iPhone Flash Support In Early Development

• Filed under: news

During Adobe’s quarterly conference call last night, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen confirmed that the company was working on a version of Flash for the iPhone.

With respect to the iPhone, we are working on it. We have a version that’s working on the emulation. This is still on the computer and you know, we have to continue to move it from a test environment onto the device and continue to make it work. So we are pleased with the internal progress that we’ve made to date.

Apple has been working on a JavaScript framework called SproutCore that would reduce, but not necessarily eliminate, web application dependence on Flash.

How to Take Control of Your Credit Cards

• Filed under: Money Matters

Declined? How to Fight Back and Get Out of Debt

By Suze Orman

I’m all for taking credit where credit is due, but when it comes to credit cards, way too many of you are overdoing it. For Americans who don’t pay their entire credit card bill each month, the average balance is close to $4,000. And when we zoom in on higher-income folks—those with annual incomes between $75,000 and $100,000—the average balance clocks in at nearly $8,000. If you’re paying, say, 18 percent interest on an $8,000 balance, and you make only the 2 percent minimum payment due each month, you are going to end up paying more than $22,000 in interest over the course of the 54 years it will take to get the balance down to zero.

That’s absolute insanity.

And absolutely unnecessary.

If you have the desire to take control of your credit card mess, you can. It’s just a matter of choice. I am not saying it will be easy, but there are plenty of strategies that can put you on a path out of credit card hell. And as I explain in the accompanying sidebar, even those of you who can’t seem to turn the corner and become credit responsible on your own, can get plenty of help from qualified credit counseling services.

Building a Nest Egg on One Salary

• Filed under: Money Matters

Building a Nest Egg on a Single Salary Is Hard, but Not Impossible

By Suze Orman

Whether you are a single parent, or a couple with one of you at home full-time, figuring out how to pay for the everyday expenses of being a family while also saving for retirement on just one paycheck is a tough challenge.

To pull it off you need discipline and perspective. Discipline to commit to a strategy and stick with it. And perspective to recognize what truly matters in your life. Because the bottom line is that stretching one paycheck to cover the costs of today and the savings needed for tomorrow requires making tradeoffs.

Your Credit Scores: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

• Filed under: Money Matters

Are Your Finances Healthy or High Risk?

By Suze Orman

I know you know your SAT score.

And I bet you know your cholesterol score.

Some of you could probably rip off the phone numbers of old boyfriends and girlfriends you haven’t spoken to in 10 years.

So tell me something. If you’re so good with numbers, why don’t you know your credit score?

I recently spoke to a large audience of successful business people and asked them if they knew their FICO score. I got plenty of reassuring nods. But I know better. A few minutes later, when I mentioned how to get your FICO credit score, everyone whipped out their pens and Blackberrys to take down the info.

It never fails: no matter who’s in the audience, I typically get a 70 to 90 percent failure rate when I ask who knows their credit score and why it matters.

This has got to stop. Right now.

How Much Should You Spend on a Vacation?

• Filed under: Money Matters

Everyone Deserves Some R&R, but Don’t Let Your Vacation Break the Bank

By Suze Orman

As far as I am concerned, vacations are a necessity, not a luxury. But where I see so many people take a wrong turn is when they spend money for a luxury vacation that they can’t afford.

While I think one of the best things you can do for yourself, your family, and yes, the quality of your work, is to take a break every now and then to recharge the batteries, it makes absolutely no sense to book a vacation that will blow your bank account. You end up spending one week enjoying yourself, and the other 51 weeks of the year stressing over the huge new load of debt you racked up by putting the plane tickets, hotel, and restaurant bills on a credit card you have no way of paying off any time in the foreseeable future.

Or even worse, you think it’s totally okay to pile up the credit card balance for your vacation, because you think you deserve to indulge yourself given how hard you work!

That’s the story I got the other day at the hairdresser. The woman washing my hair and I were chatting and she tells me she has just returned from the most wonderful vacation…that cost her $4,000. Now this is someone who is probably lucky to make $7 or so an hour plus tips. She then tells me she’s got it all under control; she just put it on her low-rate credit card, like all her other vacations. Turns out she thinks 12 percent is low, and, worse, seemed unconcerned about the $25,000 balance she’d rung up so far.

There’s no telling what type of reaction I might have had if it weren’t for the water hose she had aimed at my head. I remained calm and simply asked her if she could do it all over again, would she try and take less expensive vacations. I was expecting a moment of revelation when she would see the danger of what she was doing. Instead, here’s what I got:

“Suze, I work so hard I deserve to treat myself to a great vacation. I don’t care what it costs.” I asked her if she ever worried about the hole she was digging and she told me, “Only when I think about it. So I just don’t go there or I would get too stressed out.”

That approach stresses me out! Come on, people. I get that everyone deserves a vacation but here’s what you also really deserve: a secure life where you aren’t buried in credit card or home equity debt, and the confidence that you are on course to be able to retire comfortably.

If your vacation spending is compromising any of your financial goals I am sorry to say that your brain is already on permanent vacation.

In Five Signs You Should Stay Home, I spell out the major money moves you need to take care of before you start booking a big-time vacation at a five-star resort.

But here’s a great rule of thumb: if you will need to pay interest to finance the vacation—meaning if you can’t pay off the whole credit card charge when it comes in—the hard truth is that you can’t afford the vacation.

How to Teach Your Kids About Money

• Filed under: Money Matters

From ATM Etiquette to Allowances, How to Raise Your Children Into Financially Fit Adults

By Suze Orman

The single most important step in raising a money-wise child is simply for parents to be money-wise adults themselves. And that’s where so many well-intentioned moms and dads seriously drop the ball.

Look, we all know that kids are sponges. They don’t do as you say, they do as you do. Kids study your every move, and unfortunately I see plenty of parents imparting some pretty awful financial moves.

I will never forget the time I sat down with a class of eight- and nine-year-olds and asked them what their greatest fear was. I didn’t even say money fear—just plain old fear. One of the children stepped right up and flatly told me her biggest fear was that she would end up having to support her parents. I was of course stunned by this and asked why she felt that way. She said she constantly heard her parents arguing at night and her mother telling her father things like, “If you don’t stop buying all those expensive electronic gadgets we are going to end up in the poor house. And then who will support us?” But what truly scared me was when I asked the other kids if anybody else felt like this, nearly every one of them seemed to have a similar story.

Parents, I know you want the best for your children. So you should realize how much that means making sure you’ve got your own financial act together. Children who watch parents do stuff like ring up huge credit card bills buying goodies and vacations they can’t afford tend to dig the same financial holes themselves as adults. Whatever you may say to the contrary, a child who sees bills pile up unpaid is getting a damaging lesson in managing money—one they may struggle all their lives to overcome, just as the children of folks who don’t eat right or exercise enough so often grow up to suffer through variations on those same bad habits, even when they’ve been “taught” to know better.

The Key to Your Home’s Value

• Filed under: Money Matters

A Different Spin on the Old “Location” Theory

By Suze Orman

Today’s crazy-hot housing market makes that old saying “Location, location, location” a risky rule to follow.

The conventional wisdom is that the smartest real estate move is to buy a home in the best neighborhood you can afford, in the most desirable town in your area. Home buyers are bombarded with advice to buy into the best location possible, even if it means stretching their housing budget.

In normal times I would tell you that is perfectly fine advice. But let’s face it, real estate ain’t normal these days. In some of the hottest markets the annual appreciation rates have been 10 percent, 20 percent, or even 30 percent and higher. And, no surprise, the biggest appreciation tends to be in those major metro areas that are deemed the “most desirable” locations: New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, Miami, Boston, and so on. Those markets are too hot, if you ask me. I am not suggesting that home values in those areas are going to plummet. Homes are not stocks. They won’t go into a steep swoon like you saw in the technology market a few years ago, for the simple reason that everybody has to have a place to live. Hey, when you sell a stock you never ever have to buy another one. Sell your home, however, and you either have to rent from someone else who owns one, or you have to buy another. Real estate usually serves a dual purpose, being both a home and an investment. That makes the housing market a lot more stable than the stock market—which is why, long-term, I still think real estate is a terrific investment. It’s just that I also think there’s no way it can continue at this torrid pace. So forget projecting double-digit gains out into the future. Over the long-term, you should be pleased with 4 percent or so average annual appreciation.

Moreover, there are a few reasons why I think this adjustment in the housing market is going to happen sooner rather than later. First, too many people are starting to talk about the “bubble,” “froth,” and “irrational exuberance.” When it comes to markets, if there’s enough talk about something, whether or not it’s entirely accurate to begin with, people start to believe it and end up making it come true. Next, too many people are buying homes they can’t really afford, out of fear of “missing out.” I have said it over and over again: that fear is the number one psychological obstacle to wealth. It causes you to buy at the wrong time, sell at the wrong time, and generally make moves that are losers. One particular loser move I see being made quite often today are these “interest-only” loans. I will explain more about why I think they’re losers in a moment, but first let me just say forebodingly that if the number of interest-only loans continues to grow at the current pace, I expect trouble. The reason is that when these loans convert from the smaller payments that are being made, to the true payments that are owed, the potential inability of many investors to make those payments could have a significant adverse effect on the entire real estate market—not just on the folks who can’t pay their notes. The bottom line is that we all should start being careful with our real estate investments.

A Couple Guide to Managing Money

• Filed under: Money Matters

Staying Financially in Synch, ‘Til Death Do You Part

By Suze Orman

You marry for love, but don’t think that love is all it takes to stay married.

For my money, not being on the same page financially is a sure ticket to marital discord, if not divorce. Based on thousands of conversations with stressed-out spouses over the years—from newlyweds to couples working on their 20th anniversary—an inability to agree on money matters is one of the leading causes of busted relationships.

And it makes perfect sense. The simple truth is that money issues are with us every day. For couples who are renting, there’s the pressure to save up fast for a down payment—which is especially intense in this hot housing market—followed by the stress of trying to choose the right mortgage. Meanwhile, couples these days that own a place are wondering if it makes sense to take advantage of the big run-up in home values and do a cash-out refi, or use their home equity to pay off credit card debt, the kids’ college bills, or a five-star vacation. Then there’s retirement to worry about. From your 401(k) to a Roth IRA, the two of you have to make all the decisions, which means plenty of opportunity to disagree with your partner. Add in the ongoing worry about being able to afford your kid’s college education, or pay off a dangerous five-figure credit card balance, and you and your significant other are surely not going to get by on love alone.

You get my point: money is front and center in our lives. So if you and your partner aren’t in financial sync, your marriage is going to be in deep trouble.

Apria Healthcare Group Inc. Agrees to be Acquired by Affiliate of the Blackstone Group

• Filed under: news

by:Press Release

LAKE FOREST, Calif., June 19, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) — Apria Healthcare Group Inc. (NYSE:AHG - News), a leading home healthcare services company, today announced it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with an affiliate of The Blackstone Group (NYSE:BX - News) in a transaction valued at approximately $1.6 billion.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, Apria shareholders will receive $21.00 in cash for each outstanding share of common stock they hold. The $21.00 per share in cash purchase price represents a premium of approximately 33% over the closing share price on Wednesday, June 18, 2008, the last trading day prior to today’s announcement, and a premium of approximately 29% over Apria’s $16.22 average closing share price for the 30 trading days ended June 18, 2008.

The independent members of Apria’s Board of Directors have unanimously approved the merger agreement and will recommend that Apria shareholders adopt the agreement.

The transaction will be financed through a combination of equity contributed by Blackstone and debt financing committed by affiliates of Bank of America, Wachovia and Barclays Capital. Upon completion of the merger, Apria will become a private company, wholly-owned by Blackstone and its affiliates. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2008, subject to customary closing conditions. The corporate headquarters of Apria Healthcare will remain in Lake Forest, California; its infusion division headquarters will remain in Denver, Colorado.

“After careful analysis, the Board has endorsed this transaction as being in the best interest of our shareholders,” said Lawrence M. Higby, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Apria Healthcare. “We are excited about teaming up with Blackstone to continue pursuing our goals of growth while continually improving operating efficiencies and enhancing our service for all of the patients and customers we serve. We are delighted that a company with the resources and reputation of Blackstone recognizes the value inherent in the service-first approach that our associates across the country deliver every day. Blackstone brings an experienced group of long-term healthcare investors who are committed to reinforcing our company’s mission of being our patients’ and customers’ first choice for homecare services in the United States.”

The completion of the merger is subject to terms and conditions customary for transactions of this type, including approval by Apria’s shareholders, termination or expiration of the Hart-Scott-Rodino regulatory waiting period and other customary closing conditions. Apria will solicit shareholder approval at a special meeting which is expected to occur as early as September 2008.

Under the merger agreement, Apria and its advisors are permitted and intend to solicit alternative acquisition proposals from third parties until July 24, 2008. After that date, Apria is not permitted to solicit alternate acquisition proposals and may only respond to certain unsolicited proposals prior to obtaining Apria shareholder approval. Apria advises that there can be no assurance that the solicitation of superior proposals will result in an alternative transaction. Apria does not intend to disclose developments with respect to this solicitation process unless and until its Board of Directors has made a decision regarding any alternative proposal. If Apria’s Board accepts a superior proposal, the merger agreement would be terminated and Apria would be obligated to pay a break-up fee.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as financial advisor to Apria’s Board of Directors, and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP acted as legal advisor to Apria. Munger Tolles & Olson LLP acted as legal advisor to the independent members of Apria’s Board of Directors. Banc of America Securities LLC, Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC and Barclays Capital acted as financial advisors and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal advisors to Blackstone.

Credit Facility

Apria also entered into a $280 million credit facility with affiliates of Bank of America, Wachovia and Barclays Capital. Proceeds of the new credit facility will be used to fund potential repurchases of Apria’s 3.375% Convertible Senior Notes due 2033 and to pay certain tax liabilities related thereto.

About Apria Healthcare Group Inc.

Apria is a national provider of a broad range of home healthcare services and products including home infusion therapy, home respiratory therapy and home medical equipment. Through approximately 550 respiratory and infusion therapy locations serving patients in all 50 states, Apria and its operating divisions serve over two million patients per year. In addition to serving patients who are covered by government insurers, Apria has over 2,000 preferred provider contracts with managed care organizations nationwide. With over $1.6 billion in annual net revenues ($2.1 billion if Coram, which Apria acquired in December 2007, were included for the full year), it is the nation’s leading home healthcare company. For more information, visit http://www.apria.com or http://www.coramhc.com.

About The Blackstone Group

Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment and advisory firms. They seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for their investors, the companies they invest in, the companies they advise and the broader global economy. They do this through the commitment of extraordinary people and flexible capital. Blackstone’s alternative asset management businesses include the management of corporate private equity funds, real estate funds, hedge funds, funds of funds, debt funds, collateralized loan obligation vehicles (CLOs) and closed-end mutual funds. The Blackstone Group also provides various financial advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advisory, restructuring and reorganization advisory and fund placement service. Further information is available at http://www.blackstone.com.

Additional Information

Apria will promptly file with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) a Current Report on Form 8-K, which will include the merger agreement and related documents. The proxy statement that Apria plans to file with the SEC and mail to its shareholders will contain information about Apria, Blackstone, the proposed merger and related matters. Shareholders are urged to read the proxy statement carefully when it is available, as it will contain important information that stockholders should consider before making a decision about the merger. In addition to receiving the proxy statement from Apria by mail, stockholders will also be able to obtain the proxy statement, as well as other filings containing information about Apria, without charge, from the SEC’s website (http://www.sec.gov) or, without charge, from Apria. This announcement is neither a solicitation of proxy, an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell shares of Apria.

Apria and its executive officers and directors may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from Apria’s shareholders with respect to the proposed merger. Information regarding any interests that Apria’s executive officers and directors may have in the transaction will be set forth in the proxy statement.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains various “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the proposed acquisition of Apria by Blackstone and the risks and uncertainties related to the occurrence of future events. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about the current economic environment, Apria and its industry. Certain factors that could cause actual events not to occur as expressed in these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the failure to obtain (i) the necessary approval by Apria’s stockholders and (ii) antitrust clearance in a timely manner or at all, as well as the satisfaction of various other closing conditions contained in the merger agreement. Other potential risks and uncertainties are discussed in Apria’s reports and other documents filed with the SEC from time to time. Apria assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements are based upon many estimates and assumptions and are inherently subject to significant economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of Apria’s management. Inclusion of such forward-looking statements herein should not be regarded as a representation by Apria that the statements will prove to be correct.

Dow closes below 12,000 on bank jitters, oil prices

• Filed under: news

by Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell sharply on Friday with the Dow closing below 12,000 for the first time since mid-March as rising oil prices and warnings of more mortgage-related write-downs at banks reignited investor fears of worse to come.

Adding to the pessimism, S&P said it may cut its ratings on Ford Motor Co, General Motors and Chrysler LLC, citing financial damage from high gasoline prices. GM shares fell 6.8 percent and Ford tumbled 8.1 percent.

Oil prices shot up 2 percent to $134.70 a barrel on Middle East tensions and a weak dollar, compounding already elevated fears about inflation and consumer spending.

The session started on a negative note, as investors dumped commercial bank shares after Merrill Lynch said it sees dividend cuts and the need to raise more capital at Bank of America, Regions Financial, SunTrust Banks and Wachovia Corp.

“You have a number of issues starting with the continual write-down of subprime loans,” said Angel Mata, managing director of listed equity trading at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets in Baltimore.

“I think earnings reports for the second quarter are being looked at the lower end of (forecast) ranges,” Mata said. “The effect of the oil situation has significantly affected the consumer, making them spend less outside of gasoline which they need to go from point A to point B.”

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 220.40 points, or 1.83 percent, at 11,842.69. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ended 24.90 points, or 1.85 percent, lower at 1,317.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index finished down 55.97 points, or 2.27 percent, at 2,406.09.

For the week the Dow ended 3.8 percent lower, the S&P fell 3.1 percent and Nasdaq dropped 2 percent.

The Dow closed at its second-lowest level this year and below 12,000 for the first time since March 17.

The Dow and S&P are both down more than 10 percent so far this year, while the Nasdaq has fallen 9.3 percent in 2008.

On Friday, all but one of the 30 Dow components ended in the red. Coca-Cola Co was the sole gainer, rising 0.6 percent to $53.66.

Leading the Dow percentage losers was General Motors, down $1.00 to $13.79. Rival Ford fell 51 cents to $5.81.

Technology shares also fell broadly.

Sandisk Corp, the world’s No. 1 supplier of flash memory-based data storage cards used in music players and mobile phones, plummeted 9.7 percent to $21.16 after Citigroup cut its rating on the stock, citing slowing demand.

Among financial stocks, Bank of America lost 3.7 percent to $27.10 and Wachovia fell 1.9 percent to $17.43.

Shares of Merrill Lynch and other investment banks also took a hit as rumors circulated among traders that Merrill may give a profit warning and take additional write-downs on its mortgage holdings. Merrill’s stock fell 4.6 percent to $35.95. A Merrill Lynch spokeswoman declined to comment.

Also in the mortgage-related sector, two Wall Street investment banks cut their earnings estimates for top U.S. home finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, citing persistent erosion in U.S. housing and mortgage credit.

The companies account for the issuance of most mortgage-backed bonds. Fannie Mae fell 4.8 percent to $23.81 and Freddie Mac lost 7.7 percent to $21.82.

Adding to Friday’s volatility was the quarterly expiration of June stock and stock index futures and options as investors offset or close out their positions at the last minute, traders said, describing what is termed as “quadruple witching.”

“Quadruple witching played a big part today because we are seeing heavy volume in the market overall as people unwind their June futures, options and stock positions,” said Joe Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at online brokerage thinkorswim Inc in Chicago.