Ask investment professionals questions that creep into uncomfortable territory and you’ll be glad you did. Go ahead and say it: (more)
The Securities and Exchange Commission, which failed to stop Bernard Madoff’s long-running investment fraud despite repeated warnings, has disciplined eight agency employees over their handling of the matter but did not fire anyone. (more)
The story of fraudster Bernie Madoff will soon be hitting the big screen with Robert De Niro, America’s favorite villain type-cast, playing the ruinous financial villain who ran the largest Ponzi scheme in American history. (more)
The son and wife of convicted stockbroker Bernie Madoff said they had no inkling he was running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme until he came home on a December night three years ago and gathered the family together. (more)
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Nearly three years after Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme unraveled, his victims are getting their first piece of the stolen funds. (more)
Texas Governor Rick Perry has been criticized for saying that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. But he’s absolutely right, and he is hardly the first guy to notice. I figured that out 30 years ago. (more)
(Reuters) – Barclays Plc was sued for $67.4 million by the trustee seeking money for victims of Bernard Madoff‘s Ponzi scheme. (more)
Looks like Madoff tried to rip off Qaddafi’s government. (more)
As I do at the end of each year (which usually elicits many e-mails, but I am going to do it again anyway), here is my look back at 2010. (more)
RNC Chair Michael Steele is claiming credit for the Republican wave in 2010, but he was just along for the ride — literally. Spending the last months of the campaign season driving around the country in a bus on his magical mystery tour, Steele may have been inhaling the spirit of Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters, but he sure wasn’t leading the party where it mattered — in fundraising or field operations. The only person who promised more and delivered less in the last two years was Bernie Madoff. (more)
The other week, Symantec, the Fortune 500 company that makes computer security software, held the first Internet-only annual meeting. There were a couple screw-ups, however. (more)
The stock market stinks and insured savings accounts pay zilch. US Treasury securities are safe, but you’d starve if you had to live off the interest. So what’s a guy to do? (more)
The Social Security Trustees recently released their annual report on the state of the Social Security program, and it’s not pretty. For the next 75 years, the liability now stands at nearly $8 trillion. Projected into the infinite horizon, this debt stands at $18.6 trillion. The unfunded liability is the difference between the benefits that have been promised to current and future retirees and what will be collected in dedicated taxes. This means that the government would have to have such an amount in the bank today, earning interest, in order to pay Social Security benefits into perpetuity. (more)
The Washington Post today reports on the breaking news that the FBI has broken up a Russian spy ring in the U.S.: (more)
If you were tasked with creating a new government health program, what would you use as a model? Would you try to emulate a profitable, sustainable business from the private sector, or would you shoot for the huge budget shortfalls and customer service record of the U.S. Postal Service? (more)
Sen. Richard Shelby, Alabama Republican and the ranking Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee, gave a final speech on the Senate floor Thursday in advance of the final vote to pass a financial regulation bill, which passed later in the evening. (more)
Question: What do Sarah Palin, Lady Gaga, Barack Obama and Jet Li have in common? (more)
It is so sad it’s almost funny when a majority political party thinks if they name legislation something positive, the negative aspects will not be examined. There is no debate against the fact that our financial services system is damaged. With remaining scars from Goldman Sacs, Bernie Madoff and others, there is a need for reform. However, the democrats’ definition of such as seen through this recent bill begs to differ from what is really required for us to escape the continuing turmoil of recession. (more)
You are going to be tempted. You may already be as guilty as Bernie Madoff himself. (more)

























