Joe James Downs

Gleacher & Co. Securities, Inc. is an investment banking, capital markets and brokerage firm located in New York City. They are a subsidiary of Gleacher & Co., Inc. (NasdaqGM: GLCH). The firm was formerly known as Broadpoint Capital and was formed in 2010 as the result of the merger of merger of Broadpoint.Amtech Equity Capital Markets and Broadpoint.Gleacher Securities. Gleacher & Co. Securities provides corporate and public finance services and trading of corporate, government and municipal securities for institutional investors. The firm has three divisions: Municipal Capital Markets, Taxable Fixed-Income and Equity Capital Markets. The Municipal Capital Markets division underwrites and trades municipal securities in new issue and secondary markets. The Taxable Fixed-Income division is a broker/dealer that focuses on fixed-income securities with limited liquidity. The Equity Capital Markets division is a sector-focused investment banking group that provides research, trading, capital raising and advisory services to institutional and corporate clients. Gleacher & Co. Securities provides research on hundreds of equity, fixed-income and mortgage/asset backed securities. The firm offers research and execution services on thousands of securities across a full spectrum of industry sectors and asset classes.

Originally founded in 2002 by Curt Snyder and Richard Prati as American Technology Research, Broadpoint.AmTech Equity Capital Markets is an independent research firm and broker/dealer headquartered in Greenwich with offices in Littleton, Colorado and San Francisco. The firm was acquired by Broadpoint Securities Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPSG) in 2008. Broadpoint.Am Tech seeks to generate profitable ideas through fundamental research. They offer timely and focused research on the information technology, clean energy and defense sectors for institutional investors including mutual funds and alternative asset managers. Broadpoint.AmTech covers the following industries: (1) aerospace and defense (2) analog semiconductors (3) broadband and media services (4) clean technology/biofuels (5) clean technology/energy generation and infrastructure (6) clean technology/coal (7) clean technology/solar (8) clean technology/wind (9) data networking and storage components (10) engineering and construction (11) financial technology (12) Internet (13) information technology hardware (13) LED industry (14) software (15) wireless communications and (16) wireless ICs.

Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. is a global investment banking, securities trading and brokerage firm located in New York City with additional offices in Dallas, Boston and San Francisco. The firm is a subsidiary Bear Sterns Cos., Inc. (NYSE: BSC). Their equity research team consists of senior analysts located throughout the world. In addition to domestic coverage, they have research teams focusing on Latin America, Asia and Europe. The analysts use a bottom-up approach to stock selection. The Bear Stearns fixed-income research department provides coverage of every sector of the fixed-income universe. The financial analytics and structured transactions group (F.A.S.T) provides investment research, fixed-income portfolio management and analytical systems, trading technology and general financial expertise. The group also provides a broad range of services to financial institutions including asset-liability management, balance sheet restructuring, receivables-based financing analysis, security and portfolio analysis, peer analysis, and historical and real-time market-based information.