Grabfest

The Gulf is Still Struggling, But BP’s Done Paying

"Three and a half years after an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig dumped 205 million gallons of crude oil into the ocean, leaving 11 workers dead and damaging hundreds of miles of shoreline, the Gulf Coast is still recovering. The company has spent or earmarked $42.4 billion so far for cleanup, compensation payments and environmental fines. Its profits have suffered, and it has sold $38 billion in assets to help cover the cost. BP filed suit last week against the U.S. government for a ban on awarding the company federal contracts. BP already has $1.34 billion in contracts in place to supply fuel to the government, including the military." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Gulf is Still Struggling, But BP’s Done Paying

Dick Bove: US Assault on JPMorgan Is ‘Coordinated from Above’

"The various government legal moves against JPMorgan Chase represent a coordinated assault on the nation's biggest bank, says star bank analyst Dick Bove at Rafferty Capital Markets. Given that eight government agencies are now suing JPMorgan over various issues, apparently including four to six lawsuits from the Justice Department: 'What is it about this company which makes it unique relative to all other American companies, that all of these agencies come down on this company at the same point in time?' Bove said. 'This has to be coordinated by someone, and it has to be coordinated by someone above each one of the individual agencies.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDick Bove: US Assault on JPMorgan Is ‘Coordinated from Above’

Seattle $15/Hour Minimum Wage Being Pushed

"Washington already has the nation's highest state minimum wage at $9.19 an hour. Now, there's a push in Seattle, at least, to make it $15. That would mean fast food workers, retail clerks, baristas and other minimum wage workers would get what protesters demanded when they shut down a handful of city restaurants in May and others called for when they demonstrated nationwide in July. So far, the City Council and mayoral candidates have said they would consider it in the famously liberal city. One said, however, that it may not be soon." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSeattle $15/Hour Minimum Wage Being Pushed

Google Bus Hate: Give It a Rest

"Some San Franciscans define themselves by what they oppose. This spring they found a new focus for their outrage: the Google (GOOG) bus. Since 2007 the company has been using big, Wi-Fi-equipped, white-and-black coaches to collect employees around the Bay Area and bring them to the Mountain View Googleplex, 45 minutes south of the city. In early May there was a public protest against them at a Mission District transit stop. More than 20 cops were on hand—roughly a 1:1 ratio with protesters. The high point? Two slackers smashing a Google bus piñata." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle Bus Hate: Give It a Rest

‘Eminent Domain for the People’ Leaves Wall Street Furious

"Richmond became the first California city last week to move forward on a plan that has been floated by other California municipalities to ask big bank lenders to sell underwater mortgage loans at a discount to the city (if the owner consents), and seize those homes through eminent domain if the banks refuse. The city has committed to refinancing these homes for owners at their current value, not what is owed. City officials launched this process by sending letters in late July to 32 banks and other mortgage owners offering to buy 624 underwater mortgages at the price the homes are worth, not what the owners owe." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Eminent Domain for the People’ Leaves Wall Street Furious

Chesapeake Energy drops legal fight over natural gas leases in New York state

"Landowners in Broome and Tioga counties, who had leased acreage to Chesapeake over the past decade, had battled the pioneering oil driller in court to prevent it from extending the leases under their original terms, many of which were agreed to long before a boom in hydraulic fracturing swept the United States. 'I can renegotiate with other companies now,' said Frank Laskowski, who owns land in Broome County. 'Before that we were tied up with Chesapeake at $3 an acre and 12.5 percent. Most people are getting much more than that.' One landowner in Broome County said he now hoped to secure up to $3,000 an acre." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChesapeake Energy drops legal fight over natural gas leases in New York state

Swiss bank UBS pays $50 million to settle SEC charges from 2007 financial meltdown

"UBS agreed to pay nearly $50 million to settle charges over its disclosures related to a money-losing 2007 investment vehicle linked to sub-prime loans, a US agency announced Tuesday. UBS presented inaccurate or incomplete information about upfront payments in marketing literature to investors and in submissions to the CDO’s directors, the SEC said. When the CDO was liquidated in 2007, outside investors lost approximately $130 million in the CDO, according to an SEC administrative order. In the settlement, UBS agreed to pay about $50 million in disgorgement, interest and penalties. The bank did not admit or deny the SEC’s findings." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwiss bank UBS pays $50 million to settle SEC charges from 2007 financial meltdown

JPMorgan’s Latest Guilt-Free Payoff

"There was that awful phrase again, in JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s settlement with U.S. energy regulators: The company 'neither admits nor denies the violations.' The $410 million pact between JPMorgan and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission doesn't do much good for the rest of us. For years the Securities and Exchange Commission has been the agency that gets the most criticism for these sorts of 'no-admit' settlements. The SEC has long defended their use by pointing, in part, to the many federal agencies that routinely do the same thing. The energy regulators just gave the SEC a new high-profile example." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJPMorgan’s Latest Guilt-Free Payoff

JPMorgan: $7 Billion In “Fines” In Just The Past Two Years

"While JPM's precarious balance sheet was no surprise to anyone (holding over $50 trillion in gross notional derivatives will make fragile fools of the best of us), what has become a bigger problem for Dimon is that slowly but surely JPM has not only become a bigger litigation magnet than Bank of America, but questions are now emerging if all of the firm's recent success wasn't merely due to crime. Crime of the kind that 'nobody accept or denies guilt' of course - i.e., completely victimless. Except for all the fines and settlements. Here is a summary of JPM's recent exorbitant and seemingly endless fines." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJPMorgan: $7 Billion In “Fines” In Just The Past Two Years

Judge: Merchants owed millions in credit card fees ‘inappropriately’ inflated by Fed

"The 2010 Dodd-Frank law called for the Fed to cap such fees, which banks charge to retailers when their customers use debit cards to make purchases. Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia sided with retailers, who argued the Fed’s 21 cent cap was higher than Congress intended. The so-called Durbin amendment to Dodd-Frank, named for its sponsor, Democratic Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, was intended to reduce burdens on retailers and hopefully trickle down to consumers in the form of lower prices." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge: Merchants owed millions in credit card fees ‘inappropriately’ inflated by Fed