Replies

Very interesting............

6.03.2007
The greater fool
http://wcvarones.blogspot.com/2007/06/greater-fool.html

Are you a teacher or other public employee?
Look what your masters are doing with your pension money. They lost a bunch of it buying tech stocks in the tech bubble, so now they're trying to make up for it by buying the worst mortgage securities:

Banks Sell 'Toxic Waste' CDOs to Calpers, Texas Teachers Fund
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&refer=home&sid=aW5vEJn3LpVw

8.03.2007
Where's CalPERS?
http://wcvarones.blogspot.com/2007/08/wheres-calpers.html

In June I noted that CalPERS was stupidly buying the riskiest tranches of asset-backed investments, so-called "toxic waste" CDOs. The idiots at CalPERS were swindled by banks like Bear Stearns and Citigroup, which wanted to get the toxic waste off their own books as quickly as possible.
With even the highest tranches now taking huge losses, the CalPERS toxic waste is probably nearly, if not totally, worthless.
So where is CalPERS spokesman Clark McKinley? No apologies to the employees whose retirement funds were squandered? No plans to sue the pants off of the banks? Step up, McKinley.

3.17.08
CalPERS holds less than $200 million in Bear Stearns bonds
http://www.pionline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080317/DAILY/848075852/1012/REG
...However, the pension fund owns 1% to 1.5% of Bear Stearns’ equity, which has plunged in value.

The Ten Largest Holding of CalPERS, the Biggest U.S. Investor
December 10, 2007
Can you name the biggest American investor? No, it's not Warren Buffett; as a matter of fact, it is not a person. It is CalPERS, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, which handles the retirement for well over a million California employees. It's total investments are now at about $254 billion, with investments in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, private equity, real estate, and venture capital.
CalPERS Stock List (Excel spreadsheets)
       Company                      Shares    Book Price     Book Value     Mkt Price*    Market Value* 

 BEAR STEARNS COS INC               637,400      41.50      26,450,986.08     140.08      89,286,992.00 
 BLACKROCK INC	                    295,600     129.29      38,219,117.51     139.17      41,138,652.00 
 JP MORGAN INTL DERIVATIVES LTD     555,000       5.77       3,202,197.60       7.99       4,434,450.00 
 JPMORGAN CHASE + CO             19,800,061      22.20     439,524,172.81      42.00     831,602,562.00 
 LEHMAN BROTHERS HLDGS INC        3,624,153      30.97     112,257,806.59      65.15     236,113,567.95 
SETTLEMENT NEWS: CalPERS, Hedge Fund Both Going After NYSE; Class-Action
Status Sought In Fight Over Allegations Of Trading Violations
June 25, 2007

CalPERS is seeking class-action certification in its lawsuit against seven New York Stock Exchange specialist firms, the latest instance of institutional investors going to court to ensure they get the best price for their trades....
...After reviewing dozens of transcripts from NYSE and SEC interviews and data from millions of trades, CalPERS attorneys are readying a class certification motion to be submitted to the federal court in New York by a June 29 deadline, Mr. McKinley added. Separately, Sea Carriers is also seeking class action status in its case against the NYSE, specialists, floor brokers and a list of firms that reads like a who's who on Wall Street, including Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing, LP, Banc of America Securities LLC and Bear, Stearns & Co.