FARMINGTON, Conn. and RICHARDSON, Texas, June 26, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Horizon Technology Finance Corporation (Nasdaq:HRZN) ("Horizon"), a leading specialty finance company that provides secured loans to venture capital and private equity backed development-stage companies in the technology, life sciences, healthcare information and services, and clean-tech industries, today announced that it has closed a $3 million revolving credit facility with OraMetrix Inc. ("OraMetrix"), a leading provider of innovative 3-D technology solutions for orthodontic care. The funds provided to OraMetrix will support its continued growth.
"We are pleased to provide additional financing to OraMetrix, an exciting Horizon portfolio company that continues to grow market share in the orthodontic care market," stated Gerald A. Michaud, President of Horizon. "The company's state-of-the-art SureSmile orthodontic 3-D technology has proven to enhance the quality of care. By expanding our relationship with OraMetrix, we have strengthened the company's ability to execute on its business plan and achieve long term growth."
Chuck Abraham, Chief Executive Officer of OraMetrix, stated, "Horizon's deep understanding of our business at a fundamental level has enabled the company to craft custom financing solutions that best meet our needs. We intend to utilize the proceeds from our new credit facility to expand the distribution of our proprietary SureSmile Digital Orthodontic System and drive future growth."
About Horizon Technology Finance
Horizon Technology Finance Corporation is a business development company that provides secured loans to development-stage companies backed by established venture capital and private equity firms within the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, and clean-tech industries. The investment objective of Horizon Technology Finance is to maximize total risk-adjusted returns by generating current income from a portfolio of directly originated secured loans as well as capital appreciation from warrants to purchase the equity of portfolio companies. Headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut, with a regional office in Walnut Creek, California, the Company is externally managed by its investment advisor, Horizon Technology Finance Management LLC. Horizon's common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol, "HRZN." In addition, the Company's 7.375% Senior Notes due 2019 trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "HTF." To learn more, please visit www.horizontechnologyfinancecorp.com .
About OraMetrix
Established in 1998, OraMetrix ( http://www.orametrix.com ) developed the SureSmile system ( http://www.suresmile.com ), a revolutionary new digital technology that equips orthodontists with a powerful diagnostic, treatment and monitoring tool to deliver the most precise, customized orthodontic care available. According to an April 2012 study published in Orthodontics: The Art and Practice of Dentofacial Enhancement, SureSmile was shown to reduce median treatment time from 23 to 15 months based on a comparison of 9,390 SureSmile patients and 2,945 conventionally treated patients. Since 2004, SureSmile has been used on 100,000 patients by over 400 orthodontists in the United States, Australia and Canada. OraMetrix headquarters are located in Richardson, Texas.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements included herein may constitute "forward-looking statements," which relate to future events or our future performance or financial condition. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, condition or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement made herein. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release.
CONTACT: Horizon Technology Finance Corporation Christopher M. Mathieu Chief Financial Officer (860) 676-8653 chris@horizontechfinance.com Investor Relations and Media Contacts: The IGB Group Leon Berman / Michael Cimini (212) 477-8438 / (212) 477-8261 lberman@igbir.com / mcimini@igbir.com
© Copyright 2012, GlobeNewswire, Inc. All Rights Reserved
FOREX-Euro near 2-week low as EU summit hopes fade - Reuters
* Euro undermined by receding hopes on EU summit
* For now support for euro/dlr seen around $1.2443
* Yen off 2-month low, ponders if Noda can stay on
TOKYO, June 26 (Reuters) - The euro was on the defensive near a two-week low against the dollar on Tuesday on growing worries that an upcoming European summit would produce nothing to solve the region's debt crisis.
The broad risk-averse mood helped to lift the Japanese yen sharply from a two-month low against the dollar, though the currency could be hit by political uncertainty in Tokyo as Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda faces a revolt against his tax hike plan.
The euro fell to as low as $1.24713 on Monday, its lowest since June 12 and last stood at $1.2507, almost flat from late U.S. levels.
Support was seen near the June 12 low around $1.2443, at and below which sizable bids were detected, though a break below that level would open the door to a test of the two-year low of $1.2288 hit on June 1.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel dashed any lingering hope in financial markets on Monday that Europe would issue common euro zone bonds to help indebted countries, calling such an idea "economically wrong" and "counterproductive."
Greece's new finance minister resigned on Monday due to ill health, throwing the government's drive to soften the terms of an international bailout into confusion, while Prime Minister Antonis Samaras had said he was not attending the summit, having just emerged from hospital himself after eye surgery.
Cyprus became the fifth euro zone country to turn to Brussels for help, a move that highlights Europe's failure to contain the ever-deepening debt crisis, even though its economic impact would be negligible given the size of the country's economy.
And Spain formally requested euro zone rescue loans for up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to recapitalise its debt-laden banks, though it said the final amount of financial assistance would be set later.
All of these served to quash hopes that European policymakers would come up with solid measures to deal with the ongoing crisis at its June 28-29 summit that is now threatening not just Spain but Italy, the bloc's third-largest economy.
"Yesterday in Asia, people were saying they would wait for the summit. But it's becoming almost pointless to wait for it," said Daisuke Uno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
The euro also fell below 100 yen to fetch 99.72 yen , having dropped more than 1 percent on Monday after having failed to break a 38.2 percent retracement of its March-May decline at 101.64 last week.
A daily close below near-term trendline support at 99.51 will indicate its corrective rebound so far this month is coming to an end, analysts at RBC Capital Markets said.
SHOWDOWN IN TOKYO
The dollar also fell more than a full cent to 79.55 yen from a two-month high of 80.63 yen hit on Monday, failing to stay above a key chart level from the top of weekly Ichimoku cloud at 80.41, in one bearish sign.
Strong resistance prompted some hedge funds that had built yen short positions on speculation about more easing by the Bank of Japan are giving up on their bets, said a U.S. bank trader.
Some market players think the yen could come under pressure if a large number of ruling party lawmakers revolt against Noda's tax hike plan, which could force him to call an early election.
Noda looks certain to win parliament's approval for his signature tax hike plan, thanks to support from the two main opposition parties.
But with a number of ruling party lawmakers threatening to vote against the bills and to leave his Democratic Party of Japan, he is facing risk of losing a parliamentary majority, which could lead to an early election.
Stournaras named as finance minister - Independent Online
Athens - Yannis Stournaras, a well-respected liberal economist, was appointed Greece's new finance minister on Tuesday after the sudden resignation of the first choice for the job at a crucial moment for the debt-laden country.
The new conservative-led government scrambled to make a quick decision on the post after banker Vassilis Rapanos quit on Monday on the advice of doctors after spending four days in hospital with dizziness and abdominal pains.
His sudden resignation threw the government into confusion at a time when it faces the daunting task of trying to persuade sceptical international lenders to ease the harsh terms of a bailout that has enraged the population. With Greece weeks away from running out of cash and in desperate need of a minister to lead negotiations with lenders, party officials said the three ruling coalition leaders quickly agreed on Samaras's choice of Stournaras, 55, who is nicknamed “Mr Euro” in Greece.
He faces a difficult juggling act - pushing for more time and money from sceptical foreign lenders while coaxing reluctant officials at home to push through unpopular reforms.
“Stournaras is a serious, respected person who will inspire some confidence in the markets. But he is entering a bad government, where many old-style, spendthrift politicians are occupying key positions,” said political analyst John Loulis.
“He will have to wage a hard battle against them. He is entering the wolf's lair and he won't survive without the prime minister's solid support.”
The Samaras government has been in place less than a week but already looks accident prone after deputy Shipping Minister George Vernikos also resigned on Tuesday. He had been attacked by the media and opposition for using offshore companies.
Ministers are banned from using such companies, which are a common tactic by wealthy Greeks to avoid taxes.
Stournaras is an economics professor at the University of Athens and the head of the influential IOBE think-tank. Most recently he was development minister in the caretaker government that led Greece to elections on June 17.
Described by colleagues as affable, he is considered an ardent supporter of structural reforms to make the economy more competitive - ideas that are likely to win him favour with international lenders exasperated with the slow pace of reform.
He was part of the team that negotiated Greece's entry to the euro in 2001, as chief economic adviser to former Prime Minister Costas Simitis. He later became CEO of Emporiki Bank, where he initiated its gradual sale to France's Credit Agricole.
That experience has opened him to opposition criticism. The anti-bailout Independent Greeks party said both he and his predecessor's experience was “stained by the scandalous era” of euro-zone entry.
People who have worked closely with Stournaras say he is well qualified to take on a role that is often dubbed the world's toughest job.
Stelina Hatzichristou, a researcher at IOBE, said Stournaras was adept at managing people and had a strong understanding and knowledge of the Greek economy, which has been ravaged by five years of crisis.
In a speech in April, he blamed Greece's “inefficient, one-size-fits-all, party-dominated and badly-managed public sector” for the country's woes together with tax evasion, social security fraud, high defence spending and bureaucracy.
He criticised the economic policy pursued by the previous Socialist government, saying it cut spending in the wrong way, while failing to slash red tape and boost competition.
“Laws were passed but not implemented,” he said. He also complained about unjustifiable delays in privatisations.
It was unclear whether Stournaras would be ready for a European summit on Thursday and Friday, where Greece's demand to renegotiate the bailout and its off-track reform programme are likely to come into focus.
Samaras, who emerged from hospital on Monday with a bandage over one eye following eye surgery, will miss the meeting.
A government official said Samaras had spoken to German Chancellor Angela Merkel by phone to discuss the new government and he would embark on a European tour, including Berlin, to seek a softening of the bailout deal as soon as he recovered.
Samaras also spoke by phone to Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, the official said.
Stournaras's biggest challenge in the days ahead will be to handle talks with the “troika” of EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund lenders, who postponed a scheduled trip to Athens this week because of the illnesses of Samaras and Rapanos.
Greece needs its next tranche of aid to keep the state functioning beyond July, but the money is unlikely to be granted without a showdown with lenders angry that Athens wants to renege on austerity measures agreed in exchange for the rescue.
The bailout has prevented Greece from going bankrupt and suffering a humiliating exit from the euro zone, but it has also deepened a recession now in its fifth year, left one out of five Greeks jobless and caused violent protests in Athens.
Samaras's New Democracy party narrowly won the June 17 election against the radical leftist Syriza bloc which wants to tear up the bailout agreement. - Reuters
Pip Jet Reviews Come In As Forex Megadroid Creators Launch New EA Robot - Houston Chronicle
Search for killer goes on as slain activist remembered
Family and friends of a slain Iranian molecular genetics student held a candlelight vigil outside the Galleria Tuesday to commemorate ...
Forex Trading: MahiFX Releases Infographic on Top Trader Styles and Strategies - YAHOO!
MahiFX Infographic “What Forex trading style suits you?” examines Position, Technical, Day, Trend, Carry, Scalping and Mean Reversion trading strategies
London (PRWEB UK) 26 June 2012
MahiFX, the proprietary-built retail foreign exchange (Forex/FX) trading platform, released a Forex Trading Styles Infographic today examining the seven key trading strategies employed by FX traders: Position, Technical, Day, Trend, Carry, Scalping and Mean Reversion.Titled “What Forex Trading Style Suits You?” the new Infographic examines the differing strategies employed by famous traders ranging from Warren Buffet and George Soros to Paul Rotter, aka The Flipper. The Infographic offers a visually appealing, detailed informational tool for FX traders of all ability levels to better understand sophisticated trading strategies and how to exploit currency market movements.
“With this Infographic we have created not just a collection of interesting, fast forex-related facts, but also a visually engaging and entertaining resource for anyone interested in the heritage and skills associated with FX trading,” says David Cooney, CEO of MahiFX. “By illustrating the strategies employed by some world-famous traders, we also hope to highlight to the FX community that MahiFX offers an ever expanding package of educational and technical analysis tools and charting features necessary to employ their differing trading strategies.”
Developed by ex-interbank traders, analysts and developers, MahiFX is headed by David Cooney, former global co-head of currency options and e-FX trading at Barclays Capital and Susan Cooney, former head of electronic FX institutional sales in Europe for Barclays Capital. Operating as a market maker, MahiFX provides institutional level pricing and cutting edge technology to retail FX traders.
MahiFX previously released an acclaimed HTML5 interactive Infographic tool inviting landing page visitors to compare their annual income with super-trader John Paulson, who is said to earn in excess of $500,000 (2010) per hour.
To tweet this news, copy and paste: What forex trading style suits you? View the MahiFX Infographic at: https://mahifx.com/what-forex-trading-style-suits-you to your twitter handle with suggested hashtags #Forex #FX #trading #Infographic
To view this press release online please visit the MahiFX website media area.
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ENDS-
Notes for Editors:
About MahiFX
MahiFX launched its new proprietary-built browser-based foreign exchange (Forex) trading platform in February 2012.
Developed by a team of ex-interbank traders, analysts, statisticians and developers, MahiFX is headed by David Cooney, former global co-head of currency options and e-FX trading at Barclays Capital and responsible for the award winning e-commerce platform BARX and Susan Cooney, former head of electronic FX institutional sales in Europe for Barclays Capital.
MahiFX operates as a market maker and provides retail FX customers access to the same tight spreads and cutting edge technology as institutional FX traders. Prices are tradeable – there are no ‘from’ prices, hidden costs, slippage, re-quotes or minimum trade sizes.
MahiFX global operations are headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand with offices in London. The company has dedicated development and support teams in both locations for 24 hour service. MahiFX is regulated by The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Australia’s corporate, markets and financial services regulator.
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Campaign money case could propel more deregulation - YAHOO!
WASHINGTON (AP) — If you thought the money race in the presidential campaign was already the Wild West, you haven't seen anything yet.
The Supreme Court's decision to uphold limitless political donations from corporations sets the stage for campaigns and outside groups to press boundaries even further. Hundreds of millions of dollars in outside spending will continue to pour into the presidential election as super political committees, or super PACs, are emboldened by the court's ruling and feckless federal regulators.
Super PACs are increasingly blurring the lines between their ability to spend freely on political campaigns and the legal prohibition against coordinating directly with politicians. There are renewed calls for new federal rules that would permit unlimited contributions directly to candidates or anonymous large donations.
And the U.S. watchdog agency responsible for enforcing the rules — the Federal Election Commission — has been ineffectual. The FEC's six members — three Democrats and three Republicans — have been deadlocked, unable to decide just how far super PACs can coordinate with campaigns.
Monday's court ruling, part of a challenge to a Montana law banning corporate contributions, ends for now a controversial saga in the court's 2010 Citizens United case. That case and other federal rulings have stripped away restrictions on political contributions from corporations, labor unions and millionaires and billionaires.
The case is already making its mark: Super PACs and their nonprofit arms have brought in more than $200 million in combined donations this election, with most of that going to GOP groups. The new rules have allowed major players like casino mogul Sheldon Adelson to contribute more than $20 million to support Republican candidates.
President Barack Obama's campaign said Tuesday it is feeling the pressure of outside groups, pointing out that Obama would be the first incumbent president to be outspent by Republican Mitt Romney and super PACs working in Romney's favor. Obama, of course, has his own super PAC working toward his re-election.
"From now until November, the other side will spend more money than at any time in American history," the president said Monday in Durham, N.H. "And almost all of it will be on ads that tell you, 'The economy is bad, it's all Obama's fault.'" The next day, Obama — who himself broke money records by bringing in $750 million four years ago — emailed supporters a fundraising plea with the subject line, "I will be outspent."
The court reaffirmed that political speech is protected under the First Amendment even when its source is a corporation. And in an election already brimming with cash from super PACs, the decision leaves no ambiguity that the practice will continue.
In effect, the decision left Citizens United standing and "the enormous damage it is doing to our democracy and political system," said Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer, a frequent critic of super PACs and limitless money in politics.
Lines are blurring between the activities of super PACs and the campaigns that they are supporting. Obama has agreed to allow some senior political staff and even Cabinet members to attend fundraisers organized by Priorities USA Action, the super PAC supporting his re-election. When Romney hosted a lavish Utah retreat this weekend for his top campaign donors, officials from Republican super PACs — including Karl Rove of American Crossroads — spoke on panels or met with Romney's campaign staff.
Those activities don't violate election laws, which prohibit coordination of advertising between PACs and the campaigns they support. The two camps can talk with each other, and the candidates can appear at super PAC events. But the court's ruling will embolden groups to strip away those esoteric distinctions.
Practically speaking, super PACs and candidates have long coordinated during this election. Super PACs working in a candidate's favor employ their former advisers familiar with strategy. Some also use the same media and marketing companies.
The court's decision was a victory for those who support few restrictions, saying the First Amendment affords them the right to spend as much as they want to support or defeat a candidate. Reformers vowed to press on, hoping to craft new laws to curb what they call the corrupting influence of money in politics.
The court could have used the Montana case to revisit the issue of corporations giving money to candidates. Justice Stephen Breyer said campaign spending since 2010 "casts grave doubt on the court's supposition that independent expenditures do not corrupt or appear to do so."
Instead, the opposite happened: The high court did not revisit Citizens United. And campaign finance experts said the court's new decision makes it clear that states must follow it.
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Follow Jack Gillum on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jackgillum
Forex Flash: ECB expected to cut rates and to implement ZIRP next week - BBH - NASDAQ
FXstreet.com (Córdoba) - The ECB meets next Thursday, July 5 and even though "a few members wanted to cut rates earlier this month, they did not represent a majority", says Marc Chandler, Global Head of Currency Strategy at BBH. "Expectations are running high for some action next week".
"The ECB did announce last week a relaxation of collateral standards and a liberalization of criteria. We have suggested this should be understood as just as important, if not more so, than a rate cut itself", says the analyst. "Given financial crisis, access to credit is critical and, within reason, is important than the price (or interest rate)".
"We expect the ECB to cut the refi rate 25 bp next week", he adds. "At the same time, it will reduce the deposit rate to zero. Until recently, there seemed to be a reluctance to cut the deposit rate, which is the rate that the ECB pays to banks on their reserve holdings. However, as the crisis deepened, a few officials have intimated that is not longer the obstacle it once may have been".
On the other hand, BBH analysts think it is unlikely the ECB announces another LTRO or the resumption of the bank's sovereign bond support program ( SMP ), as "the overwhelming majority of the ECB are concerned that in the current context, ECB bond purchases would blur the distinction of monetary and fiscal policy", says Chandler.
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