Stock Incentive Plans

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Stock Incentive Plans [Abstract]

Stock Incentive Plans

Note 10.  Stock Incentive Plans

2009 Equity Incentive Plan. In May 2009, our shareholders approved the 2009 Equity Incentive Plan (2009 Plan) for the purpose of affording an incentive to eligible persons. The 2009 Equity Incentive Plan provides for the grant of equity based awards, including stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, dividend equivalents, unrestricted stock, other equity based or equity related awards, and/or performance compensation awards based on or relating to the Company's common shares to eligible non-employee directors, officers, employees or consultants. The 2009 Plan is administered by a compensation committee or such other committee of the Company's board of directors. A maximum of 4.2 million of the Company's common shares have been authorized for issuance under the 2009 Plan.

2005 Equity Incentive Plan. In 2005, the Company adopted the 2005 Equity Incentive Plan (2005 Plan) for the purpose of affording an incentive to eligible persons. The 2005 Equity Incentive Plan provides for the grant of equity-based awards, including stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, stock bonuses, dividend equivalents and other awards based on or relating to the Company's common shares to eligible non-employee directors, selected officers and other employees and independent contractors. The plan is administered by a committee of the Company's board of directors. An aggregate of 2.6 million shares of the Company's common stock were authorized for issuance under the plan. None of the Company's common shares remain available for issuance under the 2005 Plan.

The Company granted restricted stock units (“RSUs”) to members of its management which vest ratably between three to five years. As of September 30, 2011, RSUs covering a total of 1,757,833 of the Company's shares are outstanding. These RSUs also entitle the participant to receive a dividend equivalent payment on the unvested portion of the underlying shares granted under the award, each time the Company pays a dividend to the Company's shareholders. The dividend equivalent rights on the unvested RSU are forfeited upon termination of employment.The Company is amortizing to non-cash compensation expense the fair value of the non-vested restricted stock at the grant date. For the nine and three months ended September 30, 2011, the amortization charge was $6,441,170 and $2,019,794, respectively. The remaining expense for each of the years ending 2011, 2012, and 2013 will be $1,948,040, $7,748,116, and $3,371,425, respectively.

As of December 31, 2010, options covering 1,063,483 of the Company's common shares were outstanding.  These options were awarded to members of its management and its independent non-employee directors. On February 2, 2011, the Company granted options to purchase 250,000 of the Company's common shares to its independent non-employee directors. These options vested and became exercisable on the grant date at an exercise price of $4.34 per share and expire five years from the date of grant. For purposes of determining the non-cash compensation cost for the Company's stock option plans using the fair value method of ASC 718 “Compensation-Stock Compensation”, the fair value of the options granted of $517,761 was estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The weighted average assumptions used for the 2011 grant included a risk free interest rate of 0.9%, and an expected stock price volatility factor of 80%.  For the nine and three months ended September 30, 2011, the Company has recorded a non-cash compensation charge of $517,761 and $0, respectively. As of September 30, 2011, options covering 1,313,483 of the Company's common shares are outstanding with exercise prices ranging from $4.34 to $21.88 per share (the market prices at dates of grants). The options granted to the independent non-employee directors vested and became exercisable on the grant dates. The options granted to members of its management vest and become exercisable over three years. All options expire between five to ten years from the date of grant.

The non-cash compensation expenses recorded by the Company and included in General and Administrative Expenses are as follows:

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September		September		September		September
	30, 2011		30, 2010		30, 2011		30, 2010
Stock Option Plans	$	-	$	-	$	517,761	$	722,167
Restricted Stock Grants		2,019,794		3,664,992		6,441,170		10,972,790
Total Non-cash compensation expense	$	2,019,794	$	3,664,992	$	6,958,931	$	11,694,957

As of September 30, 2011, Dividend Equivalent Rights Awards (“DERs”) equivalent to 574,000 of the Company's common shares are outstanding to its independent non-employee directors and members of its management. These DERs entitle the participant to receive a dividend equivalent payment each time the Company pays a dividend to the Company's shareholders. For the nine and three months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010, no compensation expenses were recorded.