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Excerpt - The Justice Department has ended its criminal investigation of backdated stock options at Apple Inc., deciding not to bring charges against the company or several current and former executives it had been probing for two years, people familiar with the case said. ~ snip ~

SACRAMENTO – As Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez reflected on his unlikely rise from a San Diego barrio to one of the state's most powerful offices, he recalled poignant, painful moments of a generation ago. “I remember making friends with a kid in La Jolla – my father was a gardener there; my mother was a maid – and going over to the kid's home near the Sea Lodge. “We were playing, and right as we were going to go inside and play with his toys, his mom came out and said to me: 'You have to wait outside. You can't...

Excerpt - Just got a nervous call from my lawyers who said they wanted to give me a "heads up" about a "situation" at Broadcom. See more about it here. Basically the feds are going after some Broadcom execs over some options backdating stuff. I'm like, So what? I don't work at Broadcom. They're like, Um, well, see, Broadcom did its own internal investigation and already cleared these guys, and the SEC isn't buying it apparently, and though the company itself has already settled the whole thing the SEC is still going after the executives as individuals. Now you do...

WASHINGTON - Conservatives are nearly resigned to seeing front-runner John McCain capture the Republican presidential nomination, but they are still debating whether to stay home in November or to try to influence his positions and choice of a running mate. The Arizona senator, who has a long history of disputes over economic and social issues with his party's right flank, is beginning to reach out to those critics now that Super Tuesday voting has given him a commanding lead in the race for delegates. "He's got nine months to give birth to a conservative support group," said Cleta Mitchell, chairman...

Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade hit their highest levels since 1973 on strong technical buying and bullish long-term fundamentals, which included concern over securing enough U.S. soybean acres for next spring. U.S. soybean acreages have fallen sharply as farmers jumped to corn amid a rally in prices of the other crop last year. In Friday's trading, CBOT soybeans for January surged as much as 17.25 cents to $11.78 a bushel. They closed at $11.77-1/2, up 16.75 cents CBOT corn for March rose as much as 10.5 cents to a 11-year high of $4.48 a bushel on indications...

...Everyone believes in adequate health care; people should have it when needed. Politicians cater to these beliefs. But the intellectual and even moral laziness of this approach results in an invisible abdication of political responsibility. We are letting the unchecked rise in health spending determine national priorities. Consider: Health spending already totals more than $2 trillion annually, about 16 percent of national income (gross domestic product). By 2030, it could easily exceed 25 percent -- one dollar out of four -- projects the Congressional Budget Office. There's a massive transfer of income from young to old. Americans 65 and older...

I would like to get some advice from FReepers who have served in the military, including guard and reserve. My female cousin, who is 38, has graduated with a degree as a chiropractor. She is in the middle of her board exams but wants more practical experience treating people. One of her high school buddies is in the Army (band) and suggested joining. She told my cousin to join as a National Guard band member for a couple years, get her student loans paid off and then switch to the medical field, either as a chiropractor or go as a...

A big package of stock options is no substitute for actual ownership when aiming to encourage chief executives to take prudent risks that provide reliable stock returns, according to a new study. CEOs whose compensation packages include a large percentage of stock options tend to make risky decisions that generate big share price losses more often than big gains, said study authors W. Gerard Sanders of Brigham Young University and Donald Hambrick of Penn State University. Proponents of stock option awards say they attract and retain talented executives, and give managers a vested interest in the company's future stock performance....

There is an interesting phenomenon that has arisen over the last few months: a trend of moderate Republicans who want to vote for Barack Obama. It may seem counterintuitive, conservatives supporting a candidate who wants to tax the wealthy and embrace the conventions in the Kyoto Accord, but there is something in Obama's message about ridding politics of partisanship that is appealing to these Republicans. He doesn't carry the baggage of a Hillary Clinton. He is new; he seems authentic -- although his connection to indicted fund-raiser Tony Rezko has made some previous supporters wonder -- and he has more...

With all the new changes going on, I was thinking of all the cool thing FR does. The notify feature was sweet and I JUST found out about it. Can anyone else thing of the cool things Freerepublic has to offer (must be a member to use)? Here is my list(with URL): Upload personalized style sheet(CSS) - http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/edit-style Notify of replies/mail - http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/notify?detach=1 Settings for the new forum - http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/settings Latest Posts (no explaination needed) - http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/latest Self Search - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/involved Profile page - http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/profile FreeperMail - http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/mail-index Locations - http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/profiles FreeRepublic Options - http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/options Edit your profile - http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/edit-profile ...

Months into a federal investigation of stock options backdating at Apple, prospects for a criminal case against powerhouse CEO Steve Jobs appear dim. A Mercury News examination of a massive 2001 stock-options grant to Jobs that was backdated through bogus documentation - the central focus of the federal probe - shows there is scant evidence, if any, to support criminal charges against the Silicon Valley icon. Despite Apple's disclosure that Jobs approved widespread backdating at Apple, there is no evidence he directed the backdating of his own grant or covered it up afterward, based on a review of regulatory filings...

February 08, 2007 Bush Uncle Profits From Options Scheme By MARCY GORDON ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush's uncle William H.T. Bush was among a group of directors of a defense contractor who reaped $6 million from what federal regulators say was an illegal five-year scheme by two company executives to manipulate the timing of stock option grants, documents show. Bush, known as "Bucky," is the youngest brother of former President George H.W. Bush. He was an outside, non-executive director of Engineered Support Systems Inc., a defense contractor whose profits were bolstered because of the Iraq war. The St....

Flanked by lawyers, Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs came to the San Francisco federal building last week to be questioned by staffers from the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission about stock options that were backdated at the company, according to people familiar with the case. -snip- At issue in Apple's case is the granting of 7.5 million options to Jobs in 2001 that was backdated by two months. Company records were falsified to create the impression the options were approved at a board meeting that never occurred, Apple has confirmed. -snip- An Apple attorney, Wendy Howell, whom...

Steve Jobs is an ideas guy. He wears jeans, grows beards and orates to cheering throngs at events like this week's MacWorld conference. Jobs' biographers say evidence indicates that he's a pescetarian. He went to India. He takes only $1 a year in salary. And he leaves it up to other people to award him hugely valuable piles of stock in Apple Computer, where he's the CEO. People like Wendy Howell, the former in-house Apple lawyer responsible for option paperwork, probably won't be attending Jobs' eagerly awaited MacWorld speech Tuesday. Late last year, she became the lone person to lose...

An internal inquiry gives him a pass in Apple's backdating scandal—but raises questions about whether he's getting special treatment In Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs is admired for many things: his storybook resuscitation of Apple Computer (AAPL), his billion-dollar-plus fortune, his rock star status as the driving force behind iconic products such as the iPod. Near the top of the list is Jobs’s famed ability to spin what admiring techies refer to as a "reality distortion field" to win consumers over to the Apple view of the world. But will it work with government regulators? As Jobs prepares to wow the...

In Regulatory Filing, Apple Discloses Lawsuits Over IPod-ITunes Link, Laptop Failure NEW YORK (AP) -- As if its options woes weren't trouble enough, Apple Computer Inc. said Friday it is facing several federal lawsuits, including one alleging the company created an illegal monopoly by tying iTunes music and video sales to its market-leading iPod portable players. The case, filed July 21, is over Apple's use of a copy-protection system that generally prevents iTunes music and video from playing on rival players. Likewise, songs purchased elsewhere aren't easily playable on iPods. The plaintiff is seeking unspecified damages and other relief. The...

As we mentioned in yesterday’s wrap-up, we had a heck of a good time buying Apple while everyone else was selling and selling Apple while everyone else was buying over at the member’s site. Today we are either being handed a huge gift by AAPL or we are on the road to doom but I am very likely to take out our callers this morning back near yesterday’s lows as we will have this matter resolved tomorrow and we may get a chance to sell them all over again before the day is up. If not, perhaps we will just...

WASHINGTON - President Bush has taken the most dramatic options off the table as he tries to change direction in Iraq, leaving him with a list of modest military and diplomatic moves to announce in the new year. Bush probably will ignore the boldest suggestions from a bipartisan commission that studied U.S. options in Iraq, adopting some of the group's lesser prescriptions alongside those drafted by his civilian and military advisers. The White House National Security Council has compiled recommendations from several agencies as the administration's internal reassessment of Iraq policy nears an end. Bush plans to address the nation...

In a move that will enable its employees to earn more money from stock options — and perhaps motivate them to settle for fewer of them in pay packages as a result — Google said yesterday that it would create a system allowing options to be sold as well as exercised. Under the program, Google will grant employees a new type of option, called a transferable stock option. The company will work with Morgan Stanley to set up a market that will enable financial institutions and other investors to bid for those options. Experts briefed on the plan were divided...

As pressure mounts for a change of course in Iraq, the Bush administration is groping for a viable new strategy for the president to unveil by Christmas, with deliberations now focused on three main options to redefine the U.S. military and political engagement, according to officials familiar with the debate. The major alternatives include a short-term surge of 15,000 to 30,000 additional U.S. troops to secure Baghdad and accelerate the training of Iraqi forces. Another strategy would redirect the U.S. military away from the internal strife to focus mainly on hunting terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda. And the third would concentrate...

What are the advantages/disadvantages/risks compared with "traditional" real estate investing (i.e. owning a multiunit building and collecting rent)? What books/research would you recommend? Thanks.

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryOctober 7, 2006 President's Radio Address       Audio      In Focus: Education      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. In recent days, we have seen shocking acts of violence in schools across our Nation. Laura and I are praying for the victims and their families, and we extend our sympathies to them and to the communities that have been devastated by these attacks. I have asked Secretary of Education Spellings and Attorney General Gonzales to host a conference on school safety this Tuesday. We will bring together teachers, parents, students, administrators, law enforcement officials, and other experts...

Cablevision Systems Corp. awarded options to a vice chairman after his 1999 death but backdated them, making it appear the grant was awarded when he still was alive, according to a company filing and people familiar with the matter. The country's fifth-largest cable operator in terms of subscribers also improperly awarded a compensation consultant options but accounted for them as if he were an employee, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, citing the results of a six-week investigation by an outside law firm. The findings of the probe were released yesterday as the Bethpage, N.Y., company restated its...

Excerpt - SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Cablevision Systems Corp. awarded options to Vice Chairman Marc Lustgarten after his death in 1999, but backdated them to a date when he was still alive, according to a Thursday evening media report. ~ snip ~

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Christopher Cox told a Senate panel his agency is currently investigating more than 100 companies for possible fraudulent reporting of stock option grants. The total is 25 percent more than the the agency said it was probing a month ago. "The companies are located throughout the country, and include Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller [companies]," Cox told the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday. "They span multiple industry sectors." Cox told reporters in San Francisco on July 20 when he announce the indictment of former Brocade Communications Systems Inc. executives in connection...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2006 -- The Defense Department is focusing efforts to ensure servicemembers stationed overseas and in the United States know their options for voting in the 2006 congressional and local elections. Sept. 3-9 is Armed Forces Voters Week. Officials caution that this is the last safe week to submit a Federal Post Card Application, or request voter registration forms and absentee ballots that meet most state deadlines. The Defense Department is responsible for ensuring the right to vote for military members and their families, and also for U.S. citizens living overseas. It accomplishes this through the Federal Voting...

So is it a ``witch hunt,'' or isn't it? Dan Warmenhoven, chief executive of Network Appliance, says that's exactly what it is. Software entrepreneur Bill Coleman, founder of both BEA Systems and Cassatt, says that rhetoric ``is way overblown.'' So goes a sharp debate among Silicon Valley executives over the ongoing federal investigation into stock options irregularities at 26 Silicon Valley companies, among at least 80 nationwide. Warmenhoven is the rare valley CEO who publicly and provocatively insists the options imbroglio is much ado about not much. ``Who exactly was the injured party and how were they injured? This is...

Web Site to Outline Voting Options for Troops OverseasBy Sgt. Sara Wood, USAAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2006 – A new Web site being developed by the Defense Department will provide information on electronic voting options for servicemembers and other U.S. citizens living overseas. The Integrated Voting Alternative Site, which is scheduled to be accessible Sept. 1, will include information from all 55 states and territories on the various electronic ballot request and delivery alternatives available to U.S. citizens living overseas covered under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, said Scott Wiedmann, deputy director of...

Excerpt - Everyone knows the former Veep is on Apple's board, but he's also on the board's compensation committee. That raises the odds that he could land on the hot-seat if it turns out that Apple's stock options "irregularities" are of the sort that lead to civil or even criminal charges. In fact, former members of the comp committee at Mercury Interactive were notified by the SEC in June that they're likely to face civil charges. With that instance in mind, one SEC expert who requested anonymity says: “If there’s a problem at Apple, Gore's globe is going to be...

The U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California launched a task force focused on stock-options backdating by companies, ratcheting up the government's probes of possible manipulation of a form of executive pay... Federal prosecutors around the country and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating more than 50 companies because executives received options grants at low prices just before steep jumps in company share prices. Investigators suspect companies may have backdated, or otherwise changed, the timing of options to make them more lucrative. An option gives its holder the right to buy shares at an exercise price -- typically...

Barnes & Noble Inc. said its board's audit committee will conduct a review of the company's stock-option practices after a shareholder filed a lawsuit alleging that the New York-based bookseller improperly backdated dozens of options grants to executives. Federal authorities are investigating the options practices of more than 50 companies to determine whether they backdated or otherwise manipulated grant dates to make them more lucrative. Stock options give employees the right to buy shares in the future at current prices, so retroactively giving executives lower-priced options can translate into significant additional pay for executives. Barnes & Noble said there was...

Apple's Jobs caught up in US options scandal (Filed: 30/06/2006) Apple Computer has launched an internal investigation after admitting it may have manipulated stock-option grants to benefit executives, including chief executive Steve Jobs. The admission wraps Apple into the unfolding business scandal that is spreading to some of America's best-known companies. At least 60 have now disclosed possible stock option irregularities. Tainted: Steve Jobs may have been awarded a manipulated grant Investigators are trying to determine whether companies inflated the value of stock options awarded to senior executives by backdating or timing the grants to coincide with days when the...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Just two Arab countries have supplied almost 50 percent of California's imported oil over the past five years, a dependence that leaves the state more vulnerable than the rest of the country to disruptions in the world oil markets. The finding, based on an analysis of state and federal crude oil import statistics, underscores the challenges confronting both California -- the biggest gas-consuming state in the U.S. -- and the country as a whole as lawmakers grapple with consumer outrage over high prices at the pump and a U.S. deficit that has widened on the back...

NEW DELHI, June 5, 2006 – The top U.S. general spent today meeting with India's defense and military leaders to consider ways for the United States and India to further expand their military partnership. Marine Gen. Peter Pace (right), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, takes part in a briefing in New Delhi on June 5, along with his Indian counterpart, Adm. Arun Prakash (center). The visit to India is Pace's first as chairman. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "We want to explore possibilities that allow us to have...

GENERAL COUNSEL SWEPT UP IN WIDENING PROBE OF BACKDATINGThe stock options scandal in Silicon Valley widened Tuesday as software maker McAfee said it fired its general counsel during an internal review of options-granting practices. Separately, chip design company Rambus said it has launched an internal investigation into how the company doled out options in 2003 and before. McAfee, the Santa Clara-based maker of anti-virus software, fired general counsel Kent Roberts during an internal review of how the company gave out stock options to executives and employees during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The dismissal of Roberts, who had been...

LONDON - Oil hit a record $74 a barrel Wednesday on fears Iran's intensifying dispute with the West may hit oil supplies and after U.S. gasoline stocks dropped. London's Brent crude settled $1.22 higher at $73.73 a barrel after peaking at a record $74. U.S. gasoline stocks slumped more than 5 million barrels last week, government data released Wednesday showed. It was a larger fall than analysts polled by Reuters expected, and supplies are now nearly 5 percent below last year's level. "The EIA (inventory) data are bullish in light of expectations," said Kyle Cooper, analyst at IAF Advisors in...

Dubai Mercantile Exchange Oman has agreed to supply crude oil to back the planned launch of the Middle East’s first oil futures contract. The government of Oman is working with the new Dubai Mercantile Exchange to launch the crude futures contract this year as oil prices in other markets stand near record levels. The decision by Oman, one of the few Middle East producers not in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is a significant step forward for the DME, as it gives potential users of its crude oil contract the option to take physical delivery or settle financially....

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2006 – The first Quadrennial Defense Review undertaken during a time of war provides the military more options and more capabilities, a senior defense official said here today. A large portion of those options and capabilities come in the form of special operations forces, Ryan Henry, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, told the audience assembled for the 17th Annual National Defense Industrial Association Special Operations/Low-intensity Conflict Symposium and Exhibition. "QDR, I think, represents not something new in a shift toward the emphasis of special operations, but a continued realization of how that has to be...

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Attorney General's office has a month left to decide whether it will fight to see Gregory Allen Sturm die. On March 8, the California Supreme Court overturned the 35-year-old's death sentence for the August 19, 1990 robberies and murders of Darrell Esgar, Chad Chadwick, and Russell Williams. Death penalty opponents tout the court's decision as another example of increasing tensions over methods of criminal punishment in California. According to the court, however, the 5-2 decision overturning the death sentence focused on the trial judge's misconduct. Sturm is still convicted of the crimes, which occurred at...

What’s the most effective way of dealing with the threat posed by Iran’s radical leaders? Vote! Initiate more dialogue 6 % (4) Launch surgical military strikes 32 % (21) Impose Security Council sanctions 7 % (5) Support Iranian dissidents as agents of change 53 % (35) Total Votes as of This Posting: 65 Vote!

PHOENIX (AP) -- As public frustration grows over the state's porous border with Mexico, the once-rejected notion of using state police to supplement federal patrols is gaining traction. One state lawmaker's plan includes $20 million for the Arizona Department of Public Safety to run a 100-member squad to operate surveillance equipment, construct border barriers, target drug and immigrant smugglers and perhaps patrol the border. "I'm not putting the handcuffs on. Whatever they need to do, they need to be doing," said Republican Rep. Russell Pearce, the plan's sponsor. Another proposal by Gov. Janet Napolitano would have two state police squads...

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Oct. 28, 2005) -- In preparation for the depot's Marine Corps Birthday Ball, the Marine Corps Family Team Building office hosted its annual Ball Gown Giveaway and Fashion Show Oct. 19 at the Bay View restaurant. The show kicked off at 5:30 p.m. with opening remarks made by headquarters and service battalion's commanding officer's wife, Mrs. Sheila Redfern. Civilian depot employees and female Marines waltzed the catwalk in a display of 520 gently used ball gowns and a few rental gowns from local businesses. "It was different than last year; there were less...

NEW YORK: Oil prices fell Tuesday for the third straight session amid signs of weakening demand and the prospect President George W. Bush's administration will tap the nation's heating oil emergency reserve. U.S. oil consumption has weakened significantly in recent weeks amid high pump prices produced in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in late August, with many drivers switching to mass transit among taking other measures. "The demand losses that have happened vastly exceed the seasonal decline," said Kyle Cooper, an analyst with Citigroup in Houston. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for November ended $1.57 lower at $63.90...

Opec President Shaikh Ahmad Al Fahd Al Sabah said yesterday he will propose the cartel raise its output by 500,000 barrels per day when the group meets in September in an attempt to help cool oil prices at record highs. Shaikh Ahmad, also Kuwaiti oil minister, said he will also propose a 500,000 bpd increase in the group's official output ceiling at the September 19th meeting. "We hope that the resolution to the board to increase production and the ceiling, 500,000 (bpd) and 500,000 (bpd), and to refresh the dialogue with all the main consumers, I hope this will...

US crude oil prices surged to a new record high of above 70 US dollars a barrel in opening trade on Monday amid concerns about supply shortages caused by coming Hurricane Katrina. Oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange soared to 70.8 dollars a barrel, beating the previous record of 68 dollars set last week, after producers and refiners shut down operations ahead of the Category 5 hurricane. Katrina, measured as one of the four strongest storms on record, was expected to hit land at sunrise on Monday. Seven southeast Louisiana refineries with a combined daily capacity of...

JERUSALEM - In a stern warning to Iran, President Bush said "all options are on the table" if the Iranians refuse to comply with international demands to halt their nuclear program, pointedly noting he has already used force to protect U.S. security. Bush's statement during an interview on Israeli TV late Friday was unusually harsh. He previously said diplomacy should be used to persuade Iran to suspend its nuclear program and if that failed then the U.N. Security Council should impose sanctions. The U.S. government and others fear Iran's nuclear work is secretly designed to produce nuclear weapons. Iran's leaders...

Crude oil futures hit more record highs Monday, nearing US$64 a barrel, reflecting market fears over the U.S. embassy closure in Saudi Arabia and concerns that shutdowns of U.S. oil refineries would reduce supply. Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose to a high of US$63.95 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before falling back a bit to US$63.75, up US$1.44 at midday. Prices had settled at US$62.31 a barrel on Friday, a record close for crude since Nymex trading began in 1983. "The market clearly has the jitters," said Deborah White, energy analyst at SG Securities in Paris....

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) - Sixty years after the first atomic bomb was tested in the New Mexico desert, the United States still has some 2,000 nuclear weapons on hair trigger alert and is considering new weapons such as earth-penetrating bunker busters. The US administration has agreed to pare back its nuclear arsenal from about 10,000 warheads today to about 6,000 in 2012 under the Moscow Treaty reached with Russia in 2001. But even as it moves to retire much of its Cold War arsenal, it has pressed a reluctant Congress for funds for nuclear bunker-buster studies, refurbished nuclear testing...

London: Oil prices may increase to US$80 a barrel this year, options contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange show. Investors are speculating the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) would not produce enough oil to compensate for any disruption to supplies. New York Mercantile Exchange data show 6,900 options contracts outstanding that allow buyers to purchase oil for December delivery at US$80 a barrel, compared with an average of 77 contracts in January. There is a 21% chance that oil will top US$75 when the December contract expires, according to Adam Sieminski and Michael Lewis, strategists at Deutsche...

NEW YORK - Crude oil futures topped $55 US a barrel Monday afternoon, as concerns about tight American refined-product inventories held their grip on the market. "The market's continuing to climb on all the same supply worries," said Tom Bentz, a broker in New York for French bank BNP Paribas. Fears of ever-tighter global supplies, especially distillate stockpiles, were exacerbated Monday by comments from Saudi Arabia's oil minister, who said a lack of refining capacity worldwide lay behind concerns about distillate inventories. More recently, Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil said he would support a decision by the Organization of...