The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it has fined Merrill Lynch $500,000 for failing to provide sales charge discounts to customers on eligible buys of Unit Investment Trusts (UITs). FINRA also found that Merrill Lynch failed to have an adequate supervisory system in place to ensure customers received appropriate UIT discounts.
GM Files for Landmark IPO to Repay Bailout
August 18th, 2010 
Before You Invest General Motors filed for an initial public offering of stock on Wednesday, clearing a key hurdle toward repaying taxpayers for a controversial bailout just over a year after its bankruptcy.The 700-page registration form, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, starts a process that will lead to an initial public offering of GM’s stock.
Stanley Druckenmiller shutting down Duquesne Capital Management
August 18th, 2010 Before You Invest Hedge-fund veteran Stanley Druckenmiller told investors Wednesday that he’s shutting down his firm, Pittsburgh’s Duquesne Capital Management, as recent lackluster performance threatens to mar a 30-year record of solid returns.(left : Stan Druckenmiller in 1997 photo)Druckenmiller is 57 years ancient and manages $12 billion in assets, including several billion dollars that are his own, Duquesne has never had a down year in nearly three decades.
8 Charged In California Real Estate Scheme
August 17th, 2010 Before You Invest Eight people have been charged in a real estate scheme that federal prosecutors say swindled investors out of more than $11.4 million between 2006 and 2008. Prosecutors allege the defendants solicited investors through their family run company in Sacramento, Heaven Investments. They promised to buy, renovate and resell single-family homes and use investors’ money to develop four pieces of property, pitching annual returns of 12 to 15 percent. The indictment says the company operated like a Ponzi scheme, using money from new investors to make interest payments to earlier ones.
CFTC fines a former ConAgra unit for pushing up crude oil’s price
August 16th, 2010 Before You Invest The Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined a former unit of ConAgra Foods $12 million for driving up the price of crude oil to $100 a barrel. The CFTC said a trader, who was not named, caused a “non-bona fide price” to be posted for the benchmark contract of crude-oil futures.
Leveraged Municipal Arbitrage Funds Under Investigation
August 16th, 2010 Before You Invest Aidikoff, Uhl & Bakhtiari announced today that it is investigating potential claims on behalf of investors who invested in the following municipal arbitrage funds:1861 Capital ManagementCitigroup’s Mat and ASTA FundsAravali FundBlue River Asset ManagemenGEM Capital Havell Capital Enhanced Municipal Income FundRockwater Hedge Fund, LLCStone and Youngberg Municipal Advantage Fund TW Tax Advantaged FundAidikoff, Uhl & Bakhtiari represents high net worth investors who sustained losses in leveraged municipal bond arbitrage hedge funds sold by brokerage firms and banks across the country.The municipal bond arbitrage strategy employed by these funds was risky and exposed investors principal losses. For more information please visit our website or contact an attorney.
Lakewood New Jersey Real Estate Devloper Charged
August 16th, 2010 Before You Invest Eli Weinstein, a member of Lakewood’s ultra-Orthodox community who has been accused of ripping off former partners in courts from New Jersey to Israel, was arrested by federal agents early this morning and charged with a $200 million ponzi scheme.The 35-year-ancient real estate investor and former used car salesman, taken into custody at his home, was charged with bank and wire fraud for allegedly running an investment fraud scheme, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark.Weinstein faces a string of civil lawsuits seeking millions in hurts over real estate transactions that span the world.
Reports this week
August 16th, 2010 Before You Invest MONDAYEarnings: Before – Lowes, Sysco, Valspar ; After – Agilent, Urban Outfitters Other: Empire State Mfg Survey, Treasury International Capital, Housing Market Index, 3-Month Bill Auction, 6-Month Bill Auction TUESDAYEarnings: Before – Abercrombie & Fitch, Home Depot, Saks, TJX Companies, Wal-Mart ; After – Analog Devices, CACI International Other: Housing Starts, Building Permits, Producer Price Index, Core PPI, Industrial Production, Capacity Utilization, ICSC-Goldman Store Sales, Narayana Kocherlakota Speaks at 12:30 pm ESTWEDNESDAYEarnings: Before – BJ’s Wholesale, Deere & Company, Target ; After – Applied Materials, Gymboree, Limited Brands, NetApp Inc., PetSmartOther: Crude Inventories, EIA Petroleum Status Report THURSDAYEarnings: Before – Dick’s Sporting Goods, Dollar Tree, Flower Foods, Gamestop, Lancaster Colony Corp., Ross Stores, Sears Holdings (not confirmed), Staples ; After – Salesforce.com, Dell, Gap, Hewlett-Packard, Intuit, Marvell Other: Initial Claims, Continuing Claims, Leading Indicators, Philadelphia Fed Survey, EIA Natural Gas Report, 2-Yr Note Announcement, 5-Yr Note Announcement, 7-Yr Note Announcement, Fed Balance Sheet, Money Supply, James Bullard Speaks at 11:30 am EST, Charles Evans speaks at 1:00 pm ESTFRIDAYEarnings: Before – Ann Taylor, Hormel Foods, J.M. Smucker
China Favoring Euros Over Greenback as Bernanke Shifts Course
August 16th, 2010 Before You Invest (Bloomberg) — China, whose $2.45 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves are the world’s largest, is turning bullish on Europe and Japan at the expense of the U.S.The nation has been buying “quite a lot” of Europe’s bonds, said Yu Yongding, a former adviser to the People’s Bank of China who was part of a foreign-policy advisory committee that visited France, Spain and Germany from June 20 to July 2.
Illinois Money Manager William A. Huber Pleads Guilty To Criminal Charges In Connection With Securities Fraud
August 15th, 2010 Before You Invest The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on August 10, former Forsyth, Illinois money manager, William A. Huber, pled guilty to one count of mail fraud, one count of money laundering and one count of engaging in prohibited monetary transactions in a case being prosecuted by the U.S.
