Government Insider Trading?

As GM stock falls, timing of the government's exit looks shrewd

By Rick Newman March 12, 2014 2:14 PM The Exchange

 

If the government could investigate itself for insider trading, the timing of a recent stock sale might have triggered a few alerts.

Related Stories

• What's going on with GM's big recall CNNMoney.com
• What's going on with GM's big recall of 2.2 million U.S. vehicles? CNNMoney.com
• [$$] Regulators Twice Failed to Open GM Probes The Wall Street Journal
• GM waited on Ion recall despite awareness of fatal crashes Reuters
• GM's Barra to speak before Congress: 'Not waiting' to make changes Fortune

In December, the Treasury Dept. sold the last of its shares in General Motors (GM), wrapping up the controversial bailout that began when GM declared bankruptcy in 2009. Taxpayers ultimately lost about $10 billion on GM, and some critics argued the Treasury could have recouped more of its investment if it held on to its GM shares longer and waited for the price to rise. But now the timing of the sale looks superb, especially since a mushrooming safety controversy — which the government knew about for years but the public didn’t — has been pushing down the value of GM shares.
In February, GM announced the recall of about 1.4 million Chevrolet Cobalts, Pontiac G5s and other vehicles for a faulty ignition switch that’s been linked with 13 deaths in 31 crashes. As more information about the safety problem has surfaced, it's become apparent GM knew about it for nearly 10 years and did nothing to fix it, which has now prompted Congress to investigate and the Justice Dept. to consider pressing criminal charges. Had the Treasury held on longer to its GM shares, that could have led to a bizarre situation in which the government ended up investigating and perhaps even prosecuting a large business entity it held a controlling interest in.
A strange situation
The whole situation is weird enough as it is. A chronology of events GM provided to the government’s auto-safety regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), shows GM was internally investigating the ignition-switch problem even in the midst of the company’s 2009 bankruptcy filing and government bailout, which gave the Treasury Dept. a 61% ownership stake in GM. There appears to have been a lull in GM’s internal inquiry from 2009 to 2011, but the probe intensified from 2012 to early 2014, leading to GM’s decision to mount a recall in February.
General Motors returned to public markets in November 2010. On Dec. 21, 2012, the Treasury Dept. announced it planned to unload its GM shares over the course of the next 12 to 15 months, and it completed that process by Dec. 9, 2013. During that time, the price of GM shares mostly rose, ranging from about $27 to $41. The peak price in GM's post-bankruptcy era occurred about two weeks after Treasury sold its final GM shares, at the end of 2013. So the Treasury sold as the stock price was rising, finally exiting its position with the share price near its peak — and about to fall.

In a normal investing situation, that would constitute excellent timing, perhaps even raising questions about whether the sellers knew more than they were letting on. Treasury, for its part, said all along it was not involved in operational issues at GM. And by selling GM shares at a $10 billion loss, when it could have waited longer, the Obama administration signaled its eagerness to disentangle itself from the automaker and from awkward questions involving executive pay, regulatory issues, political posturing and other matters. A Treasury spokesperson reiterates the department was not involved in the day-to-day management of the company, and had no prior knowledge of the ignition-switch issue.

The NHTSA did know about the problem, however, and raised it with GM no later than 2007. The NHTSA is part of the Transportation Dept., not the Treasury Dept., and even though most Americans may think of “the government” as one organization, it’s actually hundreds of agencies that don’t necessarily communicate with each other and don’t even have the same computer systems. So it’s quite plausible information held at NHTSA never reached Treasury and had no bearing at all on its sale of GM stock. Still, it’s a connection Congressional investigators — representing the arm of the government charged with oversight of the executive branch — will undoubtedly explore.

The timing of Treasury’s GM stock sales, meanwhile, could end up being a better deal for taxpayers than it initially seemed. The median price of GM stock in 2013, when Treasury sold most of its shares, was about $34. GM shares are now down around 14% for 2014 and are trading around $35. So if they fall much more, 2013, in retrospect, will look like a good year to have sold. And if the shares recover, at least the government won’t have to investigate itself as the GM saga develops.

 http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/strange-new-questions-about-the-government-s-sale-of-gm-stock-155925152.html

Making a case for Dr. Benjamin Carson and black conservatives.

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is On Fire in Defense of Kobe Bryant on Trayvon Hoodie Controversy

27,177 Shares By Kyle Becker 16 hours ago

ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith appeared on Arsenio Hall and gave a stirring commentary regarding L.A. Lakers basketball player Kobe Bryant’s unorthodox comments on why he wouldn’t want to wear a hoodie in honor of slain young black man Trayvon Martin.
On the night of February 26, 2012, the 17-year-old Martin was killed by “white Hispanic” George Zimmerman after an altercation; after a jury acquitted Zimmerman in July of 2013 on manslaughter charges, it ignited a public outrage in many communities across the nation.
Kobe Bryant recently said the following about the case:

“I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to, because I’m an African-American. That argument doesn’t make any sense to me. So we want to advance as a society and a culture, but, say, if something happens to an African-American we immediately come to his defense?

Yet you want to talk about how far we’ve progressed as a society? Well, we’ve progressed as a society, then don’t jump to somebody’s defense just because they’re African-American. You sit and you listen to the facts just like you would in any other situation, right? So I won’t assert myself.”

Stephen A. Smith’s best points came in his defense of Kobe’s controversial comments. It is one of the most articulate expressions of the “conservative” outlook on what would best liberate the black community that one will find.
“Kobe Bryant basically has the attitude that justice should be equal, no matter what, whether in regards to race or gender,” Smith noted.  “And that was his position. All he was trying to say was that ‘excuse me, let’s listen to the facts first, let’s make sure we know everything before we jump out and judge accordingly. You can’t sit there and take somebody’s side just because they’re an African-American, you can’t turn around and assume or think that people from other races are going to ever be fair to you if you’re not willing to exercise fairness yourself. Lay back, listen to the facts, and then accord justice where it should be served.’”
“And I don’t have a problem with that,” Smith continued, “Me, personally, I definitely think that he was right on point with that. I know a lot of black people are gonna be upset about that…”
“And are upset,” Arsenio jumped in. “Black Twitter went crazy…”
“When I give a damn, I’ll let you know,” Smith shot back, drawing some gasps in the crowd.
Watch the rest of the intense and thought-provoking conversation. Stephen A. Smith is on fire, and destroys one left-wing talking point after another. While acknowledging that injustice against the black community exists, he recommends the right course of action for blacks to find justice in America: not by seeking retribution against whites, but by seeking fairness and equality before the law.

Kobe’s Reason for Not Wearing a Hoodie for Trayvon Has Driven Left Into a Twitter Rage

 

Please join me as a charter subscriber to the hottest free weekly online magazine for America’s new generation of black conservative leaders.

Dear Friend,
America is the land of dreams, and it has fulfilled the dreams of so many people from so many places. As a child, I dreamed of becoming a doctor. And by working hard, embracing my mother's values and seizing opportunity, I was able to become a neurosurgeon. But I worry that today's generations have been lulled into a complacency that is destroying the promise of The Dream.
The ruling elite has convinced too many young adults that it's OK to stay at home and live in your parents' basements playing video games or aimlessly roaming the streets with friends. After all, you can get a monthly check, a free cell phone and health insurance from Uncle Sam for doing nothing. Opportunity has been replaced by despair. Embracing character, values, marriage and family has been ridiculed. Government dependence has been substituted for self-reliance. And mediocrity has replaced excellence.
I want you to join me today in demolishing this culture of failure and standing up to the media elite, who for too long have treated black Americans as a monolithic bloc addicted to a single political dogma. We need a new media source that embraces hard work, moral character, family values, good education and self-reliance and inspires the next generation with role models who have cast off the chains of mediocre expectations and proven that the American dream is alive and well.
That's why I have joined friends like Armstrong Williams, Rev. A.R. Bernard, Juan Williams and others to create American CurrentSee, a new type of digital magazine that gets delivered every Sunday to your email inbox and works on your computer, smart phone or tablet. It will arm you for this fight by boldly addressing wrongheaded entitlement dependency and chronicling how big government's well-intentioned nanny state has created lasting pathologies like broken families, overtaxed businesses, under-performing schools and crime-ridden neighborhoods. Mostly importantly, it will inspire you to embrace a new agenda of economic opportunity, moral leadership and freedom from suffocating government.
I love the last stanza of our national anthem. But I also know that in order to be free, first you must be brave. Be brave. Sign up today for American CurrentSee and together let's demolish the tired old dogmas, free today's generations from dependency and mediocrity and build a better America.
Your friend,
Dr. Ben Carson

Latest GOP Voter Poll

A nationwide telephone poll of Republican and Republican-leaning independents  conducted by WPA Opinion Research found that while the prospective field remains close Rand Paul and Mike Huckabee are currently leading the pack — tied for first place, each with 13 percent of the vote.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush followed with 11 percent. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz each got nine percent. Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan (six percent), Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (six percent), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (five percent), Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (three percent), former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (three percent), and Texas Gov. Rick Perry followed. Nineteen percent said they did not know or refused to answer.

California Senator and Champion of Gun Control Indicted

Senator Yee turns out to be ..........A GUN RUNNER: http://www.npr.org/2014/03/29/296022715/the-story-of-calif-senators-arrest-reads-like-pulp-fiction?ft=1&f=1001

Rand Paul vs Hillary Clinton

What would a Rand Paul vs Hillary Clinton campaign look like?  Here us an interesting article which seems to have some of the answers.  http://theweek.com/article/index/258076/what-would-a-rand-paul-vs-hillary-clinton-presidential-campaign-look-like

Why isn't this a surprise. Place sanctions on Russia as we give them free military equipment.

U.S. Gives Russia Free Military Equipment Used By Army, Marines

March 26, 2014 | 

Behind closed doors the U.S. government is giving Russia free military equipment—also used to train American troops—even after President Obama announced punitive sanctions against Moscow and, more importantly, a suspension in military engagement over the invasion and occupation of Ukraine.
The secret operation was exposed this week by members of Congress that discovered it in the process of reviewing the Fiscal Year 2014 budget and the proposed Fiscal Year 2015 budget request. It turns out that the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has been providing the Russian Federation with the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES), the federal legislators say. The U.S. military uses MILES for tactical force-on-force training because it has a system of lasers and dummy ammunition to simulate ground combat.
It’s a crucial, military-grade technology that’s similar to a “laser tag” available in some commercial markets, according to one of the outraged lawmakers (Oklahoma Republican Jim Bridenstine) that helped uncover the scandal. Bridenstine, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has joined forces with Ohio Republican Mike Turner, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, to demand an end to the program. Along with about a dozen other House colleagues they penned a letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, who oversees the agency carrying out the “irresponsible military equipment transfers” to Russia.
The Obama administration’s planned supply to the Russian Federation is a grave mistake given the recent invasion of Ukraine launched by Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin, the legislators point out. “It is difficult to imagine a worse time to provide military-grade technology employed by the U.S. Marine Corps, Army, and Special Operations Forces to Russia than when it has illegally invaded Ukraine and is violating the intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty,” the letter to Moniz says. “To make matters worse, it is our understanding from the budget documents that the Department has been, and continues to propose, providing this technology to Russia free-of-charge.”
This is preposterous and borders on criminal if you really think about it. As if we need reminding, Congressman Turner recants Putin’s “brazen disregard for the sovereignty and stability of Eastern Europe” as well as his disregard for international law. “Despite this overwhelming evidence that Putin is not our ally, it is astonishing that the Obama Administration would still provide superior, U.S. military technology to an aggressive and advancing Russia,” Turner said. “The United States must seriously redirect its approach and immediately terminate all military aid to Russia.”
President Obama has already proven to be an international joke for his response to the worsening crisis in Ukraine. Even the mainstream media in this country has blasted the commander-in-chief’s foreign policy as based on fantasy. One famously liberal magazine published a satirical article saying that the Obama administration froze Putin’s Netflix account as a “major ramping up of sanctions.” In a piece published a few days ago, a former veteran congressman wrote this: “The embarrassment of U.S. impotence in dealing with Russian aggression in the Ukraine is only the beginning of what will likely be a series of foreign policy disasters.”

Chris Christie found not guilty

Governor Christie was found to be blameless in the internal investigation of "Bridge Gate". His detractors, however, are not convinced.  Here is the story from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/27/us-usa-politics-christie-idUSBREA2Q0VD20140327

Senator Rand Paul receives warm standing ovation during UC Berkeley speech

Thursday, Mar 20, 2014 at 1:10 PM EST
As Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) presumably gears up for a 2016 run, he was warmly welcomed by a group of unlikely supporters – students at the University of California, Berkeley.
According to the Associated Press, Sen. Paul spoke UC Berkeley yesterday at the request of the university’s Republican club. The event drew about 400 people, who “filled the hall to capacity.” There were no visible protestors, and Sen. Paul “drew a large crowd of well-wishers on his way off campus.”
The 30-minute speech criticized President Obama and other government leaders over recent surveillance disclosures. Sen. Paul also declared the country is desperate for a “new kind of party.” And while he admitted the Republican Party has been far from perfect, he believes it can be the party to get this country back on track.
 “Go back to what happened yesterday with Rand Paul. This is huge. Absolutely huge… This is incredible,” Glenn said on radio this morning. “Rand Paul goes to the University of California, Berkeley. I mean this as a sincere question: Have you ever in your lifetime heard of a Republican that has gone in and received a standing ovation at the University of California, Berkeley?”
Over the last several months, Glenn has stressed the importance of being open to the idea of aligning with strange bedfellows, for he believes the future will require a coalition of people who can unite on the principles of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
“Do you think Jeb Bush is going to even be listened at the University of California, Berkeley? No,” Glenn said. “They keep talking about widening the tent. Is there any tent bigger than: Look I just want to it agree on the Bill of Rights. That’s all I want to agree on. We’re going to disagree on a lot of things… Rand Paul can bridge the gap between Glenn and Pat and the university of California Berkeley… That’s huge. Never before done.”
While the left desperately tries to discredit Sen. Paul and other conservatives and libertarians who are looking to build bridges, Glenn ultimately believes yesterday’s speech is a sign of things to come.
“If [Sen. Paul] were on the left, he would be being heralded as God. Barack Obama might be Jesus. But what this guy can bridge is astounding… That again is the coalition building,” Glenn concluded. “They dismiss him and mock him and are going to try to discredit him. But I’m telling you: If you just play the game of who can win, it’s Rand Paul.”

This one's for Kingston

Bar Owner Posts Insulting Sign Calling Gun-Carriers ‘Doucheba*s’ & Losers, Starts National Firestorm 

Not only does the owner of the Backstreets Pub and Deli in Clemson, South Carolina have some fierce words for gun carriers thinking about eating at his establishment: he called them “losers” and “douchebags.”At the bottom of a sign stating “NO CONCEALED WEAPONS ALLOWED,” he added:

“If you are such a loser that you feel a need to carry a gun when you go out, I do not want your business. Douche bag.”

While the owner has private property rights and can decide who carries guns in his bar, he decided to go full-tilt and blast all gun-carriers as “d-bags” and “losers.” Not a smart business move, pal.
Needless to say, when word spread among supporters of concealed-carry, the throw-down was on. Several hundred Second Amendment supporters descended on Backstreets’ Yelp review page and posted negative reviews about the restaurant, driving its 3-star rating down to 1-star.

The owner responded, saying the sign was “temporary,” and that he was “sorry for the wording,” but stood his ground:

“Sorry, but I’m not sorry. If you feel the need to bring a gun into a college bar you are a douche bag. And if you’re drinking than you are violating the law.”

He later added that he himself is a gun owner, but that he’s fed up with “irrational gun nuts.”
Incidentally, South Carolina passed a law in 2013 allowing people holding concealed-weapon permits to carry firearms in places that serve food or alcohol, as long as they don’t drink while inside.
While the law stipulates that establishments may enact their own weapon bans, provided they post a large sign in their window warning customers of their policy, it doesn’t clarify whether or not “douche bag” should be added to those signs.

 http://www.ijreview.com/2014/03/122508-bar-gets-heat-banning-guns-called-gun-carriers-far-worse/ 

Recommended Reviews by Yelp

http://www.yelp.com/biz/backstreets-pub-and-grill-clemson

Another Florida Story.

I love dumb crook stories so I had to share this one.

By Wayne K. Roustan and Erika Pesantes, Sun Sentinel

7:35 p.m. EDT, March 18, 2014

Leaving personal identification at a crime scene and posing for pictures online with some of the loot landed a burglary suspect behind bars, Plantation police said.
At least two men were seen on surveillance video breaking into Arion Motors, 550 S. State Road 7, just before 11 p.m. March 10. They stole files, license plates, 44 car keys and four cars — a BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti and Dodge worth an estimated $43,984, police said.
When one of the suspects pulled a cellphone from his pocket to use as a flashlight inside the dealership, he was unaware that his identification card had also popped out, Det. Robert Rettig said.
"He's oblivious to it," Rettig said. "He doesn't even realize it falls out."
Dealership owner Adnan "Eddie" Radoncic found it the day after the burglary. "[The investigator] was taking fingerprints but I said, 'I don't think you need to do that,' and she said, 'Why not?' and I said, 'Because the bad guy left his [ID card] here, in plain sight.'"
Travis Devonte Rice, 21, had gotten his Florida ID card just three weeks before the break-in. His probation officer had suggested he obtain identification, according to the arrest report.
When Rettig went to verify Rice's identity, the probation officer immediately recognized Rice as the client who had been released from prison on Valentine's Day and was currently on probation for an armed robbery, the report stated.