Association of Independent Investors – "The Voice of Investors"

Charlotte, VT, February 09, 2012 –(PR.com)– When it comes to navigating the tricky waters of the investment industry, investors often feel like the balance is tipped in favor of the industry. But a newly formed, not-for-profit organization, the Association of Independent Investors, sees that balance shifting.

Andrew Haigney, Executive Director of the Association of Independent Investors, said, “The investment industry has had the upper hand over independent investors largely because of their excessive influence in the legislative and rule making processes. We’re proud to announce that we are up and running, it’s about time that investors have a seat at the negotiating table.” Mr. Haigney added, “Independent investors are among the largest demographic groups in the country, yet until now they haven’t had an organization that is exclusively dedicated to advocating for them.”

Mr. Haigney brings over 25 years of hands on industry experience. His career began in the mid-eighties working on a trading desk for a mid-sized investment bank. In the early nineties, he ran his family’s self clearing brokerage firm before he went on to work for Merrill Lynch in their Institutional Sales department. Most recently, he operated a registered investment advisory firm. Mr. Haigney, an outspoken critic of the investment industry, writes frequently about regulatory issues, market structure and investment strategy.

According to Mr. Haigney, investors are more vulnerable today than in years past. “Just look at the demise of traditional pension plans and the rise of 401(k) type of retirement plans. Not only are investors making their own investment decisions, but they don’t have the regulatory protection that pensions plans enjoy and this makes them easy prey for the industry.” He continued, “We bring a credible voice to the process. With our industry knowledge and independence, we’re going to bring long overdue investor friendly changes to the investment industry.”

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About the Association of Independent Investors

The Association of Independent Investors Corporation (www.aiinvestors.org) is a Vermont based not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to promoting the interests of independent (non-professional) investors. Our mission is to provide effective, quality representation of independent investors with respect to the development, formulation, and enactment of legislation, rules, and regulations relating to the investment industry, and to promote investment literacy through education and awareness campaigns.

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Torchmark Corporation to Present at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Insurance Conference

Torchmark Corporation to Present at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Insurance Conference

PR Newswire — February 9, 2012

MCKINNEY, Texas, February 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ –

Torchmark Corporation (NYSE: TMK) announced today that its Chief Executive Officer, Mark McAndrew, and Chief Financial Officer, Gary Coleman, will present Thursday, February 16, 2012 at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Insurance Conference in New York City. Torchmark’s presentation is scheduled to begin at 11:45 a.m. EST.

The presentation will be webcast live at: http://www.torchmarkcorp.com on the Investor Relations page, under “Management Presentations” or https://www.veracast.com/webcasts/baml/insurance2012/id20527130.cfm

Torchmark Corporation is a holding company specializing in life and supplemental health insurance for “middle income” Americans marketed through multiple distribution channels including direct response, and exclusive and independent agencies. Torchmark has several nationally recognized insurance subsidiaries. Globe Life And Accident is a direct-response provider of life insurance known for its administrative efficiencies. American Income Life provides individual life insurance to labor union members. Liberty National Life, one of the oldest traditional life insurers in the Southeast, is the largest life insurer in its home state of Alabama. United American is a consumer-oriented provider of supplemental life and health insurance.

Subject Codes: PC/t.120209163323718, PR/dest.Public, PT/lang.en, PC/ticker, PC/ticker.bloomberg, PC/ticker.rics, RE/New_York, RE/Texas, IN/FIN, IN/HEA, IN/INS, IN/HIN, SU/TDS, SU/CCA

Company Codes: NYSE:TMK, Bloomberg:TMK@US, RICS:TMK.N

Spectra Systems Corporation Products on Their Way to Mars

Spectra Systems Corporation Products on Their Way to Mars

PR Newswire — February 9, 2012

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, February 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ –

Spectra Systems Corporation, a technology company that provides banknote security features to many of the world’s central banks, has one of its products on the way to Mars as part of the NASA Curiosity rover mission. Spectra Systems’ materials are playing a key role in calibrating one of the high performance camera systems on the Curiosity rover called MAHLI (Mars Hand Lens Imager). The mission that launched on Nov. 26, 2011 is part of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory program that will deliver the Curiosity rover to a landing site inside Mars’ Gale Crater in August of this year to begin a two-year investigation to determine if the area has ever offered an environment favorable for microbial life.

“We’re not certain that any of the minerals Curiosity will encounter on Mars will luminesce, but we wanted to be able to check that our UV LEDs are fully operational when we’re working in the cold, dry Martian environment. We were thrilled when we made contact with Spectra Systems since their product specification seemed ideal for a mission to Mars,” said Dr. Ken Edgett, Malin Space Science Systems, CA, the Principal Investigator for the MAHLI team.

“Spectra’s robust phosphor target on MAHLI is illuminated by UV LEDs to produce strong, stable, and environmentally robust light output for calibration on Mars. The MAHLI team chose our materials because of the performance which all of our products are required to have in order to protect the world’s banknotes from sophisticated counterfeiters year after year. Banknote security features have to survive in harsh environments, from exposure to the sun to laundry when accidentally left in your jeans pocket. The performance of our materials on a Mars mission says a great deal,” said Spectra’s CEO, Dr. Nabil Lawandy.

Lawandy, a former Professor of Engineering and Physics at Brown University, added that “we are proud of our association with Brown and Providence, RI, which were home to four key MAHLI investigators.” Dr. Michelle Minitti and Dr. Aileen Yingst did their PhD work and Dr. Michael Ravine earned his MS degree at Brown University. Additionally, Dr. Jim Bell, well known for his work on the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers, grew up in Rhode Island.

Spectra Systems (http://www.spsy.com), headquartered in Providence, RI, is a leading provider of machine-readable banknote authentication technology, and has manufacturing and engineering facilities in East Providence. Spectra Systems is a traded company on the London Stock exchange since July of 2011.

Subject Codes: PC/t.120209125223872, PR/dest.Public, PT/lang.en, PC/ticker, PC/ticker.bloomberg, PC/ticker.rics, RE/Rhode_Island, IN/FIN, IN/CPR, IN/HTS

Company Codes: LSE:SPSY, Bloomberg:SPSY@LN, RICS:SPSY.L

Dafaux Graff & Partners Solutions to Create Additional Trading Desk Offices Worldwide

Geneva, Switzerland, February 09, 2012 –(PR.com)– The commodity futures and derivatives market expansion of Dafaux Graff Partners Solutions replaces the existing coverage and trading activities at the Shanghai, Japan and Singapore marketplaces, which is straightforwardly supervised by its Japan-based office with plan of opening another trading office in Australia, Paris, Frankfurt and Hong Kong.

“At present, we all know that the global financial turmoil has motivated traders and investors to welcome new trading prospect towards derivatives and commodity products. Commodity as well as financial markets are being considered as part of the trading solutions and particularly, the utilization of these derivatives is not only increasing in Asia Pacific Region and Australia but also growing in some major parts of United kingdom and Europe, as more and more global corporations are identifying their needs for risk management systems,” said Micheal Roove, Dafaux Graff Partners Solutions Global Managing Director for Research and Business Development Department.

“With the market movement of flight to superiority, Dafaux Graff Partners Solutions is focused and well-positioned to grab these unique opportunities in this ever changing market environment. We are also committed and dedicated to enhance our business by educating, informing and refining both our local and international business management and leadership because we certainly believe that in this global business expansion, our initiative matters most and will be our greatest asset in developing and establishing our global presence,” added Roove.

Dafaux Graff Partners Solutions for more than a decade, covers some major market sectors globally particularly in the sectors of foreign exchange, interest rates, financials and financial indices, metals, energy and commodities. It also covers undertakings on equity risk management, sales and trading activities. Aside from the customary trading services offered by Dafaux Graff Partners Solutions to its global clients on the sectors of futures and options and commodity brokerage, it is also one of the first-rated service providers for electronic foreign exchange which normally covers more than 100 currency markets worldwide.

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Dafaux Graff & Partners Solutions to Focus on Industrial Commodities in 2012

Geneva, Switzerland, February 09, 2012 –(PR.com)– After the firm’s success in establishing its presence globally with commodities futures fronting its business services in the commodity futures and options marketplaces, in 2012, Dafaux Graff Partners Solutions a leading company known for its exceptional services focused on commodity futures and foreign exchange, will be concentrating on the potential business activities for industrial commodities. This announcement was made public by Mr. Raymond Fisher, the newly appointed Managing Director for Local Industrial Commodities.

This service offering will be launched in areas where industrial commodities are expected to gain positive feedback. Initially, countries like China, Saudi Arabia, Japan, India, Germany and France will be the first few countries to benefit this new service. Accordingly, if the plan becomes successful, it will be expanded to other countries that have increased demands for industrial commodities services.

Mr. Raymond Fisher, who just recently joined Dafaux Graff Partners Solutions in October 2011, will be responsible in the supervision of this new business initiative. He will directly report to Mr. Gabriel Walsh, the Global Head for Industrial Commodities. Fisher, who is known in this sector, is expected to bring his wealth of knowledge and experience, particularly in metals, energy and the power markets to Dafaux Graff Partners Solutions He previously worked at UBS and SocGen.

Aside from Raymond Fisher, Dafaux Graff Partners Solutions has also appointed Mr. Edward Hayes to serve as the overall account executive to further boost the industrial commodity trading desk. Fisher and Hayes will be working hand in hand to achieve its business objective, the promotion of industrial commodities to global clients. Edward Hayes joined Dafaux Graff Partners Solutions in 2007 as Senior Account Executive for commodity and derivatives markets. Hayes previous jobs include plastic marketing strategist.

The concentration for industrial commodities escalates upon Dafaux Graff Partners Solutions success in previous months, especially in developing a robust foothold in the Asian region, most considerably China, as it continues to develop its industrial commodities business. The new team for industrial commodity trading desk was recently created in November 2011and it is expected to be developed in five to seven years in the future.

Mr. Gabriel Walsh, the Global Head for Industrial Commodities expressed: “I am very much happy to have Raymond in our company, after long years of trying to pirate him from our rival company. I personally believe that his extensive experience and knowledge in this sector will bring opportunity to the firm to explore more on this sector as well as reinforce our business operations.”

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