NetApp Shares May Have More Room To Rise Despite Big Year

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The data-storage technology market has been one of the hottest for acquisitions this year, leading to big stock gains for nearly any company in the sector seen as a possible takeover target.

For NetApp Inc. (NTAP), being occasionally mentioned as a possible acquisition certainly didn’t hurt the performance of its shares, which have rallied 60% since the end of 2009.

Handy app thats for sure.

Sony to miss TV sales target

13:40, December 21, 2010      

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Sony said Monday that it may fall short of its sales goal of 25 million LCD TV sets this fiscal year, as it struggles to make the sector profitable, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Sony has failed to maintain profitability in its TV unit following the shift in the industry from cathode-ray tube technology to flat LCD displays.

Now thats a huge chunk, its an approximate 500,000 tv’s needed to be sold if you averaged it out if they were being sold at the average $500. Great article. Hopefully we’ll see a decline in TV prices.

Golden State Short Sale Launches Revised Website That Highlights Recent Short Sales Los Angeles – Danville, CA, December 20th, 2010 – Golden State Short Sale, a resource center for California homeowners, unveiled a revised website at GoldenStateShortSale.com. The revision includes a blog that lists the company’s most recent short sales and lists two new co-marketing partnerships.

The short sales include one in Pittsburg, California, which was sold on November 5, 2010. According to the new site, the sale closed after a few months of negotiation with the lender. Another short sell deal, on October 5, 2010, involved Kevin Kieffer of Keller Williams Realty. Kieffer closed the deal on the four bedroom home in Martinez, California in only 78 days.

The blog also lists two new co-marketing partnerships with Dave Belomy and Danielle Doremus. Belomy comes from Keller Williams Relaty and will focus on the Redwood City and Menlo Park market. Danielle Doremus also recently joined the team and will focus on the San Ramon Market. Golden State Short Sale’s blog states that Belomy and Doremus are both professionals who specialize in helping homeowners prevent foreclosure and also with loan modification.

Wow, interesting site.

Foreclosures on hold during holiday season

For the holidays, major lenders are halting foreclosure evictions and some South Florida courts are canceling hearings as well as foreclosure sales.

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plan to halt foreclosure evictions during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

Bank of America also said it will pause its foreclosure sales and evictions from “late December through New Year’s Day,” on loans in its portfolio or held by investors who will allow such a moratorium.

In Broward, the 17th judicial circuit has canceled all scheduled foreclosure auctions through the end of the year.

Any foreclosure hearings set for that period must also be rescheduled, according to the courts.

Miami-Dade County Clerk of the Court Harvey Ruvin said unlike Broward, Miami-Dade had not received a court order to stall foreclosure sales until after the holidays.

But, “as a matter of custom and tradition,” Ruvin said, he’s shutting down the system for the next two weeks, anyway. Foreclosure sales will begin again in Miami-Dade on Jan. 3.

Major lenders last year also called a halt to evictions at this time of year.

But many loan servicers had already drastically slowed or stopped the process starting in September, to deal with shoddy paperwork and faulty legal processes.

— SUN SENTINEL, with Charles Rabin

of The Miami Herald

• DIRECTV settles complaint: DIRECTV will pay Florida and 49 other states $13.3 million to settle complaints that the satellite TV company didn’t disclose all the terms and conditions of their customer agreements, signed up users for extra services without being clear about the terms and other contract-related issues.

The Florida attorney general’s office has received hundreds of complaints about DIRECTV during the last few years. In addition to reimbursing states for the cost of the investigation, DIRECTV will repay customers in Florida and across the country who have complained.

Great to know! Hope if this applies to you, you can still get this situated.

U.S. Trust Nabs Five to Expand Wealth Team

By Lorie Konish

December 21, 2010

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Bank of America-owned private wealth management business U.S. Trust has capped its 2010 national wealth management team expansion with the addition of five new advisors.

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The new additions come after a spate of growth for U.S. Trust’s team this year as it aims to improve its capabilities targeted at ultra high net worth clientele. The five new advisors will be based in California, Arizona, New York and Virginia.

In California, U.S. Trust has added Chad Reddy as regional trust executive for Northern California and Barbara Bagley as senior vice president and portfolio manager. Reddy, who will be based in San Francisco, previously served as trust sales manager in the wealth management division at City National Bank in Beverly Hills, Calif. Bagley, who will be based in Century City, Calif., most recently served as vice president and portfolio manager at Lewis Capital Management LLC.

In Arizona, Cornelius Mercea will serve as senior vice president and portfolio manager for the Tucson area. Mercea joins U.S. Trust from JPMorgan, where he served as investment advisor.

In New York, Judy Slotkin will serve as a U.S. Trust market executive, focusing on personalized services and capabilities for ultra high net worth clients. Slotkin previously served as chief risk officer at Ambac Financial Group subsidiary Everspan Financial Guaranty.

Interesting article about the team building. Now lets see if the job gets done!

Northgate High School trumpet player is already a teen jazz great

By Theresa Harrington
Contra Costa Times

Posted: 12/21/2010 12:00:00 AM PST

Updated: 12/21/2010 10:59:48 AM PST

Click photo to enlarge

Trumpet player Josh Shpak, 17, a senior at Northgate High School has received a full-ride…

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WALNUT CREEK — Northgate High School trumpet player Josh Shpak is quickly making a name for himself in the jazz world.

The accomplished teen has been offered a full-ride scholarship to the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, after being chosen to attend a summer camp at the school. He sat in with the band Tower of Power at the Alameda County fair this past summer and was selected to participate in a much sought-after jazz workshop in Vail, Colo., along with a Dave Brubeck Summer Jazz Colony, which he had to decline to attend the Berklee workshop.

He will perform at Yoshi’s Oakland with Tower of Power on Dec. 29; with the prestigious high school Grammy Jazz Band in February; and with the honor Jazz Band of America in March.

Josh said he is most proud of his Berklee scholarship and the spot in the Grammy Band, which will perform at the Grammy after-party, as well as at several events during Grammy week Feb. 9-13.

“It’s just a huge honor,” the 17-year-old senior said. “Not only to play at Grammy events, but also just to be put among such high-level young musicians and have the chance to play and perform with them.”

The only other East Bay musician selected for the Grammy band is Chris Palowitch, 16, who plays trombone and bass trombone for the Amador Valley High School jazz band in Pleasanton. Josh and Chris also play together in the Berkeley Jazzschool Studio Band, which showcases the Bay Area’s best young jazz

Wow, thats amazing! He must have some proud parents. Good job!

Pleasanton’s McPartland as vice-president
Priority for 2011 to start replacing aging fleet of train cars, Franklin says

by Jeb Bing
Pleasanton Weekly Staff

Bob Franklin, who worked for BART for six years in its finance and planning departments, has been chosen as president of the agency’s board of directors for 2011, became the first former BART employee to serve in that top position. At the same time, board member John McPartland was selected as vice president. McPartland’s district includes Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, Sunol, San Ramon, and parts of Castro Valley, Hayward, and Danville. Franklin represents District 3, which covers Kensington, Piedmont, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, and portions of Berkeley, Oakland, Hayward, and Castro Valley. He was elected to the nine-member board in 2004. After recognizing the work of outgoing board president James Fang, Franklin outlined his priorities for the upcoming year, including replacing the system’s aging fleet of train cars, improving community relations and fostering a positive relationship with employees. “We have the oldest fleet for an agency of our type, with cars that average 30 years old,” Franklin said, adding that by the time the cars are replaced, the average age will be 51 years old.

Great decision! Congratulations!