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The world's third-richest man has been accused of pulling of the 'largest con in corporate history' through the Indian-based Adani Group corporation. US investor Hindenburg Research, which has begun short selling the conglomerate through bonds, conducted a two-year probe into head Gautam Adani, who is worth $125billion. The firm alleges that Adani and his family controlled a web of offshore shell accounts that it used to carry out corruption, money laundering and taxpayer theft, all while siphoning money from the companies they owned. Adani has pulled off this gargantuan feat with the help of enablers in government and a cottage...

People are selling gold and silver to meet margin calls. Also, nearly impossible to get physical delivery of silver under $20 an ounce.

I find this totally fascinating, though not completely unexpected. When a random sample of American adults were asked the question “Just a rough guess, what percent profit on each dollar of sales do you think the average company makes after taxes?” for the Reason-Rupe poll in May 2013, the average response was 36%! That response was very close to historical results from the polling organization ORC’s polls for a slightly different, but related question: What percent profit on each dollar of sales do you think the average manufacturer makes after taxes? Responses to that question in 9 different polls between...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — A number of warning signals are flashing in the stock market, and while not indicative of an imminent crash, they’re telling investors to exercise caution, say market strategists. Stocks finished higher last week, ending on a choppy Friday highlighted by the release of a better-than-expected job report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +0.19% advanced 0.8%, the S&P 500 Index SPX +0.05% rose 1% to close at another record high of 1,878.04, and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP -0.37% finished up 0.7% for the week. All except the Dow are higher for the year, which is...

In the month of December margin debt on the NYSE surged by over $20 Billion dollars hitting a new all-time high of $444.931 billion. The rise in leverage also sent investors net worth to a negative $149.358 billion which is also a record. This is shown in the chart below.

The correlation between stock prices and margin debt continues to rise (to new records of exuberant "Fed's got our backs" hope) as NYSE member margin balances surge to new record highs. Relative to the NYSE Composite, this is the most "leveraged' investors have been since the absolute peak in Feb 2000. What is more worrisome, or perhaps not, is the ongoing collapse in investor net worth - defined as total free credit in margin accounts less total margin debt - which has hit what appears to be all-time lows (i.e. there's less left than ever before) which as we noted...

What is driving the stock market to dizzying heights? Try stock margin accounts and Fed Monetary easing. Here is a chart of NYSE Member Firms Debit Balances in Margin Accounts and the Standard and Poor’s Index. margindebtspx And here is a chart of the SPX against The Fed’s Balance Sheet size. spxfedbal You must admit, there seems to be a pattern here. Particularly since real median household income seems to be shrinking (although house prices are rising). cs20realmedhinc Margin accounts + easy Fed money = bubbles.

Here we go again... From INTERACTIVE BROKERS _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Aug 03, 2011 10:43 EDT NOTIFICATION - Margin Increase on Silver Derivatives In light of recent unprecedented volatility in silver markets, the exchanges that offer trading in silver derivative contracts are increasing the margin requirements on these products. In an effort to adequately address the inherent risk resulting from this volatility, IB is increasing margin requirements on silver derivative contracts to a level exceeding that which the exchanges are implementing. Please monitor and manage your risk accordingly. Sincerely, Interactive Brokers Customer Service

And just think…. It was only a few short hours ago that far left Wisconsin candidate JoAnne Kloppenburg declared victory in the state’s Supreme Court race. Now this. Watch the first 36 seconds of her victory speech if you want a good laugh. [Video] From the video: Question: "How do you feel comfortable declaring victory when the margin is so thin? Justice Prosser’s supporters seem to think that they may be able to pull out a victory in a recount process." Kloppenburg: "You know, we ran a campaign that was focused on being positive and respectful and winning and we...

The Philly Fed Current Business Outlook Survey came out at a print of 35.9 compared to 19.3 before, and expectations of 21.0. This print is the highest reading since January 2004. Yet the only component metric that matters is, you guessed it, the Prices Paid index, which came at a ridiculous 67.2 from 54.3 previously! The prices paid index, which increased 13 points in February, has now increased 55 points over the past five months. And confirming the crush in margins was the in the prices received index which tacked on a barely notable 3.9 points to 21. The Prices...

Houstonians rejected the city's red light camera program in a hard-fought ballot contest, delivering an immediate $10 million hit to an already dire budget situation at City Hall. With almost all votes counted, a majority of voters put a decisive end to the use of the devices, which had been used to issue more than 800,000 tickets and collected $44 million in fines since 2006. "This is a victory for the people," said Paul Kubosh, an attorney who defends red light runners and collected more than 20,000 signatures with his brothers to get the referendum on the ballot. "The voters...

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- In what could be be a major blow to ultra-long and utra-short ETFs, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced Tuesday that it would be raising margin requirements for leveraged ETFs on Dec. 1. In Regulatory Notice 09-53, FINRA notes that it will be implementing increased customer margin requirements for leveraged ETFs and uncovered options overlying leveraged ETFs. Leveraged ETFs like the Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X(FAS Quote) and Direxion Daily Financial Bear(FAZ Quote) have become increasingly popular with investors over the last year. These funds use derivatives like futures and swaps to achieve ultra-long or ultra-short...

Margin Debt -- and Risk -- Is Growing By JACK WILLOUGHBY EVEN AFTER A RECENT DROP, margin debt remains within spitting distance of the all-time high it hit in July, and 43% higher than it was a year ago. It's become a source of concern to some investors who worry that it makes the stock market more vulnerable to a nasty tumble, particularly if equities' resurgence continues. "High margin debts show the effect of over-leveraging and mispricing of risk in our financial system," says Scott Schermerhorn, chief investment officer for Choate Advisors, which runs about $2.7 billion. "It indicates that,...

NEW YORK — Investors are borrowing at a record pace to sink into the stock market, and the trend is raising concerns on Wall Street about what might happen if a major correction occurs. The amount of margin debt, which is how brokers define this kind of borrowing, hit a record $285.6 billion in January on the New York Stock Exchange... The last time margin debt hit this level was at the height of the dot-com boom in March 2000, just ahead of a two-year decline. "I don’t think this is saying you should suddenly run into your bomb shelter,"...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - More than twice as many Californians believe the state is on the wrong track as opposed to headed in the right direction, a new poll found. According to a Field Poll released Tuesday, 59 percent of Californians surveyed said the state is "seriously off on the wrong track," up from 51 percent in February. The percentage of people who believed the state was "generally going in the right direction" fell from 40 percent in February to 28 percent. Republicans were most optimistic with 46 percent believing the state was on the right track, while just 18...

Democrats had a bad night, Republicans had a good night, and that means America had a great night. With Bush in and Daschle out, conservatives control the future of the War on Terror, the future of the Supreme Court, the future of taxation, and the future of government growth. Notwithstanding all of the complex issues at hand in this election, the basic message we can take from Tuesday's results is that Americans overwhelmingly support hawkish, right-wing, Reaganesque international relations. Apparently ''hop complacently to the United Nations'' was not as appealing an offer as ''kill terrorists today, tomorrow, and forever with...

LOS ANGELES - Democrat John Kerry has opened up a 16 percentage-point lead over President Bush in California, his candidacy boosted by strong support from independents, Hispanics and women, a poll found Monday. Kerry's commanding 54-to-38 percent margin in the poll by the Public Policy Institute of California represented a 5-point jump from July, when he held an 11 percentage-point lead over the president. Pollster Mark Baldassare said the Democratic ticket is benefiting from Ralph Nader's failure to collect enough signatures to make the ballot in California this year as an independent candidate. In 2000, Nader won about 4 percent...

Investors With Margin Accounts Could Suffer Under Tax Law . By Allison Bisbey Colter and Cheryl Winokur Munk Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Investors who own stock in a margin account may be in for an unpleasant surprise: the dividends they receive may not be eligible for the new, lower tax rate. That's because brokerages often lend stock held in these accounts to other investors, such as hedge funds, that make bearish bets. This has no impact on an investor's ability to sell stocks in their accounts. But such an investor doesn't receive the dividends paid on stocks...

President George W. Bush is far ahead of the three most popular Democrats in head to head matchups, although the public still has concerns about his economic leadership and empathy for ordinary people, according to a new poll.Bush leads Mass. Sen. John Kerry, Conn. Sen. Joe Lieberman and Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt by nearly identical margins in the three matchups.The President gets the support of six in 10 while the Democratic candidate gets the support of just over a third according to an ABC News poll released Saturday.When Democrats and those who lean Democratic were asked who they perferred to...

Microsoft has revealed for the first time that it has made profit margins of 85 per cent on its Windows system while its remaining businesses made losses, raising questions about the benefits of the group's costly efforts at diversification. The client division, which markets Windows, generated operating profits last quarter of $2.48bn (£1.57bn) on revenues of $2.89bn, implying margins of 85 per cent. The disclosure of its profitability, released in an SEC filing late last week, will infuriate many rivals. Microsoft was found guilty of illegally maintaining its monopoly in personal computer operating systems in 2000. A subsequent settlement between...