Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Web Host Hostway Raises $110m in Debt and Equity Financing

Web hosting and cloud hosting services provider Hostway Corporation (www.hostway.com) has closed a $110 million debt and equity financing deal with a consortium of investors to support its continued growth plan.

Led by Veronis Suhler Stevenson (www.vss.com) along with Fortress Capital, Regiment Capital and Phoenix Life, the transaction is meant to position Hostway as the leading provider in the quickly growing online services market. Hostway's current service offerings range from small business web hosting solutions to managed dedicated server hosting for medium to large enterprises. Additionally, the company offers cloud hosting offerings it launched last year.

"Since our founding in 1998, we have continuously sought ways to deliver more value to our customers by investing in our people, technology and infrastructure," Hostway Corporation chief executive officer and co-founder Lucas Roh said in a statement. "As a result, we have built a solid platform for growth. In the next stage of our history, in partnership with our new investors, we aim to accelerate the pace of becoming the leading provider in the fast-growing online services market."

Hostway is known for its SerivcePlex, its online service delivery portal designed to enable a seamless customer experience. Hostway has also partnered with telecom companies, cable operators and large retailers to deliver fully private-labeled online services to their customers.

George Cole, a partner at VSS's Structured Capital Funds division, said the company is excited to partner with Hostway and invest in a "vibrant and growing industry." He said, "With a sound infrastructure in place and forecasted growth far exceeding projected GDP growth annually in the managed hosting, collocation and cloud computing segments over the next three years, Hostway is well positioned to capture further market share."

International investment bank Houlihan Lokey (www.hlhz.com) served as the exclusive financial advisor to Hostway. "We are excited that our financing process yielded a sophisticated group of financial partners that will add value during the next growth phase for Hostway," said Chris Wilson, managing director and head of the Houlihan Lokey Media & Telecom Group.

This sort of investment simultaneously serves as a vote of confidence for a company's business model and furthers their prospects for continued growth. Last week, on-demand virtual data center and hosting services provider SoftLayer Technologies, Inc. (www.softlayer.com) was given $10 million in new investment, which will be used to fund the company's continued growth. Also last week, remote access, KVM, and digital signage solutions developer Minicom Advanced Systems (www.minicom.com) raised $6 million in financing, helping it spin out its digital signage division, Minicom Digital Signage (www.minicomdigitalsignage.com).

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Technical considerations dominate forex trading

Technical considerations were the key driver for price action in the EUR/USD cross rate. The usual ‘tricks’ (as there are risk aversion/stock market performance) were not able to do their job yesterday. On Monday, the sell-off in cable was still a good excuse ‘to explain’ at least part of the EUR/USD weakness, but even this factor was less obvious yesterday. EUR/USD started trading in Europe in the 1.3530 area, but the pair failed to take any advantage from a decent open of European stock markets. 

Rumours on a Greek rescue plan to be announced anytime soon continued to swirl, but yesterday morning that was of no help for the single currency either. Even worse, a small hesitation (not really a decline) on the stock markets was already enough for EUR/USD to tumble south to retest to 1.3443 low. The level was hit, but once again no follow-through selling occurred. The EMU CPI estimate was the only important eco release on the agenda, but the figure was perfectly in line with expectations and was absolutely no issue for the currency markets. Later in the session, some kind of EUR/USD short-squeeze took place. As was the case for the ‘remarkable’ test of the lows, it would not be correct to link the rebound to the stock market performance.

The pair tested the 1.36 mark early in the US just to drop back to the 1.3520 area. Later in the session, the short-squeeze continued and EUR/USD closed the session at 1.3515, compared to 1.3560 on Monday. The only conclusion we can draw out of the recent price action is that the pair is digesting the recent sell-off/repricing and that EUR/USD traders are eagerly looking for a new story to guide the short-term price action. Has Greece still a role to play for the dayto- day price action in EUR/USD or do we have to look for something else?

Overnight, EUR/USD remained well bid. This move is seen as a further unwinding of EUR/USD shorts ahead of an expected austerity package and/or rescue plan for Greece. Some headlines on the financial news pages that S&P was ‘less pessimistic than financial markets’ might have helped the euro, too.

Today, the calendar contains the final European services PMI and the retail sales. While interesting, they are no market movers. In the US, the ADP labour market report and the ISM non-manufacturing are on the agenda. Both data series are expected to come out close to last month’s reading. Recently, eco data had only a rather limited impact on EUR/USD trading. On top of that, the market focus today will once again be on Greece. The Greek government is expected to publish a new austerity package. First question is whether this plan will be sufficient and credible for markets. Next question is whether it will be the trigger for Europe to make a ‘hard’ commitment to support Greece. Recently, making bets on the details and on the timing of a Greek rescue plan was rather risky business.

In a day-to-day perspective, any decision on Greece might cause a further repositioning on the recent ‘euro short’ market trend. Of course, some of the unwinding had already been done over the last 24 hours. In a long-term perspective, the need for a recue package can been considered as a failure of the European institutional framework to prevent this kind of issues. So, one might raise the question whether a rescue package as such should be a lasting support for the euro.

To be honest, we don’t expect it to be the trigger for a sustained euro rebound. As we already indicated over the previous days, EUR/USD traders have reached a point where they are looking for a new trading theme. In such a context we keep a close eye on the technical charts. For new we hold on to our view that a sustained EUR/USD rebound beyond the 1.3850 resistance area won’t be that easy (cf infra), but keep an open mind the see how a potential new trading theme (if it would be found) will affect trading.

Global context. For most of 2009, the improvement in global risk appetite, together with exceptionally low US interest rates, were good reasons for investors to hold back on safe haven dollar long positions. However, at the end of last year, there was growing evidence that the US economy was gaining traction and this fuelled market speculation that the era of close-to-zero US interest rates might not last till eternity. This triggered a USD short-covering move. Euro negative headlines (Greece) reinforced the EUR/USD correction. From that point, we were looking for clues whether the US economy was/is improving at a pace strong enough for the Fed to scale down policy stimulation in a not-that-distant future.

So, we installed a cyclically inspired sell-on-upticks approach in EUR/USD. Since mid January, the Greek saga (and other intra-EMU tensions) became the most influential factor for EUR/USD trading, rather than the global cyclical picture and its policy implications. So, we couldn’t ignore the strong technical signal of the break below the 1.4220 level, even as it was due to outright euro weakness. Recently several US data series and the Fed communiqué of the January meeting very cautiously went in our way of a cyclical USD rebound. Nevertheless, market uncertainty on European government finances and its impact on global investor risk appetite remained the driver for currency trading. The EU ‘solution’ (without any details) to some extent eased the tensions on higheryielding EMU government bonds, but uncertainty still prevails. The Greek issue highlighted also the weak points of the EMU framework.

This continues to weigh on the euro. On top of that, recent economic evidence didn’t support the cyclical case of the euro either (cf. poor EU growth and production data recently). The Fed discount rate hike mid February, even as it is in the first place a technical step on the way to normalization of the money markets, still might be seen as supportive to our cyclical USD rebound. So, we continue to feel comfortable to ride the standing EUR/USD downtrend. In a day-today perspective, we indicated at the end of last week that we had the impression that there might be room for some consolidation on the recent sell-off a as quite a lot of bad news had been priced in for the euro. This assessment remains valid, we think.

Technical picture. Since December EUR/USD faced quite a forceful correction on the longstanding rally from March. The pair lost several important support levels, including the longstanding uptrend line, indicating that the EUR/USD bull-run has run its course and that EUR/USD trading is entering a new era. The trend in this pair is obvious and any more pronounced rebound is still seen an opportunity to sell the single currency. For now, the 1.3850 area (previous high) is the first barrier on the topside. Recent price action reinforced our feeling that a (swift) return to/beyond this barrier won’t be easy. 1.3405 (62% retracement) is the first target on the EUR/USD charts.

LT the 1.2886 April low might gradually come into the picture. EUR/USD came three times close to the 1.3443 support area, but a real test didn’t occur (1.4333 = new low). This is an indication that the downside in this pair was a bit exhausted. We don’t feeling any need to change our standing EUR/USD negative bias. This was and remains a sell-on-upticks market. Nevertheless, short-term we wouldn’t be surprised to see some more sideways price action in the 1.3443/1.3850 trading range.


On Tuesday, the picture for the USD/JPY remained heavy. This was a bit strange as global risk appetite wasn’t that bad. So, technical considerations and spill-over effects from other cross rates (EUR/JPY and GBP/JPY) probably played a role. The pair struggled to hold above the 89.00 mark in Asia and during the European trading hours (despite a strong stock market performance in Europe). After the close of the European markets, a broader correction in the US triggered some stop-tripping in USD/JPY, too. The pair tested the 88.55 area, but no break occurred. The pair closed the session at 88.85, compared to 89.13 on Monday evening.

Overnight, USD/JPY revisited the key 88.55 area (new reaction low at 88.47), but the break could not be extended. Asian stocks are showing moderate gains, but this is not a strong enough reason for USD/JPY to move away from the key 88.50 support area. Some correction on the recent global dollar strength is also weighing on this cross rate.

Global context: USD/JPY reached a correction low in the 84.83 area at the end of November. In December, the pair staged a remarkable rebound as the better than expected US data were enough a reason to take profit/scale down USD/JPY short exposure. The new Japanese Fin Min softening its tone on the yen added to the USD/JPY supportive picture, but early January the weaker US payrolls blocked the rebound. In a medium term perspective, the December USD/JPY rebound called off the MT downtrend of the US dollar against the yen.

Recently we had a cautiously positive bias for USD/JPY. In a broader perspective, we continue to see USD/JPY longs as a good trade to play the global recovery story. The loss of momentum on global (equity) markets since the end of January didn’t really support our case. Nevertheless, as we hold on to our global positive eco view, we think the global cyclical recovery story might still turn out being USD/JPY supportive. We are well aware that the picture remains very fragile, but for now we stick to our standing USD/JPY long call. The 88.50 support area is still the line in the sand. A sustained break below this level support would reject our standing USD/JPY long call (stop-loss). The red alert is on. We might be reaching a ST make-or-break point



On Tuesday, sterling entered calmer/less stormy waters after Monday’s sell-off. Intraday euro weakness pushed the pair temporary lower early in Europe, but the move was reversed as EUR/USD recouped the earlier losses later in the session. EUR/GBP closed the session at 0.9094, compared to 0.9047 on Monday.

This morning, Nationwide consumer confidence jumped from 74 to 80. later today markets look out for the UK services PMI. However, the global stories will continue to set the tone in this cross rate, too (Greece, global euro strength/weakness).

Global context: During the August/mid October period, sterling showed additional losses as the BoE increased the amount of asset purchases. This policy was maintained going into the end of the year, but the UK currency entered calmer waters. Recently, there were some very cautious signs that the UK economy is leaving recessionary territory, too. From a monetary policy point of view, the question is whether the UK economy has already reached the point where sterling could become a cyclical play. Early February, the BoE shifted as expected, to a sit-and-wait approach. However, its assessment on growth and inflation remains soft and this view was confirmed in the February inflation report. So, we don’t have any indication that the BoE will be a front-runner in scaling back policy stimulation when compared to the Fed or the ECB. In this context, we think that the rebound of sterling has gone far enough. Of course, the euro was haunted by the EMU budget woes and the tensions on the intra-EMU government bond markets. This issue continues to weigh on the EUR/GBP pair, too. Nevertheless, we think that EUR/GBP should be far less sensitive to this issue compared to EUR/USD.

Recently, the picture for EUR/GBP was negative as the pair dropped below the medium term support area (0.8834). At the end of January the slide eased and the pair even staged a modest rebound. Two tests of the 0.8834 neckline were rejected, but on Thursday the break finally succeeded. Apparently, the ongoing BoE talk on the possibility of more QE ‘convinced’ markets that any interest support for sterling is still very far away. This rebreak materially improved the picture for EUR/GBP. After the test of the 0.9154 resistance, some consolidation might be on the cards. Nevertheless, we don’t expect any sustained sterling rebound anytime soon. 0.9240 is the next medium term target on the charts.

Euro firmer in forex trading, Greece could weigh once more

The euro strengthened in foreign exchange trading overnight as investors readjusted record short positions on the single currency against the dollar.

Meanwhile, the greenback also lost ground against the yen and the pound, with forex hedging strategists deciding that the latter's slump was out of line with fundamentals.
But while the euro continued to climb this morning (March 3rd), there is possibility that the market may grow jittery as the full extent of the challenges ahead of Greece become clear as it attempts to rein in its debts become clear.

Speaking to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity, an official familiar with the matter claimed that the country's prime minister George Papandreou is finding new holes in the budget every day and is planning swathing cuts to comply with EU demands.

"We need the support of our partners. To provide it they must convince their citizens, from whom they are also asking for sacrifices, that Greece is doing what must be done," he told his fellow Pasok party-members at a conference in Athens.

Forex trends: yen advances on slide in Asian stocks

During early Asian session on Thursday, the Japanese unit showed modest increase across the board as a slide in some Asian stocks bolstered investors toward safe-haven currencies, like dollar and yen.

As for now, Japan's Nikkei 225 index is losing 0.25%, South Korea's Kospi is falling 0.35%, China's Shangai Composite index is declining 1.04% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng is 0.6% down.

The yen strengthened against the currencies of Europe, UK and Switzerland in early Asian deals on Thursday.

At 10:25 pm ET, the yen reached highs of 120.95 per euro and 82.71 against the franc, compared to Wednesday's North American close of 121.16 and 82.86, respectively. Currently, the yen is worth 121.04 against the euro and 82.77 against the franc. If the yen gains further, it may target 82.1 against the franc and 119.8 against the euro.

Against the British pound, the yen, that touched 133.57 at yesterday close, rose to the level of 133.29 at around 10:25 pm ET Thursday. GBP/JPY pair that is presently quoted around 133.37 may find support near 132.6 further.

The yen that fell to 88.64 against the US dollar in early Thursday Asian deals at 7:10 pm ET bounced back thereafter. At present, USD/JPY rally is trading near yesterday's New York session close of 88.45 with 88.34 seen as the next target level.

WORLD FOREX: Euro Up Moderately After Greek Austerity Moves

The euro came back moderately higher Wednesday after reacting positively to the latest austerity measures in Greece and then relinquishing some of its gains. 

The U.S. dollar recovered some strength against the euro after reports the leaders of Germany and Greece won't discuss aid for fiscally troubled Greece at a meeting Friday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she planned to discuss Greece's austerity plans when she meets Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in Berlin Friday, but a spokesman for Merkel said earlier Wednesday the two leaders would not discuss any aid package for Greece.

News that the Institute for Supply Managements non-manufacturing index for February in the U.S. rose to 53.0 in February from 50.5 in January, exceeding the expected 51.0, had little immediate impact on markets.

Wednesday morning, the euro was at $1.3654 from $1.3607 late Tuesday, according to EBS via CQG. The common currency was at Y121.10 from Y120.75. The dollar was at Y88.68 from Y88.75 and at CHF1.0716 from CHF1.0753. The UK pound was at $1.5041 from $1.4960.

The ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, was at 80.223 from 80.501.

The main focus of the session has been the announcement by Greek authorities of a range of austerity measures embracing spending cuts and tax increases, which includes a rise in value-added tax, a cut in salary bonuses and a freeze of state pensions. They are expected to raise EUR4.8 billion.

The euro eventually rose to a session high at $1.3675 in back-and-forth trading after the news, but retraced some of its gains.

"There isn't a lot of momentum," said Vassili Serebriakov, currency strategist at Wells Fargo Bank in New York.

"It's a little bit of a 'buy the rumor, sell the fact,' or at least 'buy the anticipation of the news and sell after the news,'" he said.

Serebriakov expects the greenback to trade between $1.3450 to $1.3700 in the near term.

"The dollar strength will stick around, and it's going to be difficult to see headway in euro/dollar above $1.37, certainly," said Stephen Gallo, head of market analyst at Schneider Foreign Exchange in London.

News that payroll giant ADP's private-sector jobs report showed losses of only 20,000 in the U.S. in February, stronger than the expected decline of 50,000, had little sustained impact on currency markets.

Analysts said the euro is still at risk because there is still no assurance the Greek measures will be fully implemented and because the package will contribute to slower growth in the euro zone as a whole.

"Even if this helps Greece, there's a fiscal cost to the rest of the region and the credibility of the euro project," said Steve Barrow, senior currency strategist with Standard Bank in London.

Marc Chandler, chief currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York, said talk in markets that the U.S. Justice Department may investigate hedge fund collusion may have favored some paring back of negative bets against the euro.

The common currency also wasn't helped by the latest purchasing managers' index for the region's service sector, which fell back more than expected to 51.8 last month from 52.5 in January. The market had only expected it to slip to 52.0.

The pound was also staging a small rally--pulling itself back over $1.50 after falling below that level Monday. Sterling buying was encouraged by the latest Nationwide consumer confidence index, which rose 6 points to 80, its highest level since January 2008.

Unlike the euro zone's services PMI, the UK's index was much higher than expected, rising to 58.4 last month from 54.5 in January. The market had forecast the index at only 55.5.

Wells' Fargo Serebriakov said the pound's rally doesn't suggest sustained strength. "It's really more of a correction from a very sharp move lower rather than a reversal of market bias at this point," he said.

The pound is struggling to break decisively above $1.50, suggesting the move reflects profit taking on earlier negative bets on the pound, he added.

Reports that Prudential may not be able to complete its $35 billion takeover of an American International Group unit in Asia because of a sharp fall in its share price also gave the pound some support. The announcement of the planned deal had initially knocked the pound lower because the transaction could have involved the sale of huge amounts of sterlings for dollars.

WORLD FOREX: Euro Up Moderately After Greek Austerity Moves

The euro came back moderately higher Wednesday after reacting positively to the latest austerity measures in Greece and then relinquishing some of its gains. 

The U.S. dollar recovered some strength against the euro after reports the leaders of Germany and Greece won't discuss aid for fiscally troubled Greece at a meeting Friday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she planned to discuss Greece's austerity plans when she meets Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in Berlin Friday, but a spokesman for Merkel said earlier Wednesday the two leaders would not discuss any aid package for Greece.

News that the Institute for Supply Managements non-manufacturing index for February in the U.S. rose to 53.0 in February from 50.5 in January, exceeding the expected 51.0, had little immediate impact on markets.

Wednesday morning, the euro was at $1.3654 from $1.3607 late Tuesday, according to EBS via CQG. The common currency was at Y121.10 from Y120.75. The dollar was at Y88.68 from Y88.75 and at CHF1.0716 from CHF1.0753. The UK pound was at $1.5041 from $1.4960.

The ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, was at 80.223 from 80.501.

The main focus of the session has been the announcement by Greek authorities of a range of austerity measures embracing spending cuts and tax increases, which includes a rise in value-added tax, a cut in salary bonuses and a freeze of state pensions. They are expected to raise EUR4.8 billion.

The euro eventually rose to a session high at $1.3675 in back-and-forth trading after the news, but retraced some of its gains.

"There isn't a lot of momentum," said Vassili Serebriakov, currency strategist at Wells Fargo Bank in New York.

"It's a little bit of a 'buy the rumor, sell the fact,' or at least 'buy the anticipation of the news and sell after the news,'" he said.

Serebriakov expects the greenback to trade between $1.3450 to $1.3700 in the near term.

"The dollar strength will stick around, and it's going to be difficult to see headway in euro/dollar above $1.37, certainly," said Stephen Gallo, head of market analyst at Schneider Foreign Exchange in London.

News that payroll giant ADP's private-sector jobs report showed losses of only 20,000 in the U.S. in February, stronger than the expected decline of 50,000, had little sustained impact on currency markets.

Analysts said the euro is still at risk because there is still no assurance the Greek measures will be fully implemented and because the package will contribute to slower growth in the euro zone as a whole.

"Even if this helps Greece, there's a fiscal cost to the rest of the region and the credibility of the euro project," said Steve Barrow, senior currency strategist with Standard Bank in London.

Marc Chandler, chief currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York, said talk in markets that the U.S. Justice Department may investigate hedge fund collusion may have favored some paring back of negative bets against the euro.

The common currency also wasn't helped by the latest purchasing managers' index for the region's service sector, which fell back more than expected to 51.8 last month from 52.5 in January. The market had only expected it to slip to 52.0.

The pound was also staging a small rally--pulling itself back over $1.50 after falling below that level Monday. Sterling buying was encouraged by the latest Nationwide consumer confidence index, which rose 6 points to 80, its highest level since January 2008.

Unlike the euro zone's services PMI, the UK's index was much higher than expected, rising to 58.4 last month from 54.5 in January. The market had forecast the index at only 55.5.

Wells' Fargo Serebriakov said the pound's rally doesn't suggest sustained strength. "It's really more of a correction from a very sharp move lower rather than a reversal of market bias at this point," he said.

The pound is struggling to break decisively above $1.50, suggesting the move reflects profit taking on earlier negative bets on the pound, he added.

Reports that Prudential may not be able to complete its $35 billion takeover of an American International Group unit in Asia because of a sharp fall in its share price also gave the pound some support. The announcement of the planned deal had initially knocked the pound lower because the transaction could have involved the sale of huge amounts of sterlings for dollars.

WestHost Web Hosting Plans Updated

The WestHost web hosting firm has recently updated its web hosting plans so that each new plan includes WestHost's 100% Lifetime Satisfaction Promise, 60 day money back guarantee, and Premium U.S. based support. The updated plans also include new features, increased space, bandwidth and many more options. Brian Chambers, General Manager at WestHost offered, ''We have an amazing team of dedicated employees who are committed to providing the absolute best service possible. They are long-standing employees who understand WestHost’s philosophy when it comes to client services.

It is because of our team that I am willing to offer the guarantees and promises that continue to set us apart from our competition.''Since opening their doors in 1998, WestHost has always placed a high degree of importance on providing excellent service. They have endeavored to take their support to a new level by implementing a 100% Lifetime Satisfaction Promise. With operations based in Utah, WestHost is employs highly trained and highly skilled technicians who offer unmatched support. Before being hired these technicians go through a lengthy and rigorous interviewing process. They then go through several weeks of training and later receive scheduled reviews to improve the quality of their performance.

It is no wonder why WestHost’s support technicians are the best in the industry. Founded in 1998, WestHost has built a reputation on premium hosting with the highest levels of service. They joined the UK2 Group in October of 2008 and have since increased their Utah office staff by more than 25 people.

Web Hosting SSL Promotion, Twitter Discount, Offered at HostDime

Provider of managed hosting services, HostDime, is offering an e-commerce security promotion offering 256bit yearly SSL certificates for $20. Individuals need not be existing HostDime customers to take advantage of the special.

Emmanuel Vivar, CEO of HostDime explained, ''HostDime has always taken the position that as a web hosting provider, it is our role to entice our clients to adopt and deploy industry standard security solutions. By providing SSL certificates as part of this promotion, we hope our customers will recognize that implementing this type of security can be affordable and painless. Many think SSL certificates are reserved solely for online stores, but SSL certificates are utilized far beyond the shopping cart - from personal browser security to secure email signatures, SSL offers vital protection.''SSL Certificates offer a variety of security benefits for websites handling potentially sensitive transactions and private data, such as credit card numbers or contact information. 256-bit encryption represents the industry standard of encryption for security certificates.

HostDime's technicians will install purchased SSL certificates for customers at no additional charge. Technicians will even provide free guidance to individuals taking advantage of the promotional pricing who are not HostDime web hosting customers.

Twitter users who follow HostDime receive an additional $5 off the $20 price, by simply entering their Twitter username into the comments section of the order at checkout. The $5 discount is multiplied by the number of years for which the certificate is purchased. (A five-year certificate would receive $25 off).

To utilize SSL, each enabled domain is required to be issued a dedicated IP address. HostDime offers dedicated IP addresses for $4.00 per month for shared hosting, $3.00 per month for reseller hosting, and $2.00/month for dedicated server clients.

Web Hosting SSL Promotion, Twitter Discount, Offered at HostDime

Provider of managed hosting services, HostDime, is offering an e-commerce security promotion offering 256bit yearly SSL certificates for $20. Individuals need not be existing HostDime customers to take advantage of the special.

Emmanuel Vivar, CEO of HostDime explained, ''HostDime has always taken the position that as a web hosting provider, it is our role to entice our clients to adopt and deploy industry standard security solutions. By providing SSL certificates as part of this promotion, we hope our customers will recognize that implementing this type of security can be affordable and painless. Many think SSL certificates are reserved solely for online stores, but SSL certificates are utilized far beyond the shopping cart - from personal browser security to secure email signatures, SSL offers vital protection.''SSL Certificates offer a variety of security benefits for websites handling potentially sensitive transactions and private data, such as credit card numbers or contact information. 256-bit encryption represents the industry standard of encryption for security certificates.

HostDime's technicians will install purchased SSL certificates for customers at no additional charge. Technicians will even provide free guidance to individuals taking advantage of the promotional pricing who are not HostDime web hosting customers.

Twitter users who follow HostDime receive an additional $5 off the $20 price, by simply entering their Twitter username into the comments section of the order at checkout. The $5 discount is multiplied by the number of years for which the certificate is purchased. (A five-year certificate would receive $25 off).

To utilize SSL, each enabled domain is required to be issued a dedicated IP address. HostDime offers dedicated IP addresses for $4.00 per month for shared hosting, $3.00 per month for reseller hosting, and $2.00/month for dedicated server clients.

HostDime is a privately owned, leading website hosting provider offering reliable, secure managed hosting services that cater to a range of clients, from entry-level to enterprise-level operations. HostDime owns and operates its own data center in Orlando, Fla. With a client base of more than 700,000 hosted domains on 3,000 servers, HostDime presently ranks among the top 50 biggest web hosting companies in the world.

GoDaddy Web Hosting Firm, Testifies on White House Internet Security Mandate

Web hosting domain registrar, GoDaddy.com, recently testified in front of a Congressional subcommittee about the critical need for a continued relationship between the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Go Daddy's General Counsel and Corporate Secretary Christine N. Jones strongly urged the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet to renew, or at the very least extend, the Joint Partnership Agreement (JPA) between NTIA and ICANN. The JPA is currently scheduled to sunset September 30.

Ms. Jones testified, ''ICANN is responsible for an important public trust,'' noting significant concerns about ICANN's lack of transparency and accountability. ICANN was created 12 years ago to administer a globally acceptable Web address system. While Go Daddy acknowledges ICANN has made progress in achieving some of its original goals, the company feels there is much more to be accomplished before the U.S. Commerce Department recommends ICANN operate independent of NTIA oversight.

A majority of subcommittee members noted their shared concerns about allowing the JPA to sunset.

At one point during the hearing, Counsel Jones was asked by Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona about Go Daddy's transparency concerns of ICANN. Ms. Jones noted the lack of open meetings held by the ICANN Board and accused ICANN of ''stonewalling'' registrars who request board meeting transcripts. ICANN's CEO Paul Twomey, Ph.D., disagreed with Ms. Jones' assessment. His retort, however, did not appear to allay the subcommittee's concerns.

The security of the Internet was also a high priority at this hearing, as it is for the current White House administration. President Obama is keenly aware of the extraordinary dangers a compromised Internet would cause to national defense and the world's economy. Those concerns led to his announcement last week of a ''cyber-security czar'' to help protect the nation's crucial telecom infrastructure and information systems.

As the world's largest domain name registrar and a leader globally in both web site hosting and eCommerce, Go Daddy worries about many of the same issues. The company believes strongly that, without NTIA oversight, ICANN may be vulnerable to ''capture by another government, international organization, or business that does not have a secure and stable Internet as its top priority,'' declared Ms. Jones at the hearing.

Go Daddy also believes the JPA between the U.S. Department of Commerce and ICANN is a critical ingredient for a safe and secure Internet. Ms. Jones added, ''It is essential for both international commerce and the security and stability of the Internet that the relationship between the NTIA and ICANN continue.''

This is not the first time Go Daddy has headed for Capitol Hill in defense of a safer and more secure Internet. Just last year, Go Daddy worked tirelessly to help pass two new federal laws - one protecting children from online sexual predators - and a second, providing web companies with much-needed tools to take illegitimate Internet pharmacies offline. In addition to its work in Washington, Go Daddy donates generously to charity.

In 2008, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company gifted $1.7MM to charities which help the less fortunate. Go Daddy employs more than 2,100 people and operates offices in Scottsdale, Gilbert and Tempe, Ariz., as well as Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Denver, Colo. and Washington, D.C. The Internet giant has more than 6.6MM customers and 35MM domains under management. The company offers 50+ products to enhance Web sites for individuals and online entrepreneurs and is also known for its industry-best 24/7 personalized customer service.