Description: The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday charged Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and one of its vice presidents with defrauding investors by misstating and omitting key facts about a financial product related to subprime mortgages. Source: Marketwatch.com  Date: 04/016/2010 Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/goldman-charged-with-fraud-over-paulson-cdo-trade-2010-04-16?pagenumber=1 Questions for discussion: Are there any explanations that can mitigate the damage… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Governments & Regulators
Abacus Allowed Goldman to Shuffle Mortgage Risk Like Beads
Description:Â From July 2004 through April 2007, as credit markets boomed, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. created 23 financial transactions called Abacus, the word for a relatively crude counting tool involving the shuffling of beads. Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued the bank for securities fraud in what would be the penultimate offering in the… Read more »
Whitney: Housing set to fall again
Description: Bank analyst Meredith Whitney predicts more foreclosures are on the way and the housing market will not rebound smoothly. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report  Date: 04/08/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2010/04/08/f_sl_meredith_whitney_housing.fortune/ Questions for discussion: Do you agree with the predictions made by bank analyst Meredith Whitney? What investing strategy would make sense if she is right?… Read more »
Housing bubble: Who’s to blame?
Description: Alan Greenspan defends keeping interest rates low. Readers of ‘The Buzz’ weigh in on who they think is responsible. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report  Date: 04/07/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/04/07/n_bz_housing_bubble_blame.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Summarize the arguments for who is to blame for the crisis. How would you apportion blame? Present arguments in defence of each… Read more »
China now widely expected to move on yuan
Description: Signals from the two capitals of Beijing and Washington have convinced experts that China will ease its currency’s peg to the U.S. dollar, although the timing of the move and the details of new regime remain unknown. Source: Marketwatch.com  Date: 04/08/2010 Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pboc-advisor-urges-managed-float-for-yuan-2010-04-08?siteid=nwtwk Questions for discussion: Summarize the explanations offered for changes to… Read more »
Merrill Units Win Dismissal of Some MBIA Claims in Lawsuit
Description: Merrill Lynch & Co. units now owned by Bank of America Corp. won dismissal of claims in a lawsuit filed by MBIA Inc. last year over protection sold against mortgage-debt defaults. Source: Bloomberg.com Date: 04/10/2010 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601208&sid=ac_igSnXiHDw Questions for discussion: What is the significance of the judge’s decision in this case? What are the… Read more »
Innovation, by Order of the Kremlin
Description: AROUND the time that Apple Computer was making it big in California, Andrey Shtorkh was getting a first-hand look at the Soviet approach to high tech: he guarded the fence keeping scientists inside Sverdlovsk-45, one of the country’s secret scientific cities, deep in the Ural Mountains. Source: NYTimes.com Date: 04/10/2010 Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/business/global/11russia.html?ref=business Questions for… Read more »
A futures exchange for Hollywood
Description: Armchair investors may soon be able to bet real money on how films perform at the box office. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report  Date: 04/02/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/04/02/n_hollywood_futures.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: How is this market similar to a conventional futures market such as one for gold? What risk is at play for investors? How… Read more »
Wall Street More Powerful Than Before the Crisis?
Description:Â A handful of Wall Street banks have become more powerful and influential during in the financial crisis. Simon Johnson, author of the new book “13 Bankers,” argues that minding banks too big to fail isn’t enough. He tells columnist David Weidner that big banks need to be broken up into pieces “small enough to… Read more »
Are Municipal Bonds the Next Bubble to Pop?
Description: America’s states and cities may be going bankrupt, but investors shouldn’t worry. Dow Jones Adviser columnist James Altucher explains. Source: Marketwatch.com – video report  Date: 03/23/2010 Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/are-municipal-bonds-the-next-bubble-to-pop/5D0A58DD-9E95-4B20-8A3E-8B67E3F593DA Questions for discussion: Summarize the arguments presented in favor of buying municipal bonds. Do you agree with James Altucher’s opinion about the risk to investors?
