June 24, 2008 7:13AM
Who Is On the Market Police’s Radar?
By Elizabeth MacDonald
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s probe of the subprime mortgage industry could uncover fraud involving Wall Street investment banks, private equity firms or hedge funds, the head of the bureau said.
The FBI probe comes as losses and write-downs from the housing and credit could eventually hit the $1 tn mark, the International Monetary Fund reports. More than 100 U.S. mortgage lenders have gone bankrupt, been sold, or exited the mortgage business since the end of 2006.
But who is on the regulatory radar screen? So far, the FBI has publicly acknowledged the name of only one company caught up in the dragnet, Doral Financial Corp.–its former treasurer was recently indicted for investment fraud. The former treasurer has denied the allegations.
As I’ve reported to you earlier, a senior law enforcement official told me that hedge funds now sit at the top of the hit list of federal investigations into the subprime crisis, including at the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Expect more announcements of hedge fund indictments in coming days, sources say (”Hedge Funds in the Crosshairs”).
Hedge funds made hundreds of billions of dollars in trades of hard-to-value subprime and credit assets that do not always carry market prices. Because hedge funds annually pay their managers as much as 20% of investment gains each year, the fear is that they helped overestimate the values of these securities to line their own pockets at the expense of investors.
At bottom you’ll see a list of companies involved in a range of regulatory probes; again, please note, it’s unclear which companies the FBI is looking into, and this list comes from a perusal of company regulatory filings as well as news reports. Word of caution: if you want to know who is really on the radar screen, use this list only as a potential lead. The regulatory probes come from a wide range of places, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and various attorneys general across the country. Do not stop your research here.
The FBI’s investigation of potential fraud in the U.S. home mortgage industry now encompasses 19 companies in “cases that may have a substantial impact on the marketplace,” FBI director Robert Mueller said. “We are targeting accounting fraud, insider trading and deceptive sales practices. These investigations may well lead to other instances of fraud, from investment banks and private equity firms to hedge funds.” The bureau is examining whether portfolios of mortgage-backed securities were properly valued, accounted for, and disclosed to investors, among other things.
FBI director Mueller recently told an American Bar Association conference he expected to see more corporate fraud cases in the future “because of the ripple effect” of the subprime mortgage crisis. Mueller has said the bureau is working to identify “large-scale industry insiders” in its probes.
Major investment banks Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Bear Stearns (since bought for $10 a share by JPMorgan Chase (JPM) each indicated the government had asked them for information, but please be careful here. Reportedly none confirmed any FBI role, and financial disclosures make no statements about any FBI probe whatsoever.
To date, prosecutors have not brought any major cases against mortgage industry leaders. Last week, two former hedge fund managers at Bear Stearns were arrested in the connection with two funds that went belly-up, costing investors $1.6 bn, a bellwether event in the subprime meltdown. The subprime collapse was kicked off by the April 2007 bankruptcy of New Century Financial Corp., a lender which gave numerous home loans to dodgy borrowers with weak credit histories.
Separately, the Dept. of Justice and the FBI announced its “Operation Malicious Mortgage” involving more than 300 arrests and charges brought against more than 400 real estate industry insiders, midlevel players alleged to have committed mortgage fraud, which US Attorney General Michael Mukasey has deftly called “white collar street crime.”
Reported cases of fraudulent mortgages stretch from New York to Rhode Island to Illinois to Texas, and from California to Florida. Fraudulent loans amounted to more than $4 bn in 2007, up from $1.6 bn in 2006, says the website MortgageDaily.com. The FBI reports fraud has already cost $4 bn to $6 bn.
A roundup of reports flushes out who is on a regulator’s radar screen:
Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC): The largest U.S. mortgage lender is reportedly under FBI investigation for suspected securities fraud as part of investigations into the mortgage crisis, although the FBI has declined to comment and Countrywide said it was unaware of any investigation.
Separately, the Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly conducting an informal probe of suspicious stock sales by Countrywide chief executive Angelo Mozilo. At issue is Mozilo’s use of an SEC rule known as 10b5-1 that lets corporate executives file a trading plan for future sales of their stock. The plans are intended to prevent suspicions that executives illicitly traded on insider information. The question however is, “did Countrywide repeatedly adjust Mozilo’s prearranged selling plans at his request, such that the intent and purpose of these plans — the prevention of insider trading — was undermined?” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) has asked. And separately, the Office of the U.S. Trustee, an arm of the Justice Department responsible for policing federal bankruptcy courts, will be able to interview Countrywide execs under oath and subpoena key documents from the lender after federal bankruptcy trustees in Florida, Georgia and Ohio have filed legal actions against the Calabasas, Calif.-based lender, saying the lender was abusing the bankruptcy process.
*Footnote: Since this story ran, the attorneys general of Illinois and California have filed suit against Countrywide and its officers, alleging unfair and deceptive business practices. The Washington State Dept. of Financial Institutions has also filed suit as well, alleging Countrywide engaged in discriminatory lending practices.
UBS (UBS): The U.S. attorney in New York’s Eastern District in Brooklyn is reportedly probing whether the Swiss financial giant booked inflated prices for mortgage bonds despite knowing their valuations had fallen. Prosecutors, who frequently work closely with the Securities and Exchange Commission, had yet to issue subpoenas. Separately, the FBI is reportedly planning to travel to Switzerland to probe a multi-million-dollar tax evasion case involving the Swiss bank.
American International Group (AIG): The Justice Department and the SEC are reportedly investigating whether the world’s biggest insurer overstated the value of derivative contracts linked to subprime mortgages, specifically, the way AIG valued credit default swaps. Prosecutors from the Department of Justice and the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, New York have reportedly asked for information the SEC is gathering, which reportedly could signal a criminal investigation. AIG spokesman said the company would co-operate in regulatory and governmental reviews on all matters. AIG has been hit with record writedowns from the credit crisis, and in 2006 AIG settled an accounting case for $1.6 bn. The accounting probe had led to the ouster of AIG’s longtime chief executive, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg.
Merrill Lynch (MER): The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into Merrill Lynch’s subprime mortgage portfolio. The investment banker said in its quarterly SEC filing the probe was initiated on October 24. That was the day Merrill announced a net loss of $2.3 bn from continuing operations for the third quarter. Meanwhile, Merrill is facing a lawsuit from Massachusetts alleging the company committed fraud by selling esoteric debt products containing mortgage-backed paper to the Massachusetts city of Springfield. The New York attorney general’s office has also been conducting an investigation of the mortgage industry, which is focused on appraisals and the packaging of loans into mortgage-backed securities for sale to investors. New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo’s office has reportedly issued subpoenas to Merrill Lynch.
DB Zwirin: The SEC has been investigating the $5 bn hedge fund DB Zwirn, which ran a high-yield bond portfolio. The commission is requesting information about how the hedge fund valued its assets, sources say. DB Zwirn is winding down its fund after colossal redemptions. The fund had specialized in purchasing corporate loans and other illiquid credits. The fund had raised the valuation issue itself in a letter to investors last year that said a fund manager who left in 2005 had failed to “follow a systematic pricing methodology” for a portfolio of high-yield bonds, according to reports.
Beazer Homes USA (BZH): Said last year it received a federal grand jury subpoena related to its mortgage business.
Thornburg Mortgage (TMA): This provider of jumbo mortgages said it had received subpoenas from the Securities and Exchange Commission amid doubts about its long term survival. Nearly went bankrupt in March. Posted recently a $3.3 bn first quarter loss as the value of mortgages and other securities it owns plummeted. In a filing it said it was complying with the subpoenas for documents related to an ongoing regulatory probe and that it is cooperating with the SEC inquiry. Also notified in April by the SEC that the agency investigating its restatement of 2007 financial results and its accounting treatment of mortgage backed securities. Lender said it was defending itself against securities class action lawsuits alleging made false and misleading statements about its financial health, which results in inflated stock prices. It has said these allegations were without merit.
Wachovia (WB): Recently agreed to pay $144 mn to settle charges of turning a blind eye when telemarketers used the bank’s accounts to steal from customers. Telemarketers reportedly had obtained account information from consumers through a variety of ruses, and then used the information to write themselves fraudulent checks, which they deposited at Wachovia. Wachovia is also reportedly under scrutiny for money laundering by Mexican and Colombian money transfer companies move proceeds of US drug sales to Latin America. Wachovia had reportedly cultivated ties with the money transfer outfits.
Impac Mortgage Holdings (IMH): This struggling lender recently said its survival could be threatened following a $2.05 bn loss in 2007, and that the SEC was inquiring into its operations. Impac is a real estate investment trust that once specialized in “Alt-A” mortgages, which often go to people who cannot document income or assets. The Irvine, California-based company has reportedly struggled with falling housing prices, mounting delinquencies on mortgages once, and investors’ refusal to buy all but the safest home loans. Impac said its liabilities exceeded its assets at year-end, giving it negative shareholder equity of $1.08 bn. The company said it has provided information to the SEC this year in response to the agency’s informal inquiries into its business operations, related accounting policies and methodology. Last September, Impac quit substantially all mortgage lending operations.
Franklin Bank (FBTX): This Houston, Texas bank, overseen by mortgage bond pioneer Lewis Ranieri, said it faces an SEC probe related to its lending practices. Recently it has replaced its chief executive. Ranieri, the bank’s chairman and a former Salomon Brothers vice chairman, will become interim chief executive. The SEC inquiry came after a 10-week internal investigation that the bank said uncovered a variety of accounting errors, largely related to residential mortgage loans. Franklin said it has also been in communication with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending, and plans to cooperate with those agencies and the SEC. The company has been unable to file its first-quarter report because of the internal probe, and this month said investors should not rely on its reported fourth-quarter results, which included a $66.1 mn loss. It also said it working to restate its third-quarter report and complete its 2007 annual report, but does not know when it will complete either.
Olympia Mortgage: Two former principals of this now defunct Brooklyn mortgage lender surrendered to the FBI recently after being indicted on charges of conspiracy and fraud involving Fannie Mae and Credit Suisse First Boston, a federal prosecutor said. Lieb Pinter, 64, is charged with fraud in connection with the theft of $44 mn of payoff proceeds for refinanced mortgage loans financed by Fannie Mae and serviced by Olympia. Barry Goldstein, 59, is charged with fraud in connection with Olympia’s sale of a portfolio of non-performing mortgage loans to Credit Suisse using falsified loan histories.
Comment by Greedom
Jun 24th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Hey,
why isn’t Citi on or at the top of that list ? heh heh
Comment by Greedom
Jun 24th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Well, if it were up to me, I’d vote Ms MacDonald as nominee for a Pulitzer on Explanatory Writing.
I remember reading once of something Einstein said regarding ’special knowledge’ required in a given discipline that only those who are highly functional in such a discipline can understand.
Apparently Jung and Einstein hung out a good bit, Karl said Albert would go off to no end about mathematics “the poor man, he didn’t understand that I had no clue what he was talking about” Until one day Albert asked HIM about the psyche. Having some fun with the tables turned, Einstein is reported to have responded that it is too bad that experts often can not communicate between each other in matters of specialized disciplines.
THIS is why I think it’s important when you have someone reporting who is thinking of the audience that is not capable of understanding the ‘economic speak’ - and is able to successfully distill the ‘big picture’ from an otherwise highly complicated discipline.
I’m not an economist, I read what I can - and often find myself over my head, but this article, and the CDO article yesterday make it easy for anyone to understand what’s going on as to the causal factors behind this credit/sub prime crisis/fallout.
I do with ‘tn’ was spelled out there above, heh, ‘could hit the 1 tn mark’ I had to think, hmm - but TRILLION - is one value that perhaps needs to be amplified.
Either way - NOT that I’m a big fan that one company, NewsCorp ends up owning so many media resources, BUT - SINCE NewsCorp owns WSJ and MarketWatch now, considering the value from these insights, I don’t know why the articles are buried at foxbusiness.com.
MarketWatch ran an article the other day ’shadow banking system at estimated 10 trillion’ - reading the comments from that ? there were SO many thankyou(s) to ‘this is the best article I’ve ever seen on MarketWatch’ etc. I do say, articles such as what I see here in MacDonald’s corner ought to be publicized more - they are on the same level - 40,000 foot view insights coupled with competence, data and understanding of the matters at hand, oh yeah, and real passion to illuminate the truth I think.
Comment by Greedom
Jun 24th, 2008 at 11:59 am
I never see the FTC in any of the headlines and yet ? Seems in matters of consumer fraud, you’d think the FTC would have a laundry list of corporations and companies to investigate.
Comment by Greedom
Jun 24th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I do say
If US response to Iraq War was Shock and Awe
Perhaps the Federal investigators response should be following this model.
Just take out droves of unethical employees at financial institutions -
hold them responsible - make an example - build a dedicated prison JUST for wall street.
hmm- make the walls pink perhaps - no, green ? hmm - maybe red - red would be a good color to focus on.
I find money - as I anticipate on my death bed, looking back - was a utility - a means of enhancing life. I think money works by a community participating in a common belief and faith infrastructure that says ‘we all concur money will mean something as a token for commerce interchange(ability)’.
Now, money is a tool given value ultimately by a participating culture or community.
So… if you think you can pocket money ? you’re REALLY saying - I BELIEVE in this culture, this ’shared meaning’ as David Bohm points out culture is. By pocketing money, you are saying, I am a responsible participant in this ‘game’ in a Wittginsteinian sense - as his study of formal systems revealed every formal system meets criteria for being a ‘game’.
So, anyone who thinks they can ‘rob a bank’ or ’sift off the top from a hedge fund operation’ or cash in on a sub prime loan commission all the way up to cashing in on a sub prime loan bundled as a CDO and sold off to some unsuspecting 3rd world bank bystander ?
Is really, at the end of the day - robbing their OWN community.
At 40 revolutions around the sun, I’ve concluded that crime is that which is simply disadvantageous to ones community.
To take money, and think you can squirrel it away - is to mis-understand what money is, and what the purpose of money is.
At BEST, money - that it CAN exist - is a sign there are civilized people.
I question such actions as these thieves involved in sub prime mess, to bank robbers, it’s ALL highly adolescent.
it’s ALL consisting of a mandate for quality of character in someone such that they don’t realize or feel integrated into society.
Somehow, yes, i’m suggesting there exists a sociopathy when it comes to matters of money robberies. From a bank heist to well - what do you CALL cooked books to hide some 279 million sifted from hedge funds BUT a bank heist as well ?
I guess I’m trying to consolidate thoughts and ask ?
Is ALL of this mess due to some sense of bankers or bank robbers developing a sociopathic platform for persona ? Where they don’t have any problem with ’stealing’ ?
I find it surprising SO many ‘executive’ level folks are demonstrating adolescent behavior.
All in all, I think human civilization will make it, hey, what kind of life would it be to live as if otherwise ?
so in the case of the disconnected sociopathic adolescents we have here involved in community thievery - I’m jaw dropped on one hand, and on the other ? Challenged in trying to figure out how to prevent this from re-occurring.
Bottom line, if people feel disconnected as a species, we’ll have this exploiting each other. Perhaps our political leaders could offer up more integrative missions - ones that don’t go by the name ’shock and awe’ etc.
how about Sort and Sift ?
I suppose if we live disconnected geopolitically - as a single species, we can expect people to develop disconnected modalities for persona, and left unchecked, we’ll have bank robberies, regardless of which side of the teller window they occur on I suppose.
I have developed an argument PRO nuclear weapons that says, not on mutually assured destruction here, but that - BECAUSE of the threat of the fallout - which occurs regardless of nation state boundaries (the winds etc), no arbitrary abstract geo-spatial model for persona derivation is worth it.
I see ‘global economy’ emerging, post Bretton Woods, I saw the ITO - the International Trade Organization, but that never was ratified, and we settled on World Trade.
I see a world where the US Dollar isn’t kingfish anymore - good example ?
I see Vietnam the other day jack it’s currency rates up 1% - and BAM - USD falls.
Sure they’e at what 14% but- it’s ALL interrelated. The healthy model would be to start adopting the term basket currency to get used to a single currency.
I think somewhere down the road, a shift from nationalism to globalism will happen formally.
I think in part ? I mean, what IS a terrorist ? Bush was able to push torture and skate Geneva Convention by stating these people belonged to no nation state.
That was a sign to me that we’re entering into a transitional period post nationalistic if you wish to call it that where we don’t quite know WHAT we’ll call a threatening force or action, if nationalism is gone.
Well - enter stage left, ‘terrorist’ That is the term you will have when you have no nationalistic ground to peg someone. If we move to globalism ? Which we are, I think you have to explore new terms for an assailant. Pretty much, it’s simply any non-nation state entity is the threat.
BUT - globalism will sponsor no nationalism.
So, as I like to say - remove the nation state ? and hey - THERE is your solution to ‘terrorism’ as ? no nation state ? no target anymore- amazing isn’t it ? my point exactly.
The rules have changed
it’s not the same
it’s all new players in a whole new ball game !
(The Goodbye Look- Donald Fagan)
Either way - You can watch Back to the Future and examine a failed temporal model that is linear, heh, point being, remember the Iranian Terrorists scene ? in the VW bus ?
Point there is ‘terrorists’ didn’t just appear on the radar in 2001 - 9.11
And further, ALL you are really playing with regarding ‘terrorist’ by definition - according to Gonzalez and Bush - is a non-nationstate entity.
Isn’t it peculiar ? the non-nation state entities ? are defined by their attacks ON a nation-state ? the concept of a terrorist attacking a terrorist is non-sensical if you think about it by definition.
we have Terrorism because we are in a transitional state POST nationalism, and once nationalism has transformed to globalism, as it already has on the financial markets, and global economy ? Terrorism will just ‘go away’, as there won’t BE any nation state to attack anymore.
Think about it.
On that - Nationalism is fragmentary - as a model - and once you adhere to fragmentary thinking systems ? you can expect people to disconnect from society - to FRAGMENT the species experience.
with that - you will HAVE things like the sub prime fallout - bank robberies - people that don’t understand the species and genome is one.
I always liked that line from Gandhi “I can not separate myself from the most wicked soul for humanity is but one”
odd, I have SO many people tell me Gandhi was racist, and yet ? I derive so much meaning from that statement, I live by it.
Oh well - Maybe patience is all that is needed for humanity long term.
Maybe the entire species is in an adolescent stage !
could explain a lot !
Comment by Greedom
Jun 24th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I guess to crystallize what I was trying to say before
I PONDER (I don’t hold it as more than a theory to explore) whether the fragmentary nature of nationalism encourages behavior from citizens that inherits from that fragmentary model, and begets - well- again, crime- where I define crime as that which is disadvantageous to ones community.
Asked once about the limitations and locality of community in that definition ? I later that day redefined community to encompass the entire planet !
I’m with Alan Greenspan on his comment that we are witnessing a ‘first time happening’ from Western Civilization pushing forward to globalism - through what he pointed out was the global economy, and I would add in - even the internet is a sign of globalistic themes in our culture(s).
If my theory that nationalism actually is in part CAUSE for crime - (just put THAT one together today) - I can only hope that globalism will not inherit or repeat.
I ask myself though, if we’ve lived fragmented - you know ? “I’m American, or I’m Latvian so screw you Americans coming here with Citi to look for deposit accounts to make your bottom line look better” etc (I made up a strange example there) ?
We have to be careful of transferring that as we move forward.
Point being, if Nationalism is what we have been conditioned to to derive identity, and globalism is here - waiting for us (the internet, again AND the global economy, where Bretton Woods USD is NO MORE ) ? In what ways will we persist that ghost like momentum of seperatist tendencies ?
Will we become ultra - genderistic ? and loom in on gender to define us ?
will we start to see racism crop up ?
I sorted out genderism and racism years ago, reading a comment from Einstein one day “Of course humans would deduce they are the top species” It got me thinking, here with humanism - where humans FIRST lay down a Focaultian imposed model of hierarchy- THEN they say - oh yeah, and we’re #1.
I thought of the other cultures, where in some native american cultures - all animals had a place, non-nodal etc. Where humanity wasn’t placed as top dog.
Then it hit me, once you say your species is #1 and there are no threats, as you are moralistically superior ? and all other ways too ? Gee, there are no more life forms to dilineate your identity from, nothing to abstract off of, you’re left with your own species to define itself.
Alas, once you don’t even allow other life forms, animals etc to be on the same playing ground, some religions are responsible for this humanistic foundation here- gee, you can only divide within.
Alas - enter genderism, racism - even further socio-economic divisions to derive identity from, and it’s true - we all know that money plays this role unless you are careful with that axe eugene ! (the axe being the mind).
So that aside, humanity has its own problems that will promote genderism, and racism - so long as it says it’s the only life form worthy of having a ’soul’ - All respect Thomas Merton in Care of the Soul - but you didn’t read enough Focault !
anyway- towards globalism
I expect there is OPPORTUNITY to have less white collar crime in management of money/monies, as HOPEFULLY ? ? ? without unnecessary support ideologies to divide people via yesterdays news of nationalism (remember, nationalism replaced feudalism, and was that REALLY much of a jump anyhoo ? ) Can we expect better - MORE responsible behaviour ? from wall street hedge fund managers ?
Watching Breaking Vegas and the MIT math professor Ed Thorp who broke blackjack -and went on to try to break wall street - birthing the concept of the hedge fund ! I STILL say- it’s not a totally invalid concept, and left in the hands of REAL - responsible adults ? it’s a valid growth mechanism.
So - all this sub prime fallout - loan exploits - in process loan officer validation failures (such as Ms. MacDonald ended the CDO article asking, how is it people were not asked things like “Do you have a job”, “Do you have assets” before giving them an ARM on a 380k home to which they turned right around and borrwed against it on a HELOC) ?
Is this kind of disconnective (ok ok criminal) behavior a passing mark / blip on the radar of progress for humanity as it moves to globalistic models ?
I sure hope so.
I may loathe that one corporation owns so many media outlets - I might say Glick changes emotes too frequently ! OR that Jonathon bobs his head when he talks, but I will say - all in all - at LEAST I DON’T think (I’ll leave Cavuto out of this, but his 10 + years at PBS might earn him an ok on integrity from me) anyone over at Fox Business is inauthentic - or lies. At least I think you people are the BETTER side - the NON-political side of Fox - looking over the work histories, seems MOST of you come from fine backgrounds - If Murdoch buys MSNBC - ugh! how small it gets !.
Took me a bit to get past the NewsCorp rubberstamped stigma I applied to realize, ALL in ALL - MOST I see on Fox Business News - you people are ‘alright’. JUST FoxBusiness there ! heh - I can’t forgive O’reilly for abuse of raising voice etc, that’s just not appropriate for adults, if “I” do that? I have cleanup- humility and apology, I’m not SO sure he does, adolescents ! jk
I think Cavuto is the only one I’m leaving out, Ramsey has some issues, anti-credit but promotes using credit - and futher - the US works on credit and loans, from the top infra-structure down. Even cash is backed by loans from the Chinese, so his money / cash only seems hollow when you sort it out, once you understand what backs money - but I can handle some intellectual incompetence -by his own advice - he suggests avoid ‘financial advisers’ and yet ? what’s his title ! heh - NOT a BAD guy - just hasn’t spent enough time around the camp fire staring at the stars asking bigger questions to belittle us at first, and then ? well, I’ll leave people to derive what they will when revisiting our species monolithic lifestyles.
Comment by Angry appraiser
Jun 26th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
SEC/FBI should drug/hair test the entire hedge fund industry.
then audit them for tax fraud/evasion
bet at least 50% are drug abusers.
bet at least 99% arent paying their fair share in income tax.
We havent even seen the tip of the corruption iceberg yet.
Comment by DrZoidberg
Jul 1st, 2008 at 4:05 am
I just saw a very insightful interview with Muriel Siebert - June 30th Cavuto show hosted by Liz MacDonald. There exists a line in there “So, where are the market cops”
This hits the nail on the head for me to catharsis. I stand with Muriel on her comments about global securities being regulated. I see these 30 year olds come forward on all the money they’re making shorting oil, this $10 margin that exists they play with, and they profit when it goes to the upper side of 130, then the lower- and I’m left with a feeling such people have never worked a day in their life.
Here is Muriel asking in response to MacDonald’s question, “what are you most upset about, or what bothers you the most” (wording 85%). Muriel responds - “I wonder how much of say - oil futures are short - ” Then she goes on to comment that FUTURES were DESIGNED to help companies PRICE their products - NOT to be exploited.
And you know ? I think at that point I paused, and started responding !
I think that is NEAR the key here to resolving this. Abuse of futures, er- mis-use of futures.
Back to the video article: http://www.foxbusiness.com/video/index.html
All respect to Neil Cavuto - his track record and all the places he’s been, people he’s incfuenced, but I get this sense that Liz MacDonald simply brings out the best in people, PROBABLY because she’s one of the best people ! heh
Uh uh - post limit nearly reached !
Comment by DrZoidberg
Jul 1st, 2008 at 4:10 am
Angry Appraisuer posts above:
‘ Comment by Angry appraiser
2008-06-26 14:53:50
SEC/FBI should drug/hair test the entire hedge fund industry.
then audit them for tax fraud/evasion
bet at least 50% are drug abusers.
bet at least 99% arent paying their fair share in income tax.
We havent even seen the tip of the corruption iceberg yet.
”
make that JUST the FBI
Remember, SEC and CIA are in bed together at times, and from anyone long term in FBI will tell you - CIA isn’t to be relied upon (we all know that post Iraq heh), nor trusted (now now, Negroponte is to change all that ? )- and therefore - I wouldn’t EVER want to see FBI and SEC together unless - it’s near an end game and SEC was brought in at the end.
Given choice to leave the kids at the FBI daycare or CIA daycare or SEC? Uh, I’d never leave the kids with the CIA or the SEC.
Wow - carriage return limit - that’s a new one !