So anyone here think Brandons article has NOTHING to do with not Holding .13 today?

[sl62]

On another note...did you all see this...recognize any names in the list?

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - Fourteen specialist firms have agreed to pay a total of $70 million in disgorgement and penalties to settle charges of improper proprietary trading, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday.

The SEC said it charged the specialist firms for violating their obligation to serve public customer orders over their own interests by "trading ahead" of customer orders, or "interpositioning" the firms' proprietary accounts between customer orders.

The firms who settled without admitting or denying the charges are: Botta Capital Management LLC; Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC; Group One Trading LP; Knight Financial Products LLC; Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing LP; SLK-Hull Derivatives LLC; Susquehanna Investment Group; TD Options LLC; Automated Trading Desk Specialists LLC; E*Trade Capital Markets LLC; Melvin Securities LLC; Melvin & Co LLC; Sydan LP; and TradeLink LLC.

"These firms violated the public trust by abusing the privileged position they had as specialists on the various exchanges," said James Clarkson, acting director of the SEC's New York office, in a statement.

The SEC said its investigation into the improper trading began with a referral from the agency's compliance inspections and examinations office.

The agency said the firms caused millions of dollars of customer harm from 1999 through 2005 by putting their own proprietary interests ahead of their obligation to public customers.

The SEC said its investigation is continuing.

Lawyers for E*trade; Susquehanna; Spear, Leeds & Kellogg; and Group One had no comment. Calls to lawyers representing the other firms were not immediately returned. (Reporting by Karey Wutkowski and Rachelle Younglai)

http://www.reuters.com/article/gover...12707820090304

Yeah we did see this. Here's what we battle every freaking day:

>> The agency said the firms caused millions of dollars of customer harm from 1999 through 2005 by putting their own proprietary interests ahead of their obligation to public customers.<<

The world of the MM (or NYSE Specialist). Who knows if these guys will ever actually be regulated. More SEC failings. They've been allowed to run amok over our asses. I have personally witnessed the dirtiest tricks in the MM book ove the years. Things yu know can't be legal yet they are because the SEC is a sham of an agency and it's all poltico bs (We'll look the other way if weget this or that). IMHO. These fines are and have been de rigeur just a sham of justice. Slap of the hand for cosmetic appeasment. A pittance of the profits these guys make daily, monthly, yearly. Will it ever change? I SIRIUSLY doubt it...

[sl62]

sl62, This is good news for people that were dumb enough to be pulled into this BK babble in the first place. For me it is just confirmation of the same crap ass deal that was there in the first place.

My next question is what happened to the 360 million of COH. I WANT TO KNOW WHERE THAT WENT. Once again if they still show it, which I believe they will. That means this whole bullshit deal was because of a satellite that was not needed, when considering the alternative. We will find out because I just cant believe that is the reason. I am just going to say this I still have not heard about them pushing that date back.

888's...

I think you are not going to like the answer we get. Burn was averaging about what 70M? Yeah, they will report COH I think that will preplex us. But I look at it this way. Mels said in an interview in Sept that in his opinion COH and FCF were the two most imoprtant things to a public company (which we would agree with). I assure you, his plan is to present a cash rich company (irrespective of the overall debt load)...kind of in an out of sight out of mind kind of way. Which he has now done. I don't know the details on the May bank facility, when it was pushed to, but with no debt due in '10, if JPM was pushed to 2011..Mel succeeded in his mission. If that, he will now be tryng to show how much COH the company has over the next Q's while the Street will forget about the debt for a while. He feels that will attract the investors, grow the market cap and after reverse, the even bigger fish. That's my take on his strategy...

[relmor2003]

Relmor, you are directing this at Brandon, not me, right? RIGHT?!

Of course I wasnt directing that at you. I was talking about Brandon entirely.

[asm610]

Yeah we did see this. Here's what we battle every freaking day:

>> The agency said the firms caused millions of dollars of customer harm from 1999 through 2005 by putting their own proprietary interests ahead of their obligation to public customers.<<

The world of the MM (or NYSE Specialist). Who knows if these guys will ever actually be regulated. More SEC failings. They've been allowed to run amok over our asses. I have personally witnessed the dirtiest tricks in the MM book ove the years. Things yu know can't be legal yet they are because the SEC is a sham of an agency and it's all poltico bs (We'll look the other way if weget this or that). IMHO. These fines are and have been de rigeur just a sham of justice. Slap of the hand for cosmetic appeasment. A pittance of the profits these guys make daily, monthly, yearly. Will it ever change? I SIRIUSLY doubt it...

sl62,

Having been a broker in the past...I quit in 1997, I know the same crap that goes on today was going on back then.......if anything it's worse....just take a look at the last 6 months.....most of it was based on scare tactics....and those bastards are getting rich on all us little fish! I hope some day they are smart enough to hire folks who know what the hell is going on at the SEC instead of hiring diplomas! Fplks who work for the SEC by and large have nothing but book knowledge to reference...it isn't enough....not by a long shot!

[sl62]

Yeah, I can't wait but I have a question for you do you think we will see .13 again next week? I am hopping to get some more shares before the 17th. If not I may just get in at a higher price, it seems am good at that lol! Gina

Gina..

I have to believe we'll be leaving .13 behind. It was based almost exclusively on the debt concerns. Technically, even as a depressed equity, we should have been trading in the .20's ish if not for the debt issues. Many tech stocks that were trading at a buck or 1.50, have decined to the .20's/.30's right now and are holding here until we turn around. My take is we at least move up into the higher teens as a rule and into the lower .20s. No matter what, with debt issues gone, it's just a matter of time before we at least see .30's/.40's. All that to say, anywhere around here would not be a bad new basis considering....esp if you have like a 3 month wondow.. IMHO...

have a good weekend!

[sl62]

sl62,

Having been a broker in the past...I quit in 1997, I know the same crap that goes on today was going on back then.......if anything it's worse....just take a look at the last 6 months.....most of it was based on scare tactics....and those bastards are getting rich on all us little fish! I hope some day they are smart enough to hire folks who know what the hell is going on at the SEC instead of hiring diplomas! Fplks who work for the SEC by and large have nothing but book knowledge to reference...it isn't enough....not by a long shot!

couldn't agree more. I like how the suit says 1999- 2005. what about the rest of the years!!!! Typical good old boy network that is as you say impossible to man enough to police...Best thing we can do is figure out their tricks and avoid the traps...which we try to do...

[sl62]

Rest easier this weekend ye weary ladies and gents...it's a great feeling to have this one in the bag. Well done all!!!

[asm610]

888's...

I think you are not going to like the answer we get. Burn was averaging about what 70M? Yeah, they will report COH I think that will preplex us. But I look at it this way. Mels said in an interview in Sept that in his opinion COH and FCF were the two most imoprtant things to a public company (which we would agree with). I assure you, his plan is to present a cash rich company (irrespective of the overall debt load)...kind of in an out of sight out of mind kind of way. Which he has now done. I don't know the details on the May bank facility, when it was pushed to, but with no debt due in '10, if JPM was pushed to 2011..Mel succeeded in his mission. If that, he will now be tryng to show how much COH the company has over the next Q's while the Street will forget about the debt for a while. He feels that will attract the investors, grow the market cap and after reverse, the even bigger fish. That's my take on his strategy...

sl62,

The burn will go down as more synergies from the merger are realized...by Mel's own words they hadn't realized all their cost savings yet as of Nov. I really think there is a surprise for all of us as far as COH come the 17th, I also think that the burn is coming down significantly this year each quarter....and even without Auto's we just might start seeing subs....even on the low end especially(ie internet) start growing and helping to achieve positive news. Remember...they used the Liberty money to clear out the debt for this year basically ...except some of the DEC notes I believe. This gives them some much needed breathing room for the year....albeit at a horrible time in history. Question is.....will people still buy? I am betting yes...as they will realize how relatively cheap it is compared to other forms of exclusive entertainment.

[tucknroll]

On another note...did you all see this...recognize any names in the list?

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - Fourteen specialist firms have agreed to pay a total of $70 million in disgorgement and penalties to settle charges of improper proprietary trading, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday.

The SEC said it charged the specialist firms for violating their obligation to serve public customer orders over their own interests by "trading ahead" of customer orders, or "interpositioning" the firms' proprietary accounts between customer orders.

The firms who settled without admitting or denying the charges are: Botta Capital Management LLC; Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC; Group One Trading LP; Knight Financial Products LLC; Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing LP; SLK-Hull Derivatives LLC; Susquehanna Investment Group; TD Options LLC; Automated Trading Desk Specialists LLC; E*Trade Capital Markets LLC; Melvin Securities LLC; Melvin & Co LLC; Sydan LP; and TradeLink LLC.

"These firms violated the public trust by abusing the privileged position they had as specialists on the various exchanges," said James Clarkson, acting director of the SEC's New York office, in a statement.

The SEC said its investigation into the improper trading began with a referral from the agency's compliance inspections and examinations office.

The agency said the firms caused millions of dollars of customer harm from 1999 through 2005 by putting their own proprietary interests ahead of their obligation to public customers.

The SEC said its investigation is continuing.

Lawyers for E*trade; Susquehanna; Spear, Leeds & Kellogg; and Group One had no comment. Calls to lawyers representing the other firms were not immediately returned. (Reporting by Karey Wutkowski and Rachelle Younglai)

http://www.reuters.com/article/gover...12707820090304

didn't see scottrade...or they havn't been hit yet

[john]

sl62, I have already said I dont think they even went into it. Considering the FCF positive for the last 2 years was growing by leaps. The cash burn will not even be there in the 4th quarter. They will most likely have added to it. I know I am not going to like it when they say they have 400, 500+, in COH. I am going to be pissed, because that means there were other options open. Now did Charles Frick alot of those options up, I think he did. I also think he forced Mels hand on alot of this bullshit. That if he would have kept his gruppy hands to himself then we would not have had to give up 40% of the company.



P.S. I know some are going to say well if they had that much COH then why did they say they were close to filing for BK. the reason was not just the Feb. debt but all the rest that was coming up. That when Charles came in the banks were now not so certain that extending the credit facilities with Mel in control was the best option. So now that means the COH was not going to be enough to cover both what was left in Feb. and the Bank debt due in May and still have enough to carry out business on a day to day basis