- Madoff’s Prosecutors Recommend 150 Years or at Least Life
- Buffett Lunch Meeting Draws $1.68 Million Donation to Charity
- Stanford to Spend Weekend in Jail, Waits for June 29 Hearing
- Wary Banks Hobble Toxic-Asset Plan
- Bond Dealers Say Worst Over as Demand Soars at Treasury Sales
- UK: Recession ‘worse than thought’
- Record fund-raising buoys banks’ earnings
- U.S. to ‘Quickly’ Sell Warrants From Banks Repaying TARP Funds
- A Plan to Stem Foreclosures, Buried in a Paper Avalanche
- BATS Europe unveils ‘dark pool’ plan
- GM urges end to bankruptcy objections
- GM to Allow Some Product Liability Claims
- Volkswagen denies giving Porsche ‘ultimatum’ over merger deal
- Chrysler fall cuts deep into retirees’ pensions
- US consultants Towers Perrin, Watson Wyatt to merge
- US TV prepares for $2bn ad shortfall
- ‘Transformers’ tops $200 million
- TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead in Florida home
Madoff’s Prosecutors Recommend 150 Years or at Least Life – Bloomberg
Federal prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of 150 years, the suggested term under federal guidelines, or at least a life term for Bernard Madoff, who pleaded guilty to running the biggest Ponzi scheme in history.
Madoff had asked for a 12-year prison term when he is sentenced in Manhattan federal court on June 29.
Madoff pleaded guilty in March to federal charges that he used funds from new investors to pay off other clients. His customers were told they had as much as $65 billion in the weeks before the fraud came to light….
Stanford to Spend Weekend in Jail, Waits for June 29 Hearing – Bloomberg
R. Allen Stanford, accused of swindling investors in a $7 billion fraud, will be held in jail through the weekend until a June 29 hearing on whether an order granting him bail should be reversed.
The request to delay the Texas financier’s release on bail was filed yesterday with U.S. District Judge David Hittner, who outranks U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy and to whom the Stanford criminal case is ultimately assigned. Stacy, at a June 25 hearing, set the bail at $500,000 and required Stanford to post a $100,000 cash deposit…..
Buffett Lunch Meeting Draws $1.68 Million Donation to Charity – Bloomberg
A steakhouse lunch with billionaire investor Warren Buffett sold for $1.68 million in an online auction to benefit a San Francisco charity, trailing last year’s record of $2.1 million. The winner chose to remain anonymous.
The auction consisted of 10 bidders and 116 bids, according to EBay Inc., and ended yesterday. The Glide Foundation, a San Francisco-based charity where Buffett’s late wife volunteered, will receive all proceeds from the event…..
Wary Banks Hobble Toxic-Asset Plan – Wall Street Journal
The government’s plan to enable banks to dump troubled assets is facing troubles of its own.
Markets initially rallied when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced in March a two-pronged plan to offer favorable government financing to entice investors to buy bad loans and toxic securities from banks.
But that initiative — called the Public-Private Investment Program, or PPIP — has lost momentum. Big banks worried about having to sell at fire-sale prices while small banks feared they would be shut out. Potential buyers balked at the risk of doing business with the government, concerned that politicians might demonize them for making big profits…..
Bond Dealers Say Worst Over as Demand Soars at Treasury Sales – Bloomberg
Wall Street’s largest bond-trading firms say the worst may be over for investors in Treasuries after government securities posted their biggest first-half losses in at least three decades.
The 16 primary dealers, which trade directly with the Federal Reserve and are obligated to bid at Treasury auctions, forecast the benchmark 10-year note yield will finish the year little changed at 3.58 percent, after rising from 2.21 percent at the end of 2008, according to a survey by Bloomberg News….
UK: Recession ‘worse than thought’ - Daily Telegraph
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) data are likely to paint an even gloomier picture of the economy in the first three months of the year than first thought because of a downward revision of construction sector output.
Earlier estimates from the ONS had suggested that gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 1.9pc in the first quarter, but since then the latest construction sector data showed output over the period fell by 9pc, much more sharply than a previous calculated fall of 2.4pc. The ONS has suggested that, in terms of overall GDP, this revision could translate to a reduction of 0.3 percentage points…..
Record fund-raising buoys banks’ earnings – Financial Times
Buoyant capital markets activity underpinned US banks’ second-quarter earnings, with a boom in equity and debt issuance helping offset continued losses on toxic assets, bankers and analysts said.
With two days to go before the end of the quarter and a fortnight before banks begin reporting results, executives said the strong performance in trading and underwriting in the first quarter was exceeded in the three months to June…..
U.S. to ‘Quickly’ Sell Warrants From Banks Repaying TARP Funds – Bloomberg
The Treasury plans to sell warrants obtained as part of the financial bailout “quickly” after banks repay government shares.
In guidance issued today, the department said banks will have 15 days after retiring government stakes to propose a “fair market value” for the securities. If the Treasury objects to the determination, up to three “independent appraisers” will be selected to help set a price. For lenders that don’t want to repurchase the warrants, the Treasury said it will sell them at auctions….
A Plan to Stem Foreclosures, Buried in a Paper Avalanche – NY Times
Somewhere on earth, there must be a more difficult task than this: persuading American mortgage companies to lower payments for homeowners who can no longer afford their loans. But as Karina Montenegro struggles to accomplish this feat for a troubled borrower, she strains to imagine a more futile pursuit.
Ms. Montenegro, an intern at a local company that seeks loan modifications, dials Washington Mutual to check on the status of an application for a homeowner whose income has plummeted. She endures a Muzak-scored purgatory while on hold. Syrupy-voiced customer service representatives chide her for landing in the wrong department. She learns that the documents her company sent in have simply vanished — for the third time since November…..
BATS Europe unveils ‘dark pool’ plan – Financial Times
BATS Europe, one of a new breed of share trading platform, is on Monday due to unveil plans to launch a pan-European “dark pool”, becoming the latest entrant into the growing market for dealing in large blocks of shares.
The move comes as regulators on both sides of the Atlantic are stepping up scrutiny of dark pools amid questions over their transparency. Dark pools are a relatively new type of trading venue growing in popularity among institutional investors…..
GM urges end to bankruptcy objections – Financial Times
General Motors has asked a New York bankruptcy judge to dismiss about 750 objections when he considers tomorrow whether to allow the sale of most of its assets to a new entity in the most crucial phase of the carmaker’s court-supervised restructuring.
GM said in court documents on Friday that, in spite of the volume of objections, “not one party seriously suggests – much less points to a single fact suggesting – that the transaction not be consummated or that there is any viable alternative transaction, purchaser or financing source”….
GM to Allow Some Product Liability Claims – Washingto Post
General Motors will assume responsibility for product liability claims filed after the carmaker emerges from bankruptcy protection, a concession that removes a potential obstacle to the Obama administration’s plan for the company’s quick restructuring.
Under the deal reached by the administration, GM and state attorneys general, the automaker will accept claims arising from defective-vehicle accidents that occur after it emerges from Chapter 11 proceedings. Consumers could file the claims even if their vehicles were made by the “old” GM. However, those with past claims would have to pursue the GM left behind in bankruptcy with nothing but unwanted assets, debts and other liabilities. That means these consumers are likely to recover little, if anything…..
Volkswagen denies giving Porsche ‘ultimatum’ over merger deal – The Observer
Porsche and Volkswagen will try tomorrow to thrash out the terms of a merger on Monday after a bitter war of words exploded between the two German car groups.
Volkswagen publicly denied today it had set Porsche an ultimatum for agreeing on a merger deal, after Porsche bosses had accused their rival of “extortion”…..
Porsche and VW Remain Far Apart in Deal Talks – NY Times
No one ever said combining Porsche and Volkswagen would be easy. But nearly a month after an initial deadline for setting the outlines of the deal, the two German automakers sound no closer than when they started.
Volkswagen, according to a report Saturday in the newsweekly Der Spiegel, gave Porsche an ultimatum to decide by Monday whether to accept the merger on VW’s terms or risk having the deal fall apart. Der Spiegel did not cite a source for its information….
Chrysler fall cuts deep into retirees’ pensions – Detroit Free Press
John Hinckley retired eight years ago as the plant manager who oversaw assembly of the Dodge Viper, and he received a pension check each month without fail.
Then, Chrysler LLC filed for bankruptcy reorganization on April 30 and the May check fell short — 22% short.
Hinckley, 68, is staring at a loss of about $2,000 each month in his pension after Chrysler LLC filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Right now, he’s set to lose that money for the rest of his retirement……
US consultants Towers Perrin, Watson Wyatt to merge – Reuters
Management consulting firms Towers Perrin Forster & Crosby Inc and Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc (WW.N) on Sunday announced an agreement to merge into a new publicly-traded company that will expand their global reach.
The deal, valued at about $3.5 billion, will hand Watson Wyatt shareholders 50 percent of shares on a diluted basis in the new firm, called Towers Watson & Co.
Towers Perrin shareholders and some of its employees are entitled to the other 50 percent of shares, though on a restricted basis, the companies said in a statement…..
US TV prepares for $2bn ad shortfall – Financial Times
The US television industry faces a $2bn slump in advertising revenues during the next four years as advertisers turn away from broadcast and cable networks, according to a new report.
Digital video recorders that allow viewers to skip through commercials have knocked confidence in broadcast and cable advertising while younger, tech-savvy audiences are deserting their TV sets to spend more time online……
‘Transformers’ tops $200 million – Hollywood Reporter
Paramount’s action sequel “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” capped its dramatic debut with a vengeance, ringing up $112 million in estimated weekend boxoffice for a competition-crunching domestic cume of $201.2 million since storming theaters Wednesday.
Matched against the first five days of all previous film releases, the “Transformers” tally falls below only that of last summer’s “The Dark Knight,” which debuted with $203.8 million during a Friday-to-Tuesday span. With another $181.6 million coming from overseas, the global gross for the second “Transformers” now stands at $363.2 million…..
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead in Florida home – NY Daily News
Brash TV pitchman Billy Mays, whose ubiquitous ads for household products like OxiClean and Orange Glo made him a pop icon, was found dead at his Tampa home on Sunday morning.
The booming-voiced Mays, 50, died just hours after suffering a blow to the head during a rough plane landing on a US Airways flight.
It was unclear whether the bumpy landing contributed to Mays’ death, but he complained about not feeling well before going to bed…..
Tags: Allen Stanford, Autos, Bernie Madoff, Chrysler, GM, Headline Roundup, TARP, Warren Buffett
