From The Wall Street Journal | Wireless operator Clearwire Corp. said it is cutting 15 percent of its 4,200 employees and warned that uncertainty about new financing raises substantial doubt about its ability to continue to operate.
Filed under: Investing
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Mortgage investors sue Citi over underwriting
Several Citigroup Inc. mortgage bond investors, including Charles Schwab Corp. and hedge fund Cambridge Place Investment Management, have sued the bank over its home loan underwriting processes, according to a regulatory filing on Friday. Get the full story »
Lake Forest investor acquires software company
A Lake Forest shell company has agreed to acquire a Cogility Software Corp. that will allow the privately held software company to become publicly traded.
Acquired Sales Corp., which is controlled by Lake Forest investor Gerard Jacobs, plans to acquire Cogility, based in San Jose, in a stock transaction. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Closing of the deal is contingent on several conditions, including the completion of a 1-for-20 reverse split of Acquired Sales’ stock. Get the full story »
Venture capital firms keen on Illinois businesses
Illinois companies are having a good year when it comes to venture capital firms investing in their businesses.
Venture-capital investors put $123 million into 10 Illinois-based businesses in the third quarter of 2010, according to figures released Wednesday by Dow Jones VentureSource. That compares with $15 million invested in five businesses in the same period in 2009.
The third quarter’s investment total was helped by a $65 million deal for Skokie-based NanoInk, a nano tech firm. Its backers included Lurie Investments. Get the full story »
SEC votes to ban ‘naked access’
Federal regulators have mandated new requirements for brokerage firms aimed at reining in risk from their trading customers who get split-second access to markets to buy or sell stocks.
Nov. 2, 2010 at 2:09 p.m.
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Filed under: Criminal charges, Government, Investing, Litigation, Pharmaceuticals, Stock activity Doctor charged with insider trading on drug info
U.S. investigators filed criminal and civil fraud charges against a French doctor they say leaked negative inside information about a Human Genome Sciences Inc. hepatitis drug trial, enabling six hedge funds to avoid $30 million of losses.
Yves Benhamou was accused by the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission of tipping a portfolio manager about Human Genome’s experimental hepatitis C treatment Albuferon in late 2007 and early 2008. Get the full story »
Nov. 1, 2010 at 1:45 p.m.
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Filed under: Exchanges, Investing, Personnel moves, Regulations Ex-federal prosecutor to head CFTC enforcement
A former Manhattan-based federal prosecutor was appointed Monday as the new director of enforcement for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
David Meister, who is an attorney at Skadden Arps, will replace Acting Enforcement Director Vincent McGonagle. Before joining Skadden, Meisteer was an assistant U.S. attorney in New York’s Southern District, where he was on the office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Get the full story »
Goldman to China: Allow stronger yuan
China should let the yuan rise further to help its transition toward a consumption-based economy, although there is no clear evidence the currency is undervalued, a senior executive at Goldman Sachs said on Monday.
Higher inflation in China had contributed to rises in the yuan’s real exchange rate, said Jim O’Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs asset management. Get the full story »
Oct. 29, 2010 at 6:53 p.m.
Filed under: Bankruptcy, Investing, Litigation, Media, Newspapers, Radio, TV Hedge funds sue lenders in Tribune Co. LBO
A group of hedge funds sued the four banks that funded Tribune Co.’s 2007 leveraged buyout, alleging that the lenders knowingly rendered the company insolvent and precipitated its 2008 bankruptcy.
The suit, filed on Friday in New York state court, charges JPMorgan Chase, Merrill Lynch Capital Corp., Citicorp North America Inc. and Bank of America with breach of contract, breach of good faith and negligence. It asks the court to set damages. Get the full story »
SEC freezes assets of 2 Brewer financial firms
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday obtained an emergency court order to freeze the assets of Brewer Financial Services LLC and Brewer Investment Advisors LLC, two Chicago firms it alleged were funneling funds from investors to subsidize their own troubled companies.
The SEC alleged that firm owners Steven Brewer and Adam Erickson raised about $5.6 million from 74 investors between June 2009 and Sept. 30, 2010, using offering materials that misstated or concealed how the funds would be used, the risk level of the investment and the financial condition of their companies. Get the full story »
Barnes & Noble changes poison pill plan
Bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. appears to have bowed to shareholder pressure and is changing its shareholder rights plan to limit further stakes by Chairman Leonard Riggio and his family, the company said Wednesday.
Treasury gets strong bidding for $29B in bonds
Investors are lending $29 billion to the government in the last Treasury auction this week.
The Treasury sold seven-year notes at a 1.97 percent yield, versus 1.89 percent in September’s auction. That means it was slightly more expensive for the government to borrow $29 billion from investors this month. Get the full story »
Sara Lee declares dividend, mum on CEO search
At Sara Lee’s annual meeting Thursday morning, the Downers Grove-based company offered no update on its search for a chief executive and declined to comment on the possible sale of its bread business.
The company did declare a regular quarterly dividend of $0.115 per share, up 4.5 percent, bringing the annual dividend to 46 cents. Get the full story »
Morningstar 3Q falls below Street expectations
Chicago data-tracking firm Morningstar Inc. reported quarterly earnings below Wall Street estimates, hurt by higher expenses, and said it would pay a dividend for the first time.
Net income for the third quarter was $20.8 million, or 41 cents a share, compared with $22.5 million, or 45 cents a share a year earlier. Get the full story »
