Results tagged “trading”

being threatened. According to the Daily News, a source "who knows several of Madoff's affluent victims" said, "Bernie has been told that if he doesn't cough up every dime he has hidden in offshore accounts, someone in his family will be killed." Another source adds "at least one of the threats was aimed solely at Madoff, and that the matter was referred to the FBI."

The NY Post caught Bernard Madoff, who admitted his business was actually Ponzi scheme and probably lost around $50 billion of investors' money, "skulking" out of his East 64th Street apartment building and calls him "the Grinch who stole...everything"—as well as the "Most Hated Man in NYC." The Daily News runs down some developments, like how the FBI is looking for witnesses (like "the auditors working from a New City, Rockland County, storefront who certified Madoff's investment firm as 'solvent'") and the NY Times says that, so far, Madoff's family does not appear to be involved in the scam.

Securities and Exchange Commission inspectors have been working overtime to go through the records of Bernard Madoff and his investment firm. Bloomberg News reports that investigators "found evidence he ran an unregistered money-management business alongside his firm’s brokerage and investment-advisory subsidiaries." Also, "Investigators are still trying to figure out where customers’ money went," as Madoff's estimate of $50 billion in losses may be "roughly accurate."

The Securities and Exchange Commission's associate director of enforcement Andrew Calamari (Calamari!) said, "Our complaint alleges a stunning fraud that appears to be of epic proportions." The criminal complaint suggests that Madoff "deceived investors by operating a securities business in which he traded and lost investor money, and then paid certain investors purported returns on investment with the principal received from other, different investors, which resulted in losses of approximately billions of dollars." Yup, that sounds like a Ponzi scheme! The complaint also says, per employees, Madoff ran the "investment business" on a separate floor and was "cryptic" about it. The NY Times says this might be the largest fraud in Wall Street history.

The Dow and the S&P 500 both closed down about 5% today in a day of heavy losses. The Dow was down 443 points and closed below 9,000 amidst fears of a prolonged recession that even superhero President-elect Obama may be not be able to turn around. "Everything is so dismal right now, it's just an endless flow of bad news and no one wants to buy," despaired equity trader Dave Rovelli, who could really benefit by reading today's heartwarming good news about the Starbucks wedding proposal! CNN reports that investors are fearful about tomorrow's big monthly jobs report. Also, too, October retail sales from the chain stores were mostly "abysmal," the housing market is still collapsing, and even the recent dip in gas prices has not improved consumer spending. "People are realizing that the recession is going to drag on until at least the end of 2009," Rovelli whines. LA LA LA LA Can't hear you, Rovelli! Starbucks wedding proposal! Doggie costumes! Sasha and Malia get a puppy!