Ponzi suspect Wayne McLeod: ‘I have decided that death was a better option’
Kenneth Wayne McLeod left his waterfront home in St. Johns County and steered his black Hummer into the rush hour traffic heading north toward San Jose Boulevard.
He had a 9 a.m. appointment in Jacksonville with some government lawyers, but texted them 10 minutes before he was due.
“I will not make it this morning,” he wrote. “I have decided that death was a better option. I am truly sorry for all the harm I caused.”
The big SUV would be found before noon in a Mandarin park. McLeod, a gregarious financial adviser accused of bilking clients out of $34 million, would be dead from a single gunshot.
Therese Poletti’s Tech Tales: H-P culture crumbled further under Hurd
By Therese Poletti, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The drama and mystery surrounding Mark Hurd’s abrupt departure as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co. have shined an unflattering light on the company as we learn how he really changed H-P.
Wall Street loved his obsession with cutting costs, but employees did not. He brought even more major changes to the company’s once paternalistic culture, much like his predecessor Carly Fiorina, who pretty much killed the old H-P Way.
With Hurd at the helm, H-P
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became an even tougher place to work, with even less emphasis on innovating anything new.
digits: New iPad app from Verizon Fios
Verizon Communications demonstrated Wednesday a working iPad app that shows live TV on the Apple device – as long as you’re a Verizon Fios TV subscriber in your home. WSJ’s Sam Schechner has details.
Some former and current employees said that under Hurd, H-P’s once collegial workplace has changed again for the worse.
“He was profane, a bully, autocratic, threatening, demeaning, vindictive, and rude,” wrote Chuck House, a veteran of H-P, in his blog. House is now executive director of Media X, a Stanford University industry affiliate research program on media and technology, and co-author of a 2009 book, “The H-P Phenomenon.”
“Now we have people who are taking their lead from Hurd, who was supposedly a bastard in meetings and used foul language,” said one long-time current employee who declined to be quoted by name. “Now we have a bunch of screamers and yellers.”
The new H-P Way
That more hostile environment is a drastic shift from the H-P Way, which, granted, had its own problems. One facet of the company’s old culture was management by consensus, where everyone involved in a project had to agree.
Employees have described the old approach as similar to a jury, if one person decided a product was not ready because of some small issue, it was held up. This could lead to product delays and an inability to make decisions. Fiorina worked on instilling a sense of urgency at H-P, and it was taken further under Hurd, who with his executive recruits made more autocratic decisions at lightening speed.
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But employee morale, it appears, is once again as bad as it was during the Fiorina years. An H-P employee survey in April showed high levels of discontent. According to House in his blog, H-P’s “Voice of the Workplace,” a measure taken every five years, indicated that more than two-third of H-P employees would quit tomorrow if they had an equivalent job offer. “Not a raise, not a promotion, simply an alternative,” House wrote. “That number never used to be in double digits.” See H-P Phenomenon blog here.
“I think the surveys that have been leaked suggest that morale declined sharply under Hurd,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. “Carly at least was focused on maintaining HP’s image, but Hurd was not and instead focused mostly on the bottom line, to the detriment of the employees. So while Carly clearly cracked the environment, Hurd shattered it.”
Innovation takes a holiday
H-P, which was once a great innovator in Silicon Valley, has also become less focused on creating anything new. Its founders Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard invented the audio oscillator in their famous Palo Alto, Calif. garage, which was used by Walt Disney Studios
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to develop an innovative sound system for the 1940 movie “Fantasia.”
Some of its better-known inventions that affected consumers more directly include inkjet printing technology, the first desktop scientific calculator and first handheld scientific calculator, which eliminated the need for the slide rule.
It is also known for pioneering many innovative management concepts still used today in corporate life, such as profit-sharing for employees, management by walking around and flex-time for workers. Employees used to be proud to work at H-P.
Now, one measure of how H-P has de-emphasized innovation is in its spending on research and development, which dropped over both Hurd’s and Fiorina’s tenures. It sunk to even lower levels under Hurd as a percentage of its growing revenue. In its fiscal 2009 annual report, its last under Hurd, H-P said “We remain committed to innovation as a key element of H-P’s culture.”
The numbers tell a different story. In fiscal 2009, which ended Oct. 31, the company’s R&D budget was only 2.5% of total revenue. For fiscal 2005, Hurd’s first six months at the tech giant, R&D was 4% of revenue. For fiscal 1999, the year Fiorina took over as CEO, research and development was 5.8% of H-P’s total revenue.
Compare H-P’s R&D spending with IBM Corp., its nearest competitor. IBM
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, still famous for its leading IBM Research, spent 6.1% of revenue on research, development and engineering in 2009, a year in which overall revenue fell.
So while its PC business had a major turnaround under Hurd and Todd Bradley, an executive vice president who is seen as one of the internal front runners for CEO, H-P has yet to launch a tablet or a similar product to compete with Apple Inc.’s
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popular iPad. That is just one example of the company’s current lack of inventiveness.
Both Fiorina and Hurd turned H-P into a more generic company, more in tune with the current cutthroat times. Once again, Wall Street’s and management’s obsession with meeting quarterly numbers and growing earnings at all costs has wrecked the soul of a great American company.
Therese Poletti is a senior columnist for MarketWatch in San Francisco.
Therese Poletti’s Tech Tales: H-P culture crumbled further under Hurd
Popular St. Simons Island barbecue joint rises from the ashes
ST. SIMONS ISLAND – A perfectly smoked pork butt or rack of ribs is a work of art. Nothing is closer to pitmaster Harrison Sapp’s heart except his family and friends.
“I’ll be doing barbecue forever. It’s a Zen thing for me,” Sapp said Wednesday.
Fire destroyed their landmark building in March, but Sapp and the close-knit crew of Southern Soul Barbeque kept putting the hog on the log, along with beef brisket and turkey, for a loyal legion of locals and tourists alike from a cook wagon at their original site and two other island locations.
A nationwide audience, however, soon will be getting a taste – figuratively for now – of Southern Soul. Sapp and his popular barbecue will be featured on separate cable network programs highlighting the best in barbecue.
Monday night, the barbecue will be featured on a segment of “Diners, Drive-ins & Dives” hosted by Guy Fieri on the Food Network. The episode, “Old Time Attitude,” celebrates longtime cooking traditions. Fieri will spotlight how Sapp is slow-smoking meat the old-fashioned way.
Fieri had filmed at the restaurant in February, about a month before the fire.
“Guy is a guy’s guy. The first thing he told me was he was a cook, and ‘just remember you’re hanging out with a cook,’ ” Sapp recalled while watching construction workers rebuilding the restaurant.
On Aug. 12, Sapp and his pit crew will be among four teams kicking off the second season of “BBQ Pitmasters,” a reality cooking competition, on TLC. Southern Soul competes against three other top barbecue teams in an escalating series of challenges, said Carley Lake, a TLC spokeswoman.
The episode’s winner will secure a berth in the finals to be aired later, where the top pitmaster will receive $100,000, which is the largest prize awarded in a barbecue competition, Lake said.
Harrison Sapp submitted his audition videotape to “BBQ Pitmasters” a week before Southern Soul burned to the ground.
They competed over three days in early July in Malibu, Calif.
“It was a very tough competition, but we all had a lot of fun,” Sapp said. He was joined by his wife, Kitty, the barbecue’s dining room manager, their 9-year-old son, Brent, and the rest of the restaurant team.
Because the show hasn’t aired, Sapp wasn’t allowed to reveal the contest’s outcome or other details.
Ruled accidental, the March 27 blaze destroyed the rustic concrete block and pine timber building that had stood for more than 50 years at Frederica and Demere roads. The fire broke out as Sapp and employees were preparing barbecue for an employee’s wedding, and as a lunchtime crowd filled the small dining room.
No one was injured. The building was gutted, but Sapp, his business partner, Griffin Bufkin, and employees saved the mobile smokers.
It broke more hearts than those of the owners.
Bill Girtman came from Pennsylvania in May to spend some time on his boat moored at a St. Simons Island marina.
“I didn’t even stop at the boat. I came right here because I wanted to get here before they closed and was just crushed. There was nothing but the smoky shell,” he said.
They were back serving up barbecue within days, though, when local restaurants let them use their kitchens.
Southern Soul is rising from the ashes of its original site. It should be done in about 90 days. Meanwhile, they’ve got a mobile barbecue wagon serving up their pulled pork, ribs, brisket, turkey and homemade side dishes under a newly built metal canopy at the site.
In addition, Southern Soul is operating at two other island locations.
“We should be open in the new building right around the Georgia-Florida weekend,” Sapp said.
There’s no chance, he said, that they’ll be “going Hollywood” as a result of the television exposure.
“I’m more about the fun and flavor of the barbecue,” Sapp said. “I found out that I love cooking barbecue. That’s what I should be doing and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Times-Union writer Terry Dickson contributed to this report.
teresa.stepzinski@jacksonville.com, (912) 264-0405
0 CommentsAnalysts encouraged by Microsoft’s cloud progress
By John Letzing, MarketWatch
SEATTLE (MarketWatch) — Wall Street analysts came away from Microsoft Corp.’s annual gathering encouraged by the company’s progress in adapting to a market in which software applications are increasingly delivered online, according to research reports published Friday.
Microsoft
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increasingly has been moving into so-called cloud computing, where software is accessed through an Internet connection, rather than installed in a user’s computer.
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Younger rivals including Google Inc.
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, Amazon.com Inc.
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and Salesforce.com Inc.
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have sought to expand the cloud-computing market, while Microsoft has endeavored to alter its own approach to keep pace.
Jefferies & Co. analyst Katherine Egbert pointed out that investors are shifting money out of Microsoft shares, based on concerns about how the company will develop new ways of making money.
Shares of Microsoft have fallen roughly 15% in the past three months, compared with a roughly 8% decline for the Nasdaq Composite Index
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over the same period. The stock closed Friday down slightly, at $25.81.
But Egbert wrote in a research note that concerns about Microsoft may be exaggerated, as the company has a history of adopting “technologies, mostly invented by others, to the mass market.”
digits: Ballmer’s iPad Envy
On Thursday Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said Apple has sold more iPads than he would have liked, and discussed Microsoft’s plans to improve the quality of tablet devices that run Windows 7 OS. WSJ’s Marcelo Prince and MarketWatch’s Rex Crum join Simon Constable on the Digits show to discuss Microsoft’s strategy. Plus: Emily Maltby reports on affordable 3-D software for small businesses.
“Investors need to stop expecting from Microsoft innovation a la Apple and start expecting low-cost, mass-market, inexpensive adaptations of popular technologies a la China,” Egbert wrote, in reference to Microsoft competitor Apple Inc.
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.
Cloud evolution
“We’re going to lead with the cloud,” Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner said at the company’s annual analyst meeting Thursday, while noting successes in vying for cloud-computing contracts against Google and International Business Machines Corp.
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. Read more about Microsoft’s annual meeting.
digits: Ballmer’s iPad envy
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer says Apple has sold more iPads than he would have liked, and discusses Microsoft’s plans to improve the quality of tablet devices that run Windows 7 OS.
Microsoft “appears to be holding their own competitively” in cloud computing, Deutsche Bank analyst Todd Raker told clients in a note. “The bottom line is we believe the cloud is evolving from a secular threat to an opportunity” for the company.
However, Raker also acknowledged that the timing of any significant economic benefit from Microsoft’s cloud-computing effort remains “unclear,” noting that “we get significant pushback from investors on near-term reasons to own the stock.”
Some analysts argued that investors may not yet fully appreciate Microsoft’s Windows Azure platform service, which includes cloud computing and storage for customers hosted at the company’s data centers.
“While the buzz has picked up around Azure over the past 12 months, we do not believe the company gets enough credit,” Oppenheimer analyst Brad Reback told clients in his own research note.
“Azure should be a net revenue and profit creator” as more corporate customers snap up the service, he said.
John Letzing is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.
Telefonica finally gets its stake in Vivo
By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) — A months-long battle between Spain’s Telefonica and Portugal Telecom came to an end on Wednesday, with the two companies announcing they reached a €7.5 billion ($10 billion) deal over Brazilian mobile operator Vivo Participacoes.
In a statement to the Spanish regulatory authorities, Telefonica
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said an agreement had been reached with Portugal Telecom to finally settle the question of who will end up with Portugal Telecom’s
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stake in Vivo
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.
The deal was believed to have been made possible owing to a separate deal announced by Portugal Telecom simultaneously, in which it will take a 22.4% stake in Brazil’s Tele Norte Leste Participacoes
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, known as Oi Telemar, for 8.4 billion Brazilian reais ($4.75 billion). The deal is likely to placate the Portuguese government which has objected to the telecom selling its stake in Vivo, a prized asset.
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Shares of Portugal Telecom, which were suspended much of the day in Lisbon, reopened with a 4.4% gain as trading resumed.
Shares in Telefonica, which will reported second-quarter results on Thursday, gained 0.7%.
Telefonica and Portugal Telecom jointly own Vivo via investment vehicle Brasilcel, which owns 60% of the company.
Telefonica will pay for Vivo in stages: €4.5 billion at the closing of the transaction (within 60 days at the latest), another €1 billion on Dec. 31 and the remaining €2 billion by October 31, 2011.
Telefonica will also offer a tender offer for the ordinary shares of Vivo that aren’t held by Brasilcel, which represent 3.8% of Vivo’s equity, roughly estimated to be worth €800 million.
Telefonica said in a statement that the acquisition gives it “undisputed leadership” of Brazil’s telecom market, which has been key for the group since it entered there in 1999. It plans to combine Vivo with its Telesp unit in Brazil, making it the largest integrated operator by customer numbers (69.2 million as of March 2010), revenue and profitability.
For the group, its global businesses are particularly important right now, as its home country struggles with a deep recession, fueled by a collapse in the housing and construction market. Shares of Telefonica have lost 21% this year, largely by association with its troubled home market.
Rod Sleath, Jersey-based fund manager for Collins Stewart, said Telefonica has a 5% position in their Continental Europe Focus Fund. He said they’ve had the acquisition of Vivo modeled in for some time, and it didn’t present any change to their upside potential of the group.
“Over the medium term, the company should experience structural growth from its Latin American assets, while the business in Spain should be “relatively” non-cyclical (note though that we do budget in a contraction of earnings for Spain in our 2010 expectations),” he said in emailed comments. “In the meantime the business pays a high dividend yield and it is worth noting that approximately 50% of operating profits are generated outside of Spain.”
An Iberian battle, a final happy ending
Telefonica’s pursuit of Portugal Telecom’s Vivo stake last spring ended up drawing in both Portugal’s government and the European Union. Telefonica has raised its offer three times in pursuit of the Vivo stake.
Two weeks ago, Portugal Telecom let Telefonica’s €7.15 billion ($9.3 billion) offer for its stake expire, and the Spanish group refused to extend the offer period. However, analysts were saying it was only a matter of time before Portugal Telecom gave in.
Smart Phones Now Control Your TV, But Should They?
Two new infrared sensors can now turn your smart phone into a remote control for your television. But WSJ’s Katherine Boehret says the technology has some practicality issues.
Portugal Telecom and the government have resisted the sale on grounds that the Brazilian mobile operations are a key part of growth of the country’s largest telecom company. Last month, the Portuguese government used its golden shares in Portugal Telecom to block the sale of Portugal Telecom’s stake to Spain’s Telefonica, which was followed by a ruling from the European Court of Justice that Portugal’s actions were unlawful, constituting a restriction on the free movement of capital.
A deal for Oi Telemar
As for Portugal Telecom, a deal for Oi Telemar is expected to ease ruffled feathers among investors and the government. Oi Group is the leading provider of telecommunications services in the Brazilian market and the largest fixed telecoms operator in South America in terms of active clients. In 2009, the group reported revenues of over $15 billion.
Under the terms of the deal, Portugal Telecom will have a “relevant role” in the management of Telemar Participacoes and its subsidiaries and will be able to “proportionally consolidate” its stake in Telemar.
Earlier, Deutsche Bank analysts said a deal each for Portugal Telecom and Telefonica was the best way to avoid “the potentially value-destructive legal path for both parties.”
And a higher price tag for Portugal Telecom’s Vivo stake is likely to help the group pay down domestic debt and return cash to shareholders, they said in a note to investors.
For stocks of both Portugal Telecom and Telefonica, the analysts said it’s a win-win situation, with shares of the former rallying on potential gains in its dividend — either due to dividend flow from Oi or cash left on its books after the Vivo sale.
“Either way, Portugal Telecom should rally hard to levels €9.5…Telefonica too should rally on relief,” Deutsche Bank said.
Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid.
U.S. economy seeing gradual recovery: Geithner
By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. economy is gradually recovering, with private investment expanding and job growth returning, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says.
In an interview to be broadcast Sunday, Geithner says that Americans had been borrowing too much and the country had been living beyond its means.
The Big Interview: Rahm Emanuel
President’s top aide says relationship between the administration and the business community is “misunderstood” and defends Obama’s job-creation strategy in the face of lagging job growth.
“But again, you are seeing a recovery,” says Geithner in an interview to be shown on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning. “You’re seeing private investment expand again, job growth starting to come back. And that’s very encouraging.” Watch Geithner on Meet the Press.
Geithner’s comments come following Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke’s statement this week that the outlook for the U.S. economy is “unusually uncertain” and that the Fed is willing to do more if economic growth proves to be weaker than forecast. Read story about Bernanke’s testimony.
The White House and congressional Democrats are engaged in a brutal election-year fight with Republicans over job creation, taxes and spending.
On Saturday, Republican Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana said too many Americans remain out of work despite passage of the Democrats’ economic stimulus package and that Congress has got to stop tax cuts from expiring at the end of this year.
President Barack Obama slammed Republicans’ job-creation plans in his Saturday address, saying tax cuts being pushed by the party have added “hundreds of billions” of dollars to the national debt. Read story about Obama and Republicans sparring over jobs.
In the interview, Geithner says he has talked to businesses across the country and that the “general view” is “an economy that’s gradually getting better.”
Robert Schroeder is a reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.
Bid, asset talk spurs further gains for BP
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Speculation that BP will be sold in parts or a whole gave a further lift to the embattled oil giant’s shares Monday as the company said that the cost of cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill reached $3.5 billion.
BP
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shares rose 4% to 379 pence, marking a 25% gain from the closing low on June 29. Even so, the oil giant’s stock price is still down 42% since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, triggering the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
Speculation in the market again focused on what BP may sell.
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The Sunday Times (of London) newspaper said Exxon Mobil
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and another firm, that it believed to be Chevron
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, had sought U.S. regulatory clearance to make a bid worth as much as £100 billion, or roughly $150 billion.
The newspaper said there was no certainty Exxon would make a move even if it did receive U.S. government backing, but the talks signaled interest from the Houston oil giant.
The newspaper also reported BP is in talks to sell its stake in the Prudhoe Bay project in Alaska as well as other American assets for 8 billion pounds, to Apache
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. The newspaper didn’t discuss how such a deal could affect the publicly traded BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust
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, which distributes royalties on a portion of the oil produced from the field.
Meanwhile, the U.K. government has hinted it may allow a bid for BP.
“As I understand, there is no immediate takeover planned. In the event that there was [an attempt] the areas where the government [can step in] are very narrow unless it is a matter of national security,” said Business Secretary Vince Cable to the U.K. daily, CityAM. “BP is a strong company with a strong cash flow. If there was a takeover attempt, we would look at it but our powers are restricted.”
BP removes oil spill cap
BP removes oil spill containment cap in hopes of replacing it with a more successful bigger one. Video Courtesy of Reuters.
The asset sale speculation comes as BP said the cost of the response to the oil escape has reached $3.5 billion. That tab includes the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs.
Analysts have said the final BP tab could be as much as $70 billion.
BP on Monday also detailed progress on replacing a containment cap, which it says is proceeding as planned.
More importantly than the short-term collection effort is work on two relief wells, which have the potential to stop the spill altogether.
“Although uncertainty still exists, the first half of August remains the current estimate of the most likely date by which the first relief well will be completed and kill operations performed,” the company said.
Steve Goldstein is MarketWatch’s London bureau chief.
UNF’s new business dean shares vision for school’s future
The search for a new dean at the University of North Florida’s Coggin College of Business was a lengthy process. But administrators weren’t in a rush.
The business college is one of the school’s most heralded programs, endorsed by Princeton Review as one of the best in the country. The school’s search committee was looking for a department head with a strong leadership background to take the helm.
They picked Ajay Samant, a career academic who spent two years as associate dean and then interim dean of the Haworth College of Business at Western Michigan University.
Samant accepted the job in April and started this month. He spoke to The Times-Union about what drew him to Florida and his vision for the program.
What brought you to UNF and the Coggin College of Business?
I was looking for a key position at a university that I feel is poised for a higher level of national recognition, and I saw that here at UNF. I found a number of strong academic programs here, in particular at the Coggin College of Business. It made my decision much easier The city itself was also enticing. It’s a unique town with a great climate and a strong business community. There is a lot of opportunity for growth here for the college, especially in business, and I wanted to be a part of that.
What factors will contribute to the college’s growth?
I believe the school already has a proven record for growth. The Coggin College of Business has come a long way in the past few years. That has a lot to do with our flagship programs, international business, and transportation and logistics. They have helped to define the business college, and I plan to keep investing in them to take them to the next level.
The international business flagship, for instance, has a global MBA where students are studying at UNF and in Germany, China and Poland. It’s an incredibly hands-on way to learn about the field. Transportation and logistics is also rated among the best in the country with outstanding faculty and access to simulation software that few schools in the nation have.
How important is Jacksonville to the continued development of the business college?
The strength of the college goes hand-in-hand with the strength of the city. Jacksonville is a major financial and accounting center as well as a logistics and transportation hub. That plays to our advantage. We have donations coming in from some local companies and strong relationships with many others. CSX, Bank of America, Winn-Dixie and large accounting firms – they’ve supported us for years.
How are you planning to establish stronger ties to regional businesses?
I’m planning extensive discussions with the business community on how we can be useful to them. It’s not just about job skills but what we can do to make this a better place to live. The skills they learn in school aren’t just about getting a job, but they can help contribute to the local economy and community. The more support we have from the business community, the better it is for everyone, because those graduates will be ready to enter the market right after college and contribute to the city.
What is the key to boosting UNF’s reputation regionally and nationally?
It’s a matter of higher visibility. We have two outstanding programs along with many other stellar offerings, so we need to let people know first-hand. I’m going to encourage faculty to go more public with their research so that more community members are aware of what we’re doing right here in Jacksonville. We should have more students entering national competitions. And, as I said, our business partners will be key in raising the school’s profile. The more national partners, the more national our reputation will become.
What do you think of Jacksonville, outside of the business community?
I’ve very much been enjoying the city and the climate. It’s a change from Michigan, that’s for sure. But it’s been difficult because of real estate prices in Jacksonville. While there are a lot of vacant homes, the prices are still relatively high compared to Michigan. I haven’t found a home yet.
Then where are you living?
I’m actually on campus at the Osprey Fountains. I’m glad I’m in the dorm because it’s a unique learning experience. There are things you can only understand if you live there. I get the opportunity to see the university from a student standpoint. But the unpleasant surprise is that I’ve realized I don’t have the energy level of the rest of the students. I go to bed a lot earlier these days.
matt.coleman@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4654
0 CommentsEconomic Report: Germany’s Ifo business climate index rises in June
By Polya Lesova
, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — An indicator of German business sentiment improved in June compared to the previous month, exceeding market expectations and signaling that euro-zone debt woes haven’t dampened confidence among businesses in the continent’s biggest economy.
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The Ifo index measuring the German business climate for industry and trade rose to 101.8 in June from an unchanged reading of 101.5 in May, the Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research reported on Tuesday.
Most analysts expected a reading of 101.2.
“With regard to the business expectations for the coming half year, however, for the second month in succession they are somewhat less optimistic,” said Hans-Werner Sinn, president of the Ifo Institute, in a statement.
“Nevertheless, the business expectations continue to be confident,” Sinn said. “The economic recovery continues.”
One of the two main sub-indexes also rose, while the other one declined. The current situation index increased to 101.1 from 99.4.
In contrast, the expectations index, which measures participants’ assessment of prospects over the next six months, dropped to 102.4 in June from 103.7 in May.
Many Germany companies are very reliant on exports and the recent weakness of the euro has boosted their competitiveness abroad.
“Right now, the only worry of the German economy should be sluggish domestic demand,” wrote Carsten Brzeski, senior economist at ING Belgium, in a note.
“The export engine is humming and should make the second quarter a real smash,” Brzeski said. “For the time being, the inventory cycle, strong global demand and the weak euro will continue to support the export-led recovery.”
Polya Lesova is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in Frankfurt.
Economic Report: Germany’s Ifo business climate index rises in June
GOP candidates for governor split on interbasin water transfers
ATLANTA – Two of the leading Republican candidates for governor told the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Tuesday they’re willing to consider interbasin water transfers from one river drainage area to another as a way to address Atlanta’s water shortage while two opposed the transfers.
Eric Johnson and Nathan Deal say interbasin transfers are logical options, while Karen Handel and John Oxendine say they aren’t.
The issue arose as each of the four met individually in the business group’s board room over lunch, with reporters watching from the side. Adequate water for business and residential growth is a top priority of the group, which has long considered interbasin transfers as a viable solution.
However, many downstream communities, like Athens, Augusta, Savannah and even Brunswick, worry that their growth potential will be sapped by Atlanta’s appetite for rivers like the Oconee and the Savannah.
In interbasin transfers, water is withdrawn from a stream, pumped over dividing hills and ridges to another area where it is used. The water, including treated wastewater, ends up in streams in a different basin than that from which it originated.
Rivers that feed the Altamaha, Georgia’s largest river, have their headwaters in the metro Atlanta area. Conservationists say the Altamaha’s flow must be maintained to preserve the mix of fresh and salt water that nourishes the marshes and aquatic life along the coast. Some worry the loss of the freshwater could compromise the commercial seafood industry in addition to damaging the environment.
Oxendine, the leading candidate in all public polls released so far, didn’t hedge in his opposition.
“Interbasin transfers that adversely affect the quality of life and the commerce in those parts of the state downstream, then we need to find other ways to do things,” Oxendine said.
Handel’s approach was similar, calling for metro Atlanta to solve its problems regionally rather than through transfers. She proposed a public-private partnership in which companies would invest in building reservoirs and have a stake in the revenue from selling water, similar to a sewer project she oversaw as Fulton County Commission chairwoman five years ago.
Johnson, from the downstream city of Savannah, and Deal, from the upstream city of Gainesville, told the Atlanta group such transfers are almost inevitable.
“The important thing is to recognize: there will be interbasin transfers,” Deal said. “The question is to what extent do you concentrate on interbasin transfer. … I think you should try to minimize the interbasin transfer.”
He pointed to legislation he had introduced in Congress that would reward communities that return treated water to the basins they withdraw from as one avenue to minimize transfers.
Johnson also left the door open.
“Every other candidate has said no. I’ve said you can’t say no to interbasin transfers,” he told the chamber audience. “Because I think that is part of the solution. That doesn’t mean it can’t be for a very limited amount of time, and for an emergency.
“But to say ‘absolutely never to interbasin transfers’ is not the good way to approach this.”
All four favored building more reservoirs, expanding the capacity of holding pools and increased conservation.
walter.jones@morris.com, (404) 589-8424
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