For a while, Alan Penniman Hoblitzell Jr. saw the future earlier and clearer than most. As tumultuous changes loomed in the banking industry during the 1980s, he foresaw only two roles for mid-sized banks like his Maryland National. Swallow or be swallowed. Mr....
[The Baltimore Sun] Alfred Lerner can make it sound so easy. Borrow money from depositors at one price. Lend it to others at a higher price. And make a profit from the difference. Nothing tricky, nothing mysterious, said the 57-year-old investor from Cleveland as he...
[The Baltimore Sun] Bill Marriott has a nightmare. A man loses a $40 bottle of cologne at a Marriott hotel. He calls the front desk. The assistant manager says he is not authorized to reimburse him. The customer contacts the hotel manager, then a company vice...
[The Baltimore Sun] David and Isaac Blech like to start companies. In fact, in the past eight years, they have started companies nearly as often as many people have gone to the dentist: about once a year. Still, though Wall Street certainly knows them, the Blechs are...
[The New York Times] A multibillion-dollar leveraged buyout - financed through the sale of assets and the issuance of high-yield bonds - is a risky venture under the best of circumstances. But with the market's collapse last week and the flight of investors to safer...
[The New York Times] The Enron Corporation said today that it would permanently close its Enron Oil Corporation subsidiary after learning that the unit had lost $85 million because of unauthorized trading in the petroleum futures markets. The company said that the two...
[The New York Times] As the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Texas in 1964, Jack A. Crichton knew he did not have much of a chance. Running against the incumbent, John B. Connally, who was then a Democrat, Mr. Crichton (pronounced CRAY-ton) said he had accepted...
[The New York Times] For nearly 20 years, the Lomas & Nettleton Financial Corporation was the undisputed leader in the staid mortgage banking business. No longer, however, is the business staid, and no longer is Lomas the leader. Instead - as such financial giants...
[The New York Times] ALTHOUGH scientists continue to debate exactly why and how it works, the process of applying electricity to aid in the repair and growth of bones - which has been used mainly with fractures - soon may be extended to an array of other problems,...
[The New York Times] THE William Herbert Hunt trust estate, the largest privately held trust to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has repeatedly used extraordinary legal tactics. The reorganization plan filed last Wednesday by the trust's attorneys was more of...
[The New York Times] THE $560 million debt restructuring finally worked out earlier this week between the Zapata Corporation and its bank lenders could ultimately prove to be an elixir not just for the ailing company but possibly for the offshore energy industry at...
[The New York Times] Be patient. That is Diamond Shamrock's request to investors as it continues to weigh an unsolicited $2.03 billion takeover bid from the oilman and corporate raider T. Boone Pickens. Today, the company said it had still not decided on its response...
[The New York Times] Last year, an estimated $5.4 billion in pet food was sold in America, almost four times more than was spent on baby food. Grocery stores took in more money selling pet food than they did selling cereal, candy, soup or coffee. But if pet food is a...
[The New York Times] When Robert H. Dedman, the world's largest owner and operator of private clubs, visited the Far East this month, there was one thing he wanted on his itinerary that he could not have: a Dedman-owned country club in China. But if history is any...