Under Armour on high

Shares of Under Armour Inc. gave up early gains Friday, a down day for the market, a day after revealing growth plans and new products that impressed some analysts.

The company, which sells athletic clothing, shoes and accessories at its own stores and other sporting goods stores, told analysts on Thursday about its plans to double 2010 sales, which were at about $1 billion, by 2013.

Under Armour also outlined plans for new products including water-repellent hoodies, according to analysts who attended Thursday's presentation at the company's Baltimore headquarters. Under Armour also hopes to expand in women's clothing with yoga pants and new sports bras.

The company also said it plans to remodel its stores and could open more. It also plans to update its fixtures and add floor space at some of the retailers where it sells its gear, including Dicks Sporting Goods Inc. and Sports Authority. It also plans to launch a new website to drive online shopping, according to William Blair & Co. analysts.

Stifel Nicolaus analysts upgraded the stock from "Hold" to "Buy," saying they were impressed by greater "management depth" and the detail of the company's growth plans.

But KeyBanc analysts Edward Yruma and Charu Sharma sounded a note of caution. They said that the push into women's clothing will put Under Armour in direct competition with fast-growing Lululemon Athletica Inc. They also noted that Under Armour, like other companies, faces rising costs for the raw materials it needs to make and transport its products. The company, they wrote, "has solid growth prospects, but ... there is not much room for error."

In April, the company said that first-quarter revenue rose 36 percent, and net income rose 69 percent.

Friday, the company's shares were trading down about 1 percent to $64.57 at midday after peaking as high as $67.07. Shares are still above Wednesday's closing price. The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 also were down about 1 percent.

intact Balboa Park

It looked like the railroad from the East would end right here, but we got out-politicked. So Los Angeles became Los Angeles and we stayed San Diego.

We planned a world’s fair to welcome ships coming through the new Panama Canal, but San Francisco stole the idea and got the official designation. We did one anyway and, a century later, we have Balboa Park largely intact, while S.F. has one rebuilt structure.

In 1972, the Republican Party decided not to have its national convention in San Diego and, as a result, we got our motto: “America’s Finest City.” (Well, OK, it doesn’t always work.)

This week’s turning point in the campaign to clear Balboa Park’s central Plaza de Panama of cars before the 2015 centennial of the Panama-California Exposition may be another of those opportunities that look tragic but turn out well.

Sometimes, the best policy really is: “Don’t just do something, stand there.”

When Mayor Jerry Sanders asked Irwin Jacobs to help out with clearing the plaza, our city’s iconic philanthropist pondered the problem with his engineer’s eye. He decided the answer was obvious: a new Cabrillo Bridge exit bypassing the park’s historic core and funneling traffic to an underground parking garage behind the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, to be paid for with parking fees and donations from private sources including, probably, himself.

The mayor was delighted and the city’s establishment rallied around as Jacobs sold the idea and pushed the process, paying for preliminary plans.

But Balboa Park is the apple of many an eye. And, when support for this particular approach began to sag, Jacobs resisted alternative suggestions.

Then this week, a City Council committee balked at a memorandum of understanding to conceptually approve his plan and Jacobs walked out of the room heading for Alaska.

It was a planned trip, of course. And maybe the schedule was tight. But this truculent exit startled many veterans of Balboa Park planning. Nothing ever happens in that arena without the grueling, painful processes typified by the Wednesday meeting, which featured the usual ragtag band of passionate advocates emotionally begging for their cause versus an impressive parade of suits representing boards and staffs of institutions whose oxen were threatened with goring.

The council members, having seen such parades often enough, were more interested in the protests and in the voters they claimed to represent. Attention was paid and good questions were asked.

Councilwoman Marti Emerald wondered if the memorandum could be adjusted to study other design possibilities. Sherri Lightner pondered the precedent of paid parking. And Tony Young, chair of the committee, asked city staff why we couldn’t experiment by closing the Cabrillo Bridge to auto traffic right away. Like today.Irwin Jacobs heard none of this. He was headed for Alaska, quoted as saying, “I will hold back and wait and see what happens.”

Petulance doesn’t play well. And “my way or the highway” is not the Jacobs style. The Qualcomm co-founder’s distinguished record of broad generosity and enlightened personal philanthropy eloquently suggests otherwise.

But now is the time for leadership.

Mayor Sanders can’t just wash his hands of the whole business. Park institutions can’t just shrug and reassume the isolation of business as usual. Environmental and historical advocates must acknowledge real-life realities.

History suggests the supporters of Balboa Park, including the general public itself, will not give up on cherishing and protecting this priceless asset. What’s needed is enlightened, energetic, resourceful, wise leadership that unites everybody.

So can’t we all just work together? We did before, in 1915 for the Panama-California Exposition. And again in 1935 for the California-Pacific International Exposition.

And our prize?

Balboa Park itself.

Treasure Trove: New Species in Madagascar

Madagascar, the fourth-largest island in the world, has proved to be a taxonomist's dream in recent years. Since 1999, on a nearly weekly basis, scientists have uncovered a parade of 615 new species — from the colorful and cuddly to the downright bizarre.

The world's smallest primate, Berthe’s mouse lemur, a creature teeny enough to perch inside a shot glass at 3.5 inches (9 centimeters) tall and weighing in at just an ounce (30 grams), and a lizard that wears a tree-bark disguise are among the standouts of the hundreds of species to debut, all compiled in a new report from the conservation organization WWF.

And although some new species are more charismatic than others (a yam isn't quite as photogenic as a lemur), Nanie Ratsifandrihamanana, WWF Madagascar's conservation director, said it's hard to pick a favorite.

"All the species are so special, and many are unique to Madagascar," Ratsifandrihamanana told OurAmazingPlanet. "They don't exist anywhere else in the world."

Treasure trove of species

The island's treasure trove of unique species stems from its relative isolation. Madagascar has been separated from Africa and the Indian subcontinent for the last 80 million to 100 million years, allowing its plant and animal residents to evolve into fantastical forms. About 70 percent of its species are unseen anywhere else on the planet.

In total over the last 12 years, researchers have identified 17 fish, 41 mammals, 61 reptiles, 69 amphibians, 42 invertebrates and 385 plants new to science since 1999. And the pace of discovery shows no signs of slowing.

In fact, due to growing scientific interest in Madagascar's denizens, and thanks to technological advances that allow for faster identification, such as DNA coding, Ratsifandrihamanana said the onslaught of new species described could continue or even increase.

But the news isn't all good.
"The sad part is that there could be many species that will disappear before they are discovered," she said.

Many of the creatures discovered are already endangered and are losing habitat quickly.



 Disappearing forests

Madagascar's forests, home to many of its unique species, were cleared at a rate of about 2 percent a year from 1950 to 1990. According to WWF, the island has lost 90 percent of its original forest cover.

That's because humans depend on the island's forests, too. About 80 percent of the Malagasy population uses wood as its main source of energy.

In addition, large swaths of forest are cleared for subsistence farming.

Although Ratsifandrihamanana said the rate of deforestation was cut in half from 1990 to 2005, the last year for which figures are available, she said it remains a serious problem.

"We're really trying to empower local communities so they are better managers of the resources, because they are the ones who make the daily decisions for how they will use the forest," Ratsifandrihamanana said, adding that one major piece of the puzzle is improving the population's economic situation.

The country is one of the poorest on the planet, and a 2009 coup further complicated the nation's already bleak financial situation. Since the political upheaval, international funding for the country's environmental program was cut off, and there's been an increase in trafficking in exotic animals and prized, rare trees.

However, despite its troubles, Ratsifandrihamanana said WWF and other international organizations continue conservation efforts on a local level in Madagascar.

"It's an extraordinary place," Ratsifandrihamanana said. "We need a lot of support now for the environment."

Katie Couric: CBS To ABC

Katie Couric Signs Deal For Abc Talk Show

ABC on Monday announced that it has signed former "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric to host and produce a new syndicated daytime talk show.

The hour-long show, the title of which has not yet been revealed, will debut on ABC in September 2012. Couric will join the ABC News team this summer, ABC News President Ben Sherwood said in an email he sent to the news staff.

"A versatile journalist, interviewer and storyteller, Katie will contribute across all of our broadcasts and online, joining our powerhouse line-up of anchors and correspondents as the ultimate utility player," Sherwood said.

Jeff Zucker, former chief executive of NBCUniversal and executive producer of "Today" during Couric's stint as co-host, will co-executive produce the new show with Couric.

"It was a blast working with Katie at 'Today' and I'm excited to do it again," Zucker said.

                                                                                               

"I'm very happy to be returning to the network where I began my career as a desk assistant in 1979," Couric said in a statement. "It is tremendously exciting to have the creative freedom to develop my own show [...] and to contribute to such a vibrant, innovative news division."

The timing of the announcement coincides with "60 Minutes" reporter Scott Pelley's first night as Couric's replacement as anchor of the CBS evening newscast, a competitive move that will overshadow the new anchorman's debut, the New York Post reported.

Couric announced on April 26 that she was leaving "The CBS Evening News" after nearly five years, following weeks of speculation surrounding her departure. Her final turn at the CBS anchor's desk aired May 19.

"In making the decision to move on, I know the 'Evening News' will be in great hands, but I am excited about the future," she told People magazine. She hinted at the time that she would like to develop her own syndicated talk show.

Couric gained national attention when she became co-host of NBC's "Today" show in 1991. She left the popular morning show in 2006 to anchor the nightly news for CBS.