Beginning today, BizTimes Media LLC is collecting entries for its Access To Capital directory. The directory will include key information on financial service agencies such as banks, credit unions, leasing companies, M&A firms, private equity groups, accounting firms, law firms that offer financial services, venture capital and angel investing groups, valuation firms and leasing companies.

Information contained in the Access to Capital directory includes key contacts, industries specialized in, financial data and much more, and is designed to help business owners and managers connect to the type of financial services providers they need to help their business expand, grow or gain market share.

The Access to Capital directory will be printed in the Jan. 23, 2009 edition of BizTimes Milwaukee. BizTimes Media is the parent company of BizTimes Milwaukee. There is no cost to enter information about your company, but information must be entered by the end of business hours on Jan. 14.

For more information, visit www.biztimes.com/capital.

M&I to take part in two more FDIC programs
Milwaukee-based Marshall & Ilsley Corp. will take part in two of the FDIC’s Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Programs – the Debt Guarantee Program (DGP) and the Transaction Account Guarantee Program (TAGP).

The DGP will secure certain debt issued by M&I and its affiliates protection by the FDIC, including full faith and credit of the United States until June 30, 2012 or the earlier maturity of the debt.

The TAGP will give non-interest bearing personal checking and other low-interest accounts full guarantee by the FDIC through the end of December, 2009. Coverage under the TAGP is in addition and separate to coverage applicable under the FDIC’s general rules.

Sheboygan Falls mutual insurer acquired by Pennsylvania carrier
Donegal Group Inc., a Pennsylvania-based property and casualty insurance holding company, recently acquired all of the outstanding capital for the Sheboygan Falls Mutual Insurance Company for about $12 million.

Sheboygan Falls Mutual underwrites auto, home, fire and umbrella policies in Wisconsin, as well as commercial packages including fire, general liability and workers’ compensation. Officials with Sheboygan Falls Mutual were unavailable for comment or further information.

The subsidiaries of Donegal Group offer personal and commercial lines of insurance to customers in the mid-Atlantic, southeastern and Midwestern regions.

Bucyrus acquires Czech firm
South Milwaukee-based Bucyrus International Inc. has completed its acquisition of OKD, Bastro a.s., an engineering services and manufacturing support company located in the Czech Republic.

Bastro’s primary capabilities will support Bucyrus International’s long-term strategic initiatives in the region. The price of the acquisition was not disclosed.

Bastro was acquired from OKD, a.s., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of New World Resources N.V., Central Europe's leading hard coal producer. Bastro will continue to supply mining equipment support and engineering services to OKD., said,

"This acquisition is in-line with our goal for adding support of strategic initiatives in key regional areas," said Tim Sullivan, president and chief executive officer of Bucyrus. "We are pleased that we have been able to add Bastro in support of our underground equipment segment in Europe."

Name: Greg Gorlinski

Title: Managing Director

Company: Cleary Gull Inc.

City of Residence: Mequon

Family: My wife Ann and two beautiful daughters, Kate (9) and Megan (6)

How does the market look to you? "Slow.  Like the economy, the M&A market has slowed considerably over the past few months. However, I see a lot of opportunity for our firm. We have been busy promoting our 'Special Situations' practice which provides advisory services to distressed and over leveraged companies. As the economy worsens, we are seeing more and more opportunities in this area. Once the recession passes, I expect to see a number of business owners and private equity groups look to sell that previously put their transaction plans on hold."  

What are you working on now? "I am in the process of preparing three companies for a sale transaction early next year. One is a manufacturer of pet products, another one makes seating products and the third is a supplier of industrial products. I am also working with several others in the hope of converting them to a Cleary Gull client."

What was the best deal you've been involved in? "It’s difficult to point to one deal as there have been several resulting in terrific outcomes for our clients. Many of these companies were owned by families or entrepreneurs who often came from very humble beginnings and overcame tremendous obstacles or took on enormous risk in getting to where they are at today. Not only is it interesting to work with them and learn about their experiences, but it’s great to see them sell their business and receive substantial liquidity."

What was the funniest or most interesting moment of your career? "There have been many funny moments, unfortunately most cannot be printed in this profile. Many of these moments are the direct result of working with a wide variety of interesting people from disparate backgrounds including commercial lenders, lawyers, accountants, CEOs, private equity firms and other investment bankers. As you might suspect, I get to interact with a variety of personalities, egos, etc.  One CEO that we worked with had an unusual way to reduce stress. When a difficult situation arose during a transaction, he had to drive to a Dairy Queen to get a Blizzard. In another situation, we sold a client to a company whose CEO liked to negotiate from his hot tub. That deal closed in the month of December. Needless to say, he wasn’t based in Wisconsin."

Wauwatosa-based WaterStone Bank recently promoted Jack Kahl to assistant vice president of real estate disposition and Mark Vap to assistant vice president – assistant general counsel. Kahl has been administering the marketing and sale of the bank’s real estate owned properties for more than one year. Vap provides legal support to the collections, lending, deposits and compliance departments at WaterStone Bank and has been with the bank since August 2007.

Valerie Johnson, CFP, was recently hired as director of wealth management at Brookfield-based Kolb+Co. S.C. Johnson has 28 years of experience in financial planning. She is currently a member of Women in Insurance and Financial Services, the National Association of Women Business Owners and the National Association of Female Executives.

Kolb+Co. also recently recently hired Johnnie Baninier Jr. as a tax specialist, Randy Pinnow, CPA, as a health care consultant, and Peter Schubilske, CPA as audit senior.

Baird analyst expects stock market to rebound by mid-2009
Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. chief investment strategist Bruce Bittles said this week that he expects the stock market to rebound and the economy to stabilize by the middle of 2009.

"The equity markets fought off some of the worst economic news in more than a generation last week increasing the prospects that the downside momentum has been broken. The weight of the technical evidence also points to the potential for improving stock market conditions in the first six months of 2009," Bittles said.

He said equity markets are "extremely oversold," with only 5 percent of the New York Stock Exchange issues trading above their 30-week moving average. The last time the stock market was this oversold was in 1981, 1987, 1998 and 2002, and following each of those cases, the market posted significant intermediate-term rallies, Bittles said.

"Although December tax loss may weigh on stocks, the outlook is improving with better stock prices expected during the first half of 2009," he said.

"The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) made it official last week by declaring the U.S. economy is in recession that began in December 2007. Given the stock market has been adjusting to a weaker economy for more than 12 months, the NBER news is already built into current prices," Bittles said. "The 533,000 loss of jobs in November was particularly alarming and suggests the Fed will cut rates by at least 50 basis points this month. The jobs data could also push Congress into supporting a bailout for the auto companies. The good news is that yields on long-term Treasuries are plunging, which should cause mortgage rates to fall significantly. The combination of falling home values and a drop in mortgage rates will dramatically improve housing affordability and along with plunging energy prices improve consumer discretionary income. This is the first step in the recovery process that is expected stabilize the economy by mid-2009."

To read his entire report, visit https://baird.bluematrix.com/docs/pdf/73974.pdf.

Mortgage market shows glimmer of hope
U.S. mortgage applications filed two weeks ago rose a seasonally adjusted 112.1 percent from the week before, as borrowers rushed to lock in lower rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey, which was released late last week.

The surge in mortgages came after the Federal Reserve announced last week that it would purchase up to $100 billion in direct debt of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks, otherwise known as government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), along with up to $500 billion of mortgage-backed securities backed by Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie Mae. The government's moves caused mortgage rates to drop.

"Many borrowers missed an opportunity to take advantage when rates dropped sharply for a brief period when the GSEs were placed under conservatorship," said Orawin Velz, associate vice president of economic forecasting for the MBA. "When rates plummeted following the Fed's announcement that it would buy GSE debt and MBS (mortgage-backed securities), many of those on the sidelines decided to quickly jump in and take advantage of lower rates before they began to rebound."

According to the MBA survey, rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.47 percent last week after standing at 5.99 percent in the previous week.

Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.13 percent last week, down from 5.78 percent in the week before, and one-year adjustable rate mortgages fell to an average of 6.61 percent last week from 6.87 percent in the previous week.

Applications to refinance existing loans rose 203.3 percent last week compared with the week before. Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose a seasonally adjusted 38.0 percent.

Still, the mortgage application volume last week was down 21.9 percent compared with the same week in 2007.

But the report was of little consolation to Wausau Homes, which cut 81 jobs from its plant in Rothschild this week.

The company said the reductions will be permanent because the firm does not expect the U.S. economy to improve in the near future.

"This reduction in force is especially painful because the people being let go have contributed significantly to our success and we will miss them tremendously. Wausau Homes has a reputation for having hard working highly skilled people. Any local employer who hires those being let go today will be pleased by their performance," said Tom Schuette, president of Wausau Homes. "Wausau Homes will be providing a severance package that goes beyond our 60-day legal requirement because we feel very strongly that it is important to take care of those who will be leaving."

The company said 163 people will continue to work at the Rothschild facility and 27 people will continue to work at its plant in Waverly, Ohio.

The Northern Trust Economic Trends Breakfast will be presented by BizTimes Milwaukee on Wednesday, Jan. 21 from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee. Featured speakers will include Michael Knetter, dean of the University of Wisconsin School of Business; Jeff Mayers, president of WisPolitics.com; Jerry Shereshewski, CEO of Grandparents.com; Richard Meeusen, chairman, president and CEO of Badger Meter; and Jane Cooper, founder, president and CEO of Patient Care. The cost to attend is $50 per person or $500 per corporate table of 10. Call 414-336-7112 or visit www.biztimes.com for more information.