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With so many level technologies on the market today, choosing one is much more difficult and can be confusing. Process measurement and controls are essential components for any industrial plant [...]

'Bet the company' projects are more than just a figure of speech for corporate directors. Boards are often called upon to weigh and approve massive capital projects that will provide [...]

Home health care represents a profitable niche for drug chains, but the high cost associated with maintaining high inventory levels of expensive medical products has remained a major obstacle. During [...]

The category killer concept has arrived in home health care. First, American Stores introduced Health `n' Home in Glendale, Ariz., last year. This year, three new superstores made their debut: [...]

The Graying of America unofficially began on Jan. 1 of this year, when baby boomers began to turn 60 years old at the rate of one every 7.5 seconds for [...]

Small biotechnology companies face difficulties in surviving since they usually have five or fewer drugs being tested, and only a tenth of drugs that survive Phase 1 trials become drugs that are prescribed to patients. The problems of British Biotech in 1998 affected stock prices for the United Kingdom biotech sectors as a whole. Risks and development costs are high, but rewards can also be high. Some companies have performed well, and they include Shire Phamaceuticals, which is merging with Roberts. Investors should invest in a number of stocks and keep updated with events in the sector.

Byline: JACK EVANS I am 60 years old. My father had Parkinson's. My mother had congestive heart failure and severe osteoporosis. Our son had asthma growing up. Welcome to the [...]

Byline: JACK EVANS WITH SCOTT PURDY Have you developed the perfect model for your home medical equipment business? Franchising could be the way to grow your business utilizing the monetary [...]

Byline: BRUCE BROTHIS AND JACK EVANS Do you know whether your home medical equipment business is being run efficiently and profitably? Without any national statistics, benchmarking is difficult, if not [...]

Byline: JACK EVANS Why sell HME retail? Just do the math. After 30 to 40 percent reimbursement cuts annually from Medicare for the past several years and with competitive bidding [...]

How does your HME business compare to the industry norm when it comes to retail? To find out, check the following results of HomeCare 's exclusive Retail Survey to determine [...]

Jack Evans, president of Global Media Marketing, is a home health care marketing specialist who creates marketing, advertising and seminar training programs. Visit his website at www.retailhhc.com. Sales of home [...]

United Kingdom banks have been known to fail, though people tend to trust banks without thinking. Impudent lending can lead to non-performing locans, and the bank's survival may depend on how much capital is reserved for lending risks. A secondary banking crisis in 1974 illustrates the problems that can occur. Banks have not been affected by a ballooning real estate market, and their foreign exposure is not great. Bad debts are likely to increase in a recession, but the banks have apparently safe capital adequacy.

Caregivers represent the new consumer market in home health care. 'There are 25 million family caregivers in this country, and 89 percent of them--not their patients--are looking for and purchasing [...]

Trends affecting US internet stocks could help investors understand trends in the United Kingdom. AOL is a major US internet company, and is an internet service provider and portal. Meanwhile, Yahoo has started to be profitable and ranks first among portals. Amazon.com has brought about major changes in book selling. These are among the US companies that could help in assessing the UK's Freeserve, which was set up by Dixons, and which is undergoing a stock flotation.

Portfolio System for Institutional Trading (Posit) offers anonymity for investors and matches sellers and buyers of stocks. Posit charges commission, but is cheaper than the majority of human brokers and uses mid-price rather than bid-offer spreads. Anonymity means that trading can occur without prices being disturbed. Meanwhile, Optimark can put deals together at different prices, and is to be used on the Pacific Stock Exchange in early 1999, and then for Nasdaq stock trading. Garbin Equities offers a similar service to Posit but with more flexibility.

Lloyd's of London has undergone restructuring which means that there are investment opportunities available. Lloyd's corporate vehicles have varying structures. They control new business insurance risks once a managing agent belongs to them. Syndicates vary according to the risk levels they present to investors, and the nuclear syndicate has provided high returns but possible claims could be extremely large. The cost of capacity is the easiest to assess and market prices are available.

United Kingdom home loans are more expensive than those of the US, where rates can be fixed for 30 years. Rates can be set for ten years for some UK mortgages, but there are heavy penalties for early redemption. UK lenders have difficulty finding liabilities to use to use long-term fixed mortgages, but this problem could be overcome. Competition has increased inthe UK market, and borrowers should seek fixed rate mortgages with terms that are more flexible and transparent.

The planned merger between Citicorp and Travelers would be the biggest in history. Both companies saw stock price rises after the merger plans were announced. The merger will mainly affect the US over the short term, and US markets will account for 60% of the new company's money, with emerging markets accounting for most of the remainder. The announcement has led to speculation about other possible mergers in the financial services industry.

Demutualization windfalls have benefited many investors in the United Kingdom, and financial services companies have seen stock price rises. Rumors have become common and they cannot be ignored, though not all prove to be correct. Consolidation is continuing in the industry, though the pace may be slowing. Some companies are also diversifying, which could lead to demergers. Financial services companies have benefited from favorable market conditions but weaker companies could be hit in a downturn.

Milton Keynes, England, is a new town which ranks highly as a business location with a number of advantages such as available land and a central position in England. The Milton Keynes Development Corp has been wound up but this has little impact on large firms which are attracted by Milton Keynes' infrastructure. Smaller firms have an important role in the local economy and they would have benefited from the continuation of the development corporation for help in areas such as finding affordable office space.

Lloyd's of London has traditinally operated with Names providing capital. These Names, individual investors with unlimited liability, were sometimes badly hit in the early 1990s, and the number of Names has fallen to 9,905 in 1997 from 34,200 in 1988. Lloyd's has sought to attract corporate capital, and there are also opportunities for individual investors who can limit their liability. Quoted investment trusts are one way to invest in Lloyd's. There is a possibility of good returns since the market is very specialised with international coverage, though it is not easy to selecta good company to invest in.

There are a number of possible bancassurance deals that could take place in the United Kingdom after the planned acquisition of Legal and General by NatWest. There is speculation of a possible acquisition by Barclays of an insurer, and Norwich Union has been suggested as a possible target. CGU could be attarctive in terms of price, though it is large. Bank of Scotland or Royal Bank of Scotland could be a potential partner for a major insurer, or CGU may be interested in Abbey National or Halifax.

Lloyds TSB is acquiring Scottish Widows and the new group will rank second among United Kingdom savings and life companies. Lloyds TSB's stock price initially rose, and then dropped. Policyholders with Scottish Widows will receive windfall payments of 500 pounds sterling and more. Lloyds previously acquired Cheltenham and Gloucester and gained from the acquisition, but similar benefits are thought to be unlikely from the Scottish Widows acquisition. The life market has been affeced by drops in margins, and potential cost savings amount to only some 60 million pounds sterling,

The trend of demutualization of United Kingdom building societies is likely to take off again following a vote by members in favor of converting Bradford and Bingley into a bank. Customers could receive stocks of cash to the value of between 700 pounds sterling and 1,200 pounds. A majority of borrowers with the building society had been opposed to demutualization, as had the board, which argues that there will be a rise in mortgage rates. Other sectors could be affected by demutualization, including life insurance.

United Kingdom mortgage lenders are not reducing their rates for borrowers by as much as interest rates are being reduced by the Bank of England. Mortgage lenders also have savers, but their mortgage assets are larger than their savings balances. Retail savings are still important for mortgage lenders, who have to bear savers in mind when setting rates for borrowers. Savers may show little interest in short-term building society despot accounts if interest rates drop much further, and they may turn to life companies. Securitization is another trend that could take off.

The basic cost of setting up a web site has dropped to around 3,700 pounds sterling, from around 21,000 pounds sterling in 1991. According to BT, the annual charge for the phone line to connect hardware to the net is about 10,000 pounds sterling. However with BT's new ADSL technology trial customers are paying just 360 pounds sterling a year. Search engine Yahoo! reaches 61% of British internet users, and its mindshare could be useful to investors, as they can rent space to advertisers, and a exploit future e-commerce opportunities.

Announcing the day's movements in the sterling exchange rate, the FTSE 100 and interest rates could be improved by quoting the index denominated in annuity prices. Other figures could also be made easier to understand, such as measuring the price of BP shares in barrels of oil. Extremely large numbers are hard to comprehend and there is a need for more appropriate units, such as measuring things in relation to the average tax bill.

Equitable LIfe is one of the most important life companies in the UK, but its current problems could end its mutual status. It included a guaranteed rate of annuity in its pension schemes between 1956 and 1988 and these were set at a high level in the 1970s due to high interest rates. However to fulfill its guarantee, life insurers had to add 25% to the sum now that the going rate is 8%, and Equitable's problems result from its decision to cut bonuses for those with guarantees.

Barclays Bank CFO Martin Taylor has resigned. His management accomplishments were noteworthy between 1994-1997. His relations with Barclays board appear to have been difficult, especially with Sir Andrew Large, executive deputy chairman from May 1998. The bank needs to implement more efficient management strategies to further boost its competitiveness and profitability.

Companies may be able to charge high prices because consumers hope that they will buy success due to a strong brand image. Consumers can examine corporate accounts to see whether prices are too high. The apparent profitablity of some companies may be disguised due to the way in which their accounts are presented. Banks may offer good mortage deals hoping that consumers will not switch once the deal ends. Consumers can sometimes bargain to obtain better deals.

Jack Evans, president of Global Media Marketing, is a home health care marketing specialist who creates marketing, advertising and seminar and training programs. Drug chains report a diversity of experiences [...]

Halifax chief executive, Mike Blackburn is leaving the bank, and there is speculation as to why he has left. The bank has begun to give back excess capital through a stock buyback rather than to former members. Halifax ceased to be a building society and went public charging high prices to long-term customers. The bank's initial figures were impressive but this can create expectations that become a burden. Major reductions in costs are difficult to achieve and the bank cannot attract enough new mortgages to offset those lost to competitors, though margins have been cut. This has hot profitability.

Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM) has been rescued by 15 banks in order to avoid risks from a collapse of the hedge fund. LTCM is headed by John Meriwether and has a number of PhDs as well as two Nobel prize winners among its staff. LTCM effectively functioned as a bank and did not have sufficient capital. LTCM held assets in the form of bonds instead of direct loans, and the bonds turned out to be problematic, which had an instant impact on LTCM. The arrogance of LTCM's business proposition can be seen with hindsight.

United Kingdom banks have been hit by the Russian financial crisis and their stock prices have also been hit. Barclays has announced a profit warning. Lending to Russia by foreign banks increased by 100% in 1st qtr 1998. UK banks could have an exposure of 600 million pounds sterling to Russia, judging by BIS data, though this excludes government securities. It is unclear whether other banks have been more exposed than Barclays, but have yet to make this public.

The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (Liffe) faces competition from the Deutsche Terminborse (DTB) and over-the-counter markets for derivatives. The DTB is carrying out more business in total than Liffe, and OTC markets have seen shrinking margins due to increased liquidity. DTB benefits from its electronic trading facilities and Liffe is also moving toward electronic trading. This alone will not solve Liffe's problems, and its role is changing.

British American Tobacco (BAT) will be separated from its insurance arm, which will be merging with Zurich Group. The merger will bring cost savings of some $400 million annually, mostly from 1,600 jobs to be shed in the United Kingdom, mainlay from Eagle Star. BAT stockholders will receive one share in Allied Zurich, a new listed company, for every BAT share. Allied Zurich will hold 43% of Zurich Financial Services, and Zurich Group stockholders will receive a stake in Zurich Allied, which will own the remainder.

BankAmerica is to merge with NationsBank to create BankAmerica, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, the biggest US bank. Meanwhile, First Chicago NBD and Banc One are to merge to create Bank One. The merger will achieve cost savings estimated at $930 million annually with $275 million revenue gains. The US banking industry is still not as concentrated as that of the United Kingdom, and more deals are likely. Mergers in Europe are likely to occur across borders, and they will be necessary in order to face competition from the US.

Databases have become increasingly important as a way of targeting consumers without waste, and they can also be used in the interests of consumers. Sword Management is a database manager which has helped develop life insurance for diabetics with the British Diabetic Association (BDA). Diabetics often cannot obtain life insurance or annuities that reflect their shorter life expectancy. Sword is able to use the database to develop financial products geared to members.

The stock prices of both General Accident and Commercial Union dropped after their merger was announced. Mergers of financial services companies are often difficult, though there will not be a problem of power sharing, Bob Scott, General Accident's chief executive, will be head of the new company, and John Carpenter, Commercial Union's chief executive, is to retire after the deal has been finalized. The new company will be 53.6% owned by Commercial Union stockholders and 46.4% owned by General Accident stockholders.

Legal and General plans to buy back convertible bonds in a move that is similar to a stock buy back, but which is treated differently by the tax authorities. The company is able to save 40 million pounds sterling worth of tax charges by stating that it has suffered a loss of 132 million pounds through buying bonds worth 88 million pounds for 220 million pounds. Bond holders should benefit too. The company retains the right to take a decision on the amount of the bond issue that it will buy.

M and G could be acquired by Halifax which is interested in expanding in fund management, though M and G has not confirmed this speculation. Halifax could afford M and G, though the acquisition of Mercury Asset Management by Merrill Lynch has pushed up M and G's stock price. No bid announcement is likely to be made before Dec 2 1997 when the government is to announce plans for individual savings accounts, which will replace tax exempt special savings accounts and personal equity plans.

Merrill Lynch has bid for Mercury Asset Management and would merge Mercury and Merrill Lynch Asset Management. This would create the third largest fund manager world wide. Mercury has strong presence in non-US markets and little in the US, while Merrill is the opposite, so redundancies are not likely to occur. Deregulation of the Japanese financial services market is one opportunity that Merrill sees for the new company. A rival bid is not expected due to the price offered by Merrill.

Dennis Cassidy is chairman of Liberty, a retailer, and faces problems at that company, but he also has problems at two other companies where he is chairman. He has been chairman of Ferguson International since 1990 and the company has issued three profit warnings in 1997. Cassidy has offered to resign from the chairmanship of Ferguson, but his resignation would have left the company without top management with experience, and his offer was turned down. He is also chairman of Oliver Group which has performed poorly in terms of its stock price.

Prudential has been criticised for pensions mis-selling and will not be fined for delays in tackling the problem. Prudential is regulated by the United Kingdom Securities and Investments Board (Sib) which does not have the power to impose fines when its rules are broken. Other insurers have been fined. The company was criticised by the Treasury economic secretary, Helen Liddell, who argues that this case illustrates the need for financial services regulation.