Daily News; White Plains

Iss Supports Blockbuster Dissidents Except for Icahn

ROCKVILLE, Md. (HedgeWorld.com) - Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., has issued an analysis of the ongoing proxy contest for control of Blockbuster, Inc., Dallas, and it recommends that its member institutions vote the dissident slate's proxy cards - for two nominees out of the three on that slate. Carl Icahn, the one dissident not endorsed by the ISS, filed his reaction with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday, the day after the ISS's analysis.

Platinum Expands Manager Lineup

NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - Platinum Premier Fund, a fixed- income arbitrage vehicle that until now invested only in City Fund Management, London, will start allocating to four additional managers. The fund is to reopen to investment on June 1. Platinum Capital Management temporarily closed it in March.

Fund Managers Growl at Stocks

GREENWICH, Conn. (HedgeWorld.com) - Hedge fund managers have turned decidedly bearish in their outlook for equities in May, according to the VAN Macro Sentiment Indicators, issued by Van Hedge Fund Advisors International LLC. Of the managers reporting, 63% have a bearish view of the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index for May. That's up sharply from the 39% who were bears in their April outlook. For this month, just 26% are bullish - down from 44% in April - and 11% are neutral.

Provincial Court Releases Some Hardship Funds in Portus Affair

TORONTO (HedgeWorld.com) - An Ontario court ordered the creation of a hardship committee for investors in the Portus hedge fund group, and called for the examination of one of the group's key salesman, as the firm's tangled affairs still have investigators shaking their heads. In an order April 27, Judge C.L. Campbell authorized the release of some of the money now in the control of KPMG LLP, Portus's receiver, but the order specifies that the aggregate of hardship distributions are not to ex...

Sec Charges Quantus Chief with Fraud

NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - Regulators have charged Vincent Montagna, president and chief executive of Quantus Holding Company with securities fraud. Mr. Montagna, co-founder of Quantus, allegedly defrauded investors and prospective investors over the course of one year in two hedge funds he managed through Quantus - Tiburon Asset Management LLC and Tiburon Partners Ltd. The complaint also names Mr. Montagna's wife, Christine Palmer.

Cisdm Database Gains a Partner

NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - Alternative Investment Research & Technologies, an affiliate of Starview Capital Management LLC, has formed a partnership with the Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and will manage and distribute the CISDM Hedge Fund Database. In the arrangement, AIRT has the commercial rights to distribute the database, a function it takes over from Managed Account Reports, or MAR. The University of Massachus...

Csfb Promotes Index Transparency, Hires E&Y

NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com) - Prominent hedge fund auditor Ernst & Young LLP will now audit the monthly values and oversee the semi-annual rebalancing of the CSFB/Tremont Investable Hedge Fund Index. Ernst & Young has already verified the monthly values of the investable index since its August 2003 inception with descriptive and performance data provided by CSFB/Tremont. E&Y will oversee the rebalancing of the index to make sure the addition and removal of funds are consistent with ...

Queue Ordeal Drives Lions Tour Ticket Hopefuls Barmy

FRUSTRATION filled the air outside New Plymouth's Yarrow Stadium yesterday as rugby fans faced long delays in getting tickets for Taranaki's match against the British Lions. Despite queues at the ticketing box only stretching to 12 people, fans were forced to wait for more than an hour to get their hands on any of the 6000 remaining tickets.

Polytech Officials Grounded, Mostly

WITT officials' international jaunts have been grounded until further notice. Graeme McNally, the government- appointed manager at the Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki, said it was unlikely that any new overseas markets would be explored by the polytech until it was back on its feet.

Seven Hopes Ingredients Right for New Show

TARANAKI chefs are preparing to show off their culinary talents in a new series on Seven Taranaki. The seven-programme series will involve head chefs and sous chefs from eight New Plymouth restaurants competing to serve up the tastiest dishes.

Sheep Get Nod for Control of Grass in Rundown Cemetery

PRESERVING the historically significant Waireka Cemetery was one priority agreed on at a meeting about the graveyard last night. While some of the about 40 people at the New Plymouth District Council meeting might have disagreed about how future maintenance and development of the cemetery could happen, its historical value was important to all.

Going Potter Over Studies

HOGWARTS HIJINKS: Opunake Primary School's principal Lorraine Williamson tries to outrun (from left) teacher Tasha Kruger and pupils Letitia Mills (10) and Bart Schotel (10) in a game of quidditch yesterday. The school's 215 pupils have dedicated this term's learning unit to Harry Potter and, dressed as wizards and characters from the book, they agreed the game was a perfect way to end the school day.

Tornado Advances Plan for New Shed

PETER WINTER was not planning on building a new shed this year, but a tornado has made the decision for him. The tornado most likely originated somewhere near Buchanan's Bay on the north Taranaki coast between Motunui and Urenui, and travelled at least two kilometres inland in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Deluge Delays Return to School in Hills

THE school holidays were extended by one day for a handful of kids in eastern Taranaki, courtesy of more than two months' worth of rain overnight on Sunday. MetService reports from Pohokura showed 143mm of rain fell in 18 hours yesterday, in an area that measured only 63mm for the whole of April.

Shed Falls On Man

Leak Closes Clinic

Dining-Room Delay Clouds Celebrations

THE dawn opening of a new dining room at Waiokura Marae in Manaia was cancelled on Saturday because of Ngati Tu hapu in-fighting. A notice in the Taranaki Daily News on Friday and Saturday said the wharekai had not received "full and final building compliance and completion certification for our wharekai".

Hospital Shuttle Moves Up a Notch

RATTLETRAP has gone and a bright new shuttle bus began making the twice daily run between the Hawera and New Plymouth Hospitals yesterday. Driver Robin Creagh said the old hospital shuttle bus had clocked up 629,000km over the past six years and was becoming increasingly unreliable.

Roadshow and Events to Focus On Kiwi Youth

DESPITE the bad reputation that sometimes dogs New Zealand's young people, there is much to celebrate about being young. This is the message of Youth Week, which begins next Monday.