I noticed with interest that Citigroup is in negotiations with NY state & Federal regulators about its possible wrongdoing in the auction-rate securities market. Citigroup may have to buy back billions of dollars of securities from investors and pay a sizeable fine. Amazingly, Citigroup is considering HIRING Schwartz, the former head of Bear Stearns ! Maybe Citi is going to offer a new course at NYU or Columbia this fall, how NOT to run a big Wall Street firm. Or maybe, how * I * lost... Read Full Story
Wall Street is a product machine. They are always devising new “packages” to sell their customers. A basic word of advice I can never share enough with new and seasoned investors alike is: “Know what you are buying.”
This hit me again last week.
Major brokerage firms settled class action suits with clients who bought a “risk-free” product called “auction rate securities.” Until February, auction rate securities had been a place investors could pocket a slightly higher yield without, they... Read Full Story
In this morning's Tennessean , there was a teeny little two column-inch piece (so tiny they didn't put it on their website, so I can't link to it) about securities regulators from several states raiding Wachovia's headquarters in St. Louis over "the collapse of the $330 billion auction rate securities market." "Hmm," I thought. "That sounds really interesting. I wonder what an auction rate security is." It turns out that the story is much bigger, it's just that with all the chatter about... Read Full Story
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Thursday brought a multi-billion dollar civil lawsuit against the Swiss banking giant UBS for allegedly pushing everyday investors into buying troubled auction-rate securities. The lawsuit charges UBS ( UBS ) with falsely marketing and selling auction-rate securities as safe, cash-equivalent investments at a time when the market for these securities was under severe strain. "Today we bring the first nationwide lawsuit... Read Full Story
Wall Street is a little hung over after yesterday's rapturous climb. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down about 169 points at midday, which is still ahead of two days ago, so that's good. Oil is going for something like $118 a barrel. That would have sounded like insanity a year or 18 months ago, but today, it feels like a relief. Forbes blames the financial malaise on two things: people not buying stuff, because they can no longer afford to; and the forecast wave of regular mortgage (as... Read Full Story
The collapse of the auction r ate securities market is drawing more attention from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo . UBS and Citigroup have already agreed to buy back billions of dollars of the now-worthless securities that they had described as being as liquid as cash. They've also coughed up $250 million in fines. Now under the microscope are JPMorgan Chase , Morgan Stanley , and Wachovia . Wachovia is also "look[ing] forward to the discussions" with regulators in Missouri, where... Read Full Story
ADESA and its sister company Insurance Auto Auctions (IAA) are Franchise Dealers’ source to maximize the
value of Cash for Clunkers vehicles.
Using IAA to move these vehicles is quick and easy.
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Dec. 11, 2008 Press Release from the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2008 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today finalized settlements with Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. (Citi) and UBS Securities LLC and UBS Financial Services, Inc. (UBS) that will provide nearly $30 billion to tens of thousands of customers who invested in auction rate securities before the market for those securities froze in February.
The settlements resolve the SEC's charges... Read Full Story
Already struggling Wall Street firms, which are currently faced with billions in losses as a result of the current credit crisis, now have to contend with and account for a not entirely new problem, auction-rate securities or ARS. Auction rate securities are long term debt issued by corporations and municipalities, with a unique interest rate structure that are or were supposed to be reset every week or month, in auctions. That market which at it’s peak, was a $340 billion market, has... Read Full Story
Add Wachovia to the list of banks that have agreed to buy back auction rate securities . Investors claimed that these securities were marketed to them as safe as cash, but when the market froze they became worthless.
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been working hard to ensure that investors, including municipalities and government agencies, get their money back after the investments failed. This is a good thing, because banks should suffer the consequences of what may be... Read Full Story
