I wanted to put a list of our shame as the citizens of the world. I thought it might be interesting to see just what has happened in the last 2 years as we have watched the shaming of our nations revealed through this economic downturn. It amazes me that corporate greed, consumerism and capitalism have come so far.
So many have sold their souls.
May we never forget!
pd
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Our little List of Sin
1. Salandar’s Art
http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/27/news/art_dealer/index.htm?postversion=2009032706
2. Credit Suisse Defrauded by Investment Firm
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/25/private-equity-credit-suisse-business-wall-street-credit-suisse.html?feed=rss_popstories
3. Thain’s Office – The former Merrill CEO spends over a million on an office redesign after leading his investment group into ruin!
4. Merrill’s Bonuses to Losers – http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aDeaG8lwSMxw&refer=home
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aNK7oT_jXuxY&refer=home
5. BofA’s Cover Up
6. Madoff – http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/12/news/newsmakers/madoff_courtappearance/index.htm?postversion=2009031215
7. Miami’s Banks hiding Dictator’s stash – http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/947261.html
8. Stanford’s Island
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1842429020090218
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=home&sid=abDYIYTwjjl8
9. NY Lawyer Investment Scam
Dreier indicted on more charges – http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/17/news/companies/dreier_laundering.reut/index.htm?postversion=2009031719
http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/19/news/hedge_fund_fraud/index.htm?postversion=2009031914
10. NY Politicos Charged in Pension Fund Scheme – http://www.fa-mag.com/fa-news/3972-ny-politicos-charged-in-pension-fund-kickback-scheme.html
11. Texas Email Stock Scam – http://www.fa-mag.com/fa-news/3973-texas-traders-to-pay-nearly-4m-in-e-mail-stock-scam.html
12. Cramer’s Indiscretion – http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/03/13/stewart-slams-cramer-with-apple-video/
13. Fall of Lehman – http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aB1jlqmFOTCA&refer=home
14. Fall of Bear Stearns
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11225328
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Stocks/Global_Markets/CDO_market_shudders_on_Bear_Stearns_fund_collapse/articleshow/2140357.cms
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2810979/Bear-Stearns-in-3.2bn-fund-bail-out.html
15. The Crash
http://holyworldwide.com/dustinhedrick/?p=568
http://holyworldwide.com/dustinhedrick/?p=573
http://holyworldwide.com/dustinhedrick/?p=576
http://holyworldwide.com/dustinhedrick/?p=810
http://holyworldwide.com/dustinhedrick/?p=825
http://holyworldwide.com/dustinhedrick/?p=893
http://holyworldwide.com/dustinhedrick/?p=895
http://holyworldwide.com/dustinhedrick/?p=964
http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/recession_depression/
16. Naked Short Selling (& the rule change that made the crash possible from 2007)
http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/24/markets/modified_uptick.reut/index.htm?postversion=2009032412
17. Sub Prime Lending and Rise of Foreclosures – http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/12/real_estate/new_foreclosure_jump/index.htm?postversion=2009031215
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=agdquPfpIk78&refer=home
18. Stimulating Indiscretion
AIG’s Vacation – http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=agV77aT42D.4&refer=home
AIG’s Bonuses for Idiots that Created this Mess – http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/18/news/companies/aig_hearing/index.htm?postversion=2009031810
19. FNM & FRE
http://www.lvrj.com/business/28044604.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/12/useconomy.creditcrunch
20. WAMU
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/jontalton/2008204731_biztaltoncol26.html
21. Wachovia
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/408/story/222685.html
22. CDO’s, CDS’ & CLO’s
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=akXjReT2YryA&refer=home
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a5DzVI2G8X94&refer=home
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=aaaFmj_r7EbM&refer=home
23. Shadow Banking
24. Hedge Funds – Their sneaky derivatives and naked short selling led to Lehman and others’ fall.
25. Corporate Bond Busts
26. Indy Mac
27. West Palm Beach Government Leaders giving family contracts
28. Financial Fraud Cases – http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/20/news/economy/fraud_probes/index.htm?postversion=2009032015
29. US Car Industry
GM & Chrysler’s misdeeds and money waste (FLYING TO DC)
30. Big Oil’s “Believed” Influence – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7704786.stm
http://holyworldwide.com/dustinhedrick/?p=640
31. 1 Dollar Houses in Detroit – No one wants a part of Motown anymore.
32. Ghost Towns in GA, CA & FL – As homes are foreclosed, whole towns and subdivisions have been left vacant since homeowners are leaving in droves.
33. Record Jobless Number – http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/12/news/economy/jobless_claims/index.htm?postversion=2009031209
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFPHiiinVQpA&refer=home
34. Credit Card Misdeeds – http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aAJRRhfN5XOQ&refer=home
35. Geithner’s and Others’ Tax Lies – http://holyworldwide.com/dustinhedrick/?p=799
36. Senators & Rep’s on the Take – Goverment Gifts
http://holyworldwide.com/dustinhedrick/?p=907
http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/25/news/economy/sloan_execs.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009032604
37. Health Indescretions – http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=aR_WfzIY5034&refer=home
38. Celebrity Foreclosures and Bankruptcies – http://www.cnbc.com/id/25006032
39. Clothiers forced to become modest –
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2009-03-08-teens-modest-retail-clothes_N.htm
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=5829809
40. Commercial Real Estate Fall – Prices are still projected to drop into 2010 which will utterly wipe that world away.
41. Manhattan’s Fall (Prices, Jobs, bad spending, etc) –
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE50715Z20090108
42. Swiss Banking SECRECY Broken – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7941717.stm
43. Misuse of Visas cleaned up due to downturn – http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/04/smallbusiness/foreign_worker_visas_applications_down.smb/index.htm?postversion=2009030515
44. Newspaper’s “Blood in the Streets…” Destroys their funding base – Newspapers keep crying “Blood in the Streets” in order to sell papers. That same cry has led to their bondholders and shareholders dumping stock, dropping their value, reducing their income stream and leading to a freefall for the media world.
45. Entertainment & Media
Newspapers shutting down
Hollywood Cuts and Cleanup – Hollywood dropping films and actors. Cleaning up its image.
Curbing Porn Appetite – Playboy going out of business, porn sales drop.
Record Drop in Gambling – http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aJzJ_THa9Pck&refer=home
46. Coupon Dealer Shenanigans – http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/13/news/companies/news_america_settlement.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009031311
47. HISTORY OF EXCESSES:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7939403.stm
48. Kerviel Societe Generale – http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aGPm6.ePWEhA
SEC charges former Citi banker with fraud
Another story of wrongdoing on Wall Street!
Chrysler Lenders Tried Obama’s Patience, Lost Game of Chicken
Colleges Flunk Economics Test as Harvard Model Destroys Budgets
Reserve Management, Founder Bruce Bent Sued by SEC
Coca-Cola, Oracle, Intel Use Cayman Islands to Avoid U.S. Taxes
Bankruptcy Sleuths Find Cash in Trader Receipts for Lap Dancers
SEC’s First Swap Case Targets Deutsche Bank Salesman
Commercial Property: The Other Shoe
MF Global Told to Pay U.K. Trader About $30 Million because their trader LIED!
Chrysler won’t repay bailout money
An administration official confirms that a $4 billion bridge loan and $3.2 billion in bankruptcy financing won’t be paid back by Chrysler following bankruptcy.
20% of homeowners ‘underwater’
Study finds more than 20% of U.S. homeowners – about 20 million residences – owe more than their homes are worth.
Rich Default on Luxury Homes Like Subprime Victims
Too many people bought houses with exotic or super-mortgages and now they cannot pay!
New York Comptroller Sues Aldus Alleging Kickbacks
Staff member for government official gets lucrative pension contracts for Aldus and they pay $320,000!!!!
The John Edwards Affair
I mean, do we really need to hear about anymore of these guys having affairs?
They should know they are literal targets for indiscretion.
A Possible Newspaper Bailout… Really?
Can you say, “Adventure in missing the point???” Read this article. I love how the author approaches it!
The Great Recession
Cuomo Starts National Debt-Settlement Industry Probe
Rogue Debt Settlement Companies Rob the indebted and leave them in worse situations!
Norman Hsu, Clinton campaign supporter pleads guilty to ponzi scheme
And the kicker is that he also supported tons of other political heads that LOVED HIM! He even gave illegally under assumed names even though he says that he didn’t.
The catch is that the money already made the difference in elections… Even if the political leaders give it back afterwards, the damage done can never be erased.
Yucky…
JPM, BAC, & Others; Selling Risky Derivatives to Cities?
Seriously? We really rigged people’s sewer bills for failure? Now that kind of greed stinks!
Hedge-Fund Founder Lauer Must Pay $62 Million in SEC Lawsuit
Antitrust Suits Allowed to Slip through the Cracks!
Broker Defrauds Nursing Home Residents and Others in Fraudulent Investments!
Father of the Money Market Mutual Fund lied
How Pension Placement Agent Exploited Political Ties
Martin Quits as Speaker in Widening U.K. Scandal
SEC Insider Trading and Bullying!
Mayfair Eviction Fight Pits Credit Suisse Against WILD MAN Investor
Bank execs paid via insurance on workers
Tax-free benefits reportedly used to pay bonuses, deferred pay and pensions.
Major financial institutions — including Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), Wachovia and its parent, Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) — are taking increasing amounts of life insurance policies against their employees, and naming the company as the beneficiary, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The company receives a tax-free benefit when the employee dies, whether that employee is still working at the company or not, the report said.
While banks are not alone in the practice, the amount of life insurance that banks in particular are taking out for their employees has been on the rise, the paper reported.
A law passed in August 2006 prohibits banks from taking out life insurance policies against all but the top third of their earners, and those employees must provide consent to participate in the program, according to the story.
But the Journal said the regulation does not apply to the policies taken out against millions of current and former employees prior to 2006.
Two FTC Executives Charged With Fraud
Two executives at FTC Capital Markets Inc. in New York have been charged in an alleged scheme to defraud institutional investors by misrepresenting the types of securities they were investing in.
Guillermo Clamens, FTC Capital’s chairman, and Nazly Cucunuba Lopez, also known as Lina Lopez, have been criminally charged with conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud. Clamens also was the company’s chief executive prior to March 2009.