Old and still drinking water and eating dry white toast.
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The Puppy Bowl was GREAT.
Locked and Loaded...waiting for the London open.
Time to feed the ducks....
....with my Southern Southern girl.
Don't forget to reset your account for $50K....I'm not alllowed to watch the SUPER BOWL GAME, after 28 years of marriage I've been house broken, the wife has me trained to take her shopping, feeding ducks and chickens on Sunday.
Take your time, wait for the London open to play the spread and don't margin out at 2nd base.
A small wind is all it will take....
Pick pocket Sunday
Start Date February-01-2009
End Date February-28-2009
FX Contest Link -https://fx2.oanda.com/mod_perl/fxcontest/fxcontest.pl?rm=contestDetails&contestId=1003
A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains.
- Dutch Proverb
Tax reporting for forex.
a few snips from Green Trader Tax
What should you do if you have forex trading losses reported on a 1099 for IRC 1256 contracts?
If your position is that your forex loss should be ordinary (see above), consider filing the forex trading loss first on Form 6781 (so the IRS can match the 1099 reporting with their computers), and then transfer the forex trading loss to another area of the tax return (line 21 of Form 1040 for investors or Form 4797 Part II for business traders).
Using line 21 Other Income or Loss on Form 1040 for IRC 988 transactions is industry-accepted practice, although it's not stated in any IRS tax forms or form instructions.
Green Trader Tax - http://www.greencompany.com/EducationCenter/GTTRecCurrency.shtml
As always please review with your IRS Tax Preparer.
AIG executive sentenced to 4 years in prison
Former AIG executive gets 4 years in prison for $500M fraud
Tuesday January 27, 2009, 1:25 pm EST
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A former executive of insurance heavyweight American International Group Inc. was sentenced to four years in prison Tuesday in a fraud case that authorities say cost shareholders more than $500 million.
Christian Milton of Wynnewood, Pa., declined to comment during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Hartford. He was ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on March 25, and his lawyers said they were preparing an appeal.
Judge Christopher Droney also fined Milton $200,000.
Milton, 61, AIG's vice president of reinsurance from 1982 to 2005, was convicted last year of conspiracy, securities fraud, mail fraud and making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The investigation also led to the convictions of four General Re Corp. executives last year for their roles in manipulating AIG's financial statements.
Prosecutors said New York-based AIG paid Gen Re in a secret side agreement to take out reinsurance policies with AIG in 2000 and 2001, propping up AIG's stock price and inflating reserves by $500 million.
Reinsurance policies are backups purchased by insurance companies to completely or partly insure the risk they have assumed for their customers.
Milton's lawyer, Frederick Hafetz, told the judge before the sentence was announced that Milton is a good person who was known for helping AIG employees with their problems, including two workers who died from AIDS in the 1980s.
Hafetz also said Milton didn't benefit personally from the fraud, which he called an aberration in Milton's life.
"He has lived a life that our society would prize in its most pious ways," Hafetz said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Patricco countered that Milton has shown no remorse for his actions and hasn't taken responsibility. He also claimed Milton has done little charitable work.
"He knew exactly what was at stake in this endeavor," Patricco said.
The judge agreed with the prosecutor.
"He surely knew this was a scam from the very start," Droney said. "This was no momentary lapse in judgment."
Milton's wife, her elderly parents and her adult children were among those in the courtroom on Tuesday.
Authorities expect Milton to be deported to his native England after he serves his sentence.
Milton's lawyer asked that his client serve his time at Allenwood Federal Correctional Institute in central Pennsylvania. Prison officials have not decided yet where Milton will be imprisoned.
Ronald Ferguson, the former chief executive of General Re, was sentenced in December to two years in prison and fined $200,000 for his role in the fraud.
Three other former Gen Re officials await sentencing. They are former senior vice president Christopher P. Garand, former chief financial officer Elizabeth Monrad and former senior vice president Robert Graham.
General Re is part of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which is led by billionaire investor Warren Buffett of Omaha, Neb.
Reinsurers Sue AIG Alleging Claims Fraud; AIG Denies All Wrongdoing
August 1, 2005
A group of 18 insurers is suing American International Group and bankrupt fronting company Trenwick America Reinsurance Corp. for allegedly scheming to collect as much as $73 million in what the insurers claim are "grossly inflated" workers compensation and other reinsurance claims.
The suit alleges that only about $15 million of the $73 million in claims for which AIG has demanded payment appear to be legitimate paid losses eligible for reinsurance coverage. The remaining amount reflects "highly suspect" estimates of future (incurred but not reported) losses, according to the complaint, which was filed in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston on July 6.
AIG had originally demanded $130 million in payment with $116 of that labeled as projections of future claims.
In a statement to Insurance Journal, AIG denied any wrongdoing including allegations of fraud. The statement from spokesman Joe Norton referred to the matter as "a reinsurance collection dispute" that would "normally be handled in private arbitration."
The plaintiff insurers are members of a reinsurance facility managed by LDG Facilities in Wakefield, Mass. LDG in turn hired Trenwick and its predecessor, Chartwell Reinsurance, to issue policies on behalf of the consortium and to verify and manage claims from insureds, including AIG.
According to plaintiffs, AIG's claims figures were "highly suspicious" and defied actuarial sense. Also, AIG never provided satisfactory proof or explanations; instead AIG and Trenwick together engaged in a pattern of "evasive and obstructionist conduct" in response to attempts by LDG to obtain proof of losses, the complaint contends.
Plaintiffs maintain that AIG took advantage of Trenwick's tenuous financial situation and manipulated Trenwick to participate in the scheme to pass through millions of dollars in claims to the reinsurers without verifying their legitimacy.
Trenwick acquired Chartwell in 2002. On August 20, 2003, Trenwick filed for Chapter 11 protection and seven days later, according to the plaintiffs, AIG exercised its option to demand arbitration with Trenwick to settle its claims. Later, AIG induced Trenwick into a settlement by offering the favorable promissory note financing, plaintiffs maintain.
The court documents allege that in exchange for agreeing to pass through the invalid claims to the reinsurers, AIG extended financing to Trenwick in the form of a promissory note with favorable terms for a financially strapped firm. This note made it appear Trenwick had commuted the claims as legitimate. AIG subsequently demanded that the reinsurers make good on that promissory note. Trenwick paid AIG $4 million in cash for the commutation agreement, a sum that Trenwick later demanded LDG pay back, the documents add.
The suit comes after years of arbitration and secret negotiations between AIG and Trenwick, according to the court papers.
AIG said that it commenced arbitration as called for under the reinsurance agreements. The insurer said it would respond to the complaint "in the appropriate forum at the appropriate time."
AIG asserted its "right to recover funds from the reinsurance pools as the result of a negotiated agreement with Trenwick" and noted that the reinsurers have paid AIG nothing to date.
Among the AIG executives mentioned in the complaint as signing off on the commutation agreement is Christopher Milton, former vice president for reinsurance. Milton is no longer with AIG, having been was among the AIG employees fired for not cooperating with earlier investigations into various reinsurance transactions, according to the insurer.
The complaint charges AIG and Trenwick with fraud, civil conspiracy, aiding a breach of fiduciary duty among other charges. It also invokes Massachusetts law Chapter 93A, which awards treble damages, for unfair and deceptive practices.
Plaintiffs are asking for compensatory and punitive damages and an injunction against paying any of the AIG claims.
Among the insurers bringing the suit are First Allmerica, Dorinco, Hartford Life, HCC Holdings, John Hancock, Sun Life, Insurance of Hannover, Phoenix Life, Clarica and Swiss Re.
We will not name names, but PLEASE make sure that everyone signs up for the correct Forex contest!!!! hehe
Bragging rights until the toe tag is attached...
...been on both sides of the fork.
FX-Game on - prepare to be tagged.
Game Link-
https://fx2.oanda.com/mod_perl/fxcontest/fxcontest.pl?rm=contestDetails&contestId=1003
Prepare to be stuffed....
You may not be able to keep-up with some of these young bucks-n-does on the Forex board, but it sure would be nice to bag and tag the 36-point buck (ataglance) this coming season.
I would learn and play only one cross-pair at a time, better to be the master of one than the loser of many.
Good-luck earning your butterfly wings.
A table and four chairs.
Only if Temp gets elected as a Boardmember will the prior years be payable....
Only if it's declared does the 4 cent quarterly dividend get paid to the common shareholders...
Not sure what the relationship to Trenwick would be...
That's alway good
As soon as WB creates the FX-contest.
WB, attached is the link to start the contest
FXContest allows you to hold your own forex trading contests between your friends and rivals - without the limitations of traditional contests.
https://fx2.oanda.com/mod_perl/fxcontest/fxcontest.pl?rm=contestHome
Feb 09 Contestant list....simply add your screen name to the following list & copy 'n paste onto a new post
SherriT
Worn_Buffet (screen name will be (Raiderdad")
Jester_Vandalay
No painting till spring, still planning the upgrades to the property.
It's a R2 lot , I'm planning on removing the garage, building a new basement and relocating the house.
I have to be careful that the upgrades do not trigger a Prop 13 tax increases.
On the 2 week FREE membership, just scraching the dirt looking for worms
I ask the Bank the question about a cash-out car loan and it's something that BofA no longer offers. Thanks for the prior post reagarding the car loan you saved my bacon on getting the pre-approved car loan.
Good-luck
The Company can be taken private if the shareholder base is below 300....
The Bank will be the holder and be the keeper of the title - I'm just a renter of the vehicle till it's payed off in 48 months.
The (BofA) Bank will only perform loan transactions with either an approved Dealer or Private Party.
Becareful with some of the Car Title Loan Companies - Interest rates are about 25 percent per month for the first three months and then drop down to about 12 percent per month.
Worn, I've been approved for an OBAMA $12K Auto Loan @ 6.64%.
Time to make another pot of Jester's fine roasted brewed coffee.
Brewing up some CHEAP coffee - take 1/2 handful of cheap Sumatra coffee beans, 1/2 handful of cheaper Brazil coffee beans, ....
....and two handful of sugar to make a pot of almost drinkable coffee.
Noble Energy reports big gas find off Israel’s coast
Noble Energy says it’s made its biggest discovery ever, a huge natural gas field off Israel’s coast in the Mediterranean Sea .
Exploratory drilling shows the Tamar prospect off the coast of Haifa appears to hold 3 trillion cubic feet of gas—roughly the same amount as the company’s existing gas reserves. In a written statement, Noble Chairman and Chief Executive Charles D. Davidson said additional data could prove the find even bigger.
“Tamar represents our first exploratory well offshore Israel in more than five years,” Davidson said. “This is one of the most significant prospects that we have ever tested.”
Noble Energy operates the well and owns a 36 percent stake in the project. Other investors include Isramco Negev 2, Delek Drilling, Avner Oil Exploration and Dor Gas Exploration.
“We are witnessing an historic moment in Israel’s energy market,” Israel’s National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said in a statement reported by Reuters. “If it turns out in a few weeks that the indicators received in recent days are true, then we are talking about the biggest find in Israel’s history.”
Stocks of the Israeli companies partnered with Noble Energy jumped in late trading in Tel Aviv on Sunday. Noble Energy’s stock is not trading today because the New York Stock Exchange is closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Maybe after I receive my OBAMA Car Loan ...
....waiting for my $12K liar loan from Bank of America to be processed.
I did not want to travel down the same road that you had to travel on...TIA
Check out Green Trader Tax and talk to accountant:
Green Trader Tax-
http://www.greencompany.com/EducationCenter/GTTRecCurrency.shtml
Good-luck
I may have to turn the house into a BED and BREAKFAST FOREX Trading House.
Surf and Sun during the day and trading the London Market at night.
Growing up was Peter downfall...if he grows up he will be thinned out by the IHUBBER
...Peter is the leader of the Lost Boys, a band of 135 boys who were lost by their parents, and came to live in IHUB Neverland; it is reported that he "thins them out" when they start to grow up.
I never like playing the virtual monopoly game to support the virtual lifestyle, also I never like to spend more than I make or make more than I spend.
Looking forward to building my ZERO Energy house, growing my own food, walking to work, and trading FOREX full-time.
Also I just received the TWO-WEEK FREE IHUB membership for changing my IHUB underwear.
Your WIFE may want you to get a paper route soon...
...I'm planning on enjoying the NUTS that I've stored over the last few winters and enjoy another cup of coffee
...till my next FREE OBAMA Vacation check in four days.
...so may NUTS and to many dreams. What's a little squirrel to do?
Your correct on the architecture & latex salesman....just leave the car on the credit card.
[phone rings]
KRAMER: Yallo. What delay industries?
ELAINE: no no , ..
GEORGE: [from bathroom] VANDALEY, SAY VANDALEY!
KRAMER: Na, you're way way way off.. Well, yeah that's the right number but this is an apartment
GEORGE: [from bathroom] VANDALEY, SAY VANDEL... [George falls] ... Vandaley Industries, ...
KRAMER: no problem, ... no problem. [Hangs up] ... How did YOU know who that was?
[Jerry enters - sees George on the floor]
JERRY: And you want to be my latex salesman.
European Central Bank cuts rates to 2 percent
Thursday January 15, 2009, 9:33 am EST
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- The European Central Bank cut its interest rates by a half percentage point to 2 percent on Thursday, moving to protect the continent's economy against a deep recession amid increasingly grim economic news.
The unanimous decision by the governing council to cut the main refinancing rate from 2.5 percent was in line with market expectations and left the rate at its lowest level since December 2005. It followed a three-quarter point cut last month.
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet told reporters there remains clear evidence the euro zone economy is experiencing "a significant slowdown." The level of uncertainty also continues to be exceptionally high, especially due to the financial market turmoil, he said.
"We will continue to monitor very closely the developments ahead," Trichet said after the bank's announcement, adding that more data and further analysis is needed to assess any credit constraints and banking issues.
But Trichet said inflationary pressures in the euro area had lessened because of global economic weakness and lower commodity prices. "Demand is likely to be lower for a protracted period," he said.
Inflation dropped to an annual rate of 1.6 percent in December, below the ECB's mandate to keep inflation "close to, but less than 2 percent" for the first time since August 2007.
The news of the rate cut caused the euro to rise slightly against the dollar, to $1.3220 in Frankfurt afternoon trading Thursday from the $1.3143 in morning European trading. The euro traded at $1.3159 late Wednesday in New York.
The ECB has now reduced interest rates on four occasions since October from a high of 4.25 percent, though it has stopped short of the more aggressive cuts enacted by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.
In an unprecedented move last month, the Fed ratcheted down its rate to hover between zero and 0.25 percent. The Bank of England cut its rate last week by half a percentage point to 1.5 percent.
"Despite some apparent earlier reluctance to cut interest rates significantly in January after reducing them by 175 basis points over the previous three months, the ECB really had little option but to act again given the clear, widespread evidence that the euro zone recession is deepening," IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer said after Thursday's decision.
With euro zone inflation heading lower, "the ECB had ample scope to cut interest rates further," Archer argued.
Business confidence surveys have pointed at a deeper than anticipated recession in the now 16-nation single currency zone -- Slovakia joined at the start of the year. A survey last week from the European Commission revealed that overall economic confidence slid to a record low in December.
On Wednesday, Germany's Federal Statistical Office offered a rough preliminary estimate that the country's economy -- Europe's biggest -- may have shrunk by as much as 2 percent in the fourth quarter. It said Germany's annual growth last year was 1.3 percent, only about half the previous year's level.
The euro zone economy was already officially in recession even before the worst of the financial crisis in October, having slumped 0.2 percent in both the second and third quarters of 2008. The accepted definition of a recession is two quarters of negative growth.
Germany and Italy both slipped into recession in the third quarter but France bucked the trend, posting a 0.1 percentage point quarterly increase in output during the period following a 0.3 percent drop in the second quarter.
Looks like you had fun, it's good to get away and play. I'll submit my Butler resume for next year.
OBJECTIVE
A position as a Butler
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
Organized; service-conscious; neat; attention to details
EXPERIENCE
Butler, 2000 to present:
Vandalay Family, New York, New York.
Responsible for duties of a senior servant in this large household. In charge of housekeeping staff, nannies for the children, chauffeuring staff and kitchen help. Ran household for nearly a decade.
Chauffeur, 1970-2000:
Vandalay Family, London, England.
In charge of driving family members to and from appointments, maintaining a fleet of vehicles, responding to direction from the owner and butler.