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To: Cactus Jack who wrote (53307)	6/28/2002 10:14:14 AM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 65232

From: AllansAlias Friday, Jun 28, 2002 10:10 AM Thanks to stk_pkr on BearForum for this interesting tidbit. Schwab Market update report Scott B. Evans – As of last Friday, the S&P 500 Index (SPX 991) had closed down 10 out of the last 12 weeks. This is a significant event and since 1928 has occurred only seven other times. Each occurrence is highlighted in the table below. Of those seven times, only once did the index fail to post a gain 52 weeks later. On average, the index rose over 31 percent. While such an event has not always coincided with the exact low in the market, its occurrence, in my view, is a signal that there is limited downside risk to the market. S&P 500 Signal Date Price 52 Weeks Later Percent Gain 10/02/1931 9.7 8.08 -16.70% 05/27/1932 4.83 10.13 109.73% 09/20/1946 14.69 15.2 3.47% 04/24/1953 24.2 27.78 14.79% 06/22/1962 52.68 70.25 33.35% 07/03/1970 72.92 99.78 36.83% 03/12/1982 108.6 151.24 39.25% 06/21/2002 989.1 ?? ?? Average Return 31.53% Message 17668582

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (53307)	6/28/2002 11:52:39 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 65232

Former WCOM CFO has quite a spread under construction down in Boca Raton: ttrader.com

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (53307)	6/28/2002 12:54:38 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Are We Back to The Greed-Is-Good '80s..?? thestreet.com

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (53307)	6/28/2002 1:58:34 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

The 'Sweetest Move Of All'... Message 17670128

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (53307)	6/29/2002 10:31:50 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Seattle law firm suing state of Illinois over fees in tobacco case By DAN RICHMAN SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER Saturday, June 29, 2002 The Seattle law firm of Hagens & Berman is suing the state of Illinois, a former client in nationwide litigation against the major tobacco companies. It's seeking attorneys' fees that could approach $1 billion. Though the lawsuit is formally a contract dispute, at its the heart is whether Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan undermined a settlement between Hagens & Berman and the tobacco companies by failing to appear at the settlement hearing, principal Steve Berman said yesterday. In November 1998, Illinois and 35 other states agreed to accept $206 billion to settle the tobacco litigation, which sought compensation for medical expenses the states paid to lung cancer victims. Illinois was awarded about $9 billion, payable over a 25-year period. Hagens & Berman, like other firms hired to work with the states' attorneys general, did the work on a contingency fee basis. The firm represented 13 states in the litigation, including Illinois. In October 1996, Ryan personally signed a contract promising Hagens & Berman 10 percent of whatever the state was awarded, Berman said. But the settlement agreement between the states and the tobacco companies, signed two years later, provided that the companies -- not the states -- would pay as much of the attorneys' fees as possible. Lawyers retained the right to seek payment from the state if the defendants didn't pay them as much as they were promised by the states. So Hagens & Berman initially tried to obtain compensation from the tobacco companies instead, through arbitration. In similar arbitration, the firm obtained fees of $625 million for work done on behalf of New York and $275 million for work done for Ohio. In those cases, and in others, the attorney general was present at the arbitration hearing, reassuring the arbitrators that the state supported the outcome. But Ryan didn't attend the Illinois arbitration hearing, claiming he was laid low by his cancer -- a claim the tobacco companies promptly refuted with photographic evidence, Berman said. "That undermined my credibility," he said, leading to a low settlement: $121 million. So in September 1999, the firm sued Illinois, seeking additional compensation through a lien. Some reports put the amount sought at $900 million, which is the agreed-to 10 percent. Some say it's more like $780 million, which is the difference between that 10 percent and the $121 million already won through arbitration. Berman won't say how much money is being sought, though he does assert that "we were never seeking the full $900 million, and I don't even know whether we'll ask for that. We're seeking some addition to make up for the fact that Ryan didn't show up." Lori Bolas, a spokesman for the Illinois attorney general's office, said only that the amount Hagens & Berman is seeking "is not fair and reasonable." Negotiations are supposed to be under way between Illinois and Hagens & Berman, though Berman said "they aren't meaningful." Trial is set for next March. Disputes over attorneys' fees in the tobacco litigation have also broken out in Florida, Texas and Minnesota. Ethics rules prohibit excessive fees, and a witness for the state of Texas reportedly said lawyers there were seeking $92,000 per hour. -------------------------------------- P-I reporter Dan Richman can be reached at 206-448-8032 or danrichman@seattlepi.com

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (53307)	6/29/2002 11:45:26 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Scandals of Corporate America are hurting U.S. moral authority By BARRIE MCKENNA The Globe and Mail Saturday, June 29, 2002 globeandmail.ca You can bet that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was quietly gleeful at this week's Group of Eight meeting in Kananaskis. And not only because of the clean mountain air or that down-home Alberta hospitality. Japan, you see, is accustomed to coming to these elite G-Club meetings as the whipping boy for pretty much everything that's wrong with the global economy. It's been that way for a decade now, and well, Japan has had enough. Cronyism, corporate scandals, shoddy accounting, murky financial markets, protectionism and government paralysis -- Japan's been tarred with all of that. And no country more than the United States has sanctimoniously hammered the Japanese to clean up their mess. So who's the bad guy now? At least some of our corporate thugs had the decency to fall on their swords, some Japanese might point out. Indeed, around the world, many countries that have been at the receiving end of pointed U.S. jabs are probably enjoying a quiet chuckle at the trials and tribulations of Corporate America. Its economy, its markets and its values -- once the envy of the world -- are in disgrace. The New York Daily News renamed Wall Street "Crook St." U.S. President George W. Bush did his best, of course, to stomp his feet at the G8, vowing to chase the outlaws out of Dodge City. Now he plans to devote his weekly weekend radio address to the subject of corporate responsibility. On July 9 he'll stare down Wall Street's evildoers in the heart of Gotham City itself, with a speech on the same theme in New York. Clearly, the United States' ability to be the moral compass for the rest of the world has been badly impaired. To be blunt: It doesn't look good. And Mr. Bush knows it. The past six months have been way too messy to erase with a burst of presidential outrage. Enron, a company that virtually financed Mr. Bush's presidential run, is now a symbol of greed and corporate misbehaviour. Phone giant WorldCom -- a former market darling and star of the New Economy -- dialed up a staggering $3.8-billion (U.S.) wrong number that regulators, auditors and the best suits on Wall Street inexplicably missed. Then there was Tyco International's Dennis Kozlowski, the working-class son of a New Jersey cop, who became a business hero by reviving New Hampshire's long-faded industrial glory. Prosecutors allege the billionaire tried to duck New York sales taxes on pricey French art. Then, there was Martha Stewart. Perhaps no one came to symbolize the American quest for perfection and the good life than this former-model-turned-fashion consultant. Ms. Stewart hasn't been charged with anything, but allegations that she engaged in insider trading are the corporate equivalent of suggesting the Pope is guilty of a mortal sin. The perception, at least, is that all of this was just the tip of the iceberg. Since 1997, nearly 1,000 U.S. companies have restated their earnings -- admitting that what they soberly told investors was wrong. The stock market and the U.S. dollar -- symbols of the boom -- have taken a major hit. Looking back, 1997 might well have been the apex of American economic power. It was before former president Bill Clinton's impeachment, the bursting of the tech bubble and Sept. 11. The G8 meeting in Denver that year was a virtual celebration of the American might and the New Economy. Without a hint of modesty, Mr. Clinton told the other summit leaders that "America's economy is the healthiest in a generation and the strongest in the world." The danger now is that opponents of economic reform in the rest of the world will use the United States' woes as a pretext to turn back the clock -- on market transparency, free trade, deregulation and the fight against corruption. Japan may have escaped the ritual lecturing in Kananaskis, but it's still the economic zombie it was before the meeting. Its economy is stagnating, its banking system is a mess and its politics are stuck somewhere in the Middle Ages. The message of the U.S. scandals is not that the American economic model was a colossal mistake that should be rejected. What the scandals do show is that the system is set for some major tweaking. More government oversight of accountants, lawyers, bankers and brokers need not shackle the free markets. If the United States gets its reforms right, Mr. Koizumi better run for cover at next year's G8 in France. bmckenna@globeandmail.ca