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To: xcr600 who wrote (24676)	7/5/2005 1:35:41 PM
From: Bucky Katt	Respond to of 48461

Been in & out of RRC for a decade and a half... Message 20964534 I am underwater in ASKY presently, even with some sub $2 buys... I think & hope this was a good index rally to short, 'cause I did.. That is it, hanging it up for the day.....

To: xcr600 who wrote (24676)	12/22/2005 8:25:02 AM
From: Bucky Katt	Respond to of 48461

AKSY update, and this is crazy> Biotech Pirate Sacane Pleads to Stock Fraud Scott Sacane, the hedge fund manager who once claimed to have "inadvertently" become the biggest stockholder in two small healthcare companies, pleaded guilty Wednesday in a Connecticut federal court to securities fraud. The guilty plea comes more than two years after Sacane's bizarre trading activity shined an unwelcome spotlight on his Durus Capital Management hedge fund. Sacane, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the federal Investment Advisors Act, an offense that could get him five years in a federal prison and a $250,000 fine. The former manager entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Alan Nevas. Kevin O'Connor, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut, said in a statement that Sacane's "manipulation of the stock market injured both investors and the companies involved." Sacane's attorney, Matthew Dontzin, could not be reached for comment. Sacane's plea comes two months after Douglas Schmidt, Durus' former chief operating officer, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aiding and abetting the filing of a false regulatory statement. Sacane's $500 million hedge fund empire began to unravel in July 2003 when he belatedly disclosed that Durus had obtained a 77% ownership stake in Aksys (AKSY:Nasdaq - commentary - research - Cramer's Take), a dialysis machine manufacturer, and a 33% stake in Esperion, a drug manufacturer. He also revealed significant equity stakes in several other small bio-techs. The disclosures stunned the biotech world. Until then, Durus had been mum to regulators on its big purchases, all of which occurred in thinly traded stocks. In a series of subsequent regulatory filings during the summer of 2003, Sacane offered flimsy-sounding explanations for how he came to own the positions. Sacane claimed his fund "inadvertently" acquired the shares, and decline to explain further. He also never explained how or why Durus continued to keep buying shares even after cutting agreements with Aksys and Esperion to halt the purchases. The strange tale led some to wonder if Sacane had fallen asleep with his finger on the "buy" key. But many saw a more sinister strategy at work, attributing it to either outright stock manipulation or gross incompetence. At one point, more than 70% Durus' money was invested in Aksys and Esperion. The rest was in a handful of stocks such as Allos Therapeutics (ALTH:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) and Novoste (NOVT:Nasdaq - commentary - research - Cramer's Take). The big purchases by Durus drove up the prices of those stocks. But the share prices ultimately came tumbling down when the hedge fund's activities were revealed. Subsequent agreements with Aksys and Esperion barred Durus from selling its shares for several months. The investors in the Durus' hedge fund stood to lose hundreds of millions of dollars. But they recouped some of those losses when Pfizer (PFE:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) acquired Esperion for $1.3 billion, which represented a 54% premium to then $22.70 a share price. At the time, Durus still owned 30% of the company's stock and the deal represented a windfall for the embattled hedge fund. But the bad news continued for Durus investors. The fund was forced to forfeit nearly $40 million in short-term profits it made from trading in shares of Esperion and Aksys. The forced repatriation came under a little-known securities regulation that bars large shareholders from making short-swing trades. Ultimately, the investors in Durus, fed up with Sacane's antics, stripped him of much of his power. For a year, Sacane has been out of the headlines. Even though the Securities and Exchange Commission's Boston office launched an investigation into Durus' trading in the fall of 2003, little had been heard on that front. But within the past few months, the screws started to turn on Sacane. In September, the Federal Trade Commission fined him $350,000 for violating antitrust laws. Sacane paid the fine without admitting any liability. The government claimed by acquiring large stakes in Aksys and Esperion, he failed to "comply with antitrust premerger notification and waiting period requirements." A month later, Durus' COO pleaded guilty. On the same day, the SEC filed a civil fraud complaint against Sacane. The SEC charged him with manipulating the price of both Esperion and Aksys and "concealing these purchases by failing to file various forms and schedules'' with the SEC. The SEC case is still pending.