Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- The Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule designed to limit certain negative stock bets is set to start Monday. Already, a political backlash is brewing. Last Tuesday, the SEC said it would tighten short-selling rules for 19 financial firms, including mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, by requiring traders to "pre-borrow" stock before initiating a so-called short sale. The SEC said it had concluded "there now exists a substantial threat of sudden and excessive fluctuations of securities prices generally" that could affect orderly markets. Shares in financial stocks on the list soared, in part because of the...

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.

Those who thought that Citigroup's (C) stock couldn't possibly fall any lower were subjected to a gigavolt jolt of reality this past week. The same was true for believers that Freddie Mac (FRE) was somehow insulated from the subprime mortgage contagion and that its "implicit" federal backing would immunize its stock from swooning. Freddie and Citi, along with ample help from others in the same lines of business, drove funds in the financial sector sharply lower during the week ended Thursday, Nov. 22. Citi's latest stumble followed a downgrade from "neutral" to "sell" by influential Goldman Sachs analyst William Tanona....

” As investigations by OFHEO, the SEC and Department of Justice into the company's accounting irregularities continue, Fannie Mae announced an unusual change to its long-term bonus plan…Dan Mudd, who was officially installed as Fannie Mae's CEO in June, received $11.5 million in total compensation in 2005, which included a cash bonus of $2.6 million, an annual salary of $950,000, and $8 million in restricted stock… Newly installed Chief Business Officer Rob Levin received $8.9 million in total compensation, including a cash bonus of $1.8 million, $4.3 million in restricted stock and an additional $2.1 million in restricted cash paid...

Following an investigation regarding concerns about the safety of customer data, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has given offshore outsourcing in India a clean bill of health. As part of its investigation, the UK’s main financial regulator visited and studied 10 outsourcing operations in India of companies who provided services to UK retail banks and insurance companies. After studying the respective governance and data control systems in place for the operations visited, the FSA said offshore outsourcing posed no greater risk to customer data than in-house operations. The FSA did, however, say that the main risk identified was the complexity...

The financial regulator has warned that offshoring operations to India carry potential risks because it is difficult for management to achieve sufficient oversight and controls from the UK. The Financial Services Authority, which visited 10 operations in Mumbai and Bangalore providing services for UK banks and insurers, concluded offshoring "can contribute a material risk" to the FSA's objectives of maintaining market confidence and consumer protection. The FSA also raised questions about the high level of staff turnover at Indian companies, which, it said, were less likely to have contingency sites in the event of a serious problem. However, the FSA...

Sacramento -- In a budget that eclipses $78 billion, the few key issues that lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are deadlocked over don't add or take away a dime from the overall spending package. The fact that policy issues -- such as whether workers should be able to sue their employers for workplace violations -- are holding up the budget have some Capitol observers puzzled over why the deal hasn't been closed yet. "There seems to be a lot of confusion in the negotiations," said GOP political consultant Kevin Spillane. The battle over whether to raise taxes or how deeply...

ATLANTA, Apr 19, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Mirant (Pink Sheets: MIRKQ) today announced that its operating revenue for 2002 was $4.7 billion, a figure consistent with the company's 2003 Form 10K. In a news release issued by the company this morning, operating revenue for 2002 was erroneously reported as $4.1 billion. Mirant reported operating revenue of $5.2 billion for 2003. Additionally, Mirant's cost of fuel, electricity and other products for 2002 was $2.5 billion, as stated in the 2003 Form 10K. The news release erroneously reported this cost as $1.8 billion. All of Mirant's financial filings, including the 2003...

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Although the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org touts itself as a grassroots political group, records show that a sizable lump of money comes from just two donors. A review of the Berkeley-based group's first quarter fund raising showed nearly half its $6.98 million came from Peter Lewis, chairman of Progressive Corporation, a Cleveland insurance company, and billionaire philanthropist George Soros. Lewis has donated $2 million to the group and Soros has given more than $1 million, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday. The directors of MoveOn, which has pledged to "bring ordinary people back into politics," say...

Texas spends more money on prisons than it does on schools a new study shows. According to Houston Chronicle reporter Michael Hedges, the study shows that since the mid-1980s the state has increased spending faster on prisons than on education. Wrote Hedges, the Washington-based Justice Policy Institute study also revealed that Texas, now has more black men in state prisons than in state colleges and universities. But Texas was not the only state where spending on prisons rose along a steep curve over the last 15 years, while money set aside for higher education rose much more slowly, the study...