So many things out there today, let’s take a look.
It looks like the former Countrywide (who’s on your side!) CEO is being charged with insider trading.
The SEC has charged Angelo Mozilo, the former chairman and CEO of Countrywide Financial, with insider trading.
The SEC also charged the company’s former chief operating officer, David Sambol, and former financial chief, Eric Sieracki, with securities fraud for failing to disclose the firm’s relaxed lending standards in its 2006 annual report.
I’d love to see this man pay for running Countrywide into the ground, all the while walking off with a fortune. Based on all the documentation publicly available I have a feeling this is more of a show trial than a serious attempt to convict him.
California’s unemployment fund short by billions
California is in financial ruin. Much like GM, the problem existed for years – the economic downturn only made the situation worse. Now it seems the state unemployment fund is underfunded.
California is paying out so much for jobless benefits and collecting so little in payroll taxes that its unemployment insurance fund could be $17.8 billion in debt by the end of 2010, according to a new report from the state Employment Development Department.
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To rebalance the system and pay back the federal loan, lawmakers must raise payroll taxes on employers, reduce benefits for recipients, or both.
The condition California is in will be the template for what the nation will soon be facing. No one wants to admit it, but it’s coming. Taxes going up, benefits going down and more people hurting.
Delphi Salaried Retirees to Lose Pension Benefits
Delphi, the largest auto parts maker who also is in bankruptcy, has some very bad news for retirees – Your pension, much like your career, is history.
For these salaried retirees, and thousands more like them, the latest news from Delphi only adds more insult to injury. The bankrupt parts-maker now wants to get rid of its under-funded pension plan for former white-collar workers, meaning the Federal Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation will take it over.
This comes after the retirees had already lost their company health care and life insurance, benefits they were now having to pay for using those soon-to-be-shrinking pensions. But what has them even more upset, the notion tax dollars are bailing out GM and its workers and retirees, as well as helping the automaker take over some of Delphi’s assets. Retiree Charles Cunningham of Howland claims collusion is taking place, telling us, “It’s because of the UAW relationship with the current Administration in Washington.”
This is a poor position to be in, no doubt, but the PBGC will be taking over the fund. This means the retirees will still get – some – money, even if it is just a fraction. Something is better than nothing, even if it’s just beer money…right?
Another side the consumer is holding back – US retailers report May sales declines
According a Goldman Sachs/ICSC tally, overall same-store sales fell 4.6 percent, worse than the 3 percent drop predicted.
The lower-than-expected results did not include Wal-Mart stores, which in recent months has boosted total results but has stopped reporting monthly figures.
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Results are a “clear indication that the consumer is not stampeding back to the stores, they’re still being very careful,” said BMO Capital Markets analyst John Morris. “I think the initial panic is over, but now the tough work begins. We’re entering a slow summer period when there’s not a lot to attract consumers into the stores.”
I’m still waiting for the retail bankruptcies to kick in.