275 million expansion that would give them room to grow. But the lack of progress more than halfway into the legislative session has some reevaluating their options. “I’m very disappointed at how this is…

Advantis Medical Inc. finds niche making orthopedic supplies

Advantis Medical Inc. manufactures custom trays and cases for orthopedic surgical devices. That core product line brought Advantis some $5.2 million in revenue in 2004, double the amount of the previous year, said Advantis President Jim Spencer.

Department store consolidation likely means loss of major revenue source for newspapers:

Shoppers and mall owners aren’t the only ones preparing for fallout from the planned merger of Federated Department Stores Inc. and May Department Stores Co.-the advertising world is bracing for the impact, too. Newspapers will bear the brunt of it, experts predict. Observers need look no further for evidence than the Sunday circulars or the midweek pullout sections preceding a big sale. Locally, Macy’s, formerly known as Lazarus, and L.S. Ayres are both among the top 10 advertisers with The…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Accounting rule tempers allure of granting options Taking the plunge Adjusting to new reality

In the go-go 1990s, companies dispensed stock options to employees like candy. And why not? Under accounting rules, they didn’t have to count them as an expense. It almost seemed like free money. “You really were hard-pressed, if you were a public company, not to use options,” observed Betsy Field, a Fishers-based consultant for the benefits firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide. No more. A new accounting rule will require companies to begin recording options as an expense on their financial statements…