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Post by imSINGLEruRICH on Jul 28, 2013 11:00:34 GMT -5
nada999999
DIAMOND JEDI WARLORD
Post by nada999999 on 9 hours agofinance.yahoo.com/news/overstock-com-ceo-mocks-sac-014746577.html Overstock.com CEO mocks SAC Capital indictment in WSJ ad(Reuters) - Overstock.com Chief Executive Patrick Byrne appeared in an unusual full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal on Saturday "congratulating" Steven A. Cohen on the indictment of his SAC Capital Advisors hedge fund by federal prosecutors on insider trading charges. In the ad, Byrne, who has made critical comments about big hedge funds such as SAC Capital in the past, is holding what appears to be the skull of a Sith Lord, a villain from the "Star Wars" film series. "Congratulations on the indictment, Stevie, and remember: roll early, roll often," Byrne says in the ad. U.S. prosecutors on Thursday accused SAC Capital Advisors LP of encouraging employees to flout the law and tap their personal contacts for insider information about publicly traded companies. Cohen was not charged personally in the indictment filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. A spokesman for SAC Capital could not be reached for comment on Saturday. The hedge fund pleaded not guilty on Friday. SAC also issued a statement denying it ever promoted or tolerated insider trading. The federal indictment made no mention of trading in shares of Overstock.com (OSTK), an online retailer based in Salt Lake City. An Overstock.com spokesman could not be reached for comment. Byrne has been coy about saying who is the Sith Lord he contends is behind aggressive shorting of shares of companies such as Overstock. In the ad, Byrne seems to suggest Cohen is the Sith Lord he has talked about in past years. In the "Star Wars" film series, Sith Lords possess special knowledge of the Dark Side. (Reporting by Susan Kelly in Chicago; Editing by Mohammad Zargham) Special mention for moneybelt on RB for this story link There Was A Full-Page Ad In The Wall Street Journal Mocking Steve Cohen
It was written by the CEO of Overstock.com. “Congratulations on the indictment, Stevie…” qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/screen-shot-2013-07-27-at-3-36-03-pm.png?w=640&h=1251
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Post by imSINGLEruRICH on Jul 28, 2013 11:46:01 GMT -5
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Only2perCent
Dr. Of Diamonds
"Through lack of understanding they remained sane." George Orwell, "1984"
Posts: 139
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Post by Only2perCent on Jul 28, 2013 13:56:33 GMT -5
OVERSTOCK.COM CEO: Steve Cohen Is Directly Responsible For Corruption That Has Cost Hundreds Of Thousands Of People Their JobsLinette Lopez Jul. 28, 2013, 11:11 AM 6,681 32 Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne colorfully explained in his own words why he took out a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal mocking SAC Capital's Steve Cohen yesterday. "Cohen's life work is being destroyed," he wrote in a note to Business Insider, "I feel good. Shooting SAC Capital dead and throwing all of its employees into the streets is simply civilization scraping some dog--- off its shoe. I felt it was time I spent $100k on a derisive ad in order to say that." A Federal Grand Jury indicted SAC Capital on charges of insider trading this week after years of investigation. Meanwhile, since 2005 Byrne has been saying that powerful market actors have been working to destroy his company. In 2010 he identified them as Michael Milken and SAC's Steven Cohen. Two years later, e-mails accidentally leaked by lawyers representing a number of Wall Street banks described how the banks were allegedly naked short-selling Overstock.com stock and advising their hedge fund clients on how to do the same.SAC Capital, as you know, is one massive hedge fund client. "Eight years ago I was roundly criticized by coming out publicly and saying, in brief: A network of dirty hedge funds were practicing all kinds of dicey practices, including insider trading and naked short selling (and being serial killers of firms in the process)," Byrne wrote. "The SEC was not doing its job protecting our markets because it is a captured regulator, and this combination was destabilizing the system." He continued: "Also that the mastermind, the Napoleon of crime, so to speak, was someone I initially identified as the "Sith Lord" of all that was evil and wrong on Wall Street. In the months after, I gradually dropped broader and broader public hints that I was talking about Stevie Cohen. Of course, through all of this my claims were spun, ridiculed, and mocked." If the documents leaked by bank lawyers are any indication, Overstock was not only being ridiculed by the media, but also by insiders at Wall Street banks. Naked short selling (or "failing" a stock) is the practice of shorting a stock that has never actually been borrowed. It's illegal, in part, because creates fake supply of a stock, and in 2005 and 2006 Overstock.com claims naked short-selling created six times the actual supply of its stock in the market. Someone might choose to naked short sell a stock when the stock is a negative rebate stock — too expensive to borrow. That's why it sounded so d*mning when the e-mails leaked from banks said things like this: "We are NOT borrowing negatives... I have made that clear from the beginning. Why would we want to borrow them? We want to fail them," said one Merrill exec.Now that you're clear on that, this portion of Byrne's note will make more sense (emphasis ours): "Cohen is directly responsible for corruption in our capital markets that has cost hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people, their jobs," he said. "Now SAC has been indicted, and Cohen's life work is being destroyed, I feel good: Shooting SAC Capital dead and throwing all of its employees into the streets is simply civilization scraping some dogs--- off its shoe. I felt it was time I spent $100k on a derisive ad in order to say that." "Besides," Byrne added, "if you're not going to kick a man when he's down, when are you going to kick him?" So that explains that, then. www.businessinsider.com/overstockcom-ceo-explains-anti-sac-ad-2013-7
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Post by gabbyhayes3 on Jul 28, 2013 15:05:14 GMT -5
Gotta love Pat Byrne...never minces words...I will follow that trial from first to last and savor the details......  |
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Post by imSINGLEruRICH on Jul 30, 2013 18:20:39 GMT -5
thanks...ginger Diamond Cutter Level 2 Overstock CEO Mocks Hedge Fund Giant’s Downfall « Thread Started Today at 5:48pm » Overstock CEO Mocks Hedge Fund Giant’s Downfall
July 30, 2013New York (HedgeCo.Net) – CEO and Chairman of Overstock.com Patrick Byrne took out a strange full page advert in the Wall Street Journal in order to mock SAC Capital’s Steve Cohen, calling him a “Sith Lord.” Byrne become known for his campaign against the practice of naked short selling. Byrne says it has been used in violation of securities law to hurt the price of his and other companies’ stock. Under his direction, Overstock.com has filed two lawsuits alleging improper acts by Wall Street firms, a hedge fund, and an independent research firm. “Cohen’s life work is being destroyed,” he told Business Insider, “I feel good. Shooting SAC Capital dead and throwing all of its employees into the streets is simply civilization scraping some dog s**t off its shoe. I felt it was time I spent $100k on a derisive ad in order to say that.” “Eight years ago I was roundly criticized by coming out publicly and saying, in brief: A network of dirty hedge funds were practicing all kinds of dicey practices, including insider trading and naked short selling (and being serial killers of firms in the process),” Byrne said in a statement. “The SEC was not doing its job protecting our markets because it is a captured regulator, and this combination was destabilizing the system.” “Also that the mastermind, the Napoleon of crime, so to speak, was someone I initially identified as the “Sith Lord” of all that was evil and wrong on Wall Street. In the months after, I gradually dropped broader and broader public hints that I was talking about Stevie Cohen. Of course, through all of this my claims were spun, ridiculed, and mocked.” “Besides, if you’re not going to kick a man when he’s down, when are you going to kick him?” Bryne said. www.hedgeco.net/news/07/2013/over....s-downfall.html |
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Post by gabbyhayes3 on Jul 30, 2013 19:51:13 GMT -5
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Post by imSINGLEruRICH on Aug 1, 2013 7:02:23 GMT -5
alrich
DIAMOND JEDI MASTER
Post by alrich on Jul 30, 2013 at 12:11pm
Cohen Throws a Party Despite His Fund's Indictment
By Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters)—Hedge fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen did not let the filing of criminal charges against his $14 billion SAC Capital Advisors get in the way of a party this weekend at his vacation estate in tony East Hampton, N.Y.
The Saturday [July 27] night party at Mr. Cohen's 10-bedroom home on Further Lane took place two days after federal prosecutors in New York announced a five-count criminal indictment against SAC Capital that portrayed the 21-year-old Stamford, Conn.-based fund as a breeding ground for unlawful insider trading.
The lavish affair, which one source said included delivery of $2,000 worth of tuna from a local fish store to Mr. Cohen's home, was planned before the charges were filed. A person familiar with the event said the party, attended by a few dozen people, was intended by the 57-year-old manager to show support for ovarian cancer research, though it was not a fundraiser.
On Friday [July 26], lawyers for SAC Capital entered a not guilty plea to the charges. Some in the hedge fund industry said a fierce determination to carry on business as usual was behind Mr. Cohen's decision to go ahead with the bash at his 9,000-square-foot home on a street famed for its waterfront mansions.
Mr. Cohen, whose estimated fortune is $9 billion, set up shop in 1992 with just $25 million and earned a reputation as of the greatest stock traders of his generation. His firm has posted a 25 percent average annual return, one of the best performance track records in the $2.4 trillion hedge fund industry, despite charging investors some of the highest fees.
SAC Capital, after the indictment was announced, sent an e-mail to employees and investors saying the firm would operate as normal. It stressed that prosecutors did not intend to take any action that would imperil the firm's ability to return some $4 billion in outside investor money by year's end.
Rare Move Raises Questions
It's a rare move for federal prosecutors to indict a corporation, and it remains to be seen just how long Wall Street banks that lend money to SAC Capital and trade with it, will continue to do. It also remained to be seen whether Mr. Cohen, who faces no criminal charges himself, can keep his hedge fund empire together as a fully functioning firm employing nearly 1,000 people, with offices in eight cities around the globe.
And it was unclear whether Mr. Cohen's more than 500 investment professionals, traders and analysts, will remain with the firm as the criminal proceeding unfolds. Investors have asked to withdraw most of the $6 billion in outside money the fund managed at the beginning of the year.
"I would be running for the hills and looking for a job now if I were an SAC employee" said Mark Jordan, a veteran wealth management recruiter. "Who in their right mind would put money in SAC again?"
A review of LinkedIn profiles for more than a dozen SAC employees revealed that some have been connecting through the online networking site with Wall Street job recruiters. Up until recently, headhunters had said they were not seeing a flood of resumes from SAC employees, even after U.S. securities regulators filed a civil administrative complaint against Mr. Cohen on July 19 for failing to supervise two employees charged by prosecutors with insider trading.
As of early last week, SAC Capital was still interviewing candidates for clerical positions and junior trading and analyst jobs, according to headhunters and an SAC Capital employee, who declined to be identified.
On July 23, the firm posted a job opening on its website to fill a position in its 15-member controller's team, which is responsible for analyzing the firm's daily profits and losses from trading hundreds of stocks and bonds.
In the months before the indictment, the mood at SAC Capital's New York office had been good, according to a person who works there but declined to be identified. Employees had tended to discount the possibility of federal prosecutors filing a criminal charge against SAC because the investigation had been going for at least seven years.
Performance Better than Industry's
Other employees rallied around the fact that SAC Capital's main portfolio was up about 11 percent for the year as of mid-July, compared with a 3.2 percent return for the average hedge fund through the end of June. The exceptional performance was seen as ensuring top traders and analysts who remained with SAC Capital would be on target to get handsome year-end bonuses.
Those rich year-end pay packages, a byproduct of SAC Capital's long success, is one thing that has earned Mr. Cohen loyalty from employees, even after they have left the firm.
But the mood darkened at SAC Capital on July 25 in the wake of the criminal indictment, said people familiar with the firm. There's worry that despite Mr. Cohen's intention to continue trading, he could be forced to eliminate jobs if Wall Street firms stop providing financing to enhance trading positions.
The indictment, which alleges unlawful trading took place at SAC Capital for at least a decade, has cast a shadow on Mr. Cohen's legacy and raised questions about the firm's track record.
"I hardly know Stevie Cohen, but he was a great money manager for a long time. How he did it, I really don't know," said hedge fund pioneer Michael Steinhardt on July 24, as word of the imminent indictment was spreading across Wall Street.
For now, one Wall Street executive said the firm's half-dozen prime brokerage firms are taking a wait-and-see attitude about eliminating lines of credit to SAC Capital or boosting collateral posting requirements for trading positions. The executive said the sense is that if one big Wall Street firm decides to cut ties with SAC, most other firms will follow suit.
This scenario could force quick liquidation of some positions. The firm lists its regulatory assets at about $50 billion, a figure that reflects the use of leverage, or borrowed money, to enhance the trading prowess of its $14 billion in capital, of which more than $8 billion comes from Mr. Cohen and his employees.
In a regulatory document, SAC Capital says some of the firm's "investments in securities are also conducted on a highly leveraged basis, including through the use of options." If SAC Capital was cut off from using borrowed money, it might not only force a liquidation, but limit the ability of the firm to generate the kind of profits it has regularly generated.
Still some on Wall Street believe that if big Wall Street firms were to cut ties with SAC Capital, smaller firms might be ready to step in and fill some of the financing gap.
By Matthew Goldstein
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Post by imSINGLEruRICH on Aug 1, 2013 7:04:59 GMT -5
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