Review Comments | 06.23.09

• On Wall St., Obama Pushes Stricter Finance Rules – Nothing like getting lectured in your own bank yard. [NYT]
• Judge Rejects SEC-BofA Settlement Over Merrill – “The AG’s office has also questioned whether Bank of America failed to tell shareholders about its consideration of backing out of the deal and mounting write-downs at one of Merrill’s mortgage lending subsidiaries.” He might be calling Ken Lewis a liar, we’re not sure. [NPR]
• Tax evaders rush to beat amnesty deadline – September 23rd bitches. Repent! [Reuters]
• Update: Do NOT Bid On Lenny Dykstra’s Balls – Fans of Nails, proceed cautiously. [DB]

• U.S. Rep. Frank sees finance reform by year-end – Weekend pool parties with friends will remain fluid until the end of summer [Reuters]
• Loans Shrink as Fear Lingers – “The total amount of loans held by 15 large U.S. banks shrank by 2.8% in the second quarter, and more than half of the loan volume in April and May came from refinancing mortgages and renewing credit to businesses, not new loans, an analysis by The Wall Street Journal shows.” [WSJ]
• N.F.L. Grants Vick an Opening – Unfortunately for Vick, he’ll remain completely unmarketable for endorsement purposes [NYT]
• U.S. Economy: New-Home Sales Up 11%, Most Since 2000 [Bloomberg]
• SEC to Limit ‘Naked’ Short-Selling – “The Securities and Exchange Commission issued new rules to govern short selling, promising investors new information about the volume and velocity of negative bets placed against companies but dropping a requirement that hedge funds disclose details of short positions to regulators.” [WSJ]
&bull U.S. Said to Focus on UBS Banker Visits to Clients [DealBook]

• Don’t forget to submit your captions and vote in the ‘Year Ahead’ poll
• Area Man Has One Month To Prove Why Bank Of America Owes Him 1,784 Billion, Trillion Dollars – Is this the ‘American Taxpayer’ we keep hearing about? [DB]
• BofA Formally Answers SEC Complaint – Deny ’til you die. [WSJ]
• AT&T Asks FCC to Investigate Google Voice – Ma Bell a snitch? [WSJ]
• Crowe Horwath Expands in Brazil and China [Web CPA]