FACILITYCalgary, a compilation of news items & commentary of interest to people who have a real estate, infrastructure, construction, oil & gas or general interest in Calgary, brought to you weekly by MaxComm Communications, keeping you up to date on issues affecting 'business in Calgary'.
FRESH TODAY - Monday, March 10, 2008
+ at the pump - western Canadian gasoline stocks running low due to production reductions for unscheduled maintenance at Imperial Oil & Shell Refineries put pressure on Alberta gasoline supplies
+ Ben Bernanke, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman, is under pressure to accelerate interest rate reductions due to weak U.S. dollar
+ Carlyle Group's Dutch affiliate asking lenders for a standstill agreement as it faces US$400 million+ in margin calls
+ crude futures @ 5:55AM MDT as quote by bloomberg.com ; Nymex Crude Future US$104.60/barrel, Dated Brent Spot US$102.19/barrel, WTI Cushing Spot US$105.15 (Friday's close).barrel; overall, prices are high due to a weak U.S. dollar - oil ended slightly lower Friday, falling from record highs hit earlier in the week when buying by speculators hedging against a weaker dollar & inflation sent prices above US$106/barrel; easing tensions in Venezuela & reopening Mexican port shuttered by weather eased supply concerns
+ daylight saving time started, 3 weeks earlier than in previous years as Canadian provinces & territories mirror new dates in the United States aimed at energy conservation
+ GEOCAN Energy Inc. closed sale of heavy oil assets for $50.9 million
+ GEOCAN Energy Inc. engaged advisors to strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value
+ hedge funds are reeling as the credit crunch hits them with margin calls & ratio tightening
+ Sean O'Hair won the PGA Tour PODS Championship at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club, Tampa Bay, Fla. , earning US$954,000.00
+ OPEC ministers elected to keep production levesl steady, ignoring U.S. government desire to increase production, thereby reducing prices
+ Royal Bank of Canada closed $1 billion debt financing
+ Statoil-Hydro ASA acquiring Brazil & Gulf of Mexico oil assets from Anadarko Petroleum Corp, US$1.8 billion
+ Stemach government won election in 20 of 24 Calgary constituencies, 72 of 83 seats overall to win a landslide victory over Liberals & also-rans on a very low voter turn-out ( 41.3%)
+ Talisman Energy Inc. acquired RSX Energy Inc.
+ The Bank of Canada announced lowering its target overnight rate by 1/2 of 1 % to 3.5%; the operating band for the overnight rate is correspondingly lowered & the Bank Rate is now 3.75%
+ U.S. recession watch: Thornburg, a mortgage REIT, couldn't meet margin calls from lenders; FBI began investigating Countrywide over possible mortgage fraud; U.S. stocks declined to the lowest prices since 2006, after record home foreclosures & unexpected drop in payrolls heightened concern the economy is in a recession; The Carlyle Group's mortgage fund failed to meet $37 million in margin calls; JPMorgan Chase & Co. issued a report saying Wall Street banks are facing a "systemic margin call" that may deplete banks of $325 billion of capital due to deteriorating subprime U.S. mortgages; bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc raised US$1.5 billion in new eqity in order to salvage its credit rating; Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said U.S. economy is in recession; Carlyle Group's mortgage-bond fund said creditors may liquidate as much as US$16 billion of securities to stave off insolvency
SHAKERS + Movers on the Move
+ Bart Demosky to Sr. VP Business Integration @ Suncor Energy Inc.
+ Colin Soule to Pres. @ Giffels Design-Build Inc.
+ Daniel Sullebarger to VP Corporate Compliance & Ethics @ Marathon Oil Corporation
+ David Roberts to Exec. VP Upstream @ Marathon Oil Corporation .
+ Donald Monroe to Counsel @ Heenan Blaikie LLP
+ Douglas Rogers to VP Health, Environment & Safety @ Marathon Oil Corporation
+ Gregory Stewart to Pres. & CEO @ Algonquin Oil & Gas Limited
+ Gus Sarrouh to COO & Exec. VP @ Ingenium Group Inc.
+ Guy Boston to VP Alberta Operations @ CH2M Hill
+ Jane Pendergast to Studio Leader @ Marshall Tittemore Architects
+ Jay Thornton to Exec. VP Refining & Marketing @ Suncor Energy Inc.
+ Jeff Heath to Exec. VP & Group Treasurer @ Scotiabank
+ Jerri Cairns to Managing Partner @ Parlee McLaws LLP
+ Joel Croteau to Sr. VP Natural Gas & In Situ Resources @ Suncor Energy Inc.
+ John Ferrara to CFO @ EDGAR Online Inc.
+ Kevin Napaday to Partner @ Kenway Mack Slusarchuk Stewart LLP
+ Laura Lamb to Partner @ Kenway Mack Slusarchuk Stewart LLP
+ Louise Arbour, High Commissioner @ UN Human Rights Council, stepping down
+ Marc Turcotte to CFO @ Ingenium Group Inc.
+ Russell Hiscock to Pres & CEO @ Canadian National Railway
+ Russell Stewart to COO @ Algonquin Oil & Gas Limited
+ Stephen Entwistle to CFO @ Bird Construction Company Limited / Bird Construction Income Fund
+ Steven Hinchman to Exec. VP Technology & Services @ Marathon Oil Corporation
+ Victor Smith to CEO @ Ingenium Group Inc.
MARK Your Calendar; Business Events, Functions etc.
March 11; Mortgage Loans Association of Alberta Luncheon, Sheraton Eau Claire Suites, Calgary; Guest Speaker Mark Kolke - Defaults, Foreclosures & Judicial Sales; Info/Registration: mlaa- clgy@shaw.ca
Apr. 1; 10th annual Montreal Real Estate Forum, Chaired by Philip O'Brien, CEO, Viger DMC International, Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, Montreal; info/registration: http://www.realestateforums.com/mtl/mtl/frame.html
Apr. 14; 2008 Western Business Outlook Briefing , The Conference Board of Canada; Calgary TELUS Convention Centre; info/register: http://www.conferenceboard.ca
Apr. 15; 2008 Edmonton Real Estate Forum, Shaw Conference Centre, Edmonton; John Frederickson, Managing Dir, Colliers Edmonton, Chairman; info/registration: http://www.mmpiwest.com/realestateforumswest/edm onton/
July 14; 8th Annual Ronald McDonald House Southern Alberta Charity Golf Classic, Silvertip Resort, Canmore; Lawson Projects is the Presenting Sponsor; info/registration: lorne@lawsonprojects.com or colleen@rmhsouthernalberta.org
note: if you are sponsoring / supporting a charity tournament in the Calgary area in 2008 we are happy to list them early here; just send your tournament data and contact information to: research@maxcomm.ca
INFRASTRUCTURE News / P3 / Go Green
+ PLANDFLEX CORPORATION will develop and or acquire commercial and institutional properties: Public Private Partnerships (P3), development for governments, NGOs, school boards, hospital boards, municipalities etc., build-to-suit developments for strong credit tenants location focus is smaller & major communities in Western Canada. Inquiries and/or property offerings to:
PLANDFLEX CORPORATION
Attn: Mark Kolke, President
Suite 1000, 888 - 3rd Street SW
Calgary, AB T2P 5C5
Phone: 403-444-6939
e-mail: mark.kolke@maxcomm.ca
+ Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, bidding for 40% of New Zealand's busiest airport (Auckland International Airport Ltd.)
+ Ontario has shortlisted 4 firms in the competition to build 1,000 megawatts of new nuclear power capacity, which will be the first in more than 20 yrs.:
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.
Areva NP
GE-Hitachi Nuclear Power
Westinghouse Electric
+ Edmonton Airports issued a proposal call for Construction Managers & Prime Consultants for $1 billion capital program
+ the Federal Government's newly-established Crown Corporation, PPP Canada Inc., will work with the public and the private sectors towards "encouraging the further development of Canada's P3 market." In the Feb. 26 Budget Speech the Minister of Finance said: "By increasing our use of P3s and taking into account contributions by other levels of government, we should be able to leverage a $100-billion investment in infrastructure". In Budget 2007, a $1.257-billion Public-Private Partnerships Fund (P3 Fund) was created to support innovative P3 projects. The program parameters of the P3 Fund are now established and will be administered by PPP Canada Inc.
"Whoever knows he is deep, strives for clarity; whoever would like to appear deep to the crowd, strives for obscurity. For the crowd considers anything deep if only it cannot see to the bottom: the crowd is so timid and afraid of going into the water." - Friedrich Nietzsche
"When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps." - Confucius
"Clarity of mind means clarity of passion, too; this is why a great and clear mind loves ardently and sees distinctly what he loves." - Blaise Pascal
"I experience a period of frightening clarity in those moments when nature is so beautiful. I am no longer sure of myself, and the paintings appear as in a dream." - Vincent van Gogh
"Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something." - Plato
"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it." - Albert Einstein
"Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life." - Sandra Carey
"Clarity and wisdom seem to show up when it pleases them, never around when I need them most; sometimes they just drop into my brain for a visit, sometimes it is a long stay, sometimes fleeting moments of joy." - Mark Kolke
"A man only becomes wise when he begins to calculate the approximate depth of his ignorance." - Gian Carlo Menotti
"I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday." - Abraham Lincoln
Curly, downhill, left-to-right putts are usually followed by curly, uphill, right-to-left putts.
"One way to break up any kind of tension is good deep breathing." - Byron Nelson
"I've always believed the greater danger is not aiming too high, but too low, settling for a bogey rather than shooting for an eagle." - Peter Scott
"I'm gambling that when we get into the next life, Saint Peter will look at us and ask. 'Golfer?' and when we nod, he will step aside and say, 'Go right in; you've suffered enough.' One warning, if you do go in and the first thing you see is a par 3 surrounded by water, it ain't heaven.' - Jim Murray
A golfer has an advantage over a fisherman. He doesn't have to produce anything to prove his story
MaxComm Communications - Writing Services
Innovative strategies, inspiring work plans and cutting- edge initiatives; we are writers, editors and business communicators who help you frame your message right the first time, on time.
www.frameyourmessage.com is our website - featuring information on services, writer credentials - writing, speaking, coaching -
We have established a presence in Houston, Los Angeles and Maui - staffing up in each market with well credentialed writers in those markets with subject area expertise and availability. Our work is 99% English content for audiences in Canada, US, UK, Australia:
oil & gas, energy
environment
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real estate, development, residential & commercial
Mark Kolke writes a daily column (posted at http://markmusing.com ) Musings, after his morning walk. To subscribe (free) to receive his daily musings, write to mark@markmusing.com Musings are e-mailed daily to subscribers and are posted/archived on his blog http://markismusing.blogspot.com & on his Musing site:
+ our objective is to feature information and links to articles which provide insights, ideas and services to help our readers access useful resources to help employees at all levels build on their skills.
+ the Toastmasters program offers an opportunity to improve professional skills; public speaking, leadership training, confidence building - a great way to give your career a boost as you climb the ladder. Toastmasters International - 210,000 members in 90 countries; 65 Toastmasters clubs in Calgary. Toastmasters offer a supportive environment, networking opportunities & a proven program to help people overcome their worst fear - public speaking.
+ Spoken Word Toastmasters . . meets every Tuesday at 5:30 PM at North Hill COOP community room (basement), 540 - 16ave., NE, Calgary, AB; contact club president for further info: nelson.keung@siemens.com . . next meeting March 11; http://members.shaw.ca/spoken_word
+ Singles and Friends Toastmasters, offers a 'singles only' format - opportunity for socializing & speaking; meets every Wed. @ 7 PM. Info: http://singlesnfriends.freetoasthost.info next meeting March 12
+ MVP Advanced Toastmasters Club, meets @ 7 PM, 2nd & 4th Thursday of the month @ Fluor facility in south Calgary; a club for experienced Toastmasters wishing to hone their skills in a place where the bar is set high; contact club President for further info: Mark.Kolke@frameyourmessage.com or Gerda.Timm@Fluor.com .. next meeting March 14, 7PM http://mvpadvanced.freetoasthost.net
FACILITYCalgary, a MaxComm Communications publication, e-published every Monday. Subscription is free. To subscribe, write to: facilitycalgary@maxcomm.ca
+ the big hoo-ha this week involving Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton & the Canadian government about NAFTA has been interesting to watch; what the U.S. candidates ought to watch out for is the day when Canadians want to re-open NAFTA, particularly on softwood lumber & beef . .
+ the Stelmach landslide proved little that is new to me but it appears the print media are chocking down a lot of words they would like to forget - the Liberal popularity & Taft leadership factors they touted were nothing more than hype; when push came to shove Albertans opted for a hard working guy who leads with a work ethic, integrity & a desire to provide steady handed leadership; the change to Taft led Liberals was a scary prospect & Albertans proved that; Taft, if he had integrity, would step down but he likely won't
+ did you follow the fate of Arthur Kent, trying to get elected in Calgary Currie? . . it seems the scud stud was really a scud dud
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