Hypo Venture Capital Headlines: Lake Zurich artist aims for a positive impact

http://hypoventurecapital-news.com/2011/11/hypo-venture-capital-headlines-lake-zurich-artist-aims-for-a-positive-impact/

Color, in all its glory and subtlety, is a hallmark of Lynn Miller’s art. The Lake Zurich artist works in watercolor and pastels, and primarily creates landscape pieces taken from photos she has taken. Her expertise in her chosen mediums lets her exploit the advantages of each in creating her vibrant art.

“I enjoy the translucency and fluidity of watercolor – using such techniques as glazing, masking and spattering I can control the media for the desired effect. Pastels allow for the layering of colors on top of colors. Both methods let me present different perspectives and feelings to the viewer,” explains Miller.

“I take pictures of whatever catches my eye and then use that photo as a reference for the painting. My goal is to make the painting more interesting and exciting than the photo — I put a lot of thought into making the painting better than the photo,” explains Miller.

Glenview teacher

Miller was an art teacher for 32 years in Glenview School District 34. She now pursues her passion creating work, which, she hopes, will create connections or evoke positive memories or thoughts for the viewer.

As she notes in her Artist’s Statement, “My work reflects the elements that attract me to the scene, and its emotional impact. I paint visually pleasing subjects like flowers and landscapes because of the positive impact of such images on the viewer and me.”

At the Dole Mansion exhibit, viewers will be treated to a variety of Miller’s artwork — from landscapes to seascapes and nautical paintings to city scenes. Featured pieces at this month’s exhibit include, “All In a Day’s Work,” a colorful Italian street scene with a woman walking by and a string of laundry hanging above, and a delicate, yet radiant watercolor, “Fruit of the Vine.”

Miller and her husband love to travel and she paints many pictures from photos she has taken during her travels. Another painting, “Quays, Dublin” invites the viewer in for a pint at colorful, vintage Dublin pub. The detailed street scene show the brightly-painted pub exterior with an equally vivid fall of flowers overhanging the neighboring shop, both welcoming the viewer to another place in the world.

“I enjoy exploring hard and soft within a painting – many of my pictures place the soft edges of natural objects against the rigid lines of architectural structures,” explains Miller.

Natural beauties

Miller’s landscapes and seascapes/nautical works create a sense of peace and joy in the natural world. Miller’s pastel, “Autumn on the Lake” is a spectacular explosion of color, setting the vivid reds and golds of autumn trees against the lingering greens from summer.

“I love flowers — I paint my own flowers, wild flowers and, I have painted scenes of the gardens and landscapes at the Botanic Garden and the Morton Arboretum,” says Miller.

Miller has won many awards for her paintings. Some recent awards include a special recognition this year at the 12th Annual Realism Online International Art Exhibit, a “Bold Brush” finalist in 2010 and an Award of Excellence from the Illinois Watercolor Society in 2009.

In addition to participating in many art shows, Miller’s work has been featured in many businesses, banks, government buildings, libraries and art galleries throughout the Chicago area.

Hypo Venture Capital Headlines: Take professional help to manage your debts

http://hypoventurecapital-news.com/2011/12/hypo-venture-capital-headlines-take-professional-help-to-manage-your-debts/

Debts can indeed be very fatal. Debts not only impair you financially but also hurt you emotionally. In majority of the cases, your irrational financial behavior is held responsible for your debt troubles. It is often seen that many of you take out multiple credit cards and use those cards mindlessly. But as long as you make regular payments on your debts, you do not feel the pinch. Once you make delay or default in making payments, you start facing the hit. You soon receive harassing collection alls from your creditors and the collection agency. In such cases, if you are unable to tackle the crisis on your own, the best way available before you is to take professional help. A properly designed professional debt management plan can help you get out of debts.

A debt management plan (DMP) is usually offered by an online debt management company or by a credit counseling agency. A debt management plan does not only entail simple budgeting tips but it incorporates something more than that. The representative of the debt management company that you have chosen, offers you free counseling, which comes very handy in your debt elimination exercise. It also engages in negotiations with your creditors and the collection agency so as to lower down your payment amount. This sometimes comes very useful to pay off your debts on time. Here we discuss below about the benefits associated with a DMP.

Assesses your financial situation

At the first place, a debt management company analyses your financial condition carefully. While reviewing your financial condition, it takes into consideration the amount of debts that you in each of the credit cards that you possess, the rate of interest associated with each of the credit cards and your minimum payment amount on each of the credit cards. With all these figures in a single place, it can have a good idea about your financial situation.

Lowers down rate of interest

The most important reason behind opting for a debt management plan is that the professionally trained representatives of the debt management company can better negotiate with your creditors to reduce the rate of interest on the debts that you owe. With lower rate of interest, your monthly repayment amount also gets reduced which makes the debt repayment more affordable for you.

In some cases, a debt management plan aims at offering you a suitable plan so that you can pay off your debts with ease.

Hypo Venture Capital Headlines : Swiss Stocks Advance Zurich Financial, SGS, Novartis Increase

http://hypoventurecapital-news.com/2011/12/hypo-venture-capital-headlines-swiss-stocks-advance-zurich-financial-sgs-novartis-increase/

Swiss stocks advanced for a fifth day as demand exceeded supply at an auction of Spanish debt and investors speculated that a report tomorrow may show U.S. payrolls expanded last month.

Zurich Financial Services AG, Switzerland’s biggest insurer, and SGS SA, which provides industrial inspection and testing, added more than 1 percent. Novartis AG led gains in health-care shares.

The Swiss Market Index, a measure of the biggest and most actively traded companies, rose 0.5 percent to 5,681.57 at the close in Zurich. The gauge has rebounded 19 percent from this year’s low on Aug. 10 as the euro area’s policy makers intensified their efforts to resolve the region’s debt crisis. The broader Swiss Performance Index climbed 0.4 percent today.

“The French and Spanish bond auctions were well received and priced,” Matthias Fankhauser, a fund manager at Clariden Leu in Zurich, said in an interview. “Until now, we just had disasters on that front. Professional investors are in the market trying to buy; they all know that if we get solutions, there is more upside.”

Spain sold 3.75 billion euros ($5.1 billion) of notes and had to pay the most since at least 2005 to borrow for five years. Investors ordered more than twice the amount sold. France auctioned 4.3 billion euros of debt and managed to sell a 10- year bondat 3.18 percent, less than at a previous auction on Nov. 3.

U.S. Payrolls

A report in the U.S. tomorrow may show payrolls climbed by 125,000 workers after rising by 80,000 in October, according to the median forecast of 88 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The jobless rate probably held at 9 percent.

“Excepting any surprises, it’s going to be tomorrow’s non- farm payrolls that stand to provide the next key direction for markets,” Terry Pratt, an institutional trader at IG Markets in Melbourne, wrote in a note today.

Switzerland’s economy weakened in the third quarter as companies cut spending and exports slumped. Gross domestic product rose 0.2 percent from the second quarter, when it increased a revised 0.5 percent, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs in Bern said today. Exports of goods and services fell 1.2 percent from the second quarter and investment including construction slipped 1 percent.

Zurich Financial climbed 1.4 percent to 202.80 Swiss francs after saying solvency test ratios “remain resilient.”

SGS added 1.2 percent to 1,557 francs. Natixis included the shares in its basket of “protection” stocks that are least exposed to contagion from the debt crisis.

Novartis added 1.2 percent to 49.80 francs and Actelion Ltd. added 2.2 percent to 32.49 francs. Roche Holding AG increased 1.6 percent to 147.30 francs.

Hypo Ventures Capital Headlines: District 95 to buy new science textbooks from National Geographic

http://hypoventurecapital-news.com/2012/01/hypo-ventures-capital-headlines-district-95-to-buy-new-science-textbooks-from-national-geographic/

The Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95 Board of Education recently approved a $498,947 deal with National Geographic to buy new K-5 science textbooks. But versions of the textbooks will also be available to students online.

Board member Doug Goldberg recently suggested it should be possible to skip purchasing hardcover textbooks in the future. Instead, students could access their textbook online with tablets or laptops.

“That’s clearly where it’s going. That’s how it’s going to be,” he said. “We just have to get there.”

But Supt. Mike Egan said the problem is textbook publishers won’t sell online-only version textbooks at discounts. For example, if Dist. 95 wanted to purchase the National Geographic science textbooks electronic versions but not hard copies, they would still have to pay the same price.

“That’s the shocking thing,” Egan said.

The same holds true for other educational publishers weary of declining profits.

The Dist. 95 K-5 Science Curriculum Committee recommended National Geographic over Pearson’s Interactive Science, FOSS and Delta Science Modules. They tested Pearson and National Geographic in district classrooms and found National Geographic superior.

The textbook deal includes a six-year license to online National Geographic educational materials, such as videos of scientists explaining topics, digital libraries of photographs and magazine articles. The online materials include presentationsteachers may use to introduce new subjects in the curriculum.

Officially, the district is not purchasing the books, but are leasing or ‘adopting’ them. Current K-5 science textbooks are from 2003, according to Goldberg.

Years ago, students may have received a DVD, CD or computer disk to accompany textbooks, but now all accompanying information is online, Goldberg said, and having a copy of the textbook itself available online is useful in case students lose their hard copies.

The textbooks cost $260,000 more than originally budgeted for. However, officials said if they are going to go over budget on something it may as well be for a worthy cause like new science textbooks.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Vicky Cullinan said she is confident thedistrict could still come under budget even with the more expensive books.

Hypo Venture Capital Headlines: Hot New Social Network Pinterest Torn Apart by Marginally Crude Picture

http://hypoventurecapital-news.com/2012/02/hypo-venture-capital-headlines-hot-new-social-network-pinterest-torn-apart-by-marginally-crude-picture/

Posted in Business, News, News Directory | February 12th, 2012

Have you all heard of Pinterest? It’s the hottest new social network for sharing your favorite cookie recipes and pictures of expensive furniture. But a barely risque post by a Pinterest power user has torn the burgeoning community apart.

Pinterest is a visual social bookmarking site that describes itself as a “virtual pinboard” where users “organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web”. You create themed boards, on which you “pin” pictures of things you like related to the theme. You might have a board called “Kitchen,” where you pin all the different kitchen gadgets you want to buy. Other people can browse your boards and marvel in your excellent taste, and you can silently judge theirs.

Pinterest is blowing up. In December, it became one of the top 10 social networks. Large swaths of women in their 20s and 30s are addicted to Pinterest, and it’s been hailed as a savior by online retailers.

With any new social network or online community, I like to find where the controversy is. While not representative, these edge-cases can tell you more about the make-up of and values of a site than any traffic stats. Luckily, the proprietor of the blog WTF, Pinterest saw my tweeted request for guidance to the dark heart of Pinterest, and steered metoward what may be the first notable Pinterest scandal.

In addition to collecting wildlife photos and planning weddings, a popular use for Pinterest is sharing funny images, and that’s where the trouble began. A few weeks ago, Pinterest power user Anilu Magloire—she has over 300,000 followers—pinned this picture of a kid jumping a plastic car with the words “FUCK YEAH” superimposed on it. It’s beyond mild by the Internet’s standard, but it sparked an epic flame war on Pinterest—alternating between outraged parents, and Pinterest users outraged by their outrage.

Susan: Could you keep the language clean? Thanks.

Missy: I agree Susan!

Alaythea: Are ya’ll serious?! It’s a joke, it’s funny! Lighten up!

Marion: not appropriate at all

Jennifer: llighten up? i can tell you don’t have kids and certainly not teenage girls who love to get on pinterest and see interesting things. it isn’t just about you if you post things for others to see. i will not follow you any more which is a shame because i loved your stuff.

Shellia: THIS IS SO NOT APPROPRIATE, I JUST INVITED MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAWS AND A FRIEND PLEASE STOP THIS OR YOU ARE GOING TO MISS A LOT OF VIEWERS!!!!!!

Sarah: Wow, some of u people should take a chill pill, it’s a funny picture and it’s just words. It’s not like she’s being a bigot or putting someone down. Geesh

Shellia: NOT A FUNNY JOKE MY 7 YEAR OLD GRANDDAUGHTER COULD BE LOOKING AT THIS!!!

Kelcy: Are you guys serious? There is a single curse word, on a site I don’t think children have access to. The joke itself is encouraging fun! It’s not like she made this image first of all, second of all unfollow her if you don’t like it! No need to cry about it.

Caitie: I hate to break it to you but all of your teenager who are on Pinterest have heard this word before. She’s right, you guys do need to lighten up. They won’t be kids forever! Being a helicopter parent will only make it worse.

Debra: I know lots of young people on here – keep it clean

This continues for another 360 or so comments, and for all I can tell the battle still rages: pleas for moderators to delete it, lots of delighted onlookers stoking the flames—”wow…the first real dose of pinterest drama! nice job!”—long philosophical digressions on parenting, etc. etc. The thread is weirdly compelling, probably because the stakes are so incredibly low even by internet standards.

So what does this say about Pinterest? Pinterest’s crazy success rests in large part on how its clean, consumer-friendly image has attracted a large base of users who might not be traditional early adopters of technology. (Pinterest’s first rule is “be nice.”) But how will Pinterest cope with the inborn crudeness of the web, as more people flock from the porn-strewn wastelands of Tumblr and Twitter, with their edgy memes and swear words? It’s the opposite problem faced by most social media companies, which start with hardcore tech geeks and have to figure out how to attract a more mainstream user base. Stay tuned.

Hypo Ventures Capital Headlines: Greece’s Debt Swap Endorsed by IIF as Investors Left to Decide

http://hypoventurecapital-news.com/2012/03/hypo-ventures-capital-headlines-greece%e2%80%99s-debt-swap-endorsed-by-iif-as-investors-left-to-decide/

The Institute of International Finance, which represented private creditors in the negotiations over Greece’s debt swap, endorsed the final terms of the deal and left its members to choose whether to take part. “The decision to participate in the debt exchange lies exclusively with individual investors,” the IIF said in a statement issued by e-mail today after a board meeting yesterday in Zurich,Switzerland. The Washington-based group represents more than 450 financial services companies around the world. Private creditors reached an agreement with Greek and European officials last week on the biggest sovereign debt restructuring in history. The plan seeks to reduce Greece’s borrowings by about 106 billion euros ($140 billion) and lower debt to 120.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2020. Under the deal, investors will forgive 53.5 percent of their principal and exchange their remaining holdings for new Greek government bonds and notes from the European Financial Stability Facility. Euro-area finance ministers last week authorized the EFSF to issue bonds for the swap. The success of the deal depends on how many investors participate in the transaction. The swap “will contribute meaningfully” to Greece’s efforts to restructure its economy and secure a new rescue package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, the IIF said. “These are important steps towards resolving the Greek debt crisis, addressing the overall fiscal and sovereign debt problems in the euro area, and restoring financial stability, which is essential to foster economic growth and job creation,” the IIF said in its statement.

New Panels

The trade group also announced the leaders of two panels that will focus on particular financial services. Walter Kielholz, chairman of Swiss Re, was named head of a new asset management and investment council that will focus on long-term investment issues. The panel’s members will be chief executive officers and chairmen from asset managers, life insurers, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds. The group will “bring forward to the public policy debate the unintended consequences that could result from uncoordinated or poorly thought-through regulatory changes that might prompt traditional long-term investors to take a shorter-term view,” said Charles Dallara, the IIF’s managing director. The IIF also named Martin Senn, CEO of Zurich Financial Services Group, as chairman of the group’s insurance regulatory committee. Senn said the panel, composed of senior insurance executives, will champion the insurance business and “strengthen the IIF’s work in its dialogue with the official regulatory authorities,” according to the statement.

Hypo Alpe Won’t Pay Austria Even after First Net in Years

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-13/hypo-alpe-won-t-pay-austria-dividend-after-returning-to-profit

Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International AG, a nationalized Austrian lender, won’t pay a dividend to the state even after posting its first annual profit in four years.

Net income was 69.3 million euros ($91.3 million) in 2011 under international financial reporting standards after a 1.1 billion-euro loss the year before, the Klagenfurt, Austria-based bank said today in a statement on its website. Hypo won’t pay a dividend because it still posted a full-year loss of 164.7 million euros, according to Austrian accounting standards.

Austria took over Hypo Alpe in 2009 after bad debts, mostly linked to real estate in the former Yugoslavia, soared and former owners, including Bayerische Landesbank (BLGZ), withdrew their support. Chief Executive Officer Gottwald Kranebitter has split off the bank’s “sound” units in preparation for a sale in the first half of this year.

“Clear proof of Hypo Alpe Adria’s viability, minimizing Austrian-state support and preparation for a re-privatization are in the best interest of our owners and the focus of our work,” Kranebitter, 47 said in a statement. Preparations to sell Austrian and Italian bank units are “well under way,” he said.

That leaves a “wind-down unit” comprising about 10 billion euros of assets that are non-performing or can’t be sold at a profit.

Bank Restructuring

Hypo Alpe received 1.35 billion euros in state capital in 2009 and 2010, as well as a 200 million-euro guarantee. The government, which this year also had to partially nationalize Oesterreichische Volksbanken AG (VBPS), already wrote 700 million euros off the aid for Hypo Alpe.

Kranebitter’s restructuring plan still requires approval by the European Commission, which is reviewing whether Austria’s takeover and capital injections complied with European Union state aid rules.

Hypo Alpe’s biggest unit consists of banks in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this region, Hypo Alpe has said it is the third-biggest lender by assets after Italy’s UniCredit SpA (UCG) and Slovenia’s Nova Ljubljanska Banka DD.

The bank’s bad debt charge fell to 229.8 million euros from 1.2 billion euros a year earlier, when Hypo Alpe reviewed its loan book. The lender had 9.3 billion euros in non-performing loans in December compared with 9 billion euros the year before.