The fracking-led oil and natural gas boom that’s received widespread attention in the mainstream press has moved to a new medium: reality TV.
"Bayou Billionaires," a new reality show on Country Music Television, follows the lives of the Dowdens, a Louisiana family that’s struck it rich off natural gas.
"I bought me a new pickup" says Gerald Dowden in the trailer posted on CMT’s website. "And I bought a dually," says his wife Kitten, referring to a pickup with four tires on the rear axle. "I got the special edition Polaris," says Gerald, clearly excited about his all-terrain vehicle. "She put the pool in."
"We got a new hot tub," says Kitten. "Jet skis," says Gerald.
"I have 50 hounds" and one horse, he adds. "But my wife has nine. We’re spending it, that’s what it’s for."
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Billionaires may be stretching it, but the Dowdens sure have come into some serious cash.
Thanks to new drilling technology, a small Texas firm called Exco () was able to put four new natural gas wells on the Dowden’s 80 acres of land outside Shreveport, La. in the last three years.
Each month, the wells generate a royalty check for the Dowdens that can be as high as $40,000. The wells are expected to produce for 16 to 20 years. And their royalty checks could grow considerably.
Exco, has plans to add up to 16 wells on the Dowden’s land over the next few years, Gerald says in an interview with CNNMoney.
Their royalties are also pegged to the price of natural gas, which is currently at a decade-long low. But if natural gas returns to the the highs it hit in 2008 and the other wells are drilled, the Dowdens could potentially see a check for nearly a million dollars a month.
"We’re going to make a lot of money," says Gerald.
Not that the family was poor before. The Dowdens previously had four smaller natural gas wells on their land, which used to generate royalty checks of between $3,000 and $5,000 a month. Plus, they own a small construction business that employs around 20 people.
Striking it rich hasn’t seemed to change their work pattern that much — Kitten is still the bookkeeper at the construction company, and Gerald says he’s yet to officially retire.
But in addition to their new toys the couple has carved out time for three cruises over the past year, one to the Persian Gulf.
Opponents of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking for short, fear the process of injecting pressurized water and chemicals into the ground to ease the extraction process is contaminating the water business cards design. Others with gas wells on their property have regretted the decision, saying the compressors are loud and the wells produce nauseating fumes.
But the Dowdens say they aren’t worried. And they say noise or fumes aren’t a problem either.
"They’re a community-oriented company," said Gerald. "They’re really safe."
The reality show, which was filmed over an eight-week period last year, profiles the adventures of not just Gerald and Kitten but their extended family.
Gerald says neither their new wealth nor having a television crew on their land has strained relations with their neighbors, who are out of eyesight anyway.
"They’re excited, they all want to be in it," says Kitten.
Despite claims by the show’s producer and the Dowden family that the program doesn’t aim to celebrate or exploit redneck stereotypes, clips on CMT’s website leave some room for doubt.
"I love my new teeth," says the couple’s daughter Chantal in the episode trailer, which is also filled with lots of ATV riding and yee-haws partially set to a steel guitar soundtrack.
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"She really needed ‘em," responds Chantel’s boyfriend in the trailer, which gives his name as Carl, Albert or Jimmy, "depending on what part of the country," he’s in, and where Gerald affectionately calls him the "burnout biker."
Still, show producer Brian Flanagan says the aim was to simply profile a tight- knit family that’s come into some money.
"I wasn’t trying to make a redneck show, I was trying to make a sweet show," says Flanagan, who got the idea from an employee who has family in the area and saw first hand how normal people were getting rich off the energy boom.
Flanagan, whose company is behind other reality shows including the Discovery channel’s "Moonshires" and TLC’s "Long Island Medium," says the Dowdens fit the part perfectly.
"They love their property, they love each other, and they are having a blast together thanks to their newfound fortune," he says.
He notes the show is devoid of some of the more unsavory aspects on reality television.
"I don’t need anyone flipping a table over on this show," he says. "It’s a show for the whole family, not a train wreck."
Bayou Billionaires’ third episode airs Saturday at 9 PM on Viacom’s (, Fortune 500) CMT.
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Sri Lanka unexpectedly raised interest rates for the first time since 2007 to curb credit growth in the nation and ensure inflation stays low.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka raised the reverse repurchase rate to 9 percent from 8.5 percent and the repurchase rate to 7.5 percent from 7 percent, the Colombo-based bank said in a statement on its website today. All seven economists in a Bloomberg News survey predicted rates would be unchanged.
Central bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal
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Bakers Footwear Group sold its Wild Pair trademark to Steven Madden Ltd. for $4 million and will continue to offer the brand of footwear in its stores through a licensing agreement.
St. Louis-based Bakers signed the non-exclusive, royalty free license deal Wednesday. Bakers said it will use the proceeds from the deal to reduce its debt.
“The structure of this transaction allows for Bakers to benefit from the future expansion of Wild Pair,” Bakers’ CEO and Chairman Peter Edison said in a statement. Bakers has 233 stores in the U.S.
New York-based Madden, which operates 84 retail stores worldwide, owns 19.9 percent of Bakers’ common stock.
Toyota Motor Corp. on Friday sharply downgraded its earnings forecast for this fiscal year through March, blaming a strong yen and the massive flooding in Thailand.
Japan’s biggest automaker expects to book a net profit of 180 billion yen ($2.3 billion), down 54 percent from the 390 billion yen it projected in August. It estimates leaner revenue of 18.2 trillion yen ($234.36 billion) from 19 trillion yen.
Toyota expects to sell 7.38 million vehicles worldwide this year instead of 7.6 million it predicted four months ago.
The maker of the Camry and Corolla sedans is on track to lose its title as the world’s largest automaker this calendar year. Toyota sank to No. 3 in vehicle sales during the first six months, trailing U.S. rival General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG of Germany.
Toyota held off from releasing new earnings forecasts when it announced its first-half earnings results last month, citing uncertainties from the Thai floods that disrupted parts supplies.
It’s been a rough year for Japanese car makers, who were first hit with the earthquake and tsunami in March. They had largely rebounded from the disaster when they confronted the immense flooding in Thailand this autumn. Car production as far away as North America was scaled back as the creeping floodwaters put suppliers out of action.
The flooding, which was Thailand’s worst in half a century, will result in an output loss of 230,000 vehicles, said Executive Vice President Satoshi Ozawa at a news conference in Tokyo.
He told reporters the company had learned from its experience this year and that it would study ways to ensure that such unforeseen events “never again” lead to paralysis of supply chains.
But among Japan’s car makers, Honda Motor Co. has been the worst hit by the floods. It has yet to release forecasts as a result.
Compounding the pain is a strong yen, which hit multiple historic highs against the dollar this year. With jitters about European and U.S. economies, global investors have turned to the yen as a relative safe haven.
For exporters like Toyota, a strong yen reduces the value of overseas profits when repatriated and makes Japanese products less competitive on prices in markets outside Japan. Exports are a key driver of economic growth in a country that faces a rapidly aging and shrinking population at home.
Japanese manufacturers, including car and high-tech makers, responded by shifting more production abroad _ a trend that has government officials and the business community concerned about a hollowing out of Japanese industry.
“Because of the strong yen, the collapse of the foundation of Japanese manufacturing has begun,” Ozawa said.
Toyota’s new forecasts incorporate a 120 billion yen hit on operating profit from the Thai floods and another 190 billion yen from the negative impact of currency levels.
It now sees operating profit of 200 billion yen, compared with 450 billion yen in its August forecast.
The company lowered its foreign exchange assumptions to account for the yen’s appreciation over the last several months. It expects the yen to average 78 to the dollar this year, from 80 yen to the dollar in its previous estimate. It assumes 109 yen against the euro, down from 116 yen to the euro.
Toyota reports earnings based on U.S. accounting standards.
A funny thing happened here in the past few years. More young adults moved into the St. Louis region than moved out.
Not as many as in some so-called “cooler” cities, and maybe only because fewer people were moving in general from 2008 to 2010 as the nation wrestled with a deep recession and weak recovery.
But in each of those three years, according to new census data crunched by the Brookings Institution, on average, 870 more people age 25 to 34 came to the St. Louis area than left it. That is the opposite of what happened the previous three years and runs counter to the general trend of recent decades. After a long time spent watching young adults move away, and the St. Louis region slowly get grayer, a lot of people say this seems like progress pay day loans.
Wooing young people has been a big focus in recent years for the groups that try to grow St. Louis’ economy. Ranging from efforts by the Regional Chamber and Growth Association to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, “talent” initiatives and young adult councils have been launched in a bid to stem what some call a “brain drain” and spur fresh thinking in a place that is sometimes seen as stodgy and closed. Grass-roots groups have sprung up with the same ideas.
For an aging region, young adults are a sort of economic vitamin boost. People in their late 20s and early 30s are building careers and choosing where to settle down. Capturing them, and their talent, can mean a stronger workforce, which helps grow and attract companies
TORONTO
Toyota will begin taking orders Tuesday for the plug-in version of its hit Prius hybrid, announcing efficient mileage and a relatively affordable starting price of 3.2 million yen ($41,000), which comes down with green vehicle subsidies.
Toyota is targeting Prius Plug-in sales of 35,000 to 40,000 a year in Japan, and 60,000 globally. The car is set for delivery in Japan in January. With subsidies the cost comes down to 2.75 million yen ($35,200). It starts at $32,000 in the U.S. and 37,000 euros in Europe, according to Toyota.
Japan’s top automaker says the plug-in, which it calls the Prius PHV, is for those who want something more innovative than a regular gasoline-electric hybrid, but are worried about running out of power on the road, as can happen with pure electric vehicles.
When a plug-in runs out of power to keep the electric vehicle going, it becomes a hybrid.
“The plug-in is the premier next-generation ecological car that will follow the hybrid,” said Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada, the Toyota Motor Corp. engineer known as the “father of the Prius.”
The Prius Plug-in has an estimated electric vehicle cruise range per charge of 26.4 kilometers (16 miles), according to Toyota.
Its mileage is estimated at 61 kilometers per liter for Japanese test conditions, which converts to a whopping 143 miles per gallon. Such numbers vary depending on road conditions. Toyota is promising 87 mpg for the U.S. Prius Plug-in, which will be delivered starting in March. Orders are already being taken online in the U.S.
Green cars such as the Prius Plug-in are expected to take centerstage at the Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public this weekend.
Japanese consumers have taken to the Prius, despite a languishing auto market overall, thanks to government-backed subsidies. Nations around the world are offering similar perks, boosting its chance for success.
The Prius Plug-in, which seats five people, comes with a new lithium-ion battery that can be charged from a household outlet, much like an electric car. It also recharges itself while driving like a gasoline-electric hybrid. The battery is more powerful and compact so the back trunk fits three golf bags.
Uchiyamada told reporters that the plug-in was the best solution for green cars as most Japanese don’t drive more than 20 kilometers (12 miles) a day and Toyota studies showed that most people don’t want to use EVs for drives longer than 100 kilometers (60 miles).
How the plug-in fares in coming months will help show whether Toyota can keep riding on its success of the Prius as a global leader in green technology. Toyota said it had collected data from 600 people around the world who had leased the plug-in on a trial basis.
Toyota has sold more than 3.4 million hybrids worldwide so far, including models other than the Prius.
Selling in big numbers is important because it helps cut costs and allows the automaker to offer products at affordable prices.
Honda Motor Co., which has also been aggressive with hybrid technology, has sold 770,000 hybrids worldwide.
Nissan Motor Co., which hasn’t released a global hybrid sales number, is banking more on pure electric, selling 17,500 Leaf cars around the world so far.
In Japan, Toyota will work on services with its housing unit to support plug-in owners’ charging stations, it said.
Stock indexes closed at the highest point since the U.S. debt limit showdown in August Monday. The market was driven higher by a round of big corporate takeovers and reports that Europe’s bailout fund will be larger than originally thought. The Nasdaq composite turned positive for the year.
Netflix Inc. plunged 22 percent in after-hours trading after the DVD-by-mail and video streaming company forecast a sharp drop in fourth-quarter profits.
Investors are still waiting for a resolution to Europe’s debt problems. European leaders said they made progress at a weekend summit and plan to unveil concrete plans for containing the crisis by Wednesday.
The Dow was up about 40 points in the first hour of trading but moved steadily higher through midday following reports that Europe’s takeover fund will be greatly expanded. It finished with a gain of 104.83 points, or 0.9 percent, at 11,913.62.
“The market is expecting that there will be some kind of deal worked out Wednesday,” when European financial ministers are scheduled to meet, said Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners. “If there’s not a deal by then, the market is going down significantly.”
Even with concerns about Europe, U.S. companies are still reporting bigger profits. “Although there is a good deal of economic and political uncertainty in the world, we are not seeing it much in our business at this point,” Caterpillar Chief Executive Doug Oberhelman said.
The maker of construction equipment reported a 44 percent surge in income, more than Wall Street analysts were expecting, thanks to strong growth in exports. The company said it expected the global economy to continue recovering, albeit slowly. Caterpillar jumped 5 percent, the most of the 30 companies in the Dow.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose to 1,254.19. That is just 3.45 points, or 0.3 percent, below where it started the year. It’s the highest close for the S&P 500 since Aug. 3, just as Washington was resolving a showdown over raising the country’s borrowing limit. If the S&P 500 finishes the year with a gain, it will be its biggest turnaround since 1984.
The Nasdaq composite rose 61.98, or 2.3 percent, to 2,699.44. The gains turned the Nasdaq positive for the year. The S&P 500 is the only major market index that remains lower than where it started the year.
The Russell 2000 index of small companies rose 3 payday loans.3 percent as investors moved money into higher-risk assets.
Netflix sank 21.6 percent post-market trading after forecasting fourth-quarter income that was far below what analysts were expecting. Through Monday’s close the stock had plunged 59 percent since July 12, when it raised prices and announced a plan to break its DVD-by-mail business into a separate company. The company abandoned the plan after it triggered a revolt among subscribers.
Other major U.S. companies due to report earnings this week include UPS Inc., Ford Motor Co. and Procter & Gamble.
Analysts expect companies in the S&P 500 to report earnings growth of 14 percent for the third quarter, according to data provider FactSet. They expect a 10 percent gain in revenue.
Expenses are also expected to climb. Higher costs for raw materials helped drag down income 8 percent at Kimberly-Clark Corp., which reported results Monday. The stock fell 5 percent. The company is a major consumer products maker whose brands include Huggies and Kleenex.
Higher costs also hurt cigarette maker Lorillard, which reported a 3 percent drop in income. Lorillard’s stock fell 0.6 percent.
A series of corporate deals helped lift the market, said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors. “This is telling us that companies think stocks are cheap, and they’re willing to spend some of the cash that’s sitting around on their balance sheets,” he said.
Deals announced included:
_ HealthSpring Inc. jumped 34 percent after Cigna Corp. said it will buy the health insurer for about $3.8 billion in cash. Cigna rose 1.4 percent.
_ RightNow Technologies Inc. gained 19 percent after Oracle Corp. said it will buy the tech service company for about $1.5 billion. Oracle rose 2.3 percent.
_ Mattel Inc. rose 2 percent after it agreed to buy Hit Entertainment, the owner of the Thomas & Friends and Barney brands, for $680 million in cash.
_ The J.M. Smucker Co. added 0.7 percent after it bought most of Sara Lee Corp.’s North American foodservice coffee operations for about $350 million.
Five shares rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was average at 4.2 billion shares.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 1.6 percent early Tuesday, bringing it into what many consider to be a bear market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell near a record low as investors piled into lower-risk assets.
Stocks fell broadly as investors worried that Greece might be edging closer to default, which would cause heavy losses for banks that hold Greek debt and rattle global financial markets. Greece has said it wouldn’t be able to make budget cuts it had agreed to as part of a deal to receive emergency loans.
The S&P 500 fell 20 points, or 1.8 percent, to 1,079 as of 10:15 a.m. That brought the widely used index 21 percent below its April 29 high of 1,363, meeting the criteria of a bear market.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 207, or 1.9 percent, to 10,448.The Dow is 18 percent below its recent peak, just shy of the 20 percent decline market watchers consider to be a bear market.
The Nasdaq composite dropped 28, or 1.2 percent, to 2,307.
Bank of America fell 3.9 percent, the most of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow average. American Express Co. and General Electric Co. each lost 3 percent.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.72 percent, just above its record low of 1.71 percent reached on Sept. 22. Bond yields fall as prices rise.
In testimony before Congress, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy is weaker than the central bank expected and that poor job growth continues to undercut consumer confidence. He warned Congress that deep spending cuts may impede a recovery.
In corporate news, Apple Inc. is widely expected to announce the newest version of its iPhone Tuesday. Tim Cook, who took over the company’s CEO role from co-founder Steve Jobs in August, is expected to unveil the new smartphone at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters. The company lost 0.6 percent in early trading.
Bank of America Corp. lost 7 percent to $5.15 as investors continued to be troubled by its exposure to soured mortgages securities and a several-day outage of its website. The company’s stock lost 9 percent Monday to $5.53, a level not seen since 2009.
European indexes also declined sharply. Benchmark indexes in Germany, France, and Spain each lost more than 3 percent.
The Greek government says an emergency conference call between Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and the country’s creditors could last until early Tuesday and be continued later in the day.
Global markets remained skeptical about Greek pledges to step up urgently needed reforms, and stocks in the U.S., Europe and Asia fell sharply Monday on fears Athens will default on its mountain of debt.
Greece’s international bailout creditors had stepped up the pressure at the start of a crucial week in Europe’s nearly two-year debt crisis, urging Greece to do more to heal its finances.
Creditors are threatening to cut the cash lifeline, which would force Greece to go bankrupt in less than a month.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) _ Greece’s finance minister is holding an emergency teleconference with the country’s creditors hours after pledging to speed up reforms and civil-service staff cuts.
Global markets were skeptical about any of Greece’s pledges, however, and stocks in the U.S., Europe and Asia fell sharply Monday on fears Athens will default on its mountain of debt.
Greece’s international bailout creditors had stepped up the pressure at the start of a crucial week in Europe’s nearly two-year debt crisis, urging Greece to do more to heal its finances.
Creditors are threatening to cut the cash lifeline, which would force Greece to go bankrupt in less than a month.
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