Archive for the ‘Finance Fraud’ Category

SEC Said to Probe Role of Canceled Orders in May 6 Flash Crash

(Bloomberg) — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is examining whether high-speed traders helped destabilize equity markets during the May 6 crash by repeatedly placing and canceling orders in an attempt to manipulate share prices, a person with direct knowledge of the inquiry said.The strategy is among several practices being investigated by regulators, said the person, who declined to be identified because the probe isn’t public.

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Wednesday’s Economic Calendar – Sept 1, 2010

Auto Sales 7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications 7:30 Challenger Job-Cut Report 8:15 ADP Jobs Report 9:00 FCIC Hearing: Too Huge To Fail 10:00 ISM Manufacturing Index 10:00 Construction Spending 10:10 Fed Conference: REO & Vacant Properties 10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories 1:40 PM Fed’s Fisher: “Perspectives on the Current Economic Climate”

Montana Files Against Securities America for Medical Capital Blow Up

A Montana regulator has filed a stop and desist order against broker-dealer Securities America related to its sales of private placements. The office of the state auditor for the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance in Montana alleged in an Aug. 5 order that Securities America and some of its executives, including Chief Executive James Nagengast, “withheld material information regarding the heightened risks” of promissory notes it sold that were issued by Medical Capital Holdings Inc.

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Santander Analyst Accused of Insider Trading in Potash Takeover Bid

(Bloomberg) — A Banco Santander SA analyst and an accomplice illegally reaped nearly $1.1 million with insider trades before BHP Billiton Ltd.’s $39 billion takeover bid for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., U.S. regulators said.Juan Jose Fernandez Garcia, 35, and Luis Martin Caro Sanchez, 36, used accounts at the same U.S.

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Reports Wed Aug 25

Aug 25 8:30 AM Durable Orders Jul – 3.2% 3.0% -1.2% – Aug 25 8:30 AM Durable Goods -ex Transportation Jul – 0.5% 0.5% -0.9% – Aug 25 10:00 AM New Home Sales Jul – 300K 334K 330K – Aug 25 10:30 AM Crude Inventories

Reports this week

MONDAYEarnings: Before – Sanderson Farms ; After – Focus Media Holding Other: 4-Week Bill Announcment, 3-Month Bill Auction, 6-Month Bill Auction TUESDAYEarnings: Before – Huge Lots, Burger King, Medtronic, Trina Solar Limited, WPP PLC ; After – VeriFone Systems Other: ICSC Goldman Store, Existing Home Sale 10:00am, 2-Yr Note Auction, Existing Home Sales, Charles Evans SpeaksWEDNESDAYEarnings: Before – American Eagle, Toll Brothers During – BHP Billiton ; After – Guess?, Hain Celestial, JDS Uniphase Corp., TiVoOther: Bank Reserve Settlement, Durable Goods Orders, New Home Sales, EIA Petroleum Status Report, 5-Yr. Note Auction, Crude InventoriesTHURSDAYEarnings: Before -Diageo, Patterson Companies, Royal Bank of Canada ; After – Aruba Networks, Bebe Stores, Micro Systems Inc., Novell Inc., OmnivisionOther: Initial Claims, Continuing Claims, EIA Natural Gas Report, 7-Yr Note Auction, Fed Balance Sheet, Money SupplyFRIDAYEarnings: Before – Frontline, Tiffany & Co.Other: GDP Second Estimate, Corporate Profits, U Michigan Consumer Sentiment

Former Lehman Brothers CEO may be charged by SEC

Dick Fuld, former chief executive officer at Lehman Brothers, may be one of a number of senior figures from the bank potentially facing being charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its collapse.Dick FuldAccording to Fox News, the CEO is thought to be one of many top representatives from the financial institution to have recently been engaged in recent meetings over the failure with the regulator.Questions are believed to have surrounded the use of Repo 105, a banking practice which can be used to provide an artificial impression of the health of an institution’s balance sheet.Other lines of enquiry are focusing on whether senior figures misled the markets about Lehman Brothers’ stability during the period leading up to its collapse in September 2008.Joseph Gregory, former president and Erin Callan, ex-chief financial officer, are both reported to be among the executives who could be facing charges alongside Mr Fuld.An SEC spokesman told City AM: “We cannot confirm or deny any ongoing investigations.”Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15th 2008 at the height of the global credit crisis.

Blind Man’s Hindenburg Omen Points to Market Meltdown in late September 2010

Jim Miekka, who lives in Florida much of the year, developed the investment indicator. Miekka, who is also an accomplished inventor and rifle marksman, is blind. QUICK FACTS Hindenburg Omen It’s a technical formula derived by Jim Miekka involving the relationship between new highs and lows in stock prices that portends a stock market crash.

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FINRA Fines HSBC For CMO Sales to Retail Customers

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it has fined HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. $375,000 for recommending unsuitable sales of inverse floating rate Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs) to retail customers. HSBC failed to adequately supervise the suitability of the CMO sales and fully clarify the risks of an inverse floating rate or other risky CMO investment to its customers.FINRA’s investigation found that HSBC recommended the sale of CMOs, including inverse floating rate CMOs, to its retail customers.

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Former-IBM Executive Claims His Mistress Made Him Do It

Above: Danielle ChiesiA former executive at IBM, who was once considered for the role of CEO, has claimed he was “played” by a mistress to provide details of data used to inform insider trades.The legal team representing Robert Moffat submitted papers to a US court stating that his “intimate and personal relationship” with Danielle Chiesi, a trader at New Castle Funds, led to the tips being provided.Mr Moffat pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and securities fraud earlier in the year as one of numerous persons involved in an alleged insider trading ring within the Galleon Group.Ms Chiesi has pleaded not guilty as part of a different trial to Galleon Group co-founder Raj Rajaratnam, who has also filed a not-guilty plea.Papers filed in the court by the Mr Moffat’s legal team, which were quoted by Bloomberg, said: “Ms.

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