SEC Gives First Whistleblower Award – $50,000

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday that it had granted the first whistleblower award under a new program to a witness who helped stop a multi-million dollar fraud.

The agency did not identify the whistleblower or the case in question, but said the person will receive an award of $50,000. That equates to 30% of the total penalties collected so far by the SEC in the case, the maximum percentage allowable by law.

The whistleblower could receive additional payouts as the case progresses, the SEC said in a statement.

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A mayor in Spain is leading movements of people who raid grocery stores; he likens himself to Robin Hood. Sweet, civilization flourishes when, every time someone creates something stable, a mob ransacks it.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/world/2012/08/21/pkg-goodman-spanish-mayor-robin-hood.cnn

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GENEVA/BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – The United States and Japan assailed Argentina’s import rules as protectionist at the World Trade Organization on Tuesday, putting more pressure on the country to revamp policies that many trading partners say violate global norms.

The two complaints mirrored litigation brought by the European Union in May and triggered a swift reaction from Argentina’s center-left government, which vowed to challenge U.S. rules on lemon and beef imports.

Argentina is seen by many fellow Group of 20 nations as a chronic rule-breaker since it staged the world’s biggest sovereign debt default in 2002. It remains locked out of global credit markets and relies on export revenue for hard currency.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Another JPMorgan Chase & Co risk manager, who worked for a division that lost at least $5.8 billion on a series of complex derivatives trades, has hired a lawyer in connection with probes into the so-called “London Whale” trading debacle, according to sources familiar with the investigations.

Federal authorities are investigating an allegation that some of the bank’s traders in London may have tried to hide hefty losses, and JPMorgan is conducting an internal probe.

Peter Weiland, who was head of risk at JPMorgan’s Chief Investment Office from late 2008 until the beginning of 2012, is one of at least six people associated with the case who have hired attorneys. He has been reassigned by the bank to a new risk control team at the overhauled Chief Investment Office where the loss occurred.

Weiland, who is based in New York, did not return requests for comment, and his lawyer declined to comment.

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You can sense almost an air of desperation from David Kostin, Goldman Sachs chief U.S. equity strategist, in his latest note to clients as he pleads with them to take money out of stocks before they fall off the fiscal cliff.

In the note, Kostin vehemently defends his year-end S&P 500 (^GSPC) target of 1250 despite the benchmark’s recent rise to above 1400. The strategist still sees a 12 percent drop ahead, believing that Congress will fail to address the fiscal cliff before the election, and maybe even before the end of the year.

“Political realities and last year’s precedent suggest the potential that Congress fails to reach agreement in addressing the fiscal cliff is greater than what most investors seem to believe based on our client conversations,” said Kostin.

The so-called fiscal cliff is the expiration of payroll, capital gains and dividend tax cuts at the end of this year. It also refers to the mandatory sequestration of spending that resulted from the vicious debt ceiling fight last summer.

“Last year, the deadline for Congress to raise the federal debt ceiling (explain this) was known months in advance,” states the report. “Nevertheless, Congress was unable to reach an agreement that satisfied all factions. Investors were stunned and the S&P 500 plunged 11 percent in 10 trading days.”

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He’s gone mad.

On August 21, 2012, Icahn Enterprises delivered a letter to the Issuer’s board of directors withdrawing its previous offer to take the Issuer private. The letter read:

“At the time we made our original offer on August 6th to take CVR Energy private, we stated that we were willing to pay $29.00 per share but in no event would we consider paying more than $30 per share. Since then a number of market conditions have changed, including a significant widening of crack spreads. We no longer think that the proposed transaction is feasible at this time and we hereby withdraw it.”

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Its just some leather and rubber you know.

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Recent rumors of ECB yield capping may have some tough consequences for the world’s richest men ans their bets….

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“Don’t worry, the ‘fiscal cliff’ will all be taken care of; have no fear, the market AAPL will hold up into the election to sustain Obama’s hope-and-change; and, as The Heritage Foundry blog reports, in that change, there are 18 new tax hikes on their way via Obamacare.

Not only did the President and his partners in Congress take $716 billion out of Medicare to pay for Obamacare, but they also raise taxes by $836.3 billion to pay for it, with $36.3 billion hitting Americans in 2013 alone. Here’s the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Joint Committee on Taxation‘s (JCT) updated cost of the Obamacare tax hikes and penalties.”

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European policymakers are not ready to commit to unlimited bailouts for debt-distressed countries and that includes capping bond yields, Pimco’s CEO Mohamed El-Erian told CNBC.

T.J. Kirkpatrick | Bloomberg | Getty Images Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer and co-chief investment officer of PIMCO

Among the many rescue options bandied about for peripheral nations overcome by sovereign debt is a plan for the European Central Bankto buy enough bonds so that interest rates in the affected countries wouldn’t exceed a certain rate.

El-Erian, who helps run the largest bond fund in the world, said such a plan to go beyond the current Long-Term Refinancing Operations likely would meet stiff resistance.

“We suspect that is one of the options, capping yields,” he told “Squawk Box.” “We do not think it is likely to materialize because it is such an open-ended commitment.”

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The markets carved out new four year highs this morning only to drift back into unch territory.

Expectations of  the ECB capping sovereign debt yields by debasing the euro is high.

European markets closed up 0.75% on average and the euro is giving the homo hammer to short sellers. A crucial break above 1.24 is positive indeud.

Fun times in a world dominated by central banks.

I smell 1446 S&P over the next week or two.

Market Update 

The Story 

3 D heat map

European boards

[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8ZbUKKDfnU&feature=related 450 300]

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Doug Short has an update on the mega bear chart, and the U.S. is breaking the pattern.

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“Goldman Sachs might be a bit more optimistic about the economy, but that optimism isn’t necessarily translating into market optimism.  Goldman’s Chief US Equity Strategist David Kostin is sticking to his year-end 1250 price target for the S&P 500 and expects worries over the fiscal cliff to resurface as we hear into year-end and markets discount the potential for a rockier road in 2013 (via Zero Hedge& CNBC):”

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The plan is being reported as probable and with teeth.

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“Bullish fund managers are outnumbering bearish ones by five to one, but it’s not clear why — there are more signs that oil prices will retreat than continue to advance.”

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“Increased regulations, many of which are from the Dodd-Frank financial-reform measure, are making it harder on banks and consumers, but easier on the financing system that helped create the 2008 credit crisis, says Dick Bove, vice president of equity research at Rochdale Securities.

Because of the regulations, traditional banks are being restrained in providing some services, including check cashing, payday loans, wire transfers, prepaid bank cards and mortgages with “graduated payment schedules,” Bove notes, all services generally associated with lower-income customers.

“So, who is supposed to provide the funds inside the regulated banking system to buy these loans? Clearly, the answer is the shadow banking market,” he writes in a note, according to CNBC. “Unregulated mortgage companies are likely to spring back into business. They will have their loans packaged by unregulated securities firms.”

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For real…more than double its market cap for first prize. Can you guess who took that coveted spot ?

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“They were never just going to sit there and take it. With the election cycle hotting up, the Chinese were an easy target for any and every finger-pointing blame game that US politicians were cornered with – but they are coming out swinging.  As WaPo (via AP) reports, China’s government has ruled that US support to six US solar and wind projects violates free trade rules ”

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” Last week it was Brent and Crude; yesterday it was Silver; and today Gold has broken out of its three-month range over $1640 – testing up to its 200DMA once again. Party on in tech stocks like its 1999 but don’t forget the unintended consequence of all that free-money exuberance.”

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