Free Republic

No posts from Bloomberg allowed. Link below

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Can hundreds of stock-selling insiders be wrong? The stock market has mounted an historic rally since it hit a low in March. The S&P 500 is up 55%, as U.S. job losses have slowed and credit markets have stabilized. But against that improving backdrop, one indicator has turned distinctly bearish: Corporate officers and directors have been selling shares at a pace last seen just before the onset of the subprime malaise two years ago. While a wave of insider selling doesn't necessarily foretell a stock market downturn, it suggests that those with the first read on...

Bloomberg.com published a very interesting article today reporting on a study by Washington Service showing that insiders of U.S. companies are taking steeps to lighten their exposure to their own company’s stock. Examples of this sort of behavior are clear from the founding family behind Gap, Inc (GPS), the CEO of NetApp, Inc (NTAP) and the founders of Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) have all made major sales recently. According to the study, insiders bought $42.5 million in shares through April 20 which would make it the lowest amount bought in a month since July 1992. “While the Standard &...

Whatever your job title, the ability to make others listen to you, trust you, and act on what you say is critical to your success. Take this quiz, adapted for Fortune by Persuasion IQ author Kurt Mortensen, to see how well you influence others. For the full version, go to www.persuasioniq.com.

The Taliban are stealing U.S. supplies and selling them in roadside markets. You know this kind of thing happens in wartime, but it still steams your blood. I hope a predator fired 'hellfire' missile has their name on it soon. Video here.

Lately, as the manipulated poll numbers appear to suggest an Obama win, the market keeps selling off...and it reminded me that traders on the floor of the NYSE told FoxNews that when there is heavy, rampant selling, they refer to it as "the Obama tape"

London shares dropped more than 400 points in early trading this morning after a seventh day of devastating falls on Wall Street triggered panic selling across Europe and Asia. Within minutes of opening, the FTSE 100 index fell almost 10 per cent to its worst level since 2002, but within 30 minutes shares staged a mild rally which left the index of Britain's leading companies off 253 points at 4050. Bank shares took the brunt of the pain as markets gyrated with Barclays off 15.6 per cent, and HSBC down 4.3 per cent. BP fell 8 per cent and Royal...

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is buying $3 billion worth of General Electric preferred shares, even as the diversified conglomerate is preparing to sell at least $12 billion worth of common stock to the public. GE says Berkshire Hathaway will buy $3 billion of perpetual preferred stock in a private offering. Such stock carries a dividend of 10 percent and is callable, at a 10 percent premium, after three years. Berkshire also received warrants to buy $3 billion worth of common shares at $22.25 each over five years. GE says that the Berkshire funds will boost its capital...

My oldest son went off to college and became a Democrat. If that isn't enough, he constantly tries to convince me that our family’s conservative values are wrong and I should vote for Barack Obama. Well that's not happening, but he still tries. Last week he called me and said, Mom I sent you a book. It will totally change your mind about the election. The next day I receive a package with Paul Begala’s (that hateful Clinton shill from CNN) book called Third Term. My first response was Third Term, well that would be much better than the alternative....

Under current rules, a short seller must first locate shares to borrow, but does not have to enter into a contract with the share lender. Often, more than one trader is able to borrow the same shares, creating a multiplier effect in the size of the total short position. Under the emergency order, a short seller would be required to have an actual agreement to borrow the shares. The new move would effectively take shares out of the market for borrowing, which could reduce the amount of stock available for selling short. You might have thought these rules already existed,...

US regulators will take emergency action to stop abusive short-selling of stock in financial institutions such as mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and investment bank Lehman Brothers. Christopher Cox, Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, told legislators on Tuesday that the agency would issue an emergency rule to stop so-called “naked” short-selling of shares in significant financial entities. The SEC will also consider new rules to extend those trading limits to the rest of the market.

(IsraelNN.com) The Jerusalem District Police have cleared for publication the news that a group of Jerusalem-area Arabs have been arrested on charges of trading and selling weapons to Palestinian Authority residents of Judea and Samaria. The 13 suspects, who are residents of Shuafat, were arrested in a joint sting operation by the Israel Police and Border Police over the past several weeks. Each confessed to the charges against him. The weapons that were recovered by the police were brought to a munitions laboratory to determine whether they had been fired. IDF Approves 20 New PA Police Stations Meanwhile the IDF...

Panic selling shuts £2bn fund · Scottish Equitable acts after slump · Fears that other funds are at risk Patrick Collinson The Guardian (UK) Friday January 18 2008 The fund, invested in London office blocks and shopping centres across Britain, apparently no longer has sufficient cash reserves to meet demands from investors. Photograph: Martin Argles One of Britain's biggest property funds was forced to shut its doors to withdrawals yesterday after the slump in commercial prices triggered panic selling by small investors. The move prompted fears of a Northern Rock-style run on billions of pounds invested in once high-flying funds...

The fate of the immigration bill comes down to Senate Republicans’ leader, Mitch McConnell........”The only thing that can save us now is if McConnell made an appeal to Republicans that this thing is out of control and we need to step back from it.......”said Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina Republican. “He could do that....”..... Debate on the bill resumes today, and Republican leaders will have to decide quickly...........snipped from: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1844535/posts Jam McConnell’s phone today. Be polite. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1844535/posts#6 McConnell, Mitch- (R - KY) 361-A RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-2541 mcconnell.senate.gov/contact_form.cfm

The old admonition, "When something seems too good to be true, it probably is," virtually screams from accounts of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to "privatize" the California Lottery. Actually, to give credit where it's due, it's a Goldman Sachs/Lehman Brothers proposal; the governor is the pitch-man. The details are subject to negotiation, but the deal works something like this: The state turns over the California Lottery and monopoly control over lottery gambling in California to a private consortium (led by Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, could it be?) for the next 40 years. In exchange, the consortium pays the state...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has plunged into the debate over the nation's future with his call for a new, "post-partisan" governing style aimed at ending political gridlock. But the Republican governor, who intends to take his message to Iowa, New Hampshire and other critical states as the presidential campaign proceeds, is selling something that may be illusory. Schwarzenegger used raw political muscle to forge the big legislative victories of his first term, allying with the Democrats, who dominate California's Capitol. Along the way, Republicans felt quashed. Post-partisanship, said a rueful state Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) "is the process...

One in four shops is caught selling knives to children under 16 By David Derbyshire, Consumer Affairs Editor (Filed: 21/06/2006) More than a quarter of shops that stock knives are illegally selling them to children under 16, according to a survey by trading standards officials. Despite concerns about rising knife violence, a significant number of shopkeepers are failing to check the ages of teenage customers or are wilfully turning a blind eye. Richard Beckett, 14, shows knives bought by teenage volunteers However, there was some evidence that the recent spate of stabbings and the Home Office amnesty may finally be...

Indiana signs 75-year lease turning toll road over to private operator; lawsuit filed INDIANAPOLIS If the deal stands, drivers on the Indiana Toll Road will be paying a foreign consortium for the next 75 years for the privilege of driving on the highway. Indiana officials today signed an agreement to turn the 157-mile toll road over to a Spanish-Australian consortium that will operate the roadway for a profit. It's the biggest highway privatization deal in U-S history. The consortium is paying the state three-point-eight (b) billion dollars up front and will be responsible for operating and maintaining the highway. It...

Two US doctors have suggested the sale of organs such as kidneys should be legalised to meet the rising demand. They said bids to increase the donor pool were failing, and a black market in organ sales was booming. Writing in Kidney International the pair said, while it remained a taboo, legalisation should be considered. But experts in the UK - where selling organs is illegal - said such a move was unnecessary and would exploit the poorest sections of society. It is a tragedy that the critical shortage of organs donated for transplant means this question arises at all...

One day the public is going to wake up and realize that when analysts are telling them to buy things at all-time highs, it might be time to sell. The day after a government report showed that crude oil inventories have risen to their highest levels since July 2002, the esteemed Wall Street brokerage firm, Goldman Sachs, released an analysis forecasting a continued increase in energy prices that could result in oil hitting $105 per barrel. As reported by Reuters: "We believe oil markets may have entered the early stages of what we have referred to as a ‘super spike’...