Free Republic

Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter faced controversy immediately as the number of racist comments spiked exponentially, including the use of the N-word. Racists and trolls flooded Twitter, the social media company, since the company was taken private by Musk on Friday, testing whether the CEO of Tesla would stand by his claim of being a "free speech absolutist." The number of trolls using the N-word on Twitter rose by 500% within 12 hours after the $44 billion deal was finalized, according to a report by the Network Contagion Research Institute, a group which researches social media content to determine threats...

wonder if CNBC will finally cancel the ludicrous Jim "truth" Cramer campaign once this news breaks. We doubt it - ... SEC Charges Financial Media Company and Executives Involved in Accounting Fraud. Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2012 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a digital financial media company and three executives for their roles in an accounting fraud that artificially inflated company revenues and misstated operating income to investors. ... The SEC alleges that TheStreet Inc., which operates the website TheStreet.com, filed false financial reports throughout 2008 by reporting revenue from fraudulent transactions at a subsidiary it had...

Consider the coming week the calm before another potential storm. With Labor Day looming and the markets coming off a relatively stable week, many traders likely will be claiming their last chance at summer vacation. Meanwhile, investors trying to find the red-flag indicators of the economic fallout from this summer's credit crunch will have to wait until after the holiday to sniff out the best clues. July's economic data were solid, and fear trades like three-month T-bill rallies and volatility spikes settled down last week. Friday's stronger-than-expected durable goods orders and new-home sales for July deflected the market's focus from...

Perhaps I have become too suspect of the media. But, there is something fishy about Jim Cramer. I like his advice, and his forthright attitude. I have become a big fan of his radio show and his website. But, his influence with a growing novice class of investors strikes me as a bit troubling, in light of his strange political niavete. In a sense, he a market version of Chris Matthews (albeit not nearly as dim). Now and then he injects a diatribe from a right-leaning soapbox wearing two left shoes that is completely out of place and makes no...

LEHMAN BROTHERS used former KGB agents to collect bad debts arising from Russia’s 1998 financial crisis, the High Court was told yesterday. Kerim Derhalli, who earned $6 million (£3.8 million) in three and a half years with the bank, said that Lehman’s legal department had hired “so-called risk consultants, in other words, spies” to help with Russian recoveries. He said: “The people they engaged in Russia were typically former KGB operatives.” Mr Derhalli went on to claim that “even they were scared to talk about the people involved” and advised Lehman to drop its claims. Mr Derhalli said Russian bankers...