And Everybody Pays...Galleon’s Rajaratnam Charged in Biggest Hedge Scheme Ever...GAO: Debt could break record in 10 years

“The defendants operated in a world of, you scratch my back, I’ll scratch your back,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan said at a press conference today. “Greed, sometimes, is not good.”

It’s the largest ever hedge fund insider trading case, Bharara said. It’s the first time wiretaps have been used to target insider trading, signaling the government will now use the same tools against Wall Street that it employs in organized crime and drug cases, he said. Bharara called the case “unprecedented.”

Click here for Bloomberg article

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Government Accountability Office Reports $9.1 Trillion Federal Budget Deficit IS ON ITS WAY!!!!!!

The nation's long-term fiscal outlook remains unsustainable, according to a new Government Accountability Office analysis showing escalating levels of debt and a surging budget deficit.

The GAO report comes as CBO is expected to announce on Friday the fiscal 2009 deficit will hit a record $1.4 trillion, or 9.9 percent of GDP. It will total $9.1 trillion over the next decade, in line with estimates that were made earlier this month.

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Billionaire Among 6 Nabbed In Inside Trading Case

By LARRY NEUMEISTER and CANDICE CHOI (AP) – 18 minutes ago

NEW YORK — One of America's wealthiest men was among six hedge fund managers and corporate executives arrested Friday in a hedge fund insider trading case that authorities say generated more than $25 million in illegal profits and was a wake-up call for Wall Street.

Raj Rajaratnam, a portfolio manager for Galleon Group, a hedge fund with up to $7 billion in assets under management, was accused of conspiring with others to use insider information to trade securities in several publicly traded companies, including Google Inc.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas F. Eaton set bail at $100 million to be secured by $20 million in collateral despite a request by prosecutors to deny bail. He also ordered Rajaratnam, who has both U.S. and Sri Lankan citizenship, to stay within 110 miles of New York City. The judge gave prosecutors until shortly after 6 p.m. to consider appealing his bail ruling.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara told a news conference it was the largest hedge fund case ever prosecuted and marked the first use of court-authorized wiretaps to capture conversations by suspects in an insider trading case.

He said the case should cause financial professionals considering insider trades in the future to wonder whether law enforcement is listening.

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MCR: I Love Tom Whipple

MCR wrote:

I LOVE TOM WHIPPLE!

For years now he has demonstrated the clearest grasp and most articulate voice on understanding what Peak means and how it plays out. He makes me feel like I'm playing in the best infield in baseball.

This is what I wrote about today. He wrote about it too because we can feel how many just haven't gotten it yet and we both knew what your laments would be. I think I can speak for Tom when I say that our biggest fears are that not enough people will get it in time.

Inside joke for Tom: I love ya babe! [Spoken like a true case officer,which makes me worry that I may have met one too many in the last thirty years.]

The CIA is Wall Street. And we know from declassified documents that the CIA understood and was following Peak Oil way back in the 1970s.

So, here's my team: Whipple at third, Ruppert at short stop, Heinberg at second, Simmons at first, and Campbell at the plate. Robinowitz is in left field (no pun), Darley in center, and Quinn-Bachman in right. Kane is third base coach. Rice Farmer is first base coach.

Stan Goff is the umpire.

Jenna sweetheart, you're the one sitting in the dugout spitting all the time. (Oh, am I going to hear about that. Pray for me fans.)

Now everyone go read Whipple before I get cranky.

http://www.fcnp.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3670:the-peak-oil-crisis-in-the-eye-of-the-storm&catid=17:national-commentary&Itemid=79

JO wrote:

You forgot Kunstler as pitcher, sweetheart.