these are attractive investment opportunities." DASH FOR CASH Willie Watt, the chief executive of boutique fund managerMartin Currie, believes there is great scope for more capital tobe allocated to equities "There's cash pretty much everywherein the system," he says. "The problem would come if volumes don't increase, forexample, if cash sits on the sidelines... We are seeing some newmoney coming into the markets from our clients and net flows arepositive. But it feels like there is a gradualist approach offeeding money into markets cautiously." Led firmly by the bruised financial sector in Britain,European companies have already tapped equity investors for arecord $99 billion in 2008 But it is no free-for-all. Banks, afraid of being landed with unwanted stock, areproving tough taskmasters when companies approach them tounderwrite planned issues.

And experts warn that an expected slew of corporatebankruptcies this year might yet force banks themselves to gocap in hand to shareholders for more cash. "We may yet not have seen the end of capital raising fromthe banks, depending on how serious writedowns are going to bein the next six to 12 months," says Richard Hunter, head of UKequities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers. INDIGESTION Keen to talk up the market, some bulls are billing globalstockmarkets, still some 40 percent below their peaks ofNovember 2007, as the greatest investment opportunity since the1929 Wall Street crash. But even with sizeable discounts to already deflated shareprices, experts warn companies might be competing withgovernments for shareholder cash. The latest monthly unemployment rate for the parish of 4.2%(March 2009) was well below the state (5.7%) and U.S (8.5%) figures. Parish income levels historically have exceeded the stateaverage, and unemployment rates also have typically trended below state andnational averages. Tammany Parish, which during the 1990s was thefastest growing parish in Louisiana, witnessed a nearly 20% gain in populationfrom 2000-2008, and the district saw a 15% increase to roughly 140,000 duringthe same period.

Tax base growth in the district averaged more than 6% in 2006 and 2007,following a storm-affected 13% decline in taxable values in 2005. Values jumped35% to $722 million in 2008 due to a revaluation of properties. Property taxcollections are sound, and top taxpayer concentration is moderate at roughly 7%for 2008. The local economy has benefited over the past several decades fromresidential and business migration from New Orleans, and this trend acceleratedfollowing Hurricane Katrina St. Departmentof Homeland Security indicate the possibility of forgiveness of these 2005 CDLsif certain requirements are met. The district also has $7.5 million in a bank loan andslightly less than $5 million in capital leases outstanding.

Following HurricaneKatrina in 2005 the district received $23.5 million in federal communitydisaster loan (CDL) proceeds, the repayment of which is scheduled for 2011.However, rules recently proposed in the federal register by the U.S. The district's direct tax-supported debt levels are modest at about $260 percapita and 0.5% of estimated market value Payoff of GO debt is average, with55% retired in 10 years. Netpatient revenue also increased during this period, from $95.5 million in 2004 to$125.2 million in 2008. While acute admissions remained essentially flat from2004-2007, outpatient registrations and emergency registrations saw gains duringthis period of 49% and 14%, respectively.