MetaFilter posts tagged with sec

Is a Faceboook post a press release?

sparklemotion — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 11:13:01 -0800

Back in July, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings posted on his Facebook page that users of the service had enjoyed over 1 billion hours of viewing in the month of June. The post was (and is) public, and subscribed to by over 200,000 users (some of whom were journalists). Netflix stock jumped for the day on the news. But the SEC was apparently less impressed. Concerned that the viewer information was "material investor information", the SEC is asking why Netflix did not disclose this information in a Form 8-K or a press release. The purpose of the rule is to ensure that better connected investors do not get material information before the general public. Generally, companies do not have to file 8-K's if the information can be found on the company's web site. Hastings has chosen to comment on this investigation in the only logical place: his Facebook page.

30 mm cannons, anti-tank guided missiles, air-to-air missiles and unguided rockets

griphus — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 20:13:48 -0800

"The Canadian arm of the aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney closed a six-year U.S. government probe last week by admitting that it helped China produce its first modern attack helicopter ... The prosecution marked 'one of the largest resolutions of export violations with a major defense contractor in the Justice Department's history...'"

Widespread corruption and bribery by Wal-Mart in Mexico

reductiondesign — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 04:39:45 -0800

"Wal-Mart dispatched investigators to Mexico City, and within days they unearthed evidence of widespread bribery. They found a paper trail of hundreds of suspect payments totaling more than $24 million. They also found documents showing that Wal-Mart de Mexico’s top executives not only knew about the payments, but had taken steps to conceal them from Wal-Mart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. [...] The lead investigator recommended that Wal-Mart expand the investigation. Instead, an examination by The New York Times found, Wal-Mart’s leaders shut it down."

A Vampire Squid with Muppets

Skygazer — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 02:41:23 -0800

Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs. New York Time Op-Ed. March 14th 2012:

TODAY is my last day at Goldman Sachs. After almost 12 years at the firm — first as a summer intern while at Stanford, then in New York for 10 years, and now in London — I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. And I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.

Greg Smith, an executive director at Goldman Sachs announces his resignation from the company in an op-ed for the NY Times, effective today:

It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off. Over the last 12 months I have seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as “muppets,” sometimes over internal e-mail. Even after the S.E.C., Fabulous Fab, Abacus, God’s work, Carl Levin, Vampire Squids? No humility? I mean, come on. Integrity? It is eroding. I don’t know of any illegal behavior, but will people push the envelope and pitch lucrative and complicated products to clients even if they are not the simplest investments or the ones most directly aligned with the client’s goals? Absolutely. Every day, in fact.

"Ask yourself, is your candidate smarter than an Aggie?"

kmz — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:39:05 -0800

"Ask yourself, is your candidate smarter than an Aggie?" The Marching Owl Band ponders the next election. At the same UT-Rice halftime show, they also had something to say about upcoming conference realignments. (Full show script.) The MOB has a bit of history (show script) with Texas A&M. The MOB, like most scatter bands, is known for irreverent humor, often at the expense of the opposing team.

The SEC's Memory Hole

homunculus — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:24:16 -0800

Is the SEC Covering Up Wall Street Crimes? "A whistleblower claims that over the past two decades, the agency has destroyed records of thousands of investigations, whitewashing the files of some of the nation's worst financial criminals."

Let's find as many suckers as we can as fast as we can, because we'll only make more money as more and more shit hits the fan.

T.D. Strange — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:22:28 -0800

The People vs. Goldman Sachs. Matt Taibbi's latest magnum opus (previous coverage) lays out the full case for federal prosecutions against the Vampire Squid according to Sen. Carl Levin's Senate Subcommittee on Investigations. [Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse 650 page pdf].

The Casino Called Wall Street

HP LaserJet P10006 — Sat, 15 May 2010 15:11:56 -0800

Maybe Microsoft is trading in London at a penny less than it's trading at the same moment in New York. A high-frequency trader will buy shares in London and wait for them to rise. Since the discrepancy lasts a mere fraction of a second, speed is key. [Tradework CEO] M. Narang boasts it takes only 15 millionth of a second for his computers to place a buy or sell order after detecting an opportunity. Or, as he puts it, "If you try to pick up the penny, we'll probably beat you to it." While the exact cause of the stock market's recent "flash crash" remains uncertain, the event has renewed concern about the incredible growth of high frequency trading (HFT) in the market. To put HFT in the broader context of how the complexity and speed of the market has changed, consider the recent remarks of SEC chairman Mary Schapiro (from the "remains uncertain" link above; all of her comments are well worth reading BTW): Although developments in the markets and in technology may help speed access to market data, they also greatly complicate our efforts to analyze the complex web of trading arrangements and market dynamics that have developed since 1987. For example, the key day in the 1987 Market Break Study involved a trading session processing a little over 600 million shares in NYSE stocks. Last Thursday, the markets processed 10.3 billion shares in NYSE stocks alone. In addition, the interconnections among markets and among equity securities and derivatives have grown immensely more complex over the past few years. Orders in one stock directed to one market can now ricochet to other markets and trigger algorithmic executions in other stocks and derivatives in milliseconds. By contrast, in 1987, investigations could focus their attention on discrete transactions largely effected on only one or two markets. [emphasis added] There's also the question about whether or not HFT increases the possibility for fraud. As one commenter on a HuffPo thread notes (how accurately, I cannot say): certain stock exchanges, such as Direct Edge, will--for a fee--send a 'flash' of a upcoming trade to the firms that engage in high frequency trading. For instance, if a mutual fund is going to buy 1 million shares of IBM, Goldman Sachs or other companies with HFT operations will get a notice from Direct Edge that this is about to happen. Within milliseconds, the HFTs put in buy orders for IBM, then let the mutual fund buy their 1 million shares, which pushes the stock price up, and then the HFTs sell at a couple of pennies higher. As it stands right now, this is LEGAL. The SEC is looking into blocking the practice, which they should, because it's simply a high-tech version of insider trading. Whatever the case about HFT and the role it plays in market volatility and/or manipulation, one thing is certain: some investors are preparing themselves for any future "flash crash," and no doubt hoping to exploit it.

SEC Prophecy in 2004

RoseyD — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:08:54 -0800

"If anything goes wrong it's going to be an awfully big mess. Ha, ha, ha!" The day the S.E.C. changed the game. [flash w/ audio]

The SEC's Kiss of Death

inkyroom — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:01:22 -0800

"When a company or individual receives a surprise subpoena on a Friday from the SEC, it is usually designed to ruin their weekend plans. Yes, the SEC can get personal in its own way...Back in the day as the criminal CFO of Crazy Eddie, I received a surprise subpoena from the SEC late Friday afternoon. I had to wait until Monday before my attorneys had time to advise me on a course of action." Ex-white collar felon Sam Antar blogs about the SEC's recent move. (via Jay Hancock of the Baltimore Sun)

Too big not to fail?

grobstein — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:50:00 -0800

SEC sues Goldman Sachs for fraud . GS has already come under fire for "betting against" financial products it was marketing, a practice that apparently helped it prosper from the real estate bubble but come out relatively unscathed. The SEC now says that one such product was designed specifically so that a Goldman business partner, Paulson & Company, could take a short position on it. Investors were apparently not advised of this fact. Goldman's stock was off more than 10% in the half hour following the announcement. Dealbook has a summary version of the story, and links to more material. Investigatory story in the Times about the "Abacus" products.

Contest: worst footnote of the year

krautland — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:00:10 -0800

Footnoted.org, a blog devoted to pointing out those buried atrocities in SEC filings, is having its annual worst footnote of the year contest. contenders include Chesapeake Energy disclosing it spent $12.1 million to purchase Aubrey McClendon's antique map collection, Martha Stewart's $3 million retention payment to remain at Martha Stewart Omnimedia and InfoGroup disclosing it really spent $852K on former CEO Gupta's yacht instead of zero. Polls close tomorrow.

Transparency Like You've Never Seen Before

up in the old hotel — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:57:59 -0800

You like documents? We got documents:

Congrats, you're a millionaire! April Fools! That'll be $819.99

waraw — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 09:56:37 -0800

Who are the Fools here? "Many customers of Zecco Trading logged into their brokerage account yesterday to be greeted with a slightly higher buying power than before… on the order of 6 to 13 million dollars!" So what'd these customers do? They bought stocks. Oops. SEC may be getting involved. The Consumerist: "When Zecco realized what was happening, they responded by panic-selling the purchased stocks at a loss and charging the balance to customers, along with a $19.99 broker-assisted trading fee. One poor schmo bought $1 million worth of shares that were later sold for less than the purchase price."

Cramer vs. Cramer

ryoshu — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:54:14 -0800

How to manipulate the market. (SLYT)

He hates to lose

up in the old hotel — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:40:00 -0800

Dallas Mavericks owner, celebrity dancer, Dairy Queen manager, and bloviating billionaire Mark Cuban has been accused of insider trading. In its complaint, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused Cuban of selling his entire stake in Momma.com (since renamed) to avoid a $750,000 loss in 2004. But not even the government has a gag big enough to cover Cuban's mouth. On his blog, Cuban says the SEC is picking on him and presented an excerpt of a deposition of Mamma.com's CEO. And Cuban would like you to believe that he's being politically persecuted for his support of the 9/11 conspiracy film, "Loose Change." Cuban's Magnolia Pictures, which redacted Redacted, was said to be interested in a distribution deal.

The uptick rule

anotherpanacea — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:04:45 -0800

Rule 10a-1, otherwise known as the uptick rule, provided that, subject to certain exceptions, a listed security could only be sold short at or above the last sale price. The uptick rule was introduced in 1934 when the public blamed bear traders for the 1929 crash, and was eliminated in July of 2007 after a temporary pilot program. The SEC is now considering reinstating the rule, an effort buoyed by rumours that downtick short-selling may have facilitated an alleged 'bear raid' on Bear Stearns.

RTC II

uaudio — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:04:56 -0800

Banning short selling? Firing Chris Cox? Treasury Secretary Paulson has reportedly floated the idea of an 80s-style "Resolution Trust Corporation." Maybe we're finally turning the corner...or at least stopping the hemorrhaging.

Pork Flies (Sort Of)

Skeptic — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:50:14 -0800

So You Think The V-22 Is Ridiculous? [previously] Let me present you its dumb brother, the DuPont Aerospace DP-2. (No relation to the chemical conglomerate). Although successively panned in reviews by the US Navy in 1986, and DARPA in 1990, and shifted to the Office of Naval Research when DARPA uncharacteristically refused in 1997 to spend its allocated funds, the DP-2's protracted development has kept receiving Congressional earmarks for over twenty years, supported by Representatives Duncan Hunter (R.-Calif.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R.-Calif.), as well as former Representative Christopher Cox (you guessed it...R.-Calif.), nowadays Chairman of the Securities Exchange Commission. Hunter, in particular, has steadfastedly defended the contraption, despite some slight design flaws, like that of incinerating soldiers. His support, however, may have less to do with the alleged ability of the concept than with the equally steadfast campaign funding he has received from DuPont. This month, however, the efforts of DuPont, Hunter, Cox and Rohrabacher have finally been rewarded with a first successful (tethered) hover. It may however be too late.

Traders will do anything for money. Film at 11.

quite unimportant — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:39:56 -0800

"The great thing about the market is that it has nothing to do with the actual stocks." Jim Cramer--probably most famous for his CNBC show "Mad Money"--comes clean in a TheStreet.com interview about the tactics he used while managing his hedge fund and how he, you know, might influence Apple's stock if he were in the game today. Feathers get ruffled.

Symposium on Director Liability

monju_bosatsu — Wed, 31 May 2006 10:51:47 -0800

Forum: The Pros and Cons of Director Liability. [more inside]

New SEC Executive Compensation Proposal

monju_bosatsu — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 11:29:13 -0800

The SEC has proposed new rules [pdf] to drastically increase requirements on executive compensation disclosure. You can read a summary of the proposal in the SEC's press release, as well as statements from Chairman Cox and Commissioner Atkin. [more inside]

Donaldson Takes a Dive

nj_subgenius — Sun, 26 Jun 2005 16:23:48 -0800

Bill Donaldson, chair of the SEC, is out effective June 30, presumably to go back to the private sector. Taking his place, if approved, is Christopher Cox. Many believe Donaldson restored investor confidence since the equity market implosion. What's the upside of a Chris Cox tenure and for whom ?

Nader takes on the SEC, will a campaign be next?

StormBear — Tue, 04 Mar 2003 20:17:23 -0800

Nader takes on the SEC, will a campaign be next? Bit by bit, Ralph Nader does what he does best, annoying those who abuse power. This last year, he has kept with advocacy that is in parallel with smart campaign strategy and the creation of the SEC watchdog group is an example of that. The Greens are still debating him in the forums, wondering if he is still their guy. Maybe they should be asking if he's OUR guy?

Is this a good idea?

spotmeter — Wed, 18 Sep 2002 15:46:13 -0800

Is this a good idea? The SEC names an ex-Andersen partner to a top position regulating auditors. Why not have oil executives pick our energy policy while we're at it?