My finance view

European Union governments returned to German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Ski resort operator Peak Resorts filed documents with federal authorities this month that more than doubles its plans for an initial public offering of its common stock to $103.5 million. 

Wildwood-based Peak Resorts, which owns the Hidden Valley ski area locally and owns or leases 11 other ski properties nationwide, originally filed for a $40.3 million IPO in mid-April, but shelved its plans to go public for several months.

According to documents Peak Resorts filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 21, the company has significantly expanded its IPO plans and now will offer 5 million shares of its stock  on NASDAQ under the symbol PEAK, priced between $16 and $18 per share.

The prospectus also reveals other details about the company’s operations and its growth in recent years. Peak Resorts, led by CEO Tim Boyd, has grown its revenue 305 percent from fiscal 2006 to fiscal 2011, when it had $98 million in revenue, according to its prospectus. In fiscal 2010, the company had $90 million in revenue.

Peak Resorts, which says it owns more ski areas in the U.S. than any other company, plans to use the $79 million in proceeds from the offering to repay debt on several of its properties, including $9 million to purchase the land beneath two ski areas in northeastern Pennsylvania, Jack Frost and Big Boulder, that it currently leases. The properties are both under contract with closing dates expected before the end of the year. 

Peak Resorts also plans to use $6.5 million of the IPO proceeds to construct a new high-speed chair lift at its Mount Snow ski area in southern Vermont.

The economic downturn did not stop customers from hitting the slopes, Peak Resorts stated in its prospectus, and the number of visitors to its 12 ski resorts increased during the past two winter ski seasons. 

Locally, Peak Resorts’ 250-acre Hidden Valley ski area and tube park opens from mid- December through February. Boyd developed Hidden Valley in 1982 and incorporated Peak Resorts as a holding company in 1997. In Peak Resort’s fiscal year, which ended April 30, 2011, Hidden Valley had $3.6 million in revenue, accounting for 4 percent of Peak’s total revenue.

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Will Santa drop any loot into your 401(k) or IRA this year?

Typically, investors can count on a “Santa Claus rally” in the stock market between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, as an upbeat mood about the coming year prompts investors to indulge in stocks along with all the holiday fare.

But this year, questions abound about whether a fragile economy could fall back into recession. The European debt crisis looks increasingly out of control, while the latest chapter in Capitol Hill dysfunction raises the chance of higher taxes for all taxpayers and a smaller safety net for the unemployed.

“Supercommittee failure means that there is a greater risk that the payroll tax cut expires, though there is still a chance this could be attached to a year-end spending bill,” said Goldman Sachs economist Alec Phillips.

Payroll tax relief, which was enacted to put more spending money into consumers’ pockets, will expire at the end of the year if Congress takes no action, and so far, Congress has shown no inclination to work cooperatively on tax or deficit-cutting measures. If the payroll tax cut disappears, the government will collect about $110 billion more a year, but that money will no longer be in paychecks as potential spending money.

That’s a concern to investors, because the economy needs consumer spending to grow. In addition, extended unemployment benefits, which provide people with about $50 billion a year to spend, would not be available either.

JPMorgan Chase economists have estimated that if the stimulus expires, the economy will go from a 3 percent annual growth rate this quarter to a 1.5 percent growth rate in the second quarter of next year as households encounter a ’sharp hit” to their after-tax income. The economists expect “consumer spending to stagnate.”

The stock market has slid the last couple of days as investors have envisioned ongoing paralysis, a recessionary threat and the potential of a negative credit rating for U.S. debt. Investors were shaken in August, when Standard & Poor’s responded to government inaction on the nation’s debt by knocking the U.S. credit rating down a half a notch, but the agencies have suggested recently that no further downgrades are planned.

That should be a relief to investors, because downgrades can inflict higher borrowing costs on countries, making it difficult to operate. But instead of U.S. Treasury yields rising, as they would based on fear of a downgrade, the 10-year bond dipped below 2 percent this week based on a different concern: Moody’s economist John Lonski said investors were worried that automatic cuts in government spending and further federal deficit trimming would slow the economy. Investors move money to safety in bonds, and consequently, yields fall.

Besides the $110 billion payroll tax cuts and $50 billion in unemployment help that could disappear, there are trillions in additional measures that will arise over the next year that could interfere with consumer spending and be a drag on the economy. If the “Bush tax cuts,” enacted in 2001 and 2003, expire according to schedule at the end of 2012, consumers will have about $4 trillion less to spend over the next 10 years.

For middle-income people, the tax cuts that could expire include a $1,000 child tax credit for parents. But it will decline to $500 without congressional action. Low-income taxpayers also now have a 10 percent tax bracket, but that will escalate to 15 percent if the deadline for an extension runs out. For middle-income and affluent people, the current tax structure will allow about 33 million people to escape the higher alternative minimum tax, if Congress keeps it going. For the rich, the expiration of an estate tax break will mean paying taxes on assets over $1 million, compared with protecting $5 million now.

Meanwhile, as investors worry that a wrong move on taxes and spending could hurt consumers and undermine the economy, trouble in European banks is starting to affect distant areas. Fearful banks are holding on to capital instead of lending, and strategist Ed Yardeni notes that’s interfering with lending in emerging markets.

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Tropical Storm Kenneth has formed in the eastern Pacific Ocean, with forecasters calling it a rare late-season tropical storm.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Sunday that Kenneth had maximum sustained winds near 40 mph (65 kph). The storm was centered about 525 miles (845 kilometers) south of Manzanillo, Mexico.

Projections show Kenneth moving west out to sea, away from land, over the next several days payday lenders.

The eastern Pacific hurricane season ends Nov. 30.

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Metropolitan Urological Specialists PC, a leading St. Louis area medical practice, appears to be digging itself out of a $1.3 million tax problem.

Public records filed this year indicate that the Chesterfield-based medical practice and its property affiliate — Metropolitan Urological Properties LLC — has owed at least that much in delinquent federal, state and local taxes, interest and fees.

Metropolitan, which operates a sexual health clinic and offers surgery and radiation treatments, has about a dozen physicians. The medical firm has an imaging center, a laboratory, and doctors’ offices at various locations in Crestwood, Creve Coeur, Florissant, and Chesterfield including offices on the campuses of Mercy Hospital St. Louis and St. Luke’s Hospital.

Metropolitan’s new interim chief executive, Bob Lawson, and several doctors did not respond to requests to comment. The firm referred questions to its attorney, Mayer Klein. The medical firm has substantially paid down its tax liabilities in recent months, Klien said. He would not specify Metropolitan’s remaining balance of delinquent withholding taxes, he said, because the company is privately held.

“Metro is strong and very successful and a very solid company,” Klein said. ”I’m aware of our financial condition and we do not have any tax concerns.”

On Sept. 16 of this year, the Internal Revenue Service filed an $855,291 tax lien on “all property and rights to this property” belonging to the medical practice, federal records show.

The IRS filed the tax lien after Metropolitan fell behind on its federal taxes - namely, the employer’s quarterly payments of funds it must withhold from its employee’s paychecks for Social Security and Medicare. “We have made a demand for payment of this liability, but it remains unpaid,” the federal tax lien states.

Earlier this year, the Missouri Department of Revenue placed three tax liens on the firm totaling $154,103 involving overdue withholding taxes, state records show. The smallest of those state tax liens, totaling about $405, has been released.

Metropolitan’s delay in meeting its federal and state tax obligations echoes its difficulties paying its property taxes. The Post-Dispatch reported last week that the medical firm’s property affiliate - Metropolitan Urological Properties LLC - owes state and local tax authorities $338,224 in delinquent taxes, interest and penalties from 2009 and 2010 on two of its properties, which include medical office buildings at 10296 Big Bend Boulevard in Crestwood and at 215 Dunn Road in Florissant, according to St. Louis County Department of Revenue.

According to Missouri Department of Revenue records, Metropolitan’s problems paying its wittholding taxes began in early 2009.

In 2010, Missouri state tax authorities placed a $8,854 tax lien on Metropolitan, but the medical firm paid those delinquent withholding taxes and that lien was released in February of this year.

The medical firm’s former chief executive, Dunard Morris, left the firm last month for unexplained reasons. He did not return calls Thursday for comment.

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One of the St. Louis area’s leading medical practices for urologists owes more than $338,000 in delinquent property taxes, interest and penalties, St. Louis County records show.

Five years ago, Metropolitan Urological Specialists announced its plan to invest about $15 million in three outpatient centers, including a sexual medicine clinic, and to take on additional urologists as private physician shareholders. The firm, based in Chesterfield, also planned to invest heavily in laboratory and imaging equipment.

Dunard Morris, the medical firm’s former chief executive, said at the time that Metropolitan’s expansion would help meet the growing needs of the baby boomer generation. A large proportion of the firm’s business involves Medicare patients. Morris recently left the firm for unknown reasons.

But the firm, which still lists 14 physicians on its website, now struggles to pay its taxes. The county has sought to collect the back taxes by filing liens on the firm’s property.

The medical firm’s affiliate, Metropolitan Urological Properties LLC, owes state and local tax authorities $338,223 in delinquent taxes, interest and penalties from 2009 and 2010 on its medical office buildings at 10296 Big Bend Boulevard in Crestwood and at 215 Dunn Road in Florissant, according to the St. Louis County Department of Revenue.

Metropolitan Urological Properties also owes state and local property taxes for 2011 totaling $172,652 on those two parcels and improvements to those sites. That amount is due by Dec. 31, and becomes delinquent if not paid or postmarked before Jan. 1, 2012.

If the firm’s 2009 tax bill remains unpaid on its medical office complex in Crestwood, whose market value has been appraised at $4.9 million, county authorities are prepared to auction the property next August.

It is unclear when exactly Metropolitan started falling behind on its taxes or what specifically may have caused any related financial troubles. As shareholders, Metropolitan’s physicians could be on the hook if the firm defaults on any of its financial obligations.

Metropolitan’s property affiliate was able to pay a $29,481 tax bill on its Dunn Road parcel for 2009, but not a larger tax bill on its Big Bend parcel for that year. It did not pay its 2010 tax bills on either parcel.

Bob Lawson, the medical firm’s newly hired interim chief executive, did not return calls requesting comment. Several doctors affiliated with Metropolitan Urological Specialists also did not return phone calls.

Morris, who left the medical practice this fall, returned phone calls placed to one of his residences by leaving a voicemail message that said he was “out of state,” without saying exactly where.

“I have a lot to tell regarding health care and other things. I won’t talk with you if you run your story,” Morris said in the voicemail message. “I got sick of what I see in health care, and specifically in our group. And it’s a much wider story than me or anyone else.”

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Taiwan says fishermen on a Taiwanese boat fought back against Somali pirates and freed themselves after a hijacking in the Indian Ocean.

Some of the 28 crew on the Chin Yi Wen overcame the hijackers then the boat met up with British anti-piracy vessels nearby. Three crew had minor injuries.

The government news agency said the fight happened about 4 a.m. Sunday Taiwan time (2000 Saturday GMT). That was some 48 hours after the boat was reported missing.

The Central News Agency report cited the island’s Fisheries Agency. It said the 260-ton Chin Yi Wen is now heading to Port Victoria in the Seychelles.

Piracy is rife off the Somali coast. Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991.

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It’s moving day for bank customers.

A grassroots movement that sprang to life last month is urging bank customers to close their accounts in favor of credit unions by Saturday.

The spirit behind “Bank Transfer Day” caught fire with the Occupy Wall Street protests around the country and had more than 77,000 supporters on its Facebook page as of Friday. The movement has already helped beat back Bank of America’s plan to start charging a $5 debit card fee.

It’s not clear to what extent the banking industry’s about-face on debit card fees will extinguish the anger driving the movement. But many supporters say their actions are about far more than any single complaint.

“It’s too little, too late,” said Kristen Christian, the 27-year-old Los Angeles small business owner who started “Bank Transfer Day.” She already opened accounts at two credit unions in preparation for cutting ties with Bank of America this weekend.

“Consumers are waking up and seeing that they have options,” she said.

Even with its public support, however, it’s not likely that any account closings that take place on Saturday will make a big dent with industry titans such as Chase, which is the largest bank in the country with some 26.5 million checking accounts.

But the call to action shows just how incensed consumers were at the prospect of a debit card fee at a time of so much economic uncertainty. Even those who were appeased by the industry’s reversal may have tapped into a new sense of empowerment.

That’s the case for Dan Blakemore, a Bank of America customer for the past 10 years. He said he no longer plans to close his checking account now that the debit fee has been scrapped. But he’ll be on the lookout for any other changes that might hit his wallet.

“I’m pretty confident they’re going to find some way to get that extra money,” said Blakemore, a 28-year-old who works for a nonprofit fundraiser in New York City. “I’ll just have to see if it offends my sensibility enough to close the account.”

Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. are keeping mum on whether they’ve seen an uptick in account closures in recent weeks. But credit unions and small community banks have been basking in the spotlight and issuing press releases highlighting what they say are superior interest rates and more intimate service, along with tips on how consumers can transfer accounts. They haven’t been shy about the surge in new business they’re enjoying either.

Navy Federal Credit Union, the largest credit union in the country, says new account openings in September and October were up 38 percent from a year ago. National Capital Bank, a two-branch community bank in Washington, D.C., says the vast majority of its new account openings in recent weeks have been by fed up Bank of America customers.

“The debit fee was definitely a driver,” said Noah Wilcox, president of Grand Rapids State Bank in Minnesota, which is also enjoying a lift in account openings freecreditscore.

Because credit unions and community banks vary so greatly in size, however, it’s hard to gauge the total scope of the defections they’re reporting. For example, the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union in New York City says it’s enjoying more than 55 new account openings a week. That’s a big jump from its average of about 10 new accounts per week, but insignificant when weighed against the portfolios of the nation’s largest banks.

Big banks have also learned that customer grumblings don’t always translate into action. That’s particularly true for those who have multiple accounts, direct deposit and automatic bill pay; many decide that switching just isn’t worth the hassle.

“People will do a lot of complaining before they actually uproot and move,” notes Mark Schwanhausser, a banking analyst with Javelin Strategy & Research.

The recent firestorm over debit card fees was “in a class of its own” because customers saw it as a charge for accessing their own money, he said.

The timing of Bank of America’s fee announcement was unfortunate on multiple levels as well. In addition to the anxiety many are feeling amid high unemployment and stagnant wages, the news broke just as the Occupy Wall Street protests were capturing the national spotlight.

And big banks have been a key target for Occupy Wall Street, which has tapped into the lingering resentment many harbor over the role of banks in the financial meltdown of 2008.

Last month, two dozen Occupy Wall Street protestors were arrested when they entered a Citibank branch in New York City and refused to leave. Protestors have also banged drums and demonstrated outside bank branches in other cities; PNC Bank twice closed branches in downtown Pittsburgh last week after protestors entered.

But those are the extremes. Schwanhausser of Javelin said many customers will likely be placated by the industry’s white flag on debit card fees.

“People are people going to look at that Nov. 5 date and say `We made our point’,” Schwanhausser said

The banking industry may feel the same way; representatives for Bank of America, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo indicate they haven’t done anything to prepare branch employees for a surge in account closings this weekend. Then again, many of the closures may have already taken place.

Molly Katchpole, a 22-year-old nanny in Washington, D.C., who started an online petition urging Bank of America to drop its debit card fee, says the bank’s about-face won’t win her back.

“The damage is done,” said Katchpole, who has since joined a credit union in Washington, D.C.

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Gunmen wearing military-style uniforms broke into the house of a pro-government Sunni militiaman early on Wednesday and killed five members of his family, including three children, Iraqi officials said.

A police official said the gunmen shot the women and children as they were sleeping in their home in Abu Ghraib, a Sunni-dominated area that used to be a haven for al-Qaida in Iraq.

Seven other family members were wounded in the attack. The militiaman, Hameed al-Zobaie, was not in the house at the time of the attack, the police official said.

A medical official in a nearby hospital confirmed the casualties. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Police said the gunmen likely were targeting al-Zobaie, who is a member of the Iraqi Sahwa, or Awakening Councils personal loans for bad credit. The group joined forces with U.S. troops at the height of the Iraq war to fight al-Qaida. Ever since then, it has been a target for Sunni insurgents who call its members traitors.

Insurgents have stepped up attacks in Iraq recently as the U.S. military prepares to withdraw from the country by the end of the year.

In an earlier attack, a car bomb exploded near a popular restaurant in a Shiite neighborhood in southwestern Baghdad late on Tuesday night, killing three people and wounding 10 others, police said Wednesday.

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The Toronto stock market reduced afternoon losses but closed down more than 200 points amid plummeting gold prices and fresh anxiety over a potential default by the Greek government on its loans.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down two per cent or 238.71 points at 12,148.83. The TSX Venture Exchange lost 39.57 points to 1,745.53.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.40 of a cent at 100.80 cents (U.S.) after earlier dipping below parity for the first time since January as investors nervous about Europe