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SEC IG Report: George Demos Pimped Peter Sivere

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 28th, 2010 9:02 AM |

Who is George Demos? A former enforcement lawyer in the New York office of the SEC, currently running for Congress from Long Island.

Who is Peter Sivere? A former compliance employee at JP Morgan.

Sivere crossed paths with Demos in 2004 while providing information related to an investigation of questionable mutual fund trading activity. In the midst of Sivere’s engagement with the SEC, his confidence was violated. I highlighted this reality the other day in writing, “The SEC Pimped Peter Sivere.”

Who at the SEC blew Sivere’s cover? Today we learn it was George Demos. Read the rest »


Peter Madoff, Subject of Criminal Probe

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 27th, 2010 5:22 PM |

Bloomberg just reported, Peter Madoff ‘Subject’ of U.S. Criminal Investigation:

Peter Madoff, brother of imprisoned con artist Bernard Madoff, is the subject of a U.S. criminal investigation, his lawyer said in a civil lawsuit over losses by the charitable foundation of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg. Read the rest »


Why Hasn’t Joe Cassano Been Indicted?

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 27th, 2010 3:41 PM |

Joseph Cassano, former head of AIG-FP

Joseph Cassano, former head of AIG-FP

What is wrong with this picture?

1. The American taxpayer injects tens of billions of dollars into a failing AIG.

2. The debate runs hot as to how the Feds executed a backdoor bailout of AIG’s creditors, both Wall Street and international banks.

3. The taxpayer remains on the hook, the banks get their dough, and AIG attempts to resurrect itself.

I will tell you what is wrong with the picture. We are now going on two years and nobody has truly been held accountable. Read the rest »


News and Midday Market Moves, Copper Selling Off Hard

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 27th, 2010 12:25 PM |

Many eyes are focused on the grilling of Treasury Secretary Geithner on the Hill.  Have we learned anything new? Not really. Geithner is maintaining that he and others within the New York Fed and the Federal Reserve operated within the best interests of the American taxpayer because they were working to save the system. Numerous Congressmen are drilling Geithner on his actions to pay creditors 100 cents on the dollar.

Having watched this debate this morning, in my opinion we will not receive any real clarity or clear cut winners. I do find it laughable that Geithner asserts that the Treasury has promoted unprecedented levels of transparency under his leadership. Neil Barofsky, head of SIGTARP, and Elizabeth Warren, the TARP watchdog, have highlighted the extensive lack of transparency by Treasury under Geithner. Read the rest »


FHLB-Seattle Sues Wall Street

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 27th, 2010 9:54 AM |

When people lose a lot of money, it’s no surprise that they find a lot of lawyers and a lot of reasons to start bringing lawsuits.

Talking about losses, I first introduced readers to the expected red ink within the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) system last May. I wrote “FHLBs: Red Sea, Dead Sea or Both?” and “Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae Deja Vu?” to highlight the embedded losses within the FHLB system. The losses are centered in the massive mortgage portfolios within the system. The toxic waste within a lot of these mortgages is now being realized in terms of actual losses as an ever increasing percentage of the mortgages default. What’s the result? Let’s go to court.

Thank you to a loyal Sense on Cents supporter for highlighting a developing lawsuit. The FHLB-Seattle is effectively suing all of Wall Street. This suit and its underlying roots deserve significant broad based coverage. Why? Read the rest »


Clifford Asness: Appalled in Greenwich, CT

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 26th, 2010 4:06 PM |

We were first introduced to Clifford Asness in the midst of the Chrysler bailout last May. At that point, Mr. Asness unabashedly took on President Obama in penning, “Unafraid In Greenwich, CT.”  To highlight his piece, I wrote “Hedge Fund Manager Responds to Barack’s Bullying.”

Today we are revisited once again by Mr. Asness as he rails on the White House for the populist pandering provided by our President. I am all for real reform promoting truth, transparency, and integrity, but when an administration and the Congress are not capable of addressing their own house and exposing their own shortcomings, then I believe they lose the bully pulpit. Obama should fully expose Mary Schapiro and her tenure at FINRA and then take on Wall Street.

Asness is again not bashful in bashing the administration. Read the rest »


Think China, Think Commodities, Think U.S.

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 26th, 2010 12:11 PM |

China led the overall market higher in 2009. With China now restricting credit, will it lead to a global selloff in 2010? How do we monitor this situation and most effectively navigate the economic landscape? We can keep a close eye on the Chinese stock indexes, but I think we are better served monitoring the commodities markets. Given that China is still in the very early stages of an industrial revolution, the demand for commodities within the People’s Republic of China is extraordinary.

Trading commodities is a very challenging game. From oil to grains to precious metals, the fundamentals and technicals are impacted by an array of factors. How does one forecast weather patterns three months out and the impact they will have on prices? Trading commodities is certainly not easy  – and definitely not recommended as a hobby.

If China is curtailing lending (and it is), then I believe the market segment which will be most immediately impacted is the commodities space. While our equity markets are marking time today, how are commodities doing?

Let’s look at the DJ-UBS Commodity Index. We see that the index is not only down 1% on the day, but down 8% from the 52 week high achieved on January 6, 2010.

When I think China, I think commodities . . . and then I think our markets will fall in line accordingly.

LD


January 26th Overnight Market Movers

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 26th, 2010 7:27 AM |

While many eyes here in America are distracted by the ongoing political noise emanating from Washington, there are significant market moving developments with long-term implications happening overseas.

Let’s first look east to China and Japan. There are two major stories in this region:

1. Chinese banks are putting restrictions on new lending. This effective tightening of credit is a result of concerns that excessive speculative lending has created an asset bubble. The major Chinese stock index sunk to a three month low on this news. This development out of China has supported the greenback in a flight to safety.

2. Japan’s sovereign credit rating may be cut by S&P, as the rating agency believes that the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ has limited flexibility to deal with its massive government debt load.

Moving westward, news out of the United Kingdom is good  . . . or is it? Read the rest »


Thank You, Readers

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 25th, 2010 8:37 PM |

I’d like to thank those of you who make purchases through the links we provide in the sidebars here at Sense on Cents.  These purchases help defray the cost of running this blog.

A few months ago, the increasing traffic (that’s a good thing) at SoC warranted an upgrade to a dedicated server. Although the upgrade drastically increased the overhead cost to maintain this blog, I couldn’t be happier with the speedy performance of the page loads . . . and I hope you are, too.

So, to all of you (FYI . . I don’t know who “you” are because purchases are totally anonymous) who help to defray these costs by utilizing the advertising links, I thank you very much.

I hope you enjoy navigating the links while you navigate Sense on Cents.

LD


FINRA and ARS: Pot Calling Kettle Black

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 25th, 2010 2:34 PM |

Thanks to a loyal Sense on Cents supporter for sharing the most recent copy of Compliance Reporter, a publication of Institutional Investor, Inc.. The lead article this week,  FINRA Readies Slug of Enforcement Cases, addresses the fact that FINRA:

is targeting a slew of enforcement actions across a range of areas, including reverse convertibles and auction-rate securities.

Oh boy, here we go again. FINRA talking tough about auction-rate securities. Additionally, FINRA further flexes its muscle by:

warning firms that strained layoffs and resources are no excuse to delay responses to FINRA’s request for document production requests.

This self-regulatory organization has truly got some set of balls talking about delayed responses to requests for documents and information. Read the rest »


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Larry Doyle

Larry Doyle A Wall Street veteran's views and instincts on the markets, economy, and all things financial.







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