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Baby red crabs have infested the Cayman Islands by the hundreds of thousands, an in unusually heavy migration season that has caused havoc. If local superstition is any indicator, the Caribbean may face a rough hurricane season.

The crabs have scurried on past the immediate coast, onto roads, residents' yards, climbing up homes and scratching their way into homes. Most are infesting two of the three islands, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.

"People living in the coast will have them everywhere," Tim Austin, deputy director of the Cayman Islands' Environment Department, told the AP. "They get in houses, into your AC system. Anywhere there's a gap, they'll find it. They're trying to get somewhere where they'll live happily."

Austin believes low tides and the recent "supermoon" combined to make it life easier for the baby red crabs, allowing more of them to reach land.

The crabs' red hue is misleading, as the creatures climb ashore after they're born and lay low in forests and wetlands until they grow and reproduce, heading back into the water as a large black land crab seeking to deposit their eggs.

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The creatures grow from the size of about a thumbnail to nearly a foot in some cases. Fully grown crabs can scamper at up to six feet per second, have been known to claw at the tires of passing cars.

Locals colloquially call them "Hurricane Crabs" because a superstition connects their presence to a particularly bad hurricane season.

Baby red crabs, up to the size of a thumbnail, have climbed up windows and into AC units, among other places.

"There's a very strong feeling on the island that they relate to the arrival of a hurricane," District Commissioner Ernie Scott of Cayman Brac told the Cayman Compass. He added: "I've seen them here in hurricane seasons when we didn't have any hurricanes and I've seen them in a season where we've experienced hurricanes."

Originally posted here:
Baby Red Crabs Invade Cayman Islands, Could Signal Tough Hurricane Season

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Hundreds of thousands of red baby crabs are invading the Cayman Islands in a seasonal migration that residents say is unusually heavy this year.

The crabs are blanketing roads, scurrying across yards and scratching their way up homes and buildings in a process that scientists say will last about a month.

"People living in the coast will have them everywhere," said Tim Austin, deputy director of the Cayman Islands' Environment Department, on Wednesday. "They get in houses, into your AC system. Anywhere there's a gap, they'll find it. They're trying to get somewhere where they'll live happily."

The baby crabs, which are smaller than a thumbnail, were born in the ocean a few weeks ago and are emerging along rocky shores, seeking forests and wetlands near the coast where they will remain until they reproduce and head back to sea to deposit their eggs, Austin said. While the babies are red, the species is known as the black land crab because of the dark purple color it takes on as it ages.

It is likely that the recent "supermoon" and low tides have made it easier for the baby crabs to reach land, which could help explain the increase this year, he said. Most of them are overrunning Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, two of three islands that make up the archipelago.

The baby crabs do not migrate every year, in part because of ocean currents, tides and wind conditions, but adult crabs migrate every year to the ocean during the start of the rainy season, usually in May. Their migration has already occurred.

The government urges people to try to avoid the crabs as they drive, but it is nearly impossible not to hit them.

"It's a minefield of flattened crabs. You'll just see hundreds of splats," said Jim Andrews, 48, who lives with his family in the southeast end of Grand Cayman.

His house has been invaded by crabs as well.

"This year, we just saw tons of the tiny little newborns," he said. "You can hear them crawling on the windowsills."

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Hundreds of thousands of baby red crabs invade Cayman Islands

By Corrie Driebusch and Drew FitzGerald

Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Wednesdays session are J.C. Penney Co. (JCP), Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) and General Motors Co. (GM).

J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) swung to a loss in its fiscal first quarter as restructuring expenses and other charges weighed on the retailers bottom-line results and revenue, and margins weakened. Shares fell 15% to $28.20 premarket.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) posted a sharp drop in fiscal first-quarter earnings as the teen-apparel retailers same-store sales declined amid weak European sales. Shares were 5.7% lower at $42.80 in premarket trading as its sales grew slower than expected.

Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA, BRKB) went long on autos, revealing a 10 million-share stake in GM in a securities filing Tuesday. Shares of the auto maker rose 3.7% to $22.21 premarket.

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Tuesday asked the agency to allow an HIV test kit to be sold in retail stores so consumers dont have to go to a health facility to get tested for the virus. The mouth-swab test, made by OraSure Technologies Inc. (OSUR) is already sold commercially to health-care professionals. If approved by the FDA, test results could be obtained in the home like tests for pregnancy and blood sugar. Shares of OraSure jumped 36% to $12.37 premarket.

GE Capital Corp. will resume dividend payments to its parent, General Electric Co. (GE), after a three-year suspension as it continues to strengthen from the financial crisis. GE Capitals board declared a $475 million quarterly dividend and plans to payout 30% of its total 2012 earnings. The company also plans to pay GE a $4.5 billion special dividend this year. Shares of GE rose 3.2% to $18.99 premarket.

Sina Corp. (SINA) swung to a first-quarter loss as the Chinese Internet company posted significantly higher expenses, though revenue improved and the loss wasnt as heavy as expected. Shares jumped 9.5% to $56.60 premarket.

Target Corp.s (TGT) fiscal first-quarter earnings edged up 1.2%, helped by a stronger-than-expected top line, though costs tied to the retail giants plans for expansion in Canada weighed on results. Shares were up 2.2% to $56.30 in premarket trade as the nations second-largest retailer by sales behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) raised its earnings outlook for the year.

Staples Inc.s (SPLS) fiscal first-quarter earnings fell 5.6% as the office-supply giant grappled with weaknesses in international operations, particularly Europe. Shares slipped 2.4% to $14.39 premarket.

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Stocks to Watch: J.C. Penney, Abercrombie & Fitch, General Motors

By Leon Lazaroff - Tue May 15 21:48:27 GMT 2012

March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Conor Yang, chief financial officer at E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc., Chinas biggest Internet-based book retailer, talks about the company's business strategy and the industry. He speaks in Hong Kong with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Alicia Yap, head of China Internet research at Barclays in Hong Kong, talks about the outlook for Chinese Internet companies and investment strategy. She speaks with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)

Chinese Internet stocks gained in New York, on prospects Facebook Inc. (FB)s increased offering price will spur demand for industry assets while Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. (YZC)s discount swelled as coal prices fell.

Renren Inc. (RENN), a social networking website, climbed the most in a month, and Internet bookstore E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (DANG) posted the steepest advance in three weeks. American depositary receipts of Yanzhou traded at the biggest discount to the shares in Hong Kong since December as coal prices fell for the first time in three years. The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index (CH55BN) of the most-traded Chinese shares in the U.S. extended its nine-day slump to 9.2 percent.

Chinas Internet stocks benefited from Facebooks decision to increase the price range on its IPO to as much as $38 a share from $35, implying a market value of as much as $104.2 billion. That would make Facebook worth more than Citigroup Inc. (C) and McDonalds Corp. Beijing-based Renren reported yesterday a first-quarter loss of 3 cents a share, below the median forecast for 4 cents a share by eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

All the talk on the street about Facebook is driving retail investors in particular to look for stocks that might gain on social media in China, Echo He, a New York-based analyst who covers Chinese Internet stocks for Maxim Group LLC, said in a phone interview. Renrens second-quarter outlook is weak because advertising is weak, but investors are hoping it can do as well as Facebook.

The iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund, the biggest Chinese exchange-traded fund in the U.S., was little changed at $34.72 while the Standard & Poors 500 Index slid 0.6 percent to 1,330.66.

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Dangdang Gains as Yanzhou Coal Discount Widens: China Overnight

COLUMBIA, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

National Asset Services (NAS), one of the nations leading real estate asset management companies with management responsibility for 14 student housing properties in six states, was recently named asset management company for Gateway at Columbia, a Class-A, student housing property in Columbia, MO, located less than two miles from the University of Missouri Campus.

Built in 2006, the 138 unit, 450 bed student housing property is a tenant-in-common property with 23 co-owners and is comprised of 177,054 square feet of net rentable area. Located at 3904 South Providence Road, the property is situated on 918 acres and consists of 9 three-story residential buildings and a single-story central clubhouse. The property has an onsite leasing office as well as management and maintenance staffs.

Each student apartment unit is fully-furnished with a plasma TV, washer and dryer and a complete kitchen appliance package. Common areas feature a resort-style swimming pool and Jacuzzi, tanning salon, pool table/game room, sand volleyball court, BBQ areas, 24/7 fitness center, Internet cafe, computer lab and reserved carports.

The propertys co-owners have recognized NAS successful track record of maximizing property value through an unbiased, objective and transparent approach to managing commercial real estate, commented Karen E. Kennedy, President and Founder of National Asset Services. The addition to our portfolio of this Class-A student housing property located near such a prestigious university is the direct result of our asset management teams nationwide reputation for producing the best possible outcomes and maximum returns for investors.

About National Asset Services (NAS)

Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, NAS is a nationwide real estate firm specializing in tenant-in-common property management with a $2 billion portfolio of more than 80 properties in 19 states. NAS managed property portfolio includes Retail, Multifamily, Student Housing, Office and Industrial Flex. NAS has vast experience in all facets of the real estate industry. The company manages both sole and multi-owner properties and offers a wide range of asset management services including:Real estate strategy analyses; long-range business planning; monitoring changing market conditions; investor relations; real estate and investor accounting; receiver and real estate owned services; loan modification and workout solutions; exit and hold strategies; leasing plans; tenant retention plans; research studies; site selections; feasibility studies; insurance risk management; capital improvement planning and tracking; property tax appeal services and cost segregation services.

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National Asset Services Named Asset Management Company for Student Housing Property