Worst Financial Quotes of 2008

Online Stock Trading - 2008 Quotes the Cream of the Crap

I was intending writing a post about all the crap people talked about 2008 before it happened. I would have thought that bankers would have been the cream of the crap, because they usually are. Up until now of course they have been able to get away with it, but 2007 and 2008 have shown them up for what they are.

Anyway I don't need to hunt around the Internet finding all the nonsense people were spouting at the start of the year as someone has already done it.

So here are a selection of the worst predictions about 2008, with thanks to Peter Coy

Will we see some more for 2009?

1. "A very powerful and durable rally is in the works. But it may need another couple of days to lift off. Hold the fort and keep the faith!" —Richard Band, editor, Profitable Investing Letter, Mar. 27, 2008
   
   The DOW was at 12,300 at the time, it is now under 8,500.


2. AIG "could have huge gains in the second quarter." —Bijan Moazami, analyst, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, May 9, 2008
   
   AIG lost $5 billion in the second quarter and $25 billion in Q3! In September the U.S. government nationalized it, and spend or lend $150 billion to keep it afloat.


3. "I think this is a case where Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are fundamentally sound. They're not in danger of going under…I think they are in good shape going forward." —Barney Frank (D-Mass.), House Financial Services Committee chairman, July 14, 2008
   
   Two months later, the government placed them into conservatorships with a pledge to invest up to $100 billion in each.


4. "The market is in the process of correcting itself." —President George W. Bush, in a Mar. 14, 2008 speech
   
   [A bit unfair including Bush in the list, we all know he hasn't got a clue about the markets - Ed. ]


5. "No! No! No! Bear Stearns is not in trouble." —Jim Cramer, CNBC commentator, Mar. 11, 2008
   
   Five days later, Bear Stearns was taken over by JPMorgan Chase with help from the government, almost wiping out shareholders in the process. [I generally like J C but this time he seems to be talking out of his other end].


6. "Existing-Home Sales to Trend Up in 2008" — National Association of Realtors press release, Dec. 9, 2007
   
   On Dec. 23, 2008, they said November sales were 4.5 million—down annually - 11% from a year earlier— and we are in the midst of the worst housing slump since the Great Depression.


7. "I think you'll see [oil prices at] $150 a barrel by the end of the year" —T. Boone Pickens, June 20, 2008
   
   Oil was around $135 a barrel at the time. It is now below $40 [although to be far it did get up to $147].


8. "I expect there will be some failures. … I don't anticipate any serious problems of that sort among the large internationally active banks that make up a very substantial part of our banking system." —Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, Feb. 28, 2008
   
   Six months later Washington Mutual became the largest financial institution in U.S. history to fail. In November Citigroup needed an even bigger rescue.


9. "In today's regulatory environment, it's virtually impossible to violate rules." —Bernard Madoff, one-time Nasdaq Chairman Oct. 20, 2007
   
   A year later, Madoff admited that he had cost investors $50 billion in what he referred to as a Ponzi scheme.


10. A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win, the title of a book by conservative commentator Shelby Steele, published on Dec. 4, 2007.
    
    Mr. Steele, meet President-elect Barack Obama.
    
    Well, personally I would have ignored the political comments, as we know that politicians are generally dishonest and clueless, except when it comes to helping themselves - Let Them Eat Waste! Gordon Brown. Maybe Obama will be different? [I'm not holding my breaht.]
    
    But I would have expected financial experts and analysts to have been a bit less clueless, but I guess they had their axe to grind too.
    
    In the interests of impartiality I should really go and find quotes from people who got it right.
    

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Watch Football Online Live

Stocks and Shares - Football Online Live and Free

Football (soccer) fans can watch the Newcastle v Spurs match live on your PC free of charge - just click below and follow the links

Watch Football Live

Arsenal v Liverpool will also be on but it kicks off at 4 p.m. - there will be a link up later

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Amazon Kindle Mania Next Bubble?

Stocks and Shares - Amazon Making Lots of Cash on its Kindle Ebook Readers

In these recessionary times it is rather unusual to report on something that people can't get enough of, despite it's costing $359, but Amazon's Kindle Ebook Reader is one such product.

Since it was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey as her "favorite gadget" sales have gone through the roof. So much so that there is now a thriving market in second-hand and refurbished Kindles and people are making money by 'flipping' them see - Ebook Reader, if they can get hold of them. Could this be the start of a new Tulip mania? Will Kindles soon be selling for the price of a medium-sized house in Amsterdam? Probably not, but it would be an interesting bubble to watch if it were to happen.

What is a Kindle Ebook Reader?

Basically it's an electronic device onto which you download books so that you can read them on the move. The unique selling feature is that the screen looks like paper and of course you can have hundreds of books, magazines, newspapers etc... on your Kindle at any one time. For full review see - Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader

The interest from an investment point of view (apart from the re-sale value of the Kindles themselves) is that it is estimated that Amazon could achieve an additional $1 billion revenue next year from Kindle sales and the sales of associated ebooks etc... This would represent 4% of Amazon's revenue and if sales continue to gather pace, given that Amazon are out of stock and given Oprah's endorsement, then Amazon's bottom line should also improve . There is also the money that Amazon makes each time somebody downloads a book or newspaper. So Kindle sales create a captive audience, who will be keen to make use of their 'investment' as the e-products sold are cheaper than the actual physical products.

There will also be a new and improved version of the Kindle next year.

If you are interested in flipping a Kindle, then if you haven't already got one you will find it difficult. They are already selling apparently on that famous rip-off auction site or Craig's list for $1500 , but if you can find one for under $1500 then you may be in with a chance of flipping it for a quick profit.

Amazon badly understimated 'Oprah power' and have been caught with not enough stock and you now need to order your Kindles in advance, a bit like you used to do for your Ferraris. This however can only be good for the under the counter Kindle market and for future Kindle commodity prices.

Amazon launched its Kindle Ebook Reader back in November 2007 (they sold out of that one too).

Forrester Research Inc., says they have sold 400,000 Kindles, others put the figures higher at 450,000.

People can also publish their own blog via the Kindle, at a cost of around $1 a month , thus creating more interest for the device

Competitors are the Sony Ereader and the latest Ebook Reader - the eSlick by Foxit - which you can pick up for $250 but which does not have as many features as the Amazon Kindle.

Amazon's 8 Year Chart (AMZN)




A good time to invest in Amazon?

What was Tulip Mania ? In the 17th Century here is the price paid for a tulip bulb - not the most expensive

An author of the day, a certain Mr Hunting, preserved a list of the items delivered for a single root of the rare species of tulip know as 'Viceroy' and the values:-

................................................. florins.
Two lasts of wheat .................. 448
Four lasts of rye ...................... 558
Four fat oxen ........................... 480
Eight fat swine ......................... 240
Twelve fat sheep ..................... 120
Two hogsheads of wine ............. 70
Four tuns of beer ...................... 32
Two tuns of butter ................... 192
One thousand lbs. of cheese........ 120
A complete bed ........................ 100
A suit of clothes ......................... 80
A silver drinking-cup ................. 60

TOTAL ...................................... 2500

Those were the days ! One unfortunate ignorant sailor picked up a tulip bulb and ate it ! The owner was not pleased.

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Investors Chronicle and Newspaper Share Tips

Online Stock Trading - Investors Chronicle and Newspaper Tips

Buying Stocks and Shares

INVESTORS CHRONICLEShares for dividends:

Berkeley Group -- William Morrison -- Melrose -- Kier Group -- Antofagasta

Tips:

Sell CRH at 19.43 --
Sell British Land at 551p --
Sell Aga Rangemaster at 70p --
Sell Formation Group at 7.5p

Buy Tullow Oil at 581p --
Buy Eaga at 116p

Updates:

Sell Phorm -- PartyGaming

Buy Corac -- Coal of Africa -- Kirkland Lake -- Carillion

Company Results:

Sell Kesa Electricals -- Sports Direct -- Carpetright

Buy Spice

Tip of the Week:

Buy EFTS Nickel at $12.67.


THE TIMES
Tempus:

Hold Rank Group --
Wait for better times to buy Petrofac --
Morgan Sindall: wait for the full-year figures before buying

Comment:

Oilexco slumps on concerns over its financial future

Tiddler to watch : Clarity Commerce

DAILY TELEGRAPH
Questor:

Hold Autonomy and BSkyB

THE INDEPENDENT
Investment

Hold Petrofac,
Hold Rank Group
Hold Chrysalis

DAILY EXPRESS

Aegis up on merger talk

Amlin may benefit from a healthy rise in aviation insurance premiums

Cape up on bid interest from private equity firms

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Shares Magazine Newspaper Stock Tips

Online Stock Trading - Shares Magazine and Newspaper Shares to Watch

SHARES MAGAZINE
Plays:

Sell Game Group at 119.5p --
Buy Centrica at 235p

Growth Portfolio:

BATM -- Kewill -- Celsis -- Telecom Plus -- NCC

Retirement Portfolio:

BAT -- Croda -- Compass -- Reed Elsevier -- Diageo

Inheritance Portfolio:

Albemarle & Bond -- H&T -- Begbies Traynor -- Tenor -- Healthcare Locums

Sector report:

Buy Tesco --
Hold William Morrison --
Sell Sainsbury.


FINANCIAL TIMES

HSBC's subprime risk - the world's biggest bank is more exposed than it thinks

The fund of funds failed miserably in vetting Bernard Madoff investors should therefore reconsider the industry's value

Lamprell up on Hunting bid rumours

THE TIMES
Tempus:
Avoid Moneysupermarket.com --
International Personal Finance: too soon to repeat 'buy on weakness' call --
Hold James Fisher

Comment:
Secret plans for second Gatwick runway

Permira backer calls in advisers as troubles mount for private equity firms

Optimism increases in Taylor Wimpey after leak of e-mail

Blue Oar rumoured to be soon publishing a strong defence document against approach from Evolve

Tiddler to watch : Indus Gas

DAILY TELEGRAPH
Questor:
Buy Primary Health Properties --
Avoid Helphire

Comment:

Bid rumours around Aegis and Arriva

THE INDEPENDENT
Investment
John Wood Group a cautious hold --
Avoid Serco --
Buy Advanced Medical Solutions

Outlook:

HSBC ends rights issue rumours --

DAILY EXPRESS

Shell has $45 million exposure to Madoff fraud

Fundraising fears weigh down HSBC

Taylor Wimpey up on hopes of a refinancing deal

Lamprell up on Hunting takeover hopes

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Goldman Sachs Losses and Bonuses

Online Stock Trading : Goldman Sachs Reports Hefty Losses and Bonuses

Goldman Sachs reported a loss of $2.12 billion and bonuses of $2.6 billion. They say the top 7 executives won't receive a bonus this year. Is that supposed to make it OK to pay out $2.6 billion from the bail-out money provided by the US taxpayers? Is this a reward for incompetence ? Not a bit of it. Goldman says they need these bonuses, paid for by the bail-out from US taxpayers lest we forget, in order to attract and motivate the "best people".

But surely all the best people went to Nomura, BNP Paribas, RBS, HSBC, and all those hedge funds who gave $50 billion to Bernie Madoff because he was a member of an exclusive golf club?

Well they are all laughing all the way to the nationalised bank.

Is this pathetic, criminal or merely incompetent? Probably all three. If these are the "best people" God help us. The best at helping themselves to money no doubt, maybe that's all it takes to be a banker these days?

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FED Slahes Interest Rates

Online Stock Trading : FED Slashes Interest Rates

Wall Street soars on the FED's unusual decision to cut its key interest rate to the lowest level ever. The FED decided to lower its fed funds target rate to a range of between zero and 0.25 percent.

The DOW is up 356 at the moment, the NASDAQ is up 74 and the S&P is up 40

Jim Cramer was very happy.

The FED said that the economy had substantially weakened and sadded they would keep rates at low levels for the foreseeable future and would pursue a more aggressive policy of quantitative easing.

"Since the Committee's last meeting, labour market conditions have deteriorated, and the available data indicate that consumer spending, business investment, and industrial production have declined. Financial markets remain quite strained and credit conditions tight. Overall, the outlook for economic activity has weakened further."

"Meanwhile, inflationary pressures have diminished appreciably. In light of the declines in the prices of energy and other commodities and the weaker prospects for economic activity, the Committee expects inflation to moderate further in coming quarters"

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Bernie Madoff's Videos

Online Stock Trading - Bernie Madoff Faber Report and Videos

Bernie Madoff was a chairman of the Nasdaq and also responsible for security - he just happene dto be running a fradulent Ponzi scheme at the same time. How many more of them are there on Wall Street? In the City of London? And elsewhere around the globe. Until last week Bernie Madoff was a pillar of respectability, now it seems like he was operating a Ponzi scheme (his words) he Madoff with the money.

Some charitable organisations have been wiped out by Madoff. Another question is, was he acting alone? is the lone gunman theory really credible ?

According to Madoff, 10% of stocks traded in the USA went through his firm (given his record on honesty that may be an exaggeration of course).

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Madoff List of Victims

Stocks and Shares - Bernie Madoff Fraud

At the moment, as far as we know, Natixis and BNP Paribas are the French banks the most affected by the fraud perpetrated by US fund manager Bernie Madoff, with respectively 450 and 350 millions potential losses, according to the figures provided by these banks, from Madoff's Ponzi scheme. What is a Ponzi scheme - see Bernie Madoff's Incredible Ponzi Scheme

For more names on who Madoff scammed see - Madoff with Your Money

The no. 1 spot in Europe so far goes to Spanish bank Santander, second largest by capitalization of the European banks. Up unti lnow Santander had largely escaped the economic crisis and avoided subprime losses, but on Sunday it stated that clients of its speculative Optimal fund were exposed to 2.33 billion euros. Crédit Agricole and Société Générale have each assessed their losses at "less than 10 million euros". For its part, the French insurance company Axa stated Monday that its net exposure was much less than 100 million euros. Bernard Madoff, who was arrested Thursday and released on bail, admitted that he had been operating a gigantic Ponzi fraud worth 50 billion dollars.

In the UK HSBC may be exposed up to the amount of $1 billion, RBS has $600 million exposure. In Japan Nomura has said it has an exposure of 225 million euros.

These people should have known better of course – aren’t they paid to be smart ? – don’t they constantly harp on about how they need to be paid big bonuses to get the best talent ? – what a pile of overpaid incompetents.

The ones who will really suffer of course are the smaller invstors who put their life savings (six and seven figure dollar amounts) into Bernie Madoff’s fraudulent scam and into the pockets of Bernie Madoff and his family, and who are now left with nothing, and don’t even have money left to pay their bills.

Bernie Madoff, on the other hand, allegedly, has managed to stash away $1 billion somewhere. And people wonder why we think bankers are crooks !

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Sites That Save You Money

Investing in Stocks and Shares - Ways to Save Money

In these economically difficult times, in addition to finding news way of making money online, - online stock trading is one but of course not the easiest - it is also extremely important to discover ways the best ways to save money.

One easy way is to switch energy companies. Here in the UK energy prices are a sick joke, gas and electricity companies continue to charge the same prices or higher prices that they were charging when oil was at $147 dollar a barrel, even though it is now down to $45 dollars a barrel.

One way to save money is then to switch energy company. The best company I have seen for this is Ebico. Ebico is a Christian organisation that has created a very unusual energy company, namely one that is a non profit company. It has no shareholders to please and all its efforts are aimed at providing the cheapest energy to all its customers. It has one single tariff and is cheaper than the major energy companies whose main aim is to make fat profits to pay their directors their fat bonuses.

So if you are interested in saving money on energy bills and switching gas supplier, electricity supplier, or both, then check out Ebico.

You can also check out these two useful sites for other ways to save money. Martin Lewis's excellent Money Savings Expert and an excellent blog on saving money - yourmoneysavingsecrets.com

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Madoff With Your Money

Online Stock Trading - Madoff With Your Money

Who is Bernie Madoff?

Bernie Madoff is the guy who perpetrated possibly the biggest financial scam of all time.

The scale of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme is slowly becoming known- see Bernie Madoff's Incredible Ponzi Scheme. According to the Wall Street Journal the secret was an air of exclusivity and secrecy and the aura of being a 'sophisticated sucker' i.e. investor. "If you did get invited in, then you were anointed a member of this particular club of "sophisticated investors." ... Mr. Madoff was also known to throw investors out of his funds for asking too many questions, so no-one wanted to rock the boat."

So who were these 'sophisticated investors'? According to the WSJ, New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon, GMAC LLC Chairman J. Ezra Merkin and former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman. So sports celebs, you might expect that, after all they ain't so sophisticated. But also Giant French bank BNP Paribas, Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings Inc. and Neue Privat Bank in Zurich (all very sophistcated, and even rather snooty).

Plus at least three funds of hedge funds - Fairfield Greenwich Group and Tremont Capital Management of New York, also Maxam Capital Management LLC which has reported a combined loss of $280 million on funds with Mr. Madoff.

"I'm wiped out, ... The Darien, Conn., fund of hedge funds will have to close" said Sandra Manzke, Maxam's Chairman.

According to Brad Friedman, alwayer at Milberg LP the alleged fraud has "swept up some of the most prominent and wealthy Americans, along with many people who thought they were embarking on a comfortable retirement and have now been left destitute."

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Sunday Newspaper Stock Tips

Stocks and Shares - Sunday Shares to Watch - Midas

MAIL ON SUNDAY
Midas
Buy BTG Group at 155p and be patient --
Buy Omega Insurance at 148p

SUNDAY TIMES:

Comment:
Ingenious Media profits up
Carpetright profit warning and dividend cut expected this week

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
Questor:
Buy Tesco at 329.75p --
Sell Lonmin at 710p --
Hold Carluccio's at 61p

City Editor comment:

Expect almighty New Year hangover after Christmas

Other comment:

John Browett, CEO of DSGI warns it will take 4 years for trading to turn

Barclays to reveal lending boost for small businesses

THE OBSERVER
Comment:
Scores of supermarket suppliers may go out of business next year so major supermarket chains are drawing up emergency plans to replace them

Cadbury's good news probably already in the share price

Kalahari Minerals on broker buy lists

SUNDAY EXPRESS

US banks to show massive losses
Ikea profits slide

INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

Goldman Sachs faces $2 bn loss, first loss since 1929.

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Onilne Brokers for Real Time Trading

Online Brokers - Useful Online Share Trading Sites

Having looked around for a list of online stock trading sites, as I am not particularly happy with the bunch I am with at the moment - TDWaterhouse - I decided to draw up a list for future reference. So if you are looking for a list of online share trading sites then check out here

Online Stock Trading Sites

It is far from complete, as so far it only has sites from North America but I will be adding to it when I get the time with online brokers from the UK.

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Bernie Madoff's Incredible Ponzi Fraud

Online Stock Trading - Bernie Madoff Arrested for Operating a Ponzi Scheme Fraud

Bernie Madoff , who is not some made-man or Mafioso from Brooklyn, but an internationally-renowned investor, billionaire and former Chairman of the NASDAQ has been arrested by the FBI for a $50 billion fraud that he had been operating for decades. How as Bernie Madoff discovered ? He wasn't. He turned himself in as he had no more money left to pay his liabilities. The SEC certainly didn't discover what he was doing. It is possible also that he owed money to some rather unpleasant characters so maybe he figured he would be safer with the police. He told his employees that he had been operating a giant Ponzi scheme and making money from the suckers who believed him for decades.

What is a Ponzi scheme ?

.......... Charlie Ponzi

Basically, a Ponzi scheme, named after Italian immigrant Charles Ponzi, is a fraudulent operation that pays out abnormally high returns to investors. That sounds good of course, the problem is that the money being paid out is not obtained from investments but from other mugs, sorry 'investors' (there apparently really is one born every minute).

Investor A puts in $10K and at the end of month receives back $12K, so he spreads the word that this scheme is great and so more investors pour in more money and get back fat profits from the money 'invested' by the new mugs that jump on the bandwagon. Eventually, of course, it all collapses, but usually by then the guys who set up the scheme are long gone.

The only difference with the Bernie Madoff scheme is the scale. There are now large numbers of people who thought they were millionaires who have discovered they are broke, because their 'millions' invested with Bernie Madoff were totally fictitious. There are also charities who find themelves in the same situation.

............................ Bernie Madoff

The only strange thing is that although Madoff was running a family business, employing his brother Peter, his nephew Charles, his niece Shana and his sons Andrew and Mark, apparently Bernie Madoff was the only one who knew that he was running a fraudulent operation. He was clearly a magician.

The SEC has said “We are alleging a massive fraud — both in terms of scope and duration. We are moving quickly and decisively to stop the fraud and protect remaining assets for investors.”

Notice how they say they are moving 'quickly' - it only took them twenty years and they didn't discover anything, it was Bernie Madoff that confessed and was subsequently 'shoppped' by his sons when they discovered the terrible truth. Sons clearly with high morals but low inteligence, what went wrong with their education I wonder.

Mr. Madoff who has been released on a $10 million bond was described by his lawyers as "a longstanding leader in the financial services industry.”

At one point Madoff was the largest market maker on the Nasdaq market, operating as buyer and seller of a vast array of widely traded securities and employing hundreds of traders. (Just a minute I thought there was no trading involved in this scheme?)

Some on Wall Street worry that Mr. Madoff’s fall would shake a lot more foundations than just those of his own company.

It would appear that other hedge fund managers have been wondering privately for years how Madoff could achieve such high returns, as the investment strategies he claimed to use were generally low-yielding

Congratulations go to Girish Reddy of Prisma Partners who decided against investing in the Madoff funds, saying : “The numbers were too good to be true, for too long .. And the supporting infrastructure was weak.”

How did the truth come out ? Alarm bells first rang last Tuesday, when Mr. Madoff told one of his senior executives (remember this is a family firm) that he wanted to pay annual bonuses in December, i.e. two months early.

But he had already told another senior executive that he needed to raise cash to cover $7 bn in withdrawals.

On Wednesday, the senior executive asked Bernie Madoff for an explanation, at which point he invited the two executives (his sons according to CNBC) to his apartment where he disclosed the terrible truth that he had managed to keep hidden from them (and most everyone else) for decades that his business was “all just one big lie” and “basically, a giant Ponzi scheme.” Incredible but true, or so we are invited to believe. Just like in Dallas, when they guy comes out of the shower and explains to the viewers in lala land that the last 90 episodes had all been a dream!

The executives were quick to catch on and in a flash understood that for years the firm had been paying returns out of the cash received from new investors. If it wasn't so tragic, and unbelievable, you would have to laugh.

Mr. Madoff said he intended to give himself up in about a week but first wanted to hand out approximately $200 million to $300 million to “certain selected employees, family and friends.” Gee what a generous guy! Distributing other people's money to his family. Doesn't it make you proud to be involved in the stockmarket?

Before he could carry out his dastardly plan however, he was arrested on a count of securities fraud, which has a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison (he's already 70 so he maybe doesn't care too much) and a maximum fine of $5 million (well that's a lot less than the $300 million he was going to hand out, so a win-win situation).

Mr. Madoff confessed to an F.B.I. agent that he had lost money on his investments and had “paid investors with money that wasn’t there.”

Bernie Madoff’s firm has played a significant role in the structure of Wall Street for decades.

His company had partnerships with the largest brokerage businesses on Wall Street, including Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.

He founded Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities in 1960.

His firm grew to be one of the largest independent trading operations in the securities industry. The company had apaprently around $300 million in assets in 2000 and was one of the top trading and securities firms in the US.

So, all incredible, but is it all true? Who knows, can we believe anything Mr Madoff says? Would you buy a used car from him?

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Stocks to Watch

Stocks and Shares - Newspaper Stock Picks

Stocks to Watch

SHARES MAGAZINE
High Risk:

Sell Archipelago Resources - Matra Petroleum - African Copper - Angus and Ross - Moydon Mines - Urals Energy

Medium Risk:

Sell Brinkley Mining - Timor Oil & Gas - Bezant Resources - Mwana Africa - DiamonEx- Xcite Energy

Low Risk:

Hold Centamin Egypt - Petroneft - Northern Petroleum - Buy Minerals RL

Born Survivors

Buy Gulfsands Petroleum - Randgold Resources - Faroe Petroleum - JKX Oil & Gas

Sector Report:

Buy Aviva and Chesnara -
Sell Old Mutual

FINANCIAL TIMES

Chinese economy is crumbling (maybe they'll start paying more attention to the quality and safety of their stuff ? - Ed.)

Biotech bail-out ? the number of industries with begging bowls increases

Henderson Group up on Resolution takeover rumours

THE TIMES
Tempus:Carillion a solid hold --
Coal of Africa: avoid --
Clapham House worth holding

Comment:
Takeover rumours help Raymarine

Bet of the Day: HMV Group

Tiddler to watch : Mano River Resources

DAILY TELEGRAPH

Buy Cemex --
Buy Rio Tinto

Comment:
3i Group down on fears re. private equity liquidity

THE INDEPENDENT
Investment
Buy Carillion --
Sell Clapham House --
Hold TMN Group

DAILY MAIL

Jonathan and David Rowland rumoured to have acquired a 4.5% stake in Optos

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Barclays Outrageous Mortgage Rates

Online Trading - Bank Rates Cut to 2% - Newspaper Share Tips

The Bank of England has just cut base rates to 2% from 3% - a month ago they were 4.5%. How much has this reduced your mortgage? Well, my mortgage is with Barclays, at the start of all these rate cuts my mortgage was £635 a month and now it is £626 ! A princely reduction of £9. I received a letter from Barclays explaining that base rates were at 4.5% so they had kindly cut my mortgage, but they made no mention of the fact that base rates were actually (at the time they wrote the letter) at 3% not 4.5%, now that rates are at 2% can I expect more generosity from Barclays? I'm not holding my breath.

Now for some share tips :-)

SHARES MAGAZINE

5 Stocks that will benefit from rate cuts (AstraZeneca, Healthcare Locums, BAT's, Next and Pearson)

Agenda
Sell Clinton Cards, JJB Sports, Jessops, CSR, ARM, Wolfson
Buy Faroe Petroleum, Qinetiq,

Plays
Sell Pursuit Dynamics
Plays Update
Sell Uniq
Small-Caps
Hamworthy Buy
Scientific Digital Imaging Speculative buy
Clinton Cards Sell
Fortune Oil Buy
Harvey Nash Buy
Sector Report Gold Mining

The Midas Touch Buy Allied Gold, Miner, Rangold Resources,

FINANCIAL TIMES
e-Goldman.com -- Goldman is considering online banking for the masses

Asian hedge funds -- locking up money is like asking investors to safeguard a fund from the greatest stake-out the industry has seen

Spanish banks -- Metrovacesa's collapse reveals almost systemic issue -- it has 7 bn of debt -almost a seventh of all bad loan for domestic lenders

Sibir Energy: billionaire bail-out is a warning to City --

Rentokil falls to lowest ever - there is talk of cash call

Reed Elsevier may shelve the sale of business unit

THE TIMES
Tempus:
Sell Sage Group --
Stagecoach best avoided --
Buy Dawson Holdings

The system's broken, rate cuts won't fix it --

Comment:

Advertising downturn sends shiver through ITV

BP stores crude at sea betting oil prices will rise

Rio Tinto down on debt repayment worries

Rentokil down on more rights issue rumours

Bet of the day: William Morrison

Tiddler to watch : Lonrho

DAILY TELEGRAPH
Questor:

Buy Vedanta Resources --
Buy EFTS crude oil

THE INDEPENDENT
Investment
Sell Numis --
Buy ACM Shipping Group --
Shaftesbury a cautious hold

Comment:

Marks & Spencer - slump in sales

DAILY EXPRESSRio Tinto financing rumour
BTG up on Protherics deal

THE SUN
Tesco may move into small-business banking

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