Monthly Archives: February 2012

In the “If It Sounds Too Good To Be True” and “We’ve Been Down This Road Before Departments”: A “Japanese Madoff”

Posted on February 25, 2012 by mmjdiary

As early as 2009, Rating & Investment Information, Inc. (R & I) warned in its newsletter that ALJ Investment Advisors Co. , an asset management firm, had “unnaturally stable returns.” That is, despite what was happening in the market, ALJ … Continue reading →

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“Ambition, ego, and alcohol”

Posted on February 24, 2012 by mmjdiary

Albert “Jack” Stanley in explaining to his sentencing judge what made him bribe Nigerian officials in order to win contracts for Halliburton’s subsidiary, KBR. Prosecutors had recommended 7 years; he was sentenced to 30 months.

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“People have short memories on Wall Street.”

Posted on February 24, 2012 by mmjdiary

Securities Exchange Commission chair, Mary L. Schapiro. Well, there is a correlation between the length of memory and pain. A few settlements with a little more pain could do the trick on memory enhancement. In 51 cases at 19 Wall … Continue reading →

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How To Reverse the Seven Signs: Erroll Davis and APS

Posted on February 21, 2012 by mmjdiary

The 800-page-report on the Atlanta Public School System that emerged in July 2011 explained what happened in that city with testing. Scores were good; kids couldn’t read. A culture of numbers (test scores mattered – learning did not), a culture … Continue reading →

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“What you can’t teach is what he has inside his heart . . . And he has it.”

Posted on February 20, 2012 by mmjdiary

New York Knicks coach, Mike D’Antoni on point guard, Jeremy Lin. Sure you can, coach — a strong work ethic, humility, the drive to keep going even when you get a rejection here and there, and a focus on something … Continue reading →

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“The type of research I provide to clients is pervasive in the financial community, the same kind of analysis provided not only by investment banks, large and small, but by an ever-expanding group of research boutiques, all larger than mine.”

Posted on February 18, 2012 by mmjdiary

Analyst John Kinnucan, owner of Broadband Research, in his 2011 op-ed resistance to a government investigation into insider trading by analysts. Ah, everybody does it. Mr. Kinnucan was arrested on February 17, 2012 on charges of insider trading that allege … Continue reading →

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Returning Slightly Used Shoes

Posted on February 14, 2012 by mmjdiary

Even the well seasoned Dillard’s manager was taken aback by this one. A customer brought in a pair of moderately expensive dress shoes, expressing a desire to return them because they just weren’t quite right. As the manager processed the … Continue reading →

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Goldman in Litigation For Being on All Sides of a Deal; Blankfein to Support Same-Sex Marriage; Check Donations to Marriage and Family Groups – Goldman May Be Positioned Short on This Issue Too

Posted on February 8, 2012 by mmjdiary

Those Goldman boys have the golden touch, as long as they can operate on all sides. Goldman helped take Kinder Morgan private in 2006. Goldman owns 19.1% of Kinder Morgan. Goldman handled Kinder Morgan’s IPO in 2011. Goldman represented Kinder … Continue reading →

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“We’re from totally different walks of life. But when you’re here, you’re here.”

Posted on February 7, 2012 by mmjdiary

Rapper Ja Rule (Jeffrey Atkins) , serving a two-year prison sentence for gun charges at New York’s Midstate Correctional Facility, on his newfound friendships with former Tyco CEO, Dennis Kozlowski (serving 8-25 for embezzlement) (known as Koz to Ja Rule)and … Continue reading →

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Inflating the SAT Scores for Rankings and Hoping No One Notices

Posted on February 6, 2012 by mmjdiary

Since 2005, Claremont McKenna, ranked #9 on U.S. News & World Report’s best liberal arts colleges in the country, has been lopping on a few points here and there to its entering students’ average SAT score before reporting those numbers … Continue reading →

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Cooking the Books for Advertising Dollars

Posted on February 6, 2012 by mmjdiary

Careful viewers might have noticed. During the last week of 2011, they were not watching “Good Morning America.” Nay, nay. They were watching “Good Morning Amer.” “Good Morning Amer” is a special program and would not be counted in the … Continue reading →

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“I was a coward. Later on I was greedy, regrettably. I was embarrassed and he signed my paycheck.”

Posted on February 6, 2012 by mmjdiary

James Davis, former CFO at R. Allen Stanford Co., in answering the question of a prosecutor in the federal fraud case against Allen Stanford, as to why he continued to work for Allen Stanford when he knew that the company … Continue reading →

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“That’s a lot of money, dude.”

Posted on February 4, 2012 by mmjdiary

A supervisor of a Credit Suisse trader balking in response to the trader’s suggestion that the company should come clean and reflect the true value of the firm’s mortgage bonds.

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“I did this because I wanted to remain in good favor with my boss, Kareem Serageldin, and enhance my job performance.”

Posted on February 4, 2012 by mmjdiary

David Higgs, a former Credit Suisse investment banker who entered a guilty plea to criminal charges regarding his inflation of mortgage bond prices during the 2007-2008 decline in the market.

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