Lone Star guilty of market fraud

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6 October 2011 Last updated at 11:38 GMT Analysts believe the case has put off US investment into Korea A South Korean court has fined US buyout fund Lone Star $20.9m (￡13.4m; 15.6m euros) and jailed its former Seoul chief for stock price-fixing.

The decision by the Seoul High Court overturned a 2008 acquittal in the long-running case.

It had temporarily halted Lone Star's efforts to sell its 51% stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB).

Lone Star bought the stake in KEB for $1.2 billion in 2003 and later merged it with KEB's credit card business.

Spread rumours

It was alleged Paul Yoo, who ran the firm's South Korean division, deliberately spread rumours that KEB Credit Services might reduce its capital and issue new shares, to reduce the price of a merger.

Yoo has been jailed for three years.

Lone Star has reached an agreement to sell its KEB stake to Hana Financial Group in a deal originally assessed to be worth $4bn. But the deal was put on hold awaiting the outcome of the court ruling.

The conviction, according to Seoul's Financial Services Commission, said Lone Star was likely to be judged unfit to be the majority owner of KEB.

The court case had thwarted Lone Star's attempt to sell KEB to Kookmin Bank in 2006 and to HSBC Holdings in 2008.

Public discord and the US buyout firm's legal woes have dissuaded foreign investors from acquiring Korean companies, said Henry Seggerman, president of New York-based International Investment Advisers.

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iPad 'gains 80% of tablet market'

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27 September 2011 Last updated at 16:00 GMT Apple's iPad, now in its second generation, has proven a big hit with consumers Apple's iPad captured 80% of the tablet computer market in the US and Canada in April to July, a report has said.

The iPad accounted for six million of all 7.5 million tablets shipped in North America during the second quarter of 2011, according to research group Strategy Analytics.

It described Apple as a "formidable market leader".

Yet it added that Amazon - which is expected to unveil its own tablet this week - could become a big challenger.

'Strong brand'

Stategy Analytics senior analyst Alex Spektor said: "Apple remains a long way ahead of its main rivals such as Motorola, Samsung, RIM, Asus and HTC.

"A combination of cool branding, user-friendly hardware, entertaining services and savvy retail distribution has made Apple a formidable market leader."

According to reports, online retailer Amazon could announce the release of its first tablet as early as Wednesday.

"Provided the pricing, screen size and hardware design are right, Amazon can be one of the main challengers to Apple's dominance," said Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics.

"Like Apple, Amazon has a strong brand, compelling content, sophisticated billing systems and widespread distribution.

"In effect, Amazon's new tablet product represents a good opportunity to place an Amazon shopping cart in the hands of American consumers, offering optimised access to purchasing digital content or physical goods from the Amazon online store."

The continuing popularity of Apple's iPad comes despite its incompatibility with Adobe Flash software, meaning that users cannot view a large number of online videos.

Rivals such as Samsung are quick to highlight in their advertising that their tablets are able to use Flash.

Apple and Samsung, which makes the Galaxy range of tablets, are also continuing a number of legal disputes over patents.

On Monday, Apple declined to comment on reports that it had cut orders for iPad parts from its suppliers because of falling sales.

The study by an Asian analyst of US bank JPMorgan Chase said several suppliers had indicated that Apple had reduced its orders by 25%.

The iPad was first released in April 2010, with the second version, the iPad 2, following in March of this year.

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United States standard deadline imminent market overweight in cash

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Localism Bill sacrificing our countryside to the forces of the market | Simon Jenkins

"Direct action of a new army of Swampies may soon be only defense of conservation". Photograph: Christopher Thomond the Guardian

With Parliament in recess the Government this week sneak to the most surprising change the face of England in half a century. A "national planning policy framework" replaces all the previous regulation and encouraged the construction provided that the market has fundamentally in two thirds of the rural England outside national parks, green belts and areas of natural beauty. Farms, forests, hills, valleys, coasts and estuaries are at the mercy of a "presumption for sustainable development". The "default answer" for any planning application is to be "Yes".

The Sustainable Word should never appear in an act of Parliament. It is a weasel word, an adjective does not qualify a noun but her slightly cleaned with vague political approval. Sustainability is the kind of Blairism which gave us reduction of humanitarian intervention in the war and looting. The only sustainable meadow is a meadow. Sustainable development is a contradiction in terms. It means development.

Localism bill now before the Parliament pending a straight from the developer. Drafted by the Secretary of local government, Eric Pickles, the Secretary of business, Vince Cable, emphasizes business and "national economic policy" on the conservation at all times. It is the result of intense pressure from the construction industry. Pickles and Cable are mere suppliers of construction plots to capitalist classes. The words and business development occur in the draft law 340 times, the word four field.

The draft law and adding violate the basic principle of planning, long-term of the Earth, the scarcest of resources use should take precedence over the right of an owner of benefits. Why there are no bungalows in the white cliffs of Dover and not wind farms in the Chiltern. That is why, when you see the Severn Valley, don't see Bristol merged with Gloucester.

Great champions of the rural areas, such as Octavia Hill, Oliver Rackham, Clough Williams-Ellis and Marion Shoard, sought a regime in which rural England kept its head above the tide of urbanization. Protection enshrined in the city of 1947 and law of the country and planning a presumption, given the irreversibility of urbanization, building on the ground.

All my life I have read bills parliamentary, but one Localism is the surrender of more horrible for a single lobby group that I know. It is a lot of garbage from cliché. States that the building should be acceptable "for the prosperity...... the people and places". Only needs to be sustainable economically, socially or environmentally: "components in an integrated manner, looking for solutions that offer multiple objectives", which means. Development need only show it is "planned and carried out in a responsible manner." There is no definition of "responsible way". Such vagueness puts every acre rural work such as "worth to try it".

Planning, once that proudly independent, is now effectively an arm of the Department of the Cable. It is said that "it should not act as an impediment to growth". This is the purpose of planning, which is to protect the public interest, irrespective of the market forces in his head. Its goal is to be an impediment.

Under the draft law the old top-level regional objectives and spatial strategies are scrapped, with the local authorities to write new based on what you want "local population". It is guided by "business forums" and Parish Councils. It can be any group of 21 people who "live or work" locally. These bleak, self-selected individuals are charged do not determine the local opinion, but the allocation of plots for the construction and promotion of even "more development in the local plan". In particular it should help to "offer" a 20% increase in land available for housing.

Does it must be a neighborhood so imprudent as to want to protect their environment, the planning authority is obliged to "satisfy the needs of local development" with "sufficient flexibility to respond to rapid changes in demand".? This confusion of the need and demand is an elementary economic HOWLER.

Still worse. Half of the Councils in England have no strategy plan at all. In this case, approval of planning is assumed. Also is to assume "provided that the plan is silent, indeterminate or if policies are obsolete," an impressive Orwellian phrase.

This Bill is philistine, an abuse of the local democracy and an invitation to corruption. His impact statement accepts that local voters can "resist development proposals that are not in keeping with its aspirations", in other words, can opt for conservation. However, when the appeal of the developers, the inspectors say that his duty is to grant to replace the national politics. The bias is shameful.

Two groups, in addition to the developers, will benefit. One is planning to lawyers, who will be rubbing their hands in glee and St. Eric saluting and San Vicente. The other will be a new army of "swampies", which will defend the England rural with the same anarchy as he is attacking it with Pickles. With the field against a return to the tape of options-and-expansion of the 1930s, litigation and direct action will be only defense of conservation.

There is no argument that the planning is too slow. It does not justify throwing baby, bath water and everything. There is no evidence that land shortage impedes growth. Casa-constructores and hypermarkets already hold large land banks. There is no "need" to build sites of green field anywhere in Great Britain. It is simply a "demand" for those who wish to benefit from it.

Now Earth probably more development of manufacturing and lying unused in England that never in the history. It is mostly served with infrastructure, housing, schools, and a population of working hand. It is by definition more sustainable countryside Virgin. It is there that planning must address the development.

Field needs sentimental defence. The majority of Britons are beautiful and wish to preserve. When Chipping Norton as a whole see what they have unleashed on its displacement acres it shall undoubtedly be horrified. But back to the NHS, forests, and education ministers hastily exploited by pressure groups in the brand.

This time is really important. So the field without protection to become the lasting victim of the credit crunch is tragic. Vince Cable last week had sponsored America be a slave to "some right nutters". So is he.

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Shale gas market $26. 66bn in the year 2011 - new study on ASDReports.com available

Shale gas market $26. 66bn in the year 2011 - new study on ASDReports.com available

The US-slate-gas market has seen great success in the last ten years after the coupling of hydraulic fracturing method with horizontal drilling.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, 26 May 2011 / natural resources PR News /--US shale gas market has great success over the last decade to the coupling of hydraulic fracturing method with horizontal drilling seen. The growing volume of domestic produced natural gas from slate sources in North America has produce other regions of the world in their own shale gas potential study driven. This has created a slate gas market with considerable opportunity for significant growth. The current energy study "the shale gas market 2011-2021" (available at ASDReports.com) explores in this important sector and their prospects over the next decade. Based on this research, the global slate gas market worth of $26. 66bn in 2011 will be.

The new study provides in-depth analysis and quantified forecasts for the global and eight largest shale gas markets over the period of 2011-2021.The-study analyses a wealth of data and provides a clear analysis of the slate gas market where goes, based on various factors and insight into the market anticipate, how and why will develop the market in 2011. The various drivers and constraints of the global and national markets are evaluated in order to provide the reader with a clear understanding in the future progress of each individual national market.

For more information about this new study on ASDReports.com, follow the link to the study titled "the shale gas market 2011-2021" in this article: http://www.asdreports.com/shopexd.asp?id=15195.

Find the latest energy news on http://www.GlobalEnergyWatch.com.

For more information please contact:
ASD media
Stefan Koopman
Stefan.Koopman@asdmedia.nl

See Www.ASDReports.com for more information about this report.

---
Press release services and press release distribution provided by http://www.24-7pressrelease.com

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Social media management system (SMMS) lack of differentiation in positioning, misleading market

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Up front disclosure: Altimeter believes in fostering trust with the market, and we disclose who our clients are, providing they agree. ?Some of the vendors listed below are clients.

Summary: Nascent Market Appears Similar, Confusing Buyers
Overall, the Social Media Management System (SMMS) space lacks market differentiation when it comes to market positioning, which is often reflective of feature set. ?Furthermore, many of these low-barrier technologies are being developed rapidly, and a feature war has set in. As a result, buyers are often confused, resulting in longer evaluation and consideration phase, and heterogenous mix of vendors in an RFP processes. Furthermore, the lack of market differentiation hurts vendors, who may have greater sales costs, and longer sales cycles during a convoluted RFP process. This is normal in an emerging market, and expect the maturity of the nascent SMMS space to follow similar patterns to the maturing Community Platform space.

Buyers often indicate they are very confused by the vendors in the Social Media Management Systems space, let’s probe to find out why. One initial observation is the explosion of over 25 vendors in a short period of time, the following analysis is based of the following vendors: Argyle Social, Awareness Networks, Buddy Media, Constant Contact, Context Optional, Conversocial, CoTweet, Engage Sciences, Expion, Hootsuite, MediaFunnel, Moderation Marketplace, Mutual Mind, Objective Marketer, Postling, Seesmic, Shoutlet, SocialVolt, SpredFast, Sprinklr, StrongMail, Syncapse, Vitrue, and Wildfire.

Why Positioning Is Important
Messaging is often the first thing prospects see and as a result, where I will focus today. Why? This is the first thing that buyers see (positioning) before even evaluating the feature set. Furthermore, I’ve done a similar exercise before with the community platform space a few years ago, a space I draw clear parallels as the SMMS space follows suit. Clearly this isn’t a comparison of features or offerings (we may do this in our next report), but a sampling of what prospects see as they first glance at this emerging and growing market.

Method: Visiting Each Vendor’s Website, Like a Buyer
Here’s how I conducted this process: First, I put myself in the place of the buyer and imagined their task of sorting through this new space and short listing it. Then, I went to the website homepage and sought to find the dominant messaging that would resonate from the vendor: tag lines, descriptors or even the HTML title at top of browser. If they didn’t have this, I had to go to About page or even Product page in some examples. ?To show my work, I’ve also provided a Google sheet where you can see my tallies across the 25 vendors.

List of Positioning Statements from 25 SMMS Vendors
Here’s what I found (vendor names removed) can you identify which of the messaging applies to which vendor? (answers in link below).

Social Media MarketingOffers you the most comprehensive suite of features designed to take your social media campaigns to the next level.Social Media Management System and Content Aggregator for publisher and DevelopersSocial Media Management for BusinessHow Business Gets SocialSocialVolt Social media management software for Businesses and AgenciesSocial CRM Enterprise Software for Social Media MarketingSocial Marketing SoftwareEvery Brand needs a Buddy“Vendor” is a social media management system (SMMS) that helps businesses get closer to customers to create online engagement where it matters most.Build and monetize your Facebook and Twitter following through social campaignsWe make brands socialInteractive promotions for brand marketing by “Vendor”Social media marketing for small businessEnterprise Social Media ManagementThe Social Marketing Suite is the leading fully integrated, software as a service platform for managing social media presencesSocial Media Management SystemIs a social media publishing solution that enables marketers to monetize their investment in the channel through the proper application of proven direct marketing principles.Your Social Media Management & Technology PartnerEngage Everybody. Everywhere. Easily. Create on brand identity, managed from one place, living simultaneously, on many sites and devicesPower your brand on Facebook + 100 other social sites Create, manage, and measure all of your social media marketing communication with one powerful but intuitive tool.Social media applications for web, mobile, and desktopProvides small businesses with the tools, alerts, and insights to get the most out of social media.Social Media Dashboard for the Social EnterpriseSocial Media Dashboard

See Answer Sheet with Vendor Names
To see the name of the vendor and the associated messaging above, see the answer sheet.

Above Graphic: Most vendors have centralized their messaging around “SMMS’ (10/25)?or “Social Marketing” (10/25) ?yet few have evolved messaging to either specific markets, verticals. ?There were stronger mentions in differentiation around market purpose: with more focus on Business (4/25), Enterprise (3/25), and even SMB (2/25). ?However, there is differentiation in terms of channel with a peppering of mentions around Mobile, SCRM, Facebook/Twitter. ?Overall, when removing company name from taglines, most taglines (aside from Buddy Media) were indistinguishable from the next.

Findings

Market Positioning Centered on variations of “SMMS” and “Social Marketing”. High adopt of category term, Most vendors (10/25 vendors), adopted the term Social Media Management System or Dashboard in their primary messaging. Secondly followed by high adoption of permutations on the phrase “Social media Marketing (10/25 vendors). ?While I certainly encourage the adoption of the term SMMS (which I use as the category name since March 2010), the term Social Media Marketing isn’t fully representative of the overall use case, which can include support and customer service. ?Furthermore, four of those those that did use the terms SMMS, didn’t have follow up descriptors helping to differentiate.Some Vendors Lacked Appropriate Descriptors. During my visit to all 25 vendors pages, not all of them had consistent taglines, descriptors, or positioning. ?In some cases, I had to go to the product pages to find out exactly what they do, which can be a turn off for buyers. ?I’m sure that many vendors will suggest that I got the wrong messaging they were trying to convey, but I treated each experience the same, acting like a buyer, if I didn’t get your intended message, that in itself should be evaluated, as likely your prospects may be experiencing the same.Despite a Market of 25 Vendors, Few stood out from Pack. Take a look at that list above, these positioning statements are pretty much the same, there’s no doubt why buyers are so confused. ?This space is confusing, they all look alike, except for Buddy Media. yet despite being the sole stand out, their tag line isn’t descriptive of what they offer, nor a value statement. Traditionally, marketing tag lines require years of investment and market awareness before shifting to a non value-statement tag line. While cute, I don’t think it’s as helpful compared to their title statement “Facebook Marketing | Social Media Marketing | Power Tools for Facebook” which is descriptive, if Buddy could merge both catch line and descriptor, they could be a contender to stand apart.

What It Means:

Lack of Market Positioning is a sign of lack of Product Differentiation. While we’ve not made a direct causation between similar features and positioning statements, we know from vendor briefings and client meetings that the offerings are often the same. ?As a result, buyers rely on WOM between each other, as well as viability and vision crafted by each of these vendors.Immature Market Lacks Educated Buyers –and Vendors Not Sure Future Vision. The market confusion isn’t just stemming from the vendors, buyers are still getting educated on this space as we know that adoption is growing –slowly.Rapidly Changing Feature Set Will Continue Confusion. This space is early, it’s just over a year old from category naming and it continues to evolve. ?Expect the vendors to ever battle over features, matching what other competitors beat them in bids. ?Like the community platform space, we saw similar confusion and then market clarity as winners emerge.

Continuing ?Altimeter Coverage on the SMMS Space
We’re currently doing data cuts on a survey to 140 enterprise buyers on the SMMS space, and about a similar amount for the SMB space, and have data on: number of accounts companies have to manage, number of business accounts, top feature desires, feature satisifaction, adoption rates. ?Altimeter clients have access through advisory opportunities. ? Also Brian Solis is helping with vendor selection for a global national brand, as do I short list for buyers. ?Altimeter Group will be producing a report on the SMMS space, follow me on Twitter, and Andrew Jones to learn more.

Related Resources

This entry was posted on Monday, July 11th, 2011 at 5:40 am and is filed under Social Media, Social Media Management Systems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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There is a market for RatKiller 3.0 marketing social media consultant?

Writers of LinkedIn questions: "most business owners about where social media and mobile text ads in the opinion of my companies pay management social media consultant to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., doesn't have a clue to begin. Dan Hughes

Worth reading articles on the website of the Guardian headline before in the opinion of certain themes in it the original: "social tide of scepticism of us Cyber's network under the sweep of fresh attacks" is and claim it is: "you can see Facebook and instant messaging, madness and modern forms and communications online via Twitter how desperate people in the major American sociologist... To said that caused the behavior in General still referencing views pathology problem representation can cause, "MIT Professor Sherry Turkle as her new book, and is the leading attack information age writes together. "Full report, see http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/22/social-networking-cyber-scepticism-twitter.

Now the LinkedIn back, "connection" "Pathology" die extended market-leading it to understand the economics of the SEM advantages of other senior management and organic search can reach how very rare and one I think the most enduring moments in life with many customers.

You must seem to think that too much time in their income increasing or is it to maintain fallback to reliance on their traditional media in a recession. This transition all stagnation and profitability goals. We must convince some way, otherwise I estimate that involved only 10% of my clients actually mechanics and successful social media campaign promoting understanding. Or to convey may be SEO is difficult enough, but with social media.

Comments to random articles to choose, probably it loosely is convenient to define social media really no sho. Suppose the article writing, maintaining a blog/RSS, social bookmarking, Facebook pages means creating a video podcast posting tweets, forums, and attractive.

So far in this response was: "Paul wrote"consultants"alone"at the surface level best"experience,"slightly to create a materials consultant, Facebook fan pages and Twitter accounts to methods other than "but is that it primarily"consultants"all trading Jack several master is not, true maintains. Professed a self-professed "are onerously or social media consultant" in the animate program code design designers, programmers and animators coder is equal to me saying "web designer" when the.

I'm journalist can be up to industry-specific quotes in my argument, but I can certainly write? Not can write searchable headlines I, heading a qualified writer. I can't shoot longer professional videos or write music. He crushed and then, articles "isn't good enough" and clients who "high quality traffic to your drive business to" man called Yoav said that when agreed that lack this substance. Suspected that he is this social marketing consultant to qualify.

I traffic many sites from the site itself often produced most of the blog generation onsite, they disagree on some level. Harm the site ranking in the expansion of the inquiry I indeed.

Others, eased key social media consultant that business owners, task "is simply the time and there's no" and claimed. Understand the resources, commitment and ability to add. When providing content social media configuration and execution of the whole area, it is opposite of "bottom line" for benefits management to introduce complete almost any other secular skill is required.

This is, of course, leads to money. Kate is of the biggest obstacles to consulting for social media roi Manager "proof" and that thought is being able to fail to understand the benefits of top executives often. Only, "and measure return on investment and very difficult to stand-alone outsourcing marketing services functions and have my reason think it will struggle. 」

Mashable wrote ROI subject about last year, says: "return last month, measuring 84% of social media programs that we do not invest (ROI ROI) … Survey reporting companies and executives are starting to finally really the social media bandwagon, and it is awesome. However, completely (in for everyone) can use for social media, social media to evaluate the impact to companies and brands in the positive and negative is both. So it is difficult to track the work that must be evaluated is not social media and measuring ROI is impossible in many difficult.

Until I changed significantly and it is not likely think there need to be clear about the "social media consultant" means in the myriad definitions of various skills. What consent is "the biggest obstacle" managed only convince rather than interact with customers about the products and services measure ROI is issued with a social message. This is but I would argue, everything is all within the umbrella term "social media" is achieved through individual media.

Rather than relying on mere economics are my understanding of social media communications. It is exclusively profit motive by model is a new paradigm. Is the job of advertising. But back to the original question: pay on corporate management Facebook Twitter LinkedIn, social media consultant. If you know the subject is not an unqualified "Yes" consultant

But wait a minute, let's want and extreme assumptions, the companies are in the social media experiment to engage, and sells electronic rats PestStopper online killer. But we are the best disinfection of their English and their product description is shocking we also know that we know.

To write a press release about the ultra efficient RatKiller 3.0 now immediately PestStopper new, adopted. No brochures come with the release, most from their websites collect. So, researching the other rats kill on the Web product prick, in a press release. Posted in social media sites. Then set the Facebook fan page. Post a brief summary about your company and its products. But fans want? Tweet, when people will follow you?

Perhaps there is probably no company 4,166 is the company that sells electronic rat killer Twitter followers like ZeitGeistNews cute puppy sold, but the next problem?

# # #

V9 design and construction (http://www.v9designbuild.com) generates an elegant web design, including managing settings and online stores in Bangkok, Thailand owner, ecommerce shopping cart solution that can function.

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