Jim Cramer is firing back at Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart didn’t take kindly to CNBC pundit Jim Cramer dismissing his Comedy Central program as a mere “variety show.”
“You make me sound like I’m some kind of buffoon, just flapping my arms with crazy buttons and wacky sound effects,” the host of “The Daily Show” said Tuesday night. He then cut to a clip of Cramer on his CNBC show “Mad Money,” punching buttons that make wacky sound effects.
Ouch.
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How to Spot a Ponzi Con Artist? Follow the Yachts
With so many Ponzis and so little time to know if you’ve been hoodwinked, there are some red flags even the most trusting investors can bank on: yachts, mansions, jets and women. If your investment adviser is dabbling in any of the above, there’s a good chance you’ve been Ponzi-ed or are about to be.
Creating the illusion of fantastic success, of course, is Chapter 1 in the Scammer’s Handbook. But many among the most egregious alleged billionaire bamboozlers, like R. Allen Stanford and Bernie Madoff, are taking the art of thievery to the next level. Some don’t even bother opening an investor account when new monies come in; they just go shopping. It’s enough to make Gordon (“Greed is good”) Gecko blush.
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Jon Stewart rips CNBC
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It shows just how terrible news, advice, and market/stock calls from all the commentators on CNBC are…and how there is absolutely no accountability for anything they say and do.
Merrill Lynch CEO: Nothing justifies suspending our bonuses!
via The Consumerist:
You know how Merrill Lynch recently lost $15 billion? Remember how we’re in a unbelievably huge global financial crisis that threatens to unravel the fabric of our economy? John Thain says that’s no reason not to pay billions of dollars in bonuses.
NY AG Andrew Cuomo is seeking to force John Thain, former CEO of Merrill Lynch, to release the names of the Merrill executives who shared over $3.6 billion in bonuses before the merger with Bank of America. Thain is refusing, and said this about the bonuses:
“Bonuses were determined based upon the performance and the retention of people, and there is nothing that happened in the world or the economy that would make you say that those were not the right thing to do for the retention and the reward of the people who were performing,” Thain said, according to the transcript.
Mr. Cuomo’s office recently released information that suggests that Merrill Lynch may have moved up the bonuses in order to pass the cost on to tax payers, and claims that the bonuses were not spread evenly throughout the organization — but were structured in such a way as to enrich the top Merrill executives.
Cuomo says that the top four bonus recipients received a combined $121 million, and that 696 individuals received bonuses of $1 million or more. Cuomo said the bonuses were set Dec. 8 and not adjusted later when it turned out pretax losses were $7 billion more than expected. Merrill reported Jan. 16 that it lost $15.31 billion in the fourth quarter and $27 billion for the year.
Thain was dismissed in January by Bank of America chief executive officer Kenneth D. Lewis. The move came after disclosure of the bonuses and Merrill’s unexpectedly large fourth-quarter loss. Link
Dow Closes at Lowest Level in More Than 6 Years
Stocks fell today, and although it wasn’t a dramatic one-day decline, it pushed the Dow Jones industrial average to its lowest close in more than six years.
The Dow lost about 1.2 percent, or nearly 90 points, to end the day at 7466, below its lowest level in the midst of the financial meltdown in November. Investors had hoped that the November low signified the bottom of the current slide. The last time the Dow closed lower was Oct. 9, 2002, when it finished at 7286.27, the last bear market low.
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Sir Allen Who? Stanford not on Houston's radar
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Ask Houston residents what they know about Stanford Group Co, the privately held financial services firm accused of an $8 billion fraud by the U.S. government, and many mention oak trees.
In 1999, the Houston company cut down six 20-foot tall oak trees to make way for landscaping and a fountain bearing the company’s militaristic eagle and shield logo in front of its U.S. headquarters, even though local officials said the company had no right to do it.
Stanford’s action sparked outrage from conservationists and civic groups and a wave of media coverage. Ten years later, the company with 500 workers here appears to have done little to mend fences in the nation’s fourth largest city.
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Texas Financial Firm Accused of Fraud
More crooks - this time in Houston. Not as big as Madoff, but big…$8 Billion.
The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Robert Allen Stanford, the chief of the Stanford Financial Group, on Tuesday of conducting “a massive ongoing fraud” in the sale of about $8 billion of high-yielding certificates of deposit held in the firm’s bank in Antigua. Also named in the suit were two other executives and some affiliates of the financial group.
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