TedCo Software Financial Matters Blog

Kudos to the U.S. prosecutors of financial crimes and to the agent who remembered wiretaps!

David Glovin, David Scheer and Bob Van Voris authored the article, “Galleon Insider Case Ushers in Wiretaps for Finance Prosecution“, for Bloomberg.com this morning. It tells the story of how U.S. prosecutors used wiretaps to gather evidence in an insider trading case against the founder of the hedge fund Galleon Group.

In the first sentence, the authors report U.S. prosecutors “said they will use similar tactics to fight future crimes on Wall Street.” But the kicker is this, “He (U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara) said the prosecution is the first time wiretaps have been used to target insider trading, calling the case “unprecedented.”

Hello?

That this is the first time prosecutors have used wiretaps against insider trading begs the question, “doesn’t a wiretap seem like an obvious tool for gathering evidence in insider trading cases?”

Those who lack integrity, possess insider information and are willing to share it are certainly crafty enough to know they can’t write it on paper or send it by email. Insider information is shared mouth to ear. It’s shared in the back seats of town cars. It’s shared over dinner. It’s whispered over the phone.

Of course, with the way the Feds are making a point of their new and unprecedented use of wiretaps, the fear of having one’s whisper numbers overheard by the FBI may help eliminate the sharing of insider information by phone.

It’s sad that it has taken all the way to 2009 for the Feds to use wiretaps against insider trading. Maybe the Madoff scandal was a wakeup call. However it happened, I’m glad the Federal prosecutors who battle financial crimes have discovered wiretaps.

I imagine those who share illegal financial information will wonder about every suspicious “click” in their phone calls. It may be more than a bad connection!

Merry Christmas from Wheatworks!

It is so easy to become confused about real value.

The news channels inundate us with persistent information about the decline of our economy … even the dismal world economy intrudes into our homes. Listen to it long enough and you may find yourself growing numb, fearful and down.

Few companies are immune and, therefore, we as individuals are all touched by the economy … if only because the companies where we or our loved ones work are responding to the recession. The economy is about finances – global finance, national finance, corporate finance – and consequently, personal finance. Without doubt, personal finances impact our ability to function in our modern, capitalistic society. Enough.

The economy is not about value. Wealth is not value.

Discover grace and peace during the holidays by focusing on real value. Appreciate the treasures you have. You may find peace in the joy on a child’s face, or the sound of laughter and greetings. It may come from the silent starry night, or the sound of music. May you find meaning in the meaning of Christmas!

I’ve thought a good bit lately about mowing some head-high grass along the woods in my backyard. In fact, I’ve thought about it for weeks. As long as I was only thinking about it, I was entertaining myself.

Today I actually did it. I’m sore.

But the view of the colored leaves on the trees and into the woods is great. Things looks so much better from the patio because I did what I’ve thought about.

Life is like that. So many lost opportunities pass us by because we only entertain ourselves with thoughts about our intentions.

If you read this blog, chances are good that you live comfortably. You have enough money to read a blog that is generally about financial matters. I think many readers have entertained themselves lately with thoughts of helping others. It’s that time of year. And in spite of what you hear in the news, I find that most people are actually very thoughtful about the plight of those in need.

Allow me to take this Thanksgiving Eve opportunity to encourage you to move beyond thinking about helping others. Take courage and do it!

Find a local shelter, a soup kitchen, or other social service that needs your support and do what you’ve thought about. Volunteer or offer a resource you have that is needed. You might give an old coat to a coat drive, write a check for a food bank donation, or give a few hours of your time. Do something about your good desires for others.

Like my view of the leaves changing to golds and reds, things will look so much better to you because you’ve stepped from entertaining yourself with thoughts of helping others to really doing it. And that’s a good thing!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and all of yours!

In my opinion, one of the best features of Slate is the Today’s Papers department. Today’s Papers offers a great summary each morning of what’s in the major U.S. newspapers. I find reading Today’s Papers provides a good way to stay in touch with the state of the economy. More than just hitting the headlines, Slate’s writers offer a summary of the headlines that answers the basic questions.

The real value of Today’s Papers is that it is a quick way to get a heads up on issues that many won’t learn about until the evening news — if then. Because the information is gathered from major newspapers across the country, Slate’s Today’s Papers provides a broad perspective of national trends and events. It’s great information, too, because the summary does such a good job of explaining the headlines.

Today’s Papers is an Internet gem.

According to an article today on MSNBC.com titled, “Retirement savers making costly 401(k)errors“, a study by Financial Engines finds 69 percent have configured their 401(k) investments with too much risk.

If you’re interested in what most are doing incorrectly, you’ll want to read this. And make sure you’re not in the 69% who have misconfigured their retirement savings!

“How to tell if now is the time to refinance” is Jane Hodges’ article on MSNBC.com today. It’s a well-written summary of how one can determine whether refinancing is a good option. She looks at both sides of the coin and offer suggestion about situations that make it wise to consider refinancing as well as some reasons it may be unwise or difficult to refinance. It’s a nice summary.

According to today’s New York Post, it’s not all bonuses on Wall Street. In “Blood on the Street: Trader” the NY Post reports that pink slips were distributed last week following the worst fourth quarter in Wall Street history.

The WashingtonPost.com reports in “Dire Year on Wall Street Yields Gigantic Bonuses” that Wall Street’s 5 largest firms paid a record $39 billion (that’s 39 BILLION dollars) in bonuses while 3 of these 5 Wall Street firms lost more than $80 billion. The 5 firms’ combined profit for the year of $11.5 billion was less than the bonuses! Shareholders are left holding the bag for these bonuses while share prices have fallen this year due to poor performance.

As interesting as the article itself is, make sure you click the link to read the readers’ comments. Some of them are priceless. All of them so far express umbrage at the greed. Pathological greed like this sucks the life out of society.

Ignore this post … it’s a Technorati thing

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An excellent post by Minyan Peter on Minyanville.com is titled, “The Courage to Choose“. To wit, following the end of America’s last twenty years in the “age of aspiration”, we’re about to be forced to choose what we can afford versus what we can borrow. Minyan Peter suggests we’ll return to our vocabularies the phrase, “I can’t afford that”.

If you’ve not spend time on Minyanville.com, you’ve missed a great source of financial information offered with wit and wisdom.