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To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (150300)	9/25/2008 2:16:49 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 306849

companies like CVS being added to the 'short ban' list... this is insanity....this rally is SHORT covering....wait until just about everyone has covered... We Are All Financial Stocks Now Posted by David Gaffen Rob Curran reports: TradingLast summer, everybody’s exposure to the financial crisis was supposedly “minimal.” Now, we are all financial stocks. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s list of unshortable financial stocks has grown by more than 150 to more than 950 stocks, and many have qualified on what would seem to be technicalities. Among those added Wednesday or Thursday: Drug-plan administrator Medco Health Solutions, drugstore CVS Caremark, oil-and-natural gas driller Atlas Energy Resources, computer-services giant International Business Machines and apartment-building owner UDR. They join other prominent financial stocks threatened by short-sellers like Morgan Stanley, General Motors and Ford Motor. “The criterion is that you are or have a bank, thrift, financial advisor, etc. We have no discretion on this; the order is explicit,” said an NYSE spokesman in an email. The NYSE process asked listed companies to “self-certify” that they fit the SEC’s definition of financial institutions, and then vets the applications. The Nasdaq came up with its own list, without consulting the companies. One company that was surprised when the Nasdaq selected it: pharmacy-benefits manager Express Scripts. As part of its business administering the Medicare prescription drug plan, the company has a small insurance entity, said Express Scripts spokesman David Myers. “For a few thousand members, we are taking a small amount of risk. I guess the Nasdaq just saw that without looking at magnitude or scale, they just put us in categories of insurance entities,” he said. “For us, clearly, it’s a minute part of our business.” Express Scripts was hardly buffeted by short sellers or market volatility, as its shares recently neared a 52-week high. Still, Express Scripts’ appearance prompted calls from shareholders to its main competitor Medco Health Solutions. As it turned out, Medco has a larger, if still minor, insurance business to underwrite risks it takes when it administers the Medicare drug plan directly to individuals. Those shareholder calls were what motivated Medco to step forward. “They were asking why Express appeared on the list and we did not. To us, it’s an issue of fairness as well as an issue of relief from excessive” market turmoil, said Medco Health spokeswoman Ann Smith. The SEC has given companies the discretion to be removed from the list. Curiously, one of only four companies to opt out of the list so far is the parent of San Francisco broker and money manager JMP Securities, JMP Group Corp. “Four or five of our biggest customers are mutual funds,” said JMP Group President Craig Johnson. “They think the shorts are a very healthy process.” Opting out was “from our perspective a small step to articulate our case” that short-selling is a crucial part of a free market, Mr. Johnson said. A CVS spokeswoman said the company’s pharmacy-benefit management arm was behind its being added to the list. Atlas, which has not returned calls for comment, hedges on its energy-price exposure - hardly unusual in that sector - and says it “capitalizes interest on borrowed funds related to its share of costs,” again according to SEC filing. Neither Medco, IBM, CVS nor Atlas had more than 4.2% of their float in short-sellers hands, according to ShortSqueeze.com. Roughly 7.1% of JMP Group’s float was held short, according to the SEC. blogs.wsj.com

To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (150300)	9/25/2008 4:57:27 PM
From: Smiling Bob	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

Wasn't he scheduled for an inter-agency duck hunt? --- *DJ Bush: 'Serious Economic Crisis' If Bailout Deal Isn't Reached . (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires September 25, 2008 16:06 ET (20:06 GMT) Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 04 06 PM EDT 09-25-08

To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (150300)	9/26/2008 8:08:17 AM
From: James Hutton	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 306849

"The House (R)'s were feeling the most heat. They're already in trouble from the economy, and their constituents vote for them (presumably) so they WON'T spend money like a coked-out rock star. Which is precisely what they are now doing." More precisely, the conservative constituents woke up and saw what they've been doing for the last 8 years, not just "now." Interesting, conservatives are screwed either way. Vote for it and you're a French knock-off. Vote agin it and you'll be held responsible by upcoming election opponent as killing the economy.