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Lexington is on the nation’s list of so-called Sanctuary Cities in which police officers are prohibited from working with ICE or Border Patrol agents in the United States. Critics are angry over the use of local tax dollars to hire Blackwater personnel to train the police.
In sworn statements filed with a Virginia court last night, a former Marine and a former Blackwater employee claim that the company’s founder and former CEO, Erik Prince, “may have murdered or facilitated the murder” of people who were aiding a federal investigation into a Baghdad massacre that left 17 dead, according to Nation reporter Jeremy Scahill.
Matthew Goldstein, the Reuters blogger who broke the Aleynikov story, is reporting: It looks like federal prosecutors may be trying to cut a deal with alleged Goldman Sachs high-frequency trading code stealer Sergey Aleynikov.Today was the day for prosecutors to indict Aleynikov, who was arrested on July 3 on the theft charges. But in a court filing, prosecutors told the presiding magistrate judge that they need another 14 days to continue discussions with Aleynikov’s lawyer about a “possible disposition.” In the legal world, a “possible disposition” means a deal. After exposing federal prosecutor Joseph Facciponti's fraud upon the court in his prosecution of Aleynikov, we wrote on July 23, 2009: Aleynikov will be given a super-sweet plea bargain. If his case proceeds towards trial, the world will learn about Goldman Sach's high frequency trading program. Sure, AUSA Joseph Facciponti will try to keep the case under seal. Too many people are paying attention. Reporters a
It would be one thing if earnings were flying off the charts and stocks looked cheap. That is not the case. Make no mistake. This is a hope filled rallied not guided by the fundamentals.
It was reported today by the New York Post that Goldman told their boyz to tone it down. They should have told Tax Cheat Timmy about his behavior too although maybe they did and figured he would just get away with it oh excuse me Timmy doesn't work for Government Sachs (snicker) he works for the Resident my apologies although you can't trust BO and his boyz either. Anyway with all the Flash Trading now coming under scrutiny because it gives guys like Goldman an advantage it reminded me of this scene from Goodfellas...
By engineering a 50% rally off the bottom in March while revenues continue to tank, personal income is in the toilet and tax receipts are in freefall they have exposed the equity markets for what they have turned into - a computer-trading rigged casino
For years, aides to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
routed hundreds of thousands of dollars in city money to at least two
politically connected nonprofit groups in violation of government
contracting rules, according to records and interviews.
On Saturday, July 4, the nation’s Independence Day, the U. S. District Court in Manhattan convened for a bail hearing in a criminal case before a magistrate judge. During the hearing, an Assistant U. S. Attorney divulged information to the magistrate which, in an open society, would produce inch-high headlines screaming scandal. But not in the U. S. A. Three weeks later, mainstream media ignore the incident as no more than business as usual and hardly worth mentioning. Manipulative Software Codes “The incident” was revelation that Goldman Sachs has created and is using computer software secret codes capable of manipulating prices and trading in financial markets worldwide. Goldman has used the secret codes to take gains of hundreds of millions of dollars out of financial markets. Goldman’s computers may actually intercept trading data – real-time buy and sell orders in financial markets – so the secret codes can react in micro-seconds to “front-run” those orders in ways profitabl
"Goldman kind of occupies a sort of grey area between public and private that no company maybe in American history since Standard Oil really, they have an enormous amount of influence with government"...
Oh My God. I write two Tickers on The FDIC and banks' refusal to take their marks, and gee, you'd think someone over there might have read them! SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said late Monday that banks should recognize losses on home loans promptly and warned that failure to do so could delay efforts to mitigate the financial impact. Institutions must analyze the collectibility of the loans they hold for investment at least every quarter, the FDIC said in a statement on its Web site. Banks then have to keep an appropriate allowance for loan and lease losses, covering estimated credit losses on individually evaluated loans that are deemed to be impaired, and on groups of loans with similar risk characteristics, the regulator said.
Yes, I know, you have a potential $500 billion credit line from Treasury, but that line isn't funded and in order to do so Turbo Tax Timmy would have to go auction off another $500 billion in Treasuries, and there might be a tiny problem...
FBI agents from the Washington, D.C. field office have raided a building in downtown Orlando. Federal and local law enforcement surrounded the Colonial Bank building on East Pine Street in Orlando just before noon. The FBI is working with the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program which was established by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
HAHAHA. It’s all good, bro. We’re on the cusp of another financial eclipse. The Shadow of Wall St.’s banking pyramid is covering the U.S. dollar in a blanket of Chinese sell orders.
Update: All is now taken care of - BAC settles with the SEC for $33 million, less than an hour after the suit becomes public. And... it's gone. The market ramp can now continue with commercial interruptions from the Federal Reserve...
Here, in the dog days of summer, it seems to me that the situation in the USA is so fundamentally bad, so unpromising, so booby-trapped for failure, that I wonder if there has ever been a society so badly deluded as ours. We're prisoners of our wishes...
The economy is "improving" because the government showered borrowed money in the form of massive handouts into the economy. However, the government also allowed banks to hide stupendous losses - a trillion dollars or more...
Watch BO Lie again and again! Videos at site. [There is nothing like watching it said on camera--ed.]
"The greatest heist in American history, probably world history is happening before the eyes of the people, and either the people have been so beaten down or lost resistance to it, or they just don't want to face the facts."
Mr. Bud Burrell has extensive experience working with major brokerage
firms on the trading desk and arbitrage desk with almost 30 years
experience -- Industry authority, expert, Wall Street veteran. Love him
or hate him, you will always know where he stands - his no-holds-barred
style and frank honesty make his blogs a must read, from one of the
originals. View his landmark correspondences in The Bud Files.
(Publisher: Want to understand from the inside of The Greatest Depression?)
However, many experienced Wall Street observers have offered another, darker explanation. They assert that high-speed trading platforms combined with split-second advance notice can make it very easy for sophisticated players to game the system.
Have you ever read Barack Obama's Wall Street Problem is now Americas? Google it (by No Quarter) and Is Obama in Wall Streets Pockets (The Business Insider) Bank CEOs should give Uncle Sam a little kudos in their earnings reports. Without the U.S. government's help, financial companies wouldn't be showing such stellar results in the midst of a recession. There has been a flood of surprisingly strong profit news coming from the nation's banks in recent weeks. Asset sales and higher trading volumes have been a big help, but that's not all that got them there.
Obama progressives should cringe at their president's bear hug of one of the most ethically compromised politicians on Capitol Hill. The Beltway swamp is teeming with Democratic corruption scandals -- Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha's earmark factory and tax-subsidized airports and radars to nowhere; New York Rep. Charlie Rangel's rent-controlled apartment scams and tax scandals; California Rep. Maxine Waters' business ties to a minority-owned bank that received $12 million in TARP money under smelly circumstances, for starters. But Dodd's career epitomizes the most fetid aspects of Washington's culture of corruption. It's a textbook case of nepotism, self-dealing, back scratching, corporate lobbying, government favors and entrenched incumbency.
His environmentalist advocacy supports his business interests Al Gore is pretty much the embodiment of what we will all soon be calling the Green-Industrial Complex. Gore is getting rich from environmentalism, not just by being paid a whopping $175,000 per speech but by using political pressure to force government policy in a direction that benefits his business interests. But Gore is also chairman of a green investment firm called Generation Investment Management, which is a member of the Copenhagen Climate Council, an international collaboration of businesses and science bodies that promotes climate-change mitigation strategies and invests in companies that are environmentally friendly—including firms that produce renewable energy and low-carbon technology. So Gore uses one of his multimillion-dollar organizations—the Alliance for Climate Protection—to put pressure on government to promote the low-carbon lifestyle, which furnishes one of
Our new boy on the poster, Sen Charles Grassley of Iowa, doesn’t have
the worst overall record of Repubs or Dems but he has, by virtual of
his longevity in Congress, reached a position where he has been able to
influence enactment of some of the most damaging legislation to our
freedoms and well-being. The ethanol disaster is one and now, Obama’s
plan to take over healthcare has Grassley in position to enable Obama’s
power grab. He’s working on a “compromise” that he says won’t concede
the entire health care system of the USA to the State –just a part of
what is left in the free market. Government already controls about half
of healthcare through Medicare and other federal programs. Where is
THAT in the US Constitution? Who benefits from a FedGov command of
health care for each and every one of us commoners? Note that all of
the plans offered so far by the Obama regime exempts royalty --federal
officials and Congress-- from the restrictions and regulations.
psst...also insure government sachs! The worry is that the company, which has never paid out a claim, might be unable to cope with the Lehman bankruptcy. If it were overwhelmed by claims, the banks and brokerage companies that own Capco, as it is known, could end up owing billions of dollars. By some industry estimates reviewed by the insurance department, Capco could face nearly $11 billion in claims but has only about $150 million with which to meet them. The state is examining whether the company sold policies without the means to cover them
hmm BO got one also but no one wants to talk about that oh well... The Senate Ethics Committee investigation looking into allegedly preferential treatment afforded powerful Senators Dodd (D-CT) and Conrad (D-ND) by mortgage giant Countrywide Financial has sprung a few leaks. And the emerging details do not look good for either senator.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi ramped up her criticism of insurance companies, accusing them of unethical behavior and working to kill a plan to create a new government-run health plan. “It’s almost immoral what they are doing,” Pelosi said to reporters, referring to insurance companies. “Of course they’ve been immoral all along in how they have treated the people that they insure,” she said, adding, “They are the villains. They have been part of the problem in a major way. They are doing everything in their power to stop a public option from happening.” oh, but…she’ll still take their money Pelosi Will Keep “Villains” Campaign Contributions
Customer Asset Protection Company, a little-known insurer whose members include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs,, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, is becoming the focus of swirling questions as Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy filing puts it to the test. By some industry estimates reviewed by the insurance department, Capco could face nearly $11 billion in claims as a result of the Lehman bankruptcy but has only about $150 million with which to meet them, NYT writes. How do you say Ponzi, in insuranceeze?
Remember the fairy tale about AIG being an otherwise healthy insurance company that just got a little crazy selling credit default swaps? Well, it's time to put that one to rest. snippet.. Regulators have been turning a blind eye to this sort of thing because they are worried about putting the taxpayer investment in AIG at risk. Read that again: we invested billions in AIG and now we can't properly regulate it without putting that investment at risk. It's a brand new type of regulatory capture. Great work, team.
An insider’s view of Wall Street’s rebound. This is perhaps the most important thing I learned over my years working on Wall Street, including as a managing director at Goldman Sachs: Numbers lie. In a normal time, the fact that the numbers generated by the nation's biggest banks can't be trusted might not matter very much to the rest of us. But since the record bank profits we're now hearing about are essentially created by massive federal funding, perhaps it behooves us to dig beneath their data. On July 27, 10 congressmen, led by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), did just that, writing a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke questioning the Fed's role in Goldman's rapid return to the top of Wall Street.
