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We like to think that when we deposit a dollar at the bank, it goes into a big vault and we can pull out that same dollar at any time. But that¿s not how the U.S. banking system works. Banks take that money and invest it to make money themselves, so cash gets spread around. This, naturally, leads to a big risk: What happens if those investments go sour? Well, you¿d be out of luck. You can¿t get your dollar back.
The Federal Reserve doesn¿t like that scenario, so it prohibits banks from putting all the cash it has on deposit on the line. In fact, the Fed forces banks to keep a portion of their assets at the Federal Reserve itself, to make sure that some of your assets won¿t get squandered if the bank¿s bets go south. These are called ¿reserves,¿ (hence, Federal Reserve. Got it? Good), and usually amount to 10% of the total cash kept in checking accounts.
These reserves are never exactly 10%, and banks like to keep a little extra in reserve ¿ not, as you might think, to make you more comfortable that they¿re in good financial shape, but rather so they can take that excess and lend it to other banks and make money off it. (They¿re banks, they can¿t help themselves.) The rate at which they make these loans is called the Federal Funds rate, which is set by the Federal Reserve¿s Federal Open Market Committee.
When you hear people chattering about how the Fed cut or hiked interest rates, this is what they¿re talking about: the interest rate banks can charge for lending money from their reserves. This begs the question: If these are essentially loans between banks, why is the Fed Funds rate so important for the rest of the economy?
Well, simply put, because loans make the financial world go round. Bank A lends Bank B $10,000 at a Fed Funds rate of 5%. Bank B then lends out $10,000 to a small business at 7%. The small business then takes that money and expands the business and hires new workers. Now someone is employed, Bank B has made interest off the loan, and Bank A is the richer for making it all happen. It¿s perhaps overly simplistic, but you get the idea. When you want the economy to thrive, you make lending cheaper.
Of course, sometimes you don¿t want the economy to thrive. In fact, you might want it to cool down, mostly to avoid money flooding the system and causing inflation. In that case, the Fed raises interest rates, making it difficult to lend or borrow.
Home / Markets / Industries / Energy
Monday, May 19, 2008
Petrolympic to Acquire a 30% Interest in All Squatex Properties
Comtex
MONTREAL, Canada, May 19, 2008 (PR Newswire Europe via COMTEX) ----All Dollar Amounts are Expressed in Canadian Dollars
Petrolympic Ltd. ("Petrolympic" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: PCQ.V) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding letter of agreement (the "Agreement") with Ressource & Energie Squatex inc. ("Squatex") pursuant to which Petrolympic will acquire a 30% legal and beneficial interest in 36 exploration permits totaling 672,438 hectares in the St. Lawrence Lowlands, Bas St-Laurent and Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec (the "Transaction").
Upon signing of the Agreement, Petrolympic made an initial payment of $500,000 to Squatex in order to cover certain outstanding payments on the permits.
In order to complete the acquisition of the interest in the Squatex properties, Petrolympic is required to make additional cash payments of $1,000,000 on June 30, 2008 and $1,000,000 on July 31, 2008, with $1.8 million of such funds to be used for exploration of the properties and $200,000 made available to Squatex for its working capital. If Petrolympic does not make these payments for any reason, it will convert the initial $500,000 payment to an 8% equity interest in Squatex.
The Transaction remains subject to Petrolympic's satisfactory due diligence.
Petrolympic Ltd.
Prior to completion of the Transaction, Petrolympic holds more than 113,906 hectares (281,468 acres) of oil and gas exploration permits in the Appalachian Basin of Quebec that include holdings in the Gaspe Peninsula and in the southern part of the St. Lawrence Lowlands. The Gaspe block of exploration permits totals 40,885 hectares located between Rimouski and Matane in the Province of Quebec immediately southwest of Lake Matapedia. The St. Lawrence Lowlands Block of exploration permits is located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence directly south of Valleyfield less than 30 kilometers southwest of Montreal in the Province of Quebec.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the Securities Act (Ontario), including, but not limited to, statements as to timing and extent of exploration programs and the availability of exploration results. As such, forward-looking information addresses future events and conditions and so involves inherent risks and uncertainties, as disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in Petrolympic documents filed from time to time with the Ontario Securities Commission and other regulatory authorities. Actual results could differ significantly from those currently projected as a result of, among those factors, adverse weather, regulatory changes, delays in receiving permits, accidents and delays in completing exploration activities not all of which are in the control of Petrolympic. The forward-looking information contained herein is Petrolympic's reasonable estimate today of future events and conditions, but no assurance can be given that such events or conditions will occur.
The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy and accuracy of this release.
For further information: Mendel Ekstein, Petrolympic Ltd., Email: exis@petrolympia.com
For further information: Mendel Ekstein, Petrolympic Ltd., Email: exis@petrolympia.com
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire Europe
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