• Accountants Misled Us Into Crisis – Yes. You. [Floyd Norris/NYT]
• Prosecutors Are Poised to Impanel AIG Grand Jury – “In the AIG matter, the swaps at issue led to billions of dollars in write-downs for the insurer after PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, its auditor, said the process AIG used to value them was flawed. Pricewaterhouse could be called to testify about, among other things, the way in which it came to determine there was a material weakness in the internal controls used by Mr. Cassano’s group to value the swaps, the people familiar with the matter said.” [WSJ]
• Bloomberg Among Potential Bidders for McGraw-Hill’s BusinessWeek – Whether the Big 4 remains on the Launch list remains to be seen. [WSJ]
• New Charges in Stanford Case – “Mr. Perraud arranged for a shredding company to come to the office and supervised the shredding of a 95-gallon bin full of documents, the indictment said.” This guy thought he knew how to destroy documentation. Fool. Leave that to us. [Reuters via NYT]
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Preliminary Analytics | 09.18.09
• Financier Pang Allegedly Had Drugs in His System at Death – “Newport Beach police believe the most likely explanation is that Mr. Pang, 42 years old, committed suicide, according to people close to the matter, but they are awaiting the coroner’s report for a definitive conclusion.” [WSJ]
• Investors, It Pays to Mind the GAAP Gaps – “Companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index earned an estimated $13.81 a share in the quarter on an operating basis, compared with $13.51 in GAAP earnings. That is the closest those two earnings measures have been since the first quarter of 2000.” [WSJ]
• Fed to screen U.S. bank pay policies: report – Basically, bankers would have to get approval from Dad before getting their allowance. [Reuters]
• UBS Tax Net Snares Clients of Credit Suisse, Julius Baer, LGT – Eventually, just for simplicity and fairness, everyone will have to tell everyone else where they bank. [Bloomberg]
Preliminary Analytics | 10.28.09
• GMAC Asks for Fresh Lifeline – Third round of bailout aid should be the charm. [WSJ]
• Ex-Chief of AMD Is Linked to Galleon – So far, Hector Ruiz isn’t in any trouble but this certainly doesn’t look good. [WSJ]
• World Series Games Add $15.5 Million Each to NYC, Agency Says – Much of which goes to Billy’s and Stan’s. [Bloomberg]
• Pitchfork Watch: Couple Charged With Torturing Suspected Mortgage Fraudsters – Mortgage brokers, this is your warning. [Naked Capitalism]
• Madoff victims lobby judge to deny Frank DiPascali Jr. bail – Surprise. [NYDN]
• It may be BYOB as fewer firms plan holiday parties – Roll in with the High Life. [Reuters]
Preliminary Analytics | 12.30.09
• Kansas City Fed’s Denver Branch Gives Us a Peek into the Fed’s Secret Decision-Making Process – This should explain some things. [JDA]
• Are lawsuits against CPA’s poised to spike? – “After a year of record-setting investor losses, a leading securities attorney warned that accounting firms will face a rising tide of enforcement actions and litigation in 2010, and should take steps to ensure their client relationship practices reflect recent court decisions.” [CPA Trendlines]
• Jean Stephens, CEO RSM International – The make up sex between RSM and M&P gets a little attention but alas, no mention of NG. [Web CPA]
• GMAC Set for Another Cash Infusion – According to those familiar with the sitch, GMAC is looking to get an additional $3.5 billion on top of the $12.5 bil that’s already been thrown at them. [WSJ]
• FDIC Moves to Seize Slice of Bank-Stock Rallies – “Starting next year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will ask bidders for some seized banks to offer the agency a chance to profit if the deal is well-received by the buyer’s shareholders.” If banks are going to keep failing, why not get in on this action? [WSJ]
• More ammo for the bazooka – Will the crack fiend aka the housing market score again? [Rolfe Winkler/Reuters]
• Dutch To Use Full-Body Scanners For U.S. Flights – This is one of those hindsight situations. [AP]