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Google Intentions over the Street View Data Collection Now Questioned

Posted Jun 10th 2010 11:00AM by Gary Sattler (RSS feed)
Filed under: Law, Internet, Google (GOOG), Scandals

Google GOOG logoIt's been a few weeks now that Google (GOOG) and its Street View mapping service has been in the spotlight after it was discovered that the search giant collected and stored personal data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks. Now, Google's intentions are in question.

"This was a failure of communication between and within teams," the BBC quotes a Google spokesperson. It is the first line of defense in what has already become an international scandal striking directly at the heart of Google and allegations of serious misconduct by that company. The BBC report indicates that Google's actions of collecting and recording the personal data is in violation of the data interception laws of as many as 30 countries.

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Financial Reform Has No Credit Default Swap

Posted Jun 9th 2010 3:00PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Rants and Raves, Apple Inc (AAPL), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Market Matters, Scandals, Citigroup Inc. (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Wells Fargo (WFC), Politics, Financial Crisis

Voltaire said, "Common sense is not so common" and George Bernard Shaw commented that having " ...enough of it was genius."

This reminds me of Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) or Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc. (AAPL) that have both displayed plenty of the former and arrived at the latter in their business pursuits.

Derivatives like Collateral Debt Obligations, or CDO's, and Credit Default Swaps, get their value from something else entirely: total hype in an environment of smoke and mirrors.

It turns out that if you build layer upon layer of derivatives until you have no idea what the original underlying value truly is, it becomes so convoluted that a genius can't comprehend it at all. It is self evident that nobody could even determine all the counter-party risk.

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Sunday Funnies: Gov't Can't Clean Up Its Own Act

Posted Jun 6th 2010 4:00PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Management, Rants and Raves, Scandals, Halliburton (HAL), BP p.l.c. ADS (BP), Politics, Sunday Funnies, Oil, Headline News

During the ongoing environmental disaster caused by BP plc (BP) that is spewing thousands of barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico (only now reducing the spill rate), there have been many calls to have the federal government take over the cap and recapture effort. This is a very lame idea.

First of all, nobody has more incentive in bringing this disaster to an end then BP because no entity has suffered more financially or seen its reputation eroded faster.

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SEC Levels Charges in $40 Million Ponzi Scheme

Posted Jun 3rd 2010 2:40PM by Gary Sattler (RSS feed)
Filed under: Bad News, Press Releases, Scandals, Headline News

Yesterday, SEC officials charged a Miami man for his operation of a $40 million Ponzi scheme. It is alleged that Luis Felipe Perez had fraudulently convinced investors to invest with him to fund his jewelry business and to finance pawn shops in New York. The jewelry businesses of the accused, Lucky Star Diamonds Inc. and Luis Felipe Jewelry Design Corp., have turned out to be no more than sham facades, and both companies were completely void of employees. Both companies have subsequently ceased their -paper only- operations. Likewise, Mr. Perez's pawn shop connections have turned out to be non-existent.

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BP Oil Spill Liability Estimated at $40 Billion

Posted Jun 2nd 2010 11:10AM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Scandals, BP p.l.c. ADS (BP)

BP Plc (BP) is facing many problems as a result of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico -- and now we are getting an idea of the financial ramifications of the spill (or at least one research firm's estimate). According to research firm Tudor Pickering Holt, BP and other companies face a liability of $35 billion to $40 billion as a result of the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf.

Analysts from the firm compared the current spill to the costs associated with the Exxon Valdez spill and added in some timing estimates and "guess work" to come up with a potential price tag. The analysts told Fox Business, "You've got to try and put some realistic projections on oil spill liability before you can try to value any stock involved."

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Criminal Investigation Launched over BP Oil Spill

Posted Jun 1st 2010 6:30PM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major Movement, Other Issues, Law, Scandals, BP p.l.c. ADS (BP), Oil

BP logoIt really is hard to believe that is has been six weeks since BP's (BP) oil well exploded and sank in the gulf, and even harder to believe that the company has still not been able to stop oil from leaking out into the ocean.

Everyone wants answers to what exactly led to the to oil rig's explosion, and today the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stated that a criminal investigation had been launched into the matter to determine which, if any, laws were broken leading up to the disaster.

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Put Buying Rises on Walt Disney Due to Insider Trading Scandal

Posted May 28th 2010 1:30PM by Elizabeth Harrow (RSS feed)
Filed under: Scandals, Walt Disney (DIS), Options, Technical Analysis, DJIA

As news broke Thursday that a Walt Disney Co. (DIS) executive assistant was arrested on suspicion of selling inside information, speculative investors rushed to buy bearish bets on the Dow component. During the course of the session, traders on the International Securities Exchange (ISE) bought to open 3,807 puts on DIS, compared to just 34 calls that were purchased.

Taking a closer look at the day's put volume, the June 32 strike was most active. This front-month put saw 5,858 contracts change hands on Thursday, with the majority trading at the ask price -- confirming they were purchased. Open interest at this narrowly out-of-the-money strike rose overnight by 4,731 contracts, and now stands at 7,391 open put positions.

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Get Ready for Goldman Sachs to Bounce!

Posted May 22nd 2010 2:40PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Rumors, Scandals, Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Stock Picks

Goldman Sachs GS logoFor weeks, Goldman Sachs has been swinging in the wind as the SEC charges were made, Senate hearings (chest pounding) were conducted and it was announced that the DOJ was investigating Goldman and the rest of the Wall Street banking club.

This week, I posted How Much Further Can Goldman Sachs Drop? at the behest of one of our editors. Today, amid the rumors that settlement talks are under way between Goldman Sachs and the SEC, I am wondering how much the stock will bounce when rumors become reality? I would bet a lot. I have bet a lot.

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Waddell, Other Big Firms Identified as Mystery Traders in Stock Market Plunge

Posted May 15th 2010 11:40AM by Connie Madon (RSS feed)
Filed under: Market Matters, Scandals, Headline News, Financial Crisis

Dow chart May 7 2010Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, testified before a congressional committee investigating the 998 point drop in the Dow. That plunge wiped out nearly $1 trillion in market capital.

In his testimony, Gensler said he identified one high-volume trade in the e-mini S&P futures contract. The mystery firm was Waddell & Reed Financial (WDR). Waddell sold 75,000 contracts during the time of the plunge. The e-mini is liquid and traders use it as a guide to trading the Dow. Waddell maintains that the sale was a hedge. That means that the sales were used to offset other long positions.

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Obama Reacts to What He Calls a 'Ridiculous Spectacle'

Posted May 15th 2010 9:40AM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: Rants and Raves, Scandals, Halliburton (HAL), BP p.l.c. ADS (BP), Oil, Transocean Ltd. (RIG)

BP oil spillIt has been three weeks since a BP (BP) oil rig exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico, and still the company has not been able to stop oil from spewing into the gulf. Friday, the companies involved got a earful from President Obama.

The three companies involved in the oil spill are BP, Transocean Offshore (RIG) and Halliburton (HAL).

Continue reading Obama Reacts to What He Calls a 'Ridiculous Spectacle'

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Congress, SEC and Goldman Sachs Failures -- Part 2

Posted May 12th 2010 5:00PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Other Issues, Rants and Raves, Scandals, Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Headline News

Goldman Sachs GS logoContinuing from where I left off earlier today regarding the Goldman Sachs - Paulson & Company debacle...

What would have happened if the collateralized debt obligations were created and sold exactly as was done, shorted by Paulson, and the eventual buyer was Warren Buffett?

First of all, "my pal Warren" would not let his position be known to anyone beyond normal filing requirements and perhaps announced at some later date. Second, if it was disclosed that Buffett was betting against Paulson, Mr Paulson would be a huge fool if he did not think twice about his shorting the CDO given this new piece of information. Third, should the buyers of the actual CDO be treated differently than Buffett, or you or me? Of course not.

If I were CEO Blankfein, that is what I would have tossed back at Congress.

Continue reading Congress, SEC and Goldman Sachs Failures -- Part 2

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Congress, SEC and Goldman Sachs Failures

Posted May 12th 2010 2:00PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Rants and Raves, Market Matters, Scandals, Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Politics, Headline News

Goldman Sachs GS logoThe more I think about the issue of Goldman Sachs (GS) being charged by the SEC for questionable business practices, and hauled in front of Congress for a big show, the more I think it is Congress that is at fault for the whole financial mess and should be answering questions.

It is not that Wall Street had no hand in the entire debacle, but it started with Congress and they magnified the damage by failing to correct their critical mistakes. I will get back to this later, but first I want to discuss the recent hearings and the fact that Goldman Sachs management was actually too easy on Congress.

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Will Goldman Sachs Face Criminal Charges Soon?

Posted May 3rd 2010 5:00PM by Connie Madon (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major Movement, Management, Insiders, Law, Employees, Market Matters, Scandals, Personal Finance, Politics, Headline News

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) has been under investigation by the SEC for alleged securities fraud. The alleged violations against Goldman Sachs are civil charges. Now the Goldman Sachs saga is taking a more deadly turn. The US Attorney's Office in New York is looking into the case to determine if criminal charges are warranted.

This changes the whole dynamic of the case. Civil charges usually involve a fine and bar from trading. However, if you remember Enron, criminal charges can include not only fines but also jail time.

Continue reading Will Goldman Sachs Face Criminal Charges Soon?

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Goldman Sachs's Blankfein Attacking the SEC

Posted Apr 22nd 2010 11:00AM by Connie Madon (RSS feed)
Filed under: Management, Scandals, Financial Crisis

Goldman Sachs's (GS) Lloyd Blankfein is on the attack against the Securities and Exchange Commission. He's started a telephone campaign to assure clients that all is well in Goldman land. One client told the Financial Times that Blankfein said the SEC suit against Goldman would "hurt America."

Can you imagine how getting at the truth about what caused our financial meltdown is unpatriotic? That's a stretch if there ever was one.

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Goldman's Legal Defense: Blame a Scapegoat?

Posted Apr 21st 2010 1:00PM by Connie Madon (RSS feed)
Filed under: Law, Employees, Scandals, Goldman Sachs Group (GS)

Goldman Sachs (GS) is plotting its legal defense against the SEC's charges, and the point man is co-general counsel Greg Palm.

So far Palm's legal strategy is to place all the blame on one employee: Fabrice Tourre. In a statement, Palm said: "If we had evidence that someone here was trying to mislead someone, that's not something we'd continue at all and we'd be the first to take action."

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