- Buffett’s Berkshire is best-regarded U.S. company
- US banks in $2.5bn ‘Christmas capital’ gain
- Federal Prosecutors Leaning Against Charges in AIG Probe
- Wilbur Ross backing Virgin Money in RBS branch bid
- Macro hedge funds fail to profit from crisis
- Madoff investors may not see cash from brokerage sale
- SEC Lawyer One Day, Opponent the Next
- Growth of Unpaid Internships May Be Illegal, Officials Say
- IPad Taps Familiar Apple Suppliers
Buffett’s Berkshire is best-regarded U.S. company – Reuters
Berkshire Hathaway Inc <BRKa.N> — the investment vehicle run by Buffett, the so-called sage of Omaha — topped a list of the best-regarded U.S. companies, although the public has a dim view of corporate America overall after a brutal economic downturn.
After a recession that prompted the U.S. government to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on corporate bailouts, 81 percent of Americans told Harris Interactive <HPOL.O> that business’s reputation is “not good” or “terrible.”….
The five companies with the worst reputations were Freddie Mac <FRE.N>, American International Group Inc <AIG.N>, Fannie Mae <FNM.N>, Citigroup Inc <C.N> and Goldman Sachs Group Inc….
US banks in $2.5bn ‘Christmas capital’ gain – FT
US banks earned $2.5bn last year from an accounting rule that enables them to book gains – known as “Christmas capital” – by buying assets at a discount, a new study shows.
More than half of all acquisitions of failed banks last year resulted in such gains, according to SNL Financial, which compiled the data…..
Federal Prosecutors Leaning Against Charges in AIG Probe – WSJ
Federal prosecutors, after a two-year investigation, may soon decide not to charge American International Group Inc. executives for their role surrounding financial contracts that nearly brought down the company, according to people familiar with the matter.
Recently obtained evidence has prosecutors leaning against pursuing charges, though no final decision has been made by Justice Department prosecutors in Washington, these people said. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment…..
Wilbur Ross backing Virgin Money in RBS branch bid – Reuters
Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross said on Sunday he is prepared to commit up to 500 million pounds ($760 million) to support Virgin Money in its bid to buy the branch network of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L).
Ross said he has also invested $100 million ($152 million) in Virgin Money, after finishing negotiations over the weekend. That would give him a 21 percent stake in Virgin Money, a source familiar with the situation said. Ross teamed up with Virgin in 2007 when it attempted to buy lender Northern Rock and said he had been following its progress since…..
Macro hedge funds fail to profit from crisis – FT
Hedge funds that aim to profit from macroeconomic upheavals have had a lacklustre start to 2010, in spite of some of the biggest international monetary crises in more than a decade.
The Greek debt crisis and steep falls in value for both the euro and sterling have failed to translate into noticeable gains for most macro managers, many of whom predicted a stellar year on the back of huge global economic rebalancing…..
Madoff investors may not see cash from brokerage sale – Daily Telegraph
Investors in Bernard Madoff’s $65bn (£40bn) Ponzi scheme may not receive the $25.5m expected from the sale of his market-making business due to financial problems at the winning bidder.
Surge Trading, the company that bought Madoff’s broker-dealer operations, has said it may not be able to continue trading unless it changes the terms of the acquisition relating to earn-out payments…..
SEC Lawyer One Day, Opponent the Next – WSJ
…..The two ex-SEC men were among 66 former SEC employees who filed 168 letters with the SEC secretary in 2008 and the first nine months of 2009 disclosing clients or new employers they planned to represent before the agency, according to documents obtained through a public-records request. SEC regulations require such letters if a former employee represents a client before the agency within two years of leaving…….
Growth of Unpaid Internships May Be Illegal, Officials Say – NY Times
With job openings scarce for young people, the number of unpaid internships has climbed in recent years, leading federal and state regulators to worry that more employers are illegally using such internships for free labor.
Convinced that many unpaid internships violate minimum wage laws, officials in Oregon, California and other states have begun investigations and fined employers. Last year, M. Patricia Smith, then New York’s labor commissioner, ordered investigations into several firms’ internships. Now, as the federal Labor Department’s top law enforcement official, she and the wage and hour division are stepping up enforcement nationwide…..
IPad Taps Familiar Apple Suppliers – WSJ
A look inside Apple Inc.’s new iPad points to more business for some familiar component suppliers to the Silicon Valley giant.
Firms that specialize in disassembling and analyzing electronic hardware say they also found some new clues about the performance and durability of the long-awaited tablet-style computer.
The companies, which include iFixit Inc. and UBM TechInsights, began taking iPads apart shortly after the product went on sale Saturday morning…..
Tags: AIG, Apple, Banks, Berkshire Hathaway, Bernie Madoff, Citigroup, Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac, Goldman Sachs, Hedge funds, iPad, Warren Buffett, Wilbur Ross
