Cudia Will Succeed McGillin, World's Longest-Running Phantom, on Broadway

Howard McGillin will exit Broadway's The Phantom of the Opera on July 25 to pursue new projects. He leaves the Majestic Theatre after ten years — with some breaks in between — and takes with him a new record: world's longest-running Phantom.

At a record-breaking 2,450 performances and counting, McGillin has already played the title role more than any other performer on Broadway. His closest competition, as far as performance count, at just under 2,400 performances, is the late Rob Guest, who played the title role in Australia and New Zealand. Americans Franc D'Ambrosio — the longtime record-holder before Guest — and Brad Little follow with over 2,100 performances each.

After ten years since his first of many engagements with the production, McGillin has decided to pursue other theatrical ventures, according to a statement released May 7.

McGillin is a two-time Tony Award nominee as Best Actor in a Musical (Anything Goes) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (The Mystery of Edwin Drood).

Read More At Playbill.com

Obama Pushes Broad Rules for Oversight of Derivatives

By STEPHEN LABATON (New York Times)

WASHINGTON — Marking its first major effort to overhaul financial regulation, the Obama administration will seek new authority to supervise the virtually unregulated complex financial instruments, known as derivatives, that were a major cause of the market crisis, Congressional aides and others who have been briefed on the decision said Wednesday.

The administration will ask Congress to approve legislation that would impose a new government oversight structure for the instruments, which Warren Buffett once called “weapons of mass destruction.”

In a two-page letter to Congressional leaders, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner asked for the swift approval of a measure that would require many kinds of derivative instruments, including credit default swaps, to be traded on exchanges and subject to tighter regulation. Derivatives can take many forms, but in total there are trillions of dollars’ worth exchanging hands every day around the globe.

The letter asked the lawmakers to give regulators the authority to impose new capital and business conduct requirements on the large Wall Street companies that issue the financial instruments. Capital requirements would, for example, require companies that issue derivatives to hold capital in reserve in case of a default, much the way banks must hold reserves when they make loans.

The letter leaves it to Congress to decide whether the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission would be playing the lead role in supervising the new system for trading such instruments.

People briefed on the plan said the administration had asserted four major principles guiding the legislative process. The legislation should be aimed at reducing trading practices that pose major risks to the financial system. The regulatory overhaul should promote efficiency and transparency in the markets. The legislation should discourage market manipulation and fraud. And it should protect investors.

Credit default swaps, a type of derivative instrument that acts like an insurance policy by protecting investors from defaults of mortgage backed securities, played a central role in the collapse of American International Group. The company, one of the largest issuers of such swaps, nearly collapsed as a result of issuing a huge volume of such instruments that it was unable to support.

Mr. Geithner, along with the leaders from the two agencies, was set to brief reporters about the proposal at the Treasury Department late Wednesday afternoon.

The proposal would not require that derivative instruments with unique characteristics negotiated between companies be traded on exchanges or through clearinghouses. But standardized or uniform ones would. If approved, the plan would require the development of timely reports of trades, similar to the system now used for corporate bonds.

During his confirmation hearings in January, Mr. Geithner vowed to move quickly to push for regulation of derivative instruments, and both Mary Schapiro, the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Gary Gensler, the nominee to head to the C.F.T.C., also made similar commitments.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate have already introduced legislation to regulate derivative instruments. But a number of members have pressed the administration to put out its own plan. Last Friday, at the confirmation hearing of Neal Wolin to be the next deputy Treasury secretary, Senator Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, pressed the nominee to move quickly to get the administration’s views on the regulation of derivatives.

World Bank cuts China 2009 GDP forecast to 6.5 pct

By Alan Wheatley, China Economics Editor

BEIJING, March 18 (Reuters) - The World Bank lowered its forecast for China's 2009 economic growth on Wednesday but warned Beijing that it would be thwarting its own medium-term goals if it tried to offset the slowdown by further boosting investment.

In a quarterly economic update, the bank cut its projection of gross domestic product growth this year to 6.5 percent from the 7.5 percent outcome it had forecast in November. It said there were both upward and downward risks to its outlook.

The global crisis would be a drag both this year and next, mainly via weaker exports and non-government investment, but the bank said China's economic fundamentals were still strong enough to give policymakers the luxury of looking well beyond 2009. The bank welcomed the inclusion of steps to boost consumption in the government's 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package since over-reliance on capital-intensive investment could damage the pace of job creation and the quality of growth. Indeed, it said there was room for a further shift towards consumption and for less emphasis on capital spending in order to rebalance the economy so that growth is more sustainable economically, socially and environmentally.

"The fundamentals for China are strong enough to ride out this storm, and it may be just as appropriate to shift the focus as much as possible to the medium and long-term challenges instead of a very narrow focus on short-term growth objectives," Louis Kuijs, the senior economist in the bank's Beijing office, said at a news conference to launch the report. The bank said it expected 16-17 million non-farm jobs to disappear this year but it played down the social repercussions.

"Somewhat lower overall growth is not likely to jeopardize China's economy or social stability, especially if the adverse consequences of dislocation and layoffs are alleviated by using and expanding the social safety net," the report said. The median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists published on Wednesday is for GDP to expand by 7.8 percent this year, narrowly missing Beijing's target of 8 percent. For a table with details of the World Bank's forecasts. For a graphic on China's growth over the past three decades.

COULD BE WORSE

The bank's advice flies in the face of the ruling Communist Party's determination to do whatever is necessary to meet its self-imposed target of 8 percent growth this year. Last Friday, Premier Wen Jiabao said the government was ready to roll out extra stimulus measures if needed. But the World Bank said Beijing should keep some of its powder dry in case growth next year proves even weaker. What's more, the government cannot hope to take up all the slack left by the collapse in exports and knock-on drop in private investment; for a start, there may be limits to how much money can be spent efficiently on traditional investment schemes. As it is, the bank already expects 4.9 percentage points of its projected 6.5 percent growth this year to stem from government-influenced investment and public-sector consumption.

"China's economy cannot escape the impact of the global weakness. Government-influenced activity makes up a modest share of the total: it cannot and should not offset fully the downward pressures on market-based activity," the report said. The bank tempered this message of resignation with the assurance that China would continue to grow substantially faster than most other countries this year and next. Indeed, the stimulus is already supporting activity and sentiment, even if it is too early to expect a sustained rebound, the World Bank said. The bank said it expected the yuan to keep strengthening in the next decade given China's prospective balance-of-payments and productivity trends. Kuijs described the outlook for exports this year as "grim" and "sombre". But he said depreciating the currency in the short term would not help revive exports, because global demand is so weak, and would slow China's switch to consumption-led growth.

2 dozen victims seek to be heard at Madoff plea

NEW YORK - (Business Week) Federal prosecutors say they've received more than two dozen e-mails from investors seeking to speak Thursday when Bernard Madoff is expected to plead guilty. Prosecutors described the e-mails in a letter to Judge Denny Chin, who sent notification to investors last week saying they could speak Thursday. Prosecutors say they have received 25 e-mails from investors asking to be heard. They did not say if each e-mail pertains to a single investor or multiple ones. The 70-year-old former Nasdaq chairman was arrested in December on a securities fraud charge. Prosecutors say he confessed to family members that he had run a $50 billion Ponzi scheme for years.

Chrysler Considered, Abandoned, Bankruptcy Before Seeking Aid

By Jeff Green

Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Chrysler LLC Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli said his company studied a prearranged bankruptcy before dismissing the idea as unworkable and approaching the U.S. government for money to survive. Nardelli and General Motors Corp. CEO Rick Wagoner, who has repeatedly ruled out bankruptcy, told senators yesterday that a failure will lead to an economic ``catastrophe'' much costlier than the $25 billion in aid being proposed by Democrats. GM has said it may run out of operating cash this year.

``We did look at prepackaged,'' Nardelli testified in Washington. ``We looked at pre-negotiated. We've looked at almost every alternative within Chrysler as a privately held company before we came here and ask for support to -- to provide a bridge, if you will, through this economic trough.'' His comments highlighted U.S. automakers' objections to so- called prepackaged bankruptcies, as advocated by some Republican lawmakers. While proponents say a filing with financing in hand would let GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. survive, the automakers say going to court would end in their liquidation. Wagoner, Nardelli and Ford CEO Alan Mulally returned to Capitol Hill today for a House committee hearing as they seek an industry bailout before Congress's lame-duck session ends this week. Opposition from President George W. Bush and Republicans threatens to scuttle Democrats' bid to tap the $700 billion bank-rescue plan for automaker loans. A defeat may push consideration of any new aid into 2009, because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday she doesn't intend to reconvene in December.

`Fresh Capital'

``Without fresh capital, we project that GM may not have sufficient liquidity to make it to year end,'' Deutsche Bank AG analysts including Rod Lache in New York wrote in a note to investors today. A GM bankruptcy is the ``only way'' for the biggest U.S. automaker to end union costs that make it uncompetitive, Republican Senator James DeMint of South Carolina said in an interview on Bloomberg Radio. Nardelli, who said Chrysler is down to $6.1 billion in cash and burning about $1 billion more each month, told senators yesterday that bankruptcy would take too much time.

``To a certain degree, all of these take an extensive amount of time,'' he said of the options for arranging a filing for court protection. Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler would need support from ``all the players, all of the suppliers, all of the vendors, all of the labor,'' he said.

`Very Fragile'

``In fact, we are in a very fragile position,'' he said of Chrysler, whose 26 percent U.S. sales decline this year through October is the most among major automakers. The median time for a prepackaged bankruptcy is 45 days, according to Lynn LoPucki, who teaches bankruptcy law at Harvard University and the University of California at Los Angeles. The median time for an ordinary bankruptcy is about 1 1/2 years, or more than 10 times as long, he said. For GM, a prepackaged bankruptcy plan with federal assistance would involve fewer taxpayer dollars than a bailout done outside of court, said Mark Bane, a bankruptcy lawyer at Ropes & Gray in New York. He isn't involved in GM's case. The Detroit-based automaker could use court protection to reduce debt, reject unfavorable contracts and minimize the risk that it would need a future bailout, Bane said in an interview. ``It creates the environment to deal with GM's problems, but limits government financial commitment,'' he said.

No `Stigma'

``I don't understand the stigma that would come with prepackaged bankruptcy,'' with the benefit of government funds to the industry, Tennessee Republican Senator Bob Corker said yesterday. ``I don't know how that could possibly be detrimental.'' Mulally, who said Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford isn't yet running out of money, said he expects that the bankruptcy of one automaker may lead to the failure of the others. The failure of GM would cost the government as much as $200 billion should the biggest U.S. automaker be forced to liquidate, Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts, estimates. A GM collapse would mean ``more aid to specific states like Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, and more money into unemployment and extended benefits,'' he said Nov. 15. Aid will likely be delayed until Congress attaches more conditions, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Himanshu Patel in New York wrote in a report today. ``The tone of the hearing conducted on behalf of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and the direction of questioning did not change our view that federal aid is more likely than not,'' Patel wrote. ``However, we feel it is clearer now that the timing of any such aid is not imminent as key differences remain amongst influential power-brokers.''

Molson Coors Rises on Sales Gains, Quicker Savings

By Allison Abell Schwartz (Bloomberg)

Molson Coors Brewing Co., the third- largest U.S. beer maker, rose 8.3 percent in New York trading because of market-share gains in Canada and the U.K. and after the company said it expects to achieve total cost savings from its joint U.S. venture with SABMiller Plc six months early. Sales to retailers in Canada climbed 3.7 percent, led by “double-digit growth“ of Coors Light, Carling and Rickard’s, the company said today. Those sales gained 0.7 percent in the U.S. In the U.K., the brewer grew market share amid a slowing economy and fewer pub visits because of a smoking ban there. An increase in sales to retailers in the U.S. and Canada and Molson Coors’s cost savings announcement helped send the shares higher in New York trading today, Brian Yarbrough, an analyst at Ed Edward Jones in St. Louis, said in a telephone interview. “We are in probably the healthiest position we could wish to be in,” Chief Executive Officer Peter Swinburn said today in a telephone interview. Molson Coors, based in Denver and Montreal, climbed $3.20 to $41.78 at 4:12 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have lost 19 percent this year. Net income jumped 29 percent to $173.2 million, or 94 cents a share, Molson Coors said in a statement. Profit excluding some one-time costs and gains was unchanged at 95 cents from a year earlier, 2 cents lower than the average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Revenue after excise taxes dropped 45 percent to $921.1 mi million from $1.69 billion in the three months ended Sept. 28 as Molson Coors separated its U.S. operations into the MillerCoors venture. Including the U.S. business, its worldwide beer volume rose less than 1 percent to 12 million barrels.

Canadian Sales

Beer discounts and commodity inflation hurt earnings in Canada, where sales grew by a “high-single-digit” percentage, the brewer said. Profit in the country fell 8.1 percent to $151 million before taxes as the cost of goods sold rose 7 percent because of higher material, packaging material and fuel prices. Earnings in the U.K. climbed 19 percent before taxes, helped by new contracts with suppliers and lower pension costs. Sales volume declined and a 7 percent drop in the pound against the dollar trimmed profit, Molson Coors said. As commodity costs begin to slow, Molson Coors may be well positioned to boost profit, said Yarbrough, who recommends investors buy the shares.

MillerCoors Venture

Earlier today, MillerCoors reported third-quarter profit increased 15 percent to $168.2 million on sales gains of 1.9 percent, helped by purchases of Coors Light. It was the first period of joint operations. MillerCoors will cut “a lot” of jobs in the coming weeks, the unit’s executives said on a Webcast discussing earnings. The venture is the second-biggest U.S. beer company behind Anheuser- Busch Cos. and holds 30 percent of the country’s beer market. In June, Molson Coors and SABMiller joined their U.S. divisions and said they expect to save $500 million over three years from the combination. The brewer said today it anticipates accelerating by six months that savings plan, with the first $50 million by June 30 and $350 million in the second year of the venture. A year earlier, Molson Coors earned $134.7 million, or 74 cents a share.

Outsource Your Collections

Debt collection is a touchy subject because of the economic climate in the US right now but still a necessity for companies. Although some companies do this in house, most businesses are looking to free up current staff and reduce overall costs that are associated with this process. We’ve been looking at a number of debt collectors and will report on them in the next few weeks. The first one we found was American Profit Recovery. They seem to have the right approach. They’ve streamlined the whole process to make it as easy as possible for a client to manage all of their accounts right on their website. Some of the pages in the site seem to be down but it looks like this is a temporary issues and I’ve been told that these kinks will be worked out soon. I’ve worked at a few companies that could have been greatly helped by APR’s work so I would recommend that if you’re looking for help with debt collection that you set up a call with them so they can answer any questions you might have. If you have used them before we’d love to hear your experiences so we encourage you to send us feedback. From all I can gather they have a great operation going.

Senior Journalist Casper Nightingale contributed to this article