Biggest Dividend

MACON, Ga., Aug. 20, 2008 -- Security Bank Corporation today announced its Board of Directors has voted to suspend regular quarterly dividends on its common stock effective immediately and also voted to suspend holding company Board of Directors' fees.

Lincoln went young last season.

Late to the game, or the stamp of authority? Goldman Sachs cut its earnings outlooks for Citigroup, JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley last night, citing mounting write-downs on mortgages, a slowdown in overall activity, and legal expenses, and this morning, Bernstein cut its outlook on Lehman, Goldman, and Morgan Stanley. The round third-quarter smack down started with stalwart bank analyst Dick Bove of Ladenburg Thalmann, who cut Goldman and Morgan Stanley on August 11. Top-ranked Deutsche bank analyst Mike Mayo downgraded Goldman on the 12^th, as did Meredith Whitney of Oppenheimer. Goldman’s William Tanona said Lehman could lose $9.65 per share for the year, versus a prior forecast for a loss of $2.10 per share. “We assume no or negative earnings for the majority of firms in our universe this quarter, and for some of our firms, the third quarter marks the fourth consecutive quarter of reported losses, clearly an unprecedented streak.”

Ericsson and STMicroelectronics have agreed to join their wireless chip and software businesses to create a joint venture that will supply four of the world’s top five cellphone makers. The new company will bring together the Mobile Platforms unit of Ericsson, the world’s biggest mobile telecoms equipment maker, and ST-NXP wireless, the third-largest maker of wireless chips globally. With pro-forma 2007 revenues of $3.6 billion, the venture will present a tougher challenge to wireless chip market leader Qualcomm and number two Texas Instruments. Ericsson and ST-NXP Wireless already cooperate with one another. “This is an interesting merger in that the new company will be a supplier to all the big mobile companies except Motorola,” Redeye analyst Greger Johansson said.

Changi Airports International, owned by Singapore’s government, may consider buying British airports that Spain’s Ferrovial may be forced to sell. “We are open to evaluating the deal, but we will wait to see the terms if they are attractive,” said a Changi Airports spokeswoman. Airports operator BAA, owned by Ferrovial, was told by Britain’s Competition Commission that it should sell three of its seven British airports, due to problems created by its near monopoly. Changi has been on a global expansion spree in the past two years, buying a stake in China’s Nanjing Lukou and clinching management contracts in India, Russia and the Middle East.

Other deals of the day:

* ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steel producer, said it had agreed to buy iron ore miner London Mining Brasil for up to $810 million to help improve its self-sufficiency in raw materials.

* Business software maker Salesforce.com said that it bought smaller software maker InStranet for $31.5 million.

* Israeli holding company Koor Industries said it had raised its stake in Credit Suisse after gradually reducing it in recent weeks.

* Kirloskar Electric said its board has approved picking up stakes in two German firms. It will buy about 95 percent in German manufacturing firm Lloyd Dynamowerke and 100 percent in Lloyd Beteiligungs from CMP Fonds.

At a time when other auto-industry companies are cutting their dividends, Zeeland-based Gentex Corp. raised its quarterly payout by 4.8% on Tuesday from 10.5 cents dividend per share to 11 cents.

Whether the Kansas governor becomes Barack Obama’s vice president or not, Kathleen Sebelius’ heightened profile could pay big dividends in an Obama administration with a plum Cabinet post or other prestigious appointment.

With very little experience returning on the offensive line, Freeport coach John Gaillot made an off-season move that could pay dividends.

The Canadian Press August 19, 2008 - 4:43 p.m. Consolidated Envirowaste Industries Inc. (TSXV:CWD): Three months ended June 30, 2008, net income before tax recovery $86,418, $0.02 a basic share; 2007, net income before tax recovery $148,447, $0.02 a basic shsare.

As the dog days of August drag on, the M&A market seems content to spend the rest of the summer quietly at the beach. But, unlike last year, the deals that are being forged have been more likely to close.

The volume of deals that have been withdrawn has dropped 40 percent this year, according to research firm Dealogic. Withdrawn M&A totaled $428.6 billion so far this year, down from $716.2 billion in the same period last year.

The U.S. has the worst track record, leading all nations for the highest volume of withdrawn deals, Dealogic said. Withdrawn deals totaled $119.0 billion in the U.S., followed by Spain with $60.8 billion and Sweden with $47.9 billion.

Electronic Arts Inc's move to abandon its $1.9 billion hostile bid for Take-Two Interactive Software ranked as the 8th largest withdrawn bid in the U.S. this year, Dealogic said. Still, that deal could be salvaged as the two companies hold private negotiations.

The biggest deal failures in the U.S. this year? Microsoft Corp's $47.5 billion offer for Yahoo Inc ranked as the largest withdrawn bid, followed by a consortium's $12.8 billion yanked proposal for the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and the $8.5 billion collapse of Penn National Gaming's takeover, Dealogic said.

Of course, there are fewer deals overall -- so the decline in collapsed deals isn't much to cheer about. In the first half of the year, deal volume dropped 29 percent in the U.S. and 40 percent globally, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Wachovia Corporation announced that its board of directors has declared dividends on three series of preferred stock.