Moving and Storage Business News

The News Review:

- POST OF THE DAY Real Estate Inv. Trusts: REITs
- Going Platinum at Dell
- Matsushita’s Award-Winning New Look
- ATPL, CEF, CHRT, EIHI, FOXH, HDTV Have Been Added To Naked Short List…
- Urban core too pricey? Try the U District

POST OF THE DAY Real Estate Inv. Trusts: REITs
Motley Fool – Jun 29, 2006
Market right in his dour forecast for retailers and mall REITs? Or are investors merely pushing some of their chips towards apartment and office REITs? Self-storage stocks, like retail REITs, may be lagging for much the same reason. For some thoughts on this, consider opening this issue of The Essential REIT. “The Essential REIT”June 23, 2006″The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it. ” Benjamin Disraeli”An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations. ” Charles de Montesquieu”Writing is like prostitution… Magoo like you won’t be interested in them. Mallbear: Oh, all right, let’s play your stupid game. Which mall REITs do you particularly like these days?Bullymall: I’m like a gold bug in Fort Knox! Except for Mills, which I wouldn’t be seen with in polite company, I like just about all of ‘em. But the most interesting mall REIT at the present time is General Growth Properties (GGP). Mallbear: GGP? Arggh! Surely you jest! That company is in debt up to its eyeballs, much of which is at variable-rate. Rising interest rates are eviscerating this REIT, and the stock has been roadkill this year, down 7. 6% in price from the end of last year through June 20 (when it closed at $43.

Going Platinum at Dell
BusinessWeek – Jun 29, 2006
But we’ve eliminated that requirement, so it’s available to companies with just 100 servers or more. It’ll appeal to the upper end of the middle market. And it covers more equipment, such as the Dell-EMC (EMC) storage systems. Companies frequently wonder how much value they’re getting from their IT service providers and how well their IT departments perform. How does Dell believe it can address those questions?In the past, companies would ask us, “How good are we in IT?” They’d do surveys, but that’s expensive and infrequent. One feature of this new level is that we can isolate performance benchmarks to help our clients see how they compare with other companies. We look at data, like the case-activity rate, or number of problems per box per year, and how quickly they’re resolved, and can analyze by industry, region, or size of companies to look at trends over time.

Matsushita’s Award-Winning New Look
BusinessWeek – Jun 29, 2006
Recyclable aluminum is the material of choice, drawers slide and doors swing open and close more easily, and buttons are self-explanatory—a reflection of Uematsu’s push for universal design elements that make high-tech products accessible for the elderly and less mobile. This year’s Industrial Design Excellence Awards were a sweet vindication of Uematsu’s efforts. Panasonic took home six awards—more than any other company—for an emergency flashlight, a high-definition video camera for professionals, a washer-dryer, surveillance camera, fridge, and home-use fuel cell. The attention from the design world has coincided with a rebound in net earnings to 15-year highs for the once-ailing company. Uematsu, whose title is president of Panasonic Design Company and who has designed everything from refrigerators to TVs, recently spoke with BusinessWeek’s Tokyo correspondent. Can you explain Panasonic’s basic approach to design?Beginning in 2002, when President Kunio Nakamura created the Panasonic Design Company, we decided that our key products—what we refer to as "V products" [including flat TVs, digital cameras, washer-dryers and air-conditioners]—should share certain traits… The contest brings out many good ideas. The disaster flashlight, which can run on any of three different battery sizes, won the contest last year. It’s lightweight and waterproof and doubles as storage for batteries. Another contest idea was a wearable vacuum that you’d carry like a backpack. It looked like something out of the movie Ghostbusters. The attachment for sucking up dirt had flashing lights—it was supposed to make house-cleaning fun. Matsushita is traditionally an electronics hardware maker.

ATPL, CEF, CHRT, EIHI, FOXH, HDTV Have Been Added To Naked Short List…
Free with registration – M2 Presswire – AccessMyLibrary.com – Jun 29, 2006
(NASDAQ: ATPL) manufactures specialty plastic films, and custom molded and extruded plastic products in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Plastic Films, Injection Molding, and Profile Extrusion. The Plastic Films segment comprises three divisions: Stretch Films that produces multilayer plastic films used to cover, package, and protect products for storage and transportation applications; Custom Films, which produces customized monolayer and multilayer specialty plastic films used as a substrate in multilayer laminates in foam padding for carpet, automotive, and medical applications, as well as industrial and protective packaging; and Institutional Products that convert custom films into disposable products, such as table covers, gloves, and aprons, which are used primarily in institutional food service. The Injection Molding segment produces custom thermoplastic components for small and large appliances, including refrigerators, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, and dishwashers. It also manufactures products for the automotive and building products markets. In addition, this segment manufactures a proprietary line of cedar replica building panels for siding applications in residential and commercial construction markets.

Urban core too pricey? Try the U District
Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce – Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce… – Jun 29, 2006
For example, with the Helix and Ellipse apartment buildings, Harbor Properties created an alliance with the University YMCA, located a half-block away, which will enable residents to use the services offered at the YMCA facility. The partnership lessens the need for development of on-site amenities while it creates incentives for residents to engage with the local community. The company also will make many of the amenities on-site at the Helix and Ellipse — including a rooftop deck with p-patches, storage for bicycles and other recreational gear, and FlexCar service — available to residents in each building. In addition, by locating these developments within walking distance of popular urban destinations such as restaurants and shops, movie theaters and a public library, residents will be much more likely to avoid using cars. The urban landscape in Seattle is changing quickly, with exciting commercial and residential buildings coming online each month. But as ?costs for entry? continue to rise for developers, especially those creating market-rate housing, many will look to urban neighborhoods such as the University District for their infill opportunities. Doing so will not only have a significant cost-saving benefit for residents and developers, it will greatly enhance the livability factor for these urban areas for many decades to come.