MEMC Electronic Materials has named Brian Wuebbels its new chief financial officer and executive vice president.
Wuebbels, who joined MEMC in 2007, has served most recently as a vice president and a general manager at the O’Fallon, Mo.-based maker of silicon wafers for the solar and semiconductor industries. He replaces CFO Mark Murphy, who resigned to return to Praxair Inc. as president of Praxair Surface Technologies.
Aegion Corp.’s profit in the the first quarter more than doubled its profit from a year ago boosted by strong performance in its wastewater operating margins.
The Chesterfield based sewer-pipe repair company, formerly known as Insituform Technologies, reported a profit of $7.1 million for the quarter that ended March 31, or 17 cents a share, compared with a $3 million profit, or 8 cents a share, a year ago my credit score.
Aegion’s revenue in the first quarter increased 9.5 percent to $230.6 million.
In a bold move to gain control of Argentina’s energy reserves, President Cristina Fernandez pushed forward a bill to renationalize the country’s largest oil company on Monday despite fierce criticism from abroad and the risk of a major rift with Spain.
In a national address, Fernandez said the legislation put to congress would give Argentina a majority stake in oil and gas company YPF by taking control of 51 percent of its shares currently held by Spain’s Repsol.
Both Repsol and Spain strongly oppose the move and have warned that it could turn Argentina into an international pariah.
YPF is vital for Argentina’s energy future, especially after its recent find of huge unconventional oil and natural gas reserves. But the company is under pressure from Fernandez’s government to raise output while its shares have plunged in recent months on fears of possible state intervention. Argentina this year expects to import more than $10 billion worth of gas and natural liquid gas to address an energy crisis even though it is an oil-producing nation, according to estimates from the hydrocarbon sector.
“We are the only country in Latin America, and I would say in practically the entire world, that doesn’t manage its own natural resources,” Fernandez said. She said her proposal “is not a model of statism” but “the recovery of sovereignty.”
Critics blame the government for an energy shortage and high gasoline prices. But Fernandez said the shortage is the result of Repsol’s “emptying” of YPF, and that Argentina had a deficit of $3 billion last year partly due to energy imports.
Argentines gathered in Buenos Aires’ main square shouting slogans, waving national flags and carrying banners supporting the government takeover. One of them read: “Today, with Cristina, we recovered YPF.” YPF was privatized in the 1990s. Repsol’s subsidiary in Argentina holds 57 percent of YPF’s shares.
Fernandez said the renationalization was a long-held desire of her late husband and predecessor, former President Nestor Kirchner.
“I hope he’s watching over me because he always wanted to recover YPF for the country,” she said.
But analysts said the planned takeover risks alienating foreign investors and prompting retaliation from Spain’s government.
“It is a bad decision,” said Emilio Apud, a former Argentine energy secretary who now works as a consultant. “It gives the Argentine government a bad image” and will discourage investment, he said. Apud also called the proposed law “a bad way to treat friendly governments like Spain.”
In Madrid, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo called the move arbitrary, and said it broke the climate of cordiality and friendship that had existed with Argentina. He said Spain would respond with “forceful measures” he did not describe.
The European Commission has warned that nationalizing YPF would be bad for the investment climate in Argentina, and has said it backs Spain in the standoff over the subsidiary.
Fernandez, however, was unmoved by the risk of a row with Spain, Argentina’s largest foreign investor.
“This president is not going to answer any threat, is not going to respond to any sharp remark.,” she said to applause from business, union and political leaders.
“I am a head of state and not a hoodlum,” said Fernandez, who has also renationalized the country’s Aerolineas Argentinas airline and nationalized the Anses state private pension funds.
There was no explanation of how, or how much, Repsol and its stockholders would be compensated. Analysts say that the government might have to use Central Bank reserves, or funds from the Anses to pay for the takeover.
“The issue that scares investors is not knowing how far the governmental participation will go, if it’s only YPF or if it is going to include other petroleum companies in Argentina,” said Joe Amador, Latin America director for Scotia Waterous, the oil and gas arm of Scotiabank, in Houston, Texas.
Even with its share prices depressed, YPF last week was valued at $13.6 billion, and buying half of that would deplete Argentina’s treasury of funds it needs to maintain the populist subsidies that have kept the country’s economy afloat.
Repsol released a statement promising to protect the interests of its shareholders. It called the move “unlawful and gravely discriminatory.”
Spanish officials had earlier protested the plan, saying Argentina risks becoming “an international pariah” if it takes control of Repsol’ subsidiary, Repsol YPF SA
Spain’s foreign minister last week summoned Argentine Ambassador Carlo Antonio Bettini to convey concern over possible nationalization of YPF, which represents 42 percent of Repsol’s total reserves, estimated at 2.1 billion barrels of crude.
Mexico’s Economy Minister Bruno Ferrari said in recent days that Spain had requested that Mexico intervene in the row with Argentina over Repsol-YPF SA. But Ferrari said Mexico’s role in the dispute is still to be determined.
“We will hold talks with Spain over the next days to exactly determine what Mexico can do,” he said ahead of the World Economic Forum on Latin America 2012 that will be held in the coastal city of Puerto Vallarta.
At the forum on Monday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon criticized Argentina’s move, calling it “not very responsible and not very rational.”
In contrast, Venezuela’s foreign ministry issued a statement voicing support for Fernandez’s decision to renationalize YPF. Venezuela’s state oil company also supported the Argentine decision and said it is willing to help strengthen Argentina’s oil industry,
“Venezuela puts all its technical, operational, legal and political experience of Petroleos de Venezuela at the disposition of the government of Argentina and its people to strenthen the state oil sector,” the foreign ministry said.
Governors of oil-producing Argentine provinces have withdrawn about 15 oil leases, representing 18 percent of YPF’s crude production, alleging the company failed to keep its promises to develop them. YPF has countered that it has invested millions in those areas and plans to increase production, but Argentine officials have said that still falls short.
How Argentina may try to displace Repsol has been the subject of wide speculation since the government’s pressure campaign began in February.
The president’s proposal would leave Repsol with just a little more than 6 percent of YPF’s shares.
Fernandez put Federal Planning Minister Julio de Vido and Economics Vice Minister Axel Kicillof in charge of handling the expropriation.
The president’s proposal declares that the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons is “of national public interest” and declares that building up the nation’s supply is a priority.
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Associated Press writers Luis Andres Henao in Buenos Aires and Jorge Sainz in Madrid contributed to this report.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke returns to his roots as a university professor today, seeking to explain and justify the existence of the central bank ahead of the 100th anniversary of its founding next year.
Bernanke will lecture to about 30 undergraduate students at George Washington University in the first of four hour-long talks on the history of the Fed as part of what public relations specialist Richard Dukas called a
Federal safety regulators are investigating complaints of throttles sticking in some Ford Tauruses.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on its website that 14 people have complained about the cars from the 2005 and 2006 model years, about 360,000 in all. No crashes or injuries have been reported, but the agency says a driver ran a red light and entered an intersection before the car could be stopped.
The agency says the cruise control cable may become detached and hold the throttle open guaranteed cash advance. Drivers have reported that it was hard to stop the car with the brakes, and several said they had to shut off the engine or shift into neutral to stop.
Ford says it is cooperating in the probe. The cars have not been recalled.
Two signs of trouble elsewhere in the world pushed U.S. stocks lower: slowing economic growth in China and a possible hitch in a deal to get Greece its bailout money.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed the day down 14.76 points to 12,962.81, or down 0.1 percent. The Dow closed above 13,000 last week for the first time since May 2008.
Monday was the 45th consecutive trading day without a loss of 100 points or more for the Dow. The last streak longer than that was 93 trading days from July 17 to Nov. 24, 2006.
Much of the pessimism in the market stemmed from China’s premier, Wen Jiabao, lowering China’s target rate for economic growth to 7.5 percent from 8 percent, where it has stood for years. That’s a negative sign because growth in China has been a key factor shoring up the global economy since the financial crisis of 2008.
The news sent steel company stocks sharply lower. Half of the world’s steel is consumed in China. AK Steel Holding Corp. lost 6 percent, while US Steel fell 4.7 percent.
The lower projection for Chinese growth also hurt stocks of U.S. materials companies that depend on China for profits. Caterpillar, which makes heavy equipment, fell 2.1 percent. Alcoa, the aluminum maker, fell 3.6 percent.
The Dow fell as much as 93 points in the morning before recouping some of that loss in the afternoon. Some market strategists said it was an overreaction to read too much into China’s projection.
“China is still a driver of global growth, even at its slightly reduced pace,” said Richard Cripps, chief market strategist at Stifel Nicolaus. “The growth rate is still far better than the U.S. and Europe.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 dropped 5.30 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,364.33.
The Nasdaq composite index fell 25.71 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,950.48. The technology-heavy Nasdaq index fell slightly more than the other indexes as its star stocks Apple fell 2.2 percent and Google fell close to 1.1 percent.
Also weighing on the market were worries that not enough private investors will participate in a bond swap in Greece and accept bonds of lower face value and lower returns.
Trying to reassure world markets, a group representing a dozen banks, insurers and investment funds that hold Greek government bonds said they will participate in the swap by the Thursday night deadline.
Greece needs private investors to sign on before it gets a second international bailout worth $172 billion. Without the bailout, it could default on its debt later this month, an event many fear could shock the world financial system.
The stock market’s losses were limited by some positive news from the U.S. economy. Service companies expanded in February at the fastest pace in a year, helped by a rise in orders and job growth.
The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its index of non-manufacturing activity rose to 57.3, up from 56.8 in January and the third straight increase. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion.
In recent months, markets have been lifted by signs of improvement in the U.S. economy. U.S. stock indexes have been trading at their highest levels since before the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank in 2008.
Among other stocks making big moves:
_ Alpha Natural Resources, a coal producer, fell 6 percent after the price of natural gas fell close to 5 percent due to weak demand for gas in a mild winter.
_ Archipelago Learning stock soared 22.7 percent after the online education company agreed to be bought by Plato Learning for $291 million in cash, helping boost the number of customers.
_ US Airways Group fell 8.4 percent after the airline said passenger revenue growth slowed in February, indicating it is having a tough time raising fares and fees to offset climbing oil prices.
_ American International Group rose close to 2 percent. AIG will raise $6 billion by selling part of its stake in an Asian insurance company and pay down some of its debt to the U.S. government from a bailout during the financial crisis. AIG owed $50 billion at the end of 2011.
Like millions of Americans, Joanne and John Buchanan are facing foreclosure. But at a value of more than $2 million, the home they stand to lose isn’t your average delinquency.
For the Buchanans, it’s the dream house they built from the ground up in a resort community near Breckenridge, Colo., in 2003. It took them almost two years and about $2.2 million to build — and soon they will have to move out.
Foreclosure Fiasco
‘How we’re losing our multi-million dollar home’ Foreclosures made up one in four home sales Uncle Sam wants you to rent out its foreclosed homes Why the mortgage settlement is a fair deal Million-dollar foreclosures rise as rich walk away
For years, homeowners at the high end of the housing market were able to postpone the foreclosure process, but now multi-million dollar homes are becoming more commonplace in America’s foreclosure pipeline. In fact, America’s wealthiest families are now losing their homes to foreclosure at a faster rate than the rest of the country, according to RealtyTrac.
Out of all foreclosure activity, the share of foreclosures on multi-million dollar properties — or homes valued at more than $2 million — has jumped by 273% since 2007.
For the Buchanans, losing the six-bedroom estate they helped design was unimaginable at one time, but now it seems unavoidable.
The couple moved to Colorado from California where John had worked as the director of business development at a high-tech Silicon Valley firm. They came seeking a less stressful life. John took a buyout package and the couple opened two wine and tapas restaurants, using their new dream home as collateral.
See inside the Buchanan’s $2 million dream home
Things went well, for a while. "In 2008, we were hit up here with the slowdown as much as anybody," John said. But "we were on the wrong end of the market," he said. High-end restaurants like theirs were quickly without customers.
John was forced to shutter the restaurants in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing.
Meanwhile other expenses were also piling up, including the couple’s mortgage payment, which was more than $7,000 a month. They had gone to their lender, CitiMortgage, to ask them to modify the mortgage on their home, which was then valued at $3 million. But the bank refused.
Eventually, the Buchanans just stopped paying their mortgage. John said he hoped it would get the bank’s attention. It has been almost 30 months since they last made a payment, meaning the couple is more than $210,000 behind on their mortgage no teletrek payday advance.
Sean Kevelighan, a spokesman for Citi, said the bank could not comment on specific cases. "Our first priority is to keep families in their homes," he said.
Since 2007, Citi has helped more than 1 million homeowners avoid potential foreclosure, he noted. "Unfortunately, that is not always possible, and some cases proceed to foreclosure," said Kevelighan.
As part of the bankruptcy filing, the Buchanans have agreed to sell their home and hand over the remaining assets to the restaurant lender after Citi recoups the $1.7 million that it is still owed on the mortgage, according to John.
"We had a lot of our savings tied up in the house and we’ll end up losing all of that," he said.
If the house doesn’t sell soon, CitiMortgage will proceed with a foreclosure, which will further destroy the Buchanan’s already damaged credit. But selling is looking less and less like an option: The market for high-end properties in the resort community has largely dried up. The Buchanan’s house was first listed for $3.3 million in 2008. Now it’s listed for $2.3 million, and there have been very few interested buyers, according to Joan Moats, the listing agent on the property.
"Transactions dropped, sales volume is lower and prices are down 25% to 30% since 2008," Moats said. Houses over the $1 million mark, like the Buchanans’ property, are particularly hard to move, she said. "We’ve reduced it by over a $1 million now — we’re trying to get it sold but I’m racing against the bankruptcy and the foreclosure."
"There’s no traffic, there’s no market at this level. If we find a buyer they will have difficulty getting a loan," John added. "The foreclosure will happen soon."
8 multi-million dollar foreclosures
And things just may get worse before they get better. More than 36,000 homes valued at $1 million or more were foreclosed on — or at least served with a notice of default — last year. That number is likely to rise in 2012, according to Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac.
"The longer the tough economy persists, the more of these high-end homeowners will eventually succumb to foreclosure," Blomquist said.
After the Buchanans lose their home, they plan to move into a small rental property they can afford. "We probably won’t be able to buy anything for a long, long time," John said.
European officials said the euro region
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