' Work -at- home ' scam snared Elgin mom The Courier News Perez found herself caught in what the Better Business Bureau calls a ” work -at- home scam .” It took Perez months of phone calls and complaints to untangle … Better Business Bureau's tips for storm victims ABC7Chicago.com all 4 news articles
Inquiring minds have been watching the ECRI’s weekly leading index plunge nonstop since October of 2009. Moreover the WLI has been in negative territory for 6 consecutive weeks. click on chart for sharper image Is that a recession call by the ECRI? Absolutely not, at least as of June 14, according to Lakshman Achuthan managing director of ECRI who blasted the Wall Street Journal for misleading reporting. The Business Insider discusses the situation in Why Last Week’s Collapsing ECRI …
View original post here:
ECRI Weekly Leading Indicators at Negative 9.8; Has the ECRI Blown Yet Another Recession Call?
(From Business Wire) — A consortium of the nation’s largest and smallest employers have joined forces to compile a job bank of one million immediate job openings across the country, in an effort to put Americans back to work. As of today, nearly 600,000 jobs have been listed in the job bank, with hundreds more added daily. “A Million Jobs for America™,” which launched today, is corporate America’s response to reversing the high unemployment rate. Employers include some of the largest corporations in America, as well as small and mid-sized firms, who have pledged financial support and, more importantly, their job openings in an effort to stimulate the job market. One unique element of the program is its focus on helping Americans who most need employment: Job openings are distributed directly to veterans groups, disabled individuals, non-profit organizations and state unemployment offices. In turn, employers who hire these qualified candidates may be eligible for federal tax credits, such as Restore Employment Act (HIRE) Credits and Work Opportunity Tax Credits. “Who better than American business to lead the job creation efforts and help get Americans back to work?” asked Mark S. Andrekovich, President of MAXIMUS Tax Credit and Employer Services, the sponsor leading this effort to bring businesses and community organizations together. “ ‘A Million Jobs for America’ is our way of helping reverse the staggering unemployment rate and get Americans back to work,” said Dennis Ratner, Founder and CEO of Ratner Companies, the parent company of Hair Cuttery. “CEOs across the country know that true economic recovery will happen when – and only when – our workforce is back to full capacity.” Read more.
View original post here:
Corporate America Unites with Community Organizations to Launch “A Million Jobs for America”
seems you don’t know much about video editing, or missed the exposure of the “ACORN” takedown scam …. FoxTV counts on folks like you. Login or register to post comments. by IrishSamurai on Wed, 07/21/2010 – 16:27 … It’s heartwarming to finally see someone stand up for the courage and moral rectitude of our elected civil servants and for the exemplary way in which Fannie and Freddie conducted their business and never once cost the taxpayers a dime. sarcasm …
Read the original post:
Guest Post: How Reporters Provide Cover For Darrell Issa's Lies On …
(From Business Wire) — More than half (54 percent) of large U.S. businesses that reduced staff in the past 12 months plan to rebuild their workforces to pre-recession levels within two years, according to a study released today by Accenture (NYSE: ACN). “The Accenture High Performance Workforce Study” found that among all U.S. companies surveyed, only 13 percent of executives said that they plan to reduce their employee base over the next 12 months. “The outlook is improving,” said David Smith, managing director of the Accenture Talent & Organization Performance practice. “But as companies grow their staff, it is more critical than ever that they understand their skills needs and approach the expansion of their workforces strategically.” The survey confirmed that companies are shifting their focus away from cost control and returning to growth. The percentage of U.S. companies focused primarily on cost control will decrease from 41 percent in mid-2009 to 18 percent in 2011, according to the study. And the percentage of U.S. companies focused primarily on investment in growth-oriented activities, such as hiring, will increase from 24 percent today to 37 percent within the next 12 months. However, as companies focus on growth, a shortage of high-quality skills may be cause for concern for many businesses. Only 15 percent of U.S. executives surveyed described the overall skill level of their workforces as industry-leading. “A lack of relevant skills may present a hurdle for companies as they position themselves for growth,” said Smith. “Companies need to rethink how they equip employees with the skills required to be competitive today. They must also consider new strategies for hiring and developing untapped talent currently available in the market.” Read more.
See the original post here:
More Than Half of Large, Downsized U.S. Businesses Plan to Rebuild Their Workforces to Pre-Recession Levels by 2012
Central Florida News 13 News Wrap: Stocks Tumble on Consumer Sentiment, Earnings Numbers NewsHour Also, federal officials announced the largest-ever crackdown on Medicare fraud . HARI SREENIVASAN: The bears were back on Wall Street today. … Wall Street stocks tumble 2.2% on poor US bank results National Business Review US Stocks Slip; Mixed Economic Data Cuts Into Earnings Optimism Wall Street Journal Dow's winning streak falters after financial overhaul ABC Online all 445 news articles
General Electric will emerge largely unscathed from the financial reform process in the US, allowing the conglomerate to keep the business model combining industrial and financial products
Follow this link:
GE to keep its businesses combined
France24 Wall Street stocks tumble 2.2% on poor US bank results National Business Review Stocks on Wall Street crumbled under the weight of poor earnings reports and more concerns about the state of the economy. Bank stocks, in particular, … US Stocks Slip; Mixed Economic Data Cuts Into Earnings Optimism Wall Street Journal Dow's winning streak falters after financial overhaul ABC Online all 343 news articles
The Democrats prevented the needed reform in the derivatives business, the business that brought down AIG and Lehman Brothers, derivatives based on the “toxic mortgages” produced by Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. Media claims that the “reform” …. Professor Thomas J DiLorenzo: The CRA Scam and its Defenders: http://www.mises.org/story/2963. John R Lott, Jr : Analysis – Reckless Mortgages Brought Financial Market To Its Knees http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,424945,00.htm …
Go here to see the original:
Financial Reform Law Passes – Fittingly Named The “Dodd – Frank …
Stocks on Wall Street stumble, seven-day rally ends National Business Review … and Senate passed new sweeping banking regulation laws, and US authorities settled the Goldman Sachs fraud case after it made a $US550 million payment. … and more
(From BusinessWire) — Grant Thornton LLP, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd, one of the six global accounting organizations, today announced the release of a new report titled The Evolving Accounting Talent Profile: CFO strategies for attracting, training and retaining experienced accounting and finance professionals. The study presents key research findings distilled from interviews with chief financial officers at publicly traded and privately held companies on the state of the accounting employment market, including staff development and job turnover. Building upon Grant Thornton’s survey of more than 500 U.S. senior finance executives in 2009, the new analysis presents insights on a range of concerns facing CFOs in the hiring and retaining of experienced finance professionals involved in formulating accounting policy, financial reporting, internal controls and compliance. Grant Thornton’s survey revealed that skill sets beyond technical knowledge are critical when it comes to employing experienced accounting professionals most effectively. For example, 55% of respondents thought that the lack of employees with the necessary “soft skills” – communication, critical thinking and problem solving abilities – was the most significant challenge in recruiting seasoned accounting professionals. Workload and lifestyle were rated as the second most significant obstacles in hiring senior finance employees by 50% of respondents, followed by the dearth in technical skills among experienced accounting staffers. Read more.
Read more:
Grant Thornton LLP Study Finds ‘Soft Skills’ Biggest Challenge in Hiring Accounting Professionals
New York Times (blog) Learning to Live with Conflicts of Interest New York Times (blog) Goldman (and the rest of Wall Street ) is in the business of selling stuff. That is its purpose on earth. It has a duty to shareholders to maximize profit, … and more
WIVB Better Business Bureau Issues Door-to-Door Sales Scam Alert FOX 40 News WICZ TV “I have contracts to guarantee my work but forgot them …” or “I'm available today for a special price to …” Since there are several versions of the home … Job scams still abound, ready to trap the unwary News Sentinel Guest Essay: Contractors are ready to take advantage of storm victims River Forest Leaves Online Car Dealer Scam : One Scammer Uses Hazard, Kentucky Address LEX18 Lexington KY News all 27 news articles
The Business Insider Former SEC Lawyer Comes Up With A Genius Excuse For Fraud And Escapes 20 Years The Business Insider … self-loathing suicidal alcoholic,” says the Wall Street Journal. He was just too drunk to realize that he was participating in a fraud . … and more
Joseph Cassano, the former AIG executive whose financial-products division helped trigger a $180bn government bailout, launched a staunch defence of his business’s actions leading up to the financial crisis
Read more here:
Former AIG executive defends actions
(From BusinessWire) — Though workforces may be leaner following the recession, HR professionals across the U.S. and Canada are supporting the drive for peak employee performance by expanding their commitment to talent management and the technologies that support it. According to the13th annual survey by global professional services company Towers Watson on HR service delivery trends and practices, HR departments are more confident than ever in the value and efficiencies made possible through enhanced talent management systems. In fact, 42% of the more than 450 companies polled listed “talent/performance systems” as one of their top three HR service delivery issues for 2010. This was not only the most frequently selected issue among respondents, but it was also ranked as the top issue by the largest margin ever in the survey’s history. “Talent management technologies have unquestionably become one of the best ways for companies and HR departments to drive better employee performance and enterprise success following the recession,” said Tom Keebler, Global Practice Leader with Towers Watson’s HR Service Delivery and Technology practice. “In spite of the initial costs, organizations are increasingly deploying new or enhanced systems, recognizing that efficient and effective HR processes enable the flexibility and agility employers need in an uncertain but growth-oriented business environment.” Read more.
View post:
Talent Management Systems Taking on "Must Have" Status in the Post-Recession Era
The Business Insider Gossip Grind: Today's Wall Street Buzz In 60 Seconds The Business Insider Unsubstantiated Rumor Of The Day: A (former-industry) source says there's chatter of a small sub-30 person hedge fund that may collapse due to fraud -related …
Go here to see the original:
Gossip Grind: Today’s Wall Street Buzz In 60 Seconds – The Business Insider
The Democrats prevented the needed reform in the derivatives business, the business that brought down AIG and Lehman Brothers, derivatives based on the “toxic mortgages” produced by Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. Media claims that the “reform” …. Professor Thomas J DiLorenzo: The CRA Scam and its Defenders: http://www.mises.org/story/2963. John R Lott, Jr : Analysis – Reckless Mortgages Brought Financial Market To Its Knees http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,424945,00.htm …
The rest is here:
The Financial Reform Law: “Never have the corrupt done so little …
Los Angeles Times The Wall Street Journal's Freudian tweet Salon Er, not so fast By Andrew Leonard The Wall Street Journal has never made any attempt to hide its antipathy for Sarbanes-Oxley, the Enron/Worldcom-inspired … Smaller firms likely to get Sarbanes-Oxley exemption North Bay Business Journal Court Strikes Down Part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Associated Report Online (blog) Sarbanes-Oxley ruling is co$tly New York Post Wall Street Journal
North Bay Business Journal Smaller firms likely to get Sarbanes-Oxley exemption North Bay Business Journal NORTH BAY – It is increasingly likely the Wall Street reform efforts in Congress will include a … The week ahead Economist all 5 news articles
The latest news in the Koss Corporation fraud committed by ex-VP of Finance Sue Sachdeva is a lawsuit filed by the company against Sachdeva and auditors Grant Thornton . It’s unlikely that the company will collect much from Sachdeva, but the auditors are a great target because they have deep pockets (especially in the form of a professional liability insurance policy). Everyone expected Koss to sue Grant Thornton. It’s just standard procedure to sue the auditors after a fraud is discovered. It never matters to the companies that audits are not designed to detect fraud and the auditors tell management this over and over. It never matters to the companies that they are the ones responsible for establishing and maintaining internal controls over financial reporting, as well as putting procedures in place to prevent and detect fraud. The standard management representation letter required to be given by the companies to the auditors has language something like this: We confirm that we are responsible for the fair presentation in the financial statements of financial position, results of operations, and cash flows in conformity with US GAAP. We also acknowledge our responsibility for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, including designing and implementing programs and controls to prevent and detect fraud.” But when things blow up, someone has to be held responsible, and Koss is pointing the finger at Grant Thornton. Here’s what I find so funny about the lawsuit: It goes through the fraudulent payments Sachdeva initiated in great detail , listing dates, payees, and amounts. The accusation being made is that if Grant Thornton had examined those checks and looked at the endorsements on the back of the checks, they would have immediately known Sachdeva was defrauding the company. Why is that so funny? Because Koss management could have (and should have) done exactly what they’re saying Grant Thornton should have done. Talk about making yourselves look like absolute morons. Financial statement audits are very limited in scope. Companies may not like that fact, but it’s just the way it is. If companies want their auditors to find fraud, then they ought to hire the auditors to do more than the audit . As it stands, when you hire auditors to do audits, you have very little chance that they will find a fraud-in-progress. If you want them to look for fraud, then you have to hire them for additional work. Contrary to what many may believe, the auditors don’t sit and go through canceled checks as part of their audit procedures. Their job is not to sit and go through every payment that passes through the bank account. That’s a different project with a different scope. Get over it. You should read my article at Daily Finance about this lawsuit. I point out some interesting contradictions in statements Koss made to the SEC and that they’re now making in their lawsuit. Maybe if the company had spent as much time and money on the management of their business as they will spend on this lawsuit, this all could have been avoided.
Original post:
Koss Fraud: We didn’t bother to look at the endorsements on our own checks, but Grant Thornton should have!
(From msnbc) — When Rory Rowland, then CEO of a small financial institution, encountered a petty workplace conflict between two of his employees–”I don’t even remember what it was about, but it was over an insignificant matter, like the way one of them looked at the other”–he didn’t immediately address the problem. That turned out to be a big mistake. “It escalated to the point where they were snarling at each other. They weren’t professional at all. They would just fling [stuff] at each other’s work area.” This might be funny when it’s on a sitcom, but not when it’s happening in your business. While every small-business owner knows that such workplace conflicts affect productivity and morale, the hard money drain of office drama is not as obvious. When CPP Inc.–publishers of the Myers-Briggs Assessment and the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument–commissioned a
New York Daily News SEC files civil fraud charges against ICP Asset Management Washington Post … debt obligations, the type of pooled securities that are the focus of the SEC's civil fraud charges against Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs. — AP. Illegal Any Time New York Times (blog) SEC accuses money manager of fraud The Associated Press Thomas Priore, ICP Management Founder, SUED By SEC For CDO Fraud Huffington Post (blog) Financial Times
Inquiring minds are reading the Philadelphia Fed June Business Outlook Survey for clues on the economy. The survey’s broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, decreased notably from a reading of 21.4 in May to 8.0 in June. The index, which had edged higher for four consecutive months, fell back to its lowest reading in 10 months. Until this month, firms’ responses had been suggesting that labor market conditions were improving, but indexes for …
Read the original:
Philly Fed Business Index Dramatically Slows, Lowest Reading in 10 Months
Dubai’s sale of Inchcape Shipping Services, a flagship corporate asset, has been dealt a blow after prospective bidders learnt of an investigation they believe the US Department of Justice is conducting into the business
(From hreonline.com) According to a recent Forrester Research survey , more than four in five U.S. online adults use social media at least once a month. Moreover, another recently commissioned survey
Goldman Sachs is facing a wave of complaints from consumers over the business practices of its mortgage servicing unit, a subsidiary that collects payments on hundreds of thousands of loans worth tens of billions of dollars.
More here:
Subprime consumers hit at Goldman
(From the Vancouver Sun) OTTAWA — Just as Ontario is set to pass a new bill making workplace harassment illegal, new research from Queen’s University’s School of Business indicates that workplace bullying can be more damaging than racial or gender harassment. “While ethnic harassment and gender harassment can both be attributed to prejudice, general workplace harassment is a subtle form of mistreatment that masks underlying motives, and is not as easily attributed to bias,” say report authors Jana Raver of Queen’s School of Business and Lisa Nishii of Cornell University, Caucasians reported higher levels of general workplace harassment than minorities, and women were not more likely than men to experience either gender harassment or general workplace harassment. Read more.
Read the original here:
Report: Bullying at work worse than gender, racial harassment
Times LIVE Goldman Sachs Envy Drove Big Boys to Blow Up Money Grid: Books Bloomberg June 14 (Bloomberg) — Note to Lloyd Blankfein: Imagine, for a moment, what would happen if a cardiac surgeon were paid like a Wall Street banker in 2006. … Summer bummer for Wall Street Crain’s New York Business SEC presses Goldman to 'cry uncle' Daily Times Cover that's way beyond the pale Times LIVE all 4 news articles
Summer bummer for Wall Street Crain’s New York Business Amid all the Sturm und Drang, two of Wall Street's most profitable businesses—selling shares and bonds for companies—have tanked. …
Read the original:
Summer bummer for Wall Street – Crain’s New York Business
New York Daily News Judge Names Starr Firms Receiver Emii.com A US district judge has named a temporary receiver for the firms owned by Kenneth Star, accused of running a $30 million investment fraud , The Wall Street … A Tangled Scheme, a Grifter and a Hollywood Twist New York Times (blog) Alleged Ripoff Artist Kenneth Starr Has A Long History Of Scandal In Hollywood The Business Insider all 34 news articles
(From Business Wire) — IBM and ProtonMedia have entered into a teaming agreement that will result in the delivery of innovative, 3-D virtual collaboration and communication solutions engineered specifically for global life sciences organizations. Under the terms of the agreement, ProtonMedia’s ProtoSphere technology will be the basis for customized, 3-D virtual collaboration environments to create high-performance workplaces. IBM’s Global Business Services division will provide consultancy, integration, deployment, and installation services to life science customers around the world, leveraging the ProtoSphere platform. The companies are also in discussions for cross-marketing initiatives for their solutions. “We’re excited to collaborate with ProtonMedia,” says Cindy Skirvin, Partner of Strategy and Transformation Workforce and Talent Solutions for IBM Global Business Services. “By combining our strengths and breadth of technology services with ProtonMedia’s virtual collaboration platform, we’re enabling organizations to address some of the most pressing issues facing them today, including speeding decision-making across the entire product lifecycle, meeting human capital management needs, and improving workplace performance overall.” Skirvin recently joined ProtonMedia’s Executive Advisory Board with Cisco’s Greg Pelton and Microsoft’s Sam Batterman. Skirvin and ProtonMedia CEO Ron Burns will be presenting at the Society of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Trainers (SPBT) Conference in Orlando, Fla., on June 9. Their workshop is entitled “Utilizing 3-D Virtual Worlds and Informal Learning in Employee Training and Collaboration.” They will discuss how ProtoSphere is being used to help life sciences companies overcome the pressures to operate globally with effective remote teams, improved recruiting and onboarding, increased productivity and efficiency and reduced overall costs. They will explore lessons learned from these experiences, as well as ways that other life sciences companies can use ProtoSphere for their learning and collaboration needs. Read more.
Read the rest here:
IBM and ProtonMedia Form Joint Development Partnership
New details on limo driver in hedge fund fraud Crain’s New York Business Wall Street chauffeur Alan Fishman drove for Dial Car Inc., and even sat on its board. Hating his “road to nowhere,” he and a family member started a hedge … and more
Top 50 Business Books, 'Animal Spirits' to 'What the Dog Saw' Bloomberg “The End of Wall Street ” by Roger Lowenstein (Penguin Press). A decade after capturing the hubris of Long-Term Capital Management LP in “When Genius Failed …
Read this article:
Top 50 Business Books, ‘Animal Spirits’ to ‘What the Dog Saw’ – Bloomberg
Home Business,air max schuhe, Easy Money, Get Rich Quick Identity Loop Why: The technique itself is not a scam and many people are successful doing data entry work , so there is a level of comfort that this is a legitimate job …
Read more from the original source:
<title>Home Business,air max schuhe, Easy Money, Get Rich Quick – Identity Loop
Developments a sign Knight believes Mifid offers scope for US brokers to bring their business models across the Atlantic
See the original post:
Knight to take stake in Equiduct
Beware: Storm Shutter Scam Wink News … dollars to scammers, who promised to install new hurricane shutters on her home . But the work was never done and the business owners have disappeared. …
Read the original:
Beware: Storm Shutter Scam – Wink News
How To Avoid Get Rich Scams OfficialWire (press release) How do you learn about business opportunities, work from home options. A starting point and knowing what to look for can be difficult when evaluating the … Practice Safe Business And Avoid Scams OfficialWire (press release) Thousands Have Fallen Victim To Online Dating Scams OfficialWire (press release) all 5 news articles
Today Daily Finance has published an article by me about the current state of the Facebook privacy drama . Simply put, it’s completely overblown. I don’t like the fact that Facebook seems to make huge changes just when I’ve finally figured out the last batch of changes. But this is the internet, people. Things move fast, and so Facebook has to make frequent changes to keep developing their business model. And make no mistake – – Facebook is a business. As much as you might like to think it’s just a clever way to interact with your friends, the reality is that Facebook is a business that needs to generate revenue one way or another. Users don’t seem willing to pay for access to Facebook, so the company must look to advertisers and other partners to bring in money. The only way to make the network attractive to those with the money is by opening things up.That means Facebook is going to encourage (and in some cases require) that certain parts of your profile be public. After all, what good is user data if those who would pay to get access to it can’t actually access anything? The biggest complaint about the recent changes to Facebook’s privacy options is that there are too many of them. The New York Times calls the privacy options “bewildering.” At Daily Finance, my colleage Sam Gustin is also annoyed with the number of privacy choices on Facebook. But is it really all that bad to have lots of options when it comes to the many pieces of data you can add to your profile? I don’t think so. It’s nice that you can hide certain items while making others public. And I guarantee you that if Facebook now had only a few privacy choices that applied to large chunks of data, critics would be saying we don’t have enough control. Truthfully, the Facebook privacy settings are not the least bit confusing for anyone who can be bothered to take 10 minutes to look at them and use Facebook’s “help” function . I think Sam is just too lazy to learn about the privacy settings. And really… is it too much to ask that if you want to keep things private, you spend 10 or 20 minutes a few times a year learning about the options and tweaking your profile? I became motivated to write about this when my writing team at Daily Finance (which includes Sam) had a discussion about the “confusing” Facebook privacy settings via our team email list. To help defend his position that Facebook’s privacy is awful, he cited Danah Boyd as a “sophisticated thinker” on his side of this argument. I’ve never heard of her before, but okay. Sam says she’s sophisticated, so let’s go with it. Danah was shocked that Facebook didn’t contact her to help them after she did a keynote at SXSW. Really? That sets the stage for the rant, doesn’t it? Facebook didn’t bow down to Danah’s obvious superiority in the area of social media privacy, and now they shall pay. She says lots and lots of people are scared of these privacy issues on Facebook. I think that most of these scared people are simply too lazy to look at the privacy settings on Facebook, and are instead listening to people like Danah say they ought to be worried, and now they’re worried. Notice a theme here? Lazy Facebook users? Danah’s premise throughout most of the article is reasonable, but then she holds up a teenager using Facebook as an example of what’s so wrong with Facebook’s privacy settings. This poor teenager didn’t know that setting photos to be viewable by “Friends of Friends” meant that friends of friends could actually see them. Really? This is your shocking example of how awful Facebook is? That a user didn’t have basic common sense? Sure, she’s a teenager. But come on. By age sixteen I think basic reading comprehension skills have been learned, and “friends of friends” is not a terribly complicated phrase to interpret. This is by far not a “sophisticated” argument against Facebook. She goes on to complain about the fact that people don’t think the word “everyone” really means everyone. And she complains that Zuckerberg and Facebook team think they know what everyone wants. This is not a “sophisticated” argument either. Facebook critics are also sounding off that the “privacy” on Facebook isn’t really privacy at all, and the company is just looking for ways to exploit users. This argument fails if you again step back and look at Facebook as a business. The company must bring in revenue if it wants to survive, and it’s not “exploiting” users so much as finding ways to make the network enticing to those willing to pay for access. What Facebook absolutely must do, however, is be transparent. They must be clear about the privacy controls and make sure users know (if they bother to look) what is private and what is not. And for the users of Facebook – – you must take responsibility for your own data, because you’re the only one who can control it. If you don’t want things to become public, don’t post them on the internet. That’s really the only privacy control you may need.
See the article here:
Get over the Facebook privacy drama
Credit rating agencies faced a growing threat to their business model after the US Senate voted to establish a government-appointed panel to decide who rates an individual asset-backed security
Read the original here:
Senate votes for restrictions on credit rating agencies
Kansas City Business Journal (blog) Chris Dodd: Amendments could kill Wall Street bill Politico AP Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd warned Thursday that an open-ended amendment process could threaten final passage of Wall Street reform, … Factbox: Key Amendments To Wall Street Reform Bill In Senate Post Chronicle all 85 news articles
NC fines home -repair firms $100000 Triangle Business Journal North Carolina consumers can call 1-877-5-NO- SCAM toll-free within state to check out a home repair company or file a complaint against one. … and more
The Medifast Inc. litigation over its multi-level marketing division Take Shape For Life (TSFL), and the criticism of it by me, Barry Minkow, Fraud Discovery Institute, William Lobdell, Robert FitzPatrick, and an anonymous message board poster who referred to the company’s board chairman Bradley McDonald as “Pimp Daddy Brad” marches on. About a week ago, Robert FitzPatrick and I filed our anti-SLAPP motions with the court. This week Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute filed their anti-SLAPP motion with the court. Medifast seems to be getting nervous and desperate. Their lawyers have been shamelessly lying to the court , and are trying all sorts of neat tricks to stall the anti-SLAPP motions. They now claim that they need all sorts of discovery done before they can reply to the anti-SLAPP motions. The one curious thing that Medifast hasn’t done, is they haven’t pointed out even one false statement by any of the defendants. Their entire defamation case is based on supposed false statements by all of us. And Medifast would be in sole possession of the proof of the falsehood of our statements, yet they haven’t bothered to mention even one of these false statements. They’ve been saying for over a year that we’re lying about TSFL, but haven’t come forth with even one example. I have plenty more to say about Medifast, their business model, and their litigation tactics. Unfortunately, due to the lawsuit pending, the less I say, the better. Even in a free country, it appears that the First Amendment rights of people can be trampled by corporate bullies like Medifast who will sue those who dare to challenge them. If they’re so sure of their claims… and if we’ve told lies about them… and if they can prove it… why not proceed with the anti-SLAPP motions? Probably because the longer Medifast can drag this out and the more they cost the defendants in legal fees, the better their chances of shutting us up (and also shutting up any other citizen who dares to challenge the validity of the multi-level marketing business model).
Originally posted here:
Minkow Anti-SLAPP motion filed in Medifast case
The California-based company says its rift with former executives will not adversely affect the business as it forecasts that the next instalment of the ‘Call of Duty’ franchise will be the year’s biggest hit
Here is the original post:
Activision expects new game to be bestseller
BBC News Young Bankers Sing the Ballad of Fabrice Tourre New York Times (blog) Mr. Tourre, the magazine said, “embodies the culture of the financial world and offers a road map for success” for many of Wall Street's wannabe … Legislation will not prevent another financial crisis BBC News Another Reason For People To Loathe Wall Street : Everyone There Thinks Fabrice … The Business Insider Goldman Sachs Testimony a Boost for Financial Reform U.S. News & World Report AHN | All Headline News
Washington's Greed Investor’s Business Daily View Enlarged Image Subprime Scandal: Democrats blame “greedy” Wall Street for the financial crisis, but Democratic operatives lined their own pockets … and more
The Hindu Stocks Rise After Airline Merger New York Times A merger of two airlines gave Wall Street a shot of confidence on Monday, while economic indicators and a strong financial sector also … Stocks Take Off On United-Continental Merger Forbes NBR Transcripts-May 3, 2010 Nightly Business Report US STOCKS-Strong economic data boosts Wall Street Reuters all 4,632 news articles
The most successful deals, bankers say, are those where the strategy is clear, allowing the acquirer to realise synergies and recover the premium it paid to buy the business
No, this is not Mona Vie's site. No, MonaVie doesn't endorse or approve me writing about them. In fact, they'll probably get mad that I'm mentioning them. I don't like MonaVie. I received the following information about multi-level marketing company MonaVie via email from an anonymous source. I have written here about MonaVie in the past , and my opinion is that it is another thinly veiled pyramid scheme with an overpriced product (magic juice) as a front. If you are thinking about getting involved with MonaVie as a distributor, this is the single most important article to read about it . This will give you a good idea of how little money you’re going to make. And you should also take a careful look at the below. Note that I have not verified the accuracy of the assumptions in this article from the anonymous source. You should do your own research on MonaVie prior to making a decision. Written by Anonymous Over the last few years, many people in the direct selling industry have been faced with the surge in juice company sales as the promises of improved health and massive wealth lured in numerous dreamers. As the media exposes the $40 bottles of juice and new lawsuits are pending with such icons as Dr. Oz and Oprah, you have to wonder what is really happening at a privately held company like MonaVie. More importantly, you have to ask yourself, what impact could it have on someone that hears promises of having all of their dreams come true. Check out these questions and review the very recent financial information (Obtained in Feb 2009 from MonaVie’s own finance department) recently discovered. It comes from a very credible source inside the company and is something that the common distributor or customer would never see from a private company. Challenge everything you hear, check all of the claims you hear, make sure you are making good decisions, and remember that in many cases private means secret for a reason! Why isn’t a company like MonaVie a member of the DSA (Direct Selling Association)? These companies are held to higher standards and a code of ethics and are representative of those doing the right thing in this industry. Why do they carefully word their sales tools to claim to be a billion dollar company when their annual sales will be closer to 500 million? Are they purposefully using a cumulative number to represent an annual figure and mislead people? Why do they continue to claim excessive growth in their international markets? Check out the numbers, they tell a dramatically different story as all but one market are declining at a double-digit rate? Information obtained shows that the overall sales for MonaVie will show a decline this year to the tune of a decrease of 18%. MonaVie Associates keep saying to people that business is booming worldwide. Information from someone inside says that as of a week ago, Monavie’s sales rate for the US sales is down 27%. Mexico is down 13%. Canada is off 4%. Australia is off 22% and SG is off 26%. In fairness, they do $1.5 million per week in Japan which is growing at 28%, I would assume the decline will happen in this market very soon just like all of the others. A tactic used by Monavie to “grow” their business is to lure away high-ranking distributors and their entire organizations away from other direct selling companies by promising luxury items like exotic trips, high-end luxury cars, homes, etc. Be aware of the fine print, you will probably be required to pay for these items sometime in the near future! If it sounds too good to be true, guess what, it is! I have been contacted and lured with large sums of money to leave and come to MonaVie. Be careful about the attractiveness of big sums of money. 6 leaders that I know of just lost an arbitration case against our old home at Amway and now owe them 25 million dollars! It’s possible to leave for a quick bag of money, but would you want to have to pay your old employer millions as a result of unethical behavior? http://mlmblog.net/2007/08/orrin-woodwar-3.html Apparently their latest tactic is to dangle exotic cars in front of inexperienced young business hopefuls creating the illusion that everyone can have these cars in their own garage. That’s just not realistic when you consider the high number of people leaving their business. If it were that easy, every one of them would be driving an orange Lamborghini! It’s been said that Dallin Larsen, their CEO, is the one making the offers. Wasn’t the power of the juice sales behind promoting the health benefits and not joining thinking you’ll get a fancy new car? How long can they continue this apparent charade you ask? Good Question! They are a privately held company with their CEO and his team lining their pockets at their distributors expense and the expense of their customers who believe their magical juice has “real” benefits. They are, however, private and this information usually never gets out…. until now. Don’t be fooled by the stories you read and hear about the MonaVie opportunity. An analogy relevant to Monavie is that they are built similar to a house of cards. The north breeze is blowing and the house of cards is beginning to crumble. Be careful how attractive the new car, the trips and the promises of newfound wealth are….all of these material things don’t last very long. It’s hard to pay off the promises when there isn’t a credible product, fair compensation or a company left to stand behind it. How can you sustain your home based business when the company you’re working with has lost almost 30% of it’s business right here in the US, and in only one year! Wonder if my old friends from Amway still think MonaVie was a good decision? Don’t listen to the Pied Piper, he has nice toys, big homes, a nice jet, and a palatial office but what do his Associates have? There are credible publicly held options out there that share their information openly and honestly. Do your research before you become another card on top of the house wobbling with no hope of stability Choose wisely……… Summary of Worldwide Sales Listed from Largest to Smallest 52 week avg. Last 4 Week avg. Change US $9,759,373 $7,085,100 -27.4% JP $1,167,971 $1,495,816 28.1% CA $979,415 $944,195 -3.6% AU $287,164 $223,989 -22.0% SG $223,692 $164,528 -26.4% MX $145,551 $125,850 -13.5% PL $98,068 $98,310 0.2% BR $56,114 $83,680 49.1% IL $41,526 $71,165 71.4% UK $67,034 $64,812 -3.3% FR $20,797 $32,540 56.5% NZ $34,118 $19,394 -43.2% HK $8,367 $8,367 0.0% TOTAL $12,757,845 $10,413,560 -18.4% Is it all you think it is? Is the opportunity rapidly increasing or just the opposite?
See the article here:
An anonymous source reveals numbers for MonaVie
Anti-SLAPP motions have been filed in the Medifast lawsuit by me and by my co-defendant, Robert FitzPatrick. My motion can be read in its entirety here, and Fitzpatrick’s can be read here . SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation . It’s basically when a big company tries to shut up a little guy with expensive litigation. In my opinion, Medifast sued me and others in an attempt to get us to stop publicly analyzing or criticizing the company and it’s multi-level marketing business model. In filing an anti-SLAPP motion, we are essentially asking the court to rule in our favor and in favor of free speech. Consumers should have the right to discuss, analyze, and criticize companies without the fear of expensive lawsuits . Winning an Anti-SLAPP motion is a two part process: We have to prove that what we’re being sued for is essentially a free speech issue. Medifast then has the burden of proving that there is a “probability” of prevailing on their claims in the lawsuit. The first part can be easily proven. I am a fraud investigator who writes about fraud and consumer scams. It is in the public’s interest for discussions of multi-level marketing and its pitfalls to occur. The second part is a huge hurdle for Medifast to get over. They won’t win on their claims related to my republishing of writings by FitzPatrick and Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute. Medifast is pretending that I adopted their writings as my own when I published them on my blog, but that’s contrary to the law on the issue. As to my own writings, there was nothing false in them, so Medifast can’t win on that issue. (And now is a good time to remind you that the Medifast attorneys have been lying to the court about what I’ve written .) But the most interesting part of all of this is a detailed account in the FitzPatrick filing of all the lies Medifast told in its complaint in this case. Here’s the best stuff from his motion: Plaintiff’s Complaint Contains False and Misleading Allegations and Should Be Viewed As Suspect One reason why Plaintiffs cannot establish a probability of prevailing on any of their claims is because Plaintiffs’ Complaint is replete with misrepresentations and material omissions of material fact that render the entire Complaint as suspect. For example, contrary to Plaintiffs’ claim, Medifast, Inc. did not start doing business in 1980. (See Complaint, ¶18.) In fact, Medifast was not incorporated until 2001 when it changed its name from Healthrite to Medifast. (Exhibit C.) Rather, in 1980, a company called Jason Pharmaceutical, Inc. began manufacturing and marketing to doctors and hospitals, products with the brand name Medifast. (See Exhibit D.) Contrary to Plaintiffs’ claim (Plaintiffs’ Complaint, ¶21), the Medifast products and weight loss plan was developed by Dr. William Vitale, not Dr. Wayne Anderson. (Exhibits E and EE.) Contrary to Plaintiffs’ claim (Complaint, ¶20), Medifast products were not at all times readily available to the public. Instead, Medifast products were only available from a doctor and with a doctor’s supervision because the Medifast program was an extremely low calorie diet and dangerous. (Exhibit F). As set forth in Exhibit G at p. 901, in a 1992 FTC Consent Decree issued against Jason Pharmaceuticals, there were substantial health risks associated with Medifast products. As set forth in Exhibit II, there are still significant health risks. (See Grell Aff., ¶¶78-80.) As also set forth in FTC Consent Decree, the FTC found that Jason Pharmaceuticals was guilty of false and misleading statements about the safety and efficacy of the Medifast products and program, facts that were concealed by Jason Pharmaceuticals and its successor companies, Vitamin Specialties, Healthrite and Medifast. Jason Pharmaceuticals was also involved in a number of personal injury lawsuits stemming from the use of their Medifast program, which were also concealed. (See Exhibit H.) As set forth in Exhibit H, up until the time that the FTC issued its Consent Decree, Jason Pharmaceuticals (“Jason”) successfully marketed the Medifast plan through the use of false and misleading advertising. Facing an increasing number of personal injury lawsuits, coupled with the fraud claims brought by the FTC, Jason filed for bankruptcy in 1994. (See Exhibit I.) In 1995, a publically traded corporation named Vitamin Specialties purchased Jason. (See Exhibit J.) Jason became a subsidiary of Vitamin Specialties. Despite the fact that Jason had been ordered by the FTC to provide copies of the 1992 FTC order to any company that subsequently purchased or acquired Jason (See Exhibit G, p. 915), the annual reports of Vitamin Specialties for the year 1995 made no mention of the FTC’s Consent Decree to the public or its stockholders. No mention was made of any of the lawsuits that were filed against Jason either. In 1995, Vitamin Specialties changed its name to Healthrite. (Exhibit K.) Jason remained a subsidiary. Bradley MacDonald was CEO of Healthrite. At no time did Healthrite, which was also publically traded, ever mention the 1992 FTC Consent Decree or any of the lawsuits to the public or its stockholders during the years 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. In 1997, the Board of Directors of Healthrite fired MacDonald, claiming he was incompetent. (See Exhibit L.) After being fired, MacDonald used the Healthrite stock he had acquired as CEO and started a proxy fight with Healthrite’s then Board of Directors. (See Exhibit M.) As a result of the proxy fight, MacDonald regained his position as CEO of Healthrite in 1998. (Exhibit N) In 2001, Healthrite decided to change the company’s name to Medifast. (Exhibit O.) At no time did Medifast disclose to the public that a consent decree had been issued against Jason Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Medifast. At the time, Medifast sent a proxy statement to all shareholders. (Exhibit P.) One of the more interesting disclosures that Medifast was, that instead of there being the 20,000 physicians who had recommended the Medifast products and weight plan as set forth in Plaintiffs’ Complaint (See Complaint, ¶19), there were only “several thousand doctors” who did so.) Proof that Medifast falsely advertised that 20,000 physicians recommended the Medifast program is set forth in Medifast’s 2008 Annual Report (Exhibit Q), wherein Medifast claims that only 15,000 physicians had recommended the Medifast program. Proof that this number had not changed in decades is set forth in Exhibit G, p. 910, wherein it was reported that in 1989, two to three years before the FTC issued its order, 12,000 physicians recommended Medifast. In other words, assuming that during the years 1990 and 1991, another 1,333 new physicians joined Medifast, by September 1992, there were approximately 15,000 physicians getting paid to falsely advertise and recommend the Medifast program. Under the FTC Consent Decree, Jason Pharmaceuticals was ordered to serve a copy of the FTC order on every physician involved. (See Exhibit G, p. 915.) As a result, many physicians ceased being involved, especially when Medicare stopped reimbursing physicians for patients on the Medifast plan. (Exhibit R.) Medifast’s advertisements claiming that 15,000 or 20,000 physicians recommended the Medifast program is also misleading because the Medifast program previously recommended was not the same Medifast program sold today. (See Exhibit S.) In fact, in late 2002, the last year that the FTC order was in effect (See Exhibit G, p 915), Medifast started the company “Take Shape for Life”. As set forth in Exhibits T and DD, the TSFL Medifast business model bore no resemblance to the original doctor-supervised Medifast liquid protein diet plan. As set forth in Exhibits T and V, at the time Medifast changed to its multi-level marketing program, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. After regaining his position as CEO of Healthrite/Medifast, in 2007, MacDonald was again removed as CEO of Medifast for suspected improprieties. (Exhibit U.) As set forth in Exhibit V, Medifast’s stock also had a history of substantial declines. Given the prior history of Medifast and MacDonald and their failure to disclose information to the public and its stockholders, it was only a matter of time before the questionable practices and problems with Medifast were exposed. Exposing the truth, however, does not give rise to a libel claim. Other material and misleading claim by Plaintiffs is their claim that the Medifast program has been clinically approved. As set forth in Exhibit W, Medifast never publicized the fact that the clinical study done by John Hopkins by Lawrence Cheskin, M.D., the principal author, was paid for by Medifast and run by Lawrence Cheskin, M.D., a member of Medifast’s Board of Medical Advisors. Medifast also failed to disclose that the John Hopkins study, which Medifast uses as a strong advertising claim, was originally rejected by Diabetes Care, a leading peer-reviewed journal. (See Exhibit W.) It was later published in a less prestigious journal. As set forth in the Grell Aff. (Exhibit 1, ¶¶78-81), Medifast also failed to disclose the risks of the Medifast diet, risks which Medifast’s own Dr. Cheskin writes about in his books and reports. Another false and misleading claim is Medifast’s claim that health coaches can obtain “healthy finances.” (Complaint, ¶22.) As set forth in Exhibit X, recently posted compensation documents, buried in the Medifast TSFL’s website, show that the average monthly income of a health coach is $76.00, significantly less than what it would cost a health coach to set up its Medifast business opportunity. Indeed, while Medifast claims that its health coaches have low start-up costs (Complaint, ¶27), Medifast fails to disclose the true cost for a health coach to get their business up and running and to stay up and running. (Exhibit Y, see also Grell Aff., ¶¶80-81.) In short, Medifast past and present history, as set forth in Plaintiffs’ Complaint, is replete with false and misleading statements and omissions of material fact made to promote the integrity of the case, the company, the company’s products and the integrity of Medifast and of MacDonald as upstanding public figures. They are not and, as a result, Plaintiffs’ claims should be viewed with suspicion in evaluating the merits of Plaintiffs’ claim.
Continued here:
Medifast Lawsuit: Anti-SLAPP motions filed