Scam Diego
Local Lead Indicators Continue Rise
Posted by Don Bauder on December 2, 2009
The lead indicators of the San Diego economy, compiled by Alan Gin of the University of San Diego, continued rising in October to 103.7, up from 103.4 in September and 102.5 in August. They have been up every month beginning in March, but they are below the 105.7 of January ... Read more and add a comment
Hedge Funds Buying Stocks, Wee Folk Selling
Posted by Don Bauder on November 30, 2009
The so-called smart money (in this case, hedge funds) continues to buy stocks while small investors sell, notes Bloomberg News. Individual investors have pulled $37.3 billion from stocks since August, according to the Investment Company Institute, a trade group of mutual funds. The last time the small investor pulled out ... Read more and add a comment
AIG (That's Us) to Pay Its Ex-CEO's Legal Fees
Posted by Don Bauder on November 25, 2009
The insurance conglomerate A.I.G. waited until late in the day before Thanksgiving to announce an outrageous move that has the Internet abuzz. The firm, which is 80% owned by U.S. taxpayers, has had a long-running legal dispute with its former chief executive, Maurice (Hank) Greenberg, who had run afoul of ... Read more and add a comment
Rate of Home Price Declines Continues Dropping
Posted by Don Bauder on November 24, 2009
San Diego home values rose 0.9% from August to September, according to the Case-Shiller index published by Standard & Poor's. Prices had risen 1.6% from July to August. San Diego values are now down only 5.7% for the year. Of the top 20 markets, five are doing better than San ... Read more and add a comment
Kelley Stresses Breen's Purported Amnesia in New Motion
Posted by Don Bauder on November 23, 2009
Cartoonist Steve Kelley, whose suit against the Union-Tribune was thrown out by Superior Court Judge Jay Bloom in early November, has filed a motion of reconsideration with the judge. It will be heard Dec. 22. In the suit, Kelley charges that the U-T interfered with a contract that he had ... Read more and add a comment
SDGE Disconnects Rise to Low Income Households, but at Slower Rate Than Other Utilities
Posted by Don Bauder on November 23, 2009
A report by the California Public Utilities Commission's Division of Ratepayer Advocates, a division of the PUC that represents interests of ratepayers, indicates that at the major state utilities, service disconnections for lower-income households rose 19% last year (Sept. '08-Sept. '09). That increase is disturbing, said the division. San Diego ... Read more and add a comment
SEC Busts Somali Promising 5% a Month
Posted by Don Bauder on November 20, 2009
The Securities and Exchange Commission has gotten a court order stopping Mahamud Ahmed of Spring Valley from running an investment scheme in which he guaranteed people in the Somalian community 5% a month returns. His victims were in San Diego, Seattle, and other places. He raised $3 million, including $200,000 ... Read more and add a comment
Local Unemployment Rate Rises to 10.5% in October
Posted by Don Bauder on November 20, 2009
The San Diego County unemployment rate for October rose to 10.5% from a revised 10.4% in September, according to the California Employment Development Department. The metro area gained 8,100 jobs from September, but lost 52,000 from a year ago. October's number compares with 12.3% for California during the period and ... Read more and add a comment
Isis Experimental Drug Lowers Cholesterol, but Has Damaging Side Effects
Posted by Don Bauder on November 17, 2009
Stock of Carlsbad-based biotech Isis Pharmaceuticals plunged 17.01% today to $11.12 on good/bad news. Isis is developing a drug with Genzyme for reducing cholesterol in an extremely rare genetic disorder in which a gene that should remove cholesterol from the body is missing. A phase III study indicated that the ... Read more and add a comment
Isis Experimental Drug Lowers Cholesterol, but Has Damaging Side Effects
Posted by Don Bauder on November 17, 2009
Stock of Carlsbad-based biotech Isis Pharmaceuticals plunged 17.01% today to $11.12 on good/bad news. Isis is developing a drug with Genzyme for reducing cholesterol in an extremely rare genetic disorder in which a gene that should remove cholesterol from the body is missing. A phase III study indicated that the ... Read more and add a comment
He Promised Investors 2% to 6% a Week; He's Headed to Prison
Posted by Don Bauder on November 16, 2009
Rancho Santa Fe residents have come up with some wild frauds in the past, but this one deserves special mention. Richard M. Hersch pleaded guilty today (Nov. 16) in federal court to recruiting 150 investors to plunk $25 million in his company, called All States ATM. Hersch, 72, of Rancho ... Read more and add a comment
"Crisis of Unprecedented Proportions" Coming in Commercial Real Estate
Posted by Don Bauder on November 11, 2009
Randall Zisler of Zisler Capital Partners warns of a "crisis of unprecedented proportions" looming in commercial real estate. His report was picked up in California Controller John Chiang's November review of state finances, as well as by news services Dow Jones and Bloomberg, and Wall Street pundit Art Cashin (of ... Read more and add a comment
Blackwater OK'd $1 Million Hush Payments to Iraqis: Reports
Posted by Don Bauder on November 10, 2009
Blackwater Worldwide, the mercenary firm that failed in its attempt to put a training camp in East County's Potrero, is back in the news tonight (Nov. 10). According to the New York Times, top Blackwater officials "authorized secret payments of $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence ... Read more and add a comment
Former Mail Boxes Etc. Franchisees' Suit against UPS Certified
Posted by Don Bauder on November 10, 2009
Superior Court in Los Angeles has announced the certification of a class action suit brought by former Mail Boxes Etc. franchisees against the chain's current owner, United Parcel Service (UPS). Mail Boxes Etc., a national chain competing with the Post Office, was one of San Diego's most prominent success stories ... Read more and add a comment
Final Peregrine Settlement Is $117 Million
Posted by Don Bauder on November 10, 2009
Federal court in San Diego has approved $56 million in settlements in the Peregrine Systems fraud. This was approved by the parties Oct. 16, as reported here, pending the court's approval. The funds will primarily come from John Moores, former chairman, and other outside directors. (One of the key arguments ... Read more and add a comment
Employment Numbers Worse Than Reported, but Main Street's Pain Is Wall Street's Gain
Posted by Don Bauder on November 6, 2009
The U.S. unemployment rate surged to 10.2% in October, up from 9.8% in September, as the nation lost 190,000 jobs. Economists had expected job loss of 150,000 to 175,000. The number of unemployed persons rose by 558,000 to 15.7 million. The unemployment rate among Hispanics is 13.7% and among African-Americans ... Read more and add a comment
Defense, Fire Reconstruction Propel San Diego Economy
Posted by Don Bauder on November 5, 2009
War and natural disasters propped up the San Diego economy last year. According to Kelly Cunningham, economist for the National University System Institute for Policy Research, the county's metropolitan gross domestic product, or total output of goods and services, grew 2.6% last year. The state grew by just 0.4% and ... Read more and add a comment
Supreme Court Justice Asks: Who Passed Bribe?
Posted by Don Bauder on November 4, 2009
The California Supreme Court is hearing today (Nov. 4) the case of whether former San Diego City pension board members should stand trial for conflict of interest. The district attorney's office is pressing the case; the 4th district court of appeals said it could go forward, and it was appealed ... Read more and add a comment
SDGE Lobbyist Said to be Innocent, Reinstated
Posted by Don Bauder on November 2, 2009
In early September, there were reports that then-Assemblyman Mike Duvall had earlier bragged about his sexual conquests -- unfortunately, captured on an open microphone. A San Diego Gas & Electric lobbyist was identified in the media, and in a complaint to the Fair Political Practices Commission, as one of the ... Read more and add a comment
Here's A New One: U-T Owners Understate Claimed Readership
Posted by Don Bauder on November 2, 2009
The Union-Tribune boldly asserts that 1.15 readers look at its printed edition each week. This is based on data provided by Scarborough Research. The claim has raised many eyebrows, because Audit Bureau of Circulations reported recently that weekly circulation in the most recent reporting period declined 10 percent from a ... Read more and add a comment
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