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The Boston Club — a leading association of professional women in the city — has a new president.

Janet B. Cady was elected to a two-year term earlier this month. She is president of the Children's Hospital Trust, overseeing fundraising for Children's Hospital Boston. She held a similar position in Milwaukee.

Addressing the club's annual meeting, she said, according to comments supplied by the group: "Women are a force in the economic health of this city. I am committed to advancing The Boston Club as a change agent and promoting the value that our organization brings to Boston’s business community."

JoAnn Cavallaro DeCava Consulting was elected vice president.

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Wells Fargo Bank isn’t bringing its nine-iron to the Heron Bay Golf Club in Parkland. It’s bringing its team of lawyers to seize the property.

The bank filed a foreclosure lawsuit May 26 against the 18-hole course owner BH Partners I, along with managing members Stuart Kaufman, Alfred Denowitz and Jamie Kaufman, according to Broward County Circuit Court records.

The group bought the property in the sprawling Heron Bay neighborhood for $6.3 million in 2007 and obtained a $4.8 million mortgage with Wachovia Bank, which was acquired by Wells Fargo the following year.

Jamie Kaufman declined comment.

Mark McCumber, a winner of 10 PGA tour titles, designed the golf club, which opened in 1996. The property includes two buildings: 20,088 square feet at 11801 Heron Bay Blvd. and 14,562 square feet at 11500 Trails End. They include a restaurant and a pro shop.

The PGA Tour’s Honda Classic was played at Heron Bay from 1997 through 2002. The past two years, it has hosted the Dixie Amateur.

Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rostock, who represents Wells Fargo in the lawsuit, declined to comment.

Other South Florida golf courses facing foreclosure include the Ocean Breeze Golf & Country Club in Boca Raton, the Emerald Dunes Golf Course in Royal Palm Beach and the Grand Lacuna Golf & Country Club in Lake Worth.

Bank targets 138 units in Doral condo

FirstBank Puerto Rico has targeted 138 units in the Doral Gardens II Condominium for foreclosure.

The bank (NYSE: FBP) filed the foreclosure lawsuit on June 10 against Doral 368, along with managing members Oscar A. Garcia, Danny Correa, Fernando S. Aran and Jorge M. Guarch Jr., according to Miami-Dade County Circuit Court records.

FirstBank granted a $46.4 million mortgage in 2005 for the developer to convert the 368-unit complex, at the northwest corner of Northwest 79th Avenue and Northwest 48th Street, from apartments to condos. It was built in 1972.

In 2008, the developer got the mortgage modified at $11.6 million with 138 units remaining. None have been sold since.

West Palm Beach attorney Scott B. Newman, who represents FirstBank in the lawsuit, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Garcia, Correa, Aran and Guarch also were named as guarantors of a foreclosure lawsuit that Bank of Miami filed over the Southgate Gardens apartment complex in Tamarac. They turned the property over to the bank in 2009 in a $9.1 million deed in lieu of foreclosure in exchange for a release of their personal guarantees.

Deerfield retirement community faces foreclosure

A Deerfield Beach retirement community in a mobile home park could be seized by a commercial mortgage backed-securities (CMBS) fund.

U.S. Bank, as a trustee for a CMBS fund originated by Merrill Lynch, filed a foreclosure lawsuit April 28 against Tidewater Estates Co-Ops, the owner of the 82-home park of the same name. It is located at the northeast corner of Military Trail and Northwest Fifth Street – just south of the northern Broward County line.

The 55-plus community has a clubhouse, swimming pool and shuffleboard court. It is owned by a cooperative in which residents are shareholders. Homes can be bought or rented.

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Stocks turned up during the last hour of trade Friday after a choppy session, erasing deep losses triggered by a disappointing retail sales report, and the Dow posted its first weekly gain in a month.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added 39 points, or 0.4%. The index was down as much as 90 points earlier in the session, with pressure from a decline in the consumer sector and energy shares.

The S&P 500 index (SPX) rose 5 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) gained 25 points, or 1.1%. Like the Dow, the other indexes started sharply lower and bounced between negative and positive territory throughout the session. Both indexes finished higher on the week.

U.S. stocks rallied Thursday, with the three major indexes rising 3%, as concerns about Europe’s debt crisis eased, supporting gains in the region’s shared currency. The euro climbed against the dollar to its highest level in a week, rising above $1.21.

Stocks sank at Friday’s open as investor digested an unexpected 1.2% drop May retail sales, but trimmed those losses following a report that showed a rise in consumer confidence.

The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index rose to 75.5 in June, up from 73.6 in May. Economists were expecting the figure to rise to 74.5.

"Consumer confidence won out over retail sales," said Dan Alpert, managing partner at Westwood Capital. "Even though stocks were still flowing mostly in negative territory through the day, the downslide would have been sharper without that boost in consumer confidence."

Despite two straight days of gains, analysts said the markets will remain choppy, as Europe’s debt crisis, BP’s oil mess, stubbornly high unemployment and recent volatility weigh on stocks.

"There’s not a whole lot of good news and investors are standing on the sidelines waiting for the smoke to clear," said Kenny Landgraf, principal and founder of Kenjol Capital Management. "We need to see some stability, but we’re not likely to get it until the quarter ends and earnings season begins. But that’s still a few weeks away."

Economy: A report from the Commerce Department showed that business inventories increased 0 easy payday loans.4% in April, missing economists’ expectations of a 0.5% rise.

Companies: Dell said late Thursday it is nearing a resolution with the Securities and Exchange Commission on a mysterious case linked to a government investigation into the computer giant launched in August 2005. The company said it has set aside $100 million for a potential fraud settlement. Shares of Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) were down 0.4%.

BP’s (BP) stock was 3% higher as reports said the company might defer or decrease its second-quarter dividend, due to pay out next month, as political pressure mounts over the Gulf oil spill.

Shares of Wendy’s/Arby’s Group (WEN) jumped 4% after hedge fund manager Nelson Peltz of Trian Fund Management, the fast-food company’s largest shareholder, said an unnamed group expressed interest in acquiring the Wendy’s/Arby’s.

World markets: European markets ended mixed. France’s CAC 40 climbed 1.1% and Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6%, while the DAX in Germany closed down 0.1%.

Stocks in Asia closed higher. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index rose 1.7% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong finished the session up 1.2%.

Dollar and commodities: The dollar gained ground against other major currencies. The greenback rose 0.3% on the euro and climbed 1.3% against the British pound. The dollar was 0.4% higher against the Japanese yen.

U.S. light crude oil for July delivery fell $1.70 to $73.78 a barrel, and gold for August delivery rose $8.00 to $1,1230.20 an ounce.

Bonds: Treasury prices were higher, pushing the benchmark 10-year note’s yield down to 3.23%. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Market breadth. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners topped losers by a almost three to one on trading volume of 1 billion shares. On the Nasdaq advancers topped decliners five to two on 1.8 billion shares.  

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McLean-based ATS Corp. has won a contract to support the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s money management systems.

ATS said that the new contract runs for five years and totals $13.7 million.

Under the contract, ATS will continue to provide application systems support for HUD's systems for program accounting, lines-of-credit, and bond payments.

It is not the information technology firm’s first work with HUD. "ATSC has provided mission-critical software development and maintenance services to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for nearly 30 years . This new award exemplifies a long track record of recompete wins for our company,” said ATS CEO Edward Bersoff.

In the first quarter, ATS (NASDAQ: ATSC) reported net income of $1.1 million, or 5 cents per diluted share, compared with $400,000, or 2 cents per diluted share, in the year-ago period. Revenue in the first quarter rose 12 percent to $30.5 million.

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Chrysler Group is recalling about 25,000 model year 2007 Dodge Caliber and Jeep Compass cars in the U.S. because of a problem that causes the gas pedals to stick.

An additional 10,000 cars are being recalled in other countries.

In the vehicles, part of the gas pedal assembly can fall off, causing the pedal to come out of alignment and become stuck.

The pedals for these cars were made by CTS Corp. the same supplier that made gas pedals involved in a massive Toyota recall for sticking gas pedals. However, although both the Toyota and Chrysler gas pedals could get stuck, the underlying problems appear to be unrelated.

A CTS spokesman did not immediately able to respond to a request for comment.

The NHTSA opened an investigation into the problem in early May following five consumer complaints. In four of the cases, a mechanical part of the gas pedal was found on the floor of the vehicle.

The Caliber and Compass, like all Chrysler Group vehicles, have a system called "brake override" or "smart brake" which automatically cuts engine power when the brake pedal is pressed, even if the gas pedal is also pressed. That makes the vehicle easier to control if the gas pedal becomes stuck.

Because of the presence of "smart brake" technology, Chrysler does not believe the problem represents an "unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety," the carmaker said in a letter to NHTSA. But it decided to perform the recall nevertheless.

In a statement, the company said that "it is not aware of any accidents, injuries or property damage related to this issue."

Chrysler will notify owners of vehicles affected by the recall. Only some Calibers from the 2007 model year will potentially have the problem. Dealers will inspect and, if needed, replace the gas pedal assembly.

Owners who think their car may be involved can call Chrysler at 1-800-853-1403 or NHTSA at 1-888-327-4236. 

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Stocks managed gains Thursday following a choppy session in which investors mulled mixed economic news ahead of Friday’s big monthly jobs report.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added a few points. The S&P 500 index (SPX) gained 4 points, or 0.4%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) rallied 22 points, or 1%.

Stocks gained in the morning, turned mixed in the afternoon as the euro retreated and then staged another rally near the close.

The weak euro, a spike in crude oil prices and a rise in Treasury prices were all in play during the session. Financial shares were mostly lower, while Nasdaq components Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) and Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) helped lift that index.

On a broader level, the market is churning following a month-long "correction" that set the Dow, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq more than 10% off the recent rally highs. Stocks slumped during that period on worries that the European debt crisis and weak euro will hurt global growth.

Although economists don’t expect the country to head into a double-dip recession, the recent economic news has been mixed, adding to investor concerns. That was evident in the morning’s readings on jobs, factory activity and services.

Investors are also wary of the correction becoming a bigger sell-off and ultimately a bear market — a decline of more than 20% off the lows.

"The bears think nothing has changed, we continue to have problems and things are going to get worse, while the bulls say the correction was typical and we’re doing fine," said Joe Clark, market analyst at Financial Enhancement Group.

He said that this push-pull is keeping the market choppy right now. "From a trading perspective, the S&P is probably in a range between 1,040 and 1,110, and if it can get past that 1,110 range, a lot of managers will start putting money to work."

The S&P 500 ended Thursday at 1,102.

Energy: The broad stock market advanced Wednesday as energy shares bounced back from the recent drubbing sparked by the BP (BP) oil spill in the Gulf.

But energy stocks were mixed Thursday as investors mulled BP’s latest efforts to plug the massive oil leak, more than 6 weeks after its Deepwater Horizon rig exploded. Two ratings agencies downgraded BP, citing the financial impact and hit to its reputation as a result of the explosion.

Nonetheless, shares of both BP and Transocean (RIG), the owner of the rig, gained as BP said its latest effort, involving the use of underwater robots, was having some success.

Jobs market: Reports on the labor market were released before the market open that showed some improvement. However, results were shy of economists’ expectations.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell to 453,000 last week from a revised 463,000 the previous week. Economists expected 455,000 new claims. But continuing claims, a measure of those receiving benefits for a week or more, rose to 4,666,000 versus forecasts for a decline to 4,600,000 from 4,635,000 the previous week.

Payroll services firm ADP said private-sector employers added 55,000 jobs to their payrolls in May after adding 65,000 in April, short of forecasts for a gain of 60,000.

On Wednesday, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said planned job cuts rose 1.3% in May, although the pace of downsizing continued to slow.

Friday’s jobs report is the biggest of the week. The government is expected to report that employers added 500,000 to their payrolls last month, due partly to the impact of the Census jobs. Employers added 290,000 in the previous month. The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, is expected to have fallen to 9.8% from 9.9% in the previous month.

Economy: Another report from the Commerce Department showed that factory orders increased 1.2% in April, short of the forecast for a rise of 1.7%. Orders grew 1.7% in March.

The Institute for Supply Management’s services sector index for May held steady at 55.4, missing forecasts for a rise to 55.6. However, any reading over 50 shows expansion in the sector.

Retail: In other economic news, the nation’s chain stores reported the ninth straight month of gains in May, with discounters such as Costco (COST, Fortune 500) leading the charge.

Euro: The euro inched lower versus the dollar after touching a four-year low of $1.2111 on Tuesday. The euro lost 0.6% versus the greenback.

The dollar fell 0.1% against the yen.

World markets: Markets in Europe rallied. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.2%, Germany’s DAX added 1.2% and France’s CAC 40 advanced 1.6%.

Asian markets ended higher. Japan’s Nikkei rallied 3.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.6%.

Commodities: U.S. light crude oil for July delivery rose $1.75 to settle at $74.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for August delivery fell $12.60 to settle at $1,210 an ounce.

Bonds: Treasury prices fell, pushing the yield on the 10-year note to 3.38% from 3.33% late Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Trading volume: Market breadth was narrowly positive and trading volume was moderate. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers by more than three to two on volume of 1.22 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners by eight to five on volume of 2.21 billion shares. 

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Tim League, founder of the Alamo Drafthouse, is returning as CEO of the theater chain, which plans to merge the two similarly named companies that have been operating independently since League sold the franchising rights to a different company six years ago, it was announced Tuesday.

After opening several locations and establishing the company as a local institution, League and his wife sold the brand, its intellectual property and rights to franchise operations in 2004 to a partnership led by John Martin and a partner, David Kennedy, which formed Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas Ltd.

League, 39, meanwhile, retained ownership and operation of three Alamo Drafthouse locations in Austin.

“When I decided to sell the company in 2004, I was more focused on the hands-on development of programming, preshow entertainment and the nuances of the Alamo experience,” League said. “I have since grown the infrastructure of my creative team, and I feel ready to share the results of our Austin incubator with the rest of the country.”

League will replace Martin as Alamo Drafthouse CEO, although Martin will remain with the company as the company’s area developer and will oversee the expansion of the concept outside Texas faxless payday advance.

Tuesday’s announcement is the result of months of negotiations after the Leagues filed a lawsuit in late February 2009 in Travis County District Court, alleging that Martin and others mislead the couple, who kept a financial stake in the company, about franchise plans and fraudulently lured the Leagues to sell their rights to the Alamo brand.

The merger and League’s return to the company's helm were agreed on last week, and League said he and Martin see eye-to-eye again on where to take the brand and melding their operations.

League will merge his operations with Martin’s side of the brand into one main headquarters in downtown Austin, where Martin’s offices are located near Sixth Street and MoPac Expressway. The total operation will be about 14 people with no anticipated cuts.

Alamo Drafthouse plans to open its fifth corporate-owned location in Austin and another franchise location in San Antonio during 2011, which translates to 200 new jobs. The chain currently has eight locations in Texas and one in Virginia.

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I talk to quite a few small-business owners every week, and from what I’m hearing, many are still struggling in the wake of the recession. While everyone has taken steps to shore up their businesses, I often find there are things they’ve overlooked.

For this reason, I’m devoting this column to some basic and not-so-basic survival strategies you can use right now.

Let’s start by reviewing your financials, something entrepreneurs tend to shy away from. Even if you’re not a numbers person, you can (and should) do these simple exercises. We’ll focus on your expenses, operating income, and ultimately your break-even point — a number essential to your business’s survival.

Four Categories of Expenses

Everyone wants to reduce expenses, but you can’t do that fully until you know exactly what they are. Business expenses fall under four categories:

• Fixed expenses: These remain consistent, regardless of revenue or business activity. These include rent, insurance, utilities, salaried employees, etc. (For our purposes, we aren’t including things like depreciation and amortization — only expenses you pay for with cash.)

• Variable expenses: These fluctuate in proportion to production. They include items such as cost of goods sold, shipping costs, sales commissions and direct hourly labor. When revenue increases, so do variable expenses.

• Step variable expenses: These are expenses that can be treated as “fixed,” but actually change in increments as activity increases or decreases. For example, your current customer service rep’s salary is a fixed expense. As business increases, you may eventually need to hire another one. That new salary is considered a step variable expense.

• Discretionary expenses: These are costs you choose to incur, such as travel, entertainment or trade shows. They are likely to give your business a boost, but aren’t critical to it. When you’re in survival mode, one of the first things you can do is put discretionary expenses on hold.

Breaking Out Your Expenses

Now, categorize all of your expenses as fixed, variable, or discretionary. For this exercise, include step variable expenses with fixed expenses. Don’t overthink it; just do your best.

Then, plug in the actual numbers for each expense for a given accounting period, such as the 2009 calendar year or the past 12 months. That’s all there is to breaking out your expenses.

Determine Net Operating Income

Now, things get interesting. Subtract your total variable expenses from your total sales for that same period. The remainder is your contribution margin.

Your contribution margin is very revealing. It’s the amount of each sales dollar that’s left after variable expenses are paid — revenue minus cost of goods sold, freight out and commissions.

Now, subtract your fixed and discretionary expenses from your contribution margin. The amount that remains is your net operating income for that period — your profit before depreciation, amortization and taxes.

In other words, the formula is: total sales minus variable expenses equals the contribution margin.

Then, contribution margin minus fixed and discretionary expenses equals net operating income.

Conduct a Break-even Analysis

Here’s another way to look at it: Every business should know its break-even point — that is, how much business it must it do to generate the gross-margin dollars needed to cover fixed expenses.

You’ve already calculated your fixed expenses. To determine your break-even point, you’ll need one more number: your gross margin profit percentage.

Here’s how to calculate it:

• Sales minus cost of goods sold equals gross margin dollars.

• Then, gross margin dollars divided by 100 equals gross-margin profit percentage.

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A division of Duke Energy Corp. has financed several wind-farm projects through its affiliate, Green Frontier Windpower Holdings.

Green Frontier secured a 15-year term loan of $325 million and letters of credit totaling $50 million.

Duke Energy Generation Services developed:

•The 29-megawatt Happy Jack Windpower Project in Cheyenne, Wyo., which has 14 wind turbines in operation.

•The 42-megawatt Silver Sage Windpower Project, also in Cheyenne, Wyo., which has 20 wind turbines in operation.

•The 70-megawatt North Allegheny Windpower Project in Blair and Cambria counties, Pa., which has 35 wind turbines in operation.

•The 99-megawatt Campbell Hill Windpower Project near Casper, Wyo., which has 66 wind turbines in operation.

•The 51-megawatt Kit Carson Windpower Project in Burlington, Colo., which has 34 wind turbines that will come on line in the fourth quarter.

“The bank market has demonstrated an appetite to finance quality wind projects with strong sponsorship, despite recent credit market challenges,” says Stephen De May, Duke Energy senior vice president and treasurer faxless payday loans. “This represents a diversified source of funding for Duke Energy, and we are pleased to close this transaction with our banking partners. We’ll continue to seek opportunities to finance the buildout of our growing renewable power business.”

Charlotte-based Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) owns and operates 735 megawatts of commercial wind-power generation at seven U.S. sites. With the addition of two projects under construction, the company will have nearly 1,000 megawatts of wind-power generation in operation by the end of 2010.

Duke Energy has committed more than $1 billion since 2007 to build its wind-power business.

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LONDON — European leaders are stepping up their attack on what they characterize as greedy and ruthless speculators, accusing them of worsening the continent’s government debt crisis.

But analysts say some of the measures they are taking could backfire by undermining, instead of supporting, the euro.

In the space of a few hours Tuesday, EU governments overrode British objections and U.S. worries to tighten rules for hedge funds, and Germany’s securities regulator unilaterally announced curbs on traders of government debt and bank stocks.

The unexpected decision by Germany to ban so-called naked short-selling of eurozone government bonds, as well as shares in ten key German financial institutions until March 31, sent shockwaves through the markets Wednesday.

Europe’s main stock markets all closed about 3 percent lower Wednesday after the euro sank to a four-year low against the dollar.

"While politicians are still trying to blame speculators for the fall in the euro, it’s the market’s loss in confidence in these politicians’ ability to implement the austerity measures needed domestically that is at the root of its decline in value," said Mark O’Sullivan, director of dealing at foreign exchange firm Currencies Direct.

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