SEC's Khuzami Shifts Focus to Options and Futures Cheats ...

The Securities and Exchange Commission will broaden the focus of its insider trading cases beyond the traditional equities sector into other instruments, such as derivatives, the agency's enforcement director said Monday, Bloomberg News reported on its Web site. Robert Khuzami, speaking at a New York legal conference, cautioned that the "days of insider-trading scrutiny being focused almost solely on the equity markets are now gone." He declined to say whether the SEC has any current insider trading investigations involving derivatives. Khuzami joined the agency in March.

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Full story at: www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aNPUak7MMqgY&pos=3
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-Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2900
Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=zwt0mZzjDDJIeNODwDY8mQ%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 23, 2009 12:39 ET (17:39 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 12 39 PM EST 11-23-09
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Donkeys' Partisan Health Care Stanglehold is Being Held Up by a Single Senator from Arkansas; Cheers to Blanche Lincoln, so far ...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Sen. Mary Landrieu, (D., La.), announced Saturday that she would vote to advance a $848 billion health-care overhaul measure, bringing Democrats one step closer to unanimity on an initial procedural vote on the bill slated for tonight.

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Landrieu, who is considered a centrist Democrat, made her announcement in a speech on the Senate floor. While she said the bill contained "amazing and cutting-edge reforms" to reduce health-care costs, she cautioned that she had not decided whether to support passing the bill in a final Senate vote.
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"I've decided that there are enough significant reforms and safeguards in this bill to move forward, but much more work needs to be done," Landrieu said.
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The vote on the procedural motion, which if approved would allow the Senate to formally begin debate on the measure after it returns from a Thanksgiving recess, is set for 8 p.m. EST Saturday.
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Landrieu's announcement follows a similar announcement by Sen. Ben Nelson, (D., Neb.), another centrist, on Friday. Democrats are still waiting on Sen. Blanche Lincoln, (D., Ark.), who faces a tough re-election battle in 2010, to announce how she will vote on the measure.
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In all, 60 senators--58 Democrats and 2 independents--caucus with Senate Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), must secure all of their votes in order to prevent a filibuster on the motion to proceed to the bill.
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Reid has worked assiduously to gain the support of Nelson, Landrieu and Lincoln to begin debate on the bill. Aides have pointed to a provision in the bill that would steer an estimated $200 million to $250 million in Medicaid funds for Louisiana in fiscal 2011 as an overture to Landrieu.
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-By Patrick Yoest, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-3554; patrick.yoest@dowjones.com
Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=Xe%2Fsjdo6uTceR2BNpA5ArA%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 21, 2009 12:58 ET (17:58 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 12 58 PM EST 11-21-09
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Geithner's Testimony Next Thursday at 10ET Regarding Regulations Bodes Bearishness Ahead of Friday's Option Expiration...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is to testify next week about the efforts to overhaul the financial regulatory landscape at a hearing of the joint economic committee of Congress.

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According to a statement released by the committee, Geithner will testify about whether any loopholes in regulation led to last year's financial collapse, and how proposed regulatory changes will promote job growth and economic stability.
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The hearing is scheduled for Nov. 19 at 10 a.m. EST.
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-By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6601; corey.boles@dowjones.com
Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=%2Bj4Gq6PYcnUJEFI5CLuhaQ%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 12, 2009 14:52 ET (19:52 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 02 52 PM EST 11-12-09
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Donkey Regime Espouses Clear Fiscal and Social Danger for Long-Term Capitalism

Next economic market moving data comes this Thursday at 8:30ET, Initial Claims for Unemployment week ending 11/7: http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicReleases/claims.htm/
Last posted 512K, now the estimates are from 510K - 525K.
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POTC has blogged about the government smoothing effect before and we remind again: the tremendous gov't spending will create many public jobs, whether in education, health and human services, transportation, energy, or labor/infrastucture, more gov't jobs are definitely coming: http://www.stimuluswatch.org/project/by_state/
Yet the long-term impact this un-American governmnet spending paradigm will have on the all important private sector is reason to be very concerned...
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The Obama Administration is not completely stupid; dangerous to capitalism a resounding yes, but completely ignorant in their anti free-market agenda, no. The Administration realizes a controlled drip of stimulus money will be necessary to have a better chance at stabilizing the financial markets and hence increasing their chances of winning the midterm November 2010 elections.

Even the slightest passage of bills with the word "public" attached, i.e. public health care option, could envelope our free-market system after the midterm elections. Give them an inch and they'll want a mile, caution. Hopefully more Americans are paying attention to what is standing before us.
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Inside this highly impressive 8 month technical bounce, it is difficult to short the S&P, yet there are many V-shaped stocks that could come tumbling on account of uncertain and dislocated fundamentals looking-out 6 months - 1 year (ISRG is one example).
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Yet we feel this 8 month liquidity rush into stocks could continue as this Administration is only in the infancy stages of a $787B stimulus - spend. Trading has never felt so plastic and difficult to time.
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POTC predicts weekly claims continue their trajectory down due to the government smoothing effect. As that 500K mark is broken on November 26th, a Santa Clause rally could take a firm grip through year-end, forcing shorts to cover and underperforming money managers to buy at bloated prices.
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An S&P spike may well occur through year end and shock bears and bulls alike. POTC would consider S&P 1,300 the ultimate Obama spending spike and unsustainable technical level, presenting the best shorting opportunity since 2000.
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Go To Jail, Do Not Pass Go; from the Desk of the Dictator of the Partisan House, Nancy "Gov't Monopoly" Pelosi

http://republicans.waysandmeans.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=153583

The Obama Administration's Fiscal Policies Have Revealed a Golden Cross... (CNBC's Larry Kudlow Gets It)

Gold will be in a bull market as long as the Obama Administration pushes for and legislates anti free-market fiscal and social policies. The Gold/S&P Cross has occurred and POTC believes it is due to the looming socioeconomic ramifications of a big government. One troy ounce of gold now costs more than one share of S&P 500 index.
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POTC warned of this day several weeks ago, please verify the blog archive on October 6th and 7th. Our team feels vindicated as equities sold off and lost most of their October gains on the same exact day the "Golden Cross" occurred. Yet many CNBC talking heads continue to blow their bull horns as if pending anti free-market legislation did not matter.
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Shame on Jim Cramer and everyone who is turning a blind eye to the increased regulations and controls on the horizon. The insistence of the Obama Administration that government is the solution to all our problems is troubling and only developing, as the donkey majority is behaving very aggressively in favor of a centralized government model.
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Every private sector is at great risk of having to change their business models as a result of higher taxes and government fees. Whether Public Health Care, Energy Cap and Trade, Autos, Banking, Insurance, or Employee Free Choice Act/Card Check (EFCA), POTC agrees with Larry Kudlow's blunt admittance on Thursday, Oct 22nd: "I Cannot be a Long-Run Bull on the Stock Market".
http://psychologyofthecall.blogspot.com/
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Timothy Geithner Tricked on Halloween by Chairman Barney Frank as Fed Governor Bernanke Watches...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The top U.S. House Democrat crafting legislation to overhaul regulation of the financial services industry now supports having large financial firms pre-pay the costs to cover a large firm collapsing, a spokesman said.

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A spokesman for Rep. Barney Frank said the Massachusetts Democrat, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, would seek to amend a broader system-risk bill to create the pre-paid fund. Frank, appearing on Bloomberg Television, said the initial fear that the existence of the fund could encourage risky behavior was unfounded.
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"It turns out that doesn't have any impact because everybody thinks it's going to be there anyway," Frank said, according to Bloomberg.
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The reversal comes the day after a number of Democrats on the Financial Services panel questioned the idea of collecting fees from the banking industry after the fact for a major failure. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said the industry should pay to have a fund in place.
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"Most of us don't die and then buy a life insurance policy," Gutierrez quipped at a hearing.
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That position was echoed by Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. She said collecting the fees after the collapse of a systemically important firm would punish the firms that did not fail.
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"It allows all large firms to pay risk-based assessments into the [fund], not just the survivors after any resolution, and it avoids the pro-cyclical nature of requiring repayment after a systemic crisis," Bair said.
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Frank's reversal of opinion on the matter puts him at odds with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who on Thursday said having a pre-existing fund would create a moral hazard. It would send the message to creditors and market participants that they are insured against losses, he said.
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"We don't want to create that expectation, that's why we think it's better to do it after the fact," Geithner said, adding that "We want the ability to let them fail without the taxpayer being exposed to losses."
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Frank and the Treasury Department earlier this week introduced a draft proposal to regulate and wind down the largest financial firms, for the first time giving regulators the ability to take an overarching view of financial markets.
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-By Michael R. Crittenden, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9273; michael.crittenden@dowjones.com
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
October 30, 2009 14:25 ET (18:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 02 25 PM EDT 10-30-09
http://psychologyofthecall.blogspot.com/
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