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Secure Energy Inc., a St. Louis-based company developing a $550 million plant in Decatur, Ill., to convert coal to natural gas, has entered a long-term sales agreement with a unit of oil giant BP PLC.

Under the agreement, Secure Energy can sell gas to industrial customers in the Decatur. BP Canada Energy Marketing Co. will purchase any unsold fuel — up to 67 million cubic feet of gas a day.

The agreement represents a major milestone in the development of the Decatur plant, which is expected to be complete by the summer of 2011, said Lars Scott, a former Peabody Energy Corp. executive who co-founded Secure Energy several years ago.

Technologies to convert coal into other energy forms, such as natural gas or diesel, aren’t new, but they were cost-prohibitive in the era of cheap oil. Today, they’re getting another look because of higher petroleum prices.
The price of natural gas, which ranged between $1 and $2 per thousand cubic feet the 1990s, has averaged almost $10 per thousand cubic feet so far this year pay day loans. The price also has been especially volatile, spiking above $13 in June only to fall below $8 this month. Despite the decline, the project remains viable, Scott said.

The plant will use about 1.4 million tons of high-sulfur Illinois coal a year to produce 20 billion cubic feet natural gas — enough to heat 250,000 homes.

Secure Energy is in talks to find a coal supplier, Scott said. A previous agreement to purchase coal from International Coal Group Inc.’s Viper Mine in eastern Illinois expired.

The plant, to be built on a site purchased last year from Caterpillar Inc., will employ about 60 people, he said. Construction is expected to take 20 to 24 months.

Secure Energy received an air permit from the state in April 2007 and it has other major permits required to begin construction.

jtomich@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8320

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Teranet Income Fund (TSX: TF.UN) is urging its unitholders not to tender to the takeover offer from Borealis Infrastructure Management, saying it is seeking better bids.

Teranet also announced Monday it has acquired the search, registration and legal corporate supplies business of Dye & Durham. It said this expands its business beyond real estate in Ontario and into legal practice areas nationally.

Teranet said its investors should take no action on the $11-per-unit cash offer from Borealis. The proposal presented Sept. 4 by the unit of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System values Teranet at about $2 billion.

"We are well underway with a process to solicit potential alternative transactions that may provide greater value to unitholders," stated Aris Kaplanis, CEO of Teranet, the monopoly operator of the Ontario electronic land registry system.

"We have received considerable interest so far from potential bidders who have signed confidentiality and standstill agreements in order to obtain internal information about Teranet. This information is not available to Borealis, as it has declined to participate in the process."

Teranet also announced the purchase of Dye & Durham, established in 1875 and described as one of the best-known suppliers to the Canadian legal market.

Teranet did not disclose the terms of the purchase of the business from the Cartwright Group Ltd faxless payday advance. of Toronto.

Kaplanis said the acquisition solidifies the trust's position in the Canadian legal market "by bringing together Teranet's expertise in the delivery of electronic services with Dye & Durham's breadth of corporate supplies and services and exceptional customer care."

The takeover "extends Teranet's offering to law practices and increases our already strong presence on the legal desktop," Kaplanis added.

"It also diversifies our revenue, expands our opportunities across Canada, increases our customer base among different practice areas and strengthens our potential offering to other core markets."

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Let’s get ready to rumble.

In one corner is the mutual fund, time-honored champion of small investors. In the other corner a fast-rising challenger, the exchange-traded fund.

They are fighting for your investor dollar. Some experts predict the ETF ultimately will win the long-term confrontation.

"In a year such as 2008, when returns are low or negative, every 50 basis points (half of a percentage point) make a difference," said Tom Anderson, head of ETF research at State Street Global Advisors, Boston. "Because ETF fees on average are dramatically lower than those of mutual funds, the difference is huge."
ETFs, which hold baskets of stocks or bonds as mutual funds do, replicate market indexes or sectors with the goal of low-cost diversification. They’re traded on an exchange so you can buy and sell during market hours, unlike a mutual fund in which you trade shares at the end of the day. Although you must pay to trade ETFs, annual fees are generally lower than even index mutual funds.

"A number of value-oriented ETFs have done astoundingly better than active mutual fund value managers this year," said Ronald DeLegge, publisher and editor of ETFguide.com in San Diego. "While in theory the active manager can raise cash and protect capital, that hasn’t been working out because some top value managers are performing badly."

DeLegge noted that while the SPDR Dow Jones Large Cap Value ETF is down 14 percent this year, the actively managed Legg Mason Value Trust is down 28 percent.

This has been a somewhat perverse year, with the top-performing mutual fund and ETF both bear market funds that bet on the market going down. The mutual fund ProFunds UltraShort International is up 42 percent this year. In ETFs, the UltraShort MSCI EAFE ProShares is up 40 percent.

In some ways, comparing mutual funds to ETFs is apples to oranges.

There is a buyer for every ETF seller because they are traded on exchanges, so an ETF doesn’t have to scramble to sell holdings to meet a rush of shareholder redemptions, as mutual funds sometimes do. No minimum initial investment is required with an ETF, and there are no penalties for redeeming shares bad credit payday advance. Dividends are paid in cash, rather than reinvested as in a mutual fund. And annual fees are lower.

An ETF strong point has been an ability to quickly add specialties, being done from commodities to solar energy to foreign currencies.

Many investors still have no exposure to commodities, which is obtained most easily with ETFs, DeLegge said. Examples are iShares GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust, up 15 percent this year; or PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund, up 20 percent.

"If you’re looking for active money management, ETFs in their current form aren’t there yet," said Scott Burns, director of ETF analysis at Morningstar Inc. "But if you’re looking to index or to allocate to a sector or to access commodities or other asset classes that were once hard to reach, ETFs can be a suitable investment."

ETFs represent not only a way to invest in broad market indexes, but a chance to pick up intriguing specialties.

"This year it largely hasn’t mattered if you were in an ETF or a mutual fund, but rather what asset class you were invested in," Anderson said. "Money moved into commodities and bonds has done well this year, while you got hammered if you stuck with international or U.S. equities."

Never forget that it is the underlying investment, rather than the vehicle, that always decides results. Style, such as value or growth, makes a difference.

"One thing investors tend not to understand is the concept of style investing, because they tend to compare everything to the S&P 500," said DeLegge, who considers it important to have a reliable benchmark to which you can compare your holdings. "Investors must understand that a small-cap value fund should be compared to a small-cap value index, not just to a small-cap index."

andrewinv@aol.com

2008, TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES INC.

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OTTAWA – Weak exports meant Canadian industries ran at just 78.9 per cent of their capacity in the second quarter of this year, the lowest level in 16 years and further evidence the economy is struggling.

The drop from the 79.6 per cent recorded in the first quarter was the fourth consecutive quarterly fall in capacity use, Statistics Canada said yesterday.

Market analysts had predicted a rate of 79.3 per cent. The second-quarter rate was the lowest since the 78.6 per cent recorded in the first three quarters of 1992 and reflects an economy struggling to deal with the U.S. slowdown.

Also, companies are being hurt by the strong Canadian dollar and increased foreign competition.

Given "this report is typically the most pessimistic measure of Canadian capacity pressures, this was a weak release," said Ian Pollick, an economics strategist at TD Economics. "U.S. economic weakness and a strong Canadian dollar remain the two key detractors of this report."

The soft economy is a factor in the campaign leading to Canada’s Oct. 14 general election.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says only his minority Conservative government can be trusted to cope with the effects of problems in the United States. Liberal, NDP and other party leaders dispute that easy payday loans.

Harper has been criticized for being too close to the Bush administration in Washington. The U.S. domestic economy is struggling with widespread housing woes and related financial crises. George W. Bush remains president until the new U.S. president, elected in November, is sworn in January.

The data appear to undercut the Bank of Canada’s claim that the economy was close to production capacity in July. The central bank says it looks at a wide range of figures and factors for the overall rate.

Automobile and wood product sectors were hard hit by reduced U.S. demand. Capacity use for transportation equipment dropped to 74.5 per cent from 76.9 per cent, as capacity use for wood products fell to a 17-year low of 65 per cent from 66.8 per cent.

"The auto sector – much like the housing sector in the United States – is in the midst of a major restructuring, rightsizing and product realignment which is hampering Canadian exports of these products," said Stewart Hall, an economist at HSBC Securities.

StatsCan said strong results in the machinery manufacturers and petroleum and coal products industries softened the overall decline.

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Top executives at Anheuser-Busch Cos. are exulting over one of the brewer’s strongest summers in several years — but they’re pushing their sales and marketing staffs for more.

After performing below expectations in early 2008, the St. Louis-based company caught up to its plan. So far this year, beer distributors are selling more beer to retailers than was expected. The company says it is gaining market share against its arch-rival, the Chicago-based MillerCoors joint venture.

As the biggest U.S. brewer is in the process of being acquired by InBev of Belgium, executives want to spread the message: Us, distracted? Don’t count on it.

"People have their concerns," said Dave Peacock, vice president of marketing at A-B’s domestic beer company. "But we’ve tried to maintain a high level of morale, kind of an esprit de corps … keep your head down, keep your eyes fixed forward on the competition."
Bud Light Lime was the biggest reason for A-B’s success this summer, "but I think we’re seeing improvement in the whole portfolio," Peacock said in a telephone interview.

Sales of Bud Light beers — including Bud Light Lime, the year’s biggest beer product launch — are up 6.5 percent over the summer, according to the company cash advance in one hour. Anheuser-Busch plans to reinvest some of the proceeds from Bud Light sales into marketing during the last three months of the year. The commercials will be a little more focused on the product’s attributes, rather than on the pursuit of laughs. The company wants to maintain Bud Light’s momentum and "make sure we apply enough pressure," said Peacock.

Speaking of pressure, Anheuser-Busch touts a new sense of urgency among its sales staff stretching back to last fall — long before InBev announced its takeover bid. Some retailers have noted that Anheuser-Busch’s sales machine is pushier than in the past. That’s music to in the ears of top A-B executives, who have more meetings with their counterparts at Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway, 7-11 and other retailers to strengthen the brewer’s relationship with key accounts.

"We have to keep (the momentum) going into next year," said Peacock.

jmcwilliams@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8372

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OTTAWA–Software producer Corel Corp. is cutting its global workforce by about eight per cent, affecting 90 employees, to increase operational efficiency.

The Ottawa-based company said the move will allow it to increase investment in growth opportunities, including emerging markets and e-commerce.

It was not immediately known where the layoffs would fall, but Corel has its largest presence in Ottawa cash advance loan no fax.

Corel says it will take a US$2.8-million restructuring charge in the fourth quarter due to the layoffs.

The company has said it is in talks with for a possible sale of the company, but so far no buyer has emerged.

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Airbus presented new cost-cutting measures to unions yesterday as part of a parent company EADS plan to seek an additional 1 billion euros ($1.42 billion U.S.) in savings starting in 2010.

In a bid to compensate for the euro’s rise against the dollar and improve competitiveness, EADS CEO Louis Gallois wants to expand production in the dollar zone or in areas where labour is cheap. He has promised the plans will not involve any additional job losses in Europe.

Having failed to sell production sites in France and Germany as part of its original restructuring plans, Airbus has decided to take on board a plan floated by one of the companies it sought to sell the sites to, Gallois said in an interview with Le Monde newspaper published yesterday payday loans.

The plan calls for Airbus to set up a parts factory in Tunisia to make basic parts and to invest in expanding production.

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WASHINGTON — Boeing Co. on Tuesday expressed concern over potential budget cuts on its airborne laser aircraft in the upcoming fiscal year’s budget, which is still being haggled over by lawmakers.

Earlier this year, the House Armed Services Committee agreed to cut $42.6 million from the Missile Defense Agency’s $421 million program in its version of the defense authorization bill due to continuing operational and affordability concerns. That cut is much larger than the proposed $15.7 million trim House appropriators have recently suggested.

The first of its kind, neither Congress or the Missile Defense Agency have put forth plans for a second aircraft beyond development funding until the technology has fully matured, and has proven its capability.

The airborne laser aircraft is a modified version of a Boeing 747 freighter and is designed to detect, track and destroy enemy ballistic missiles during the early stages of flight using a high-energy infrared laser designed and developed by partner Northrop Grumman Corp. The system can also pass on information about launch sites, track targets and predict impact points of the missile.

"It would be a shame to mark even a small amount of the president’s budget request … every dollar is very important," Mark Rinn, Boeing’s vice president and program director, told reporters on a conference call Thursday.

Boeing’s St pay day loan. Louis-based Integrated Defense Systems unit is the prime contractor on the project.

Some funding has been allocated to begin addressing questions like affordability by lawmakers, said Rinn.

To date, the agency has spent roughly $4 billion on the program since its inception in 1998, and that figure is expected to reach $5 billion, according to Richard Lehner, a Missile Defense Agency spokesman.

On Sunday, Boeing and its partners, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin Corp. successfully fired a high-energy laser during a ground testing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

The test, one of the more than 70 that have been conducted, is the first time the laser has been equipped to the plane when fired.

Ground testing will continue throughout the remainder of the year with firing planned over a longer duration. It will then be followed by a flight test of the entire system.

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Much has been said about the impact of the federal government’s rescue of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will have on taxpayers. But the faltering state of both mortgage-investment houses may already have hit many Americans in the pocketbook.

Fidelity Investments, the world’s largest mutual fund manager, was one of the biggest investors in Fannie and Freddie before the firms lost $18.9 billion in value.

Fidelity, along with Wellington Management Co., a Boston-based hedge fund company, and Dodge & Cox, a San Francisco-based investment firm, top the list of money fund managers that placed bets on Fannie and Freddie.

Investors who bought on speculation the government would rescue shareholders bet wrong after the stocks tumbled more than 60 percent over the last two months.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Sunday that the government will take over the mortgage companies. The rescue, however, mainly helps holders of preferred shares.

"This is a disaster for anyone who bought the stock," said Jack Ablin, who helps manage $65 billion as chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago. "Based on what we know so far, it seems like the stock is worth virtually nothing."

Both Fannie’s and Freddie’s shares plunged in value on Monday.

Shares of Fannie Mae, formally known as the Federal National Mortgage Association, closed Friday at $7.04 but fell to $5.50 in after-hours trading when the Wall Street Journal said a government takeover was imminent. The company’s shares closed Monday at 73 cents.

Freddie Mac, formally known as Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., closed Friday at $5.10 and slipped to $4.04 after hours. On Monday, the shares closed at 88 cents.

"It was a very risky investment, and there was a 90 percent chance you could be wiped out," said Walter Hellwig, who helps oversee $30 billion at Morgan Asset Management in Birmingham, Ala.

Fidelity, Wellington, and Dodge & Cox added the most to their stakes in Fannie Mae between April and June, according to data from June 30 government filings compiled by Bloomberg. Wellington was the biggest buyer of Freddie Mac on a net basis among fund firms.

Fidelity’s funds added a net 10.3 million Fannie shares during the second quarter, bringing their stake to 56.5 million, or 5.2 percent of the outstanding stock.

Dodge & Cox reported owning 119.8 million shares as of July 31, based on a government filing required when a stake goes above 5 percent.

Wellington doubled its Freddie Mac stake to 21.5 million in the quarter, when the stock averaged $24.75 online payday loan. Since then, the price averaged $7.33.

Adam Banker, a spokesman for Boston-based Fidelity, and Wellington’s Lisa Finkel said their firms’ policies are not to comment on individual holdings. Dodge & Cox spokesman Steve Gorski didn’t return voice messages.

The amount of exposure that individual investors had through such funds is hard to calculate.

For most funds, holdings of an individual stock such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will be minimal. But if an investor owns several funds that each own a stake in the same company, the potential exposure may be larger.

For instance, the vast majority of funds with Fannie and Freddie stakes have minimal holdings. Just 14 mutual funds had 5 percent or more of their assets in stocks of the mortgage finance giants at the end of June, according fund tracker Morningstar Inc.

But for investors in sector funds, the exposure is greater.

For example, Fidelity Select Home Finance, a fund with a specialized focus that’s clear from its name, has lost about 34 percent of its value this year. According to Morningstar, the $112 million fund had nearly 21 percent of its holdings in Fannie and Freddie combined at the end of June, the highest among any fund, just as the mortgage companies’ stocks began to plunge.

"Some people would be surprised at how much some funds have in financials and energy," said David Kathman, a Morningstar fund analyst. "They might want to rethink whether they want to own such a fund, or rethink how much they devote in their portfolio to it, and be aware of how it fits with the rest of their portfolio."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Washington Mutual Inc, the largest U.S. savings and loan, ousted Kerry Killinger as chief executive and has been put under special regulatory supervision, following skyrocketing losses from mortgages that are expected to weigh on results for years.

Alan Fishman, 62, chairman of mortgage broker Meridian Capital Group and a former chief operating officer of Sovereign Bancorp Inc, was named to replace Killinger, who had run the Seattle-based thrift since 1990.

Washington Mutual’s expansion into subprime and other risky mortgages led to $6.3 billion in losses over three quarters, and caused the stock to lose nine-tenths of its value in the last year. The thrift has said losses from its one-family residential mortgages could approach $19 billion through 2011.

“WaMu is facing unprecedented housing and market conditions,” Chairman Stephen Frank said on a Monday conference call. “The board felt that new leadership with a combination of deep industry experience and a fresh perspective would be the most effective way to lead the company.”

Washington Mutual’s board in June stripped Killinger of his job as chairman, a role he had held since 1991.

Killinger, 59, joins Citigroup Inc’s Charles Prince, Merrill Lynch & Co’s Stanley O’Neal and Wachovia Corp’s Ken Thompson among financial services chiefs to lose their jobs because of mortgage losses.

On Sunday, the chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were also replaced.

“It seemed like the writing was on the wall,” said Chris Armbruster, an analyst at Al Frank Asset Management, which owns the thrift’s shares http://paydayloans-on.com. “A new leader may take the opportunity for write-downs to rid himself of baggage from former management. The change may indicate bigger write-downs to come. 

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