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It's time to let you in on a dirty little secret: You may not own the stock you own. That's right, if you invest with a brokerage firm, the shares you bought are almost certainly not held in your name. Technically, they're held in the name of the Wall Street firm you do business with, hence the term "street name."
No, you haven't been robbed. Ultimately, the decision to hold shares on the books under a different name doesn't affect the economic ramifications for you. You¿re listed as the "beneficial owner," even though the firm is the official owner of the shares. But, you are giving up some rights, and investors concerned about good corporate governance might want to get that stock back in their own names.
Here's the problem: If your stock is technically owned by, say, Merrill Lynch, then Merrill Lynch gets to do things with it that might work against your wishes. Take short selling. Investors who want to sell shares short need to first borrow those shares. The lenders are often the big Wall Street firms that are handing out Street-name shares. So, if you feel that a company you own is a victim of aggressive short selling, chances are your own shares are being used to fuel the shorting.
Also, your brokerage firm can cast ballots on some corporate matters affecting a company without getting your input. Technically, this can only happen in votes considered ¿routine¿ by securities regulators. But, there's a big catch: some big events, like board elections, are considered "routine" under law.
The good news is that you can easily fix the Street name problem: Just request that your brokerage firm makes you the listed owner of the shares. If they refuse, find a new firm.
Home / Markets / Industries / Real Estate
Friday, May 16, 2008
Hovnanian Announces Pricing of Notes
Comtex
RED BANK, N.J., May 16, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ ----Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: HOV) announced today that it priced $600.0 million aggregate principal amount of 11 1/2% senior secured notes due May 1, 2013 in a private placement. The Company also entered into an amendment to its revolving credit agreement, which decreases total commitments thereunder to $300.0 million, increases the amount of collateral, and substantially eliminates maintenance covenants. The amendment will become effective upon the closing of the notes offering, which is expected to occur on May 27, 2008.
The notes will be secured on a second-priority lien basis by substantially all the assets owned by the Company and guarantors of the notes to the extent such assets secure obligations under the amended revolving credit agreement. Such assets may also secure certain other permitted indebtedness.
The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering of the notes to repay amounts outstanding under its existing revolving credit agreement and for general corporate purposes.
The notes will be offered within the United States only to "qualified institutional buyers" pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The notes will also be offered outside the United States to non-U.S. investors. The notes will not be registered under the Securities Act and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy such notes in any jurisdiction in which such an offer or sale would be unlawful.
About Hovnanian Enterprises
Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., founded in 1959 by Kevork S. Hovnanian, Chairman, is headquartered in Red Bank, New Jersey. The Company is one of the nation's largest homebuilders with operations in Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. The Company's homes are marketed and sold under the trade names K. Hovnanian Homes, Matzel & Mumford, Forecast Homes, Parkside Homes, Brighton Homes, Parkwood Builders, Windward Homes, Cambridge Homes, Town & Country Homes, Oster Homes, First Home Builders of Florida and CraftBuilt Homes. As the developer of K. Hovnanian's Four Seasons communities, the Company is also one of the nation's largest builders of active adult homes.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements in this Press Release that are not historical facts should be considered as "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, (1) changes in general and local economic and industry and business conditions, (2) adverse weather conditions and natural disasters, (3) changes in market conditions and seasonality of the Company's business, (4) changes in home prices and sales activity in the markets where the Company builds homes, (5) government regulation, including regulations concerning development of land, the home building, sales and customer financing processes, and the environment, (6) fluctuations in interest rates and the availability of mortgage financing, (7) shortages in, and price fluctuations of, raw materials and labor, (8) the availability and cost of suitable land and improved lots, (9) levels of competition, (10) availability of financing to the Company, (11) utility shortages and outages or rate fluctuations, (12) levels of indebtedness and restrictions on the Company's operations and activities imposed by the agreements governing the Company's outstanding indebtedness, (13) operations through joint ventures with third parties, (14) product liability litigation and warranty claims, (15) successful identification and integration of acquisitions, (16) significant influence of the Company's controlling stockholders, (17) geopolitical risks, terrorist acts and other acts of war and (18) other factors described in detail in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended October 31, 2007.
SOURCE Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc.
http://www.khov.com
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved ********************************************************************** As of Monday, 05-12-2008 23:59, the latest Comtex SmarTrend� Alert, an automated pattern recognition system, indicated a DOWNTREND on 05-08-2008 for HOV @ $10.15. For more information on SmarTrend, contact your market data provider or go to www.mysmartrend.com SmarTrend is a registered trademark of Comtex News Network, Inc. Copyright � 2004-2008 Comtex News Network, Inc. All rights reserved.
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