Hugh Hendry: Is it Time to Invest in Europe? (VIDEO)
SAN DIEGO STUPID: INNOCENT MAN LEFT IN HOLDING CELL FOR 5 DAYS WITHOUT FOOD OR WATER: FORCED TO DRINK HIS OWN URINE
Chong, 23, was never arrested, was not going to be charged with a crime and should have been released, said a law enforcement official who was briefed on the DEA case and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Chong told U-T San Diego that he drank his own urine to survive and that he bit into his glasses to break them and tried to use a shard to scratch “Sorry Mom” into his arm.
Comments »AUDIO: GMCR and The Case of the Killer Hot Cocoa
Highlights from the GMCR call.
Comments »Summary of $YELP’s Conference Call
Yelp Conference Call Commentary
During the conference call, YELP commented that mobile remains a top priority and focus and that the company is very encouraged with the trends it is seeing. On average, 6.3 million mobile devices accessed YELP per month during the quarter, which is up 80% from a year ago. In terms of monetization, YELP says that mobile is even better than on the web, and it is already monetizing this traffic. It says that the performance of ads is actually better than on the internet.
Regarding its expansion into new markets, YELP said it is now in 80 markets and that it added 11 new cities in the quarter, 8 of which were international. Later this year, the company is planning on launching a European sales force to support its growth in that geography. Overall, YELP says that there are 180 markets in the U.S. with over 250,000 people — which it believes is a good benchmark for markets it wants to be in — and says that there are more than 1,000 of these markets in the world. Over the long-term, it would like to consider all of these markets, but in the near-term, mangement stated that it is difficult forecast how many it will enter. Generally speaking, the company says that it wants to grow at a healthy clip, but not outgrow themselves.
From a longer-term perspective, YELP says that it is striving to achieve 30-35% adjusted EBITDA margins. In the shorter term, though, the company will continue to invest in new markets and will remain focused on growing the topline. This suggests that sales & marketing expense will remain elevated in coming quarters. For this quarter, sales & marketing, as a percent of sales, was 69% compared to 68% a year ago.
Comments »$GMCR BLAMES EARNINGS MISS ON WEAK HOT COCOA AND CIDER SALES
They blamed weather on the earnings miss. Audio will be posted here later.
Comments »TRAIN WRECK LIVE: $GMCR CONFERENCE CALL
There Are Serial Liars Occupying the White House
Eric Jackson: Why I Love YELP
FLASH: European Futures Moderately Higher
FINRA Cracking Down on Leveraged ETF’s
| For Release: Contacts: |
May 1, 2012 Michelle Ong (202) 728-8464 Nancy Condon (202) 728-8379
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| Citigroup Global Markets, Inc Action Morgan Stanley & Co., LLC Action UBS Financial Services, Inc Action Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC Action |
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FINRA Sanctions Four Firms $9.1 Million for Sales of Leveraged and Inverse Exchange-Traded Funds
WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) today announced that it has sanctioned Citigroup Global Markets, Inc; Morgan Stanley & Co., LLC; UBS Financial Services; and Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC a total of more than $9.1 million for selling leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs) without reasonable supervision and for not having a reasonable basis for recommending the securities. The firms were fined more than $7.3 million and are required to pay a total of $1.8 million in restitution to certain customers who made unsuitable leveraged and inverse ETF purchases.
FINRA sanctioned the following firms:
- Wells Fargo – $2.1 million fine and $641,489 in restitution
- Citigroup – $2 million fine and $146,431 in restitution
- Morgan Stanley – $1.75 million fine and $604,584 in restitution
- UBS – $1.5 million fine and $431,488 in restitution
Brad Bennett, FINRA Executive Vice President and Chief of Enforcement, said, “The added complexity of leveraged and inverse exchange-traded products makes it essential that brokerage firms have an adequate understanding of the products and sufficiently train their sales force before the products are offered to retail customers. Firms must conduct reasonable due diligence and ensure that their representatives have an understanding of these products.”
ETFs are typically registered unit investment trusts (UITs) or open-end investment companies whose shares represent an interest in a portfolio of securities that track an underlying benchmark or index. Leveraged ETFs seek to deliver multiples of the performance of the index or benchmark they track. Inverse ETFs seek to deliver the opposite of the performance of the index or benchmark they track, profiting from short positions in derivatives in a falling market.
FINRA found that from January 2008 through June 2009, the firms did not have adequate supervisory systems in place to monitor the sale of leveraged and inverse ETFs, and failed to conduct adequate due diligence regarding the risks and features of the ETFs. As a result, the firms did not have a reasonable basis to recommend the ETFs to their retail customers. The firms’ registered representatives also made unsuitable recommendations of leveraged and inverse ETFs to some customers with conservative investment objectives and/or risk profiles. Each of the four firms sold billions of dollars of these ETFs to customers, some of whom held them for extended periods when the markets were volatile.
Leveraged and inverse ETFs have certain risks not found in traditional ETFs, such as the risks associated with a daily reset, leverage and compounding. Accordingly, investors were subjected to the risk that the performance of their investments in leveraged and inverse ETFs could differ significantly from the performance of the underlying index or benchmark when held for longer periods of time, particularly in the volatile markets that existed during January 2008 through June 2009. Despite the risks associated with holding leveraged and inverse ETFs for longer periods in volatile markets, certain customers of these firms held leveraged and inverse ETFs for extended time periods during January 2008 through June 2009.
In settling these matters, the firms neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of FINRA’s findings.
FINRA’s investigation was conducted by Robert Moreiro, Elena Kindler, Chun Li, Ron Sannicandro, Joseph Darcy, Elizabeth Da Silva and Patrick Hendry.
The New Dark Knight Rises Trailer
Hugh Hendry’s Investor Letter, April, 2012
Andrew Breitbart’s Coroner Dead From Arsenic Poisoning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZhDR_2xx9w
“At this point we haven’t ruled out foul play,” police Lt. Alan Hamilton told the Los Angeles Times. “It is one of the things being considered. We are waiting for the coroner’s results.”
Comments »Obama: “A Pitbull is Delicious”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoreutfmhTY&feature=context-gfa
Comments »BREIBART RELATED: LA CORONER WAS FUCKING POISONED to DEATH!
Entrapment: The FBI’s Way to Fight the War on Terror
This is legal, but is it legitimate? Without the F.B.I., would the culprits commit violence on their own? Is cultivating potential terrorists the best use of the manpower designed to find the real ones? Judging by their official answers, the F.B.I. and the Justice Department are sure of themselves — too sure, perhaps.
Comments »NYC SUBWAY ROBBERIES SOAR, +31%
“I’m not showing anything, you know, in the train because I really don’t feel safe,” Figueroa said.
Comments »FLASHBACK: $YELP’s CEO, Stoppelman, Interview on CNBC
AVOID: KFC FOUND GUILTY IN CAUSING BRAIN DAMAGE AND PARALYSIS IN GIRL THROUGH ITS POISONOUS FOOD- $YUM
Fast food giant Kentucky Fried Chicken has been ordered to pay Aus$8 million (US$8.3 million) to an Australian girl who suffered severe brain damage and was paralysed after eating a Twister wrap.
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