InvestSource Inc.: Seaway Valley Capitals Subsidiary Enjoys Success at Empire State Brewing and Music Festival

Jul 16, 2008 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- WYE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Stocks in the News: Seaway Valley Capital Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: SWVC), Brigham Exploration Company (NASDAQGS: BEXP), Liberty Mutual Group and Safeco Corporation (NYSE: SAF), Evergreen Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESLR), Newell Rubbermaid (NYSE: NWL), and Wyeth (NYSE: WYE)

July 15, 2008 -- Seaway Valley Capital Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: SWVC) announced that Sackets Harbor Brewing Company's award winning 1812 Amber Ale was one of the top draughts poured at the sixth annual Empire State Brewing and Music Festival. The Empire State Brewing and Music Festival (www.empirebrewfest.com), which was held at the City of Syracuse's festival site in Clinton Square, saw a record turnout for the Friday beer festivities and continued to enjoy strong turnout throughout the music portion of the three-day festival. In addition to 1812 Amber Ale, Sackets Harbor Brewing Company featured three other of its hand-crafted ales for sampling at the Festival, including Thousand Island Pale Ale, Harbor Wheat, and Railroad Red beer. In addition to Sackets Harbor Brewing Company, select participating brewers included Allagash, Anchor Steam, Anheuser Busch Craft, Bacardi, Blue Moon Ale, Blue Point Brewing Company, Brewery Ommegang, Brooklyn Brewery, Empire Brewing Company, Guinness, Harp, Harpoon Brewery, Heineken, High Falls Brewing Company, Hoegaarden Whitbier, Hook & Ladder, Ithaca Beer Company, Killian's, Lake Placid Pub and Brewery, Long Trail, Magic Hat Brewing Company, McSorley's, Middle Ages Brewing Company, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Miller, Newcastle Brewing, Red Stripe, Samuel Adams, Saranac Brewery, Sierra Nevada, Smuttynose Brewing Company, Southern Tier Brewing Company, Twisted Tea, and Yuengling, among others. The event's main sponsors included the Dinosaur Bar-B-Q (www.dinosaurbarbque.com), Empire Brewing Company (www.empirebrew.com), Clear Channel Radio, and the Syracuse Post Standard.

July 15, 2008 -- Brigham Exploration Company (NASDAQGS: BEXP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) announced the successful completion of its Mrachek 15-22 1H well, located west of the Nesson Anticline, at an early flowing production rate of approximately 727 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The company also announced the successful completion of its first well in its North Stanley area of Mountrail County, ND, the Johnson 33 #1H, at an early peak flowing rate of 618 barrels of oil equivalent per day. In addition, the company announced that completion operations are underway on two other Mountrail County Bakken wells, two significant Parshall/Austin area wells are currently drilling, and that at least one Three Forks well is planned for the second half of 2008 in Mountrail County. Further, Brigham Exploration Company is picking up a second operated rig in August to further accelerate its drilling program in the Williston Basin on both sides of the Nesson Anticline. Second Rig Commencing in August to Accelerate Williston Basin Development Leading to an Expanded 2008 Capital Expenditure Budget -- Brigham is accelerating its Williston Basin Bakken drilling program by commencing its second operated rig line during August. Current plans include drilling two consecutive horizontal Bakken wells west of the Nesson Anticline in McKenzie and Williams Counties, North Dakota, capitalizing on the apparent success achieved with the Mrachek 15-22 #1H well which utilized the swell packer completion technology that has been successfully employed in Mountrail County. As a result of Brigham's acceleration in its 2008 drilling program and existing and planned acreage acquisitions in the Williston Basin, exploration and development capital expenditures in the Williston Basin are expected to increase to $109 million in 2008, relative to the originally budgeted $48 million. Brigham's overall capital expenditure budget is expected to increase to $189 million from the originally budgeted $134 million.

July 15, 2008 -- Liberty Mutual Group and Safeco Corporation (NYSE: SAF) announced that Liberty Mutual reaffirms its commitment to consummate its previously announced acquisition of Safeco by the end of the third quarter of 2008, subject to receipt of Safeco shareholder approval and applicable regulatory approvals. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Liberty Mutual will acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Safeco for $68.25 per share in cash. The transaction is not subject to financing contingencies. Neither Liberty Mutual nor Safeco has any intention, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to provide any update with respect to the matters addressed in this release or to otherwise address any rumors in the market generally, and both companies' policies with respect to addressing market rumors remains in place. Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group is a diversified global insurer and sixth largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2007 direct written premium. The Liberty Mutual Group also ranks 94th on the Fortune 500 list of largest corporations in the U.S. based on 2007 revenue. As of December 31, 2007, Liberty Mutual Group had $94.742 billion in consolidated assets, $82.376 billion in consolidated liabilities and $25.961 billion in annual consolidated revenue.

July 15, 2008 -- Evergreen Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESLR), a manufacturer of solar power panels with its proprietary, low-cost String Ribbon wafer technology, announced it has signed a new long-term sales contract valued at approximately $1.2 billion with German-based IBC SOLAR AG. This contract extends through 2013 and brings the company's total contractual backlog to nearly $3 billion with 5 customers. "We are very pleased to begin this significant long term relationship with IBC SOLAR, the largest PV distributor in the world", said Richard M. Feldt, Evergreen Solar's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "This contract represents the single largest contract in the history of our company and is one of the largest contracts ever between a panel manufacturer and a distributor." The solar panels for these take-or-pay contracts will be manufactured at the Company's new 160 MW facility in Devens, Massachusetts, which opened in June, and at the Company's next factory, which is expected to open in 2010. To date, the Company has contracted approximately 70 percent of Devens expected capacity through 2010 and all of Devens capacity in 2011 through 2013. "Quality comes first at IBC SOLAR", said Udo Mhrstedt, President and CEO of IBC SOLAR. "Our aim is to make the use of solar energy easy and competitive for our customers. Evergreen's solar panels are one of the highest quality products in the industry. By adding Evergreen to our product portfolio, we can meet the growing demand of our customers."

July 15, 2008 -- Newell Rubbermaid (NYSE: NWL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) announced it is implementing a number of strategic initiatives designed to reduce the company's exposure to volatile commodity markets, including a restructuring of the company's product portfolio and aggressive pricing mechanisms. "In recent weeks, input cost inflation has accelerated dramatically, especially in resin, which is the largest single component of our cost of goods," stated Mark Ketchum, president and chief executive officer of Newell Rubbermaid. "Unfortunately we don't see this situation reversing course. In categories where resin is a high percentage of cost of goods sold and the consumer's willingness to pay for innovation is low, the economics are no longer viable. In the face of these radically changed market conditions, we are taking a number of proactive steps to reduce our exposure to volatile commodity markets, protect our margins and profitability, and strengthen our portfolio." The company expects to rationalize its portfolio by divesting, downsizing or exiting approximately $500 million in sales of selected consumer product categories. While details of the plans will be made available when finalized, a significant percentage of the rationalization will be focused on the company's most resin-intensive product categories.

July 15, 2008 -- Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, a division of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), announced that it has signed an agreement to purchase ThermaCare , a leading over-the-counter heat wrap, from Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG). The transaction is expected to close within the next few months. ThermaCare fits Wyeth Consumer Healthcare's strategy to accelerate growth through innovation, organic geographic growth and strategic acquisitions in the division's base business, which includes some of the world's best-selling pain management, respiratory, nutritional, gastrointestinal and topical products. ThermaCare will join the company's pain franchise that includes Advil -- one of the world's leading oral pain relievers -- and will enhance Wyeth's global position in pain management. "ThermaCare is a great brand and a strategic fit for our pain management franchise," says Cavan Redmond, President, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare. "We are excited about the brand's growth potential. Millions of consumers have relied on ThermaCare for consistent, uniform heat to help them be as active as they want to be." ThermaCare is currently sold in the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland and Austria. The heat wraps are manufactured in Albany, (Ga.) in a facility that will be maintained by Wyeth after the transaction closes. The employees who manufacture ThermaCare at the existing Albany (Ga.) Procter & Gamble facility will become Wyeth Consumer Healthcare employees with the transition of facility operations to Wyeth.

Tuesday was an extremely busy and volatile session as market participants digested testimony from Fed Chairman Bernanke, several economic and earnings reports, and a plunge in crude oil prices. In heavy trading, the stock market fell 2.2% shortly after the open, rallied to a 0.5% gain in an afternoon surge and then settled with a loss of 1.1% following a late-session sell off. Financials were at the forefront of this session's decline and volatile action. The sector slumped to a 5.7% loss shortly after the opening bell on continued concerns regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a tepid response to US Bancorp's earnings and an Oppenheimer downgrade of Wachovia. A plunge in crude prices and Washington Mutual defending its capital position sparked a midday turnaround in the financial sector -- and the broader stock market. The sector climbed to a gain of as much as 2.3%. However, late-day selling interest sent the sector back in the red, to settle the day with a loss of 3.0%. There did not appear to be a specific cause for the tumble in crude prices, which occurred during Bernanke's testimony. Oil prices settled the day down 4.5% at $138.62 (prices fell as much as 6.4% after being up 1.1% early in the session). The stock market responded positively to the drop in crude prices, although some enthusiasm faded late in the session. Four sectors ended the session with a gain. Health care led the way with a 1.3% advance, aided by positive earnings and outlook from Johnson & Johnson. The energy sector posted the largest decline of 4.2%, coming under selling pressure as crude prices sank. With regard to Bernanke's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, the Fed chairman mostly reiterated previous views that he or other Fed officials have already expressed. Bernanke noted significant risks to downside growth, and "intensified" inflation risks. In turn, the Fed raised its 2008 inflation forecast. The Fed also raised its 2008 GDP growth outlook, noting better-than-expected economic data on consumer and business spending between the April and June FOMC meetings. On the economic front, the June Producer Price Index (PPI) -- an inflation reading -- came in mixed. Total June PPI rose above expectations as higher energy and food prices drove up costs, while core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased by a lower than expected amount. On a monthly basis, total PPI rose 1.8% (consensus +1.4%) and core PPI increased 0.2% (consensus +0.3%). On a yearly basis total PPI is up 9.2%, while core PPI is up a tamer 3.0%. The CPI reading will be released Wednesday morning, and market participants will closely watch to see if increased prices are being passed on to consumers. June retail sales were disappointing, falling short of expectations. However, the results do not alter our view that real GDP should increase by at least 2.5% in the second quarter. Specifically, retail sales rose 0.1% (consensus +0.4%), retail sales ex-autos rose 0.8% (consensus +0.9%). A larger portion of the ex-autos number is due to the 4.6% increase in gasoline sales on an adjusted basis. Excluding gas, retail sales were down 0.5% from the prior month. DJ30 -92.65 NASDAQ +2.84 NQ100 +0.02% R2K -0.3% SP400 -0.9% SP500 -13.39 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1167/2.79 bln/1733 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 811/1.86 bln/2402 ABOUT INVESTSOURCE, INC.: WIN an 8 day 7 nights Caribbean Getaway, GO TO: www.investsourceinc.com.

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