Up to 15,000 jobs worldwide are at risk as the computer software giant prepares for first layoffs in its 32-year history.
The latest to report on the possibility of layoffs at the software giant is the blog Fudzilla, which puts the number of job cuts at 15,000, or nearly 17 percent of Microsoft's worldwide operations. The January 15 date is a week before Microsoft's second-quarter earnings report, scheduled for January 22.
Microsoft also has a briefing for financial analysts planned for January 8 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, with the headliner listed as Robbie Bach, president of the entertainment and devices division.
Those purported layoff numbers are up from earlier rumors, which suggested that 10 percent of the company's employees would lose their jobs.
Fudzilla sees the biggest hit coming for the MSN unit, where Yusuf Mehdi recently took over as marketing chief while the company continued to look for an executive to run its overall online services group:
So far, we haven't managed to confirm what departments or regions will be hit the worst, but we're hearing that MSN might be carrying the brunt of the layoffs. We're also hearing rumors about the possibility of somewhat larger staff cuts at Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).
It's unlikely that Microsoft will be laying off a lot of people in departments and regions that are doing well, and considering the recent upturn in console sales, we have a feeling that at least most of the people working in the Xbox 360 departments will be pretty safe.
Wall Street veteran Henry Blodget says the target areas mentioned by Fudzilla make sense, but not the high volume of job cuts:
Unless Microsoft's business has been absolutely crushed in the past two months, there is no reason for the company to suddenly cut this much cost. Microsoft's margins are still fine, and much of its revenue is generated from multi-year contracts (and is therefore unlikely to see a massive intra-quarter hit).
In October, word leaked out of Microsoft that it would be closing its MSN Groups service on February 21, to be replaced with Windows Live Groups.
Blodget sees potential for a restructuring in Redmond that would fit into the long-running, on-again-off-again Microhoo saga:
The only way we could see Microsoft laying off this many people is if the company decided to eliminate business units. And if Microsoft did decide to restructure its business, it would likely sell rather than shut down divisions, including MSN (If Microsoft wants to get out of the consumer Internet business, which it should, the best way to do it is to spin its online operations into Yahoo in exchange for a big piece of the company.)
Credits to CNET News
Sunday, January 4, 2009
‘Bucky paper’, Future Skins for Cars, Planes and Screens?
It is already a hype for several years and many say it will have a great future. And now seems the time that it changes from hype towards reality and it will change the world. It will (for example) change airplanes, TV, computers, cars etc. What is it? It is called ‘bucky paper’.
Imagine machines smaller than microscopic in size working around us, in us and for us. Imagine them seeking out diseases, cleaning the environment and making the world a better place. Just as a car is a combination of a whole series of separate items, engine, suspension, wheels, electronics, chassis, etc, nanomachines too need to be constructed from a range of components.
One such component is a type of actuator to open and close things, to absorb shock, lift or lower loads and provide other forms of linear movement. It is known that forms of carbon nanotubes can function as actuators, but thanks to some new research we have a better understanding of what they do and how well they do it.
A Fraunhofer Techologie-Entwicklungsgruppe based research team have published a paper looking at an actuation measurement set-up constructed to perform electromechanical characterization of bucky papers. Bucky papers are sheets of carbon nanotubes obtained via filtration process. The research paper has been published in a special edition of the open access journal, AZoJono*. This special edition of AZoJono features a number of papers from DESYGN-IT, the project seeking to secure Europe as the international scientific leader in the design, synthesis, growth, characterisation and application of nanotubes, nanowires and nanotube arrays for industrial technology.
The researchers, Urszula Kosidlo, Daniel Georg Weis, Klaus Hying, Mohammad H. Haque and Ivica Kolaric, constructed a special measurement device and performed their tests in liquid electrolyte to allow the build up of the electrochemical double-layer, which is necessary for the actuation of carbon nanotubes. The measurements are performed with focus on the out-of-plane strain and stress generated by the structure of interest.
The device they designed was found to be useful for characterising electromechanical properties of bucky paper. Using their device, they were able to determine the dependence on applied voltage, electrolyte used as well as performance under additional load applied on the sample. They also concluded that to gain a better understanding of the actuation mechanism of bucky paper, galvanodynamic tests, current/charge controlled should be performed. The device that was used in this investigation is also suitable for this application.
The article is available to view in full in AZoJono at www.azonano.com
----------------------------
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
----------------------------
Imagine machines smaller than microscopic in size working around us, in us and for us. Imagine them seeking out diseases, cleaning the environment and making the world a better place. Just as a car is a combination of a whole series of separate items, engine, suspension, wheels, electronics, chassis, etc, nanomachines too need to be constructed from a range of components.
One such component is a type of actuator to open and close things, to absorb shock, lift or lower loads and provide other forms of linear movement. It is known that forms of carbon nanotubes can function as actuators, but thanks to some new research we have a better understanding of what they do and how well they do it.
A Fraunhofer Techologie-Entwicklungsgruppe based research team have published a paper looking at an actuation measurement set-up constructed to perform electromechanical characterization of bucky papers. Bucky papers are sheets of carbon nanotubes obtained via filtration process. The research paper has been published in a special edition of the open access journal, AZoJono*. This special edition of AZoJono features a number of papers from DESYGN-IT, the project seeking to secure Europe as the international scientific leader in the design, synthesis, growth, characterisation and application of nanotubes, nanowires and nanotube arrays for industrial technology.
The researchers, Urszula Kosidlo, Daniel Georg Weis, Klaus Hying, Mohammad H. Haque and Ivica Kolaric, constructed a special measurement device and performed their tests in liquid electrolyte to allow the build up of the electrochemical double-layer, which is necessary for the actuation of carbon nanotubes. The measurements are performed with focus on the out-of-plane strain and stress generated by the structure of interest.
The device they designed was found to be useful for characterising electromechanical properties of bucky paper. Using their device, they were able to determine the dependence on applied voltage, electrolyte used as well as performance under additional load applied on the sample. They also concluded that to gain a better understanding of the actuation mechanism of bucky paper, galvanodynamic tests, current/charge controlled should be performed. The device that was used in this investigation is also suitable for this application.
The article is available to view in full in AZoJono at www.azonano.com
----------------------------
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
----------------------------
Enders Seeks Drag Racing History
Pro Stock racer Erica Enders is certain to make drag racing history if the 22-year-old can hold on to the No. 1 qualifying position she earned Friday night during the opening day of the 22nd annual Checker Schuck’s Kragen NHRA Nationals.
Enders covered Firebird International Raceway's quarter-mile in 6.679 seconds at 206.48 mph in her Slammers Ultimate Milk Chevrolet Cobalt, becoming the first female in class history to earn provisional low qualifier honors. Saturday's final two qualifying sessions will set the field for Sunday's 11 a.m. eliminations.
Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher and Funny Car racer Eric Medlen also led their respective fields at the $1.5 million race, the second of 23 on the POWERade Drag Racing Series. Schumacher ran a 4.459 at 330.97 mph in the heat of the day in his U.S. Army dragster. Medlen got the job done in Round 2 when he roared to a 4.707 at 321.96 mph in his Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang.
Only six female racers have earned the No. 1 qualifier position before and none have done so in Pro Stock. Overall, Enders is just the sixth female to compete in the class since its inception in 1970.
"This is big because we had 10 DNQs early on last year and we were so disappointed," Enders said. "Then we got it together and started doing lots of things in the second half where I was the first female to do this or that. I think it's cool. We still want to be thought of as racers first but I don't mind being the first girl to do something."
After a slow start where she failed to complete her first run, Enders overcame the fact she ran early in the second session to post her big run.
"We just missed the set-up in Round 1," Enders said. "It made us all a little nervous going into Friday night because we were the third pair out. You know it's going to be the best session of the weekend and you have to trust the set-up you have because you don't have many cars ahead of you.
"My car was really loose in third and fourth gear. Thoughts of shoving in the clutch did pop into my head. But I stayed with it and we got the 6.679 so I'm glad I kept my foot in it."
Eric Medlen
Medlen also had a lot on his mind as he moved into the top spot in Funny Car.
"We're making executive decisions as we go down the track because we only have one of the new bodies so you sure don't want to blow it up or catch it on fire," Medlen said. "Everybody in this class is so close right now and we're looking for inches. I know the new car is quicker. I don't want to go back to the old body."
After running such a great number in the first Top Fuel session, anticipation was high that Schumacher would set the national record after it cooled off. But it wasn't meant to be as he slowed slightly to a 4.47. Even so, his two passes were the only ones in the 4.4-second range.
"We were going for the record, no doubt," Schumacher said. "We wanted to get those 20 (bonus) points right there. We just missed it, that's it.
"We tend to run better in the heat of the day. The facts are we put more effort into day runs because we race in the day. We don't race at night and we don't make many runs at night so it's not something we spend a lot of time on."
Qualifying continues Saturday at noon and 2:30 p.m.
Credits to NHRA.com
Enders covered Firebird International Raceway's quarter-mile in 6.679 seconds at 206.48 mph in her Slammers Ultimate Milk Chevrolet Cobalt, becoming the first female in class history to earn provisional low qualifier honors. Saturday's final two qualifying sessions will set the field for Sunday's 11 a.m. eliminations.
Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher and Funny Car racer Eric Medlen also led their respective fields at the $1.5 million race, the second of 23 on the POWERade Drag Racing Series. Schumacher ran a 4.459 at 330.97 mph in the heat of the day in his U.S. Army dragster. Medlen got the job done in Round 2 when he roared to a 4.707 at 321.96 mph in his Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang.
Only six female racers have earned the No. 1 qualifier position before and none have done so in Pro Stock. Overall, Enders is just the sixth female to compete in the class since its inception in 1970.
"This is big because we had 10 DNQs early on last year and we were so disappointed," Enders said. "Then we got it together and started doing lots of things in the second half where I was the first female to do this or that. I think it's cool. We still want to be thought of as racers first but I don't mind being the first girl to do something."
After a slow start where she failed to complete her first run, Enders overcame the fact she ran early in the second session to post her big run.
"We just missed the set-up in Round 1," Enders said. "It made us all a little nervous going into Friday night because we were the third pair out. You know it's going to be the best session of the weekend and you have to trust the set-up you have because you don't have many cars ahead of you.
"My car was really loose in third and fourth gear. Thoughts of shoving in the clutch did pop into my head. But I stayed with it and we got the 6.679 so I'm glad I kept my foot in it."
Eric Medlen
Medlen also had a lot on his mind as he moved into the top spot in Funny Car.
"We're making executive decisions as we go down the track because we only have one of the new bodies so you sure don't want to blow it up or catch it on fire," Medlen said. "Everybody in this class is so close right now and we're looking for inches. I know the new car is quicker. I don't want to go back to the old body."
After running such a great number in the first Top Fuel session, anticipation was high that Schumacher would set the national record after it cooled off. But it wasn't meant to be as he slowed slightly to a 4.47. Even so, his two passes were the only ones in the 4.4-second range.
"We were going for the record, no doubt," Schumacher said. "We wanted to get those 20 (bonus) points right there. We just missed it, that's it.
"We tend to run better in the heat of the day. The facts are we put more effort into day runs because we race in the day. We don't race at night and we don't make many runs at night so it's not something we spend a lot of time on."
Qualifying continues Saturday at noon and 2:30 p.m.
Credits to NHRA.com
Monday, December 15, 2008
Alleged Madoff fraud has worldwide exposure
The securities fraud of Bernard Madoff has rocked the Jewish nonprofit world -- and the worst may be yet to come. Madoff, the founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, was arrested Dec. 11 after admitting to his board that a hedge fund he ran was essentially a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
The list of investors who say they were duped in one of Wall Street's biggest Ponzi schemes is growing, snaring some of the world's biggest banking institutions and hedge funds, the super rich and the famous, pensioners and charities.
The alleged victims who sunk cash into veteran Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff's investment pool include real estate magnate Mortimer Zuckerman, the foundation of Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, and a charity of movie director Steven Spielberg, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Among the world's biggest banking institutions, Britain's HSBC Holdings PLC, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Man Group PLC, Spain's Grupo Santander SA, France's BNP Paribas and Japan's Nomura Holdings all reported that they had fallen victim to Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi, or pyramid, scheme.
The 70-year-old Madoff (MAY-doff), well respected in the investment community after serving as chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market, was arrested Thursday in what prosecutors say was a $50 billion scheme to defraud investors. Some investors claim they've been wiped out, while others are still likely to come forward.
"There were a lot of very sophisticated people who were duped, and that happens a great deal when you've had somebody decide to be unscrupulous," said Harvey Pitt, a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a regulatory agency in charge of monitoring investment funds like the one Madoff operated.
The extent of the potential damage prompted a leading fund manager in London to lash out at U.S. regulators for failing to detect the fraud earlier.
"I think now it is very difficult for people to invest in things that are meant to be regulated in America, because they haven fallen down in the job," Nicola Horlick, the manager of Bramdean Alternatives, which has 9 percent of its funds invested in Madoff's scheme, told the British Broadcasting Corp.
"All through the credit crunch this has been apparent," Horlick added. "This is the biggest financial scandal, probably, in the history of the markets."
Among U.S. investors, the Boston-based Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, a charity that financed trips for Jewish youth to Israel, let go of its staff after revealing that the money for its operations was invested with Madoff.
New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, one of the wealthiest members of the Senate, entrusted his family's charitable foundation to Madoff. Lautenberg's attorney, Michael Griffinger, said they weren't yet sure the extent of the foundation's losses, but that the bulk of its investments had been handled by Madoff.
Lautenberg's foundation handed out more than $765,000 to at least 100 recipients in 2006, according to the most recent listing on Guidestar, which tracks charitable organization filings.
The foundation helps support a variety of religious, educational, civic and arts organizations in New Jersey and elsewhere, and its contributions range from a gift of more than $300,000 to the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey to a $2,000 donation to a children's program at the Hackensack Medical Center.
Reports from Florida to Minnesota included profiles of ordinary investors who gave Madoff their money. Some had been friends with him for decades, others were able to invest because they were a friend of a friend. They told stories of losing everything from $40,000 to an entire nest egg worth well over $1 million.
They join a list of more powerful investors that have come forward, all worried about the extent of their losses. The roster of names include former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman, New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon and J. Ezra Merkin, the chairman of GMAC Financial Services, among others.
The Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter, said Mortimer 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 Madoff.
The Journal also said the Steven Spielberg charity, the Wunderkinder Foundation, in the past appears to have invested a significant portion of its assets with Madoff. It said the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, founded by the famed Holocaust survivor and writer, was hard hit by losses, citing two people familiar with the organization's investments.
Messages were left with the Zuckerman fund and Wunderkinder foundation. The Wiesel foundation said it was looking into the matter.
The Journal also reported potential investors and firms exposed to the alleged fraud included: Carl Shapiro, founder and former chairman of women's apparel company Kay Windsor Inc.; Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. co-founder Leonard Feinstein; Yeshiva University; EIM Group; UBS AG; Fairfield Greenwich Advisors; Tremont Capital Management; Maxam Capital Management and Ascot Partners.
Among those overseas confirming exposure on Monday, Banco Santander, the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalization, said its clients have 2.33 billion euros ($3.07 billion) in exposure with Madoff, mostly through a fund called Optimal Strategic US Equity.
HSBC, Britain's largest bank, said a "small number" of its insitutional clients had exposure totaling some $1 billion in Madoff funds.
It added that it has custody clients who have invested with Madoff, but it did not believe those "custodial arrangements should be a source of exposure to the group."
Royal Bank of Scotland — Britain's second-largest bank, which is now 58 percent owned by the British government — said it could lose around 400 million euros pounds through exposure in trading and collateralized lending to funds of hedge funds invested with Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities LLC.
Man Group, the world's largest publicly traded fund manager that reported exposure of around $360 million on Monday, said "it appears that a systematic and comprehensive fraud may have been committed, evading a range of structural controls."
Japan's Nomura Holdings said it has 27.5 billion yen ($306 million) in exposure, but added that any losses were likely to be limited compared to its capital base.
French banks foresee nearly 1 billion euros in potential losses as indirect victims of the alleged fraud.
Natixis, France's fourth-largest bank, set its maximum indirect exposure at about 450 million euros. A statement by the investment bank said it made no direct investments in hedge funds managed by Madoff. However, it said that some of its clients' money was invested in funds managed by "first class custodians," which in turn entrusted those securities to Madoff's investment securities company.
Both Societe Generale and Credit Agricole said they had "negligible" exposure of below 10 million euros each. However, the euro zone's largest bank, BNP Paribas, has estimated its risk exposure to hedge funds managed by Madoff at up to 350 million euros.
In a statement Sunday, BNP Paribas said it has no investment of its own in Madoff's hedge funds, but "does have risk exposure to these funds through its trading business and collateralized lending to funds of hedge funds."
Swiss bank Union Bancaire Privee indicated it had hundreds of millions of dollars in client assets invested under the management of Madoff. The Geneva bank, one of Switzerland's largest, did not disclose a total amount invested, but did say the exposure of its clients "represents less than 1 percent of the total assets under management of the bank."
UBP's announcement Monday followed weekend disclosures by Swiss banks Reichmuth & Co. of Lucerne, Benedict Hentsch of Geneva and Neue Privat Bank of Zurich that they had millions of dollars worth of client assets at risk in the case.
Unicredit, Italy's largest bank, said its exposure to Madoff's company is about 75 million euros, representing amounts the bank invested directly and not funds belonging to its clients, said spokesman Andrea Moreschi. Unicredit has a separate, indirect exposure through Pioneer Investment, its asset management division.
In Germany, Deutsche Bank AG, Dresdner Bank AG and Commerzbank AG declined to comment on the matter.
On Friday, representatives from major U.S. banks — Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. — declined to comment on whether they had exposure to Madoff's company. Both BlackRock Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said they had no exposure.
Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo & Co., Comerica Inc. and U.S. Bancorp did not return calls seeking comment.
Credit The Associated Press
The list of investors who say they were duped in one of Wall Street's biggest Ponzi schemes is growing, snaring some of the world's biggest banking institutions and hedge funds, the super rich and the famous, pensioners and charities.
The alleged victims who sunk cash into veteran Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff's investment pool include real estate magnate Mortimer Zuckerman, the foundation of Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, and a charity of movie director Steven Spielberg, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Among the world's biggest banking institutions, Britain's HSBC Holdings PLC, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Man Group PLC, Spain's Grupo Santander SA, France's BNP Paribas and Japan's Nomura Holdings all reported that they had fallen victim to Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi, or pyramid, scheme.
The 70-year-old Madoff (MAY-doff), well respected in the investment community after serving as chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market, was arrested Thursday in what prosecutors say was a $50 billion scheme to defraud investors. Some investors claim they've been wiped out, while others are still likely to come forward.
"There were a lot of very sophisticated people who were duped, and that happens a great deal when you've had somebody decide to be unscrupulous," said Harvey Pitt, a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a regulatory agency in charge of monitoring investment funds like the one Madoff operated.
The extent of the potential damage prompted a leading fund manager in London to lash out at U.S. regulators for failing to detect the fraud earlier.
"I think now it is very difficult for people to invest in things that are meant to be regulated in America, because they haven fallen down in the job," Nicola Horlick, the manager of Bramdean Alternatives, which has 9 percent of its funds invested in Madoff's scheme, told the British Broadcasting Corp.
"All through the credit crunch this has been apparent," Horlick added. "This is the biggest financial scandal, probably, in the history of the markets."
Among U.S. investors, the Boston-based Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, a charity that financed trips for Jewish youth to Israel, let go of its staff after revealing that the money for its operations was invested with Madoff.
New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, one of the wealthiest members of the Senate, entrusted his family's charitable foundation to Madoff. Lautenberg's attorney, Michael Griffinger, said they weren't yet sure the extent of the foundation's losses, but that the bulk of its investments had been handled by Madoff.
Lautenberg's foundation handed out more than $765,000 to at least 100 recipients in 2006, according to the most recent listing on Guidestar, which tracks charitable organization filings.
The foundation helps support a variety of religious, educational, civic and arts organizations in New Jersey and elsewhere, and its contributions range from a gift of more than $300,000 to the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey to a $2,000 donation to a children's program at the Hackensack Medical Center.
Reports from Florida to Minnesota included profiles of ordinary investors who gave Madoff their money. Some had been friends with him for decades, others were able to invest because they were a friend of a friend. They told stories of losing everything from $40,000 to an entire nest egg worth well over $1 million.
They join a list of more powerful investors that have come forward, all worried about the extent of their losses. The roster of names include former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman, New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon and J. Ezra Merkin, the chairman of GMAC Financial Services, among others.
The Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter, said Mortimer 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 Madoff.
The Journal also said the Steven Spielberg charity, the Wunderkinder Foundation, in the past appears to have invested a significant portion of its assets with Madoff. It said the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, founded by the famed Holocaust survivor and writer, was hard hit by losses, citing two people familiar with the organization's investments.
Messages were left with the Zuckerman fund and Wunderkinder foundation. The Wiesel foundation said it was looking into the matter.
The Journal also reported potential investors and firms exposed to the alleged fraud included: Carl Shapiro, founder and former chairman of women's apparel company Kay Windsor Inc.; Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. co-founder Leonard Feinstein; Yeshiva University; EIM Group; UBS AG; Fairfield Greenwich Advisors; Tremont Capital Management; Maxam Capital Management and Ascot Partners.
Among those overseas confirming exposure on Monday, Banco Santander, the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalization, said its clients have 2.33 billion euros ($3.07 billion) in exposure with Madoff, mostly through a fund called Optimal Strategic US Equity.
HSBC, Britain's largest bank, said a "small number" of its insitutional clients had exposure totaling some $1 billion in Madoff funds.
It added that it has custody clients who have invested with Madoff, but it did not believe those "custodial arrangements should be a source of exposure to the group."
Royal Bank of Scotland — Britain's second-largest bank, which is now 58 percent owned by the British government — said it could lose around 400 million euros pounds through exposure in trading and collateralized lending to funds of hedge funds invested with Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities LLC.
Man Group, the world's largest publicly traded fund manager that reported exposure of around $360 million on Monday, said "it appears that a systematic and comprehensive fraud may have been committed, evading a range of structural controls."
Japan's Nomura Holdings said it has 27.5 billion yen ($306 million) in exposure, but added that any losses were likely to be limited compared to its capital base.
French banks foresee nearly 1 billion euros in potential losses as indirect victims of the alleged fraud.
Natixis, France's fourth-largest bank, set its maximum indirect exposure at about 450 million euros. A statement by the investment bank said it made no direct investments in hedge funds managed by Madoff. However, it said that some of its clients' money was invested in funds managed by "first class custodians," which in turn entrusted those securities to Madoff's investment securities company.
Both Societe Generale and Credit Agricole said they had "negligible" exposure of below 10 million euros each. However, the euro zone's largest bank, BNP Paribas, has estimated its risk exposure to hedge funds managed by Madoff at up to 350 million euros.
In a statement Sunday, BNP Paribas said it has no investment of its own in Madoff's hedge funds, but "does have risk exposure to these funds through its trading business and collateralized lending to funds of hedge funds."
Swiss bank Union Bancaire Privee indicated it had hundreds of millions of dollars in client assets invested under the management of Madoff. The Geneva bank, one of Switzerland's largest, did not disclose a total amount invested, but did say the exposure of its clients "represents less than 1 percent of the total assets under management of the bank."
UBP's announcement Monday followed weekend disclosures by Swiss banks Reichmuth & Co. of Lucerne, Benedict Hentsch of Geneva and Neue Privat Bank of Zurich that they had millions of dollars worth of client assets at risk in the case.
Unicredit, Italy's largest bank, said its exposure to Madoff's company is about 75 million euros, representing amounts the bank invested directly and not funds belonging to its clients, said spokesman Andrea Moreschi. Unicredit has a separate, indirect exposure through Pioneer Investment, its asset management division.
In Germany, Deutsche Bank AG, Dresdner Bank AG and Commerzbank AG declined to comment on the matter.
On Friday, representatives from major U.S. banks — Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. — declined to comment on whether they had exposure to Madoff's company. Both BlackRock Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said they had no exposure.
Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo & Co., Comerica Inc. and U.S. Bancorp did not return calls seeking comment.
Credit The Associated Press
Sunday, December 14, 2008
George Bush Dodges A Size 10 Shoe
George Bush gave a surprise news conference in Iraq today and was greeted by the size 10 shoes of an Iraqi reporter. It's really important to know that the shoes were a size 10!
The Bush shoe dodge, the president dodges flying shoes in Iraq. - An Iraqi journalist threw two shoes at President George W. Bush at a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq. The reporter that tossed the shoe has been identified by AFP as Muntazer al-Zaidi and at first hurled an insult at the American president and then let fly both shoes, one at a time.
The president showed he is still able to dodge and weave quite well with the shoe toss. The first shoe was heading straight for the head of George W. Bush but he made a quick move to get out of the way. The second shoe only narrowly missed its mark.
Bush laughed it off and the reason we believe it was a size ten shoe is that is exactly how the president describes it. The report from AFP notes that some Iraqi journalists apologized to President Bush but he told them that wasn't necessary.
See the video here. The president was unhurt and told reporters, he was okay and said, "It doesn’t bother me. So what if he threw a shoe at me. All I can report is it is a size 10." Photos here at TMZ. At least he kept his sense of humor.
Credits to National Ledger
The Bush shoe dodge, the president dodges flying shoes in Iraq. - An Iraqi journalist threw two shoes at President George W. Bush at a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq. The reporter that tossed the shoe has been identified by AFP as Muntazer al-Zaidi and at first hurled an insult at the American president and then let fly both shoes, one at a time.
The president showed he is still able to dodge and weave quite well with the shoe toss. The first shoe was heading straight for the head of George W. Bush but he made a quick move to get out of the way. The second shoe only narrowly missed its mark.
Bush laughed it off and the reason we believe it was a size ten shoe is that is exactly how the president describes it. The report from AFP notes that some Iraqi journalists apologized to President Bush but he told them that wasn't necessary.
See the video here. The president was unhurt and told reporters, he was okay and said, "It doesn’t bother me. So what if he threw a shoe at me. All I can report is it is a size 10." Photos here at TMZ. At least he kept his sense of humor.
Credits to National Ledger
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