samuvelfraserhh: February 2013

Thursday 28 February 2013

U.S. companies change way they sell stock, bank fees drop

(Reuters) - A growing number of U.S. listed public companies are changing the way they issue shares to reduce their underwriting costs and protect themselves from big market shocks.

The switch often makes sense for companies, but for Wall Street banks, it stings, further pressuring stock underwriting revenue that has not recovered five years after the financial crisis. The different method of issuing shares, called "at-the-market offerings," involves selling stock on the open market at the prevailing market price, typically in small amounts over weeks or even months, instead of marketing a big block over weeks and selling the shares in a single afternoon.

The trend has been quietly building for some time, but has really taken off in the past few years. In 2012, the number of at-the-market offerings grew 25 percent from the prior year. Of stock issues from public U.S. companies, 22 percent were at-the-market offerings last year, up from 4 percent in 2007, according to data from capital markets research firm Ipreo and the investment bank MLV & Co, which focuses on these types of transactions.

Underwriters may have only themselves to blame for the growth of these offerings. Historically, it was usually only smaller companies that used at-the-market offerings to raise capital. Most big investment banks did not even offer at-the-market deals to their clients.

But during the financial crisis, at-the-market deals made a lot more sense. Markets fluctuated wildly, and it was risky to do a traditional underwritten deal that relied on demand being strong on a particular day. In 2009, Bank of America Corp and other Wall Street firms sold billions of dollars of shares at-the-market, and suddenly the practice seemed much more legitimate, bankers said.

Other companies, including office property owner Boston Properties Inc and electric utility Southern Company , followed suit. More recently, companies like casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corp and wireless services provider Clearwire Corp have done at-the-market offerings as well.

This method of selling shares is still favored by smaller companies, meaning it accounts for just a fraction of overall dollar volume of issuance. The median market cap of at-the-market issuers is still fairly small - nearly $600 million last year compared with $411 million in 2010 - according to MLV & Co.

The costs for the issuer can be much lower: fees are typically around 2 percent of the money raised, compared with 4 to 5 percent for a more traditional offering. For a $100 million offering, that amounts to a savings of $2 million to $3 million.

"It's a very low cost source of equity which was compelling to us," said Jon Grisham, senior vice president and chief financial officer at Acadia Realty Trust . Acadia, a real estate investment trust that owns shopping centers, launched a $75 million at-the-market offering in January 2012 and a $125 million at-the-market deal in August.

IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT

Standard underwritten offerings have their advantages: the company usually knows that it will be able to sell the shares, and often any that aren't sold to investors will be taken up by the underwriters. But if the stock market takes a big hit just before a share sale, and the company ends up pulling its deal, it ends up with a black eye.

In other words, an underwritten deal can offer some measure of certainty to the issuer, but if the market is bad on any given day, the whole deal could end up being scotched.

In an at-the-market deal, a company typically files an initial prospectus indicating the maximum number of shares it plan to sell, but it need not issue the maximum. On any particular day, the issuer has final say over how many shares it sells.

"You can avoid the market if it's a bad day," said Andy Sanford, head of equity capital markets at Wells Fargo & Co

In a typical share offering from a company that is already public, "the investment bank usually dictates whether, when and on what terms the company can sell its securities to raise capital, but with an at-the-market offering, the company sits in the driver's seat," said Anthony Marsico, a lawyer at the firm Greenberg Traurig. "You don't see that in most other types of financings."

Banks are not always excited for their client to be in the driver's seat when it results in lower fee income. Wall Street's stock underwriting business has also been under pressure from a decline in initial public offerings.

Fees for U.S. listed IPOs, traditionally the most lucrative source of profit from stock underwriting businesses, fell 19 percent last year to $1.8 billion, the lowest level since 2009, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Still, banks feel they have little choice but to sell shares for clients through at-the-market deals.

"Many underwriters have come to realize that they need to be able to be able to offer this service to clients because managements and boards are becoming more attuned to the benefits of the product," said Michael Cippoletti, head of U.S. equity capital markets at BMO Capital Markets in New York.

Another form of issuing, known as block trading, also puts pressure on underwriter income.. These deals, where the bank buys a block of shares from an issuer in a single transaction and then sells the stock to clients, typically offer returns of around 2 percent for the bank.

To be sure, there have been some big traditional follow on stock sales in recent weeks from companies. Michael Kors Holdings Ltd , for example, raised $1.5 billion in a share offering last week. So far this year, public companies have sold $23.8 billion of shares, marking the best start to a year for secondary offerings since 2000, according to Thomson Reuters data.

But with more secondary offerings coming in the form of block trades or at-the-market deals, fee income this year is not likely to be as strong as might be otherwise expected, bankers said.

Fee pressure has spurred some banks to scale back their equity capital markets business, which does traditional stock underwriting.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC , for example, said last year it would exit equity capital markets globally.

Although at-the-market offerings are traditionally used by companies that need to continually access the capital markets such as real estate investment trusts and energy companies, issuers across a range of industries including shipping and industrials are also considering the product, say bankers.

"The cat's out the bag, the genie's out of the bottle," said Todd Wyche, CEO of Brinson Patrick Securities which specializes in at-the-market transactions for clients.

(Reporting By Olivia Oran; Editing by Dan Wilchins, Martin Howell and Leslie Gevirtz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-companies-change-way-sell-stock-bank-fees-192717196--sector.html

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Cinderella's slipper: the ultimate must-have shoe

This theater image released by Sam Rudy Media Relations shows Laura Osnes as Cinderella, slipping on glass slippers designed by Stuart Weitzman, during a performance of "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway." Weitzman knows how to make shoes that make a splash. For years, he made the ?million-dollar Oscar shoes,? diamond-covered footwear that a celebrity would wear to the Academy Awards. (AP Photo/Sam Rudy Media Relations, Carol Rosegg)

This image released by Stuart Weitzman shows the reknown shoe designer Stuart Weitzman holding a pair of glass slippers that will be worn by actress Laura Osnes in the title role of the Broadway musical, "Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway." Weitzman knows how to make shoes that make a splash. For years, he made the ?million-dollar Oscar shoes,? diamond-covered footwear that a celebrity would wear to the Academy Awards. He employed a welded-construction technique that uses no screws so that Cinderella could have a seamless look. (AP Photo/Stuart Weitzman )

This image released by Stuart Weitzman shows a pair of glass slippers designed by Stuart Weitzman that will be worn by actress Laura Osnes in the title role of the Broadway musical, "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway." Weitzman knows how to make shoes that make a splash. For years, he made the ?million-dollar Oscar shoes,? diamond-covered footwear that a celebrity would wear to the Academy Awards. He employed a welded-construction technique that uses no screws so that Cinderella could have a seamless look. (AP Photo/Stuart Weitzman )

NEW YORK (AP) ? There would be no "happily ever after" for Cinderella without her glitzy glass slippers, so careful attention was paid to the shoes for the princess-to-be's Broadway opening this weekend.

For "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella," which officially opens Sunday at the Broadway Theatre, costume designer William Ivey Long and footwear designer Stuart Weitzman created a pair of pumps so sparkly they "light up the upper balcony," Weitzman says.

"The shoe is its own character in the show, and it will inspire the dream for so many other women."

Shoe shopaholics and Carrie Bradshaw types surely have been inspired by the Cinderella fashion fantasy, muses Weitzman, a 26-year industry veteran. How could they not? After all, he says, Cinderella gets the shoes ? flattering, delicate and powerful all at once ? and then gets her Prince Charming.

When people describe the stunning bride or the prettiest red-carpet starlet, the comparison rarely ? if ever ? is made to Sleeping Beauty or Snow White.

It's always Cinderella, belle of the ball.

"Cinderella is the gold standard for aspiration," agrees Long. "The slippers are so iconic, and they are recognized worldwide."

He says their only rival might be Dorothy's red ruby slippers in "The Wizard of Oz."

Because the shoes are so famous, the designers had to work with a certain set of expectations: The shoes had to be romantic and sexy, have a sparkly fairy-dust touch ? and they had to be seen by everyone in the theater.

Actress Laura Osnes, who plays Cinderella, couldn't risk shards and splinters from real glass, so the designers used Plexiglas instead.

Weitzman employed a welded-construction technique that uses no screws, normally used in high heels, so Cinderella could have a seamless look.

"This is the most magical world I've been asked to conjure up," says Long, whose 60-plus show credits include costumes for "Chicago," ''Hairspray" and "The Boy From Oz." Instead of going all Disney or using the famous French illustrations that came a century before (Cinderella-style folk tales are hundreds of years older than that) as inspiration, Long decided to weave nature ? with an emphasis on butterflies and vines ? into his visual picture instead of a particular time or place.

The idea that Cinderella had to be the most beautiful woman in the room, with the most gorgeous dress and coveted shoes, is what guided him and Weitzman, Long says.

They had to walk a fine line to avoid anything too gimmicky, even working on the giant Broadway stage, so they decided against threading lights through the heel of the shoe or other special effects.

Weitzman knows how to create shoes that light up a room. For years, he made "million-dollar Oscar shoes," diamond-covered footwear that a celebrity would wear to the Academy Awards. He gave that up at the height of the recession, but says he can do pretty much the same dazzling look with crystals.

The designer says he could imagine his typical customer wearing a version of the Cinderella slipper at a summer party, a night at the opera or a night on the town. He adds: "It would be one sexy shoe with cool jeans."

Yes, his Clearly Timeless collection based on the fairy-tale footwear is being shipped to stores.

___

Online:

http://www.cinderellaonbroadway

___

Samantha Critchell tweets fashion at "at" AP_Fashion and can be reached on Twitter at "at" Sam_Critchell.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-02-28-Fashion-Cinderella's%20Slipper/id-385b1a2b3e50493c8cd803c7198cac5f

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Green Home, Green Business ? Perfect Home Improvement Tips ...

TIP! While wood fireplaces can keep your house toasty warm, consider other heating sources first. Besides any consideration of the looks (and smells) of such a fireplace, you need to know that it is never that efficient.

When you don?t have a good knowledge base, home-improvement projects can prove difficult to complete. If you do not know exactly where to start on your project, take a look at these tips and see if you can find the assistance you need to get them done right.

TIP! Upgrade your windows! Revamp the windows! Make use of double glazed windows. These are not cheap but can add a great deal of value to your home and save you money.

Try adding a pergola to your home if you think the exterior looks bland. The beloved garden structure adds shade, visual interest and a sense of peacefulness. A bit of help from friends and a pergola kit can make it easy to install your pergola in as little as a weekend.

TIP! Hurricane socks are a sensible investment if your home is located in a region that?s at risk for hurricanes or other potential flooding dangers. They are designed to soak up as much as one gallon of water each.

Utilize wallpaper to make an attractive bookcase. Choose a design that is unusual and interesting. Place the wallpaper behind your bookcase, then you will see the design as you stack books. This will improve the appearance of the bookcase and add a unique focal point to whatever room it is in.

TIP! If you can afford it, go for hard wood floors and stay away from laminate. Although laminate looks like the real thing, you can refinish it.

When installing cabinets, lots of home builders keep construction costs down by installing just cabinets with no attached hardware. Thankfully, you can easily purchase cabinet handles, knobs and drawer pulls online or at a local hardware store. If you want something that you can install in only a few minutes, you can select modern knobs, designer-made accents, and pulls with a vintage look.

TIP! It?s a good idea to have an outlet put in the cabinets above where your microwave will go. This will allow you to plug your microwave in without having to see the cord.

Never allow a contractor to push the limits of your budget by offering expedited time frames. They usually have legit reasons for wanting to finish quicker. They might hurry the workers so they get to their next assignment. On the other hand, they may stay late and charge you overtime unnecessarily.

TIP! An old toothbrush is as good a tool as any for cleaning jobs. They are great for cleaning grout and any area that has crevices.

You?ll know what?s coming during your projects if you take these tips into consideration. Concurrently, you might also discover that these tips provide you with the information you need to determine whether to do the project yourself or get a pro to help.

Source: http://greenhomegreenbusinessplanet.com/perfect-home-improvement-tips-tricks-and-treats/

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Wednesday 27 February 2013

NASA's NuSTAR helps solve riddle of black hole spin

Feb. 27, 2013 ? Two X-ray space observatories, NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton, have teamed up to measure definitively, for the first time, the spin rate of a black hole with a mass 2 million times that of our sun.

The supermassive black hole lies at the dust- and gas-filled heart of a galaxy called NGC 1365, and it is spinning almost as fast as Einstein's theory of gravity will allow. The findings, which appear in a new study in the journal Nature, resolve a long-standing debate about similar measurements in other black holes and will lead to a better understanding of how black holes and galaxies evolve.

"This is hugely important to the field of black hole science," said Lou Kaluzienski, a NuSTAR program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The observations also are a powerful test of Einstein's theory of general relativity, which says gravity can bend space-time, the fabric that shapes our universe, and the light that travels through it.

"We can trace matter as it swirls into a black hole using X-rays emitted from regions very close to the black hole," said the coauthor of a new study, NuSTAR principal investigator Fiona Harrison of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "The radiation we see is warped and distorted by the motions of particles and the black hole's incredibly strong gravity."

NuSTAR, an Explorer-class mission launched in June 2012, is designed to detect the highest-energy X-ray light in great detail. It complements telescopes that observe lower-energy X-ray light, such as XMM-Newton and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Scientists use these and other telescopes to estimate the rates at which black holes spin.

Until now, these measurements were not certain because clouds of gas could have been obscuring the black holes and confusing the results. With help from XMM-Newton, NuSTAR was able to see a broader range of X-ray energies and penetrate deeper into the region around the black hole. The new data demonstrate that X-rays are not being warped by the clouds, but by the tremendous gravity of the black hole. This proves that spin rates of supermassive black holes can be determined conclusively.

"If I could have added one instrument to XMM-Newton, it would have been a telescope like NuSTAR," said Norbert Schartel, XMM-Newton Project Scientist at the European Space Astronomy Center in Madrid. "The high-energy X-rays provided an essential missing puzzle piece for solving this problem."

Measuring the spin of a supermassive black hole is fundamental to understanding its past history and that of its host galaxy.

"These monsters, with masses from millions to billions of times that of the sun, are formed as small seeds in the early universe and grow by swallowing stars and gas in their host galaxies, merging with other giant black holes when galaxies collide, or both," said the study's lead author, Guido Risaliti of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., and the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics.

Supermassive black holes are surrounded by pancake-like accretion disks, formed as their gravity pulls matter inward. Einstein's theory predicts the faster a black hole spins, the closer the accretion disk lies to the black hole. The closer the accretion disk is, the more gravity from the black hole will warp X-ray light streaming off the disk.

Astronomers look for these warping effects by analyzing X-ray light emitted by iron circulating in the accretion disk. In the new study, they used both XMM-Newton and NuSTAR to simultaneously observe the black hole in NGC 1365. While XMM-Newton revealed that light from the iron was being warped, NuSTAR proved that this distortion was coming from the gravity of the black hole and not gas clouds in the vicinity. NuSTAR's higher-energy X-ray data showed that the iron was so close to the black hole that its gravity must be causing the warping effects.

With the possibility of obscuring clouds ruled out, scientists can now use the distortions in the iron signature to measure the black hole's spin rate. The findings apply to several other black holes as well, removing the uncertainty in the previously measured spin rates.

For more information on NASA's NuSTAR mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/nustar .

For more information on ESA's XMM-Newton mission, visit: http://go.nasa.gov/YUYpI6 .

The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/mGV3Xds4pSo/130227132544.htm

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Life Insurance: Who Needs It? | Bankrate.com

David C. Marlett, Ph.D. CPCU Life insurance is a topic that makes some people uncomfortable. Few want to think about the inevitability of graduating from this world to the great beyond.

Yet life insurance is an essential tool for keeping loved ones financially secure after death.

Those with dependents are foolish if they don't at least consider purchasing life insurance, says David Marlett, chair of the Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C.

In the following interview, Marlett shares his thoughts about who should buy life insurance and who might be OK skipping it. He also offers tips for zeroing in on exactly how much coverage you might need.

Life insurance is a product that sometimes confuses and intimidates people. In a nutshell, who needs this insurance, and who does not?

Anyone with dependents should strongly consider purchasing life insurance. Dependents could include a spouse, child or even elderly parents in your care. Young, single people without children do not have a significant need for life insurance.

Life insurance basically can be divided into two types: temporary and permanent. Do you have some tips for determining which product is right for you?

For most people, temporary (commonly called "term") insurance will meet their needs. It is much less expensive than permanent life insurance. Term insurance is basically a commodity, and you can purchase (it) from a wide range of highly rated insurers. It is also simple and easy to understand.

How can people best determine the amount of coverage they need?

Typically, it is based on how much income your dependents will need if you are no longer able to support (them) with your income. You will often see rules of thumb that say you should purchase five, seven, even 10 times your annual income. This really oversimplifies the process, though, and neglects to include very important factors.

For example, how old are your dependents? Is your spouse employed? What are your debts and financial needs? There are several excellent online calculators that provide a more thorough needs analysis that can guide the consumer to the appropriate coverage amount.

Do single people need life insurance?

If they have dependents, they have a very significant need for life insurance.

Once the children have flown the nest, does it make sense to drop life insurance? What are the benefits and risks of doing so?

It could make sense to do this. However, the spouse may have a justified concern. Term insurance becomes more expensive as you get older, and you may decide to either eliminate or reduce the coverage as your needs decrease. This will save premium dollars. Your spouse, though, may still want you to keep at least a portion of the life insurance to protect him (or) her.

Ideally, your savings increase and your debts decrease as you age, so you have (a) reduced need for life insurance. However, these days, that may not be the case.

Furthermore, once kids leave the nest, that doesn't mean they are not coming back. They could easily become dependents again, and it may be difficult to purchase new life insurance after you have canceled an older policy that you applied for when you were younger and healthy.

What are some of the most exciting innovations you are seeing in terms of life insurance?

Actually, I prefer to keep it basic and simple. Bells and whistles that are added on just create clutter and add-in fees.

We would like to thank David Marlett, chair of the Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., for his insights.

Source: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/insurance/life-insurance-who-needs-it.aspx

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Samsung Is Killing Apple With Ads Just Like ... - Business Insider

In May of 2006, Apple released the first ad in its "Get a Mac" campaign.

Over the next three years, it would put out 66 installments of "Get a Mac," featuring Justin Long as a hipster Mac and John Hodgman as a stodgy Windows-based PC. It propelled Apple's Mac sales, and launched the careers of Hodgman and Long.

They were clever, and at times unfair, attacks on Microsoft and its users. They worked for Apple.

Since retiring the ad series, Apple hasn't come up with anything nearly as clever.

Instead, ads focus on Apple's products. This is a decent strategy since it makes great products like the iPhone and iPad.

The iPad in particular was a totally new product so Apple had to explain it to people in a simple way. Until Apple explained why we needed iPads, we didn't know why we needed iPads. You can see Microsoft not explaining why anyone needs a Surface and you can see how that's working out.

However, while Apple does product-focused advertising, its biggest hardware rival ? Samsung ? has stolen another page from Apple's playbook creating clever ads featuring people teasing Apple.

In November 2011, Samsung started running ads mocking Apple's users. This was a high risk maneuver. Lots of companies have tried to make fun of Apple users. None had succeeded.

But Samsung's ads were funny and well done. They also benefitted from good timing. Apple was moving from righteous underdog to the world's most valuable company. It's hard to be hip and cool when you're the biggest company in the world.

"Samsung has been scoring points with its people-based ads ? most of which play off some growing negative perceptions about Apple," wrote Ken Segall, a former ad man who developed Apple's "Think Different" campaign with Steve Jobs.

Where Apple's lines to buy iPhones were once seen as the sign of a company with a loyal following, Samsung turned it into the sign that you're a sucker lining up for years-old features.

There's truth to the idea that Apple doesn't roll out the newest features on its phones. Despite its reputation for innovation, it can be a slow adopter. This is because it doesn't want to add features for the sake of adding features, it wants to only add features that work and improve the product from its perspective.

Regardless of Apple's reasoning for doing what it does, Samsung is successfully landing blows on Apple. As Segall says, "While you can still argue that Macs and i-devices have a ton of appeal, you can?t argue that Apple is still untouchable when it comes to advertising. The fact is, it is being touched ? often and effectively ? by none other than Samsung."

Samsung has reinforced the clever ads with a monster marketing budget hammering away its message about its phones.

The irony here is that Samsung is doing to Apple what it did to Microsoft from 2006 to 2009. It's creating a humorous caricature of the type of person that uses Apple products, then bashing it over our heads on TV.?

Apple is still selling a lot of iPhones, so it's not like the ads are killing the company. But, Microsoft still sold a lot of Windows-based computers when Apple did its "Get a Mac" campaign.

The damage to Apple isn't easily quantified but there's no denying that Samsung's ads are working, and Apple's brand is nowhere near as strong as it was two years ago.

Part of it is self-inflicted with stuff like Apple Maps. But when Apple makes a mistake like that, Samsung is waiting with the biggest, most expensive megaphone in the world, just waiting to draw attention to it. Just like Apple once did to Microsoft.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-is-killing-apple-with-ads-just-like-apple-killed-microsoft-2013-2

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Goats Yelling Like Humans: Watch, Get Freaked Out Now!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/goats-yelling-like-humans-watch-get-freaked-out-now/

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Net providers begin warning of illegal downloads

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Internet users who illegally share music, movies or television shows online could soon receive warning notices from the nation's five major Internet service providers.

The Copyright Alert System, organized by the recording and film industry, is being activated this week to target consumers using peer-to-peer software.

Under the new system, complaints will prompt an Internet service provider ? such as Verizon or AT&T ? to notify a customer whose Internet address has been detected sharing files illegally. A person will be given up to six opportunities to stop before the Internet provider will take more drastic steps, such as temporarily slowing their connection, or redirecting Internet traffic until they acknowledge they received a notice or review educational materials about copyright law.

Consumers who maintain they have been wrongly accused would be forced to pay $35 to appeal the decision. The fee would be reimbursed if they prevail.

Proponents say the focus is on deterring the average consumer rather than chronic violators. The director of the organization behind the system, Jill Lesser of the Center for Copyright Infringement, said in a blog post Monday that the program is "meant to educate rather than punish, and direct (users) to legal alternatives."

Each Internet provider is expected to implement their own system. The program gives each customer five or six "strikes" after a music or film company has detected illegal file-sharing and lodged a complaint. The first alerts are expected to be educational, while the third and fourth would require the customer to acknowledge that they have received the warnings and understand their behavior is illegal. The final warnings are expected to lead to "mitigation measures," such as slowing a person's Internet connection speeds.

Officials involved in the effort acknowledge it's unlikely to stop the biggest violators. There are ways to disguise an IP address or use a neighbor's connection that is unlocked. Public wireless connections, such as those offered at coffee shops, also won't be monitored.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-25-US-Internet-Piracy/id-dfd9db3796ee402ebdfbc72f96e26294

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Tuesday 26 February 2013

Video: Pope Benedict makes final Sunday blessing

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50933219/

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Monday 25 February 2013

Former surgeon general C. Everett Koop dies at 96

C. Everett Koop, who raised the profile of the surgeon general by riveting America's attention on the then-emerging disease known as AIDS and by railing against smoking, has died in New Hampshire at age 96.

An assistant at Koop's Dartmouth institute, Susan Wills, said he died Monday in Hanover, where he had a home. She didn't disclose his cause of death.

Koop wielded the previously low-profile post of surgeon general as a bully pulpit for seven years during the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.

An evangelical Christian, he shocked his conservative supporters when he endorsed condoms and sex education to stop the spread of AIDS.

He carried out a crusade to end smoking in the United States ? his goal had been to do so by 2000. A former pipe smoker, he said cigarettes were as addictive as heroin and cocaine.

Koop's impact was great, although the surgeon general has no real authority to set government policy. He described himself as "the health conscience of the country."

"My only influence was through moral suasion," Koop said just before leaving office in 1989.

By then, his Amish-style silver beard and white, braided uniform were instantly recognizable.

Out of office, he switched to business suits and bow ties but continued to promote public health causes, from preventing childhood accidents to better training for doctors.

"I will use the written word, the spoken word and whatever I can in the electronic media to deliver health messages to this country as long as people will listen," he promised.

In 1996, he rapped Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole for suggesting that tobacco is not invariably addictive, saying Dole's comments "either exposed his abysmal lack of knowledge of nicotine addiction or his blind support of the tobacco industry."

Although Koop eventually won wide respect with his blend of old-fashioned values, pragmatism and empathy, his nomination in 1981 met a wall of opposition from women's groups and liberal politicians.

Critics said Reagan selected Koop, a pediatric surgeon from Philadelphia, only because of his conservative views, especially his staunch opposition to abortion.

Foes noted that Koop traveled the country in 1979 and 1980 giving speeches that predicted a progression "from liberalized abortion to infanticide to passive euthanasia to active euthanasia, indeed to the very beginnings of the political climate that led to Auschwitz, Dachau and Belsen."

But Koop, a devout Presbyterian, was confirmed after he told a Senate panel he would not use the surgeon general's post to promote his religious ideology. He kept his word.

In 1986, he issued a frank report on AIDS, urging the use of condoms for "safe sex" and advocating sex education as early as third grade.

He also maneuvered around uncooperative Reagan administration officials in 1988 to send an educational AIDS pamphlet to more than 100 million U.S. households, the largest public health mailing ever done.

Koop personally opposed homosexuality and believed sex should be saved for marriage. But he insisted that Americans, especially young people, must not die because they were deprived of explicit information about how the HIV virus was transmitted.

He became a hero to AIDS activists, who chanted "Koop, Koop" at his appearances but booed other officials.

Koop further angered conservatives by refusing to issue a report requested by the Reagan White House, saying he could not find enough scientific evidence to determine whether abortion has harmful psychological effects on women.

Koop maintained his personal opposition to abortion, however. After he left office, he told medical students it violated their Hippocratic oath. In 2009, he wrote Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urging that health care legislation include a provision to ensure doctors and medical students would not be forced to perform abortions. The letter briefly set off a security scare because it was hand delivered.

Koop served as chairman of the National Safe Kids Campaign and as an adviser to President Bill Clinton's health care reform plan.

At a congressional hearing in 2007, Koop spoke about political pressure on the surgeon general post. He said Reagan was pressed to fire him every day, but Reagan would not interfere.

Koop, worried that medicine had lost old-fashioned caring and personal relationships between doctors and patients, opened an institute at Dartmouth to teach medical students basic values and ethics.

He also was a part-owner of a short-lived venture, drkoop.com, to provide consumer health care information via the Internet. It made its initial public offering of stock in 1999, but expenses outstripped revenue and it was out of business by the end of 2001.

In July 2001, the company agreed to pay $4.25 million in cash to settle lawsuits filed by investors who claimed drkoop.com made false promises. Company officials did not admit wrongdoing.

Koop was born in New York's borough of Brooklyn, the only son of a Manhattan banker and the nephew of a doctor. He said by age 5 he knew he wanted to be a surgeon and at age 13 he practiced his skills on neighborhood cats.

He attended Dartmouth College, where he received the nickname Chick, short for "chicken Koop." It stuck for life.

He received his medical degree at Cornell Medical College, choosing pediatric surgery because so few surgeons practiced it.

In 1938, Koop married Elizabeth Flanagan, the daughter of a Connecticut doctor. They had four children ? Allen, Norman, David and Elizabeth. David, their youngest son, was killed in a mountain-climbing accident when he was 20.

Koop was appointed surgeon-in-chief at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia and he also served as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

He pioneered surgery on newborns and successfully separated three sets of conjoined twins. He won national acclaim by reconstructing the chest of a baby born with the heart outside the body.

Although raised as a Baptist, he was drawn to a Presbyterian church near the hospital, where he developed an abiding faith. He began praying at the bedside of his young patients ? ignoring the snickers of some of his colleagues.

"It used to be said in World War II that there were no atheists in foxholes," he wrote in 1973. "I have found there are very few atheists among the parents of dying children.

"This is a time when religious faith can see a family through trying circumstances."

___

Ring reported from Montpelier, Vt. Cass reported from Washington.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/c-everett-koop-ex-surgeon-general-dies-nh-215926071.html

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