Life Partners Holdings Inc. (LPHI) reported fiscal second-quarter results. The company’s net income posted a growth of 15.5% to $7.6 million, compared to $6.6 million in the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share of 51 cents was well ahead of the year-ago result of 44 cents per share, though it matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Life Partners is a financial services company and the parent company of Life Partners Inc., which is engaged in the secondary market for life insurance known as life settlements. These financial transactions involve the purchase of life insurance policies at a discount to their face value for investment purposes. Life Partners' operating revenues are derived from fees for facilitating life settlement transactions, which involve the sale of an existing life insurance policy to another party. By selling the policy, the policyholder receives an immediate cash payment, while the purchaser takes an ownership interest ...

CHICAGO, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ — As was announced on July 28th, 2009, The Wyncrest Group, Inc. (Pink Sheets: WNCG) a niche insurance consortium today reaffirms that its pending acquisition of Florida Insurance Consulting Inc. is moving forward towards an agreement on the terms for the acquisition. Wyncrest has been provided with (FIC) financials and is in the process of its due diligence. The acquisition is still targeted for completion in the 4th quarter. Once again, this acquisition is an important key to our growth in the Latin American markets. With the huge growth of the Spanish speaking population in the US, many markets are underrepresented and many families and businesses need an insurance and financial services provider.

Wyncrest plans to acquire insurance and financial services businesses and capitalize their most valuable asset of interest being the customer database with servicing contracts. These acquired customers and agent relationships provide immediate

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Assigned reading so that you don’t get bored this weekend:

What the Fed? Geithner demands oversight Geithner deals Wall Street a can’t-lose hand Banks gear up to game the government Banks price toxic assets ridiculously high Where’s the plan, Wall Street? Mark-to-market is everything and why the rules must die You can’t have a price-earnings ratio without earnings Could you profit from the toxic assets plan? Q&A with Paul O’Neill The People’s Republic of America Get ready for Washington’s budget brawl Budget battle rife with contradictions Angry about the AIG bonuses? Here’s what should really disturb you A way out of government debt Is the economy starting to recover or just less bad? Good news can’t offset bad The earnings picture remains pretty dark out there New home sales ...

Sector 10, Inc. announced this morning that the recent interactive media demonstration is now available for playback. Investors and those interested in their products can go through the complete tour at http://www.2009stockpicks.com.

During the interactive media conference, company representative Lee Allan provided a first-hand look at the PLX-3D software via online webcast. Mr. Allan explained, “As you can see, we can instantly see how the office is organized, where our safety units are deployed, where the cameras are, and it will immediately tell us how many people are in the building and will tell us where they are sitting or moving about at this point. If we click on those individuals, we can instantly see who that person is with a picture and any important information, including medical information such as drug interactions.”

CEO Pericles DeAvila stated, “We have a unique communications system that

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Inflation threats are right around the corner. Eric Fry of the Rude Awakening examines 6 ETFs and how to prepare for the “near-certain arrival of inflation.” He says now is the time to be wary of price increases and these ETFs act as an “insurance policy” to hedge against them.

This from Eric:

The flaming embers of inflation have already landed atop the thatched roof of American finance. And yet, investors can still buy inflation insurance on the cheap. In the next 1,373 words, we’ll examine a few of these “insurance policies”to assess their virtues and drawbacks.

Since a powerful new inflationary trend is very likely to occur, the prudent investor should probably take steps to guard against it. “But wait a second!” some readers be saying. “What if a powerful deflationary trend occurs first?”

Good question. It might. But we’d begin preparing for inflation anyway. Why not prepare

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Tue Feb 24, 2009 4:01am GMT

By Nick Trevethan - Analysis

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold is rapidly becoming the last haven in a sea of uncertainty as worries rise about the ability of not only commercial banks, but even governments, to repay debts.

With few signs that the world’s worst economic crisis since the 1930s is close to bottoming out, wrung-out investors will keep on pumping money into gold-backed securities as insurance against financial Armageddon.

But like most insurance policies, investors hope it won’t pay off.

“Gold is an investment you hope you never make money on. If you do, it means other markets have lost,” said Stephen White, director at Sydney-based treasury advisory firm Noah’s Rule.

He added: “Cash is king and gold is cash in any currency. In the short term, gold will continue to appreciate but once stability returns be ready for a quick fall, possibly similar

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From "Trade-Finance Pinch Hurts the Healthy," WSJ, 12/22/08:

The global financial crisis is drying up the financing that firms depend on for trade. That's making the global recession nastier and deeper than it otherwise would be.

As with all kinds of credit these days, financial institutions are making less trade finance available and charging more for it. But the squeeze in trade stands out because it pinches otherwise healthy companies that should be driving a recovery in global commerce. Already, the World Bank predicts trade will contract next year for the first time since 1982.

The Deteriorating Trade Outlook

Here's the IMF's recent forecasts for exports -- from October and then November -- for world trade, disaggregated into advanced and developing country groupings.

Figure 1: Real goods and services exports by country group. Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook Oct. 2008; Nov. 6 WEO update.

These developments in trade financing suggest that

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President-elect Barack Obama yesterday (Thursday) named Mary L. Schapiro – a strong proponent of protections for individual investors – to head the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission when his administration takes office next month, the biggest of three nominations with potential financial crisis implications.

And in the latest addition to his Obamanomics plan, the president-elect has also proposed a massive stimulus package of as much as $775 billion over the next two years as part of a historic infusion that’s aimed at overhauling America’s infrastructure, schools, broadband networks and energy use, a Congressional source told MarketWatch.com yesterday.

But making the Schapiro nomination official was considered a key move. In its Thursday morning issue, Money Morning reported that Schapiro had been chosen and that an official announcement would be made later in the day. And that’s just what happened.

Obama named

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Guns, Safes and Treasuries: America’s Top Sellers Robert Morley, Columnist From theTrumpet.com December 2, 2008

Making money today is a lot tougher, but economic crisis breeds opportunities. The next big sellout items: bunkers, mattresses and Bibles.

I shouldn’t have been so shocked. Considering the economy, and the state of the banking sector, I probably should have expected it, but it was still a bit of a surprise. One of my acquaintances revealed to me that she now has a few thousand dollars buried in—not the market, not the bank—her backyard.

And she isn’t even close to being the only one.

Take Mr. Latham, for example. Not long ago, this 45-year-old Alabama cattle farmer and electrician drove his Chevy into Montgomery, stopped at the bank and withdrew $8,000 from his CD account—all in $20s. That was the day the Dow Jones fell 777 points.

Back on the ranch, Mr. Latham placed the bills in Ziploc bags,

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Raising Capital From Hedge FundsRaising Capital from Hedge Fund Managers | TipsOne of the top 5 questions I get via email now is "Can you help us raise capital from hedge fund managers for our _________." I have received inquiries asking for help raising capital for patent portfolios, real estate, land development, new hedge funds, software products, nanotechnology, wind farms and even a small airline company.Why is this happening? I believe it is because banks are drying up as a source of capital, hedge funds are being seen in the news more and more each day and HedgeFundBlogger.com has recently gained enough traffic to one of the top 3 sources of hedge fund information online.I will write more on this topic in the future but for now here are my top 3 tips for those looking to raise ...