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Friday, December 31, 2010

Pimco to pay $92 million to settle bond market manipulation suit

Bond fund giant Pimco agreed to pay $92 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the Newport Beach firm of trying to corner part of the market for Treasury bonds in 2005.


The class action challenged trades by Pacific Investment Management Co. in futures tied to the price of 10-year Treasury notes.


The plaintiffs, including Chicago investment firm Breakwater Trading, had taken ?short? positions in the futures contracts, agreeing to supply T-notes to Pimco when the contracts expired.


Breakwater and the other plaintiffs were betting that the market value of the notes would decline. But when the contracts ran out, according to the suit, the plaintiffs paid artificially high prices because Pimco had manipulated the market by buying up a large amount of the notes.


Pimco denied any misconduct in the trades and reiterated that position Thursday in a statement announcing the settlement, which requires court approval. A Pimco spokesman declined to elaborate on the statement. An attorney for the plaintiffs also declined to comment.


Ruling in 2007 that the suit could proceed, U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman in Chicago wrote that ?considering the totality of the circumstances, it can be reasonably inferred from the facts alleged that Pimco Funds intended to cause artificial prices or otherwise manipulate the futures market.?


Pimco said it would pay the $92-million settlement itself and not pass the cost on to the mutual funds it manages or to other clients. The plaintiffs had sought more than $600 million in damages.


The investment firm unsuccessfully appealed Guzman?s ruling to the federal appeals court and then to the U.S. Supreme Court, which last February let the ruling stand.


RELATED:


Pimco loses Supreme Court appeal in bond market manipulation case


--Abby Sewell


 


Abby Sewell
Bond fund giant Pimco agreed to pay $92 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the Newport Beach firm of trying to corner part of the market for Treasury notes in 2005.
The class action challenged trades by Pacific Investment Management Co. in futures tied to the price of 10-year Treasury notes.
The plaintiffs, including Chicago investment firm Breakwater Trading, had taken ?short? positions in the futures contracts, agreeing to supply T-notes to Pimco when the contracts expired.
Breakwater and the other plaintiffs were betting that the market value of the notes would decline. But when the contracts ran out, according to the suit, the plaintiffs paid artificially high prices because Pimco had manipulated the market by buying up a large amount of the notes.
Pimco denied any misconduct in the trades and reiterated that position Thursday in a statement announcing the settlement, which requires court approval. A Pimco spokesman declined to elaborate on the statement. An attorney for the plaintiffs also declined to comment.
Ruling in 2007 that the suit could proceed, U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman in Chicago wrote that ?considering the totality of the circumstances, it can be reasonably inferred from the facts alleged that Pimco Funds intended to cause artificial prices or otherwise manipulate the futures market.?
Pimco said it would pay the $92-million settlement itself and not pass the cost on to the mutual funds it manages or to other clients. The plaintiffs had sought more than $600 million in damages.
Pimco unsuccessfully appealed Guzman?s ruling to the federal appeals court and then to the U.S. Supreme Court, which last February let the ruling in force stand.
abby.sewell@latimes.com



Full story at http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/MoneyCompany/~3/cPCAlnB7a64/pimco-settles-92-million-breakwater-futures-contracts-lawsuit-class-action-treasury-notes.html

Tax Cutters Set Up Tomorrow?s Fiscal Crisis

A

Full story at http://baselinescenario.com/2010/12/28/tax-cutters-set-up-tomorrows-fiscal-crisis/

Why Can?t Europe Avoid Another Crisis? Why Can?t the U.S.?

A

Full story at http://baselinescenario.com/2010/12/30/why-cant-europe-avoid-another-crisis-why-cant-the-u-s/

Closing Bell: Right Down to the Wire! (APC, DARA, GM, MBI, XING, WEBM)

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Tiring is how you'd explain the next to last trading session of 2010. The markets whipped around all day. A huge regional business spending gain in Chicago and the first sub-400,000 weekly jobless claims failed to give us any further runaway days. That was despite also having a positive housing figure.



After less than a handful of red S&P closes in December, the markets were soft most of the day and a late-day rally made the red or black verdict for the market something one couldn't predict until right at the close.



Here were today's closing bell levels:



Dow Jones 11,569.71 -15.67 (-0.14%)

S&P 500 1,257.88 -1.90 (-0.15%)

Nasdaq 2,662.98 -3.95 (-0.15%)

Continue reading Closing Bell: Right Down to the Wire! (APC, DARA, GM, MBI, XING, WEBM)

Closing Bell: Right Down to the Wire! (APC, DARA, GM, MBI, XING, WEBM) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Top Picks 2011: Harmonic (HLIT)

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This post is one in a series in which more than 60 newsletter advisors share their Top Stock Picks for 2011. This special report is courtesy of TheStockAdvisors.com.


"TV, cable and satellite systems all over the world are making huge investments to providing high definition programming," says Elisea Frishberg.


The contributing editor to The MoneyMan Report explains, "As a result, Harmonic (HLIT) could easily turn out to be one of the world's biggest winners for 2011; the company makes encoders, advanced fiber optic and digital delivery systems.

Continue reading Top Picks 2011: Harmonic (HLIT)

Top Picks 2011: Harmonic (HLIT) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Options Update: Discovery Communications Volatility Low Into Launch of Oprah Winfrey Network

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Discovery Communications, Inc. (DISCA) closed at $41.80. OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, a joint venture between Oprah Winfrey's production company, Harpo, and cable programmer Discovery Communications, is slated to launch on January 1. Overall option implied volatility of 26 is below its 26-week average of 29 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.



MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM) overall option implied volatility of 24 is below its 26-week average of 27 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.



Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Options Update: Discovery Communications Volatility Low Into Launch of Oprah Winfrey Network originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shanghai Surges 1.76% To Close Out Terrible 2010

The Shanghai Composite surged 1.76% in overnight trading, ending a horrible year which saw the index fall more than any other major rival.


With markets closed in Japan, a half-day in Hong Kong, and further closures throughout Asia, it's what Europe had to ride on before opening. But Shanghai's strength doesn't seem to have done much, with both the FTSE and CAC down this morning (Germany closed).


The Shanghai Composite, on the final day of the year, up 1.76%:


SSE 1231


To put that in perspective, here's the 2010 year chart, with the Shanghai Composite down 14.31%.


SSE YTD 1231

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Full story at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/Nt9XwwXEMwI/shanghai-surges-176-to-close-out-terrible-2010-2010-12

Estonia Becomes The Last Passenger on the Titanic

2011 is set to arrive in a few hours.  With its arrival, Estonia will join the EU currency regime as the last of 17 nations approved to use the Euro.   They may be the proverbial last passenger up the gang plank to board the Titanic.


This is a major deal for the nation, as Estonia only left the ruble in 1992. It quickly fixed its own currency to the German mark at the time. Estonia with a population of 1.3 million people is tied to Europe in more ways than one.  They have two choices and only one of them is acceptable to the citizens.


Once the Euro came into existence in 1999, Estonia fixed its currency to the Euro.  So, while it is the last of 17 nations to officially join the currency, it has been a defacto member for years. Estonia needs to be European more than Europe needs a new client for the Euro currency.


The irony is that while Estonia is formally joining the EU, one of potentially four nations now is seriously considering leaving the EU and reissuing their own currency.


Since May there have been rumors from Berlin that Germany is prepared for a world without the Euro as their principle currency.  Those rumors were officially denied in November.  Reality is a rumor publicly denied is no longer a rumor.


The New York Times has a great article on Estonia,



“Whatever happens, our currency is tied to the euro,” said Riho Unt, chief executive in Estonia of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, or S.E.B., a Swedish bank that is one of the Scandinavian institutions that dominates banking in the country. “Being inside is better than being outside.”


Economic arguments aside, in Estonia the euro is still a symbol — tarnished, perhaps — of hope and prosperity.


“It symbolizes that Estonia has emerged as a full member of the European family,” said Joakim Helenius, chief executive of Trigon Capital, an asset management company based in Tallinn. “For people here that is a very big thing.”



While media portrays Estonia’s adoption of the Euro as the best possible event, not all Estonians are as excited.  Nevertheless, many Estonians realize they have little or no choice.  They committed to joining a while ago, and any attempt to not joining would be even more damaging to the Estonia economy at this stage.



“Talking about splitting the euro is not the way out,” Jurgen Ligi, the Estonian finance minister, said during an interview. “There would be huge immediate losses for both sides.”


“There is no alternative” to the euro, Mr. Ligi said. “This is the only boat in the sea.”



The reason there is no other choice, is that during the crisis the Estonian government cut spending by the equivalent of 9% of their GDP, to keep the budget in line with new membership expectations. They have by doing so forced their citizens to accept conditions that require joining the Euro, even if its obviously going to shatter in the coming months.


Estonian’s in the last few years, have refinanced their home mortgages in Euro or other like currencies.  These loans would become unplayable if Estonia tried to back out of the currency merger at this point.  You could say that their population gave up state sovereignty for cheap home payments in a future currency they will have little to no advice in going forward.


Hopefully if the Euro does shatter, Estonia can find a lifeboat in the future Next Generation German Mark.  They have made the currency jump a few times now, what could be so hard with possibly having three currencies in one rolling twelve months?

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Full story at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/K8wPOqsxMG4/estonia-the-last-passenger-on-the-titanic-2010-12



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