Thursday, February 28, 2008
Memphis Based Mid-America Apartment Communities 07Q4 Earnings Jump Up 475%
According to the February 15, Memphis Business Journal, Memphis based REIT, Mid-America Apartment Communities reported fourth quarter earnings for 2007 as $3.8 million. The earnings in the fourth quarter of 2006 were $807,000. That's a 475% increase year over year. That's how we do business in Memphis! We're all proud of our friends over at Mid-America Apartment Communities. Way to go guys.
Memphis Based Comprehensive Pharmacy Lands an 80 Million Dollar Deal
According to the February 15 Memphis Business Journal, Memphis Based Comprehensive Pharmacy landed an 80 million dollar deal with the state of Massachusetts to manage a number of pharmacies there. The deal with the state of Massachusetts is apparently a seven year deal. With this contract, Comprehensive Pharmacy now becomes the second largest pharmacy management company in the United States. Congrats to all the people at Comprehensive. Keep on growing!
Smith & Nephew Settles Patent Suit
Smith & Nephew, which has extensive operations in Memphis, recently settled its patent suit against Synthes, Inc. over patents related to surgical nails. The terms of the settlement are not known. However, we do know that Smith & Nephew obtained a ruling from a federal district judge that Synthes had violated Smith & Nephew's patents. So it would seem logical that Smith & Nephew settled with Synthes whereby Smith & Nephew gets royalty payments of some type and Synthes gets a license to continue selling its product. This appears to be great for Smith & Nephew. What's good for them is good for Memphis.
Education Realty Trust Shows a Profit
Memphis based education REIT, Education Realty Trust turned a profit in the the fourth quarter in 2008 according to the Thursday, February 28, 2008, Commercial Appeal. The company reported earnings of $683,000 for the forth quarter - as opposed to a $762,000 loss in the same period in 2006. That's a 1.3 million dollar turn around year to year. Way to go guys. Always great to see local companies doing well.
Friday, February 22, 2008
THE GAME
The eyes of the college basketball world are already on Memphis. The University of Memphis is ranked #1. This Saturday, the #2 ranked University of Tennessee Vols will play Memphis at Fed Ex Forum. Both teams are mirror images of each other and the buzz about this game is absolutely electric.
I've lived in Memphis most of my life and cannot remember this town more fired up for anything ever. Being a Tennessee fan, I'm definitely in the minority around here. Most of the city is solidly behind the Tigers. It's a lot of fun to see the City come together like it has.
ESPN College Gameday will be live from the Fed Ex Forum Saturday morning. There have been a lot of huge games in Memphis sports history, but none bigger than this one.
Bragging rights are on the line. The number one ranking in the polls is on the line. Recruiting is on the line.
Memphis has always been a big basketball town. Maybe never more so than now.
Beale Street and downtown will be absolutely electric tonight, all day tomorrow and certainly tomorrow night. It's always great to live here but especially so right now.
I've lived in Memphis most of my life and cannot remember this town more fired up for anything ever. Being a Tennessee fan, I'm definitely in the minority around here. Most of the city is solidly behind the Tigers. It's a lot of fun to see the City come together like it has.
ESPN College Gameday will be live from the Fed Ex Forum Saturday morning. There have been a lot of huge games in Memphis sports history, but none bigger than this one.
Bragging rights are on the line. The number one ranking in the polls is on the line. Recruiting is on the line.
Memphis has always been a big basketball town. Maybe never more so than now.
Beale Street and downtown will be absolutely electric tonight, all day tomorrow and certainly tomorrow night. It's always great to live here but especially so right now.
BusinessTN Magazine Hosts a Great Reception in Memphis for the Hot 100
Drew Ruble and his team at BusinessTN magazine hosted a reception last night for Memphis area businesses and to provide greater publicity for their publication's Hot 100 list of Tennessee based companies that are growing rapidly and doing great things for our state.
BusinessTN is the only statewide publication dedicated to providing business news. Certainly there are a number of great business oriented publications across the state but none of them are statewide other than BusinessTN. Subscription is free and they have a fantastic weekly e-mail that highlights the latest business news from across the state. That e-mail comes out every Wednesday and is a treasure trove of information for anyone serious about business.
Drew and his team are dedicated to developing more relationships here in Memphis and to covering the entire state, including Memphis. They made a huge sacrifice to drive from Nashville to Memphis and back in the same day. Their reception was great. It was held at Folks Folly and if you know anything about Memphis you know what great food they have there. It was well attended and there were plenty of people that you'd want to meet who were in attendance.
If you're interested in learning more about BusinessTN check them out at www.businesstn.com
BusinessTN is the only statewide publication dedicated to providing business news. Certainly there are a number of great business oriented publications across the state but none of them are statewide other than BusinessTN. Subscription is free and they have a fantastic weekly e-mail that highlights the latest business news from across the state. That e-mail comes out every Wednesday and is a treasure trove of information for anyone serious about business.
Drew and his team are dedicated to developing more relationships here in Memphis and to covering the entire state, including Memphis. They made a huge sacrifice to drive from Nashville to Memphis and back in the same day. Their reception was great. It was held at Folks Folly and if you know anything about Memphis you know what great food they have there. It was well attended and there were plenty of people that you'd want to meet who were in attendance.
If you're interested in learning more about BusinessTN check them out at www.businesstn.com
Monday, February 4, 2008
Federal Judge Dismissed the Mississippi Water Lawsuit!
U.S. Federal District Court Judge Howard Davidson dismissed the State of Mississippi's lawsuit against the City of Memphis and MLG&W. If you haven't been following this lawsuit, your're not alone. As someone who has been following the suit though, this is HUGE for Memphis. A judgment against the City would have been financially crippling.
Memphis is world renowned for its great water. There is a reason Coors established a plant here. Coors did a national search for locations outside of Golden, Colorado which had water that met their high quality standards. Memphis was one of two or three locations that met Coors hight standards.
The great water comes from the Memphis Acquifer and a geological phenominon known as the Memphis Sands. The Memphis Sands is a deep layer of sand and clay that filters ground water in an increadibly thorough and pure way. Once the water reaches the acquifer several thousand feet down, it's pure, clean water.
The Memphis Acquifer is a pool of water that lies underneath Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas. it has been a source of contention in recent years because there are recharge zones in Tennessee and Mississippi where the acquifer comes closer to the surface. it's these recharge zones that feed a lot of the water into the system. Development in North Mississippi and areas to the east of Memphis has threatened these zones.
The lawsuit that got dismissed today was a dispute of a different kind. The State of Mississippi argued that Memphis and MLG&W's water wells were taking a disproportionate amount of the water in the Memphis Acquifer. The theory is akin to oil rights. The law is completely untested. In the United States, we have traditionally had completely seperate water rights schemes. The western states follows water rights law that is much more protective over water rights. The eastern states have traditionally followed water rights law that is much more generous in permitting the use and consumption of water resources. That split in the law has been driven by the scarcity of water out west. Until recently, water was not scare in the east. The droughts of 2007 (recall how low Lake Lanier in Georgia got) have made some reconsider the approach followed in the east. The Mississippi suit essentially argued that Memphis was stealling water from Mississippi and that the western approach should be followed here.
What was so scary about this lawsuit was that Mississippi sought $1 billion dollars in damages for water allegedly improperly taken from the Acquifer. The suit also sought an order moving forward that would have required Memphis to get more water from the Mississippi River. Memphis simply could not afford to pay a $1 billion dollar judgment. Even if we appealed, the fact of a judgment would further destroy our bond rating. If we lost an appeal, the City would like go bankrupt. There just wouldn't be a way around it.
It's hard to understand what motivated Mississippi to really file that suit. We all know that there is some animosity between North Mississippi and Memphis but like it or not, we rely on each other. If Memphis went under, it would hurt North Mississippi. What is more torubling is that the attorneys doing the lion share of the work for Mississippi allegedly took the case on a contingent fee. They thought they were going to make a killing off of Memphis. We don't need that kind of thinking here in this region.
The lawyers for Memphis won dismissal by arguing that this case is really one between the states (Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas). The U.S. Consitution says that cases between the states must be brought in the U.S. Supreme Court - not in state court and not in federal district court. Suits between states is one of the rare occassions when the U.S. Supreme has original jurisdiction - meanindg the actual trial is held before them without a jury. Mississippi will undoubtedly appeal the dismissal to the Fifth Circuit. This case may ultimately get tried in the U.S. Supreme Court. At least for today, this is a huge day of the City and for all MLG&W ratepayers.
Here's to hoping that Mississippi will fire it's contingency fee lawyers who have their own interests in mind and that Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Memphis and MLG&W will get together and reach a resolution of the dispute that's best for all the people of this region.
Memphis is world renowned for its great water. There is a reason Coors established a plant here. Coors did a national search for locations outside of Golden, Colorado which had water that met their high quality standards. Memphis was one of two or three locations that met Coors hight standards.
The great water comes from the Memphis Acquifer and a geological phenominon known as the Memphis Sands. The Memphis Sands is a deep layer of sand and clay that filters ground water in an increadibly thorough and pure way. Once the water reaches the acquifer several thousand feet down, it's pure, clean water.
The Memphis Acquifer is a pool of water that lies underneath Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas. it has been a source of contention in recent years because there are recharge zones in Tennessee and Mississippi where the acquifer comes closer to the surface. it's these recharge zones that feed a lot of the water into the system. Development in North Mississippi and areas to the east of Memphis has threatened these zones.
The lawsuit that got dismissed today was a dispute of a different kind. The State of Mississippi argued that Memphis and MLG&W's water wells were taking a disproportionate amount of the water in the Memphis Acquifer. The theory is akin to oil rights. The law is completely untested. In the United States, we have traditionally had completely seperate water rights schemes. The western states follows water rights law that is much more protective over water rights. The eastern states have traditionally followed water rights law that is much more generous in permitting the use and consumption of water resources. That split in the law has been driven by the scarcity of water out west. Until recently, water was not scare in the east. The droughts of 2007 (recall how low Lake Lanier in Georgia got) have made some reconsider the approach followed in the east. The Mississippi suit essentially argued that Memphis was stealling water from Mississippi and that the western approach should be followed here.
What was so scary about this lawsuit was that Mississippi sought $1 billion dollars in damages for water allegedly improperly taken from the Acquifer. The suit also sought an order moving forward that would have required Memphis to get more water from the Mississippi River. Memphis simply could not afford to pay a $1 billion dollar judgment. Even if we appealed, the fact of a judgment would further destroy our bond rating. If we lost an appeal, the City would like go bankrupt. There just wouldn't be a way around it.
It's hard to understand what motivated Mississippi to really file that suit. We all know that there is some animosity between North Mississippi and Memphis but like it or not, we rely on each other. If Memphis went under, it would hurt North Mississippi. What is more torubling is that the attorneys doing the lion share of the work for Mississippi allegedly took the case on a contingent fee. They thought they were going to make a killing off of Memphis. We don't need that kind of thinking here in this region.
The lawyers for Memphis won dismissal by arguing that this case is really one between the states (Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas). The U.S. Consitution says that cases between the states must be brought in the U.S. Supreme Court - not in state court and not in federal district court. Suits between states is one of the rare occassions when the U.S. Supreme has original jurisdiction - meanindg the actual trial is held before them without a jury. Mississippi will undoubtedly appeal the dismissal to the Fifth Circuit. This case may ultimately get tried in the U.S. Supreme Court. At least for today, this is a huge day of the City and for all MLG&W ratepayers.
Here's to hoping that Mississippi will fire it's contingency fee lawyers who have their own interests in mind and that Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Memphis and MLG&W will get together and reach a resolution of the dispute that's best for all the people of this region.
The Pau Deal Is a Lot Better than it Otherwise Appears
Okay, so it's taken a few days to reflect on the Pau Gasol trade to the Lakers. My first reaction was to think of the Native Americans trading Manhattan for beads and trinkets. The national media has decried the trade as a fire sale. Geoff Caulkins of The Commercial Appeal ripped Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace for the trade. Wallace talked about building something for the future and having a good team two or three years down the road. TWO OR THREE YEARS? You have got to be kidding us right?
Well not so fast. First, most Memphians have grown tired of Pau Gasol. We didn't win a playoff game with him. We only won something like 4% or 5% more games with Pau than without him. Pau is a great player and will be a great role player on the Lakers but he's not a superstar. We couldn't rely on him and we were never going to be able to rely on him. We have 13 wins this year to date. We weren't going to get any better this year. Now we'll likely stink for the next couple of years. So where's the silver lining in this dark cloud?
In the NBA it's difficult to make a lot of moves because you have to match salaries in trades. The rules make it easier for teams to resign the players that they have. Thus, there is rarely a lot of free agent movement in the NBA. In order to build a team, you have to draft well and you have to have cap room to sign those free agents that do come available.
In this trade, we pick up the Laker's first round picks in 2008 and 2010. The Lakers will likely be good and therefore, those picks will be near the end of the first round. Guys like Michael Redd have been late first round picks. We'll also have our own first round pick which will be a top 4 or 5 pick. The Laker's pick also helps protect us when we have to give the Wizards our first round pick that we dealt away in the trade for Juan Carlos Navarro.
There are two big examples of teams who really turned it around by using this same salary dump strategy: Toronto and Phoenix. Toronto traded away Vince Carter for two first round picks and beads and trinkets. Toronto cleared cap room and has in two years built a strong contender with guys like Chris Bosch. Phoenix is the other example. Phoenix traded away Stephan Marberry (spelling?) for draft picks ans beads and trinkets. Phoenix used that cap room to sign Steve Nash. They used the picks to get guys like Amare Stoudamire and Shawn Merrion. Speaking of Shawn Merrion, he's a free agent at the end of this year. Phoenix will have to make some tough choices. Merrion has said that he wants out of Phoenix. He's originally from Clarksville, TN. We might have a shot at him. Add him to Rudy Gay, Darko Milicic (spelling?), Mike MIller, Mike Conley, Javarus Crittenden and whomever we pick up with our draft picks and that's a pretty strong line up.
Things look a little bleak right now for the Grizzlies but this move gives them the chance to build a much stronger team in a fairly short period of time. We need to wait and see what moves are made and who the Grizzlies draft. This trade just might turn out to be a bold move that propels us back to the playoffs.
Well not so fast. First, most Memphians have grown tired of Pau Gasol. We didn't win a playoff game with him. We only won something like 4% or 5% more games with Pau than without him. Pau is a great player and will be a great role player on the Lakers but he's not a superstar. We couldn't rely on him and we were never going to be able to rely on him. We have 13 wins this year to date. We weren't going to get any better this year. Now we'll likely stink for the next couple of years. So where's the silver lining in this dark cloud?
In the NBA it's difficult to make a lot of moves because you have to match salaries in trades. The rules make it easier for teams to resign the players that they have. Thus, there is rarely a lot of free agent movement in the NBA. In order to build a team, you have to draft well and you have to have cap room to sign those free agents that do come available.
In this trade, we pick up the Laker's first round picks in 2008 and 2010. The Lakers will likely be good and therefore, those picks will be near the end of the first round. Guys like Michael Redd have been late first round picks. We'll also have our own first round pick which will be a top 4 or 5 pick. The Laker's pick also helps protect us when we have to give the Wizards our first round pick that we dealt away in the trade for Juan Carlos Navarro.
There are two big examples of teams who really turned it around by using this same salary dump strategy: Toronto and Phoenix. Toronto traded away Vince Carter for two first round picks and beads and trinkets. Toronto cleared cap room and has in two years built a strong contender with guys like Chris Bosch. Phoenix is the other example. Phoenix traded away Stephan Marberry (spelling?) for draft picks ans beads and trinkets. Phoenix used that cap room to sign Steve Nash. They used the picks to get guys like Amare Stoudamire and Shawn Merrion. Speaking of Shawn Merrion, he's a free agent at the end of this year. Phoenix will have to make some tough choices. Merrion has said that he wants out of Phoenix. He's originally from Clarksville, TN. We might have a shot at him. Add him to Rudy Gay, Darko Milicic (spelling?), Mike MIller, Mike Conley, Javarus Crittenden and whomever we pick up with our draft picks and that's a pretty strong line up.
Things look a little bleak right now for the Grizzlies but this move gives them the chance to build a much stronger team in a fairly short period of time. We need to wait and see what moves are made and who the Grizzlies draft. This trade just might turn out to be a bold move that propels us back to the playoffs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
