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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Claude Cormier who wrote (83885)	3/28/2002 3:44:49 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116915

And what did all the investment advisors tell people with a low risk threshold to do? Just put their money in a bond mutual fund & forget it? Monday March 25, 3:57 pm Eastern Time Owners of Heartland troubled funds offered $14 mln NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) - Milwaukee-based Heartland Advisors has agreed to pay investors in two of the firm's ill-fated high-yield municipal bond funds $14 million to address alleged mismanagement, according to a plan filed in a Wisconsin court. The settlement, which must be approved by a U.S. District Court judge and shareholders before any payout, would return a fraction of the estimated $87 million in losses the investors' lawyers say their clients suffered. ``This is terrible news,'' said one Chicago-based investor whose $200,000 in retirement savings dwindled to $6,148.48, or $4,611.36 after legal fees. Earlier this year he received about $16,000 from an attorney liquidating the funds' assets for the Securities and Exchange Commission. Heartland Advisors on Oct. 13, 2000, unexpectedly cut the net asset value of its High-Yield Municipal Bond Fund by 70 percent and its High-Yield Short Duration Municipal Fund by 44 percent. The fund held a wide range of illiquid and defaulted bonds that proved to be worth far less than both the fund managers and the mutual fund pricing service said. The collapse, which led to the SEC seizing the two funds, infuriated investors and spawned 19 separate lawsuits alleging fraud and mismanagement. Lawyers, led by Florida attorney Oliver Burt III, brought the 19 suits together and then filed the settlement proposal last Friday. Separate actions not included in the class action are not a part of this settlement. A very small third fund, the Heartland Taxable Short Duration Municipal Fund, which had also suffered a drop in asset value, was included in the SEC seizure, but was not part of the settlement. In the settlement, Heartland will pay $4 million, while its insurance company, Citigroup's (NYSE:C - news) Gulf Insurance Group will kick in another $10 million. Heartland's chief financial officer, Paul Beste, said he could not comment on the proposal. A spokeswoman for Gulf Insurance would only say the company would meet its contractual obligation. The SEC's receiver, Chicago attorney Philip Stern, has been selling off the two funds' holdings, allowing him to return $7.1 million to investors so far. Under the settlement agreement, High-Yield Municipal Bond Fund investors will be paid 32 cents per share while High-Yield Short Duration Municipal Fund shareholders will get 17 cents per share. Investors who owned bond fund shares between Jan. 2, 1997 and Oct. 16, 2000 would be eligible for settlement monies. Heartland's auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and the pricing service that allegedly played a hand in mutual funds' faulty NAVs, FT Interactive Data (NasdaqNM:IDCO - news), were not included in the current suit, the filing said. In previous legal actions against mutual fund companies, auditors have proven to have deep pockets for settlements with disgruntled investors. biz.yahoo.com

To: Claude Cormier who wrote (83885)	3/28/2002 3:52:56 PM
From: IngotWeTrust	Respond to of 116915

O.T.: My opinion and contrary assertion STANDS. That's a fact. Bring on the engineering firms. Ever hear of Slavin...you know, the engineering firm employed by Bre-X? Understand they are practicing in Siberia now... Take it back to the BAY thread, croupier and take Brian Krause with you...the folks on here are TOO smart to be the bag holders that you need to push this POS stock pick of yours into the last phase of pump before the dump at the report and the $45mil fundraising dilution trainwreck dead ahead. Hell, you're already bragging about selling next month over there on your BAY thread where you hold court regularly. Remember, I'm saving the post where you promised them all way back when that " this one" was a hold until $20 per share regardless of the time frame. And you brag about buying more yesterday? Why on earth would you do that unless you think you can avoid the dilution dead ahead? ONE MORE TIME, Croupier...repeat after me: PROMO IS A PROMO IS A PROMO and has NOTHING to do with the price of gold. Promo's are just easier during fantasy bull markets than in reality bear markets. And silver is in a reality bear market...trrrrrrrrrrrust me on that one! Ditto GOLD!