Peter J. Bates

T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (Price Associates) is a registered investment advisor and mutual fund manager headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The firm was founded by Thomas Rowe Price, Jr. in 1937. They are a subsidiary of the T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TROW), which was formed in 2000 as the publicly traded parent holding company of Price Associates and their affiliated entities. Price Associates offers a variety of mutual funds, sub-advisory services and separate account management for individual and institutional investors, retirement plans and financial intermediaries.

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.