HSBC Expensive Humanitarian Scandels

The worlds third largest bank is embroiled in yet more scandal: money laundering for drugs cartels, Iranian illegal dealings worth an estimated $16 Billion and illegal banking for terrorists. The company have been fined $1.92 Billion yet this just may be the tip of the iceberg for the UK banking sector. This video summerizes the banks activities very well.






Mexican and Columbian drug cartels viewed the bank as the place to do their business; perhaps the bankers viewed this as an opportunity too good to miss as it involved $881 Million in cash transfers alone apart from the volume of deposited cash. The bank also appears to have strategies that allowed clients to avoid U.S. and U.N. sanctions that prohibit dealings with countries such as Iran, Libya, Sudan, Myanmar and Cuba. Because of the volume of surveliance allerts numbering 13,000 to 15,000 suspicious alerts generated monthly. It appears that many of those involved in illegal activities will continue to operate. Therefore perhaps HSBC is too big and has too many powerful connections to meaningfully punish as the outllook appears to be business as usual. Although the bank knowingly co-operated and actively engaged with criminals and terrorists because of the large sums of money and corresponding business revenue apparently without the knowledge of MI5, FBI or the CIA; which seems hard to believe their business continues unabated and undeterred by politics or humanitarian needs.
The stock price has dropped slightly on this news by about 0.5%.

A Kangaroo Hearing has been priced in the stock value

BP Accepts Guilt For Criminal Neligence





Attorney General Prosecuting BP

B.P. Admits Guilty of Criminal Negligence to DOJ

The guilty admission by B.P. to the charge of criminal negligence will cost the company $4.5Billon payable by installments over a period of six years. But there is speculation by some litigation lawyers acting on behalf of businesses and individuals whose lives have been blighted by the disaster that the final cost in the civil courts could reach an additional $23Billion.

However the company have estimated further actions may amount to a lessor sum of $12.5Billion. Either way the financial costs are still mounting and that was anticipated by B.P. who recently sold $35Billon of business assets to fund compensation claims, cleanup costs and government fines for misconduct.

The final criminal court hearing will be held next February 2013 and if the charge of negligence is escalated to a charge of gross negligence then the cost of closure may attract an additional $14Billion above the $35Billon budget the company anticipated. Perhaps the currently uncapped liability will be limited at the February hearing and finally bring about closure for the company and all parties affected. But until then uncertainty about the long term future of the company cannot be absolutely certain.

There is still a question of shared responsibility that has not yet been answered. The businesses involved with B.P. share some of the burden for the consequences of negligence. But the government inspected the Deepwater Horizon platform for Health and Safety certification. Perhaps the federal government should be sharing some of the compensation and criminal court costs because of implied liability and responsibility for the safety of the workforce. 

German bailout fund approval lifts global stocks, euro | Reuters


Germany's top court lifted global shares to a five-month high, boosted Italian and Spanish bonds and sent the euro to its highest since early May, by finally giving its go-ahead to the euro zone's new crisis-fighting fund.

German approval of the 700 billion euro European Stability Mechanism (ESM) was crucial to boost the euro zone's crisis-fighting powers and a key requirement for the European Central Bank's new plan to buy the bonds of struggling euro members.


European shares were up 0.5 percent after the decision, having been up just 0.07 percent beforehand.

The MSCI global share index .MIWD00000PUS which is up 6.5 percent since the end of July, hit a five-month high of 331.99 points before dipping back slightly as bouts of profit-taking set in.

"The (equities) market will rally on this, and the financials will lead this rally," said Gerard Lane, Equity Strategist at Shore Capital. "The fear was they were going to say ‘nein', so the 20 percent down in the market that we could have had is off the table."

Apple's iPhone needs to dazzle as market gets crowded | Reuters

Apple's iPhone needs to dazzle as market gets crowded | Reuters

The new iPhone 5 has to be more than just another smartphone as it carries the weight of Apple Inc's future on its slim frame.
Five years after the first iPhone upended the mobile industry, analysts say Apple is looking increasingly defensive as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and other rivals have been first to market with phones that sport bigger screens or run on faster wireless networks.

Apple will try to close that gap on Wednesday with the unveiling of the newest iPhone, which is widely expected to offer 4G wireless technology for the first time, and a 4-inch display, up from the current 3.5 inches.

But it remains to be seen if Chief Executive Tim Cook has any surprises up his sleeve, and if he will show off any technological breakthroughs that can put the iPhone 5 head and shoulders above the competition.

"They have been in the crosshairs of a lot of companies for a long, long time," Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said.

"They were the upstarts before," he added. "Now they are more in a defensive role."

Apple shares typically rally ahead of, and sell off after, a major product launch. They have gained 15 percent in the past six weeks to touch an all-time high on Monday.

Apple has grappled with competitive pressure since the first iPhone in 2007, though its rivals have changed as former market leaders such as Canada's Research in Motion or Finland's Nokia struggle, and as Asian powerhouse Samsung has come to the fore.

German court backs euro rescue fund with conditions | Reuters

German court backs euro rescue fund with conditions | Reuters

Germany's Constitutional Court gave a green light on Wednesday for the country to ratify the euro zone's new bailout fund and budget pact, but insisted the German parliament have veto powers over any future increases in the size of the fund.
The eagerly awaited verdict boosted global stocks and the euro currency as investors breathed a sigh of relief that the euro zone's rescue fund for nations in crisis could soon take effect after months of delay.
Germany is the only country in the 17-nation euro zone that has yet to ratify the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which is meant to erect a 700 billion-euro firewall against the spread of the three-year-old sovereign debt crisis.
"This is a good day for Germany and a good day for Europe," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech to parliament.
Rejecting injunction requests from 37,000 plaintiffs seeking to block the ESM and a separate pact on new budget rules, the court set two main conditions for the treaties to go ahead.
It said German liability in the rescue fund must be limited to 190 billion euros, the share set out in the current ESM treaty, and that any increase in that amount would require prior approval by the Bundestag lower house of parliament.

Department of Justice language crushes BP oil spill settlement hopes | Reuters

Department of Justice language crushes BP oil spill settlement hopes
The Deep Sea Horizon oil platform was plagued with problems before the huge oil spill of 2010; high seabed oil pressures and a fire that killed many. Drilling for oil at great water depths where deep sea robots do the work is surely a place for the bravest pioneers; who sometimes get arrows in their backs when things do not quite work out the way managers intended.

It may be said that when the oil leak started and coastal businesses complained about an obviously impending disaster the U.S. President Barack Obama pointed the finger of blame on B.P. and it was Obama who put a price tag of $20 Billion to compensate the regions clean-up efforts and business losses. It was subsequently clear that when CEO Tony Hayward appeared before a congressional committee that the panel of questioners; had never worked in the oil business or perhaps any corporate business at the highest level were asking intrusive questions that had preordained answers of blame for the commitee. They seemed to have had opinions that were fixated on making B.P. pay probably to escape a Katerina style election defeat. Therefore it is not surprising that two years on the DoJ has a publicly fixed focus on imposing compensation on a world class viable business of $25 Billion; however it may have escaped the notice of the DoJ that the president himself asked for a lessor penalty.

Perhaps the fate of B.P. has as much to do with politics as it does for being brave pioneers to fuel all our lives with liquid gold. The technical mistakes made that involved many sub-contractors has shed a whopping $90 Billion off the share price value and if a final settlement is not made soon the future of the company may be in doubt with persisting uncertainty in America and also the company's Russian exploits.

Perhaps this collectively suggests a future asset sale to pay off debt/ compensation claims and a disintegration of what has been an excellent enterprise that has served the world.

But the U.S. Government awarded the contract, knew the risks and were responsible for health and safety inspections, perhaps the government of Obama should be sharing the risks by sharing the compensation bill. That would save thousands of jobs around the world and in America.

Facebook stock slide continues - Yahoo! Finance UK


Facebooks share value has fallen from a peak at the IPO a few months ago from $45 to yesterdays $17:55. That sounds shocking but actually the value of the shares was far too high at the outset; it was based on a gearing of X6. So with earnings of $3+ Billion the IPO price should have been $18 a share.

The company has been struggling with rasing advertising revenue which is set to drop as corporations realise that social netwoks don't actually manage to sell much and are being percieved as a place for brand name building called secondary advertising. Their is also a lot of pressure from the mobile market where Facebook have so far failed to make much of an impression; this suggests that the next publication of the company accounts will show a fall in advertising revenue as internet surfing habits change from being centred on P.C.'s.

The price could easily keep falling to a range of $3-$6 in the coming year.

Barclays Bank: More Rumors

Barclays Investigated Over Qatar Payments


Barclays was investigated recently about allegations that the Libor rate was rigged. And now another scandel is being investigated by the Financial Services Authority about avoiding to seek a government bail out to remain a solvent business during the banking crisis by arranging funds of five and a half billion pounds from Middle Eastern investors in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Expect the stock value to be impacted.

Samsung Now Faces a U.S. Ban

Samsung Faces a U.S. Ban And a $3 Billion Fine

Samsung is set to lose The U.S. mobile device market share if Apple's request to a Californian court succeeds to impose an American Wide ban of 9 Samsungs products that a jury has already ruled infinges seven of Apples' patents. The jury said that the patent infringments were 'Wilful', this judgement opens the door for the judge to fine Samsung a maximun of $3Billion and it looks like further action by Apple will ban Samsungs Android and Tablet devices.

A ban of these products may lead to Samsungs shares crashing an estimated 25% as market share may be wiped-out over night; This could have a contagon effect if the ban crosses to other major markets such as the EU which is the worlds largest and Asia Pacific countries; however the latter is not so likely.

Samsung Shares Plunge After Patents Verdict - Yahoo! News UK


Samsung may face a hike in compensation claimed by Apple to a maximum of $3B and lose market share if a US wide ban of many mobile products is imposed. As a result of this uncertainty Samsung shares have already dropped by almost 7% and market views suggest further losses of the stock value. As future anticipated outcomes are priced into the share market.

Chinese giant Sinopec sees net profit fall - Yahoo! Finance UK

Chinese giant Sinopec sees net profit fall - Yahoo! Finance UK
Oil refiner Sinopec of China sees revenue rise but half year net profits almost half. Perhaps this is going to be a worrying trend for all oil based products including plastic. It might be a signal that under funded businesses will start failing or at least lay-large numbers of employees as the recession in the west continues causing depleted demand.

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Jury didn't want to let Samsung off easy in Apple trial-foreman - Yahoo! Finance UK



Awarding a billion dollars in damages to Apple Corp will also limit the market for Samsung as Apple are planning more legal action in California to ban a wide range of Samsungs mobile products. This will have a contagon effect in other countries such as Germany who have already banned a Samsung Mobile device. But will the rest of the EU countries follow this American judgement of imposing fines and banning products that will clearly limit market penertration for Samsung?.

The cheapest places in the UK and world for petrol - Yahoo! Finance UK

The cheapest places in the UK and world for petrol - Yahoo! Finance UK

In all the oil producing countries excepting Norway and Britain fuel is very cheap but it is also a health hazard. What would happen to the price of oil if those countries who sell cheap fuel levelled the price withe the US and EU countries?.
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