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To: UncleBigs who wrote (63788)	6/15/2006 10:40:03 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

HAHA she covered her ears - she doesn't want to hear your negativity! Grasso said specialists weren't doing bad things - HAHA - what a crock!

To: UncleBigs who wrote (63788)	6/15/2006 10:59:54 AM
From: westpacific	Respond to of 110194

Rally over..wave 4. Dow should see into the 10300 to 10600s for the bottom. Then the summer rally to kick off. Or it kicks off already. If that is the case, up up and away. It will really run. And take all the shorts off ahead of the late August into October crash.....as in 40% plus. Gotta love da game. As for gold, it held that 560 so perfect - for now. West

To: UncleBigs who wrote (63788)	6/15/2006 7:14:41 PM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

Ex-Specialists Made Improper Trades (Grasso just said they were all innocent - how do these people keep walking free? - Grace said this was a joke and Philster has been harping on this almost every other day on his show) . (Adds Stern was once Pfizer specialist in fifth paragraph and a description of specialists in sixth paragraph.) By Chad Bray Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Two former Van der Moolen Specialists USA LLC floor specialists repeatedly made improper trades for their firm's own accounts ahead of public orders in violation of New York Stock Exchange's rules, a federal prosecutor said as opening statements began in their fraud trial on Thursday. In her opening statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Goldberg said Michael Hayward, 53 years old, and Michael Stern, 55, made more than $1 million apiece for the firm as a result of their illicit trading. The alleged improper trading took place between 1999 and 2003, according to an indictment in the case. The men - both former members of Van der Moolen's management committee - "cut in line" ahead of public orders and made thousands of trades for Van der Moolen's accounts in violation of the Big Board's rules, Goldberg said. They also improperly positioned themselves between buyers and sellers in order to make illicit profits for the firm, instead of matching those buy and sell orders, she said. "They were supposed to play matchmaker, instead they violated the golden rule and they played middle man," the prosecutor said. Hayward, a one-time specialist for Time Warner Inc. (TWX) and SPX Corp. (SPW), and Stern, the former specialist for Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY), Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Duke Energy Corp. (DUK), each have been charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and three counts of securities fraud. They face a maximum of 20 years in prison on the securities-fraud charges. Specialists match buyers and sellers at the NYSE, a unit of the publicly traded NYSE Group Inc. (NYX), and provide liquidity by buying or selling shares when there is an imbalance on the floor. Lawyers for Hayward and Stern are expected to give their opening statements beginning on Friday morning. "We look forward to making our opening statement in court tomorrow," David Meister, one of Stern's lawyers, said Thursday. Hayward and Stern are the first of a group of former floor specialists accused of engaging in fraudulent and improper trading at the NYSE to go to trial. Their trial is expected to last about four weeks. In 2005, federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against 15 former floor specialists at five of the Big Board's seven specialists firms, alleging they systematically violated NYSE rules by trading ahead of investor orders and by "interpositioning" trades for their firms' accounts between open investor orders. In May, former Van der Moolen specialists Joseph Bongiorno - another management committee member - and Patrick McGagh separately pleaded guilty to securities fraud. Three other former Van der Moolen specialists still face charges in the matter and are expected to go to trial later this summer. Van der Moolen Specialists USA is a unit of Van der Moolen Holding NV (VDM). In her opening statement, Goldberg said Thursday that prosecutors plan to introduce into evidence screenshots that demonstrate their allegedly improper trades keystroke-by-keystroke for about 30 transactions that occurred after October 2002. They also plan to show the jury so-called exception reports generated by the NYSE that track the improper trades prior to that time, she said. "The defendants earned quick, risk-free profits (through interpositioning)," Goldberg said. The government plans to present testimony from clerks who executed the allegedly improper trades at Stern's and Hayward's direction and evidence that Hayward, Stern and Bongiorno pressured other specialists to conduct illicit trading on the firm's behalf, Goldberg said. "As specialists, Michael Hayward and Michael Stern cheated and took advantage of the public," Goldberg said. Goldberg said Stern, who began working as a specialist in 1983, and Hayward, who first became a specialist in 1989, were handsomely rewarded while working at Van der Moolen, making between $2.7 million and $4.4 million apiece between 2000 and 2002. Last year, the SEC and the Big Board levied $247 million in fines and disgorgement against the seven specialist firms that work at the exchange for alleged trading abuses. NYSE Regulation also has taken action against at least 20 persons in connection with the case and the SEC has brought civil charges in the matter. In addition, the SEC censured the exchange last year, saying it "failed to police specialists, who engaged in widespread and unlawful proprietary trading on the floor of the NYSE." The Big Board has agreed in part to undertake a number of remedial measures, including auditing of its regulatory arm every two years through 2011 and a pilot program to videotape the activities of some of its traders and brokers. - Chad Bray; Dow Jones Newswires; 212-227-2017; chad.bray@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 15, 2006 17:15 ET (21:15 GMT) Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 05 15 PM EDT 06-15-06