World Business

A goal of helping Nigerian entrepreneurs takes vehemence and motivation. To make it happen, you’ll need a thorough business plan—and enough of patience

by Karen E. Klein

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I just relocated to my indigenous Nigeria after 17 years studying and working in business management in the U.S. I returned to a rustic ablaze with budding entrepreneurs and privatization. I inclination to set up a nonprofit center for entrepreneurship and profession development here in Nigeria and will estimate any advice you may be quick to render.—K.B.O., Lagos, Nigeria

Congratulations in continuance your drive and interest in helping entrepreneurs! It takes passion and motivation to devote oneself to such an material societal goal, notes Adam Toren, co-founder of YoungEntrepreneur.com. "Helping build a community of entrepreneurs by giving them the tools, support, and solutions they require in society to build successful companies is extremely important for building sustainable communities," Toren says.

Let’s start with some prompt caution and conclude by a list of resources and organizations.

Phil Borden, a longtime entrepreneurial consultant who worked for the U.S. State Dept. on illiberal business development in Iraq in 2007 (BusinessWeek.com, 3/26/08), notes that you’ll indigence to define a specific purpose for your center and set it up as a viable entity.

"On the African continent, there are more versions of office centers than in that place are countries. For copy, Angola has at least two: One is a library of relevant training and reference materials backed by a staff of counselors to accommodate walk-in clients, and another restricts itself to industries related to oil production and export in order to resist build a specific economic sector," Borden says. "In Egypt, four deal with microbusiness and another two with larger ventures."

In precept to understand who you are going to serve, why and how they order pay, you’ll need to conduct a community-needs assessment and practicability investigate, Borden says. You’ll also need to establish how the center will hold itself financially, so you’ll need to identify funding sources and an annual budget.

"Write a business plan that addresses the usual issues of marketing, competition, science, and governance," Borden advises. The prepare will alleviate being of the kind which you establish a nonprofit (or for-profit, which is becoming a received model for entrepreneurial training) entity. "The rules governing for- and nonprofit or nongovernmental sector legal and organizational issues vary significantly from country to uncultivated, as accomplish the methods because setting them up and the time needed to do so. Many countries do not have clear legal definitions of nonprofit or nongovernmental entities, or require excessive time and stretch to cause them," he says.

If you can’t find a local professional to guide you, Borden recommends that you check the Web site of the World Bank, which maintains a detailed list of operational steps needed to form a business in Nigeria, along with the challenges of doing so, labor and tax issues, the impact of corruption, and time needed to make it happen.

Nigerian-born Benjamin Akande, now a U.S. citizen who is dean of the School of Business & Technology at Webster University in St. Louis, recommends that you engage universities in Nigeria, at the same time that well as limited business groups, against restore with your plan. "At the moment, there is a favorable climate for entrepreneurship, but even those with good ideas don’t have adit to cardinal," Akande says. "Convene a meeting of business groups and have a clear conversation hind part before your apparition and dream. Then ask them how they can be part of this center, which would be breaking starting anew ground" in Nigeria, he advises. If you can find of the same kind spirits in Nigeria and external, you can share your perspective and ideas, and challenge them to participate.

Avoid getting taken in by the criminals often referred to as "419ers" (the numeral references a artifice law in Nigeria).

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It's easy to forget equitable in what manner "tick tight," as Rather once oblige it, the primary race was between Obama and Hillary Clinton. It ended up with a vote gap of just one tenth of a percentage point. The real difference-maker in the 2008 race was the Obama favoritism of the general media, led by the television networks. It was his brink of triumph.

Rich Noyes of the Media Research Center spent weeks crunching numbers from any exhaustive investigation of ABC, CBS and NBC coverage of Barack Obama, from his first network soundbite in 2000 through the end of the primaries, a study of more than 1,300 stories. "Coverage" is too bland a word. "Anointing" might be else appropriate.

Obama received his best press when it mattered the most. How could someone with his utter lack of national expertise and behalf identification appear to become an yesterday night heavyweight? The networks showered praise on Obama because his convention keynote speech in 2004. Out of 81 integral stories with regard to Obama from 2004 up to the time when his official kickoff in 2007, not one was a negative story, critical of him. Not one.

Overall, the three broadcast networks gave Obama nearly seven times more good press than bad press. There have been 462 determinate stories (34 percent of the total) compared to just 70 stories (or five percent) that were negative. The rest were classified as neutral. "NBC Nightly News" was the most aggressive, with 179 Obama-boosting stories, compared to just 17 negative ones, a 10-to-one margin. "CBS Evening News" was toward considered in the state of bad, with a 156-to-21 gap between indisputable stories and negative ones.

When network reporters went looking for voters to parley, there was no trial exerted to achieve balance. Of 147 average citizens who expressed an on-camera opinion about Obama, 114 (78 percent) were pro-Obama, compared to blameless 28 (19 percent) that were negative, by the remaining five offering a mixed opinion. Obama wasn't winning primary elections over Mrs. Clinton by a 78-to-19 percent smackdown, but he clearly won the Average Joe soundbite primary.

Network reporters not only accentuated the clear, they tried to eliminate the negative. Look at labels. The networks minimized Obama's free-hearted ideology, but referring to him in the manner that a "liberal" 14 times in four years (many of those came in 2004). In contrast, reporters found twice as manifold occasions (29) to refer to Obama as a star during the same period, whether he was a "rock star," "rising star" or "superstar."

The networks also downplayed or ignored what could have been major Obama gaffes and scandals. Obama's relationship with convicted influence peddler Tony Rezko was the subject of only two full reports (one each on ABC and NBC) and mentioned in righteous 15 other reports. CBS played it from a thin to a dense state in just part of a story, through reporter Dean Reynolds insisting "not at all one has charged Obama through wrongdoing, something he has been animate to single thing out." No one cared very much that a political fixer headed to bridewell had helped Barack Obama buy his pricey house in Chicago.

CBS and NBC also initially downplayed controversial statements from Obama's longtime shepherd Jeremiah Wright, but excessively praised Obama's March 18 speech in succession race relations, his response to the Wright furor. The networks ran minute-long soundbites complete with family pictures. Liberal and conservative pundits alike came on TV and honored the Obama address as a historic moment.

What of Wright's again outrageous claims, such as the ridiculous conspiracy theory that the U.S. rule invented the AIDS virus as part of a plan to eliminate the fiendish race? Rev. Wright appeared on Fox's "Hannity & Colmes" in succession March 1, 2007, but it took the networks each entire year to but also mention his name. By the lifetime ABC ran its first vicious Wright soundbite, 42 states and D.C. had already voted.

When the convention starts in Denver, viewers might want to step into their india-rubber hip boots and wade end all the sugary goo. The nominee will be compared to Moses, George Washington, Frederick Douglass, and Tiger Woods before it's all through. We can only imagine how monstrously upset they'll be that the Republicans dare to assemble and oppose their beatific ghost.

L. Brent Bozell III is the president of the Media Research Center. To find out more about Brent Bozell III, and read features by means of other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web boy-servant at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.

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How does a firm get top marks in customer satisfaction? Here’s how J.D. Power drew up its latest list—and in what way 12 big industry names stack up

From Standard & Poor’s Equity Research

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From Standard & Poor’s weekly investing newsletter The Outlook

While the relationship between investors and financial advisors and brokers remains a key factor in investor satisfaction, changes in the economy have investors looking more closely at investment performance, now the most crucial driver of investor comfort according to the J.D. Power & Associates 2008 Full Service Investor Satisfaction Study (J.D. Power, like S&P and BusinessWeek.com, is a unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies (MHP).

Now in its sixth year, the inquiry measures overall investor satisfaction with full service investment firms, based in continuance six factors (in order of importance): investment doing; financial advisor/broker; commissions and fees; account setup/account offerings; convenience; and account statements. The study also measures investor satisfaction inside of three investor portfolio types: plenteous investors (those who be in actual possession of $1 million or more in investable assets); dimension wealthy investors (betwixt $100,000 and $999,999 in investable assets); and mass market investors (less than $100,000 in investable assets).

Raymond James (RJF) ranks highest in investor satisfaction by a bill of 831 onward a 1,000-point scale, receiving high ratings from investors in all six factors and performing particularly well in proactively contacting investors. Edward Jones follows in the rankings with a score of 806, and UBS Financial Services (UBS) ranks third overall, through 798.

Investment exhibition of character on the stage surpasses financial advisor/go-between considered in the state of the most important factor in satisfaction in 2008, accounting on this account that 24% of overall satisfaction, compared with 19% in 2007. Financial advisor/agent accounts for 22% of overall satisfaction—down from 24% in 2007. "Current household conditions, as reflected in declines in stock market indices, have heightened investor awareness of portfolio exhibition of character in continuance the stage," said David Lo, director of investing. services at J.D. Power.

"Regardless of market conditions, advisors who have the game in one’s hands at managing the expectations of their investors can help to allay more of the negative effects. For instance, keeping investors informed by conducting orderly portfolio reviews and including portfolio performance information on account statements can have a considerable impact on satisfaction."

A solution to managing the relationship is assigning investors to a dedicated financial advisor or team. Among the 12% of investors who explosion they do not have a financial advisor or team assigned to them, overall satisfaction is substantially lessen compared with investors in other types of investment relationships.

Additionally, advisors can pick up satisfaction by maintaining periodic proactive contact with investors. Mass affluent and mass market investors understand that varying levels of investable assets style for differences in the commonness of contact. The study finds that to achieve similar levels of high satisfaction among the three investor segments, investment firms need to proactively contact affluent investors every medium of 4.2 general condition of affairs by means of year, mass affluent 2.8 times, and mass market 1.7 times.

"Our advice to investors is that while portfolio performance is of primary importance, it is only one of several dimensions that drive investor satisfaction," said Lo. "When shopping for every investment advisor, discussing the following key issues can help determine a cheering fit: whether the investor be disposed be assigned to a limited advisor or team; the frequent occurrence of communication in regard to investment performance and the investor’s changing needs; how the advisor measures investing. performance; what the investor’s expectations are; the ease of use of account statements; fees; and other types of products and services useful from the investment firm."

The 2008 Full Service Investor Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 4,528 investors who primarily invest with one of the 19 firms included in the study. The study was fielded from April to May 2008.

Below are the 12 brokerage firms listed in J.D. Power’s July 30 release, in descending rank order.

Raymond James (RJF)

Edward Jones

UBS Financial Services (UBS)

LPL Financial Services

Merrill Lynch (MER)

Ameriprise Financial Services (AMP)

Wachovia Securities (WB)

Smith Barney (C)

Charles Schwab & Co. (SCHW)

Morgan Stanley (MS)

Chase Investment Services (JPM)

Fidelity Investments

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This is in no degree small thing. Such free elections had not happened previous to the revolution begun in 1776. And it stands as calm besides amazing in a world in which, outside of Europe, and contemptuous opposition democratic aspirations on the parts of many, governments still range in opposition to the greatest part from new authoritarians, to enlightened monarchs to ruthless dictatorships.

We call the conventions the emanations of "political parties." In truth, these are groups of Americans who constituent piece themselves together in ideas and ideologies, in ambitions and ambiguities, in dreams and play, to see who we will put support to rule the United States for the next four years. Soon, "the compete" will begin.

Despite the excitement, with the Republican meeting. coming hard upon the Democratic one, the next president, no matter who he is, will find an American situation intensely changed from the ones our prior presidents inherited. The changes may not without any intervention be evident, if it were not that they choose soon come to be. They are new and painfully difficult ones to address.

He will not find a coherent military at his fingertips. The generals, today more bureaucrat than MacArthur, inclination find it necessary to play to his ambitions: "The greatest military we have ever had!" But the fact is that, dark inside, the Army is hollowing out.

The truth comes in details. The Washington Post reports for what cause the demands on the Army for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have contributed dangerously to "a shortfall of thousands of majors, who are the critical mid-level officers." More and more officers are "acquirement out." Even more telling is the soldiers’ own response, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics: Troops deployed overseas have sent six times similar to a great quantity money to Barack Obama as John McCain, and even four times as much to retired candidate Ron Paul!

The newly come president will find a country that may look as prosperous as it to the end of time was, no more than is not. His country is a little while ago essentially owned by China. Banks and vast investment houses, not to speak of mortgage lenders such as Fannie Mae, through its billions of dollars of losses in mortgages and its now virtually worthless stock, are collapsing.

The reasons are encompassed in two words: "regulation" and "accountability." Nobody wants to say it for everybody liked the man, but in fact the Reagan Revolution of deregulation of the economy has been disastrous. Men are not angels; they strait oversight and control. That’s where accountability comes. It’s the antiquated Protestant ethic that we no longer dare speak of.

The new president will find American environmentalism alive and well among our people — but not backed up with funding. The United States, for case, has merely sum of two units icebreakers, one fully of duty, while an expansionist Russia has at in the smallest degree a twelve — and in terms of investigating changes in the Arctic, completely nations distress icebreakers to get there!

The new president will not find in Washington the journalists who used to cover presidents for papers "public there" and who gain so enriched our national conversation.

Daily, it seems, one hears of a new Washington bureau being closed. As I write this, the respected Newhouse News Service, which had employed 11 reporters for papers from Newark to New Orleans, has shut its doors. Perhaps worse, even as we swell our military intrigues ever more remote across the globe, the numbers of outward correspondents has sunk to some abysmal low.

The new president will still have reports from his embassies, from his information agents and from his military officers, of course. But the veritable information that keeps a president honest, or not, has tend hitherward from those independent analysts, the small number of foreign correspondents.

He will find that the international organizations that the United States was central in forming in our glory days after World War II are seriously struggling: The International Monetary Fund happy warned that global financial markets are "fragile," and the World Trade Organization’s Doha negotiating round, after seven years of work, has failed, leaving world trade in a danger zone that is no less substantial for being unseen to utmost Americans.

And if he seriously looks at the war in Afghanistan, he inclination see no thing but danger. As I write, BBC correspondents are announcing that the Taliban, which has been successfully choking off NATO supplies to the south, efficiency even bear down upon Kabul!

In World War II, we were blessed with the address of our collective spirit. But this ain’t World War II. The job will be slow, sluggish and difficult, but utterly necessary. We need to pay off debts, keep out of adventurous little wars in obscure countries, and stop the immoral and unproductive gravy retinue running among our top CEOs. We need to redo ourselves from inside out — according to our Founding Fathers’ right values.

Here’s the problem: This is just that which we don’t swindle well. But the truth is, it’s going to take a reinvigorated and profound approach, dedication and sacrifice by all of us, and especially by the next president. God bless America in these next two weeks — and certainly beyond.

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Market scrutiny company YouGov finds that mobile broadband is make major inroads into the business of fixed-line ISPs

by Natasha Lomas

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Mobile broadband is encroaching on the walk of life of fixed line ISPs, market research company YouGov is claiming. But not everyone is happy by the dongle experience.

Results from YouGov’s DongleTrack report show while the majority (64 by cent) of mobile broadband users are buying dongles or datacards being of the kind which an accessory to fixed line fat pipes, a significant minority (12 per cent—or one in eight mobile broadband users) has each ditched their fixed equinoctial circle connection or opted to use 3G modems instead of having a landline put it.

The YouGov survey also plant a propitious four per cent of mobile broadband users have datacards provided by their work.

A recent state of the digital population Ofcom report found UK dongle sales meanly doubled between February and June this year, rising from 69,000 to 133,000 per month.

The regulator has also charted the rise of homes without landlines in the UK—as more people opt to rely upon mobile phones for voice calls—and puts the figure at 12 per cent of homes.

But with the rise in popularity of expressive broadband gadgets, the landline is under attack on sum of two units fronts. Not least because UK households seeking to install or reconnect a landline have power to face a BT connection charge of within a little £130.

Lack of access to a landline was cited of the same kind with the reason for adopting a dongle or datacard by 13 per cent of respondents to the survey.

Asked what they intend to do in the next 12 months then their mobile broadband subscription expires, the majority of users (65 by cent) said they intend to continue consuming fixed line ISP and mobile broadband. But five through cent said they plan to cancel their home ISP and just rely on their 3G gizmos.

However the survey also shows evince of dissatisfaction with the dongle experience: 11 per cent of respondents said they plan to continue to use their home ISP and abolish mobile broadband, and 18 per cent are unsure the kind of they will do.

Slow connection speeds and costs were cited as the primary reasons putting customers off mobile broadband.

Marek Vaygelt, head of technology and telecommunications consulting at YouGov, said in a statement: “Customers supply fickle broadband easy to use and induct on the other hand transmission speeds and, to a lesser extent, network coverage reduce the incipient enjoyment of getting up and running. It is in these areas that fixed ISPs have a plain advantage and need to concentrate their marketing effort to minimise customer ruin.”

Vaygelt added that mobile operators need to improve network coverage in order to shorten customer agitate and also tackle “the fear and uncertainty that more potential new customers desire hither and thither price”.

The YouGov view is based on interviews with 1,050 mobile broadband users and 2,050 non users in the UK.

Demand for the technology is expected to rise dramatically over the next not many years, and IBM’s oral communication research group is focusing on forming partnerships to take it to market

by Steve Hamm

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There aren’t likewise many good-news stories to come exhausted of Iraq, but here’s one. The U.S. military is bridging the communications gap betwixt its soldiers and Iraqis by tapping some innovative speech recognition technology from IBM Research (IBM). Using a laptop computer or PDA, soldiers speak into a microphone and the software translates what they say in English into Arabic. Iraqi soldiers or civilians observe and perceive by the ear the words in Arabic, and their answers are immediately translated into English. About 10,000 of these systems are in appliance in the battle surface bounded by parallel circles.

But what’s a boon for the U.S. military highlights a conundrum for IBM Research, which provides the technology gratis. When the military selected speech recognition technology for a new healing records network, it chose an offering from market leader, Burlington (Mass.)-based Nuance Communications (NUAN). For all of IBM’s expertise and resources, the 3,000 or so scientists in its basic investigation facilities worldwide assurance a major challenge to swain their innovations from the lab into the marketplace.

David Nahamoo, the chief technology officer for IBM Research’s speech and translation division, is out to change that. On Aug. 18, Nahamoo announced a unaccustomed strategy at SpeechTEK 2008, a gathering of the leaders in the speech recognition industry in New York City. Rather than distressing to push its technology mainly from one side IBM’s production and services divisions, the speech research group is focusing on forming partnerships with other companies to take the technology to market. Partners include Vlingo, the company that provides speech services for Yahoo! oneSearch (YHOO); PhoneTag, which converts mobile voice mail to text; and Jajah, which offers real-time phone translation betwixt English and Mandarin. "We can find partners, spread the risk, and employ advantageously our ability to invoke these markets," says Nahamoo.

IBM has been performing research into speech recognition for four decades. Some of the technology has found its device into products sold by means of the company’s software and services business, notably in the auto industry. But the technology hasn’t had the gentle of impact that Nahamoo and his bosses believe is possible, in applications including autos, fickle phones, call centers, medical systems, and transcription services. The issue for IBM? That each of these applications on its own represents a relatively small market. That’s for what cause IBM needs partners who are experts in different niches. "This new strategy gives extremely talented people in IBM an outlet for their work," says William Meisel, president of technology consulting fast TMA Associates.

Overall, make necessary for speech recognition technology is expected to rise dramatically over the nearest few years as people use their mobile phones as all-purpose lifestyle devices (so barking "find pizza" into your phone would load directions to the nearest pizza sitting-room). In-car collation and navigation systems are increasingly controlled by choice expressed commands. This growth in acceptance is being fueled by means of unwavering improvements in speech recollection accuracy.

Speech recognition isn’t single in kind technology but several combined. You start building a voice recognition engine through recording words, phrases, and sentences, and putting them in a database. Then you create a library of the specific pronunciations of the different words to be recognized. Then you map the sounds in the recordings to the word pronunciations. Last, you build a large table of the greatest in quantity commonly occurring patterns of words people are credible to speak.

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Shares of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEH.N) fell as a great quantity as 9 percent in morning trade Thursday, in the rear of a Citigroup analyst forecast important losses for the fourth largest U.S. investment bank, as long as a journal reported that an intended asset sale had collapsed.

Citigroup analyst Prashant Bhatia widened his third-quarter disadvantage calculate by reason of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEH.N). Bhatia and Lehman Brothers Inc analyst Roger Freeman also cut their third-quarter earnings estimates for Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N).

"We are lowering our third-quarter estimates to reflect the difficult operating environment, characterized by lower client-related trading volumes and losses on hard-to-sell assets," Citigroup's Bhatia reported.

Bhatia expects Lehman to be conscious of fresh asset-related writedowns of $2.9 billion. He expects $1.8 billion in writedowns at Goldman and $1.7 billion at Morgan Stanley.

"Based on further deterioration in several indices, we expect further writedowns, primarily related to mortgage assets," Bhatia wrote in every August 20 short letter to clients.

Lehman analyst Roger Freeman said writedowns for this quarter would come from exposures to prime residential mortgages, subprime mortgages and securities, Alt-A residential mortgages and securities, collateralized obligation obligations, and leveraged loans.

Commercial mortgages have also experienced price depreciation this quarter, at the same time that measured by dint of. widening commercial mortgage-backed securities spreads and a declension in the CMBX index, which tracks commercial-mortgage-backed securities, Freeman said.

These declines acquire accelerated in the past copulate of weeks, he said.

Banc of America Securities algebraist Michael Hecht said he expects bulky U.S. investment banks to face a "lackluster, low-visibility" environment end 2008, on account of their "still-large" balance-sheet exposure to residential and commercial mortgages.

Troubled-asset disclosures for U.S. brokers and asset managers totals $443 billion, down from $599 billion a quarter ago, Hecht said. He, however, added that in that place was still quite a "hangover" to work end for the industry.

Among the companies while burdened with his coverage, Lehman has the largest exposure to troubled possessions at about $72 billion, under which circumstances Morgan Stanley has the smallest at about $25 billion, Hecht said.

Financial services firms have recorded more than $400 billion in writedowns steady investments, largely as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis which has roiled global markets inasmuch as finally year.

THIRD-QUARTER OUTLOOK

Lehman's Roger Freeman and Citigroup's Prashant Bhatia were the latest among Wall Street research analysts to divide their outlook for U.S. investment banks.

Since the start of this month, analysts at Merrill Lynch, Fox-Pitt and Bernstein esteem cut their estimates during the term of Goldman and Morgan Stanley, while forecasting a third-quarter loss for Lehman.

Freeman on Thursday cut his third-quarter earnings estimates for Goldman to $1.70 a share from $3.77, and for Morgan Stanley to 75 cents a share from $1.13.

A further round of estimate cuts is most likely with Goldman's earnings and this will cause shares of the largest U.S. securities firm to be at the "greatest risk" through the end of the quarter, Freeman said.

Freeman rates Goldman and Morgan Stanley "equal-weight."

Citigroup's Bhatia cut his earnings estimates concerning Goldman to $2.50 a share from $4.50, and since Morgan Stanley to 75 cents a share from 76 cents.

He widened his third-quarter loss view for Lehman to $3.25 a share from 41 cents a share.

NEUBERGER SALE LESS LIKELY?

Bhatia, however, said he axiom a "lower probability" that Lehman would sell its Neuberger Berman business or raise capital in the near denomination.

Several Wall Street analysts own been speculating a potential sale of all or a portion of Lehman's asset-management business — a move mentioned in media reports as a possibility for weeks.

Experts estimate the business, whose core is Neuberger Berman, could be worth about $8 billion.

"Even under the potentially more rigid rating agency guidelines related to the amount of preferred securities in the capital mix, we take up beforehand that Lehman can absorb over $3 billion of after-tax losses without adding more common equity," Bhatia said.

Bhatia rates Lehman and Morgan Stanley "buy," and Goldman "gripe." He cut his price mark on the shares of Lehman to $35 from $50. Lehman shares were down 37 cents at $13.36 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of Goldman and Morgan Stanley were down more than 1 percent at $156.00 and $37.02, particularly.

(Editing by Vinu Pilakkott)

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. —

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The Tennessee Valley Authority on Wednesday approved its largest electric rate increase in more than 30 years, citing skyrocketing fuel costs and a three-year drought that has sharply reduced its ability to generate cheap hydroelectric power.

Directors for the realm’s largest public utility adopted a 20 percent berate increase worth about $2 billion. The increase is expected to be passed along by TVA’s 159 distributors to some 8.8 million consumers in Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia.

The change will raise monthly electric bills betwixt $15.80 and $19.80 beginning Oct. 1 for the average residential customer, based on the exercise of 1,320 kilowatt hours a month.

Most of the set a value on hike is a temporary firing material accommodation charge that varies quarterly, nevertheless TVA officials predicted the charges force of will continue to grow end smaller increases in the future. A smaller allot of the hike is a dishonorable price increase taking affect inferior to a $12.6 billion budget adopted Wednesday.

The combined rate augment is the largest at Knoxville-based TVA because a 20.2 percent hike in 1974, and follows a 7 percent increase in April. TVA officials reported similar increases are being implemented throughout the advantageousness industry.

“My message to the representative homeowner is the same thing to my wife,” TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore said. “And that is: prepare to live by this until affair changes.”

The drought has reduced the flows of rivers and the level of lakes that feed hydroelectric power plants, forcing the agency to buy costly extra power from other producers. The utility also has been burdened by the rising require to be paid of coal, which supplies about 60 percent of TVA’s generation mix.

The utility will spend about $4.3 billion this year without ceasing fuel and purchased power. It expects to spend $6.3 billion next year.

TVA’s distributors were resigned about the increase.

“If the cost of fuel is going up, there is not much we can do about it. That is just reality,” said Jerry Collins, president and CEO of Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division.

But Collins, who represents TVA’s biggest distributor, urged TVA directors to delay a base standard increase, especially because of the impact on the poor.

Bobby Glenn, general manager of a 300-employee Panasonic aluminum foil operation in Knoxville, told the TVA board the increases will add around $3 million to his found’s annual power bill and “threatens the very survival of our occupation.”

The reinvigorated OMNIVORE engine general be disposed significantly increase fuel efficiency for sustainable bio pure spirit fuels

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World-renowned Lotus Engineering has entered into a collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast and Jaguar Cars to develop an engine which maximizes fuel efficiency while running upon renewable fuels. The OMNIVORE concept will employ novel engine science to achieve a high thermal efficiency when fuelled on any alcohols or gasoline.

The project is sponsored by Defra (Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs) and the DOE NI (Department of the Environment Northern Ireland) through the Renewable Materials LINK Programme. Lotus Engineering is popularly undertaking a design study and the make of a single cylinder research engine in quest of completion in January 2009. Vehicle modelling will validate the reduction in vehicle CO2 emissions Green-Business-Travel . Queen’s University of Belfast’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering will be adding its world leading expertise in engine simulation, with Jaguar Cars Ltd a consultative partner at all stages of development.

This engine design is expected to significantly increase fuel efficiency for sustainable bio alcohol fuels. The architecture features an innovative variable compression ratio system and uses a two-stroke operating cycle with show fuel injection. The OMNIVORE engine will be ideally suited to flex-fuel manipulation end a higher degree of optimisation than is possible by existing architectures.

Mike Kimberley, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lotus Plc said: “The automotive perseverance is a little while ago focusing on its environmental obligations to reduce CO2 emissions and improve efficiencies and we are seeing the high technology capabilities of Lotus Engineering being in strong demand. Not only does our brand precise signification of ‘act through light weight’ fit perfectly with the essential line of motion of the perseverance to produce lighter, more efficient vehicles, we are also working on the whole of aspects of future fuels, investigating choice powertrains to accommodate alcohol fuels as they enter the mart.”

Kimberley continues: “Alcohols possess preferable combustion characteristics to gasoline which allow greater optimisation. Taking well stocked advantage of the benefits of sustainable bio alcohols will make secure a greater percentage of vehicle miles will exist travelled using renewable fuels. We are delighted with the investment from DEFRA which will assist this partnership in alluring forward research development and the demonstration of this environmentally conscious transport solution.”

The OMNIVORE plan complements the recently unveiled Lotus Exige 270E Tri-fuel as part of Lotus’ research to see through the complex combustion process involved in running on mixtures of alcohol fuels and gasoline, which will have existence important for a successful transition from today’s fuels to the sustainable, synthetic fuels of the future.

Geraint Castleton-White, Head of Powertrain at Lotus Engineering said: “The requirement to operate upon gasoline in today’s flex-fuel engines limits their thermal efficiency when operating on alcohol fuels. However, the physical and chemical properties of alcohols, when compared to gasoline, provide the potential for higher thermal efficiency manoeuvre to be achieved. This singlecylinder research weapon will dissect a highly thermal efficient combustion system that optimises engine acting to fully exploit the properties of both gasoline and spirits of wine fuels and maximise efficiency.”