COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 11, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Michael Santoli, financial columnist and editor for the Dow Jones financial and business weekly Barron's, will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural INVESTOhio equity conference Sept. 15 at the Hyatt Regency Columbus.
A veteran financial journalist, Santoli writes the finance magazine's 'Streetwise' column, offering a forward-looking take on the financial markets, illuminating market trends and themes and identifying investment opportunities. The New York native is a regular on-air contributor to several cable networks, talk radio and financial conferences, and he has won two Dow Jones business reporting awards for distinguished real-time journalism.
"Michael Santoli provides a unique perspective on Wall Street and Main Street -- which is particularly interesting as companies and consumers emerge from the worst economy in decades," said INVESTOhio Chairman Terry McWilliams.
INVESTOhio is an equity forum bringing together publicly traded Ohio companies of various sizes, industries and capitalizations with regional and Wall Street fund managers, analysts and investment professionals.
Santoli's keynote speech punctuates the day-long series of investment presentations by corporate executives from large capitalization companies like Cardinal Health to emerging ones such as AdCare Health Systems. Sectors represented include banking, insurance, retail, utility/energy, health, environmental, and specialty products.
"I view myself as a color commentator on the markets," says Santoli, "offering insights on the action, trying to identify emerging themes and anticipating possible risks that any informed investor would find useful."
It's his job to offer a point of view, and Santoli says, "The last thing I want to do is to be obscure. I want the reader to know my opinion and to know the difference between fact and opinion."
Santoli has been responsible for at least four different Barron's columns. He has written 'The Trader' column, which broadly covers the stock market and investment trends, including the market's occasionally quirky behavior and investor psychology. Santoli is also intimately familiar with mutual funds, having edited Barron's mutual fund section and pullouts.
Presentation lineup includes 16 Ohio-based public companies
Companies scheduled to present to the conference include (with headquarters city listed):
* AdCare Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE/AMEX:ADK), Springfield, Ohio. * American Electric Power (NYSE:AEP), Columbus * American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) (Nasdaq:AFG), Cincinnati. * Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG), Columbus. * Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH), Dublin, Ohio. * CECO Environmental Corp. (Nasdaq:CECE), Cincinnati. * Cincinnati Financial Corporation (Nasdaq:CINF), Cincinnati. * First Financial Bancorp (Nasdaq:FFBC), Cincinnati. * Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (Nasdaq:HBAN), Columbus. * Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. (NYSE:JAS), Hudson, Ohio. * Lancaster Colony Corporation (Nasdaq:LANC) , Columbus. * Macy's Inc. (NYSE:M), Cincinnati. * National Interstate Corporation (Nasdaq:NATL), Richfield, Ohio. * Park National Corporation (NYSE/AMEX:PRK), Newark, Ohio. * R.G. Barry Corporation (Nasdaq:DFZ), Pickerington, Ohio. * RPM International, Inc. (NYSE:RPM) , Medina, Ohio.
Participating companies were selected in part based on surveys of Ohio investment professionals. Nearly 140 public companies are headquartered in Ohio, representing a market value exceeding $350 billion.
Admission to the conference, continental breakfast and lunch for qualified investment professionals has been underwritten by the conference and its sponsors. Attendance is limited to available slots on a first-come, first-serve basis, with online registration at http://www.invest-oh.com. Individual meetings with company managements can also be requested online.
Sponsors and underwriters
The professional services firms Crowe Horwath LLP, and Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, are INVESTOhio's title sponsors. The event is supported by financial analysts through the CFA Societies of Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Dayton; National Investor Relations Institute chapters in Ohio's three largest cities; and the Financial Executives International chapter in Columbus.
In addition, support comes from gold sponsors NASDAQ OMX, Voyager Institutional Services and the Wall Street Transcript, and in-kind gold sponsors Columbus CEO Magazine, Curran & Connors, Globe Newswire, Optimum Printing, Shareholder.com, Makespace Media and O'Neil Arnold Photography. The organizing sponsor is Mozaic Investor Relations, Inc.
More information is available at www.invest-oh.com.
The INVESTOhio Conference LLC logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6312
For additional information or a photo for publication of Mr. Santoli:
Terry McWilliams, Chairman, INVESTOhio, President, Mozaic Investor Relations, Inc.
614-432-8622, terrym@mozaicir.com
Additional contact:
R. Travis Upton, CFA, FRM, CFA Society of Columbus
614-228-4300, travis.upton@josephgroupinc.com