| Collectors Universe Continues Heavy Investment in Grading Service ...
RAPAPORT... Collectors Universe Inc., parent company of grading services GCAL and AGL, closed its second fiscal quarter and half-year for 2007 on December 31, 2006. Net sales company wide rose 18 percent to $8.8 million for the second quarter. The company reported an operating loss of $875,000 for the second quarter, which was offset by increase in net revenues resulting in a net loss of $100,000, or 1-cent per diluted share. The operating results for second quarter reflected (in part) an increase in operating losses of $747,000 incurred by the diamond grading business as Collectors Universe continued investing in growth strategy. Gross margin declined company wide to 50 percent in the second quarter from 58 percent one year ago. For six months ending December 31, net revenues rose 15 percent to $18.7 million and profits fell 80 percent to $294,000 or 3-cents per share.
Musical high-flier tunes up for West End
Now, aged only 26, he is musical director for a touring production of a re-worked production of Victoria Wood's comic musical, Acorn Antiques.He has just completed a week's run at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge, where many of his friends from his days in amateur theatre in west Norfolk came to see the show and meet up with him afterwards.Nigel, taking a break at his parents' house in Ely, said: "It has been really good to see so many of my old friends from my days with the Watlington Players. "It was lovely to see people like Kate Carpenter, who encouraged me in the junior Players and also my old head teacher Sue Davies from Watlington Primary School."In his role as musical director, Nigel worked closely with Victoria in October last year, re-writing the composition. Five new songs were also added and new arrangements introduced.Nigel said: "It was the most creative work I have done in my life and it was interesting working with Victoria because she not only wrote and directed the show, but she wrote the music as well.
Sinister twist seen in Afghan looting
More than five years after the fall of the Taliban regime, the plundering of Afghanistan's archaeological sites and museums has evolved into a sophisticated trade that could be funding the country's warlords and insurgents, experts say. The International Council of Museums, a nonprofit organization in Paris dedicated to the conservation of the world's natural and cultural heritage, has published a "red list" of Afghan antiquities at risk, urging collectors, dealers and museums to be vigilant when they come across objects that might have been stolen. The list includes pottery and statuettes from the third millennium B.C., golden reliquaries from the first century, and Islamic panels from the 13th century. "Ancient sites and monuments, ranging from the Old Stone Age to the 20th century, are being attacked and systematically looted," the organization of museums said in a statement.
Annual Middle Eastern festival showcasing culture and artistic ...
"Diverse Faces and Places of Monroe," is the theme for this year's festival, which opens Feb. 1 with a reception at the Monroe County History Center, 202 E. Sixth St. Organizers are asking those who attend to submit photographs of community faces of Monroe County from the past. Photos will be preserved and archived. This free event is scheduled from 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. An exhibit of books and manuscripts on Middle Eastern arts and culture also opens on Feb. 1 at the IU Fine Arts Library, 1133 E. Seventh St. A selection of artists' books from Spector, an artist and critical writer who also chairs the Department of Art at Cornell, will accompany this exhibition. Iraqi music group Salaam will join Windfall Dancers, Bloomington's original contemporary dance ensemble, to kick off festival entertainment with Arabian Nights concerts, Feb.
Auctioneers aren't normally described as 'retiring'
You don't spend your savings or go into debt buying a building, hiring employees and getting shiploads of English, French, Scottish and Indonesian furniture sent to your auction house, only to yawn a few months later and bail and go get a job at Wal-Mart. It's not a wise investment for the easily bored. Most auctioneers -- in North Texas and beyond -- have been doing it for years and years and years. It's their lives and their livelihoods. Their kids and wives and husbands and friends are often involved in the business, in some aspect or another. They have their auctions rain or shine, tornado or hail storm. They're up early and up late. If you think there's nothing more to an auction than someone sitting up there yelling stuff, you must be new to auctions. That's why it's such a big deal -- and a sad occasion -- when an auctioneer passes his hammer to someone else.
|
