Are 12b-1 fees an anachronism that should be done away with? The SEC seems to be leaning that way and I tend to agree with them on the issue: From Reuters: The top U.S. securities regulator pushed on Thursday to reform mutual fund fees that traditionally used to stimulate fund growth and help cut shareholder…
SEC
SEC Nails MN-Based Currency Trading Fraud
The SEC nailed a Minnesota-based currency fraud today, a bust that I believe will be the opening salvo in a much bigger battle to protect Americans from this burgeoning area of fraud. SEC Obtains Asset Freeze in Minnesota-Based Foreign Currency Trading Scheme FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2009-253 Washington, D.C., Nov. 24, 2009 — The Securities and…
3Com Insider Trading Probe In Effect
The SEC is looking into what many people are calling a blatant sign of insider info on the Hewlett-Packard for 3Com acquisition according to Bloomberg (hat tip Zero Hedge). In case you missed it: More than 8,000 3Com calls changed hands on Nov. 11, 17 times the four-week average. The most active were contracts conveying…
Hot Links: Ackman, Leno & Goldman's BRIC Picks
Stuff I’m Reading this Morning… Goldman Sachs is recommending the BRIC-related stocks going into earnings season, here are their 50 favorite plays: (PragCap) The most important news of the day. (Clusterstock) Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman has a new short position. (DealBook) Classic: NBC wants Jay Leno to have an affair! (BorowitzReport) Pessimism Porn takes a…
Insider Trading Lesson 1: No Call Options
You guys are so stupid. The first thing the SEC looks at is the call option activity whenever there’s a high profile merger or takeover. Anything unusual is gonna be flagged. From DealBook: The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday charged two men with running an $8.6 million insider-trading scheme connected to Dell’s $3.9 billion agreement…
Ken Lewis: Should I Stay or Should I Go (reprise)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYxkvAwIjzQ] With trouble coming from both the SEC and the NY Attorney General over the Merrill Lynch acquisition, Ken Lewis is faced with a big decision – should he stay or should he go as CEO of Bank of America? With apologies to the late Joe Strummer, here’s Kenny doing his rendition of The Clash‘s…
Flash Trading R.I.P.
Oh, and spare me the arguments about “liquidity”… I applaud Mary Shapiro and the SEC‘s decision to put an end to this practice. On a basic level, high frequency or flash trading was no different than the rounding error scheme from the film Office Space whereby fractions of pennies “that no one would miss” would be…
The Top 10 Investor Traps According to the NASAA
For 90 years, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has been committed to protecting and educating individual investors. The other day they put out a list of what they believe to be the Top 10 Investor Traps, and I thought they’d done a pretty good job of summarizing some of the major pitfalls that…
Ratings Agencies, aka The Three Stooges, Get a Taste of Regulation
[vodpod id=Groupvideo.3080520&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] The Department of the Treasury just released this Fact Sheet to demonstrate what the administration’s agenda will look like as it pertains to reforming the ratings agencies. Standard & Poors, Moody’s and Fitch, aka The Three Stooges, will have an interesting experience figuring out a profit margin after these are enacted! Buffett agrees…
Breakfast Links: Schumer, Bernanke & The God of Email
Stuff I’m Reading this Morning… The Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas is undergoing a big expansion right now…good timing. (AP via Yahoo) Seantor Schumer asks SEC Chief Mary Shapiro to ban high frequency trading. No Goldman campaign money for you, Chuck. (Bloomberg) The Great Preventer op-ed: Why Nouriel Roubini thinks Ben Bernanke should be…
