Business and Finance

Venturebeat's lead green technology reporter Camille Ricketts has reportedly taken a communications job at Tesla Motors Inc.

The website reported her departure in a story Friday with a headline that described the situation as a "totally non-awkward move."

The story was written by Venturebeat Executive Editor Owen Thomas, who has been in a public spat with Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk over the website's coverage of the company and its leader cheap business cards.

Before joining Venturebeat, Ricketts worked at Google Inc. on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. She was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal before that in New York and London.

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Epic Energy Resources Inc. CEO John Ippolito resigned unexpectedly on Friday.

In addition, Tamar El-Rayess resigned from Epic’s board of directors.

Epic Chairman Alan Carnrite will serve as interim CEO, according to a statement by the company issued after market close on Friday.

In the statement, Carnrite offered no explanation for the sudden departures, saying only: "On behalf of the board and the company we want to thank Mr saving account payday loan. Ippolito and Mr. El-Rayess for their service and contribution to the company and wish them the very best."

Epic (OTC BB: EPCC) is an integrated energy services company based in The Woodlands.

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General Motors is getting its fourth CEO in just under 18 months, as the company announced that Ed Whitacre will leave the post Sept. 1, to be succeeded by another auto industry outsider, former Nextel Communications CEO Dan Akerson.

The move comes on the same day the automaker reported its best quarterly profit in six years, and with a filing expected within days to detail plans to bring the company public again.

"This seems to be about the IPO. GM wants the issue of succession planning off the table," said Jeremy Anwyl, the head of Edmunds.com.

Whitacre, 68, will remain as chairman of GM until the end of the year, at which time Akerson will assume that title as well. He has held the top job only since the GM board asked for the resignation of then-CEO Fritz Henderson on Dec. 1.

Whitacre said he had always planned to give up the top job at GM as soon as possible, and that he’s confident in the choice of Akerson.

"It was my duty to help restore the company to greatness and I didn’t want to stay a day beyond that," said Whitacre. "Dan and I have been close for a number of months. He’s been on the board. He’s been very involved. I think this will be a very smooth transition."

Akerson, 61, who has been on the GM board for just over a year, is now managing director and head of global buyout for private equity firm Carlyle Group. He has been CEO of three other companies, although none in the auto industry.

He served as CEO and chairman of Nextel from 1996 to 1999, and stayed on as non-executive chairman until 2001. In 1999 he became chairman and CEO of XO Communications, helping to restructure that specialty communications company. He had previously served as chairman and CEO of General Instrument Co.

Whitacre has made widespread changes in GM senior management since taking office, and Akerson told reporters he didn’t anticipate making significant additional changes going forward.

"At this stage the biggest management transition is me," he said.

The U.S. Treasury Department, which owns 61% of GM’s common shares that it received in return for the taxpayer bailout of the company last year, issued a statement saying the decision was made by GM’s board and did not require Treasury’s approval. It praised both men, though.

"We are very grateful to Ed Whitacre, whose invaluable leadership and vision have helped position General Motors for a successful return to long-term viability and helped protect the taxpayers’ considerable investment in the company," it said. "Dan Akerson is proven and well-respected with a depth of experience as a CEO in a wide range of major companies."

Just a week ago Whitacre told reporters that he would like the Treasury Department to sell its entire 61% stake in GM at the time of its initial public offering later this year. He said the company was being hurt by the stigma of being known as "Government Motors."

But despite the Obama administration’s stated desire to try to sell its stake in GM as soon as possible, virtually no one expects Treasury to sell its entire stake at the outset for fears that flooding the market with that many shares would drive down the price.

Before Whitacre assumed the top job, GM was known as a behemoth that experienced management change at a near glacial pace.

Henderson, who had been GM employee his entire adult life, had only had the job since March 30, 2009, when the Obama administration asked for the resignation of Rick Wagoner as one of the conditions for the government’s bailout of the company. Wagoner had also been a GM-lifer.

But GM has brought in a number of top executives from outside the company and the industry since December, including chief financial officer Chris Liddell, who was recruited away from Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500). 

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Mortgage borrowers hurt by the Gulf oil spill may qualify for temporary relief from paying their mortgages, without fear of losing their homes.

Citigroup’s (C, Fortune 500) CitiMortgage unit announced Wednesday that it would suspend all foreclosure sales and filings for 90 days, through Sept. 17, on its Gulf properties. The policy applies only to first mortgages that Citi owns on homes that are within 25 miles of the coast.

Fannie Mae, the government-supported mortgage company, also touted its own relief policy Wednesday, saying that servicers of Fannie-backed loans may immediately suspend or lower payments on mortgages for borrowers whose income or property were affected by the spill.

"This was a reiteration of special relief policies that Fannie Mae has had for a while," said Janis Smith, a spokeswoman for Fannie.

"Borrowers who hope to obtain relief under this policy should call their servicers right away," Smith said. "They should not sit around waiting for a call."

Under the Fannie Mae program, servicers can offer to postpone or lower payments for up to 90 days, during which the servicer is expected to verify the borrower’s income loss or the damage the oil spill may have done to their property.

Freddie Mac, the other government-supported mortgage giant, will grant up to six months forbearance to victims of the oil spill.

Other lenders have similar policies in place; all of them are trying to get the word out so that borrowers hit by the disaster know that these options are available.

During these forbearance periods interest continues to accrue, so borrowers aren’t exactly getting a free lunch.

It is, however, an opportunity for these homeowners to avoid laying out cash when they can least afford to do so.

They’ll eventually have to pay the money back — if they keep their homes. 

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AIG and Prudential PLC formally terminated a deal for an Asian life insurance unit on Thursday that would have accelerated AIG’s bailout repayment to the U.S. government.

The announcement comes two days after AIG rejected Prudential’s reduced bid for AIA, AIG’s Hong Kong-based life insurance division. In early March, the companies had agreed upon a $35.5 billion price tag for AIA. But it became apparent over the past few weeks that Prudential’s shareholders were not going to accept the deal.

Prudential attempted to renegotiate the terms of the deal with AIG, offering $30.375 billion instead. Prudential PLC is not related to the American insurer Prudential Financial Inc.

AIG has said that it considers the sale of AIA to be a crucial component of its effort to repay the more than $130 billion it has borrowed from U.S. taxpayers. The troubled insurer had planned on using the proceeds of the sale to pay down $25 billion of its debt to the Federal Reserve.

When the deal was first announced on March 1, AIG’s Chief Executive Robert Benmosche said the deal would allow AIG "to realize value on a faster track to repay U.S. taxpayers" and will give the company "greater flexibility" with its restructuring plans.

Now that the deal has fallen through, AIG may consider an initial public offering for AIA, an option that the company had initially proposed last year. An IPO would take much longer to complete than a direct sale, and the recent market turmoil may dictate a lower price for the unit.

According a regulatory filing, AIG will receive a termination fee from Prudential worth £152.6 million ($223.9 million) on July 1.

Shares of AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) rose more than 1% in premarket trading Thursday. 

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For 18-year-old Stephanie Gielarowski, it was a school-sponsored trip to China that sparked her interest in Asia.

“I’ve always liked to travel,” she said, but it was that trip last summer where she saw first-hand the economic importance of the region.

“It’s important to be involved and educated in Asia,” she said, including understanding the region’s history and culture. It’s this newfound awareness that spurred her to pursue international business in college. So far, she says, her plan is to study at the University of South Carolina.

Gielarowski is one of hundreds of students who, over the years, have traveled abroad as part of one of the many programs offered by Upper St. Clair High School, which ranked No. 1 out of 123 high schools in western Pennsylvania, according to an analysis of Pennsylvania System of School Assessment Exam results conducted by the Pittsburgh Business Times.

The school’s Asian travel opportunities, which include a summer trip to China and an exchange to Thailand, are relatively new compared with some of the European programs, such as a German exchange that has been offered for 20 years.

Together, the school’s seven different language classes, its international and Asian studies, and its opportunities to travel prepare students for the world beyond western Pennsylvania.

“It really opens their eyes to their magnitude and place in the world,” in addition to preparing them for adulthood, said Principal Michael Ghilani.

Mary Eddins, an 18-year-old senior, participated in the Thai exchange her sophomore year and has taken the Asian Studies class offered by the school. Of her trip to Thailand, she says, “that opened my eyes up globally.”

Her previous foreign travel consisted of vacations to Mexico or the Caribbean, but that only offered the resort experience, whereas staying with a host family, “you’re immersed with the culture more, you learn the culture first-hand.”

That sentiment was echoed by Junior Rachel Amoroso, 16, who went on the exchange earlier this year.

“It was really a life changing experience,” she said. “I had never been out of the country before.”

But that cross culture taste has her hungry for more, and she is planning on studying abroad in college. In fact, she says, most of her questions at college fairs revolve around whether a school offers study abroad instant payday loan no telecheck.

In addition to sending students overseas, Upper St. Clair High School also has foreign students come to Pittsburgh. In the spring, the school hosts Thai students and teachers. This April, 38 Thai students and three teachers arrived in Upper St. Clair.

The Thai exchange not only exposes the students to a new culture, but it also offers the entire community a way to connect. Organizing the program has become a labor of love for Thai native and Pittsburgh transplant Luck Kosoladolkitt. She first put the program together when her son was a junior and she wanted him to have a study abroad experience. From there, it has grown.

“The high school level is the most important time for students to make a decision before they go to university,” she said of the experiences of both the Thai and Upper St. Clair students. “They are in their teens, and they don’t know exactly what they want to do with their own life; this gives them the opportunity” to see other possibilities.

As part of the exchange, all of the students, Thai and American, host a Thai Night Gala in Upper St. Clair where the Thai culture is celebrated. The event also is a fundraiser to help pay for the program.

Many of the students who have gone on the Thai exchange or the summer trip to China also take the Asian Studies class that is offered. The semester-long elective looks at modern Asia as well as Asian history, and the curriculum was developed with the help of the University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center.

“We are a global society,” said Lauren Davidovich, who is teaching the current semester’s Asian Studies course. “Asia may not have been addressed as it should have been, and we would be remiss not to study it.”

In addition to personal growth offered by foreign travel, the school’s programs have students looking at careers in international business after they saw the economic importance of Asia.

Davidovich also noted that combining the class plus the real travel experience offers the students a unique perspective.

“Education breeds understanding,” she said.

For more, visit the Guide to Western Pennsylvania Schools homepage.

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After days of speculation, Houston oil service companies Schlumberger Ltd. and Smith International Inc. jointly announced today plans to merger in a stock transaction valued at about $11 billion.

Smith shareholders will receive 0.6966 shares of Schlumberger in exchange for each Smith share. Based on the closing stock prices for both companies on Feb. 18, the agreement places a value of $45.84 per Smith share – 37.5 percent higher than Smith’s Feb. 18 closing price of $33.35.

Upon closing, Smith stockholders collectively will own approximately 12.8 percent of Schlumberger's outstanding shares of common stock.

Andrew Gould, Schlumberger’s chairman and chief executive officer, said that Smith’s drilling technologies, other products and expertise complement those of Schlumberger.

Smith CEO John Yearwood predicts accelerated technology development for the combined company’s customers.

Said Yearwood: “Schlumberger offers Smith's various segments enhanced engineering and design capability to place our products and expertise at the center of the total drilling system of the future.”

The deal, which is subject to regulatory and Smith stockholder approvals, is expected to close in the latter part of the year. It will create an industry giant with revenues double that of rival Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL).

For 2009, Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) and Smith (NYSE: SII) reported revenue of $22.7 billion and $8.2 billion, respectively.

Meanwhile, Halliburton posted 2009 revenue of $14.7 billion.

Schlumberger expects to realize incremental pretax synergies — after integration costs –of approximately $160 million in 2011 and approximately $320 million in 2012. Schlumberger expects the combination to be accretive to earnings per share in 2012.

On Feb. 19, Smith’s stock shot up by more than 14 percent to a new 52-week-high of $38.16 in heavy trading after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company was in advanced talks to be acquired by Schlumberger.

There was no word yet as to how many jobs might be impacted by the transaction.

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Confidence in the world economy dropped in February on concern worsening government finances in some European nations will derail the global recovery, according to a Bloomberg survey of users on six continents.

The Bloomberg Professional Global Confidence Index dropped to 54.9 from 66.6 in January, when the reading was at the highest level since the series began two years ago. The index exceeded 50 for a seventh month, which means there were more optimists than pessimists. The survey was conducted last week, before Germany and other European Union nations signaled they may help support Greece’s government finances.

Greece, Spain and Portugal are among European nations struggling to control widening budget deficits, prompting investors to dump the countries’ assets and question the sustainability of the recovery in the global economy. More than $4.5 trillion has been wiped from stocks worldwide since Jan. 14, while credit-default swaps have risen as investors seek protection against deteriorating European government finances.

“The situation in Greece and other European economies shows us that the global deleveraging process is not over and governments cannot continue the pace of stimulus they’ve been undertaking,” said Venkatraman Anantha-Nageswaran, global chief investment officer at Julius Baer & Co., which manages about $142 billion in assets. “We see global confidence fluctuating from month to month as growth disappoints.”

Group of Seven

The survey of 2,486 Bloomberg users was done between Feb. 1 and Feb. 5. Since the previous survey, China unexpectedly raised reserve requirement ratios for lenders, the Group of Seven finance ministers pledged to continue economic stimulus measures and a report showed the U.S. economy expanded at the fastest pace in six years last quarter.

“People aren’t concerned about the exit strategies from countries, they’re concerned about the total debt level,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York who participated in this month’s survey. “The global economy is a little bit more unsteady than it was a month ago.”

The fallout from the budget crisis in Greece has led investors to become the most bullish on the U.S. dollar since November 2008. The dollar confidence index rose to 55.7 from 53.1 in January. Most survey respondents in Europe turned more pessimistic on the outlook for the euro, expecting it to weaken against its U.S. counterpart over the next six months.

‘Downside Risk’

“If people start worrying about a big developed economy as they did Greece, that could start to affect the global growth outlook,” said Nick Kounis, chief European economist at Fortis Bank Nederland NV in Amsterdam, and a regular survey participant ay day loans. “Credit concerns have remained well-contained for the big countries. That suggests so far the global economic outlook is not seriously affected by this, although there are big problems about public finances and it remains a downside risk.”

The confidence gauge for Western Europe fell to 49.8 from 55.5 last month, dropping below 50 for the first time since November. Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou has struggled to convince investors that the government can push its deficit below the European Union’s ceiling of 3 percent of gross domestic product.

Germany is considering assistance for Greece after the country’s deficit threatened the stability of financial markets, two lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition said Feb. 9. The European Union is scheduled to hold a summit in Brussels today.

Greek Tragedy

“The officials need to give a clear indication that it’s not just about fire-fighting Greece but also putting forward a wider European bailout mechanism that is applicable to other countries that get into trouble,” said Fortis’s Kounis. “That could stem the confidence crisis and boost credibility.”

A measure of U.S. participants’ confidence in the economy fell to 41.3 this month from 54.4 in January. More Americans unexpectedly filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance even as the jobless rate dropped in January, while Federal Reserve policy makers are attempting to gauge whether the economy is strong enough for them to withdraw unprecedented stimulus.

“It’s a jobless recovery,” said Jonathan Basile, an economist at Credit Suisse Group AG in New York and a regular survey participant. “The U.S. economy is still going to expand, it’s just not going to expand as quickly as the fourth quarter. We’re a long way from acceptable levels of unemployment” of about 5 percent that the Fed is comfortable with, he said.

Asia’s index fell to 70.8 in February from 79.8, while the confidence gauge for Japan dropped to 40.6 from 44.1. Japan’s government must heed the warning on soaring debt loads stemming from the turmoil in Greece and concerns about the credit quality of some European countries shouldn’t be regarded as “a burning house on the other side of the river,” Bank of Japan board member Seiji Nakamura said Feb. 4.

Most Bloomberg users were less optimistic on the outlook for their equity markets in the next six months, with respondents in the U.S., the U.K. and Spain turning bearish. Survey participants in the U.S. and Europe remained confident short-term interest rates will rise in the next six months, the survey showed.

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Robert Rogalski has been named CEO at Excela Health, a position he has held on an interim basis for three months, the Greensburg-based hospital network announced on Monday.

Rogalski, a former senior counsel and health care practice group leader at Thorp Reed & Armstrong LLP, joined Excela as a hospital trustee six months ago. He brings to the job more than 17 years of experience advising health care systems on a variety of strategic and legal matters, including corporate governance and acquisitions.

“While a number of candidates emerged during the deliberations, we found the opportunity to observe Bob’s strengths firsthand in day-to-day operations a considerable advantage,” Excela board Chairman Paul Mongell said in a prepared statement. “The positive results and substantive work he has performed during the transition period demonstrate the key attributes we seek in moving Excela Health forward.”

Before Thorp Reed, Rogalski was in-house counsel for health systems in western Pennsylvania and upper Midwest. Most recently he served as vice president and general counsel and compliance officer at MedCenter One Health Systems in Bismarck N.D. He has also worked as in-house counsel at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and West Penn Allegheny Health System, the first and second largest hospital networks in the region.

Rogalski is a graduate of St. Vincent College. He received his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

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Struggling to pay your FHA mortgage? Now you no longer have to be late with your payments to get help.

On Friday, the Federal Housing Administration announced that it will assist borrowers before they become delinquent. All you need do is prove your problems were caused by a reduction of income from a job loss, fewer paid hours, slashed wages or a decline in self-employed business earnings.

You may also qualify because of a change in household circumstances, such as a death or disability.

"The FHA has always required lenders to establish early contact with delinquent borrowers to discuss the reason for missing a payment and to evaluate reinstatement options," FHA Commissioner David Stevens said in a prepared statement. "Now servicers will have additional options for those borrowers who seek help before they go delinquent, which increases the likelihood that the borrower will be able to retain their home no fax payday loan."

The workouts available include forbearance, in which lenders agree to postpone or reduce payments for a specified period. This does not actually forgive the payments, they are just added to balance later in the mortgage term.

In more severe cases, borrowers may qualify for permanent payment reductions. This may be done by increasing the length of the loan, reducing the interest rate or even forgiving principal — or a combination of any of the three. 

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