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Jul 29, 2008 -- Last year, high school students around the nation had a fresh way to commemorate their student years, with the launch of a new line of "class of" jewelry and apparel. The new hip-hop style of hoodies, shirts, watches and jewelry were put together by the CEO of Banneker, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: BANI), Derrick Holmes. Holmes is a renowned watch and jewelry designer who designed a high end line of wood faced watches, named after America's first African American clockmaker, Benjamin Banneker. Holmes has joined forces with the top business magnates of hip-hop culture for an unprecedented business venture. Through Jostens, Inc., the leading marketer of products celebrating the significant milestones of graduating seniors all over the country, the trend-setting team created a luxurious yet affordable product line that shouts self-esteem and pride in success. "I created Esteem Enterprises (a wholly owned subsidiary of Banneker, Inc., BANI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) to do the marketing for the school market and develop relevant products that resonate with today's youth," Holmes said. "My designs are about presenting a successful image. I like to honor the people I admire, whether it's in a watch's name or the image on its face. Through Banneker, Inc., Phat Farm, Baby Phat and Dereon, each took that concept and applied it to high school memorabilia, giving students products influenced by the people and styles they look up to." The new line is inspired by hip-hop fashion, with a lot of flash and sparkle. While the materials are high quality, the prices are kept affordable through replacing diamonds with crystals and silver with stainless steel. For the Banneker Jewelry Collection, Holmes designed Class of '08, '09 and '10, rings, watches, pendants, stud and hoop earrings made with genuine wood with burl grain, crystal bezels and glass lenses. Perhaps the most successful products in the urban style line are from Dereon, a subsidiary designing exclusively for the high school market under the House of Dereon with Beyonce. Last year, Dereon offered a Class of '08 hoodie with the parent company's fleur-de-lis logo, worn by Beyonce in her No. 1 hit video "Irreplaceable," and a class ring in a fleur-de-lis pattern with 27 cubic zirconia, a square-cut custom birthstone, and custom engraving of initials, graduation year, and school name. The rings shattered sales records in their first month and a half on the market, Holmes said.
Jul 30, 2008 -- Iconix Brand Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICON), today announced expansion plans for five brands into new territories. The Op brand, currently licensed in a direct-to-retail license agreement with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., recently launched in Canada in select doors with plans to roll out in all doors in spring 2009. In addition, Wal-Mart Canada has unveiled branded Op shop-in-shops in select Wal-Mart Stores. Op will also launch in Mexico this spring 2009 in Wal-Mart Super Centers. Iconix also announced today that it has entered into four separate license agreements for its London Fog , Joe Boxer and Starter brands in Europe and its Rocawear brand in Brazil. "The roll out of Op in Canada and Mexico further deepens the Iconix partnership with Wal-Mart. We were thrilled with the results of the launch of Op in the United States and look forward to a global roll out," stated Neil Cole, Chairman and CEO of Iconix. "As Iconix continues to expand our licensing network abroad, this is an exciting step for London Fog, Joe Boxer, Rocawear and Starter brands to gain further distribution in Europe and Brazil. We are confident that our new licensees will bring significant expertise and resources to the Iconix portfolio," Mr. Cole added.
Jul 30, 2008 -- Nike (NYSE: NKE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) said Wednesday that will allow its swimmers to wear a Speedo suit instead of its own at the Olympics in Beijing. Nike, which traditionally has some of the industry's tightest control on athlete sponsorship agreements, made the surprise announcement in June that its swimmers would be allowed to wear Speedo's sleek LZR Racer at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha. Nike spokesman Dean Stoyer said Wednesday that the company felt it was fair to extend the offer through the Olympics. There are four swimmers with Nike contracts heading to the Olympics. "It is about putting their performance and their focus first," said Nike spokesman Dean Stoyer. "This is what they have trained for, it is the biggest moment of their lives." The Speedo's sleek LZR Racer has caused major waves this year. Since its launch in February, swimmers have broken dozens of world records and non-Speedo-sponsored athletes clamored to wear it. It also caused some backlash. One Italian swim coach accused Speedo of giving swimmers an unfair advantage. And Tyr Sport Inc. sued Warnaco Group Inc., parent company of Speedo, in May, alleging in its lawsuit that the company conspired with the U.S. swimming federation to stifle competition and lure top athletes away from other sponsors. British-owned Speedo says the lawsuit is baseless. But Nike said it needed to extend the same courtesy to its athletes at the Olympics that it granted at the trials.
Jul 30, 2008 -- A company backed by the founders of Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) has taken control of the bankrupt Pacific Lumber Co. and the 210,000 acres of timberlands it owns along California's North Coast. Sandy Dean, chairman of Mendocino Redwood Co., made the announcement Wednesday. She says the deal was finalized after his company paid nearly $600 million to various creditors of Pacific Lumber, which filed for bankruptcy 18 months ago. Pacific Lumber has drawn widespread criticism for its logging practices over the past two decades under the ownership of Houston-based Maxxam Inc. Mendocino Redwood's plan to reorganize Pacific Lumber has won the support of environmentalists and state officials. Under the new owners, the timber firm's name will be changed to Humboldt Redwood Co.
Market Wrap for July 30, 2008
Investors looked past a strong rebound in crude prices to focus on data that showed an unexpected gain in nonfarm private payrolls and word that the Fed extending its liquidity measures to Wall Street. Despite a smaller-than-expected decline in crude oil stockpiles, oil prices climbed as much as 4.3% during the session to make their largest one day advance since trending downward from historic highs reached earlier this month. Crude had actually been down more than 1%, below $121 per barrel, but finished its session near $127 per barrel, which is still almost 16% below its record high. The rebound in oil prices helped the energy sector make a 5.6% advance. Investors have rotated out of the energy sector in recent sessions, but oil's rebound induced buying in large names like Exxon Mobil (XOM 84.38, +3.48) and Chevron (CVX 87.26, +4.42). Conversely, oil sensitive industries fell out of favor. The S&P 500 automobile manufacturing index slipped 3.8%, while the Amex Airline Index dropped 4.9%. Broad-based buying was largely influenced by the latest ADP employment report that showed an unexpected 9,000 increase in July private nonfarm jobs. Meanwhile, economists were expecting a 60,000 decrease in jobs. Though the ADP report has not been consistent in correctly predicting the government's jobs data, which will be announced Friday, ADP's announcement bolstered expectations that the government's report will show a smaller-than-expected decline in employment. Also providing support to the session's optimism was news the Fed is extending the length of its Term Securities Lending Facility program through Jan. 30 and is introducing longer terms to maturity for its Term Auction Facility in the face of continued fragility in the markets. Separately, President Bush signed the housing bill into law, giving support to Fannie Mae (FNM 12.21, +0.61) and Freddie Mac (FNM 8.73, +0.31), while the SEC is extending its temporary restriction on naked short selling on financial institutions. The financial sector gained 2.0% as thrifts and mortgage players collectively climbed 4.1% and diversified banks climbed 3.8%. Investment banks and brokerages advanced 3.5%. The Nasdaq lagged the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 during Wednesday's action.
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