Mediaboss Marketing

PHOENIX It didn't take too long for Bill Haynes, an Arizona gold dealer, to figure out that the person who kept calling about gold coin prices wasn't really interested in buying. Haynes, 67, is the president of CMI Gold & Silver Inc. in Phoenix and sells gold bullion products. The caller, who identified himself as Gene, said he had heard another gold dealer advertise on a Christian radio program. So he had taken $72,000 of his invalid brother's money and bought some collectible gold coins as an investment.

Haynes checked the coin price for him. They were only worth about $48,000.

Gene had been bit by gold and learned the hard way that there are many different ways to invest in gold and many different types of dealers.

And he is not alone. A new Gallup poll found that gold is perceived as "the best long-term investment" with 28 percent of Americans preferring it over other investments such as real estate, stocks/mutual funds and savings accounts/CDs. The survey found Republicans are slightly more enamored with gold than Democrats, but this may not be surprising with some gold sellers (such as Goldline International, Merit Financial, Lear Capital, Swiss America Trading Corporation and Universal Coin & Bullion) advertising on conservative radio and television programs and on the Internet. Celebrity spokesmen such as Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Pat Boone also tout the precious metal as insurance against an uncertain future.

The World Gold Council reported gold bar and coin demand surged 24 percent last year. And gold continues to rise in value.

But how much of the buy gold frenzy is legitimate and how much is just glitter?

Gold on the rise

Andrew Schrage, editor and co-owner of Money Crashers (a popular and respected personal finance blog) has noticed the uptick in TV commercials espousing the benefits of investing in gold. "However, more companies are urging you to invest in gold because they're making money off of the deal, not because it's necessarily a sound investment," he said.

Schrage admitted the price of gold has increased in value by 83 percent over the last four years from about $900 per ounce to about $1,650 currently (gold hit an all-time high of $1,924 in September 2011). But history hasn't always been kind to gold. "In 1980, the price of gold dropped by more than 60 percent in a single year," he said, "and it was not until 20 years later that investors began to once again see positive returns."

Schrage said gold isn't a financially irresponsible investment, as long as people do not fall in love with it.

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Gold frenzy: Is Glenn Beck's favorite metal a good investment?

by John Quirk

Responding to the 2012 Good Beach Guide, produced by the Marine Conservation Society, the Isle of Man Water and Sewerage Authority is reiterating that sewage from Douglas, Onchan, Derbyhaven, Castletown, Port Erin and Port St Mary no longer discharges untreated to sea locally, but is pumped to a modern sewage treatment works at Meary Veg.

The Sewage Treatment Plant at Meary Veg has been operating since 2004 and treats sewage from 67% of the Islands population, after which the high-quality effluent is discharged into the Irish Sea off Santon Head.

Samples of sea water are tested every two weeks, between May and September, from the various designated bathing beaches around the Island, explained Water & Sewerage Authority Chairman Graham Cregeen MHK. The results are then compiled by the Environmental Protection Unit and displayed at the sampling points.

This years Good Beach Guide claims seven of the 20 Manx beaches tested each year failed to meet environmental standards.

However, the Authority notes that the failures reported at Bay Ny Carrickey and Douglas are not as a result of any problems with the sewage collection and treatment systems as there have been no sewage spills to the marine environment.

Mr Cregeen added: We continue to make good progress with the 40m programme of work associated with the first phase of the Regional Sewage Treatment Strategy, which will bring modern sewage treatment facilities to the remainder of the Islands towns and villages.

We have recently completed replacement sewage treatment plants at Patrick, Dalby, and Bride, and have started projects for Glen Maye, Glen Mona, Corony and Jurby, with design work ongoing for Maughold, Port Lewaigue, Booilushag, Kirk Michael, Andreas and Ramsey.

The second phase of the Regional Sewage Treatment Strategy, planned for 2016-2021, will provide sewage treatment facilities for those areas not covered by phase one, which include Peel, Laxey, Baldrine, Ballaugh, Sulby and the Central Valley.

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Authority responds to 2012 Good Beach Guide

by Anna Hemy

The Isle of Man will be playing host to nearly 1,000 crown green bowlers when the annual Bowls Festivals take place later this year during June and September. The June event is celebrating its 91st anniversary while the younger September event first took to the greens in the late 1960s. The competition is centred on the three greens at Nobles Park in Douglas while two other Douglas venues the Villa Marina and Finch Hill are also used. A fourth site, at nearby Onchan Park, is in the schedule as well. All the venues are within a four-mile radius. The overall winner in the mens final will scoop the big prize of 3,000 and the ladies champion will collect 1,000. With most of the competitors coming from the north of England, Yorkshire, Shropshire, Merseyside or the Midlands special travel and accommodation packages are available through the Bowling Festivals page at http://www.visitisleofman.com Dates for the two events are June 18-22 and September 3-7, closing dates for entries being May 14th and August 6th respectively. The defending singles champions are Jack Hargreaves (George and Dragon) and Cynthia Tonge from Chesterfield as regards the June Festival, and John Kennish from the Onchan Club in the Isle of Man and Julie Green (Castlefields) in respect of September. Political member for Tourism at the Department of Economic Development Geoff Corkish MBE MHK, said: The appeal of the June and September Festivals is as great now as it has ever been. The Festivals have evolved over the years with the organisers introducing innovative competitions to attract all levels of players. I sometimes wonder how Mr. W. R. Baker from Wolverhampton, who won the inaugural event in 1921, would feel if he was to see how the Festivals had developed in the intervening 91 years. The event creates a great profile for Douglas and Onchan, showcasing the superb standard of greens and facilities on offer for this popular sport. Organiser of the Bowls Festival, Steve Moore, commented: Over the course of the week we will be running a total of eleven competitions ranging from the mens and womens singles championship down to the last chance competition. The schedule is arranged in such a way that even if players lose all their matches they can still be bowling every day if they wish.

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The Festivals have evolved over the years with the organisers introducing innovative competitions to attract all levels of players."

Geoff Corkish MBE, MHK, Political Member for the Department of Economic Development

If you'd like to send any information or news releases to us then please feel free to do so and we would be more than happy to consider sharing your news with the Isle of Man!

Send your Isle of Man news to:webmaster@manx.net

Manx Telecom Ltd 2012

Manx Telecom Ltd, Isle of Man Business Park, Cooil Road, Braddan, Isle of Man IM99 1HX Registered in the Isle of Man Reg no.5629V Vat Reg no GB 003-2919-12

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Last chance to enter the Isle of Man June Bowling Festival

by Charles Horton

permanent tsb, the trading name of Irish Life & Permanent plc which owns Permanent Bank International Ltd in the Isle of Man, has welcomed an announcement from the Irish Government regarding the strategic plan for the Group. The plan will create a viable, customer focused and competitive retail bank capable of resuming normal lending into the Irish market. Those businesses and assets that are not core to the new banking group will be placed into a separate Asset Management Unit.

Carlton Freegard, Managing Director of Permanent Bank International Ltd, said:

This is excellent news for Permanent Bank International, our customers, and for the Isle of Man. The restructuring plan reaffirms our position within the Group while strengthening and consolidating our relationship with permanent tsb. We will develop our customer base in the Isle of Man and elsewhere by concentrating upon basic banking. We will continue to provide and enhance the uncomplicated, clearly priced products and distinctive customer service upon which our reputation stands.

In a joint statement the Chairman and Chief Executive of permanenttsb bank, Alan Cook and Jeremy Masding respectively, said that they welcomed the progress that has been made. They said:

This decision follows the most intensive and detailed review ever undertaken of the options for permanent tsb bank. No option was excluded from consideration including the outright closure of the bank. However, we believe that there is a compelling case that a viable, competitive bank can be created from the current permanent tsb by separating out the different elements of that bank into distinct business units and that permanent tsb itself is the most suitable vehicle for managing that process in the short to medium term.

Mr Masding added:

Its clear that within the current business, there is the potential to develop a customer focused, profitable and competitive player in the Irish market. This also offers the best route for the taxpayer to recover some of the very substantial amounts of money which they have invested in the business. Our goal is create a best-in-class retail bank which can serve its customers, its shareholders and the wider community and which can begin to repay Irish taxpayers for the support they have given the institution in recent years. Permanent Bank International was established on the Isle of Man in 1994. The Bank is a specialist international savings and deposit bank, offering competitive Sterling and Euro accounts for up to five years. It is licensed by the Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission and based on the second floor of Britannia House, Athol Street. For more information go to http://www.permanent-bank.com.

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Permanent Bank International Ltd welcomes restructuring plan for parent group

by Colin Brown

Onchan won the annual Douglas and District Primary Schools Football Tournament sponsored by Isle of Man Bank - in brilliant sunshine at The Bowl, defeating Fairfield in a very close final.

Onchan and Fairfield had proved themselves the two strongest teams on view winning their respective groups without losing a match Onchan dropping only one point in six games while Fairfield won all five of their matches. They were joined in the semi-finals by Ballacottier and Anagh Coar, both of whom had finished second in their sections on goal difference, just edging out Laxey and last years winners Cronk-y-Berry.

The semi-finals saw Onchan putting four goals past Anagh Coar without reply while Fairfield also kept a clean sheet in beating Ballacottier 2-0.

Onchan raced into a two-goal lead in the final and seemed to be heading for a comfortable victory before Fairfield pulled a goal back near the end which resulted in one or two anxious moments in the Onchan goalmouth before the final whistle blew. Ballacottier defeated Anagh Coar 5-0 in the play-off for third and fourth positions.

Tournament organiser, Jo Richardson, thanked everyone who had helped make the day such a success and referred to the continued involvement of Isle of Man Bank which had sponsored the event since its inception 17 years previously. She introduced Shaun Gritton, manager of the Banks Port Erin branch who presented medals to the finalists and the tournament shield to the winning Onchan team.

Onchans squad consisted of Luke Phair, Syd Batty, Lewis Bridson, Charlie Yau, Tommasz Boruch, Joseph Barker, Tyler Dycher, Ethan Leivers and Aaron Babb. A total of 13 teams took part in the tournament which was played, for the first time, on the new all-weather pitch at The Bowl.

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If you'd like to send any information or news releases to us then please feel free to do so and we would be more than happy to consider sharing your news with the Isle of Man!

Send your Isle of Man news to:webmaster@manx.net

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Win for Onchan in Isle of Man Bank primary schools football contest