All My Net Biz

Innovative hydrogen clean energy company HaveBlue LLC is conducting a court ordered sale of equity on February 28, 2007, in downtown Los Angeles. The sale will be by auction 10:00 am, Los Angeles Superior Court, 111 North Hill Street, Department 13, Los Angeles, CA 90012. The company has patents in the marine and boat hydrogen industry.

Los Angeles, CA (http://www.prweb.com/) February 27, 2007 — HaveBlue LLC will have a court ordered sale of 61% of company equity on Wednesday, February 28, 2007.

The auction will take place at 10:00 am, Los Angeles Superior Court, 111 North Hill Street, Department 13, Los Angeles, CA 90012. (BC322152 Los Angeles Superior Court)

The LLC has a US Patent (6,610,193) and patents issued in South Africa, New Zealand and China. The technology solves the hydrogen fuel infrastructure challenge for all marine vessels.

Prior to a legal dispute between members of the HaveBlue LLC, the firm began a private placement with a pre-money valuation of 3,000,000 in 2004.

The private placement was not completed and operations were stopped due to the dispute.

However, the patents in New Zealand and China subsequently issued and the maturity of hybrid drive technologies, the publics understanding of hydrogen fuel cells, the risks of global warming, the contribution to air pollution of marine vessels and the attractive market served by HaveBlue all underline the value of the firms equity.

This is not an offer to sell securities.

http://www.haveblue.com

BARTON HOUSE: Worth, Deal, Kent other pics

BARTON HOUSE: Worth, Deal, Kent (left)

Price: 735,000

Agent: Strutt & Parker

Tel: 01227 451 123

They say: A well-presented family house of classical Georgian proportions which has five bedrooms, a drawing and a dining room as well as a superb kitchen-cum-family room. Outside there is a detached thatched barn and buildings that could be turned into stables for one or two horses.

We say: No need to lift a finger here - everything has been done beautifully. There are lovely gardens and they are surrounded by high walls which add to the feeling of privacy. The barn is empty at the moment but it could be used as extra accommodation or as office space. In Sevenoaks, the same property would cost you well over 1m, so it’s back to that age-old question of space versus location.

THE PENTHOUSE: The Icon, Grosvenor Road, London SW1 (picture 2)

Price: 4.95m

Agent: Knight Frank Riverside

Tel: 020-7590 2450

They say: Designed by Owen Luder, ex-president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, this steel and glass penthouse impresses. It’s on the fifth and sixth floors with double-height ceilings and is flooded with light, with a balcony and terrace.

We say: It’s in the most amazing location and, unusually for a penthouse, it does have size on its side. There are five bedrooms, masses of bathrooms and dressing rooms as well as a large reception. Even the kitchen is big, but then caterers often come in large teams these days.

BETHWIN ROAD: Camberwell, London SE5 (picture 3)

Price: 450,000

Agent: Kinleigh, Folkard & Hayward

Tel: 020-7582 7773

They say: A futuristic timber-clad four- bedroom house which has been constructed in an irregular shape and offers 1,100sq ft of living space arranged over three floors. While the property is innovative and striking externally, inside it is natural and contemporary to complement the bright open-plan living space.

We say: It certainly makes a change from the run-of-the-mill Victorian terraces in this area. The wow factor is all on the outside - inside, it would be easy to stamp your own personality on this house. The catch is that it has no garden, though there are two balconies, and skylight access to a flat roof that could be turned into a terrace.

WASH COTTAGE: Hargrave, Suffolk (picture 4)

Price: 530,000

Agent: Jackson-Stops & Staff

Tel: 01638 622 31

They say: This timber-framed cottage is well maintained and retains an abundance of period features, including exposed timbers and large inglenook fireplace with bread oven and original doors. There are five bedrooms, two reception rooms, large breakfast room, study and hall.

We say: The fifth bedroom is so tiny that you might as well convert it into another bathroom or dressing room. Downstairs there is a lot of space, but all those beams mean it isn’t the lightest house you will ever live in. Outside are a garage block and outbuildings.

NEWLANDS MANOR: Milford on Sea, Hampshire (picture 5)

Price: 1.1m

Agent: Woolley & Wallis

Tel: 01425 472 421

They say: The southwest wing of a large Grade II-listed country house which has nearly two acres of private grounds. There are four bedrooms, all en suite, a baronial dining hall, magnificent drawing room and outbuildings.

We say: Worth buying for the fabulous windows alone, this house is very, very grand with lots of original features.

The smallest bedroom is 20ft by 14ft.

CLARENDON SQUARE: Leamington Spa, Warwickshire (picture 6)

Price: 900,000

Agent: Savills

Tel: 0121-713 4000

They say: This Regency-style town house has six bedrooms, three bathrooms, four receptions, and a courtyard garden. It is arranged over four floors and there is a basement flat available under separate negotiation.

We say: The house is on a very pretty garden square close to the town centre and for another 200,000 you can have the flat below. The downside is the lack of a proper garden - if you’ve got six bedrooms to fill, you might need more outside space.

In a deal that transforms it into a company that will do most of its business in North America, the British passenger transport group today agreed to pay 1.9bn for Laidlaw, the only company in the US and Canada that runs more Yellow Buses than FirstGroup.

Laidlaw also owns the long-distance Greyhound buses although analysts say they could be sold off by FirstGroup to recoup cash.

The deal also transforms FirstGroup’s balance sheet.

It is raising 1.6bn on the debt markets, taking its total borrowings to 2.4bn or four times its expected annual operating earnings.

The rest of the money is being raised on the stock market - 200m today in a placing at 560p, and on completion of the deal a rights issue that could raise a further 175m.

‘This is the right deal at the right time,’ said FirstGroup chief executive Moir Lockhead.

The shares today rose 3p to 564p.

Other stories:
FirstGroup fights unions over bus stake
Virgin Rail lines up East Coast bid
National Express sets sights on GNER line
National Express London bid off rails
FirstGroup steams to 44m on rail boom

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb. 23 (UPI) — While the world focuses on scares of possible pandemic bird flu, the annual seasonal influenza continues to take a worrisome toll on the very young, the elderly and the frail.

But, unless the illness is caused by a bird or rages into a pandemic, influenza is greeted with a shrug.

“There is so much talk of bird flu and fear of the pandemic, but every year we are subject to the serious threat of an outbreak of influenza which can result in severe illness and loss of life,” said John Oxford, professor of virology at St. Bartholomew’s and the Royal London Hospital in the United Kingdom.

Worldwide, seasonal influenza affects 500 million people and claims half a million lives each year, Oxford told United Press International. Regardless of the type of influenza strain that is most dominant each year, influenza’s annual impact on society and the economy accounts for one in 10 of all absences from the workplace and costs $12 billion in lost productivity annually in the United States alone, he said.

A survey released Thursday at a Brussels fair aimed at increasing awareness of influenza illustrates the problem. Researchers interviewed 132 doctors in the United States and Europe on why they tended to limit prescribing medications for treatment of influenza.

– About 23 percent of the physicians said their perception was that influenza was a self-limiting disease.

– About 33 percent of doctors suggested that over-the-counter symptomatic remedies were sufficient to control the disease.

– About 46 percent of doctors said their patients simply do not seek help in time to benefit from medical treatment for influenza.

“People can be complacent about seasonal influenza, but there is much that can be done,” said Ab Osterhaus, professor of virology at Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

“Current tools, such as vaccines and anti-virals, are still under-used despite being both medically and economically justified. It’s important for people to take seasonal influenza seriously and to take precautions to prevent and treat it whilst minimizing its spread.”

H5N1 influenza, the much talked about “bird flu,” is one particular strain of the influenza virus and is only transmitted to humans through close contact with infected birds. As of Feb. 16, 273 people have been infected with the virus, and 167 have died.

Experts believe the next influenza pandemic is inevitable and possibly imminent, and preparations are under way to try and minimize its impact.

Influenza, commonly called “flu,” is an acute respiratory illness that affects the upper and/or lower parts of the respiratory tract and is caused by an influenza virus. Flu is highly contagious and spreads rapidly by coughs and sneezes from people who are already carrying the virus. Patients become ill between 18 and 72 hours after being infected. The most common symptoms of uncomplicated influenza are an abrupt onset of fever, shivering, headache, muscle ache and a dry cough.

“It’s crucial that people take seasonal influenza more seriously than they currently do,” Oxford told UPI. “Just because it raises its ugly head each year does not mean we should overlook it — quite the contrary. We should learn year by year and build up our resources and experience to get rid of it once and for all or at least beat it into swift retreat.

“Doctors and the public alike tend to sit back and let flu run its course, but preventing it and treating it can make a huge difference to minimizing its impact and ultimately curbing its spread.”

He said that the elderly and the very young, and those with chronic medical conditions or weakened immune systems, are most at risk.

“Seasonal influenza spreads simply because people get the flu and then pass it on to others,” Oxford said. “We all should act responsibly to prevent ourselves and our families getting the flu and, if we do get it, to avoid contributing to its spread by passing it on to others, including those most at risk.”

Saying au revoir to their SVR is usually one of the quickest ways for borrowers to cut costs.

The standard variable rate is the “central” rate of lending used by each bank or building society and is affected, although not dictated, by the Bank of England base rate. Compared with other deals offered on mortgages, such as trackers, discounts and fixes, it is notoriously expensive.

Many lenders, including the Halifax, Abbey, Woolwich and Coventry building society, last week raised their SVR to reflect January’s shock quarter-point rise in the base rate to 5.25 per cent.

“Many SVRs are now above 7 per cent and yet you can get a fixed rate for around 5 per cent and a tracker for even less,” says Melanie Bien of broker Savills Private Finance.

Abbey’s SVR, for example, rose to 7.34 per cent on 1 February, while the Woolwich’s ticked up to 7.39 per cent. Specialist lenders have raised their SVRs to even higher levels.

If the base rate is hiked by another 0.25 per cent this week, as some commentators are predicting, homeowners will have to brace themselves for further increases. As many as 30 per cent of home loans are on the SVR, says Darren Cook of financial analyst Moneyfacts.

“Lenders will not disclose actual statistics,” he says. “This would amount to voluntarily stating that a certain amount of borrowers are paying over the odds for their mortgage. Really, lenders should be on the phone to these borrowers directing them to a better deal.”

But in some cases, there may be a good reason to stick with your SVR.

“If you are moving home in the next few months, it might not make sense to switch to a cheaper deal if it also comes with tie-ins and early repayment charges,” warns Ray Boulger of broker John Charcol.

This is because you may find the terms of your new mortgage deal don’t allow you to increase the amount borrowed. If you need extra finance to move home, you may have to break the deal, and pay a penalty to do so.

When on an SVR, you will not be tied into a deal, so hanging in there for a few more months at least gives you the flexibility to redeem the loan penalty-free.

You may also be better off sticking with the SVR if you have a very small mortgage balance, usually around 30,000 or less. This is because the monthly saving may not justify the cost of switching.

“An average arrangement fee now costs around 600,” says Louise Cuming of the price-comparison service Moneysupermarket. “Then you might have a valuation and legal fees to pay, as well as an exit fee from your existing lender. The average exit fee is 200 but Alliance and Leicester charges 290.

“If switching saves you 10 a month on a small mortgage, the fees probably won’t make it worth it.”

However, there are deals available where the borrower doesn’t have to fork out a penny if they want to leave. For those with a deposit of at least 20 per cent of their property value, the Woolwich has a lifetime tracker payable at base rate plus 0.39 per cent, giving a current pay rate of 5.64 per cent. This is 1.75 per cent cheaper than paying the same lender’s SVR, equivalent to a monthly saving of 219 on a 25-year 200,000 repayment mortgage.

Ms Bien says: “It used to be the case that you could justify being on the SVR if it was only for a short while. Perhaps you were planning to move or had just a small mortgage left. But now there are a number of penalty-free trackers that you can get out of at any time.”

When switching to a tracker loan, make sure you choose one that is linked to the base rate rather than an SVR, as lenders are within their rights to increase SVRs by more than the base rate.

Tracey and Brian Lutman from Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex have been paying Nationwide’s Base Mortgage Rate (the lender’s SVR) since their fixed-rate deal expired a year ago.

The repayments on their three-bed bungalow went up on 1 February when the building society increased its BMR to 6.74 per cent, but the couple intend to stick with their current deal.

Mrs Lutman, 48, a catering manager for the NHS, says: “We only have 14,000 left on the mortgage, which we’re scheduled to clear in one year and seven months, so it’s not worth the potential costs and hassle of switching.

“Nationwide’s BMR is comparatively very low anyway and we have been more than happy with the lender. We’re aware our payments will increase but they were only 80 a month anyway, so it’s not going to make much difference. It’s all swings and roundabouts.”