Bernie Madoff's Victims: The List

HSBC "has emerged as one the largest victims of Bernard Madoff’s alleged fraud with potential exposure of about $1bn...HSBC’s exposure stemmed from loans it provided to institutional clients, mainly hedge funds of funds, that wanted to invest with Mr Madoff. HSBC’s direct exposure is believed to be about $1bn in loans provided to clients who invested some $500m of their own funds in Mr Madoff’s venture. Under the typical terms of these deals, if the US authorities recover any funds from Mr Madoff, HSBC will be paid first, with its clients suffering the first tranche of losses." (FT:)

Access International. $1.4 billion

Fortis Bank. $1.4 billion

Man Group’s RMF division has about $350m invested in funds which outsourced their management to Madoff securities, although this is a tiny fraction of the division’s $25bn of assets. (FT)

Tremont Capital. Fund of funds. $3.3 billion invested. (FT)

Pioneer Investments, an arm of Italy’s UniCredit, had “substantially all” of $835m invested with Madoff. (FT)

Union Bancaire Privet: $1.1 billion

Benbasset & Cie: $935 million

BBVA: $404 million

Maxam Capital Management LLC. Combined loss of $280 million. "I'm wiped out," said Sandra Manzke, Maxam's founder and chairman. The Darien, Conn., fund of hedge funds will have to close as a result of the losses, she said. (WSJ)

Fairfield Greenwich Group. Bloomberg: The biggest loser may be Walter Noel’s Fairfield Greenwich Group, whose $7.3 billion Fairfield Sentry Ltd. invested with Madoff’s eponymous firm, three people familiar with the matter said... Fairfield Sentry has a record of more than 15 years with an annual return of 4 to 6 percentage points above benchmark interest rates, according to a marketing document dated this month that was prepared by Zurich-based NPB New Private Bank Ltd. On an absolute basis, returns exceeded 10 percent every year from 1991 through 2000. Since then, they ranged from 6.4 percent to 9.8 percent...The strategy is a “split-strike conversion,” where the investment manager buys shares of large U.S. companies and enters into options contracts to limit the risk, the document says.

Fix Asset Management. Bloomberg: Fix Asset Management, which had an account worth at least $400 million with Madoff Investments. The firm said it’s checking with lawyers about the holdings. “We are very shocked,” John Fix, the son of founder Charles Fix, said by phone from Greece. “We put in redemptions in the past few months and got our money back no problem. We are just so surprised about all this.”

Kingate Management Ltd. Bloomberg says $2.8 billion Kingate Global Fund Ltd. invested with Madoff.

Santander. WSJ: The eurozone's largest bank by market value, said its clients had an exposure of €2.33 billion ($3.1 billion) to Madoff's investment funds, mainly through its Optimal Strategic US Equity fund. More than €2 billion belongs to institutional investors and international clients of its private-banking business, which provides services to wealthy individuals, it said. The remaining €320 million belongs to private-banking customers in Spain, where Santander is based.

Thyssen Family. Source sends the following: Thybo Investments grew out of a family office for Thyssen. They have been in fund of funds it seems since 1989. Thybo International is a "proper" fund of fund but it's newer share class G invests only in one manager - and i'm 99% sure it's Madoff as the returns are almost the same. Some more info. The fund started in Jan 2007. Ernst & Young. Luxembourg are the auditors. UBS Luxembourg is the administrator. Thybo states on their webpage: "Our track record incorporates audited financial statements at both a composite firm-wide and individual portfolios level."

Ira Roth's family. WSJ: Ira Roth, a New Jersey resident, who says his family has about $1 million invested through Mr. Madoff's firm, is "in a state of panic." He said his 86-year-old mother-in-law has been living on the investments' returns, and he has been using the funds to pay college tuition.

Sterling Equities. Fund controlled by Fred Wilpon, co-owner of the NY Mets, confirms it had money with Madoff.

Stephen Abbott, a San Francisco lawyer. WSJ: [Abbott] and two siblings had several hundred thousand dollars invested with Mr. Madoff. They inherited the trust from their father, who had befriended Mr. Madoff years ago. Performance remained steady through the current bear market, he said. "People were floored," he says. "We were making money in this lousy market." He says he is concerned about recovering the money but "you have to get philosophical about this stuff. It could be worse; we still have our health."

Palm Beach Country Club. Source: CNBC's David Faber

Lawrence Velvel, "69, dean of the Massachusetts School of Law, said he and a friend may have lost millions of dollars between them (AP). "This is a major disaster for a lot of people," Velvel said in a telephone interview from his Andover, Mass., office. "You work all your life, you finally manage to save up something, and somebody who's entrusted with it, it turns out suddenly he's a crook. Lots of people are getting fully or partially wiped out." Velvel said he wants to know where government regulators, as well as accountants and others at Madoff's company, were when the money was being lost." (AP)

Loeb Family. Source: CNBC's David Faber

J. Ezra Merkin. GMAC LLC Chairman. WSJ: Mr. Merkin, the chairman of former General Motors Corp. financing arm GMAC, is also a money manager at Ascot Partners LLC in New York. Ascot, which had $1.8 billion under management as of Sept. 30, had substantially all of its assets invested with Mr. Madoff, according to a letter to Mr. Merkin sent to clients Thursday night. Mr. Merkin said as one of the largest investors in Ascot, he believed he had personally "suffered major losses from this catastrophe."

Norman Braman. Former Philadelphia Eagles owner

Leonard Feinstein, co-founder of retailer Bed Bath & Beyond. (WSJ)

Mort Zuckerman. Mr. Zuckerman, the chairman of real-estate firm Boston Properties and owner of the New York Daily News and U.S. News & World Report, had significant exposure through a fund that invested substantially all of its assets with Mr. Madoff (WSJ)

Richard Spring. WSJ: A Boca Raton resident and former securities analyst, says he had about $11 million -- or 95% of his net worth -- invested with Mr. Madoff. "That's how much I believed in him," Mr. Spring said.

Elie Wiesel's Foundation For Humanity. Lost $37 million.

Members of half-a-dozen country clubs: WSJ: "Mr. Madoff tapped social networks in Dallas, Chicago, Boston and Minneapolis. In Minnesota, he attracted investors from Hillcrest Golf Club of St. Paul and Oak Ridge Country Club in Hopkins, investors say. One of them estimated that investors from the two clubs may have invested more than $100 million combined. One of the largest clusters of Madoff investors was in Florida, where losses could be substantial. Mr. Madoff relied on a network of friends, family and business colleagues to attract investors. According to investors and agents, some of these agents were paid commissions for harvesting investors. Others had separate, lucrative business relationships with Mr. Madoff. "If you were eating lunch at the club or golfing, everyone was always talking about how Madoff was making them all this money," one investor says. "Everyone wanted to sign up." Jeff Fischer, a top divorce attorney in Palm Beach, says many of his clients were also Mr. Madoff's clients. "Every big divorce that came through my office had portfolio positions with Madoff," he says. Two of his investors said that among his clients, Mr. Madoff was considered a money-management legend; they would joke that if Mr. Madoff was a fraud, he'd take down half the world with him."

Bramdean Alternatives in the U.K. 9% of portfolio.

Banque Benedict Hentsch, Geneva-based private bank, $47.5 million.

Nomura and Neue Privat Bank. "Marketed access to Fairfield Sentry Ltd., a fund overseen by Mr. Madoff and sold through Fairfield Greenwich. The shares offered by Neue Privat and Nomura were leveraged three times -- meaning $3 of borrowed money was added to every $1 of capital invested in order to magnify returns, greatly increasing the potential losses for those investors." (WSJ)

Unicredit. The Italian firm had unspecified amount with Madoff via its Dublin-based Pioneer alt-asset group. (MarketWatch)

Sen. Frank Lautenberg. Unspecified (Newsday).

Robert Lappin Foundation in Massachusetts closed its doors today and is citing relationship to Maddoff fund. $8MM foundation plus personal holdings. Foundation supported Jewish organizations throughout North Shore of Massachusetts. (source: Jewish Journal)

Wunderkinder Foundation, a Steven Spielberg charity. In the past the foundation "appears to have invested a significant portion of its assets with Mr. Madoff, based on regulatory filings. In 2006, the Madoff firm accounted for roughly 70% of the foundation's interest and dividend income, according to regulatory filings. A representative of Mr. Spielberg confirmed that the foundation has suffered losses on its investments with the Madoff firm. He said he didn't know the size of the losses and couldn't comment further, including on whether Mr. Spielberg had any of his own money invested with the Madoff firm." WSJ

BNP Paribas. "BNP Paribas's exposure, the extent of which is not clear, may stem from BNP's lending relationship with a fund of funds that was a big Madoff client, said people familiar with the matter. A BNP spokeswoman declined to comment." WSJ: BNP, France's largest bank by market value, said it could lose as much as 350 million euros as a result of the alleged fraud. The bank said it has no investment of its own in the hedge funds managed by Bernard Madoff Investment Services. BNP Paribas, however, said it is exposed to these funds through its trading business and lending to hedge funds that had invested in Madoff's funds.

Ira Rennert. Vicky Ward of Vanity Fair, said on CNBC."Heavily, heavily invested."

Englebardt family of Los Angeles. (Reader)

Swiss private bank Reichmuth & Co. "said its clients had an exposure of some 385 million Swiss francs to Madoff funds. The bank said Reichmuth Matterhorn, a fund that invests in other hedge funds, faced a potential loss of about 8.6% on its exposure to Madoff. That amount represented about 3.5% of the 11 billion Swiss Francs Reichmuth & Co. has under management, the bank said." (WSJ)

Union Bancaire Privee. UBP spokesman said the bank's clients have "limited" losses related to Madoff, but wouldn't be more specific or comment further. (WSJ)

EIM Group, the European investment manager with about $11 billion in assets, had a number of non-U.S. investors into funds overseen by Mr. Madoff, according to people familiar with the matter. Overall, EIM assets at risk are less than 2% of what it manages, which means losses could top $200 million. (WSJ).

UBS: ""Very limited" direct exposure to the Madoff funds...But the Zurich-based bank's wealth-management arm helped clients in Europe and possibly elsewhere invest with Mr. Madoff, according to investment professionals in Europe who spoke with some of these clients. UBS is currently reviewing its clients' exposure to Mr. Madoff's funds, according to the person familiar with the matter. The person said the funds weren't on UBS's list of "recommended" investments for its U.S. clients, but that they may have been among the firm's suggested investments for overseas clients." (WSJ)

Stephen A. Fine, president of Biltrite Corp. (Reader)

Avram and Carol Goldberg, former owners of the Stop & Shop supermarket chain (Reader)

Helfman family of Miami. (Reader)

Saul Katz, co-owner of the New York Mets.

Irwin Kellner, of Port Washington. (Reader)

Carl and Ruth Shapiro, donors to Brandeis University, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Fairfield County, Connecticut. Bloomberg: First Selectman Ken Flatto and other elected officials in Fairfield, Connecticut, thought the 58,000- person town’s pension fund was holding up well amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The 18 percent decline in total assets since the end of June looked smart compared with the 31 percent plunge in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, and total assets of $286 million left a cushion over the $270 million of estimated liabilities. Flatto’s mood darkened yesterday when he heard Bernard Madoff, a Wall Street executive who oversaw $42 million of the assets, had been arrested and charged with fraud. “We classified this on our portfolio as one of the more conservative investments,” Flatto said in an interview. “You rely on your experts and your managers to be honest.”

Royal Bank of Scotland: $330 million

Nomura: $302 million

Aozora Bank: $137 million

Various Boston families: The Boston Globe.

Jeff Katzenberg. Dreamworks CEO has "millions" in Madoff losses. (WSJ)

Gerald Breslauer. Jeff Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg's financial advisor. WSJ: According to people familiar with the matter, Mr. Breslauer himself has likely sustained heavy losses in the Madoff affair. He customarily invests alongside his clients, say these people, and has sometimes been a larger investor than the people he represented. People familiar with the matter said Mr. Breslauer was known to be a Madoff investor.

Yeshiva University lost $100 million to $110 million. (NYT)

Jewish Federation of Greater Washington said it had $10 million invested with Mr. Madoff, about 8 percent of its endowment as of Nov. 30. The organization said it would work to recover the money. (NYT)

North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System: $5.7 million exposure to Madoff Securities in the form of a gift from a donor who insisted that it be invested that way. “The donor who contributed the funds has graciously agreed to reimburse the health system for any financial loss,” the organization said in a statement. (NYT)

Ramaz School lost some $6 million invested with Mr. Madoff, according to a letter sent to board members and two parents whose children attend the school. (NYT)

SAR Academy, a Jewish school in the Bronx, had roughly a third of its $3.7 million in assets invested with Mr. Madoff, according to an e-mail message it sent to donors and parents. (NYT)

Chais Family Foundation in Encino, Calif., announced over the weekend that its losses had forced it to stop operating, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The foundation had $178 million in assets in May 2007, according to its tax form. (NYT)

JEHT Foundation. May have lost hundreds of millions. Will cease operations. (NYT)

Arpad Busson. Uma Thurman's billionaire fiance runs hedge fund, EIM, which was reportedly exposed to roughly $270 million of products sold by Madoff (Mail on Sunday)

Accountants Scott Sosnik & Larry Bell. Accountants who worked for many of Madoff victims claim that they too lost money.

Swiss insurer Baloise. $13 million. (Reuters)

Swiss Re: Less than $3 million (Reuters)

Burt Ross. Former Ft. Lee, NJ mayor lost $5 million.

Maimonides School. Boston school lost $3 million. (Boston.com)

Charles & Cindi Nadler Foundation. $10 million.

Tufts University $20 million (Boston.com)

Alexandra Penney. Artist and author lost bulk of her life savings. (Daily Beast)

Robert Chew. Colorado-based investor. (TIME)

Fair Food Foundation. Detroit-based urban farming group. (NYMag)

Pasha S. Anwar and Julia Anwar. Investors first to sue Fairfield Greenwich. (DealBook)

Pedro Almodovar. Famed Spanish film director has $240,000 "at risk" (Bloomberg)

More as we get them...

---

Source: ClusterStock

Madoff Client List Is Disclosed in Filing

The names of thousands of apparent customers of Bernard Madoff were made public Wednesday, including a legendary baseball player, famous actors, charities and pension funds -- as well as Mr. Madoff's own lawyer, who is defending him on charges that he ran a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

The 162-page filing made in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan doesn't list the amount each client invested.

Some notable names appear on the list, including Fred Wilpon, owner of the New York Mets baseball team. It isn't clear how many of the clients listed had money at the firm at the time of Mr. Madoff's arrest on Dec. 11.

Other high-profile names on the list include former Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax, actor John Malkovich, talk-show host Larry King and New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg. A number of estates or entities associated with deceased people were listed, and those, too, had some famous names, including John Denver Concerts Inc. Charities, museums and pension funds also show up.

Mr. Madoff's laywer, Ira Sorkin, also is on the customer list. Mr. Sorkin previously denied investing and reiterated that fact Thursday morning. He said the "information is incorrect" but declined to elaborate.

The list includes numerous accounts held by the firm's outside auditors, Jerome Horowitz and David Friehling. Also among the names listed are Mr. Madoff's family members, including his sons, Mark and Andrew, and his brother, Peter, as well as the employees who ran the investment-advisory arm of the firm, where the alleged fraud took place. The employees included JoAnne "Jodi" Crupi, and a company owned by the family of Frank DiPascali, who was a key member of Mr. Madoff's investment business.

Also among those listed in the filing are Larry Silverstein, a New York developer who is currently working with partners to rebuild the World Trade Center, as well as a number of large financial institutions including HSBC Holdings PLC, UBS AG, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., BNP Paribas SA and Citigroup Inc.

A spokesman for Mr. Silverstein, Bud Perrone, said, "Losses incurred by Larry Silverstein and his family absolutely pale in comparison to those innocent investors who lost their life savings as a result of this scheme."

Other prominent New York real-estate names appeared on the list. Among them are two top officials of SL Green Realty, one of Manhattan's largest office building owners. Stephen L. Green, the chairman, and John S. Levy, a board member, are listed.

An SL Green spokesman said, "Steve Green prefers not to discuss his personal investments that have nothing to do with SL Green." He said, "SL Green as a company has had no exposure to investments with Madoff, and does not comment on the personal investments of its executives and board members."

Several members of the prominent Rechler family were on the list. A representative for several family members didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Scott Rechler, head of RXR Corp., a privately held property firm with holdings in the New York area who maintains a separate company from his relatives, said his investment with Mr. Madoff was "immaterial" and will have "no effect on anything."

The revelations come at a challenging time for New York property owners. Values have plunged in the face of dried up financing and the recession. It's virtually impossible to get loans for new construction.

The chief compliance officer of Resnick Investment Advisors LLC in Westport, Conn., which is on the list, said in an email that his firm isn't directly invested with Mr. Madoff but received client statements "for clients of ours who ... were Madoff clients."

Also listed as a customer is Blue Star Investors LLC, a fund started by leveraged buyout king Thomas H. Lee. A spokesman for Thomas H. Lee Capital Management, which is the investment manager for Blue Star, said Blue Star once had an account with Mr. Madoff but that it had long been closed. He declined to elaborate further.

David "Sandy" Gottesman, founder of First Manhattan Inc., a New York money management firm with roughly $10 billion in assets under management, is also on the list. Mr. Gottesman is a longtime friend of and investor with Warren Buffett. He owns roughly $1 billion of stock in Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, and in 2003 joined Berkshire's board.

A spokesman for First Manhattan said Mr. Gottesman did not have an investment with Mr. Madoff, but a foundation established by him had money there and his wife, Ruth, once had an account but no longer has any exposure.

Each page of the list filed in court has more than 80 names, but many names are repeated, possibly because they had more than one type of account at the Madoff firm, which is in liquidation.

A list of creditors of Mr. Madoff's bankrupt firm was also filed with the court, as well as a list of employees. Prosecutors say Mr. Madoff confessed to his sons that he was part of a giant fraud that cost investors many billions of dollars. He hasn't been indicted but is being held in his Manhattan apartment under house arrest.

The list, which was put together for the Madoff firm's court-appointed trustee, includes names individuals and institutions that "appeared to have been a customer of [Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities] with an open account" in the 12 months before Mr. Madoff's arrest, according to the court filing.

The firm that compiled the list, AlixPartners LLP, said it used records from Mr. Madoff's firm as well as information that alleged customers left in voicemails on the trustee's hotline or sent emails to the Securities Investor Protection Corp., an agency that is assisting with the firm's liquidation.

The trustee used the list to mail out claims forms that customers can fill out in the hopes of receiving up to $500,000 in cash advances from SIPC, which was set up by Congress to help customers of failed brokerages.

The list does not appear to include the thousands of customers who invested in the Madoff firm through so-called feeder funds run by Fairfield Greenwich Group and many other firms.

It is possible that some names on the list are trustees, executors and lawyers, who are not themselves clients of the Madoff firm but were on a mailing list to receive client statements because they dealt with tax issues for their own clients who had money invested with Mr. Madoff.

---

Source: The Wall Street Journal

S.E.C. Says It Missed Signals on Madoff Fraud Case

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday night that it had missed repeated opportunities to discover what may be the largest financial fraud in history, a Ponzi scheme whose losses could run as high as $50 billion.

The commission said it received credible allegations about the scheme at least nine years ago and will immediately open an internal investigation to examine why it had failed to pursue them aggressively.

The S.E.C. issued the statement hours after Bernard L. Madoff, the 70-year-old Wall Street executive accused of operating the scheme, discussed the fraud with federal authorities at a meeting in New York on Tuesday, according to people briefed on the meeting.

“Our initial findings have been deeply troubling,” Christopher Cox, the S.E.C. chairman, said in his statement. The commission received “credible and specific allegations regarding Mr. Madoff’s financial wrongdoing,” but did not respond aggressively, he said.

“I am gravely concerned by the apparent multiple failures over at least a decade to thoroughly investigate these allegations or at any point to seek formal authority to pursue them,” Mr. Cox said.

Moreover, Mr. Cox said, the commission will investigate “all staff contact and relationships with the Madoff family and firm, and their impact, if any, on decisions by staff regarding the firm.” Mr. Cox added that he had ordered S.E.C. staff to recuse themselves from the investigation if they had “more than insubstantial personal contacts with Mr. Madoff or his family.”

One of the commission’s investigative teams that had examined the Madoff firm was headed by a lawyer named Eric Swanson, who served for 10 years as a lawyer at the commission and left in 2006 while he was an assistant director of the office of compliance inspections and examinations in Washington.

In 2007, Mr. Swanson married Shana Madoff, a niece of Bernard L. Madoff and daughter of his brother, Peter Madoff, the firm’s chief compliance officer. Ms. Madoff is the firm’s compliance attorney.

Eric Starkman, a spokesman for Mr. Swanson, said that Mr. Swanson’s “romantic relationship with his wife began years after the compliance team he helped supervise made an inquiry about Bernard Madoff’s securities operations.” And Randy Williams, a spokesman for Mr. Swanson’s current employer, BATS Exchange in Kansas City, said that Mr. Swanson had not participated in any inquiry of into the Madoff firm or its affiliates while he was involved in a relationship with Ms. Madoff.

Besides investigating Mr. Madoff, regulators are now in the embarrassing position of examining whether they should have caught him sooner.

Mr. Madoff kept several sets of books and false documents and lied to regulators when they questioned him in previous examinations of his firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, Mr. Cox said.

Investigators never used subpoena powers to obtain information, but rather “relied on information voluntarily produced by Mr. Madoff and his firm,” Mr. Cox said.

When he was arrested last week, Mr. Madoff estimated that investors lost as much as $50 billion in the fraud, according to court filings. Mr. Madoff has said the scam was a Ponzi scheme, a type of fraud in which early investors are paid off with money from later victims, until no more money can be raised and the scheme collapses.

Over the decades, Mr. Madoff steadily expanded his circle of investors, drawing in small individual investors, charities, pension funds, prominent billionaires and European banks. On Tuesday, a Vienna bank, Bank Medici, became the latest major institution to acknowledge it was a client of Mr. Madoff, saying it had $2.1 billion invested with him. Institutions and individuals have now reported losses of more than $20 billion.

Stephen Harbeck, the chief executive of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, which has taken control of Mr. Madoff’s firm through a trustee, said the firm appeared to have multiple sets of books and that he was unsure how much money, if any, Mr. Madoff’s clients would eventually recover.

“The trustee and SIPC have been involved in this case for about 24 hours,” Mr. Harbeck said. “You’re talking about an ongoing fraud that lasted for decades.”

Attorneys for Mr. Madoff declined to comment on Tuesday night about Mr. Madoff’s conversations with government authorities.

“We have said from the beginning that we are cooperating fully with the government investigation,” said Ira Lee Sorkin, one of the lawyers. When pressed, Mr. Sorkin said he had used “we” to refer to “the company, whose sole shareholder is Bernie Madoff.” Mr. Sorkin would not confirm that Mr. Madoff himself was providing first-hand cooperation.

Extensive cooperation from Mr. Madoff could substantially shorten the time it will take for regulators to track down any available assets, locate any other people who may have been involved in the fraud and determine whether investors will recover any of their losses.

The first indication that Mr. Madoff might be talking to authorities came at midmorning, when a federal judge delayed a bond hearing for Mr. Madoff that had originally been set for 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

At the request of federal prosecutors, the hearing was rescheduled for the same time on Wednesday. No reason for the postponement was given, nor would the federal prosecutor’s office or Mr. Madoff’s lawyers comment on the delay.

Mr. Madoff was arrested at his Upper East Side apartment in Manhattan last Thursday by F.B.I. agents, after his two sons — both of whom work for the company — reported that he had confessed to them that his money-management business was “basically, a giant Ponzi scheme” and “a big lie.”

The criminal complaint under which he was arrested charged him with a single count of securities fraud. He surrendered his passport and was released on a $10 million bond, secured by his apartment and co-signed by his wife and his brother, Peter Madoff, who was also the general counsel at his trading firm.

---

Source: NY Times

Candystand Sold: Wrigley's Candystand.com Acquired by Funtank

Funtank, LLC, a newly formed online entertainment publisher, announced today that it has acquired one of the world wide web's most heavily trafficked online gaming destinations, Candystand.com, from the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company for an undisclosed fee.

Candystand.com was among the web's first branded gaming portals and over the past 11 years, has grown to become one of the most successful, garnering nearly 10-million user visits per month.

Funtank, whose sister company, WDDG, Inc., has managed and maintained Candystand.com since 2005, will open the site to select brands and advertisers later this year. Since its launch in 1997, Candystand.com has been widely regarded as a pioneer in the online branded gaming and entertainment space, with a massive audience that is both geographically and demographically diverse, proving to be a highly attractive opportunity for potential advertisers.

"Over the past 11 years, Wrigley and its predecessors have done a remarkable job molding and growing Candystand.com into one of the web's most successful and well regarded branded casual gaming sites," said James Baker, CEO of Funtank. "We look forward to accentuating the website's point-of-difference by maintaining the high standards in content quality that has made Candystand.com so beloved without wavering from its long-standing commitment to family entertainment.

"While Wrigley will no longer own Candystand.com, the Company sees the value for its brands and plans to maintain a presence on the site, signing on as its first and exclusive confectionery

"Candystand.com has been and will continue to be an excellent tool to connect our brands with our consumers, but now Wrigley's involvement in the site will be as an advertiser and not as the operator," said Martin Schlatter, Wrigley's Global Chief Marketing Officer. "We look forward to working with Funtank and see this as a win-win for both companies."

Over the last 11 years, Candystand.com has experienced overwhelming success due to word-of-mouth advertising, its ever-expanding collection of top-quality, free online games, and its incredibly loyal visitors, who spend nearly 13-minutes on the site per visit. Over the years, Candystand.com's portfolio of games has swelled to well over 100, most of which are exclusively available on the site.

Candystand.com will be managed out of Funtank's New York City offices. Please visit the site at www.candystand.com.

About Funtank, LLC

Funtank is a leading distributor of branded online gaming and entertainment. It owns and operates Candystand.com, one of the web's premier branded gaming portals, the site is visited by millions of consumers each month who flock to the site's suite of over 100 flash and shockwave games. Funtank is located in New York City.

For more information about Funtank, please visit http://www.funtank.com/

---

Source: Post Chronicle

Mort Zuckerman Charity Lost $30 Million With Madoff

Boston Properties Inc. Chairman Mortimer Zuckerman said his charitable trust lost $30 million investing with Bernard Madoff.

The money was invested by a fund manager hired by Zuckerman’s trust, Zuckerman said in an interview on CNBC today. The manager invested about 10 percent of a $300 million fund with Madoff, an arrangement Zuckerman said he didn’t know about.

“These are astonishing numbers to be placed with one fund manager,” Zuckerman told CNBC. “I never heard of Madoff. I never met him. I’ve never done business with him.”

Madoff, 70, was arrested Dec. 11 and charged with operating what he told his sons was a long-running Ponzi scheme in the New York-based firm’s business advising rich people, hedge funds and institutions. Federal investigators worked through the weekend to unravel Madoff’s alleged $50 billion in losses.

Zuckerman was notified about his charity’s losses in a letter from the trust’s management on Dec. 12, he told CNBC.

“It was a big chunk of money that was intended to go to, shall we say, worthier causes than Mr. Madoff,” Zuckerman said. The losses will not keep Zuckerman from making charitable contributions he already promised, he said.

Zuckerman is a billionaire real estate investor who owns the Daily News newspaper in New York and U.S. News & World Report magazine. Boston Properties owns about 142 properties with 46.8 million square feet and has a market value of $6.2 billion.

In June, the company acquired a stake in New York’s General Motors Building on Fifth Avenue. Boston Properties fell 39 percent this year through Dec. 12.

---

Source: Bloomberg US

Jackson Hewitt Reports Fiscal 2009 Second Quarter Results

Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. ("Jackson Hewitt") (NYSE: JTX) today reported financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2009. Jackson Hewitt reported a net loss of $22.2 million, or $0.78 per basic and diluted share, versus a net loss of $23.7 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2008, or $0.78 per basic and diluted share. On an adjusted basis, Jackson Hewitt's net loss in the 2009 second quarter was $20.4 million, or $0.72 per basic and diluted share, versus an adjusted net loss of $18.0 million, or $0.60 per basic and diluted share, in the year ago quarter. Jackson Hewitt's reported consolidated total revenues in the 2009 second quarter were $5.1 million, versus $5.6 million in the 2008 second quarter. A schedule entitled Condensed Adjusted Results of Operations, which reconciles the reported and adjusted results, accompanies this earnings release.

Jackson Hewitt has historically generated roughly 2% of its total annual revenues in each of its first two fiscal quarters due to the seasonal nature of the tax return preparation business. As a result, Jackson Hewitt incurs a net loss during the first and second fiscal quarters. These losses have typically increased annually due to an increased number of company-owned stores primarily resulting from acquisitions, the addition of resources to support the franchise business and an increase in interest expense resulting from past common share repurchases.

"We've completed an intensive off-season of preparation for the 2009 tax season, and we have shifted into execution mode," said Michael C. Yerington, Jackson Hewitt's president and chief executive officer. "We accomplished, or are on track to accomplish, all of the initiatives we initially detailed back in June, including new product development, new marketing programs, a more efficient cost structure, and other initiatives to selectively broaden our distribution and improve same store sales."

"On the product front, I'm pleased to report that we successfully launched an early season line of credit product back on November 21st to robust interest and demand in the marketplace," continued Yerington. "We also launched an integrated advertising and marketing campaign in mid-November featuring our new national spokesperson and business partner, Earvin "Magic" Johnson. We look for the combination of "Magic" Johnson and our new advertising agency, Zimmerman, to deliver an impactful campaign to assist us in attracting new customers and retaining our core customer base as we move ahead in the 2009 tax season. Overall, our preparation for the 2009 tax season has been rigorous, and we expect to effectively execute our plans as the season unfolds. I am confident that our diligent preparation has placed us on a solid track for a successful 2009."

Franchise Operations

Reported revenues in the 2009 second quarter were $4.6 million, versus $5.2 million in the 2008 second quarter. The lower revenues versus last year's second quarter were primarily attributable to a decline in certain franchisee fees, a decline in commissions in connection with a preferred vendor program and a decrease in financial product fees related to sales of the Gold Guarantee(R) product from prior tax seasons. In the 2009 second quarter, territory sales were up modestly, as 61 new territories were sold in the quarter versus 48 in the same period a year ago. Year-to-date, 65 new territories have been sold, versus 93 in the comparable period last year. The weaker territory sales year-to-date are in part due to the more difficult economic environment for expansion. Territory sales are reported in the "Other" revenue line item.

Reported total expenses in the franchise segment were $15.7 million in the 2009 second quarter, versus $16.8 million in the 2008 second quarter. The lower expenses in the 2009 second quarter versus the comparable period a year ago reflected reduced headcount and decreased depreciation and amortization, as well as the inclusion of a $0.4 million charge in the 2008 second quarter in connection with the termination of franchise agreements related to the acquisition of a former franchisee's businesses in Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, and Detroit, MI. The 2009 second quarter expense reductions were partially offset by increased marketing expenses in connection with preparations for the upcoming tax season.

Company-Owned Offices Operations

As anticipated, the reported 2009 second quarter expenses in Jackson Hewitt's company-owned offices operations were higher than the 2008 second quarter due primarily to occupancy costs and related expenses associated with maintaining a significantly increased base of storefront locations resulting primarily from acquisitions. In total, the loss before income taxes in company-owned offices operations in the 2009 second quarter increased to $10.2 million, versus $8.6 million in the year ago quarter.

Corporate and Other

On a reported basis, the corporate and other loss before income taxes was $15.9 million in the 2009 second quarter, versus a reported loss before income taxes of $19.1 million in the 2008 second quarter. The 2009 second quarter reported loss included a $2.8 million expense in connection with a tentative settlement by Jackson Hewitt of the previously disclosed Hood litigation. Jackson Hewitt's tentative settlement is made in connection with an overall tentative settlement of the California Hood matter by the other defendant and the third-party bank cross-defendants in this matter. Jackson Hewitt is making this settlement in order to avoid the costs and inconvenience of continued litigation. The tentative settlement is subject to execution of a final settlement, as well as preliminary and final approval by the Court. The 2008 second quarter included $2.2 million of expenses in connection with Jackson Hewitt's internal review, as well as a $5.7 million charge primarily related to the former Chief Executive Officer's severance.

Board of Directors Declares 2009 Third Quarter Dividend

On December 3, 2008, Jackson Hewitt's Board of Directors declared a 2009 third quarter dividend of $0.18 per share, payable on January 15, 2009, to shareholders of record on December 29, 2008. This dividend represents Jackson Hewitt's 18th consecutive quarterly dividend since its initial public offering in June 2004.

Analysts' Day Meeting Today

Michael Yerington and Dan O'Brien, chief financial officer, along with other members of Jackson Hewitt's senior management team, will host an Analysts' Day meeting in New York this morning, Thursday, December 4, 2008, beginning at 8:30 a.m. (EST). The Analysts' Day meeting will be simulcast live on the Internet at www.jacksonhewitt.com. If you are unable to listen to the live webcast, a replay will be available on this website.

About Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc.

Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. (NYSE: JTX), with approximately 6,800 franchised and company-owned offices throughout the United States during the 2008 tax season, is an industry leader providing full service individual federal and state income tax return preparation. Most offices are independently owned and operated. Jackson Hewitt is based in Parsippany, New Jersey. More information may be obtained at www.jacksonhewitt.com. To locate the Jackson Hewitt Tax Service(R) office nearest to you, call 1-800-234-1040.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because these forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to: Jackson Hewitt's ability to timely or effectively respond to customer trends and attract new customers, develop and make new products available through Jackson Hewitt's offices, improve Jackson Hewitt's distribution system or reduce Jackson Hewitt's cost structure; Jackson Hewitt's ability to successfully attract and retain key personnel; government initiatives that simplify tax return preparation or reduce the need for a third party tax return preparer, improve the timing and efficiency of processing tax returns or decrease the number of tax returns filed; delays in the passage of tax laws and their implementation; the trend of tax payers filing their tax returns later in the tax season; the success of Jackson Hewitt's franchised offices; Jackson Hewitt's responsibility to third parties, regulators or courts for the acts of, or failures to act by, Jackson Hewitt's franchisees or their employees; government legislation and regulation of the tax return preparation industry and related financial products, including refund anticipation loans, and the failure by Jackson Hewitt, or the financial institutions which provide financial products to Jackson Hewitt's customers, to comply with such legal and regulatory requirements; the effectiveness of Jackson Hewitt's tax return preparation compliance program; increased regulation of tax return preparers; Jackson Hewitt's exposure to litigation; the failure of Jackson Hewitt's insurance to cover all the risks associated with Jackson Hewitt's business; Jackson Hewitt's ability to protect Jackson Hewitt's customers' personal and financial information; the effectiveness of Jackson Hewitt's marketing and advertising programs and franchisee support of these programs; disruptions in Jackson Hewitt's relationships with Jackson Hewitt's franchisees; changes in Jackson Hewitt's relationships with financial product providers that could reduce the revenues Jackson Hewitt derives from Jackson Hewitt's agreements with these financial institutions as well as affect Jackson Hewitt's customers' ability to obtain financial products through Jackson Hewitt's tax return preparation offices; changes in Jackson Hewitt's relationships with retailers and shopping malls that could affect Jackson Hewitt's growth and profitability; the seasonality of Jackson Hewitt's business and its effect on Jackson Hewitt's stock price; competition from tax return preparation service providers, volunteer organizations and the government; Jackson Hewitt's reliance on technology systems and electronic communications to perform the core functions of Jackson Hewitt's business; Jackson Hewitt's ability to protect Jackson Hewitt's intellectual property rights or defend against any third party allegations of infringement by Jackson Hewitt; Jackson Hewitt's reliance on cash flow from subsidiaries; Jackson Hewitt's compliance with credit facility covenants; Jackson Hewitt's exposure to increases in prevailing market interest rates; Jackson Hewitt's quarterly results not being indicative of Jackson Hewitt's performance as a result of tax season being relatively short and straddling two quarters; Jackson Hewitt's ability to pay dividends in the future; certain provisions that may hinder, delay or prevent third party takeovers; changes in accounting policies or practices and Jackson Hewitt's ability to maintain an effective system of internal controls; impairment charges related to goodwill; and the effect of market conditions, general conditions in the tax return preparation industry or general economic conditions.

Additional information concerning these and other risks that could impact Jackson Hewitt's business can be found in Jackson Hewitt's Annual Report on Form 10- K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2008, and other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Copies are available from the SEC or Jackson Hewitt's website. Jackson Hewitt assumes no obligation, and Jackson Hewitt expressly disclaims any obligation, to update or alter any forward-looking statements.

A "non-GAAP financial measure" is defined as a numerical measure of a company's performance that excludes or includes amounts so as to be different than the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") in the United States of America. In the schedule presented above, the Company has included a comparison of such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. Management believes the above presentation of net loss and loss per share on an "as adjusted" basis, which are non-GAAP financial measures, is necessary to reflect the impact of expenses incurred in connection with the transactions noted above in order to help investors compare, on an equivalent basis, the Company's financial results for the current periods presented to its financial results for the same periods presented last year.

---

Source: Franchising

2008 American Express Wishlist

The Monday following thanksgiving has come to be known as Cyber Monday. And what better time for American Express to launch its wishlist. Running from December 1st through December 18th, the American Express Wishlist is a must-see for all technophiles looking for a good deal. These deals are hot and you should hurry to take advantage of the American Express Wishlist before the deals are gone. Listed here are my top 5 favorites from the 2008 American Express Wishlist (I was going to list the G1 phone for $125 each but they sold out)

Coming in on December 2nd on this years American Express Wishlist is the Sharp 42" Full HD 1080p LCD-TV. This elegant TV usually sells for over $1000 but is being offered on the American Express Wishlist for just $700. Featuring a spectral contrast engine, 10,000 to 1 contrast ratio, 5HDMI inputs and a PC input, this sharp TV is going to be a quick seller on the American Express Wishlist so grab it fast.

Making the American Express Wishlist on December 6th is the Iperespresso coffee machine. This top of the range espresso machine regularly sells between $500 and $700, but you can grab it from the American Express Wishlist for an amazing $300. So if you can't get through the morning without your cappuccino then head over to the American Express Wishlist and claim this great gift.

Zipping onto the American Express Wishlist on December 8th is the Dell 15" Studio Laptop. This laptop that usually retails between $750 and $850 is available on the American Express wishlist for an dazzlingly low price of $499. Featuring a 2GHz duo core processor, with a 4GB memory and 320GB hard drive, the Dell 15" Studio Laptop is both powerful and fast enough for any application.

Zooming onto the American Express Wishlist on December 12th is the Flip video mino camcorder. Generally retailing between $150 and $180 this mini camcorder can be found on the American Express Wishlist for only $90 each. This pocket sized camcorder has a big 2GB memory that allows a full 60 minutes of recording time. Easy to use it will make a perfect stocking filler.

---

Source: Associated Content

CouponCabin.com Sees 324 Percent Increase in Site Traffic

CouponCabin.com, a leading online couponing site, announces remarkable results from the biggest online shopping day of the year, Cyber Monday, including a 324 percent increase in traffic.

CouponCabin.com, which typically receives roughly one million visitors each month, saw 408,000 visitors on Monday, December 1, alone. In just one day, 437,252 coupons were clicked, saving users an estimated $839,000.

"As the economy continues to remain unstable, consumers are embracing the power of a coupon," said Scott Kluth, founder and president of CouponCabin.com. "Merchants are not only submitting more online coupons and deals but are offering better discounts. Coupons that used to be 10 percent off are now 20 and 25 percent off."

At its inception, CouponCabin.com featured a mere 180 retailers. In five short years, the site has proven strong sustainability in the dot com world and now features more than 1,300 online merchants with more than 6,800 coupon codes and deals. On average, in only 90 seconds spent on the site, shoppers save roughly $16 per use. CouponCabin.com is available free of charge, is easy to navigate and does not require users to share any personal information.

About CouponCabin.com

CouponCabin.com was created to give online shoppers an easy and fast way to save money while shopping online. The site features more than 1,300 online stores with more than 6,800 coupon codes and deals from 20 different product categories. For ease and convenience, CouponCabin.com offers live chat help and a weekly newsletter highlighting all of the latest top coupons. For more information please visit http://www.CouponCabin.com.

---

Source: Market Watch

Pope Benedict XVI says banks should support weakest

Pope Benedict XVI is urging banks to help families experiencing financial problems.

Benedict says one of the primary objectives of banks is to support the weakest in society while also spurring productivity.

The pontiff was speaking at his weekly audience Wednesday attended by officials from the southern Italian credit bank Calabrian.

The pope and other Vatican officials have been speaking out frequently about the global financial meltdown. Benedict has said the crisis showed the futility of money and ambition.

---

Source: The Associated Press

Visa Black Card

Barclay’s launches their Visa Black Card competing directly with the American Express Centurion card. The Visa Black Card which is made out of carbon graphite, and includes similar benefits to the Centurion Card such as Priority Pass. “Limited to 1% of US Residents” but criteria is currently yet to be clarified.

• Limited Membership (1% of U.S. Residents)
• 1% cash back on purchases or $1 = 1 points that can redeemed for travel anytime
• 24-Hour Concierge Service
• Exclusive Rewards Program
• Luxury Gifts
• Patent Pending Carbon Graphite
• Annual Fee $495

---

Source: Ratevin

Circuit City stock: Don't bet on bankruptcies

Q: If I invest in Circuit City stock (CCTYQ), could I lose my entire investment?

A: Yes. Yes. Yes.

Don't make any mistake about this. You don't want to be like scores of Kmart shareholders who were stunned when that retailer's reorganization completely wiped out their investments.

The five-letter ticker symbol ending in Q tells you the company is in bankruptcy. You can lose your entire investment if any company whose stock you own, not just Circuit City, falls on tough times.

Even if a company emerges from bankruptcy, the SEC says, "in most cases the plan of reorganization will cancel the existing equity stock."

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Kmart | Ask Matt | Circuit City

Again, I'm not picking on Circuit City, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November and intends to keep operating.

It's true any time you buy common stock. You're what's called an equity investor. If a company falters, reorganizes, files for bankruptcy protection or runs into trouble, you're last in line for claims on the company's assets. What often happens is that investors who bought the company's debt take control of the company and divide the assets, wiping out the common shareholders.

I cannot stress this enough. Please don't act surprised if you buy stock in a struggling company and find that your shares are worthless.

This happens time and time again, and each time, shareholders feel victimized. Certainly, if management misrepresented the company's condition, you would be rightly aggrieved. But if you buy shares in a company knowing it's under stress, you must understand you're gambling. Period.

With that said, I did write a more detailed analysis of Circuit City before the latest trouble. But the basic analysis still holds. Investors beware.

---

Source: CRN

Automakers rush to finish plans for Congress

U.S. automakers rushed to submit restructuring plans demanded by Congress before lawmakers reopen debate on a $25 billion bailout the industry says it needs to survive.

Under fire for fighting fuel standards for years, the Detroit-based automakers are expected to present plans that call for them to build more fuel-efficient cars, ax unpopular brands, cap executive compensation and restructure their agreements with the United Auto Workers union.

Critics have charged that many of the Big Three's financial problems are of their own doing due to their stubborn insistence on building gas-guzzling cars that Americans no longer want, and now can no longer afford.

The automakers' proposals come on the same day they are slated to release November sales results, which are expected to be little changed from a dismal October.

General Motors Corp's board began to review the top U.S. automaker's revamped business plan on Sunday and has been asked to endorse steps that include consideration of dropping or selling the Pontiac, Saab and Saturn brands.

Ford Motor Co, considered in a stronger position to survive on its own because of its cash position, said it would review its options for Volvo and could sell off the Swedish luxury brand.

Chrysler LLC, controlled by Cerberus Capital Management, said its board was meeting to review its plan. Chrysler needs to spell out a plan that would allow it to take a share of the federal funding even as it seeks a partnership with other automakers, analysts said.

"Just as General Motors is too big to fail, Chrysler is too small to survive on its own," said IHS Global Insight analyst Aaron Bragman.

For its part, the UAW is likely to be asked to give up job security guarantees for workers at U.S. plants that close and asked to renegotiate how automakers will pay into a trust fund set to take over retiree health care from 2010.

In addition, GM is almost certain to ask its bondholders to swap some portion of its existing $44 billion debt for a deeply discounted payout and some equity interest in the restructured company, analysts say.

GM, Ford and Chrysler have all declined to discuss their restructuring plans before submitting them.

Analysts say Detroit is gambling that plans that show labor, management, creditors and investors sharing in sacrifices at a time of crisis will win the political support that has so far eluded the companies.

"Going in it was pretty clear that the powers that be in Washington were interested in seeing the automakers come back with plans with more concessions," said Dennis Virag of the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Automotive Consulting Group. "I think they will get the funding."

But the complicated plans for the automakers hinge on major changes that could take months to complete.

Partly for that reason, the UAW said it supports a two-step process that would see Congress approve emergency funding for the industry this week with a follow-up review next year after President-elect Barack Obama takes office. Continued...

---

Source: Reuters

The Best Cyber Monday 2008 Ads and Deals

Today is the first Monday following Black Friday and in the online world that means “Cyber Monday”, and today is the official start of the online shopping season before the holidays.

Now just where are the best Cyber Monday 2008 ads and deals? If this is a question you have asked yourself today we want to help you find them. Below we have listed some of the best Cyber Monday ads to help you find the best deal on what you’re shopping for.

First up is GameStop, here you will find some great deals for games systems and these include big discounts on the Nintendo Wii, Sony PS3 and Xbox 360. Portable games systems are not left out with offers for both the DS and PSP.

Circuit City have listed a really cool looking flash ad for Cyber Monday and the rest of the week while stock lasts, you will find big discounts of laptops, HDTV’s and movies.

Just a few moments ago Dell launched their Cyber Monday 2008 ad and it shows some amazing deals with up to 50% off, well worthy of the Cyber Monday label. Dell’s shop covers many products that are from other brands as well as their own, these include digital cameras, laptops, and GPS and Blu-ray players.

Best Buy and Buy.com have massive savings and just about every product imaginable, the bigger the price the larger the discount. You can get hundreds off a new flat screen TV.

Where will you be shopping this Cyber Monday? Let us know and what really cheap deals you find.

---

Source: Product Reviews

www.fluidnow.com

This is the official web site for Florida Unemployment Internet Direct Claims / FLUID

Timothy Geithner, U.S. Treasury Secretary Nominee

Timothy F. Geithner, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, is President-elect Barack Obama's pick for U.S. treasury secretary. Geithner was closely involved in recent talks surrounding the failure of investment bank Lehman Brothers and the bailout of the insurance giant AIG. Geithner has called for streamlined federal supervision of financial markets, saying that the current system of oversight has created "perverse incentives" for financial actors. We need to "move to a simpler framework--with a more uniform set of rules applied evenly across entities involved in similar functions, and a more effective balance of regulation and market discipline," he said in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in March 2008. He also said banks must be "subjected to a stronger form of consolidated supervision than our current framework provides."

Geithner had a previous thirteen-year stint at the Treasury Department, starting in 1988 when he joined the international affairs division. He became undersecretary for international affairs at Treasury during the later years of the Clinton administration.

In 2001, Geithner left Treasury to become a senior fellow in international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as director of a CFR Task Force on trade policy that recommended the United States expand free trade. A report published by that task force called on Congress to grant Trade Promotion Authority to President George W. Bush, which he was given by a narrow vote margin.

From 2001 to 2003, Geithner was director of the Policy Development and Review Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). There, he helped craft the IMF's $30.4 billion bailout of the Brazilian economy in September 2002. He also worked on bailouts of the Indonesian, Mexican, and South Korean economies.

Geithner has a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University in international economics and East Asian studies. He has studied Japanese and Chinese and has also lived in East Africa, India, and China.

---

Source: Washintong Post

WalletPop.com finds the Cowboy State coin ranks 9th as the least-liked coin in its reader poll

It has been out for about a year now, but the Wyoming quarter still gets no respect.

Dwight Brockman, owner of The Coin Shop in Cheyenne, knows why.

“It looks like a cookie,” he said. “It doesn’t have any detail.”

An online poll by a “hip” AOL Web site about money and personal finance puts the quarter with the familiar bucking horse and rider insignia in the bottom 10 of state quarters in terms of least-liked designs.

As of Friday, readers of the site, Walletpop.com, had the Wyoming quarter ranked No. 9.

The 44th coin in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program, the Wyoming quarter went into circulation Sept. 4, 2007.

Brockman said there is demand among collectors, regardless of likeability, because the coin is part of the 50-state series. It is needed to complete the set.

The bucking horse and rider as a silhouette works for the license plate, he said, but not for a coin.

Ironically, because it is featureless, the Wyoming quarter stands out.

“It’s boring, but special,” Brockman said.

Indiana’s quarter -- with its Indy race car, map of the state, circle of stars and state motto: “Crossroads of America” -- was rated the best by the readers as of Friday.

The Web site is part of AOL’s effort to move from being an Internet access provider to a series of online information portals.

Walletpop.com “features short, newsy posts,” AOL says on its corporate site, as well as “in-depth analyses by a team of smart, hip writers.”

Apparently the readers don’t get cowboy chic, though.

---

Source: Wyoming news

PriceSpider.com Helps Consumers This Holiday Shopping Season

PriceSpider.com, backed by leading Microsoft National Systems Integrator Neudesic, announced today that it has been featured across a number of media channels as a valuable tool for consumers this holiday shopping season.

A number of consumer organizations, news sources, and consumer web sites have reported that PriceSpider.com can help save consumers money.

The advantage of PriceSpider.com is its active search engine technology that continuously scans for pricing and product information. Holiday shoppers can utilize the PriceSpider.com Gift Guide to find the perfect present for the gadget-minded on their list. Shoppers can also create and share lists with their friends and family to peek into their wish lists. Additionally, the tool can be used to access the lists of the gadget savvy to help make the best gift-giving decision.

Whether looking to splurge this year, or walk away with a steal, the list tool gives users the ability to monitor a large number of products at once and see in real time when prices on those products drop! The search spans hundreds of online and local retailers in real-time to provide consumers with truly the lowest price available on the web. PriceSpider.com provides consumers the ability to receive price change alerts via email, view up to six months of price history in order to monitor pricing trends and check sale prices against true average prices, and view aggregated product reviews.

You can learn more and see a list of this year's hottest gifts by visiting www.PriceSpider.com.

About PriceSpider.com

PriceSpider.com, based out of Irvine, California is a revolutionary web site that allows consumers to search online retailer web sites for product pricing and related information such as descriptions, pictures, reviews, and stock information. Using the latest in web technology, PriceSpider.com is an active, real-time web crawler that searches hundreds of online retailers to provide consumers with the best prices on the web.

---

Source: Market Watch

What To Do After A Car Accident

On a daily basis in every city across the country, people risk life and limb without thinking twice about it. They hop into the car, crank up the music, turn on the cell phone, and cruise off down the road without a care. But, that casual trip to the grocery store or the usual daily commute can become a catastrophe in the blink of an eye if you are involved in an accident. For most people, that is the only time they consider what to do after a car accident.

Florida auto accident lawyer Joseph M. Maus has the expert knowledge to help you maneuver through the maze of work that needs to be done after you've been in an auto accident.

He says one of the first things to do is to be sure to get to a reputable doctor or hospital for an exam. This provides documentation for the accident victim, since people may feel stiff and sore at first, but may not realize they are truly injured. Insurance companies often do not take injury claims as seriously if they are reported a week or two after the accident when the aches and pains won't go away.
Also be wary of going to an insurance-recommended physician for your initial examination. It is in the insurance company's best interest to minimize their exposure risk, so you do not want to go to a doctor who may gloss over your injuries in order to make the claim more favorable to the insurance company.

Another thing to keep in mind when trying to figure out what to
do after a car accident (assuming you are not being carted away in an ambulance) is to be sure to get witnesses' names, contact information, and their observations about the accident at the scene. Many times memories of an incident can be dulled over time and you want to be sure to have as much information about a crash as possible in the event you end up in litigation.

So, to summarize and give you a quick checklist of what to do after a car accident:

1. Call the police to report the accident.
2. Never move any vehicles until you are told to by the police! (even if you are blocking traffic).
3. Get information such as type of car(s), license plate number(s), and description of car(s) involved in the accident.
4. Get names and contact information from anyone involved in the accident and from witnesses.
5. Write down what witnesses say they saw or heard.
6. Call your insurance agent to file a claim.
7. Go to a reputable doctor, hospital, or clinic for a complete examination.
8. Contact an attorney specializing in auto accident cases.

The list of things to think about after an accident are many and varied and best reviewed with a competent accident attorney. For more information about what to do after a car accident, contact Florida auto accident lawyer Joseph M. Maus at 1-866-556-5529 or email him today.

---

Source: Most popular in USA

Structured settlement

A structured settlement is a financial or insurance arrangement, including periodic payments, that a claimant accepts to resolve a personal injury tort claim or to compromise a statutory periodic payment obligation. Structured settlements were first utilized in Canada and the United States during the 1970s as an alternative to lump sum settlements. Structured settlements are now part of the statutory tort law of several common law countries including Australia, Canada, England and the United States. Although some uniformity exists, each of these countries has its own definitions, rules and standards for structured settlements. Structured settlements may include income tax and spendthrift requirements as well as benefits. Structured settlement payments are sometimes called “periodic payments.” A structured settlement incorporated into a trial judgment is called a “periodic payment judgment."

Structured Settlements in the United States

The United States has enacted structured settlement laws and regulations at both the federal and state levels. Federal structured settlement laws include sections of the (federal) Internal Revenue Code^[1]. State structured settlement laws include structured settlement protection statutes and periodic payment of judgment statutes. Medicaid and Medicare laws and regulations affect structured settlements. To preserve a claimant’s Medicare and Medicaid benefits, structured settlement payments may be incorporated into “Medicare Set Aside Arrangements” “Special Needs Trusts."

Structured settlements have been endorsed by many of the nation's largest disability rights organizations, including the American Association of People with Disabilities ^[2] and the National Organization on Disability ^[3].

Definitions

The United States definition of “structured settlement” for federal income taxation purposes, found in Internal Revenue Code Section 5891(c)(1) (26 U.S.C. § 5891(c)(1)), is an "arrangement" that meets the following requirements:

• A structured settlement must be established by:
  • A suit or agreement for periodic payment of damages excludable from gross income under Internal Revenue Code Section 104(a)(2) (26 U.S.C. § 104(a)(2)); or
  • An agreement for the periodic payment of compensation under any workers’ compensation law excludable under Internal Revenue Code Section 104(a)(1) (26 U.S.C. § 104(a)(1)); and
• The periodic payments must be of the character described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of Internal Revenue Code Section 130(c)(2) (26 U.S.C. § 130(c)(2))) and must be payable by a person who:
  • Is a party to the suit or agreement or to a workers' compensation claim; or
  • By a person who has assumed the liability for such periodic payments under a qualified assignment in accordance with Internal Revenue Code Section 130 (26 U.S.C. § 130).

Legal Structure

The typical structured settlement arises and is structured as follows: An injured party (the claimant) settles a tort suit with the defendant (or its insurance carrier) pursuant to a settlement agreement that provides that, in exchange for the claimant's securing the dismissal of the lawsuit, the defendant (or, more commonly, its insurer) agrees to make a series of periodic payments over time. The insurer, a property/casualty insurance company, thus finds itself with a long-term payment obligation to the claimant. To fund this obligation, the property/casualty insurer generally takes one of two typical approaches: It either purchases an annuity from a life insurance company (an arrangement called a "buy and hold" case) or it assigns (or, more properly, delegates) its periodic payment obligation to a third party which in turn purchases an annuity (which arrangement is called an "assigned case").

In an unassigned case, the property/casualty insurer retains the periodic payment obligation and funds it by purchasing an annuity from a life insurance company, thereby offsetting its obligation with a matching asset. The payment stream purchased under the annuity matches exactly, in timing and amounts, the periodic payments agreed to in the settlement agreement. The property/casualty company owns the annuity and names the claimant as the payee under the annuity, thereby directing the annuity issuer to send payments directly to the claimant. If any of the periodic payments are life-contingent (i.e., the obligation to make a payment is contingent on someone continuing to be alive), then the claimant (or whoever is determined to be the measuring life) is named as the annuitant or measuring life under the annuity.

In an assigned case, the property/casualty company does not wish to retain the long-term periodic payment obligation on its books. Accordingly, the property/casualty insurer transfers the obligation, through a legal device called a qualified assignment, to a third party. The third party, called an assignment company, will require the property/casualty company to pay it an amount sufficient to enable it to buy an annuity that will fund its newly accepted periodic payment obligation. If the claimant consents to the transfer of the periodic payment obligation (either in the settlement agreement or, failing that, in a special form of qualified assignment known as a qualified assignment and release), the defendant and/or its property/casualty company has no further liability to make the periodic payments. This method of substituting the obligor is desirable for property/casualty companies that do not want to retain the periodic payment obligation on their books. Typically, an assignment company is an affiliate of the life insurance company from which the annuity is purchased.

An assignment is said to be "qualified" if it satisfies the criteria set forth in Internal Revenue Code Section 130 [1]. Qualification of the assignment is important to assignment companies because without it the amount they receive to induce them to accept periodic payment obligations would be considered income for federal income tax purposes. If an assignment qualifies under Section 130, however, the amount received is excluded from the income of the assignment company. This provision of the tax code was enacted to encourage assigned cases; without it, assignment companies would owe federal income taxes but would typically have no source from which to make the payments.

• References
  

---

Source: Wikipedia