Category: Business » Financial Markets
the Daily Whip: Monday, May 20, 2013
20 May 12:44 | US Politics and Govt
DemocraticWhip.gov - (202) 225-3130 FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR MONDAY, MAY 20, 2013read more »
Mortgage Rates Climb for Second Straight Week
16 May 15:54 | Business
Mortgage rates moved higher for a second consecutive week, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbing to 3.71 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey.read more »
Global Investor Confidence Set to Return During 2013, Finds Schroders Report
15 May 15:23 | Business
Global investor confidence is returning but at different rates around the world, according to a comprehensive new report by Schroders, the global asset manager. read more »
Former Hedge Fund Co-Founder Anthony Chiasson Jailed For Insider Trading
14 May 11:07 | Business
A former portfolio manager and co-founder of the hedge fund Level Global Investors (Level Global), Anthony Chiasson, has been sentenced to 78 months in prison for crimes stemming from his involvement in insider trading schemes that netted nearly $70 million in illegal profits for Level Global. read more »
Mortgage Rates Rebound After Better Jobs Report: Bankrate
9 May 2013 | Business
After declining for seven straight weeks, mortgage rates moved higher following better than expected news about jobs, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate increasing to 3.6 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. read more »
the Daily Whip: Thursday, May 9, 2013
9 May 2013 | US Politics and Govt
DemocraticWhip.gov - (202) 225-3130 FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013read more »
SEC Charges Traders In Massive Kickback Scheme Involving Venezuelan Official
7 May 2013 | Business
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged four people with ties to a New York City brokerage firm in a scheme involving millions of dollars in illicit bribes paid to a high-ranking Venezuelan finance official to secure the bond trading business of a state-owned Venezuelan bank.read more »
GOP Continues to Play Games with the Debt Limit, Putting Economy at Risk
7 May 2013 | US Politics and Govt
May 7, 2013 GOP Continues to Play Games with the Debt Limit, Putting Economy at Riskread more »
SEC Charges City of Harrisburg For Fraudulent Public Statements
7 May 2013 | Business
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the City of Harrisburg, Pa., with securities fraud for its misleading public statements when its financial condition was deteriorating and financial information available to municipal bond investors was either incomplete or outdated.read more »
Former Hedge Fund Manager Sentenced To Prison for Insider Trading
3 May 2013 | Business
Todd Newman, a former portfolio manager at Diamondback Capital Management LLC, has been sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 54 months in prison for crimes stemming from his involvement in a multi-million-dollar insider trading scheme. read more »
Mortgage Rates Close To Record Lows
2 May 2013 | Business
Mortgage rates declined across the board this week, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate falling to the second lowest level on record at 3.52 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. read more »
Level Global Pays $21.5 Million To Settle SEC Insider Trading Charges
30 Apr 2013 | Business
The Securities and Exchange Commission says Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund advisory firm Level Global Investors LP has agreed to pay more than $21.5 million to settle charges that its co-founder and its analyst engaged in repeated insider trading in the securities of Dell Inc. and Nvidia Corp.read more »
Mortgage Broker Pleads Guilty to $100 Million Loan Origination Fraud
29 Apr 2013 | Business
Mary Armstrong, an unlicensed mortgage broker who operated a nationwide loan origination fraud and kickback scheme from San Diego, pled guilty today to five counts of an indictment charging her with wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy. read more »
SEC Charges City of Victorville And Others with Defrauding Municipal Bond Investors
29 Apr 2013 | Business
The Securities and Exchange Commission has alleged that the City of Victorville, Calif., a city official, the Southern California Logistics Airport Authority, and Kinsell, Newcomb & DeDios (KND), the underwriter of the Airport Authority’s bonds, defrauded investors by inflating valuations of property securing an April 2008 municipal bond offering.read more »
Mortgage Rates Drift Lower, 15 Year Rate Hits Record Low
25 Apr 2013 | Business
Fixed mortgage rates fell for the sixth straight week, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate retreating to a four month low of 3.57 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. read more »
Capital One Charged With Understating Auto Loan Losses
24 Apr 2013 | Business
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Capital One Financial Corporation and two senior executives for understating millions of dollars in auto loan losses incurred during the months leading into the financial crisis. read more »
SEC Charges Former Executive with Insider Trading
22 Apr 2013 | Business
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a former corporate executive living in South Florida with insider trading based on confidential information that he learned as part of a professional organization.read more »
Tennessee Man Jailed For Causing MF Global To Lose $141 Million
17 Apr 2013 | Business
A suburban Memphis man was sentenced today to five years in federal prison for causing $141 million in losses to his clearing firm after executing large, unauthorized overnight trades on wheat futures contracts through the Chicago Board of Trade in February 2008. read more »
Rochdale Securities Trader Admits Role Nearly $1 Billion Apple Stock Fraud
16 Apr 2013 | Business
David Miller, 40, of Rockville Centre, New York, has waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud offenses related to his role in a fraudulent scheme to make large purchases of stock in Apple Inc. as an institutional sales trader for Rochdale Securities LLC of Stamford.read more »
Gold Price Falls Over 9 Percent
15 Apr 2013 | World
Frenzied selling has seen the price of gold drop nearly 10 percent with the price falling below the $1,400-per-ounce level. read more »
Former Credit Suisse Executive Pleads Guilty In Scheme To Hide Massive Losses
14 Apr 2013 | Business
The former global head of structured credit in the Investment Banking Division of Credit Suisse Group, Kareem Serageldin, has plead guilty to trying to concealed half-a-billion dollars from Subprime Mortgage-Related losses.read more »
Mortgage Rates Fall To A 3-Month Low
11 Apr 2013 | Business
Fixed mortgage rates fell after a disappointing jobs report, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate retreating to 3.64 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey.read more »
SEC Charges Former KPMG Partner And Friend With Insider Trading
11 Apr 2013 | Business
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the former partner in charge of KPMG's Pacific Southwest audit practice and his friend with insider trading on nonpublic information about firm clients.read more »
International Investment Disputes Hit Record In 2012
11 Apr 2013 | Business
Foreign investors are increasingly resorting to investor-State arbitration to settle investment disputes, with a record number of cases filed last year, according to a new report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).read more »
Mortgage Rates Tumble For 3rd Consecutive Week
4 Apr 2013 | Business
Fixed mortgage rates retreated after some lukewarm economic reports, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate pulling back to 3.73 percent this week, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. read more »
Social Media OK For Company Announcements If Investors Are Alerted: SEC
3 Apr 2013 | U.S. News
The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a report that makes clear that companies can use social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter to announce key information in compliance with Regulation Fair Disclosure (Regulation FD) so long as investors have been alerted about which social media will be used to disseminate such information.read more »
Foreign Traders Agree To Pay $3.3 Million To Settle Insider Trading Charges
3 Apr 2013 | Business
The Securities and Exchange Commission says a Chinese businessman and his wife whose trading accounts were frozen last year as part of a major insider trading case have agreed to settle charges of insider trading.read more »
Investor Sentiment Index Reaches Record High In First Quarter of 2013
2 Apr 2013 | Business
Investor sentiment reached its highest level of the past three years during the first quarter of 2013, according to the John Hancock Investor Sentiment Index. read more »
Australian Research Analyst Extradited On Insider Trading Charges
31 Mar 2013 | U.S. News
Australian Trent Martin has been extradited from Hong Kong to the United States to face insider trading charges. read more »
California-Based Hedge Fund Analyst And Two Others Charged With Insider Trading
26 Mar 2013 | U.S. News
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a California-based hedge fund analyst with insider trading in advance of a merger of two technology companies based on nonpublic information he received from his friend who was an executive at one of the companies.read more »
SEC Charges Rengan Rajaratnam with Insider Trading
22 Mar 2013 | Business
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Rajarengan “Rengan” Rajaratnam for his role in the massive insider trading scheme spearheaded by his older brother Raj Rajaratnam and hedge fund advisory firm Galleon Management.read more »
Former Hedge Fund Manager Arrested in Italy After Being on Run for Five Years
20 Mar 2013 | U.S. News
A German national who managed a series of hedge funds based in the Cayman Islands has been indicted on federal fraud charges alleging that he oversaw a stock manipulation scheme designed to “pump up” the reported returns of his hedge funds, while self-dealing for his own benefit to the detriment of the funds, in a fraud that caused investors to loss approximately $200 million.read more »
Loan Broker Pleads Guilty To $100 Million Load Fraud Conspiracy
20 Mar 2013 | Business
Joon Park, a/k/a “Joon Pak,” and “Joon Paik,” age 43, of Falls Church, Virginia, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain business loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration, with resulting losses of over $100 million. read more »
Hedge Fund Firm Sigma Capital Charged With Insider Trading
15 Mar 2013 | Business
The Securities and Exchange Commission says New York-based hedge fund advisory firm Sigma Capital Management has agreed to pay nearly $14 million to settle charges that the firm engaged in insider trading based on nonpublic information obtained through one of its analysts about the quarterly earnings of Dell and Nvidia Corporation.read more »
CR Intrinsic To Pay More Than $600 Million in Largest-Ever Insider Trading Settlement
15 Mar 2013 | U.S. News
The Securities and Exchange Commission says Stamford, Conn.-based hedge fund advisory firm CR Intrinsic Investors has agreed to pay more than $600 million to settle SEC charges that it participated in an insider trading scheme involving a clinical trial for an Alzheimer’s drug being jointly developed by two pharmaceutical companies. read more »
Former Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor Sentenced in Florida for Embezzlement
11 Mar 2013 | U.S. News
James Ryan Lanier, 33, has been sentenced to 106 months in federal prison for embezzling more than $800,000 from Merrill Lynch clients. read more »
SEC Charges New York-Based Private Equity Fund Advisers
11 Mar 2013 | Business
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged two investment advisers at Oppenheimer & Co. with misleading investors about the valuation policies and performance of a private equity fund they manage. read more »
Mortgage Rates Hold Steady Ahead of Jobs Report
7 Mar 2013 | Business
Fixed mortgage rates were mostly unchanged this week, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate holding at 3.73 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. read more »
Mortgage Rates Pull Back to 5-week Lows
1 Mar 2013 | Business
Fixed mortgage rates retreated with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate falling to 3.73 percent this week, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. read more »
Man Pleads Guilty To Running Day-Trading Ponzi That Raised $49 Million
26 Feb 2013 | Business
The CEO and co-owner of a Diamond Bar investment company has pleaded guilty to two federal felony counts arising from his scheme to defraud investors who put $49 million into his bogus day-trading venture.read more »
Former Connecticut Bishop Pleads Guilty To Fraud And Money Laundering
21 Feb 2013 | U.S. News
Former Bishop Julius C. Blackwelder, 59, of North Dakota, formerly of Stratford, Conn., has pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and money laundering offenses stemming from a ponzi scheme he ran.read more »
Vice President Biden Honors Public Safety Officers with Medal of Valor
20 Feb 2013 | US Politics and Govt
Vice President Joe Biden congratulates Officer Reeshemah Taylor of the Osceola County Corrections Department after presenting her with the Medal of Valor, during a Medal of Valor ceremony with Attorney General Eric Holder, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House, Feb., 20, 2013. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann) Vice President Joe Biden today recognized 18 public safety officers for exhibitingread more »
Belgium Diamond Heist To Hit Brink's First Quarter Earnings
20 Feb 2013 | World
Secure transportation company Brink's says it expects an elaborate diamond heist in Belgium to impact its first-quarter earnings but the robbery does not materially affect its full-year profit forecast. read more »
Equipping the Nation’s Future Innovators
20 Feb 2013 | US Politics and Govt
In his State of the Union address last week, President Obama issued a call to better equip American graduates for the demands of a high-tech economy. Specifically, he called on the nation’s high schools to forge new partnerships with colleges and employers, and create classes that focus on science, technology, engineering, and math—the “STEM” subjects – calling them “the skills today’s employers are looking for to fill the jobs that are there right now and will be there in the future.” Indeed, students with STEM skills are a driving force that keeps America competitive, creative, and innovative. As just one example—the most common educational background of CEO’s in the S&P 500 companies is not finance or business… but engineering. Whether it’s read more »
Mortgage Rates Little Changed This Week
14 Feb 2013 | Business
Mortgage rates showed little movement this week with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate inching up to 3.79 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. read more »
American Airlines and US Airways Group Confirm Merger
14 Feb 2013 | U.S. News
American Airlines and US Airways Group say the boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved a definitive merger agreement under which the companies will combine to create a premier global carrier, which will have an implied combined equity value of approximately $11 billion.read more »
Berkshire Hathaway In $28 billion Consortium Takeover Of Heinz
14 Feb 2013 | Business
Food giant Heinz says it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by an investment consortium comprised of Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital for $28 billion in the largest ever takeover in the food industry. read more »
Charges Allege $311 Million Global Hedge Fund Fraud Scheme
8 Feb 2013 | Business
Two business associates in the hedge fund management industry have been charged with defrauding institutional investors and causing collective losses of more than $311 million.read more »
Royal Bank of Scotland Subsidiary Pleads Guilty To Manipulating Global Interest Rates
6 Feb 2013 | Business
RBS Securities Japan Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS), has agreed to plead guilty to felony wire fraud and admit its role in manipulating the Japanese Yen London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), a leading benchmark used in financial products and transactions around the world.read more »
U.S. Government To Sue Standard and Poor's Over Subprime Mortgage Ratings
5 Feb 2013 | Business
Standard & Poor’s Rating Services says the United States Department of Justice has informed the Company that it intends to file a civil lawsuit against S&P focusing on its ratings of sub prime mortgages in 2007.read more »
