Thursday April 23, 2015 We have been following the corruption scandal at Petrobras. Here is the latest on write offs as the WSJ says at the world's most indebted oil company.  BRAZIL COMPANY WRITES OFF $17 BILLION The Brazilian state oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA is paying a hefty price for its corruption scandal, Paul Kiernan reports.…

Wed April 22, 2015 Navinder Sarao has been charged for manipulating a stock index leading to the May 6, 2010 1,000 point flash crash. Here is another example of just how fragile markets have become. The idea that someone could do this from a London suburb if frightening.  And what does it say about the…

Thursday April 15 2015 Ernst settles the Lehman case for $ 10 Million.  Like Enron,Lehman cooked up a scheme to move liabilities off their balance sheet.This was known  as Repo 105. Ernst was the auditor when Lehman evaporated. Ernst previously agreed to pay $99 million to settle various civil suits.  Ernst did not admit nor…

Wed April  15 2015 Calling it the sickest thing that ever happened in this town, Judget Jerry Baxter sentenced three former high ranking administrators to penalties lasting 20 years including seven years in prison. At the opportunity two took a plea deal for probation and weekend jail time. The ones who refused to admit guilt were…

Tuesday April 14 2015 We have been following the case of the  12 , now make that 11, Atlanta educators who chose to to to trial.  Eleven were convicted.I did not see a link on proquest but ten have still not made a deal. Judge Baxter put sentencing off a day urging please, but an…

FridayApril 10,2015 Jason Riley comments on the Atlanta cheating scandal.   but first,who is Jason Riley?   Note our previous posts on this topic How does this relate to our discussions? What does this say about tone at the top? Is there a similarity between this case and Enron,both CEOs died before trial. Now the…

Thursday April 2 2015 Eleven of the twelve former Atlanta public school educators accused of conspiring to cheat on student tests were found guilty Wednesday. Interestingly they were convicted using the RICO statute designed to catch organized crime.  35 were indicted March 2013, the others struck plea deals while this group gambled on a jury trial.…

Thursday March  5, 2015 Last Sunday Evening Sixty Minutes did a piece accusing Lumber Liquidators LL of using sub standard flooring that exceed formaldehyde limits set by the California Air Resources Board CARB.  Here is the company response.  LL notes that there are a group of short sellers betting on a lower stock price that are…

Monday March 2, 2015 Sunday Night Sixty Minutes Slammed Lumber Liquidators for excessive levels of formaldehyde inits flooring. “Our goal is to sell a good product at a good price,” Sullivan told Anderson Cooper of “60 Minutes.” “And we don’t get the price by skimping on anything. We get the price by low overhead, huge…

Wed Feb 25, 2015 NBC maintains its lead without Brian Williams.   Lester Holt has replaced him with a quiet no nonsense style that seems to resonate with viewers. I am guessing Brian Willilams will be lucky to come back as a special projects guy.If ratings stay high NBC will likely hope viewers forget Brian.