Thursday, March 3, 2011
Minecraft Creator - Piracy is Not Theft
The creator of the massively popular game Minecraft is a subscriber (pun intended) to the idea that software is a service, and if they service is provided well people will pay for it regardless of its availability for free unsanctioned channels.
McCormick and Schmick's plans huge investment in infrastructure
Portland based McCormick and Schmick's plans a large investment to modernize its restaurants in the face of two straight years of dismissal financial performance despite increases in revenue.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Online payday loan company fined
Oregon has stepped in and fined an on-line payday loan company for charging an incredible 842% interest rate on a loan.
$10K and an order to comply with the law seems like a slap on the wrist, but it is better than nothing.
$10K and an order to comply with the law seems like a slap on the wrist, but it is better than nothing.
New Copyright Settlement Scam
These guys are the newest, lowest budget, player in the copyright troll lawsuits. They are shaking people down for $100.00 a pop. This is basically just a phishing scheme for credit numbers, but because they have the veneer of defenders of innocent rich people's copyrights, no one is going to call them to the carpet as a bunch of scammers.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Mult. Co. wants some more money from the City
Thanks, Jack Bogdankski, for catching this one. Multnomah County has changed the tax status of the Fairfield Hotel, aka The Fairfield on Stark, to non-exempt, meaning that the Portland Development Commission has to pay property tax on this housing. The Tax Court shot the change down for 2009-10, but only because of defective notice by the County to the PDC. Probably Mult. Co. will try this again, and the Tax Court will have to rule on the substantive issues soon.
Most people don't care too much about who foots the bill for the property tax on the Fairfield, although now hardly seems like the time when the PDC can afford to pay it. But, some of the PDC's other projects, like the swanky but unprofitable hotel, The Nines, or the sweetheart deal to the Danish green energy firm Vestas for a new office in the Pearl, are a little more questionable. Perhaps the county is signalling that they are no longer interested in subsidizing the city's public-private partnerships.
Most people don't care too much about who foots the bill for the property tax on the Fairfield, although now hardly seems like the time when the PDC can afford to pay it. But, some of the PDC's other projects, like the swanky but unprofitable hotel, The Nines, or the sweetheart deal to the Danish green energy firm Vestas for a new office in the Pearl, are a little more questionable. Perhaps the county is signalling that they are no longer interested in subsidizing the city's public-private partnerships.
Michael Lewis sued for "The Big Short"
Michael Lewis has been sued by Wing Chau for his depiction of Chau in "The Big Short" as a buffoon who championed extremely risky investments in overrated bunches of subprime mortgages, and who was ultimately taken advantage of by savvier investors. Of course, Michael Lewis's black and white world of evil ne'er do-wells aggressively marketing financial products filled with default-prone mortgages and white knights shorting those same products on behalf of the common man is pretty silly.
Everybody involved got rich from this scheme, both the winners and losers on Wall Street. Everyone else, ie most people, got totally screwed. However, Wing Chau is hardly a good guy. But, he didn't act alone. As Warren Buffett points out in the previously linked that entering into a transaction where one side is just really stupid doesn't make a fraud. The real problem here is not any of the individuals who got filthy rich in these trades.
The problem is the total lack of government oversight, either before or after the fact. After slapping a couple banks who were hiding extremely risky transactions on the wrist, the SEC still does not have the power to regulate the ratings agencies, who are ultimately responsible for letting the banks hid this risk. So, the more things change, the more they stay the same, and we are only left to speculate what the next bubble will be. Commercial Real Estate, anyone? How about gold? Maybe commodities in general. Or social media (liveblogging the next economic crises here, everybody). The one thing we can be sure of is that guys like Wing Chau will get rich off of it, regardless of which side they bet on, and the SEC is going to be looking the other way when it happens.
Everybody involved got rich from this scheme, both the winners and losers on Wall Street. Everyone else, ie most people, got totally screwed. However, Wing Chau is hardly a good guy. But, he didn't act alone. As Warren Buffett points out in the previously linked that entering into a transaction where one side is just really stupid doesn't make a fraud. The real problem here is not any of the individuals who got filthy rich in these trades.
The problem is the total lack of government oversight, either before or after the fact. After slapping a couple banks who were hiding extremely risky transactions on the wrist, the SEC still does not have the power to regulate the ratings agencies, who are ultimately responsible for letting the banks hid this risk. So, the more things change, the more they stay the same, and we are only left to speculate what the next bubble will be. Commercial Real Estate, anyone? How about gold? Maybe commodities in general. Or social media (liveblogging the next economic crises here, everybody). The one thing we can be sure of is that guys like Wing Chau will get rich off of it, regardless of which side they bet on, and the SEC is going to be looking the other way when it happens.
Jury Trial Victory in a Securities Fraud Cases
An LA jury found that the CEO of homestore.com, Stuart Wolff was personally liable for damages to the California teacher's retirement fund, among others, for creating phantom profits for the company. The total amount of damages is not yet determined, but will be awarded on a per share basis.
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