STORY HERE

STORY HERE

A judge is allowing a lawsuit to proceed in limited form against the owners of the Mets by the trustee recovering money for investors who lost money to jailed financier Bernard Madoff.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said Tuesday the lawsuit brought by Trustee Irving Picard can seek to recover up to $295 million in profits that were paid out to the Mets’ owners during the multi-decade fraud. But he says Picard gain that sum only by proving the Mets’ owners were “willfully blind” to the fraud.

Rakoff says Picard’s claim otherwise would be limited to $83.3 million, the fictitious profits accumulated by the Mets’ owners in the two years before the fraud was revealed.

AP

Mets owner Fred Wilpon

Picard’s suit had been seeking up to $1 billion.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/judge_limits_madoff_related_suit_kzLd2rn7OLD7PAPkUWLyLI#ixzz1ZC7lslOU

Dow up over 300 at one point.

	
Dow Jones
11,190.69	+146.83	(1.33%)
	
S&P 500
1,175.39	+12.44	(1.07%)
	
Nasdaq
2,546.83	+30.14	(1.20%)

FBI agents and Boca Raton police closed the offices of finance firm Imperial Holdings today.

At 1 p.m., an empty U-Haul truck was backed up to the entrance of the company’s headquarters at 701 Park of Commerce Blvd., apparently ready to be filled with documents.

Police declined to comment, and company officials couldn’t be reached. One person who spoke to an Imperial Holdings employee said workers were sent home while the FBI executed a search warrant.

It’s unclear what the raid means for shareholders of Imperial Holdings (NYSE: IFT, $6.30). Shares in the Boca Raton-based company have fallen steadily since it went public in February.

Imperial Holdings loans money to policyholders to pay life insurance premiums. It also buys so-called structured settlements, awarded to plaintiffs in lawsuits.

The company reported a loss of $15.7 million in 2010 and also lost money in 2008 and 2009. Imperial Holdings had 131 employees as of Dec. 31.

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_s_palm_beach_county/boca_raton/fbi-agents-and-boca-raton-police-closed-the-offices-of-finance-firm-imperial-holdings-#ixzz1ZBZ00EmA

Two students reportedly injured so far. Still developing as to whether foul play involved.

Source

Currently up roughly 1%

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STORY HERE

Warren Buffett had everyone crunching the numbers this past week with his claim that he pays more in taxes than his secretary, and that millionaires need to their fair share in taxes. This assertion prompted President Obama to propose the Buffett Tax on Monday to make sure millionaires are taxed at higher rates than their secretaries.

And so the Buffett Tax debate began.

Read more: http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/entrepreneurs/2011/09/23/small-businesses-weigh-in-on-buffett-tax/#ixzz1YqBjfPwK

Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> is in talks to sell its correspondent mortgage lending unit to a division of Fortress Investment Group LLC, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The largest U.S. bank by assets, which has been saddled by losses and litigation related to its residential mortgage business, last month said it would either wind down or sell the correspondent business, which buys loans from other banks and mortgage brokers.

Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc, which is owned by Fortress, is conducting due diligence on the deal, according to the paper. It cited unnamed sources who said no final agreements have been reached.

“We continue to work with interested parties, and feel we are making positive progress toward a potential sale,” said Dan Frahm, a Bank of America spokesman. He declined to elaborate.

A sale of the mortgage unit would join a steady flow of sales of “noncore” assets that the bank has been disposing of this year to raise capital to offset losses and meet tougher capital rules being phased in by regulators worldwide.

The bank’s shares have lost roughly half their value this year on concerns that continuing problems related to the loans of the former Countrywide Financial could force the company to raise as much as $50 billion of new equity and dilute current shareholdings.

Chief Executive Brian Moynihan, who in August arranged for a $5 billion investment from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, has said the bank can absorb its losses through asset sales and earnings.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2011/09/23/bofa-may-sell-mortgage-unit-to-fortress-wsj/#ixzz1YqBLEk4t

STORY HERE

10. Georgia
> Net job change: -87,700
> Jobs lost: 101,200
> Jobs gained: 13,500

Georgia has lost a significant number of jobs, primarily in industries “including computers and electronic parts, textiles and apparel, and furniture,” according to the EPI. One of the hardest hit districts in the country was the state’s 9th congressional district, which is located in the northern part of the state and includes the city of Gainesville. Georgia has historically been known for its textile industry and remains one of the top cotton-producing states in the country.

Cities Where Seniors Can’t Get Around

9. Massachusetts
> Net job change: -88,600
> Jobs lost: 99,300
> Jobs gained: 10,700

Two of the nation’s 20 hardest-hit congressional districts are located in Massachusetts. The first of these is the 5th congressional district, which includes the cities of Lowell, one of the country’s earliest textile centers, and Lawrence, home of a number of textile and electronics manufacturers. The state’s neighboring 3rd congressional district also lost an exceptional number of jobs. This district includes Worcester, another historically significant textile city, which has since increased its technology industry.

8. Ohio
> Net job change: -103,500
> Jobs lost: 124,100
> Jobs gained: 13,500

Ohio is one of the U.S.’s biggest manufacturing states. It is home to major companies such as Procter & Gamble (PG: 61.17, -1.85, -2.94%) and AK Steel Corporation (NYSE: AKS). However, the state’s manufacturing sector is declining at a faster rate than the nation’s. The automobile sector has had the highest unemployment growth since 2007, although companies in other sectors have contributed to sending jobs overseas as well.

Eight Beers Americans No Longer Drink

7. Pennsylvania
> Net job change: -106,900
> Jobs lost: 127,200
> Jobs gained: 20,200

According to the National Association of Manufacturers, “Manufacturers in Pennsylvania account for 12.5 percent of the total output in the state” and employ “10 percent of the workforce.” Politicians have been outspoken about China’s effect on the state’s economy. Senator Bob Casey recently stated that “Unfair Chinese trade practices harm Pennsylvania businesses … and reduce their ability to create jobs.”

6. North Carolina
> Net job change: -107,800
> Jobs lost: 122,400
>Jobs gained: 14,600

North Carolina is home to three of the top 20 hardest hit districts in the U.S. Textiles and furniture are among the two industries that have lost the most jobs to China, according to the EPI report. North Carolina Congressman Howard Coble is co-sponsoring House Bill 639, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, to address this issue. “This bill will at least force China to compete on a level playing field with U.S. manufacturers,” Coble is quoted as saying in the Winston-Salem Journal.

5. Florida
> Net job change: -114,400
> Jobs lost: 134,500
> Jobs gained: 20,100

Florida is not normally considered to be a major manufacturing state, yet it does excel in some areas, such as medical device manufacturing. The state has lost almost 115,000 jobs to China from 2001 to 2010. Governor Rick Scott has been a supporter of business relations with China, but other local politicians have not been as hospitable. In 2007, Mayor John Mazziotti of Palm Bay proposed a ban on items made in China, stating that the city was “losing jobs left and right to them.”

4. Illinois
> Net job change: -118,200
> Jobs lost: 139,400
> Jobs gained: 21,200

Illinois is another traditional manufacturing power that has lost a significant number of jobs to China. Robert Scott, director of manufacturing and trade policy research for EPI, told Illinois WJBC radion stateion that “In Illinois you also have a large number of firms involved in industries like auto parts production and fabricated metal products, and those are industries that were hurt by the growth of imports from China.” China also exports lots of electronics and specialty steel — industries that were once major sectors in Illinois.

3. New York
> Net job change: -161,400
> Jobs lost: 183,300
> Jobs gained: 21,900

“New York has lost 140,000 predominantly middle-wage manufacturing jobs in recent years as a result of China’s unfair labor practices,” said James Parrott, deputy director and chief economist at the New York-based Fiscal Policy Institute in the Times Union. New York Senator Chuck Schumer has made efforts to encourage China to further appreciate its currency.

2. Texas
> Net job change: -232,800
> Jobs lost: 269,300
> Jobs gained: 36,400

Texas has suffered greatly from the trade deficit with China due, largely, to the prominence of the computer and electronic parts industry in the state. Four of the top 20 congressional districts that lost the most jobs in the country are located in the state. Many Chinese companies have close ties with Texas. Two companies, Huawei and ZTE, have set up their U.S. headquarters in the state. Oil company CNOOC (CEO: 145.32, -13.56, -8.53%) has also bought an exceptionally large amount of mineral rights in the state in order to extract shale oil.

1. California
> Net job change: -454,600
> Jobs lost: 519,000
> Jobs gained: 64,300

California has lost almost half a million jobs to China, according to EPI. Like Texas, many of these were lost in the computer and electronic parts industry. Additionally, eight of the nation’s 20 hardest hit districts are in the state. Governor Jerry Brown has proposed ways to win back jobs from China outside of the computer sector, such as green technology. In his race for governorship, Brown said that he would create thousands of clean-energy jobs, “reclaiming from China leadership of the cleantech economy.”

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2011/09/22/states-losing-most-jobs-to-china/#ixzz1Yie6KaNw

STORY HERE

Up about 4% after-hours right now…

Nike Reports Q1 EPS $1.36 vs $1.21 Est; Revenues $6.08B vs $5.75B Est

(h/t Benzinga)

Excellent recap by Josh Brown here (The Reformed Broker -TRB)

Republican leaders will propose cutting more spending to offset the amount of additional disaster relief money in a short-term government spending measure defeated earlier by the House, a GOP aide told CNN on Thursday.

The additional spending cut, called an offset, would be roughly $100 million from a Department of Energy loan program linked to a solar panel firm that recently collapsed, said another Republican source.

The move is intended to persuade the 48 Republicans who voted against the GOP measure Wednesday night to change their minds, according to the GOP aide, who spoke on condition of not being identified.

Democrats in the House and Senate said Thursday they oppose any offsets of emergency spending for natural disasters.

SOURCE

10,597.14

Broke session lows, major indices off more then 4.50% across the board. “Crash” word thrown around everywhere.

Developing…