The markets had a good day as all three major indexes were up over 2%, with the Dow up 2.08% to finish at 8472.40.  The NASDAQ and S&P were up 2.08% and 2.14% respectively, closing at 1829.54 and 920.26.  The 10-year saw price climb over a dollar as the yield ended at 3.544%.  Crude oil saw prices rise, settling at $70.23, with August gold also seeing prices head up as the dollar weakens, settling at $939.50. 

American International Group [AIG: 1.46, 0.00 (0.00%)] and the Federal Reserve Board of New York agreed that AIG can repay $25 billion that they owe the New York Reserve through initial public offerings of the two of its international life insurance units.  AIG will put equity from American Life Insurance Co. and American International Assurance Co. into vehicles and receive preferred and common interest in exchange.  AIG will hold the common interest while

Traveling as much as I do, I get to meet a lot of very interesting people. Like Wayne Shipp.

Shipp’s on his third successful career and, at an age when most people have long since retired, he’s building another multimillion-dollar business with a neat little device called a STEMS Energy Management unit.

Always on the lookout for new investment opportunities, I asked him about what it does and how it helps his customers.

Shipp, the president of STEMS Energy Management, cut right to the chase: “My device helps commercial and industrial customers save big on their electrical bills without huge capital investments.”

Then he added, “I can also help residential customers save an average of $25 to $100 a month off their electrical bills and I can prove it.” Needless to say, after that, he had my undivided attention for the duration of the flight.

By way

Saturday February 14, 2009
Navivest

Four more banks fell victim to the deteriorating economy and were closed by financial regulators in their respective states on Friday.

The banks, Pinnacle Bank, Beaverton, OR, Corn Belt Bank and Trust Company Pittsfield, IL, Riverside Bank of the Gulf Coast, Cape Coral, FL, Sherman County Bank, Loup City, NE were all relative small banks, with assets under $600 million.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures U.S. banks, was named receiver of the banks and it has entered into purchase and assumption agreements with other banks that will now assume the deposits of the failed banks.

Pinnacle Bank had total assets of approximately $73 million and total deposits of $64 million as of December 31, 2008. Its deposits have been assumed by Washington Trust Bank of Spokane, Washington, which also agreed to purchase about $72 million in assets, at a discount of $7.6 million. The

…