Article Source Some thoughts about the role played by the GSEs in the run-up in mortgage debt and house prices. Paul Krugman ably lays out the case for why it's conceivable that Fannie and Freddie could have made a contribution: Here's the background: Fannie Mae-- the Federal National Mortgage Association-- was created in the 1930s to facilitate homeownership by buying mortgages from banks, freeing up cash that could be used to make new loans. Fannie and Freddie Mac, which does pretty much the same thing, now finance most of the home loans being made in America. The case against Fannie and Freddie begins with their peculiar status: although they're private companies with stockholders and profits, they're "government-sponsored enterprises" established by federal law, which means that they receive special privileges. The most important of these privileges is implicit: it's the belief of investors that if Fannie and Freddie are threatened with failure, ...

Middlebrook Pharmaceuticals discovered in 2000 that bacteria exposed to antibiotics in front-loaded, sequential bursts, or pulses, are killed more efficiently than those exposed to standard antibiotic treatment regimens. The company went on to develop novel anti-infective pulsatile drug products that take advantage of this discovery.

Middlebrook is applying their technology to drugs that may have lost their effectiveness in previous applications. The advantages of pulse therapy are: once-a-day formulation, lower dosages, shorter duration of therapy, reduced side effects, reduced incidence of resistance, combination products with superior efficacy over either product alone, and improved pediatric and geriatric dosages.

The $100M investment in Middlebrook should be exciting for investors. However, some Middlebrook investors were hoping for an outright buyout at $6 to $8 dollars a share by a larger pharmaceutical. This investment shows that the company is viable, and that a serious investment company such as Equity Group Investments, LLC would not have moved

...

Tercica, Inc. (NASD: TRCA) announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement with Ipsen, S.A. (Euronext: IPN). The merger states an affiliate of Ipsen will acquire all of the shares of Tercica common stock that Ipsen doesn’t already own at a price of $9.00 per share in cash, valuing Tercica at approximately $663 million. The transaction still has to be approved by Tercica’s shareholders, who hold a majority of the company’s outstanding common stock, but the board of directors unanimously approved the deal.

As of now, Ipsen and their affiliates own approximately 25.3% of the outstanding Tercica common stock. Ipsen has agreed to exercise their outstanding Tercica warrant and convert their Tercica convertible notes promptly following today’s agreement. Following the conversion, Ispen and their affiliates have agreed to vote their Tercica shares in favor of the merger, as well as a number of

...

As you know, I think stockholders deserve to get their fair share of a company’s profits. And that’s why I love investing in companies that not only make substantial distributions to their shareholders, but are legally bound to do so.

Today, I want to tell you about one such group of stocks, known as Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). If you’re an income investor looking for big dividends, you can’t afford to ignore these investments …

Why Master Limited Partnerships
Are Your Pipeline to Profits

The typical company is a plain old corporation, a separate legal entity from its employees and investors. …