Foreign Collusion, Naked Shorting (Counterfeiting) & Money Laundering — All Illicit Wealth
Christopher Byron
New York Post cited by RGM Communications via Wayback, 3 July 2006
It looks like the Securities and Exchange Commission has finally come up with a plan for dealing with the devastating Court of Appeals decision two weeks ago that nullified the SEC’s efforts to regulate the hedge fund industry.
The strategy: Do nothing – except perhaps pout a bit and blame everything on the media.
Deutsche Bank Settles Fraud Case
Sheryl Jean
St. Paul Pioneer Press, 29 June 2006
Deutsche Bank has settled a lawsuit filed against it by Stockwalk Group to recover losses incurred as part of a massive securities fraud allegedly orchestrated by the German financial giant, a fugitive Saudi arms dealer and other individuals that bankrupted the Minneapolis-based securities firm.
Terms of the settlement, reached last week, are confidential. Local industry insiders estimated the settlement was for tens of millions of dollars.
Liz Moyer
Forbes, 28 June 2006
So who should be overseeing the $1.2 trillion hedge fund industry? Apparently no one is now. But the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has two ideas.
Either the nation needs new legislation to tackle allegations of widespread trading abuses by the hedge funds, or law enforcement officials should simply be encouraged to do the right thing with laws they already have at their disposal?
Liz Moyer
Forbes, 27 June 2006
Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigator Gary Aguirre is slated to testify at a hearing Wednesday as the Senate Judiciary Committee takes up the issue of hedge funds and manipulative short-selling.
Investigator claims he was Fired for Hedge Fund Inquiry
Andrew Clark
The Guardian cited by RGM Communications via Wayback, 24 June 2006
The low-profile, high-earning world of hedge funds suffered a jolt yesterday as allegations surfaced of political influence and insider dealing at one of America’s most prominent players, Pequot Capital Management.
A former investigator at the Securities and Exchange Commission has disclosed that the authority has been examining suspicious trades at Pequot – a Connecticut-based fund which has $7bn (£3.8bn) under management and operates from offices in both the US and Britain.
Overstock.com dukes it out with short sellers
The Associated Press, 12 June 2006
Most people buy stock hoping the price goes up, but hedge fund manager David Rocker was “shorting” shares of Utah-based Internet retailer Overstock.com Inc., betting the share price would decline.
Rocker’s fund was making a legal bet that Overstock shares in 2004 were overvalued and due for a correction. Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, however, sued, accusing New York-based Rocker Partners of collaborating on disparaging reports with the stock-research firm Gradient Analytics of Scottsdale, Ariz., while Rocker was shorting the shares. Continue reading “Article: Overstock.com dukes it out with short sellers”
Deseret News, 29 May 2006
I read Lee Davidson’s annual article on the top political contributors in Utah. What should be written is a companion piece on how much money to charity and research these men and women give annually. The amount surpasses political donations by millions.
Mr. Davidson goes in great detail about Dr. Patrick Byrne of Overstock.com. The people of Utah should know about another side of Dr. Byrne’s generosity. Patrick gave $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Valley this year without us asking. Nor did he seek any acclaim or recognition. He did it because he cares about kids and the potential of every child. Continue reading “Article: Byrne caring and generous”
Brokers in an Uproar over Utah Law Cracking Down on “Naked Short Selling”
Lincoln Journal Star cited by RGM Communications via Wayback, 28 May 2006
A bill approved by the Utah Legislature is causing an angry revolt among Wall Street firms with Utah operations.
The measure cracks down on a stock trading practice defended by some as necessary for orderly markets and assailed by others as easily exploited for stock manipulation.
At issue is short selling, the investors’ practice of borrowing stock and selling it, hoping the share price declines so they can buy cheaper shares, return them to the lender and pocket the difference.
Circle Group Zeroes In on Naked Shorts
ThinkAdvisor, 2 May 2006
”Any wrongdoers will be taken to the mat,” said the chairman and chief executive of Circle Group Holdings Inc., Gregory J. Halpern, in a salvo issued in a statement Monday (April 17). “We’ve come to fight and we believe that by joining forces with John O’Quinn, his team of lawyers and A-list experts, we will prevail.”
The Stock Market Is Patently Unfair
Arne Alsin
TheStreet, 26 April 2006
In a fair market, the property of investors is secure and protected, the playing field is level, and rules are uniformly enforced.
Unfortunately for investors, that does not describe the current condition of the stock market. The current stock market is patently unfair.
Short-Sellers Are Burned by Novastar
Roddy Boyd
New York Post, 16 April 2006
One Midwestern financial company, long a target of short-sellers, has deployed an infrequently used tactic to inflict pain on its naysayers: Its management has put in place a strategy that consistently makes money.
The stock of Novastar Financial, a Kansas City, Mo.-based home-equity real estate investment trust, has been a battleground between long-term holders in love with its juicy dividends and short-sellers who suspect that the company has massive default risk with those loans.
Jane Sassen
Bloomberg, 10 April 2006
Sitting in a conference room in a Manhattan office, the researcher explains how he digs up financial information, often of the damning variety, for hedge funds and other big investors. His clients need the intelligence because they frequently sell short, meaning they bet on shares falling. “Look at the Web as a giant fish pond,” he says, on the condition that he not be quoted by name. “We try to develop bait that will hook someone who knows more than anyone else.”
Chris Byron
New York Times cited by RGM Communications via Wayback, 6 March 2006
It’s good to see that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has come to its senses and that – at least for the time being – it won’t be enforcing the media subpoenas that have gotten the press so riled up.
But before anyone breaks out the pom-poms for SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, let’s remember that these wrong-headed subpoenas were 100 percent the responsibility of Cox’s own agency in the first place – and until the SEC develops better, more focused leadership, problems like those caused by these subpoenas are going to keep occurring.
Corporate reform dead; SEC chief should resign
Loren Steffy
Houston Chronicle, 1 March 2006
Corporate governance reform is dead. Its last gasp was stifled by the subpoenas issued last month by the Securities and Exchange Commission against several news organizations and writers.
Last week, Marketwatch .com columnist Herb Greenberg and Dow Jones Newswires columnist Carol Remond acknowledged receiving the subpoenas, which involved stories about Internet retailer Overstock .com.
A second financial news organization was subpoenaed for records in an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, whose chairman has put the subpoenas on hold amid controversy.
TheStreet.com and co-founder and major shareholder Jim Cramer were served subpoenas by the SEC about three weeks ago in connection with an inquiry into allegations of stock manipulation.
THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?
