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Friday, November 9, 2007

Headlines---

Correction: Rosanne, Wilson, CLP NAELB report
    Classified Ads---Controller
        Mea Culpa: Jim Raeder—Mark McQuitty Busted
    Jim Raeder to Leasing News, August 30, 2001:
Cartoon---Legal Jargon
    NAELB “Best Practices Broker”
        Classified Ads---Help Wanted
    Direct Capital’s Mike Murray retires
Sales makes it Happen—by Doug Dawkins, CLP
“Purchase Orders” Redux
    CIT appoints Donald Crecca VP Biz Development
        WaMu pounded again
    Capital One Stock Suffers
30-year fixed mortgage rates fall,5 month low
    Fed Chairman Forecasts Slowdown in U.S. Economy
        News Briefs---
You May have Missed---
Some Google with your gas?
    "Gimme that Wine"
        Calendar Events
Snapple Real Facts
    Today's Top Event in History
        This Day in American History
Football Poem
    SuDoku
        Daily Puzzle
News on Line---Internet Newspapers
Santa Barbara, California

######## surrounding the article denotes it is a “press release”

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Correction: Rosanne, Wilson, CLP NAELB report

In the National Association of Equipment Leasing Easter Regional Meeting by Rosanne Wilson, CLP, the wrong "latest CLP" was named. Rosanne asked us to make the correction on line, as Leasing News did, plus to make a formal correction in this edition:

"Paul Nibarger, CLP then rose to the Podium and introduced Chris Cooper of Alternative Capital, Apollo Beach, Florida who is the newest member to pass the CLP exam. There was a round of applause to recognize Chris for his efforts in achieving this highest certification in our industry."

NAELB Eastern Regional Conference
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/November%202007/11-07-07.htm#naelb

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Classified Ads---Controller

Boca Raton, FL
CPA w/ Sarbanes Oxley/ 15 years management exp. as CFO/ Controller/5 yrs w/ PWC Extensive exp providing accounting/ tax guidance for the equipment lease industry. Willing to relocate.
Email: bltushin@hotmail.com
Chicago, IL
experienced in lease accounting, operations, management, and Sarbanes-Oxley. Seeking position with equipment lessor. Would consider contract assignments or relocating.
Email: leasecontroller@comcast.net
Southeastern, MI
Controller & Management experience w/ equip lessors &broker. MBA, CPA w/ extensive accounting, management, securitization experience with public and private companies. Willing to relocate.
Email: Leasebusiness@aol.com
West Palm Beach, FL
CPA/CFO/Controller/Due Diligence Officer/SOX Lead seeking position.
Email: obrienhowardj@aol.com

To place a free “job wanted” ad here, please go to:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted-post.htm

For a full listing of all “job wanted” ads, please go to:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted.htm

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Mea Culpa: Jim Raeder—Mark McQuitty Busted

by Christopher Menkin


Jim Raeder aka “The bad boy of leasing.”


Mark McQuitty aka “The Blacks Leader (New Zealand soccer team)”

Leasing News named the names yesterday in the Raeder-McQuitty bust. Several of the people listed have reportedly pled to an "information" and will not be formally indicted or go to trial.

There are more to be “indicted' that are a part of this overall take down and who were not listed. At this time, we are unable to divulge information and await information/permission to explain the full circumstances to readers. There is a lot more to this story.

Leasing News can tell you what is now public knowledge:

Those named to date:

James T. Raeder II, 42, of Mission Viejo, who worked at Capitalwerks/Preferred Lease
Mark McQuitty, 46, of Trabuco Canyon, who worked at Capitalwerks/Preferred Lease
Richard Norris, 60, of Los Angeles, who worked at Capitalwerks/Preferred Lease
Anthony E. Watson, 61, of San Clemente, who worked at Capitalwerks/Preferred Lease
Douglas Cox, 37, of Rancho Santa Margarita, who worked at Capitalwerks/Preferred Lease
Adam Zuckerman, 37, of Laguna Beach, who worked at Brickbanc
Kirk McMahan, 31, of Newport Beach, who worked at Brickbanc
Paul Arnold, 56, of Laguna Hills, who worked at Brickbanc
Geoff Silver, 35, of Calabasas, who worked at Silver Industries
Brian Sime, 29, of Irvine, who worked at Brickbanc
John J. Callaghan, 38, of Warminster, Pennsylvania, who worked at Citicapital
Leo Najera, 28, of Mission Viejo, who worked at ECCI
John Budge, 38, of Sartell, Minnesota, who worked at Bach Business Credit
Leigh Dorand, 42, of Phoenix, who worked at Tech Capital
James Breedlove, 51, of Newport Beach, who worked at Santa Fe Equipment
Mark Castleman, 47, of Chino Hills, who worked at Industrial Information Systems
Les Spitzer, 60, of Grenada Hills, who worked at Pyramid Infinite
George Simon, 38, of Redondo Beach, who worked at Advantage IT Solutions
Jeff Greenough, 48, of Laguna Beach, who worked at Peniche
Troy Worrell, 47, of Newport Beach, who worked at Peniche;
Lourey McComber, 53, of Prescott Valley, Arizona, who worked at Peniche
Harold Gold, 75, of Falmouth, Massachusetts, who worked at Leasing Services
Nohad Mousa, 40, of Anaheim, who worked at Saut Wa Soora, Inc.

On Wednesday, the FBI investigation dubbed Operation Lease Fleece charged 23 in their roles in a fraud scheme that allegedly caused more than $20 million in losses to several lending institutions that believed they were financing equipment leases. Perhaps the ring leaders were officers of CapitalWerks, Santa Ana, California. The company reportedly has been in a “wind down” mode for the last year.

Attempts were made to reach both the co-founders of CapitalWerks Jim Raeder and Mark McQuitty by e-mail and telephone. No response. Any statement they would like to make, Leasing News would like to print un-edited.

A call to Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Waier was not returned.

Hundreds of bogus equipment-lease packages with fake invoices were presented to financial institutions, the G men state. There were several insiders, and informants turning evidence, including assistance by CitiCapital, the leasing division of Citibank, which suffered an estimated $9.5 million in losses. CitiCapital in their “due diligence” had discovered that one of their employees had perpetuated the fraud. There is more to this story, which may come out when collaborated. Others unknowingly to the fake invoices include Wells Fargo Bank, GE Capital, American Enterprise Leasing, Key Bank, Bank of America and U.S. Bank.

Surprisingly on the list is 75 year old Harold Gold, who had pleaded guilty to a similar charge in 1998. At sentencing, he begged the judge for a lenient sentence due to his age, saying he would never do it again. In his pleas for leniency, Gold did admit to the judge that there was "no excuse" for his criminal conduct. By the way, at the time, he was a very well-known lessor on the East Coast, reportedly active in the Eastern Association of Equipment Lessors as Graphics Leasing Corp.

May 4, 2000 Harold Gold was released from prison for good behavior. He had been sentenced to 21 months, coupled with a $5,000 fine. In 1998, GOLD had pled guilty earlier to evading a substantial portion of his personal income taxes for the years 1988 and 1989 and to three counts charging him with defrauding his funding source, CFX Funding, LLC, in New Hampshire.

According to the First Assistant United States Attorney Mark W. Pearlstein, Gold was particularly deserving of a jail sentence because he has apparently been engaged in the same or similar criminal conduct throughout the nation even since pleading guilty.

Now that he is 75, he will again ask for leniency, due to his age, no doubt, and promise never to do this again.

Leigh Dorand (listed):

‘I am sure you have seen the article in the OC Register where 23 defendants have been named as defendants by Federal Authorities. The person that I did not disclose to you on my previous email that was paid approximately $90K, by Sebrim Systems/dba Trynetics was Leigh Dorand of Tech Capital. I had reported this to the Phoenix Police Department and the US Attorneys office and received the typical response of "This sound like a civil matter".’

(name with held)

The party above is one of many that sent information to Leasing News.

Mea Culpa:

First, let me say that a person is “innocent until proven guilty.”
From the many, many e-mails, no one has said anything positive, several: “That’s good news I hope they throw away the key.” Unfortunately, its bad news: leasing gets another “black eye.”
We, again, have failed to police ourselves.

Second, Leasing News has been writing for over a year how such fraud could have been prevented, including the recent frauds of AllServe, CyberNet, NorVergence, Security Finance (Pennsylvania) by using “site inspections.”

One insider told Leasing News that “site inspections” were utilized on some of the larger transactions in the present alleged fraud, not the smaller ones, and the inspectors were fooled, or equipment was there and then shipped back the next day:

“...most everyone, especially Citi don't do site inspections -why should they. These were "hell or high water' leases that are likely booked and depreciated on the balance sheet as loans rather than leases. The technical diff is making it a $1 buyout (which takes the whole truth in lending compliance entailment out of the equation, allowing the banks to become loan sharks disguised as lessors). The banks could care less about the equipment as collateral, since their model is not "asset backed," but underwritten by (algorithms based scoring systems) that automatically spit out $50-100k approvals (depending on the no doc threshold) per bank, and to anyone who can match that matrix as a corp with no PG. The banks new they had a golden model to lend money for equipment rather than as working capital at 16-21% rather than provided working capital under much stricter guidelines.

“Citi - two, preferably three years in biz (buy a shell, build your dnb, put the right SIC code on, name your revs, employees over 10, paydex 75 or better, and comp trades (that are nothing more than other sham companies giving each other high credits), and boom, you're done. All you need is one of these "pop up" fake brokers (most of which built by Capitalwerks), and many of which created... made it all possible to turn "Blinky boxes" into money.

“They also fooled site inspectors... these blinky boxes were put in beautiful and very impressive 2u and 4u rack server cases, each serialized separately. The dumbos just came out, took one look, asked if the stuff works, and checked the box. 24 hours later the verbal came and $100k was on its way to the vendor, who would then cover $5k for the actual equipment, take 2% for doing the deal, pay a clearing house the balance (a shield set up by the fraud org like CapitalWerks to cut back the rebates to the customer so technically the vendor was not in violation of the agreement with the bank), and the house kept about $30-40% of the cash and split it down the line to ******,*****,*****, and then eventually to Mark McQuitty's washing machine company named "all black investments," which is where Raeder than got his cut.

“In some cases, Raeder's vendors would ship out equipment for a site and then have it shipped back the next day. “

(name with held)

Third, Leasing News cooperates with governmental agencies, as well as “insiders” who have information, but need to make “arrangements” with authorities and their attorneys. In addition, the IRS is also involved, as well as the US government postal authorities, who have also a record of sending those who collected advance rentals or fraud through the US mails ( Parker, Drayer, and
Leasing News has written about several of them.)

Fourth, while we have reported that all the complaints brought to Leasing News in the last seven years have been resolved by Jim Raeder of Preferred Lease/CapitalWerks, according to all those who have made the complaint, there is more: It is also true that the company Leasing news has received the most complaints about is Preferred Lease/CapitalWerks, perhaps over 50 (fifty.) If a complaint is satisfied, it is not recorded on the Bulletin Board or “counted.”

There are other companies who have had over ten complaints, several at five or six complaints, especially if you consider they close down one company and start another. Leasing News estimates $7 million has been returned to those who have made complaints here. The goal has been to help those who have made complaints with our only advantage: not to print the complaint as it has been “satisfied.”

Several years ago a new policy was adopted, with the poll of readers: complaints printed could be removed if the party satisfied the person who made the complaint, or if there are extenuating circumstances brought to our attention. So far, twelve have been removed from the Bulletin Board Complaint and their stories removed from our archives (through the years, Leasing News articles have moved often to the top ten in the search engines.)

The facts are Preferred Capital/CapitalWerks is well known, with a New York Times story on advance rentals, plus a jury in Alabama awarded $9 million to a plaintiff regarding false advertising, which reportedly was over turned because the dollar amount was too high for the offense of a fax approval of a lease, and key personnel left recently to start their own company.

Jim Raeder confirmed that his company is not licensed by the California Department of Corporations for a Finance Lenders License, although a complaint may be filed against his company.

Jim Raeder told Leasing News his company was acting as a broker
and in 18 years no one has asked him for a license. The fact that funders would work with an unlicensed company in personal property broker puts them in peril for usury and recourse against the lessee. More important, the unlicensed company is not regulated or required to make annual reports to the California Department of Corporations.

When the New York Times article came out regarding leasing companies keeping advance rentals, Mr. Raeder requested a retraction from the editors, claiming the facts were inaccurate.
To date, the New York Times has not made a retraction to the article they printed. News about the activities of CapitalWerks has been known to many in the industry for quite some time:

Capitalwerks Mark McQuitty response to NY Times story:
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/Preferred_Lease.pdf

August 12, 2004 New York Times Capitalwerks story:
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/CapitaWerks.pdf

CapitalWerks Alabama Jury $9 Million Award Tossed Out
from Jim Raeder, president, CapitalWerks

http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/April%202005/4-26-05.htm#capital

CapitalWerks $9 Million Alabama Judgment
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/CapitalWerks_Judgement.htm

CapitalWerks Better Business Bureau Report:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Pages/CapitalWerks_bbb2.htm

Jim Raeder biography:
http://www.leasingnews.org/articles.doc/Raeder_bio.htm

Jim Raeder-Mark McQuitty Busted stories:
http://www.ocregister.com/news/equipment-leasing-capitalwerks-1918059-bank-lease
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071108/lease_scheme.html?.v=1
Raeder Nice life until----
http://www.capitalwerksleasing.com/capitalwerksllc.html

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Jim Raeder to Leasing News, August 30, 2001:

“The blatantly defamatory comments you allow to be spewed on your newsletter and rumored in the industry will no longer be tolerated. It's a shame that our industry, one that currently struggles to stay competitive, has succumbed to a fratricidal frenzy, initiated by the hapless and mediocre of our brethren, has now forced those of us who are serious professionals, to resort to legal means to protect the interests and jobs of our employees and our organizations.

“For the strong to survive, the weak must perish…it’s nature’s law. Let’s focus not on the successful, but direct our efforts at excising the mediocre from our midst...those who claw at the lonely fraudulent deal to pay for their overpriced homes or lavish offices. Perhaps now we can all get back to work and stick to fact not fiction.”

Sincerely, J. Raeder
http://two.leasingnews.org/archives/August01/8-30-01.htm

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NAELB “Best Practices Broker”

Compiled by Sonia v. M. Stoddard, Stoddard & Associates, Los Angeles, CA. NAELB Director-at-Large, Communications Committee Liaison

The National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers was originally founded with the goal of bringing an ethical business standard to the forefront of our industry and to create a standard that brokers, funders, and associate members would operate under. From our inception, we have worked to communicate the importance of these standards to those in our industry and the general public. As our association has grown to become an organization of national prominence, we have been successful in introducing our Code of Ethics on a national level through the growth of our membership.

Through these efforts and the continuing educational opportunities that come with membership, it is the natural progression that the association should move to offer certification for our members that recognizes ones ability to apply the Code of Ethics to everyday business practices. By one’s membership in the NAELB, it is understood that we promise to abide by the Code of Ethics. Through the certification process, we are displaying that we have demonstrated our ability to apply the Code to general business practices in situations that we may face during our daily business operations. Those passing the ethics exam have earned the right to utilize the “NAELB Best Practices Broker” certification that is licensed by the NAELB.

The test is available at the annual, as well as regional conferences of the NAELB. In addition, the test is now available on-line, on an appointment basis. The exam consists of two parts, twenty multiple-choice questions and five essay questions. The successful candidate will achieve a score of 90% on the multiple-choice part of the test and 80% on the essay portion of the test. Those wishing to sit for the NAELB Best Practices exam must be a broker member in good standing for two years, approved by the NAELB Board of Directors to be of good ethical character. See www.NAELB.org site for specific details.

    The passing candidates will be entitled to use the designation “NAELB Best Practices Broker” on their company business cards, letterhead, stationery, marketing materials, and the like. With this certification comes great responsibility as you operate your daily business, for it will require you to operate to the highest of ethical standards as outlined within the Code. The designation may be used in any manner seen appropriate, including informing the broker’s customers, vendors, and funders, of the designation.

Sonia v.M.Stoddard

www.StoddardAssociates.com
310.390.2009 direct line/office
888.842.7008 NAELB-related business (toll free)

"Luck is the residue of design." Branch Rickey
"Energy follows intention." Anonymous

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Leasing Industry Help Wanted

Sr. Lease Contract Specialist


EFD Direct Lease
Sr. Lease Contract Specialist
Walnut Creek, CA

You will create all necessary lease and loan documentation for complex direct equipment leases. Requires a BA or equivalent & 6+ years of leasing and contract experience. CLICK HERE for a detailed description and resume submission info.

Visit www.bankofthewest.com , for more information. Bank of the West and its subsidiaries are equal opportunity/affirmative action employers.

Sales Professional


Sales Professional
San Francisco, CA

Mid to large ticket market/Fortune 1000-- prefer min. 5 yrs. sales exp. in finance. Will consider all applicants w/equip. finance exper. click here.

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Direct Capital’s Mike Murray retires

Christopher J. Broom, Chairman, Principal, Co-Founder and Director of Direct Capital, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, told his 290 employees that co-founder Mike Murray has retired. Brother of co-founder David Murray, who left to start Preferred Lease, which was sold to CapitalWerks, Mike Murray is also the brother-in-law of "Chris" Broom.


Congressman Jeb Bradley, left, takes a tour of Direct Capital Corporation with Chairman Chris Broom

"Mike took a month off, and during this time, decided it was time to retire," Broom told Leasing News. "I joined the company full-time in 1991, brought my brother Jim here in 1995, who is now CEO, and in March of this year ,when Allied Capital committed $75 million to acquire a majority interest in Direct Capital, we all felt we had a "partner" with deep pockets, a lot of knowledge and experience, that has certainly made a difference.

"Dave took his vacation, and while on it, decided it was time to retire."

Broom also believe another reason for his company's success is the people who work at Direct Capital. He believes Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is a great place to live, except for the cold in the winter, unless you love skiing, he added. He noted Boston is only an hour away, and when you want the big city life, take the train or drive.

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Sales Make it Happen --- by Doug Dawkins, CLP

Purchase Orders

(By the way, Doug will soon be available
for employment, as his present company
is moving to another state.)

Your vendor is calling. He just received your purchase order. “Great, the deal’s done”, you’re thinking.

Maybe not. Have you ever read your purchase order? Do you know how many contingencies you place in your order? Do you know how many times a manufacturer has accepted a purchase order from a leasing company, shipped the equipment, and then not been paid? It has happened to us too many times, and I have had to take steps to prevent it from happening again. I can tell you, from my own experience, there are few things more awkward than trying to collect from a customer, who themselves had not issued a purchase order, and never intended to pay cash for the equipment that was ordered by the lessor. They’ll tell you it’s the leasing company’s responsibility to pay.

In my past 5 years of working for a medical equipment manufacturer, I have probably seen over 2000 PO’s, coming from as many as 50 different leasing companies.

Most are very straightforward. Usually, the only contingency is for the customer to “accept” the equipment. I think most manufacturers understand and accept that.

Over the years, I have seen some PO’s that have as many as a dozen different contingencies, most of which we found unacceptable. Let me give you some examples:

1) “Subject to no adverse material change in the financial condition of lessee” this needs to be much more specific. The lessor should be able to define the risk the vendor is taking by accepting this PO, or explain the area of concern the lessor has about this lessee. This contingency may leave the vendor wondering what derogatory information the lessor has about the customer, but isn’t willing to disclose.

2) “Buyer shall have no liability unless…Lessee shall have made payment to lessor of all advance payments or security deposits due in conjunction with the lease”. This one seems so obvious to me…don’t issue the PO until you have all the funds required. Why issue the PO, and put the vendor is a position of guessing if the lessee has paid all required funds? This is clearly the responsibility of the lessor.

3) “Subject to receipt of all original equipment lease documents, signed by lessee and guarantor(s)”. Again, why issue a PO if you don’t have all the necessary documents? If the vendor ships the equipment, and the lessee never does sign the PG, or the bank won’t sign the subordination agreement, what is the manufacturer to do? The acceptance document should be the only missing document.

4) “If company uses an outside funding source to pay for the equipment, such funding source shall have final approval of all lease documentation”. My response to this, then, is, to let the funding source issue the PO. If there is a 4th party in the deal, and they can say “no” after the equipment is shipped, the risk to the vendor is unacceptable.

These are some of the more common contingencies I have seen. There are many others. We have a “lease partner” who saw nothing wrong with just e-mailing us, to tell us their PO was “rescinded”, after the customer had the received equipment. No explanation. We had to get on the phone to find out if we had a dispute, or the lease deal went bad, or what? This is not the basis for a strong working relationship.

More than once, I was forced to generate a side document, asking the lessee to guarantee payment of the invoice, if their chosen lessor didn’t pay us within the 30 days.

When accepting a Purchase Order from a lessor, there should be no surprises. If the lessor is unsure of the creditworthiness of the lessee, then do more due diligence. Or, price the risk differently. If the document package is incomplete, don’t issue the PO until it is complete. But don’t ask the vendor to take the risk by putting contingencies in your PO.

Doug Dawkins CLP

707-580-1431 cell

Doug Dawkins is an old friend of Kit Menkin, who has survived many companies that were sold, merged, or closed down by the parent company. His story is unfortunately typical of our industry. He started his leasing career with Commonwealth Financial, in Oakland, in 1978. After changes there, he went to Equico Lessors, who also were bought out, so he moved to Litton Industries Credit Corp in early mid 80's. They consolidated, and he went to work in 1986 at Potomac Leasing, which soon became Dana Commercial Credit (Camelot). After this consolidation, he joined Orin Hall at Heritage, who eventually became part of Sierra Cities, then moved to Bell Atlantic TriCon, who decided to get out of the leasing business, as Doug also decided to do as he was tired of the musical chairs. But he missed the "action," so re-entered the leasing industry with Tokai Financial Services, then joined AT&T Capital (VP Sales west coast). That soon became Newcourt Financial, and then CIT. "CIT closed down our group, so I moved to HPSC, then to GE Capital, in the Sun Computer group. From GE/Sun, I came to Tyco Healthcare. He has been with Tyco for more than 4 years, where he enjoyed it very much, but they are in the process of moving the operation to another state. Doug wants to stay in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is “available.”

Call him at 707-580-1431 or contact him at: drdawkins@mac.com

 

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### Press Release ###########################

CIT appoints Donald Crecca Vice-President for Business Development

Underscores Commitment to Growing Vendor Finance Relationships in the Healthcare Industry
 
NEW YORK –CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT), a leading global commercial finance company, named Donald Crecca Vice President for business development of CIT Vendor Finance, Healthcare.  In this capacity, he will be responsible for sourcing CIT’s vendor finance relationships in the healthcare industry.

“Don brings extensive experience in building, structuring and managing healthcare vendor relationships,” said Daniel Mahoney, President of CIT Vendor Finance, Healthcare. “He will play an important role in developing vendor financing solutions for healthcare manufacturers and distributors as we focus on meeting their diverse financing and leasing needs.”

Crecca joins CIT from the Stryker Corporation, where he held the position of Program Manager and was an integral part of building the foundation for the Stryker Financial Solutions captive.  Prior to Stryker, he spent 14 years with GE, holding senior sales, operations and relationship management roles for GE Vendor Financial Services and GE Healthcare Financial Services. Crecca holds a BA degree in Business Management from Gettysburg College.

About CIT Vendor Finance
CIT Vendor Finance is a global leader in financing solutions that drive incremental revenues for manufacturers, distributors, and other intermediaries. It provides customized financing solutions to customers in more than 30 countries, supporting a wide variety of industries, including healthcare, industrial equipment, and technology.

About CIT
Founded in 1908, CIT (NYSE: CIT) is a global commercial finance company that provides financial products and advisory services to more than one million customers in over 50 countries across 30 industries. A leader in middle market financing, CIT has more than $80 billion in managed assets and provides financial solutions for more than half of the Fortune 1000.  A member of the S&P 500 and Fortune 500, it maintains leading positions in asset-based, cash flow and small business administration lending, equipment leasing, vendor financing and factoring. The CIT brand platform, Capital Redefined, articulates its value proposition of providing its customers with the relationship, intellectual and financial capital to yield infinite possibilities. www.cit.com.

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### Press Release ###########################
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News Briefs----

WaMu pounded again
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004000909_wamu08.html

Capital One Stock Suffers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/08/
AR2007110802349.html

30-year fixed mortgage rates fall for third straight week, hit lowest level in five months
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20071108-1341-mortgagerates.html

Fed Chairman Forecasts Slowdown in U.S. Economy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/08/
AR2007110800879.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/business/09fed-web.html?ei=5065&en=2d73b
75dc3e556dd&ex=1195189200&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

Disappointing October sales send shares lower
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid=%7B50238C4E%2D59CB
%2D42B7%2D9F03%2D728CC9D5A69D%7D&siteid=rss

Insurers accused of conspiracy
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/la-fi-katrina8nov08,0,977310.story

Guerra Wins 5 Trophies at Latin Grammys
http://www.accessatlanta.com/entertainment/content/shared-gen/ap/Recordings/
Music_Latin_Grammys.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab

Race to save birds, shore in S.F. Bay oil spill
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/EarlyEdition/article_view.cfm?recordID=
7936&publishdate=11/09/2007

Adults rank late night talk shows ( now in re-runs due to writer’s strike)
http://usatoday.com/news/snapshot.htm?section=L&label=
2007-11-08-jay&loc=interstitialskip

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You May have Missed---
Some Google with your gas?

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/11/08/
some_google_with_your_gas/

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“Gimme that Wine”

Inflated wine prices -- Gone with PDA?
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20071107/NEWS/711070303/-1/
SPECIAL&THEMES=FOODWINE

Sebelius makes quip about Kansas wine
http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/351617.html

N.J. wineries attempt to raise profile
http://www.thedailyjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071107/NEWS01/
711070336/1002/NEWS01

Wine Prices by vintage
http://www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/
US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/
Winery Atlas
http://www.carterhouse.com/atlas
Leasing News Wine & Spirits Page
http://two.leasingnews.org/Recommendations/wnensprts.htm
The London International Vintners Exchange (Liv-ex) is an electronic exchange for fine wine.
http://www.liv-ex.com/

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Calendar Events This Day

Cambodia: Independence Day
National Day. Declared independence from France in 1949.

Chaos Never Dies Day
http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/November/chaosneverdiesday.htm

Neon Sign Day
http://www.signsandshirts.co.uk/history.html

Saint feast Days

http://www.catholic.org/saints/f_day/nov.php

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Replacing your car’s filter can improve gas mileage by 10%

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Today's Top Event in History

1960-- the New York Yankees fired their manager, Casey Stengel, despite his having won 10 pennants and seven World Series in 12 years. Stengel returned to baseball in 1962 as first manager of the New York Mets.

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This Day in American History

    1731-- birthday of Benjamin Banneker: American astronomer, mathematician clockmaker, surveyor and almanac author, called “first black man of science.” Took part in original survey of city of Washington. Banneker’s Almanac was published 1792—97. Born at Elliott’s Mills, MD, he died at Baltimore, MD, Oct 9,1806. A fire that started during his funeral destroyed his home, library, notebooks, almanac calculations, clocks and virtually all belongings and documents related to his life.
    1815-- Reverend Leonard Grimes was born at Leesburg, VA, to parents who were free. A free black man living at Washington, DC, he despised slavery and became active in assisting fugitive slaves to escape. He was caught and imprisoned at Richmond, VA. After his release he founded and became the first minister of the Twelfth Street Baptist Church at Boston, MA, where he served until his death Mar 14, 1874.
    1861- Tennessee votes against secession
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14508a.htm
http://www.roanetnheritage.com/research/military/civil%20war/06.htm
http://www.tngenweb.org/scott/fnb_v7n3_the_civil_war.htm
    1899-- clarinetist Mezz Mezzrow born Chicago, ILL. His autiobiography about Chicago jazz days is still considered a class, written in 1946,“Really the Blues.”
    1906--- Muggsy Spanier Birthday
http://www.redhotjazz.com/muggsy.html
    1906--- alto sax player Peter Brown born, Baltimore, MD.
    1912-- West Point cadet Dwight D. Eisenhower broke his kneecap in a football game against Tufts University and gave up the sport forever. he did go on to prominence in other fields.
    1923-- birthday of Actress and singer Dorothy Dandridge. She was a child star, born at Cleveland, OH, who toured with her sisters, Vivian and Etta Jones, as The Dandridge Sisters. They played at the Cotton Club, sharing the stage with artists such as Cab Calloway and W.C. Handy. Dandridge went solo in 1941 to perform in Hollywood movies and on stage with the Desi Arnaz Band. Her big break came with the lead role in Otto Preminger’s musical, Carmen Jones. Dandridge received an Oscar nomination for her performance. Unfortunately, Dandridge could not overcome Hollywood’s racism and tendency to typecast and her career foundered. She died at West Hollywood, CA, Sept 8,1965.
    1946-- thousands of African-Americans fought in WWII, but after the war the same old injustices and hatred prevailed. In Philadelphia Margaret Roselle Hawkins and Sarah Strickland Scott founded a nonpartisan, volunteer organization called The Links, “linking” their friendship and resources in an effort to better the lives of disadvantaged African-Americans. From the first group of nine, The Links has grown to an incorporated organization of 8,000 women in 240 local chapters in 40 states plus the District of Columbia and two foreign countries. The Links promotes educational, cultural and community activities through a variety of projects here and in Africa. In May of 1985 The Links became an official
    1952-- “Omnibus” premiered on television. This eclectic series deserved its name, offering a variety of presentations, including dramas, documentaries and musicals. Alistair Cooke hosted the program, which was the first major TV project to be underwritten by the Ford Foundation. Notable presentations included: James Agee’s “Mr. Lincoln”; “Die Fledermaus,” with Eugene Ormandy conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Agnes DeMiIle’s ballet “Three Virgins and the Devil” (presented as “Three Maidens and the Devil”); and documentaries from underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau.
    1960-- the New York Yankees fired their manager, Casey Stengel, despite his having won 10 pennants and seven World Series in 12 years. Stengel returned to baseball in 1962 as first manager of the New York Mets.
    1965-- massive electric power failure starting in western New York state at 5:16 PM, cut electric power to much of northeastern US and Ontario and Quebec in Canada. More than 30 million persons in an area of 80,000 square miles were affected. The experience provoked studies of the vulnerability of 20th century technology.
    1984-- the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was completed by the addition of a statue, “Three Servicemen” (sculpted by Frederick Hart), which was unveiled on this date. The statue faces the black granite wall on which are inscribed the names of more than 58,000 Americans who were killed or missing in action in the Vietnam War.

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Football Poem

Man in the Glass

( The poem Bill Parcells is reportedly read often to his players. )

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say

For it isn't your father, mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass

Some people may think you're a straight-shootin' chum
And call you a wonderful guy
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye

He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest
For he's with you clear up to the end
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of life
And get pats on the back as you pass
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the man in the glass

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SuDoku

The object is to insert the numbers in the boxes to satisfy only one condition: each row, column and 3x3 box must contain the digits 1 through 9 exactly once. What could be simpler?

http://leasingnews.org/Soduku/soduko-main.htm

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Daily Puzzle

How to play:
http://www.setgame.com/set/puzzle_frame.htm

Refresh for current date:
http://www.setgame.com/set/puzzle_frame.htm

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News on Line---Internet Newspapers

Santa Barbara, CA: www.noozhawk.com

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