| BEAR EARNS BITE
Bear Stearns' breathtaking drop in earnings yesterday was a stark reminder of the risks associated with being a traditional and narrowly focused investment bank. Reporting earnings of $171 million for its third quarter, Bear saw a 61 percent drop in net income from the prior quarter, missing the consensus of analyst estimates by 35 percent. The primary culprit was the utter collapse of the firm's mortgage- and asset-backed bond franchise - long one of its key revenue engines - and the reason behind an 88 percent decline in bond sales and trading revenues. While many Wall Street brokers have been hurt in the bond collapse, Bear is said to have up to 30 percent of its revenue pegged to mortgage-backed underwriting and trading, according to Sanford C. Bernstein's Brad Hintz.
h0229 BC-NamesintheGame 1stLd-Writethru 09-17 0722 9/17/2007
Eds: AMs. Items on Michael Ilitch, Michael Huyghue, Yi Jinanlian, Tom Buning. By The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- Michael Ilitch was honored by Veterans Affairs on Monday for giving veterans a chance to start their own pizza franchises. The owner of the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers was presented with the Secretary's Award, the department's highest tribute given to a private citizen, by VA Secretary Jim Nicholson. Ilitch offered incentives last year for military veterans to open franchises of the Detroit-based Little Caesars. He is the founder and owner of the pizza chain. Any qualified, honorably discharged veteran can receive $10,000 in discounts to become a Little Caesars franchise operator: $5,000 off the franchise fee for the first store and a $5,000 credit for equipment.
AT&T To Enter Fla. Broadband Cable Market
AT&T Inc. plans to announce Thursday that it will make a $750 million investment in broadband infrastructure in Florida as it seeks to woo customers from traditional cable companies in the race to beam TV and high-speed Internet into homes, officials said. The move follows the passage earlier this year of a new state law that makes it easier for telecommunications companies to get into the TV business. Gov. Charlie Crist is expected to join officials from AT&T, the country's largest provider of broadband Internet and land and wireless phone services, for the announcement of the investment. Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, who sponsored the new state law, said the company would announce a $750 million investment. The company has recently announced plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few years in several other states as it takes advantage of laws similar to Florida's.
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