Comments on: The auction rate blues… http://www.footnoted.org/earnings-quality/the-auction-rate-blues/ Michelle Leder's guide to what's hiding in SEC filings Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:41:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: MEM http://www.footnoted.org/earnings-quality/the-auction-rate-blues/#comment-4925 MEM Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:52:38 +0000 http://www.footnoted.org/?p=1834#comment-4925 Whenever I see the word "subpoena" in the same sentence with "auction rate securities" I get an enormous rush. I hope soon to start seeing the words "crime" and "prison". I keep getting these statements from UBS which refer to my auction rate funds as "cash equivalents". Isn't this mail fraud? Whenever I see the word “subpoena” in the same sentence with “auction rate securities” I get an enormous rush. I hope soon to start seeing the words “crime” and “prison”. I keep getting these statements from UBS which refer to my auction rate funds as “cash equivalents”. Isn’t this mail fraud?

]]> By: Frank Graham http://www.footnoted.org/earnings-quality/the-auction-rate-blues/#comment-4922 Frank Graham Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:28:15 +0000 http://www.footnoted.org/?p=1834#comment-4922 Bloomberg radio and NYT all over this in am. Guess AG Cuomo in hot rush to replace E.S. as next 'reformer' Gov. The attorney general of New York, Andrew M. Cuomo, has reportedly subpoenaed 18 banks that underwrote and brokered auction-rate securities, including Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS, as state regulators step up their inquiries into the securities and how Wall Street banks sold them to investors. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/business/18rate.html?dlbk Bloomberg radio and NYT all over this in am. Guess AG Cuomo in hot rush to replace E.S. as next ‘reformer’ Gov.

The attorney general of New York, Andrew M. Cuomo, has reportedly subpoenaed 18 banks that underwrote and brokered auction-rate securities, including Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS, as state regulators step up their inquiries into the securities and how Wall Street banks sold them to investors.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/business/18rate.html?dlbk

]]> By: Patrick http://www.footnoted.org/earnings-quality/the-auction-rate-blues/#comment-4920 Patrick Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:01:09 +0000 http://www.footnoted.org/?p=1834#comment-4920 Another blurb on auction-rate securities from Felix Salmon at Portfolio.com: "I was particularly interested by one component of the $13 billion in write-downs: $1.5 billion on auction-rate securities. Citi had $11 billion of these animals in February, but by the end of March, after write-downs and sales, it had brought its exposure down to $6.5 billion. Let's say that it managed to sell $3 billion at or around par, and that it wrote down the remaining $8 billion by $1.5 billion. That would mean that Citi is valuing its unsold ARS portfolio at just 81 cents on the dollar. No wonder Andrew Cuomo is investigating the ARS market. This stuff was meant to be like cash, and so far there have been few if any defaults. So why is it being marked at distressed levels?" Another blurb on auction-rate securities from Felix Salmon at Portfolio.com:

“I was particularly interested by one component of the $13 billion in write-downs: $1.5 billion on auction-rate securities. Citi had $11 billion of these animals in February, but by the end of March, after write-downs and sales, it had brought its exposure down to $6.5 billion. Let’s say that it managed to sell $3 billion at or around par, and that it wrote down the remaining $8 billion by $1.5 billion. That would mean that Citi is valuing its unsold ARS portfolio at just 81 cents on the dollar.

No wonder Andrew Cuomo is investigating the ARS market. This stuff was meant to be like cash, and so far there have been few if any defaults. So why is it being marked at distressed levels?”

]]> By: JJ http://www.footnoted.org/earnings-quality/the-auction-rate-blues/#comment-4918 JJ Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:29:15 +0000 http://www.footnoted.org/?p=1834#comment-4918 For Tivo, High grade probably means the auction rate debt is insured or federally backed. Perhaps they own some of Sallie Mae's auction rate debt, that used to be popular... For Tivo, High grade probably means the auction rate debt is insured or federally backed.
Perhaps they own some of Sallie Mae’s auction rate debt, that used to be popular…

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