09-21-2006 Deepening Insolvency – Widening Controversy

The claim of deepening insolvency – where officers, directors, lenders, accountants, auditors or other parties are held responsible for wrongfully prolonging the life of a company – continues to be a lightening rod of controversy for bankruptcy courts.

09-14-2006 Pessimism Grows: Many Corporate CFO's Are Turning Sour On U.S. Ecomony

Many chief financial officers are turning pessimistic about the state of the U.S. economy, and results will include reduced capital spending as well as cut-backs in plans to hire new workers, according to the quarterly CFO survey conducted by Duke University and CFO magazine.

09-12-2006 US Trade Gap Hits a Record $68b in July

The trade deficit increased to $68 billion in July as record oil prices pushed America's foreign oil bill to the highest level in history, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.

04-07-2006

Roderick Lloyd Appointed to Business Advisory Council. View PDF.

02-10-2006 U.S. Trade Deficit Hits All-Time High

The U.S. trade deficit soared to an all-time high of $725.8 billion in 2005, pushed upward by record imports of oil, food, cars and other consumer goods. The deficit with China hit an all-time high as did America's deficits with Japan, Europe, OPEC, Canada, Mexico and South and Central America. The Commerce Department reported Friday that the gap between what America sells abroad and what it imports rose to $725.8 billion last year, up by 17.5 percent from the previous record of $617.6 billion set in 2004.

12-14-2005 TDB RESEARCH ARCHIVE REPORT: Companies with Debt Forgiveness*

147 Companies with Debt Forgiveness in the First Nine Month of 2005, Rapidly Increasing and Recording the 2nd Highest in History - 39 Cases in the Service Sector, Setting a Record-High

09-14-05 JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE TO LARGEST AMOUNT IN NEARLY A DECADE ON KATRINA; ENERGY PRICES SOAR

A total of 68,000 Americans lost their jobs due to Hurricane Katrina and filed for unemployment benefits last week, pushing these applications up by the largest amount in nearly a decade. View Article

08-22-05 Effect of New Bankruptcy Code

A recent poll taken by the Turnaround Management Association “TMA” found little to like in the revised code. Simply put, the requirements for filing are now more stringent and, once in Chapter 11, the new arrangements weigh firmly in favor of creditors.

4-27-05 - "Bankruptcy of Long-Established Companies" in Japan Reached 27.3% in 2004, setting an all time record high”

The Component Rate Jumped about 2.6 times in the Past Decade – Is it time for many senior US Corporations to heed these early warning signs from Japan and take preventative action?

4-20-05 - CPI Report: INFLATION IS BACK!

The main problem for the stock market is the undeniable fact that inflationary pressures are increasing. This week, the catalyst setting off the worst reaction to those fears was the Wednesday report that the core rate of CPI in March rose 0.4%. That was well above the expected 0.2% increase, and followed on a 0.3% February increase. These levels are up sharply from a year ago. The release of the Federal Reserve Beige Book later that day poured more fuel on the fire. The trends from the Federal Reserve districts, based on anecdotal reports, were that "upward price pressures have strengthened" and that "high energy prices were already, or could soon be, damping consumer demand."

March ’05 – Turnaround Management Association

“BANKRUPTCY SHOULD BE LAST, NOT FIRST, OPTION……

NEGOTIATIONS ARE KEY TO OUT-OF-COURT RESTRUCTURES”

“Companies fall into distress for many reasons. When they do, management’s first reaction often is to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. However, filing bankruptcy should be a company’s last resort because higher returns for all stakeholders at a lower cost can be achieved through an out-of-court restructuring or liquidation. In addition, the chances for a successful operating turnaround increase without the negative publicity a bankruptcy filing often generates. A competent turnaround professional can assist in evaluating a company’s position and creating a viable action plan. In addition, an independent turnaround professional may provide a company with badly needed credibility when it comes to approach creditors to ask for concessions.”

Ed Rothberg / Bankruptcy Section / Weycer, Kaplan, Pulaski & Zuber, P.C.

“This approach has always been the primary strategy for this firm’s engagements”

Roderick J. Lloyd - Lloyd, Benton & Taylor, LLC.

03-03-05 - Survey: CFOs less optimistic about economy
Business optimism is dropping in the United States, according to a survey by Duke University and CFO Magazine.

The quarterly survey asks chief financial officers from a range of public and private companies globally about their economic outlook.

This quarter, only 46 percent of CFOs in the United States are more optimistic about the economy than they were last quarter, continuing a downward trend from the past year.

Fifty-five percent of CFOs had a positive outlook in the fourth and third quarters, and more than 70 percent were optimistic in the second quarter.

"This is the least optimistic that CFOs have been in the last two years," said John Graham, professor of finance at Duke's Fuqua School of Business and director of the survey.

CFOs are concerned that inflationary labor costs and the depreciating U.S. dollar will hamper economic growth. They are also concerned about the cost of health care, the federal budget deficit, high fuel costs and an increasingly competitive economic environment, all of which will slow earnings and capital spending growth in the coming year.

The survey was concluded Feb. 27 and reflects responses from 534 CFOs, including 293 from the United States, 183 from Asia and 58 from Europe.

02-10-05 Debt Forgiveness the Preferred Option for Japan’s Recovery
Lloyd, Benton & Taylor, LLC has always advocated this approach for its clients rather than the destructive process of signing away control of a business to the Bankruptcy Courts. Since the Japanese economy has been in recovery for a much longer period than that of the USA, Japan may be a very good model for us to follow. View Article

02-01-05-Washington, D.C.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), NRCC Chairman Tom Reynolds (R-NY) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) announced today that Mr. Roderick J. Lloyd has been chosen as a 2004 Ronald Reagan Republican Gold Medal Award winner.” View PDF

10/01/04 – Bankruptcies
The year 2003 showed a small improvement with 35,057 filings. However, the figures for the first half of 2004 already record 18,815 businesses filing for Bankruptcy protection – an increase on the same period for the previous year.

8/01/04 - Presidential Appointment.
Roderick Lloyd has been nominated to the Presidential Business Commission. Click here for more.

7/26/04 - Exide Technologies: Blackstone Asks US Bankruptcy Court for $9.3 Million Final Fees
The Exide Technologies Debtors employed The Blackstone Group, LP, to provide financial advisory services in connection with a possible restructuring of certain of their liabilities.

Our approach to the turnaround process at Lloyd, Benton & Taylor is in sharp contrast, we do not charge for advice, we only charge for results! [Visit LBT Home Page / 90 day debt restructuring on 100% success fees]

4/30/04 - Presidential Business Commission Selection
NRCC Chairman Tom Reynolds announced today that Roderick Lloyd of Fort Lauderdale has been selected to represent the State of Florida on the new Presidential Business Commission.
View PDF Press Release
View HTML Press Release

11/4/03 - Job Eliminations
Following our own 10/3/03 press release on the subject of 'Layoffs', Chicago based recruiters Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., reported yesterday that in October companies announced plans to eliminate 171,874 positions, more than double the announced September layoffs of 76,506. Hardest hit were the automotive industry, who planned to eliminate 28,363 jobs, followed by the retail sector with 21,169 losses and the telecommunications industry which plans to slash another 21,030 jobs. Of even greater concern was a poll recently conducted by Challenger which showed that 78% of the nation's human resources executives did not expect to see a significant upturn in hiring until the second quarter of 2004. 11% of those polled said that there would be no rebound in hiring at all in 2004!

10/3/03 - LBT Press Release
Florida Firm Offers Troubled Businesses an Alternative to Layoffs Fort Lauderdale, Florida, October 3, 2003. Click here for more.

9/6/03 - The New York Times
Job Losses Mount
The Labor Department announced yesterday that 93,000 jobs were lost in August - more than double the 44,000 jobs lost in July. Not since World War II has employment failed to grow for so long a period even with the help of a recovering domestic product. Compare this figure with our 7/3/03 posting below.

8/18/03 - Bankruptcies
The American Bankruptcy Institute reports today that personal bankruptcies have surged over the last year, with more Americans filing for protection than ever before, up from 1.4 million for the year to June 30, 2002 to 1.6 million for 2003. A total of 440,257 bankruptcy petitions were filed between April and June this year, surpassing 2003's first quarter all time record of 412,968. The record shows that the culprit is excessive debt based consumer spending. While at the same time, we hear that consumer spending is reckoned to be the 'engine' of the economy leading us out of recession?

7/03/03 Washington DC - Economic Figures
June Unemployment Rate Highest in 9 Years
The Labor Department reported today that businesses slashed 30,000 jobs last month. The economic slump has now cost nearly a million jobs in just the last three months. This has caused the nation's unemployment rate to soar to 6.4%, the highest level in more than 9 years.

6/26/03 - Job Market Worst Since Early 1990's.
The June 2003 survey by Manpower reveals that three out of four employers expect to cut jobs or hold off on hiring this summer, contributing to the worst employment market since the early 1990's.

6/26/03 - Fed Lowers Interest Rate
The Federal Reserve has decided to cut its benchmark interest rate by a-quarter of one percent. The move means that the Fed funds rate goes down to its lowest level since 1958.The Fed says the economy has yet to show sustainable growth - on the contrary there is now a real danger that the present economic weakness could trigger a destabilizing fall in prices. There is also the fear that ultra-low interest rates may encourage consumers and businesses to take on debt that will prove difficult to repay when rates rise. It seems that the 1930's economy may have crept up on us. A further 1/2% drop and rates would match those prevailing in 1929/30. If history is any guideline, by 1933 the prime rate had plunged to 1.5%!

05/07/03 - Lead Story in Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post
Fed fears falling prices and expresses concern over deflation. This statement is almost a 180 degree turn from the Fed's position just two months ago, do they really know where we are heading?

4/10/03 - Press Release Business Roundtable (BRT) Economic Outlook Survey
BRT, comprising America’s leading CEOs, released their survey today on the prospects for the next six months. It reveals a weak economic outlook and a continuingly pessimistic trend. The major concerns were:
• Only 9% of US Companies anticipated hiring new employees whereas 45% were planning layoffs.
• “Ample Capacity” coupled with excess inventory is causing a collapse in business spending – 27% of companies polled will be reducing their investment spending over the next six months.
• Projected quarterly earnings are at their lowest levels for two years.
• Declining consumer confidence coupled with rising costs are cited as the main culprits.