Financial thoughts

PokerTek Inc., a Matthews maker of electronic gaming tables, has signed a $5 million stock-purchase agreement with Lincoln Park Capital Funds to provide funding for the company over the next 30 months.

Lincoln Park, a Chicago-based asset-management firm, bought 100,000 shares of stock for $100,000 on signing the purchase agreement Thursday. PokerTek has the right under the agreement to sell Lincoln Park $50,000 worth of stock every two days for the next 30 months. The sale will be based on prevailing stock prices — based on the lowest three closing prices in the 12 days preceding the sale.

Lincoln Park also received 137,500 shares of common stock as a consideration for entering into the agreement. Lincoln Park will be issued up to 180,000 more shares of stock if it buys additional stock.

PokerTek controls the amount and timing of future sales. It does not have to sell any additional stock Lincoln Park.

PokerTek (NASDAQ:PTEK) markets electronic tables for up to 10 players of Texas Hold ’Em.

The company’s PokerPro system deals cards, displays them on private screens to the players and provides general information on a large screen in the center of the table. It also enables customers to set up accounts for betting and keeps statistical information on the games.

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EarthLink, Inc. has filed at the Federal Communications Commission a petition to oppose the proposed $30 billion merger of Comcast Corp. and NBC Universal.

The Atlanta-based Internet service provider argued the merger would lead to Comcast getting involved in anti-competitive actions that would reduce consumer choice, restrict content diversity and interfere with Internet competition.

EarthLink (NASDAQ: ELNK) proposed the FCC adopt a condition requiring Comcast to offer wholesale standalone broadband access to independent Internet service providers.

"The access condition that EarthLink proposes today for the Comcast-NBCU merger will be a win for consumers and a win for online competition," said EarthLink Chairman and CEO Rolla Huff, in a statement. "The condition essentially enables Comcast customers to 'break the bundle' and purchase only the services they need or want. We look forward to working with the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice to ensure the transaction results in greater consumer choice and competition."

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Graphic Packaging International Inc. plans to close its beverage-packaging plant in Golden at the end of October.

The plant at 4455 Table Mountain Drive employs about 150 workers. Most are in manufacturing jobs, and Graphic Packaging hopes to be able to move them to its other facilities around the country, said company spokeswoman Cindy Baerman. About 12 research-and-development employees will remain in Golden, she said.

In a statement, Graphic Packaging said the Golden shutdown “reflects the company’s ongoing efforts to align its manufacturing footprint to the changing needs of its beverage customers and improve its cost structure and margins to better position it for future growth.” It said the plant’s business and equipment will be moved to the company’s other U.S. locations.

“While closing the Golden facility is a difficult decision, it is necessary to ensure that we are able to consistently serve our customers and meet their changing needs from a solid network of efficient, low-cost manufacturing facilities, even in the face of the ongoing economic challenges of today’s marketplace,” David Scheible, the company’s president and CEO, said in the statement.

Graphic Packaging International is a unit of Graphic Packaging Holding Co. (NYSE: GPK), of Marietta, Ga. The company, which has about 15,000 workers worldwide, makes paperboard packaging for food, beverages and other consumer products and is a major producer of folding cartons, coated-recycled boxboard and specialty bag packaging.

The company is a descendant of Coors Paper Packaging, a packaging arm of Coors Brewing Co. that was launched in the 1970s.

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Research in Motion Ltd. is reportedly working on a touchscreen Blackberry smartphone with a slide-out keyboard and a tablet computing rival to Apple Inc.'s iPad.

The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources in a report Tuesday on RIM's (NASDAQ:RIMM) attempts to develop new products to compete with Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) popular lines.

The new smartphone runs on a new version of the BlackBerry operating system, the Journal reported, includes the ability to read finger gestures to expand and contract images and move through screens low fee payday loans.

The new tablet device connects to cellular networks via a BlackBerry phone, the paper reported, and could come out by the end of the year.

RIM's North American smartphone market share plunged to 38 percent in the March quarter from 54 percent a year earlier, while Apple's share grew to 23 percent from 18 percent.

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Janet and John Beardsley could retain ownership of the Historic U.S. National Bank Block under a bankruptcy plan slated for approval in August.

The Beardsleys placed the property in bankruptcy on Oct. 9, 2009 in the face of mounting debts over the downtown Portland building, 321 S.W. Sixth Ave. The Chapter 11 reorganization case was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Oregon.

An amended reorganization plan was filed June 2 and approved by the court June 9. A confirmation hearing is set for Aug. 4, at which point the property would exit bankruptcy.

The reorganization plan anticipates that creditors will be repaid within seven years, if not earlier. The plan claims the property is appraised at $27.9 million. It would need to sell for a minimum of $22.5 million to net enough money to repay creditors at the $20.92 million owed under the plan.

John Beardsley and Janet Beardsley each own 50 percent of the company. They will retain ownership but could be required to invest an unspecified amount of new equity to retain their position bad credit payday advance. The reorganization also would allow them to draw up to $12,000 per month to pay “reasonable” living expenses, including income taxes.

Beardsley filed a separate Chapter 11 case covering other real estate assets. The Fountain Village Development case is pending. A reorganization plan was filed March 19, 2010 but has not been confirmed.

The Fountain Village case covers the Fountain Village block at Southwest Second Avenue near Burnside, the New Market Theater Block at Southwest First Avenue and Ankeny Street, the Loyalty Building, 317 S.W. Alder St., the Hamilton Building, 500 block of Southwest Third Avenue, other buildings in downtown and an airplane hangar in Juneau, Alaska.

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If you lose your job after June 1, you’ll see more than just your paycheck disappear. You also won’t get the 65% federal subsidy to cover your COBRA health insurance premium.

That’s because House Democrats last week opted not to extend the subsidy in order to bring down the cost of a jobs and tax bill winding its way through Congress. Continuing the provision through Dec. 31 would run $7.8 billion.

The loss of the 15-month subsidy leaves hundreds of thousands of newly jobless Americans to shoulder the burden of health insurance coverage on their own. On average, the monthly premium alone eats up 84% of a person’s unemployment check, according to Families USA, a consumer advocacy group.

Dozens of people currently benefiting from the subsidy wrote to CNNMoney.com in recent days to say how crucial it is. Without the extra help, they said they could not afford to pay for their coverage and their treatments for diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure and other ailments.

"I’m unemployed. I don’t have money to pay for medical bills," said Stephanie Kohnke, a St. Paul, Minn. resident who lost her job in May and is waiting to be approved for the subsidy. "This is the worst time to lose that safety net."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Tuesday that she plans to revisit the COBRA subsidy. However, she noted, it is a controversial provision that could be difficult to pass.

Stimulus subsidy

The subsidy was created in February 2009 as part of the Obama Administration’s $787 billion stimulus program. It was among a number of measures meant to aid Americans suffering during the Great Recession.

Those who lost their jobs between September 1, 2008 and May 31, 2010 were eligible to have the federal government pick up 65% of the monthly premium’s cost if they continued their employer-sponsored insurance under COBRA. Originally scheduled to last 9 months, it was later extended to 15 months.

Just how many people are filing for the subsidy isn’t known. But a recent Treasury Department survey found that between 25% and 33% of eligible jobless New Jersey residents were participating and most of them were middle class.

For a typical family, the subsidy reduced the annual cost of COBRA to about $4,725, down from about $13,500.

"Anyone subsisting on unemployment insurance cannot afford to pay COBRA premiums without getting help," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.

Ann Bates is thankful that she has the COBRA subsidy that brings her monthly premium down to $181 a month. Without it, she’d have to pay more than $500 a month for coverage, a price she couldn’t afford since she only collects $1,450 in unemployment benefits.

A Cedar Rapids, Iowa resident who lost her office manager job in February, Bates said she must have health insurance or she couldn’t afford the insulin she takes for her diabetes. With insurance, it costs her $75 a month but without it, the price zooms to more than $300. And that doesn’t include the cost of syringes and test strips.

Debbie McBride knows exactly what the newly unemployed are going through. McBride, who lost her administrative assistant position at an aerospace company in February 2009, just exhausted her 15-month subsidy and is now left to fend for herself.

Unable to afford her $390 unsubsidized monthly premium, McBride refilled her five prescriptions last month. She has looked for cheaper health plans but can’t find one, especially now that she has diabetes.

McBride has yet to pay her June premium because she doesn’t have the funds. The La Habra, Calif. resident said she doesn’t know what to do.

"Where are we supposed to get the extra money?" she asked. 

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Work done on the Edward A. Doisy Research Center at St. Louis University has been awarded LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council and the Green Building Certification Institute.

The project team implemented green design and construction strategies in the $80.5 million biomedical research building. Environmentally friendly elements include mechanical systems that operate at energy-efficient levels well below the energy code, and the use of 100 percent outdoor-air supply at all times within the building.

The project team also incorporated open space and landscaping with greatly reduced storm water runoff.

The 10-story, 206,000-square-foot building features steel, brick and glass on the exterior; and modular laboratories, animal vivarium, conference rooms and a Clinical Core Lab facility on the interior.
Clayco Inc. was the construction manager on the project and Cannon Design was the architect.

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Interior Secretary Ken Salazar reiterated Wednesday that the U.S. government is doing all it can to put an end to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and to enforce ethics requirements in the federal agency responsible for inspecting oil wells.

He also reiterated that the oil spill is causing President Obama to consider adjustments to his plan to open exploration wells for drilling in the Arctic.

The Interior Department faced criticism in a hearing before Congress Wednesday, two days after an inspector general report showed Minerals Management Service (MMS) inspectors took gifts from big oil companies, watched pornography and used crystal meth at work.

But in the hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee, Salazar said he believes most of the bureau’s 1,700 employees are "good public servants" and abide by ethics requirements put in place by the Obama administration. He said the department has "zero tolerance" for the ethical lapses, which he also called "reprehensible" and even "criminal."

"I would say, there are bad apples and those bad apples will be rooted out with every power that we have," he said.

Salazar’s testimony occurred hours before BP (BP), the company responsible for the spill, attempted what it called a "top kill" procedure aimed at plugging the 37-day-old leak.

The hearing was the first of seven by the House Natural Resources Committee investigating the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and examining the future of America’s offshore oil and gas policy. The committee oversees the country’s offshore drilling policy and MMS, which collects about $13.7 billion per year in revenue from federal offshore and onshore drilling leases.

The discussion at the hearing bounced around as lawmakers questioned why the Interior Department wasn’t better prepared for the Gulf Coast oil spill, and Salazar repeatedly criticized the previous administration of President George W payday advances. Bush for not keeping oil companies at a proper "arms length" from federal regulators.

"We’ve done a lot to clean the house at MMS," he said. "Unlike the prior administration, this is not the candy store of the oil and gas kingdom."

Salazar reiterated a proposal to break up MMS into three divisions, separating the agency’s revenue collectors from the leasing and enforcement functions of the organization.

Asked several times whether the Gulf Coast oil spill will be a "game changer" for President Obama’s plan to open new areas to offshore drilling, particularly off the coast of Alaska, Salazar said more questions need to be answered first, and lawmakers should "stay tuned" for the Interior Department’s safety review he will deliver to the president on Thursday.

"There will be a series of decisions that will be made with respect to whatever adjustments need to be made," Salazar said. "And so stay tuned on your question relative to this specifics on the exploration wells approved in the Arctic."

In March, Obama announced plans to open up a few new areas for drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, off the East Coast and in Alaska. But the Interior Department suspended new applications for drilling permits after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig led to an environmental disaster. 

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