- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s Australian unit failed to advise of the risks of collateralized debt obligations and ignored policies that required municipalities to invest conservatively, a lawyer for towns and councils seeking to recoup investment losses said.
- Depicting moment-to-moment detail, the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday laid out civil fraud charges linking a former Goldman Sachs board member to the biggest hedge fund insider trading case ever. It’s a portrait of corporate board meetings leading to secret phone calls, to stock trading orders, and finally to huge illicit profits made within hours. The SEC charged Rajat Gupta, who has also served on the boards of Procter & Gamble and the parent company for American Airlines. Gupta was a guest at President Obama’s first state dinner. But at the height of the financial crisis, Gupta passed along privileged financial information that helped enrich the target of the government’s sweeping probe, the SEC alleges.
- HSBC Bank USA and HSBC Finance Corp. have stopped all home foreclosures until further notice and may face unspecified regulatory actions or fines, after regulators found “certain deficiencies” in servicing and foreclosure procedures, HSBC said in government filings Monday. The disclosure by HSBC, buried deep within its annual financial report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, marks the first time HSBC has admitted to a foreclosure moratorium in the wake of a legal and paperwork crisis that swept the industry.
- World food prices rose 2.2% in February from the previous month (a 26.4% annulaized rate) to a record peak, according to the The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. It is the eighth consecutive rise in the FAO food price index.
Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium
- On Wednesday gold was up al day during the session with spot closing up $6.50 at $1,437.20, as the April contract was up $3.10. Spot silver rose $0.40 up $34.81, as May rose $0.18. The government fought hard and could only make headway to the downside after the regular session closed in a much thinner market. Gold traded as high as $1,437, a new all-time high. Gold open interest rose 6,060 contracts to 515,784, and silver OI fell 412. The dollar got hit again, falling .35 to 76.67 and that was part of the reason the government attacked. The HUI rose 1 to 575.64 and the XAU rose .03 to 217.29.
- The US Mint has again halted the production of the American Silver Eagle, because they have run out of bullion blanks.The Comex announced a small 252 notices or 1,260,000 ounces of silver for delivery, out of 4,250 contracts. Something is grievously wrong. That leaves 3,998 notices left to be served upon or 19,990,000 ounces. This is a dire situation that could end in default as there is no silver available in the dealer category. That is why owners are being offered 30% to 50% payoffs not to take delivery. Thursday was a mixed day as spot gold was hit for $21.20 to close at $1,416, as April fell $20.82. Spot silver fell $0.51 to $34.31 and May fell $0.61. The government again was very active suppressing gold and silver prices.
