SYNC's Web Olympics Coverage

Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) (CMCSA)’s NBC Universal is providing live online coverage of every Olympics event for the first time this year. The catch is you have to be a pay-TV subscriber to watch with your tablet, PC or mobile phone.

The network plans to produce 3,500 hours of online coverage, including all 32 sports and 302 medal events from NBCOlympics.com. A company website will help viewers get a username and password from their cable or satellite service.

By extending the viewer relationship to the Internet with live coverage, NBC is embracing a vision of pay TV that extends beyond the living room. That’s especially important as younger consumers, some who’ve never paid for cable, flock to Netflix Inc. (NFLX) (NFLX), Hulu LLC and other Web services. Streaming events live also lets NBC satisfy fans who might be annoyed by tape delays or loud-mouthed spoilers in the next cubicle.

“In theory, you’d test authentication in a smaller way first, and then go for the big gorilla, but this is the event where we have an opportunity to make a splash,” Mark Lazarus, NBC Sports Group chairman, said in an interview. “This is more than a test. This is a business imperative as we roll into the future.”

NBC Universal, which became part of Comcast in January 2011, plans to stream events starting July 25, two days before the opening ceremony. The 3,500 hours of online coverage compares with 2,200 hours from Beijing four years ago.

Streaming Options

Subscribers at 104 U.S. pay-TV systems will have online access, according to the NBC website, potentially making the service available in more than 100 million U.S. homes, including some that don’t get the company’s new NBC Sports Network. Some subscribers may need to call their service provider to obtain a username and password. Pay-TV operators may also limit the number of devices to prevent account sharing.

Streaming will be available at NBCOlympics.com, as well as a version of the website optimized for mobile devices, according to NBC. Service will also be available through an application, called Live Extra, for Apple Inc. (AAPL) (AAPL)’s iPad and iPhone, as well as mobile phones and tablets running Google Inc. (GOOG) (GOOG)’s Android operating system software.

During live events that aren’t simultaneously broadcast on one of NBC Universal’s TV networks, viewers at times will only hear the sound in the arena or Olympics-provided announcers, NBC said. The advertising load will also be different online.

Clips of events will be posted after they conclude and won’t require a pay-TV account, Lazarus said.

“We’ll have more digital eyeballs and advertising revenue this Olympics than many companies have in a year,” he said.

Younger Viewers

With Olympic events available to so many viewers, NBC Universal’s strategy may help Comcast, the biggest U.S. cable system, and other cable, telecom and satellite operators sign up a generation of 18-to-20-year-olds who have never subscribed to pay-television, according to Laura Martin, a Pasadena, California-based analyst at Needham & Co.

“When people learn they can watch Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps in real time on their smartphones and tablets, as long as they enter a code, you have the opportunity to change how people think about television,” Martin said in an interview.

When the Olympics officially open July 27, the games will become the most widely available authenticated online programming ever offered, exceeding the TV Everywhere services by Time Warner Inc. (TWX) (TWX)’s HBO, Walt Disney Co. (DIS) (DIS)’s ESPN andCBS Corp. (CBS) (CBS)’s Showtime, according to Martin’s estimates.

NBC will lose $100 million to $200 million on the London Olympics, according to David Joyce, an analyst at Miller Tabak & Co. in New York. The media company says it paid $1.18 billion for the rights.

Revenue Outlook

The London Olympics telecast, carried on the NBC broadcast network, as well as on the NBC Sports Network, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC and Telemundo, will collect at least $950 million in revenue, Seth Winter, a senior vice president for NBC Sports, said at a June 27 media briefing. That’s about $100 million more than the Beijing Games four years ago.

Comcast, based in Philadelphia, fell 0.3 percent to $31.72 yesterday in New York. The shares have climbed 32 percent this year.

To make it easier for viewers to locate a username and password, and log on for the first time, NBC created a video with “The Voice” host Carson Daly to explain the process. The company is encouraging viewers to authenticate early to avoid a logjam that could potentially hobble the system. It’s also providing a temporary log-in that provides four hours of access to anyone.

During the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, NBC dropped the authentication requirement and provided unrestricted access when viewers had trouble logging in with their pay-TV accounts.

Fast, Simple

This time, the process is simpler and faster, said Michael Bishara, vice president and general manager for TV Everywhere at Buffalo, New York-based Synacor Inc. (SYNC) (SYNC), which is overseeing the login process for about 40 pay-TV systems with 25 million customers.

“The education effort behind this is very smart and very well thought out,” Bishara said in an interview.

Streaming will probably be highest during the day, while people are at work, Bishara said, citing other events including the “March Madness” U.S. college basketball championship. Online viewing will probably spike during opening and closing ceremonies, swimming competition featuring Michael Phelps and gymnastics, he said.

Comcast isn’t charging pay-TV operators or subscribers any additional fee for online access, Lazarus said. Limiting the additional service to people who already have pay-TV underscores the value of the programming, he said.

“Providers pay us for our networks,” Lazarus said. “If someone is going to pay you for something, you don’t give it away to someone else for less or for free. If you’re paying a premium for cable, your neighbor that isn’t paying for cable shouldn’t get the same value.”

Breaking Bad' Star Tells A Tale

If Walter White is the king, then Jesse Pinkman is his queen. (Think in chess terms, Jesse, and you won't be so offended.) These two diametrically opposed characters have always been at the heart of "Breaking Bad," cooking up that irresistible "blue stuff" in the back of an RV, or in the secret drug factory beneath a laundromat, or any other number of locations.
Now, with their chief rival Gustavo Fring out of the way, the path is seemingly clear for White and Pinkman to take their operation to the next level — and they'll do exactly that in season five of the AMC drug drama, premiering on July 15. It's certainly a far cry from where these two men were just a few episodes ago, as series lead Bryan Cranston pointed out in a recent interview with MTV News.

"They have always had this oil and water relationship, because they're so different," the Emmy-winning actor told us. "Through it all, they've been through a tremendous ordeal in this past year. It's only been a year in storytelling time. They have to endure. They have to get along. They have to figure it out -- and they did."

Figuring it out was not easy, of course: Gus, recognizing the threat posed by Walt, kept the one-time chemistry teacher and his deadbeat partner separated through much of season four, in an effort to foster some trust between himself and Pinkman. The plan almost worked, too, until Walt convinced Jesse that Gus had poisoned his girlfriend's son — a dastardly act that was, in actuality, a ruse carried out by Walt himself. Jesse does not know this, of course, keeping his relationship with Walt stable ... for now.

"Now, we're together. We're cohesive. We're working it out," said Cranston. "And we're starting a new endeavor."

What kind of new endeavor, you ask? Cranston explained: "We start cooking again. Walt figures out a very clever way to disguise it. Obviously we don't have the means or wherewithal to make another super lab, but we do it like a poor man's super lab ... and in so doing, we need to expand our partnership."
Expansion of the partnership means expansion of the "Breaking Bad" cast, including a role for newcomer Jesse Plemons. Best known for playing unwitting killer of rapists Landry Clarke on "Friday Night Lights," Plemons joins Walt and Jesse's crew as Todd, described by Cranston as "a wild card."

"There's some friction when he joins the group," the actor teased of Plemons' character. "We think we know him, and then it's like, 'What just happened? What did he do?' It's fun for [Plemons] to play because it keeps him guessing, and it keeps [Walt and Jesse] as a partnership guessing, too."

Even if the criminal occasionally known as Heisenberg is left scratching his bald head over Todd's actions, Cranston himself is very certain about Plemons' contributions to "Breaking Bad."

"He's a great kid with a good attitude," said Cranston. "A really good actor. He's a nice addition. There's an interesting quality to him: he seems older than he is. There's a presence and a weight to him that makes him seem more advanced in age than his true age. He still has some innocence to him, too."

As for Walt's other new recruits, Cranston stayed appropriately cryptic: "There's someone else who comes into play [with the partnership] too, who you'll be familiar with." So place your bets now, "Breaking Bad" fans — which familiar face is about to join Walter White and the Jesses on the dark side?

More 'Free' Money

The Bank of England announced more  quantitative easing, and interest rates were slashed to zero in Europe and fell surprisingly again in China on Thursday as powerhouse economies are still trying to save their markets from flat-lining.In a world economy kept a live by central bankers, everything they do and say drives the market. Investors have been waiting for either more quantitative easing or lower interest rates from the U.S. to Beijing for much of the last quarter. And on Thursday morning, they got it.Central banks are saying the cheap money party is still hopping. In some regions of the world, namely Europe, it might be the only thing about the economy that’s alive and well.Yet, just as markets have grown accustomed to cheap capital, they have also wised up to the fact that low interest rates have not done much to spur demand in Europe. There are massive structural problems that need to be addressed and interest rates under 1 percent are not the only medicine.But forcing the euro lower could help European exporters, providing the rest of the world economies rebound. We have yet to see any signs of that from Brazil to India.The European Central Bank’s surprise rate cut decision to 0.75 percent from 1 percent was clearly the main event for the markets Thursday morning. The deposit rate was slashed to zero percent, meaning that Europeans are just as well off stuffing money into pillows as putting it into the bank.The aggressive rate cuts by the ECB would favor being short the euro versus other currencies like the dollar, and they will keep downside pressure on the Euro/Pound exchange, Barclays Capital said this morning. Looser monetary policy generally coincides with a weaker currency. In theory, Europe benefits from a cheaper euro in part because that encourages exports and diminishes the value of the countries’ debts in other currencies. Sound familiar? The U.S. has taken a similar approach. Exports here have risen.Of course, the reason for the looser monetary policy is growth prospects in both peripheral and core European economies remain dismal. The final composite PMI numbers for the eurozone remain weak and point to downside risks to market forecasts of a 0.2 percent fall in eurozone GDP in the second quarter. Weak growth makes the desired fiscal consolidation more difficult to achieve; Spanish and Portuguese deficits remain very large.The Bank of England’s latest round of more QE will probably be less of a market mover. The BoE kept its interest rates at their historically low 0.5 percent, but will spend £50 billion ($78 billion) on additional stimulus measures like bond purchases after spending £325 billion since the crisis began in 2008.Amazingly, the 2008 crisis is still unwinding with many of the big bulge bracket banks in as much trouble as they were a few years ago, either with regulatory authorities or with debt problems associated with the E.U.Meanwhile, over in Asia, China cut its lending rate by 31 basis points and its deposit rate by 25 basis points and gave banks leeway to offer loans at rates up to 30 percent below the benchmark level. China is due to release data next week covering the second quarter and the month of June.Investors are expecting one more interest rate cut in the third quarter, even as two cuts within a month have been a surprise to China watchers. These announcements likely confirm that Beijing is targeting 8 percent growth for 2012 (vs the 7.5 percent official target) and is also likely that second quarter growth in China will not be wrapped in a pretty bow when released on Friday. Consensus has China’s second quarter growth at 7.8 percent. Clearly weakening external demand for Made in China exports since May and weaker local demand have contributed to the rate cuts.And then there’s another day. … U.S employment data will be the most market-sensitive data coming out Friday. But the non-manufacturing ISM figures also matter, more than the typical market reaction would suggest. Barclays Capital said it expects a slight downside surprise of 52.5. We also expect a downside surprise for the payrolls numbers on Friday.

Four RBS traders sacked for fixing bank rate

LONDON — Four traders from the Royal Bank of Scotland were sacked at the end of 2011 for their alleged role in fixing inter-bank interest rates, banking industry sources said on Sunday.

The revelation comes after the state-rescued RBS confirmed it was being investigated for manipulating the rates at which banks lend to each other.

"Four traders were sacked for this," a source said. "It was at the end of last year."

RBS, which is 82-percent owned by the government, declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

Britain will hold a review into the setting of benchmark inter-bank interest rates and seek to criminalise rate-fixing, the Treasury finance ministry said Saturday, following a scandal at major lender Barclays.

The independent review aims to restore trust in Libor, a key benchmark reference rate that influences a swathe of other borrowing costs, after Barclays was hit with a record £290 million ($452 million, 362 million euro) fine Wednesday for attempted manipulation.

The attempted rate-fixing took place between 2005 and 2009, with traders submitting false information about Barclays' borrowing rates to make the bank look more secure or, in some cases, to turn a profit.

Business Secretary Vince Cable urged shareholders in British banks to "get a stronger grip" on the boards and executives responsible for "systemic abuse".

"Regulators are a backstop: they don't own banks," he wrote in The Observer newspaper.

"The governance at the top of our leading banks has been shown to be lamentably weak. No one at the top of Barclays will take responsibility for systemic abuse."

He added: "Shareholders, the owners, have a major responsibility here.

"Shareholders have to get a stronger grip on weak boards and out-of-control executives."

Adair Turner, the chairman of the Financial Services Authority which regulates the industry, said "significant steps" had already been taken to prevent a repeat of the Libor scandal and that he did not think such behaviour was taking place now.

But he said the malpractice was not covered by criminal law.

"People are justifiably angry at some of the practices that were present in particular in the run-up to the financial crisis in 2008," he told BBC television.

Cable said the public wanted to see bankers prosecuted if they committed criminal offences.

"They just can't understand why people are thrown into jail for petty theft and these guys just walk away having perpetrated what looks like a conspiracy," he told Sky News television.

Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved.

J.P. Morgan lone decliner in financials rally

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Financial stocks capped off a strong week Friday, riding high on news that European Union leaders have taken concrete steps to ease bailout restrictions and appoint a single banking regulator, in moves widely seen as a precursor to further relief for crisis-stricken states.

Bank of America Corp. (US:BAC) led gainers on the Dow Jones Industrial Average(US:DJIA), up 5.7%, putting it on track to be the best performing stock in the Dow for the first half of this year with a 44% gain.

In the S&P 500 Index, Morgan Stanley(US:MS)  rallied in the final hour of trading to end the day with a 5.2% gain. Citigroup (US:C), which opened the session in the lead, notched a 3.9% increase at the close. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (US:GS) wasn’t far behind, edging up 2.5%.

Only J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (US:JPM) declined, its shares retreating 0.4% a day after the New York Times reported that the bank’s trading loss could amount to as much as $8 to $9 billion, much more than previously thought. Read more on the J.P. Morgan trading loss.

On Friday, the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said they would release the liquidation plans that major banks were required by the Dodd-Frank Act to write in the event of bankruptcy — known as “living wills” — on Tuesday.

The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (US:XLF), which tracks the financial stocks in the S&P 500(US:SPX), added 2.6%. The KBW Bank Index (US:BKX), which tracks the 24 leading U.S. banks, rose 2.7%.

Other gainers of note in the S&P 500 included E-Trade Financial Corp.(US:ETFC), which held strong to its 5.9% gain, and insurer MetLife Inc.(US:MET), which climbed 4.6%.

Health-care-related real-estate investment trusts also finished strong, with Ventas Inc.(US:VTR), HCP Inc. (US:HCP)  and Health Care REIT Inc. (US:HCN)  all notching gains, a day after the Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama’s health-care legislation in a landmark ruling.

Among the Dow’s other financial stocks, American Express Co. (US:AXP) added 2.7% and Travelers Cos Inc.(US:TRV) rose 1.6%.

IBD is late to the party...

Your Computer's Home Page Was Likely Made By Synacor   When you first launch a Web browser on a Toshiba computer, the start page that gets displayed was created by Synacor. But you can't tell that because it's branded under the Toshiba name. And when you're conducting an online search on that page and click on a sponsored link, Toshiba, Google (GOOG) and Synacor (SYNC) all get paid. It's a win-win situation for all parties, and it didn't cost Toshiba a dime to get that page created. This is just one example of Synacor's business. The Buffalo, N.Y.-based company creates seamless start pages for companies that are not in the business of making them. Its pages had 21.3 million unique visitors and generated 271 million search queries during the first quarter, an 81% and 85% increase vs. the prior year, respectively. Eighty-four percent of the company's revenue comes from start pages and display advertising. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the international search and display market is expected to grow at a 13% annual rate between 2011 and 2015 to $115 billion. The U.S. market's annual growth is estimated to be 11% to reach $31 billion by 2015. In the first quarter, this segment's revenue at Synacor soared 81% to $25.8 million. The client base is made out of cable, telecom, satellite and consumer electronics companies. Its four largest clients are Toshiba, Verizon (VZ), Charter Communications (CHTR) and CenturyLink (CTL). "The big telecom companies historically have not been very good at customer-interfacing products," said analyst Jason Helfstein of Oppenheimer. "They are good at managing the network and marketing these plans to you. We think that, outside of Comcast (CMCSA), which has invested a lot of resources behind this and is also in the content business, most of the other telecom providers should be considering an outsource solution for this." Relationships with clients take a long time to build. But once they are on board, "The business is 'sticky' and results in recurring revenue derived from Internet search-and-display advertising," writes analyst Rich Tullo of Albert Fried & Co. Because those companies operate complicated networks and serve millions of users, they have to comply with strict rules regulating traffic to ensure integrity of all users' connections, writes Tullo. This complex structure creates high barriers to entry and limits competition to mostly in-house teams. Within the broadband market, Synacor's share is estimated at 25%. In-house solutions take up another 44%, says Helfstein's report. "The competition is diffuse, potentially strong, but not particularly well-organized," said Tullo. The biggest competitor is Yahoo (YHOO), which provides similar services for AT&T (T) and Frontier Communications (FTR). The display advertising part of Synacor's business sells its inventory directly to advertisers and on-display ad networks. The company has 30 major advertising clients. Last quarter, the ads generated 8.5 billion impressions. The remaining 16% of revenue comes from subscription-based business, such as cloud-based e-mail and its newest venture, TV Everywhere. TV Everywhere allows subscribers to access television on all their devices via application-based services. "We think TV Everywhere is the next big thing in media," writes Tullo. "(It) is a great distribution solution as TV Everywhere allows subscribers to get HBO or NBC Sports subscriptions remotely thereby creating more viewers for advertisers and easy access for the consumer." Synacor is well-positioned to benefit from this since TV Everywhere's authentication process is executed on its start pages. In the first quarter, revenue in that segment rose 10% to $4.9 million. The main risk for Synacor is the customer concentration. Three of its largest customers make up more than 60% of revenue. "That's a risk if one of those relationships decides not to go to Synacor anymore, but I don't think it's necessarily something that should keep investors up at night," said Tullo. "Because these are long-term contracts, these are sticky relationships; it doesn't cost the multi-service providers any money to maintain this relationship with Synacor. So it's about the quality of the service that Synacor provides, and that quality is very strong," he said. Synacor went public in February and has a float of just 29% of outstanding shares. The remaining stock is owned by insiders and venture capital firms. The lockout period ends in July, at which point the company may see insider selling. However, "the volume has actually been pretty good," states Helfstein. "For a market cap this size, the trailing volume over the past 30 days has been a million a day because there has been a lot of retail interest in the stock." Synacor's balance sheet is pretty solid. With almost no debt and $33 million in cash, the company has been generating positive free cash flow of $9 million in 2011 and is projected to generate $16 million this year. "Management seems to be executing according to their numbers; their growth has been very strong," said Helfstein. "I think they are very focused on the vision of bringing their product to more clients." Would Synacor be an acquisition target in the future? "It's possible, but part of the value is to be 'Switzerland,'" said Helfstein. "If you're selling to multiple customers, you can't be bought by one customer."

Future Advance After EU Summit Agreement

U.S. stock index futures added to sharp gains Friday after European leaders unexpectedly agreed to take action to bring down Italy and Spain’s borrowing costs and create a single banking supervisory body.

European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels agreed that euro area rescue funds could be used to stabilize bond markets without forcing countries that comply with EU budget rules to adopt extra austerity measures or economic reforms.

The deal had followed Spain and Italy's earlier withholding of support for a growth package. European shares soared to a one-week high following the announcement of the deal.

On the economic front, consumer spending was flat in May for the first time in five months, according to the Commerce Department, while income rose 0.2 percent.

The Institute of Supply Management - Chicago releases its June index of manufacturing activity at 9:45 am ET. Economists polled by Reuters forecast a reading of 52.5, compared with 52.7 in May. A reading above 50 indicates economic expansion.

And the final reading of the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey for June is due at 9:55 am ET. with economists telling Reuters they expected a reading of 74.1, unchanged from the preliminary figure.

Supreme Court upholds health care law

In a dramatic victory for President Barack Obama, the Supreme Court upheld the 2010 health care law Thursday, preserving Obama’s landmark legislative achievement.
The majority opinion was written by Chief Justice John Roberts, who held that the law was a valid exercise of Congress’s power to tax.
Roberts re-framed the debate over health care as a debate over increasing taxes. Congress, he said, is “increasing taxes” on those who choose to go uninsured.

The 2010 law, the Affordable Care Act, requires non-exempted individuals to maintain a minimum level of health insurance or pay a tax penalty.
The essence of Roberts’s ruling was:
•       “The Affordable Care Act is constitutional in part and unconstitutional in part,” Roberts wrote.
•       “The individual mandate cannot be upheld as an exercise of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause. That Clause authorizes Congress to regulate interstate commerce, not to order individuals to engage in it.”
•       But “it is reasonable to construe what Congress has done as increasing taxes on those who have a certain amount of income, but (who) choose to go without health insurance. Such legislation is within Congress’s power to tax.”

The law, Roberts wrote, “makes going without insurance just another thing the Government taxes, like buying gasoline or earning income. And if the mandate is in effect just a tax hike on certain taxpayers who do not have health insurance, it may be within Congress’s constitutional power to tax.”
He said “The question is not whether that is the most natural interpretation of the mandate, but only whether it is a ‘fairly possible’ one.”

He said the Supreme Court precedent is that “every reasonable construction” of a law passed by Congress “must be resorted to, in order to save a statute from unconstitutionality.”
NBC's Pete Williams reported that Roberts reasoned that “there’s no real compulsion here” since those who do not pay the penalty for not having insurance can’t be sent to jail. “This is one of the scenarios that administration officials had considered that if the court did this they would consider it a big victory,” Williams said.
But in a major victory for the states who challenged the law, the court said that the Obama administration cannot coerce states to go along with the Medicaid insurance program for low-income people.
The financial pressure which the federal government puts on the states in the expansion of Medicaid “is a gun to the head,” Roberts wrote.
“A State that opts out of the Affordable Care Act’s expansion in health care coverage thus stands to lose not merely ‘a relatively small percentage’ of its existing Medicaid funding, but all of it,” Roberts said.
Congress cannot “penalize States that choose not to participate in that new program by taking away their existing Medicaid funding,” Roberts said.
The Medicaid provision is projected to add nearly 30 million more people to the insurance program for low-income Americans -- but the court’s decision left states free to opt out of the expansion if they choose.

US: Madoff Brother to Plead Guilty in NY in Fraud

Plans for the brother of jailed financier Bernard Madoff to plead guilty and serve 10 years in prison raise fresh questions about the status of the investigation into the epic multibillion dollar fraud and whether other family members remain under criminal investigation.
U.S. prosecutors notified a judge and victims Wednesday that Peter Madoff will plead guilty Friday to conspiracy and falsifying records charges more than three years after his brother began serving a 150-year sentence for creating the fraudulent multibillion dollar private investment business.
Bernard Madoff claimed that he acted alone as he enticed thousands of investors over several decades to join what became the largest Ponzi scheme ever prosecuted in U.S. history.
Peter Madoff was the former chief compliance officer at the private investment arm of Bernard Madoff's business. Prosecutors say he has agreed to the criminal forfeiture of $143 billion, including all of his real estate and personal property. The $143 billion, representing the amount of money believed to have flowed through the business accounts when he was part of the multi-decade Ponzi scheme, is included in a criminal forfeiture agreement, though authorities know that his assets would only amount to tens of millions rather than billions.
Court papers signed by a federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday show Peter Madoff, who had worked with his brother since 1965, plans to plead guilty to two criminal counts, admitting his role in a conspiracy to commit securities fraud, falsify records of an investment adviser, falsify records of a broker dealer, make false filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, commit mail fraud and obstruct the Internal Revenue Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa A. Baroni wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain that, pursuant to a plea agreement with the government, Peter Madoff, 66, had agreed "not to seek a sentence other than 10 years' imprisonment."
Charles Spada, a lawyer for Peter Madoff, declined to comment.
Bernard Madoff, 74, is serving his prison term in Butner, N.C., after revealing in December 2008 that he cheated thousands of investors of roughly $20 billion for years, using money from new investors to pay returns to existing clients. Lawyers for a court-appointed trustee recovering money for Bernard Madoff's investors had said Peter Madoff also was the company's senior managing director.
The trustee, Irving Picard, said in court papers that Peter Madoff "failed miserably" to meet his responsibilities to monitor the company's operations and ensure its compliance with federal securities laws.
The court papers said Peter Madoff had received at least $60 million during the fraud and used fake stock trades to make large withdrawals seem justified.
Picard sought nearly $200 million from Madoff family members, claiming they used Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC as "the family piggy bank" to pay for vacation homes, cars, boats and even a stake in a beauty parlor.
Picard's pending lawsuit alleges that over the years, Peter Madoff, his daughter and his nephews "withdrew millions more than they invested" in private investment accounts they had with the firm.
Peter Madoff "ignored obvious red flags that the profits reflected in account statements could not have been earned legitimately, to the detriment of BLMIS and its other customers," the lawsuit says.

Bernard Madoff's relatives have said they did not know about his Ponzi scheme. His brother's plea raises new questions about the status of the prosecution and whether other family members are being targeted by the government.
Lawyers for Andrew Madoff, a son of Bernard Madoff, and Shana Madoff, Peter Madoff's daughter, did not immediately return messages for comment. A lawyer for Bernard Madoff's wife, Ruth, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Mark Madoff, Bernard Madoff's other son, committed suicide in December 2010 on the second anniversary of his father's arrest.
Six former employees and associates have pleaded guilty and are cooperating. Five others, including Madoff's former operating chief, have pleaded not guilty and appear headed to trial.

Picard has accused Andrew Madoff of living a high-end lifestyle after receiving more than $60 million, including $31 million in salary and bonuses, from 2001 to 2008.
Shana Madoff, a lawyer, had worked at Madoff's investment business since 1995 as compliance counsel and in-house counsel. Picard's civil lawsuit said that "she ignored every red flag of the massive fraud taking place right in front of her."
The huge scheme, run since at least the early 1990s, demolished the life savings of thousands of people, wrecked charities and shook confidence in the U.S. financial system. When Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty, he insisted that he acted alone, describing a separate wholesale stock-trading firm run by his sons and brother as honest and legitimate.
So far, Picard's office has reached agreements to recover approximately $9.1 billion and has distributed more than $1.1 billion to Madoff's victims.
In a statement Wednesday, Picard's spokeswoman, Amanda Remus, said the trustee and his lawyers are aware of the letter to the court about the anticipated guilty plea proceeding involving Peter Madoff but had no comment.

Shares to Open Lower; Little Expected of EU Summit

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Thursday as hope of a resolution to the euro zone debt crisis evaporated ahead of a two-day summit of European Union leaders.

European leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday afternoon for the two-day summit, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel already stating they must concentrate on fundamental reforms rather than emergency proposals put forward by Italy and Spain to help alleviate their cost of borrowing on the markets.

Merkel has also refused to discuss the issue of debt burden sharing unless national budget controls across the euro zone are introduced first.

An auction of Italian five and 10-year bonds held ahead of the summit saw yields spike to their highest level since December 2011.

Italy's benchmark 10-year borrowing costs hit 6.19 percent while the five year yield rose to 5.84 percent.

European shares[.FTEU3  991.62    -8.52  (-0.85%)   ] fell on Thursday, led lower by weaker banking stocks and investor skepticism over concrete results emerging from the EU summit.

Economic data released on Thursday includes initial jobless claims for the week ending June 23 at 8:30 a.m.in New York, with analysts telling the website briefing.com they expected a slight drop in claims from the prior week’s 387,000 to 385,000.

The third and final reading of U.S. gross domestic product growth for the first quarter is also published at 8:30 a.m. analysts telling briefing.com they expected to see no change in the previous estimate’s growth figure of 1.9 percent.

Family Dollar [FDD  10.84    -0.0232  (-0.21%)   ] is among the companies releasing earnings ahead of the open along with American Greetings [AM  14.26    -0.05  (-0.35%)   ] and Schnitzer Steel. [SCHN  24.89    0.36  (+1.47%)   ] After the close there are quarterly reports from beleaguered BlackBerry maker Research In Motion [RIMM  9.18    0.215  (+2.4%)   ] and Nike.[NKE  98.11    -0.34  (-0.35%)   ] Consulting firm Accenture [ACN  55.87    -0.58  (-1.03%)   ] is also scheduled to report after the bell.

The Supreme Court will publish its ruling on whether President Obama’s health care reforms, or parts or them, are unconstitutional. The multifaceted ruling is expected at about 10:00am in New York.

Losses from JPMorgan’s [JPM  36.78    1.07  (+3%)   ] derivatives trades may reach as high as $9 billion, compared to initial estimates of about $2 billion according to a report in the New York Times on Thursday.

Separately, Citi analysts have cut second quarter earnings estimates and price targets for JPMorgan, Bank of America,[BAC  7.77    0.155  (+2.04%)   ] Goldman Sachs,[GS  93.27    2.24  (+2.46%)   ] and Morgan Stanley.[MS  13.91    0.40  (+2.96%)   ]

Union leaders at American Airlines parent AMR [AAMRQ  0.55  ---  UNCH    ] will let pilots vote on a company proposal to slash spending on labor, avoiding a bankruptcy judge ruling that could have imposed even tougher terms on the pilots.

And News Corp’s [NWSA  22.31    0.55  (+2.53%)   ] board is expected to formally announce it has approved a split of the company in two, separating out the film and TV businesses.

Chairman and chief executive of the company Rupert Murdoch will appear on CNBC at 12:00 p.m. in New York.

© 2012 CNBC.com

Kiwi gains on upbeat US data JASON KRUPP

The New Zealand dollar gained against the greenback overnight after better-than-expected US data lifted appetite for risk currencies.
The kiwi recently traded at US79.13 cents, up from US78.97c at 5pm yesterday, while on the Trade Weighted Index of major trading partners' currencies it rose to 71.92 from 71.67.
Activity on currency markets appeared to mirror yesterday's pattern with short term data hits out of the US boosting investor sentiment ahead of the European Union Leaders' Summit.
Official US durable goods numbers for May showed new orders rose by 1.1 per cent compared to the previous month, beating a Bloomberg consensus forecast of a 0.4 per cent gain.
US new home sales for May showed a strong monthly surge, up 5.9 per cent versus April, ahead of the 1.2 per cent improvement predicted by another Bloomberg poll.
That saw US and European equities chalk up another day of gains, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gaining 0.96 per cent to 1332.69 in afternoon trade, while the Stoxx 600 Index closed 1.35 per cent higher at 245.87.
Still, concerns over the European sovereign debt crisis were ever present, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel again voicing her refusal to the issue of common eurozone bonds.
The announcement, made in the German parliament, was the third this week, and comes as investors appear to be turning increasingly pessimistic on any real policy measures emerging from the EU summit, which starts early Friday morning New Zealand time.
That played out on the kiwi crosses, with the New Zealand dollar recently trading at 63.45 euro cents, a four month high, up from 63.16 euro cents at 5pm yesterday.
Mike Jones, a market strategist at Bank of New Zealand, said the kiwi is likely to remain locked in its recent ranges in the run up to the meeting, but "a failure by European politicians to take decisive action would still likely see some near-term paring of risk appetite, and a pull-back in pro-cyclical currencies like the New Zealand dollar and Australian dollar."
Today's National Bank business outlook survey is likely to be the highlight of the local trading day, although its impact on the currency is expected to be minimal. BNZ is expecting business confidence to weaken on the back of the escalating European crisis but for local indicators to remain firm.
On the crosses, the kiwi recently traded at 78.50 Australian cents, little changed from A78.46c yesterday, and it rose to 63.16 yen from 62.74 yen. The New Zealand currency rose to 50.83 pence from 50.51 pence.

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The kiwi may trade between a range of US78.45c and US79.45c, Jones said, with further consolidation in store in the run up to the eurozone meeting.
- © Fairfax NZ News

Synacor Announces Multi-Language Authentication for TV Everywhere

Synacor (NASDAQ: SYNC), strategic partner for TV Everywhere, today announced multi-language TV Everywhere authentication: Spanish. Synacor's George Chamoun and Michael Bishara say multi-language TVE feature helps accelerate TVE adoption. Synacor's white-label TV Everywhere solution includes video aggregation, mediation, single sign-on authentication and back-office integrations with cable operators' rights, I.D., and billing systems. Synacor content integrations include HBO GO, Max GO, CNN, TBS, TNT, tru TV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Epix, CEG (E!, Style, G4), Fox, Speed2, BigTen and more.

Buffalo, NY (PRWEB) June 27, 2012

Synacor, Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNC), known as the go-to strategic partner for TV Everywhere, today announced an industry-leading feature: multi-language TV Everywhere authentication, beginning with Spanish.
With this new feature, Synacor’s TV Everywhere login will automatically detect the language preference (English or Spanish) of a subscriber, and will instantaneously render the appropriate authentication experience. In the months to come, Synacor will launch additional languages for TV Everywhere authentication, with French expected next.
“Multi-language authentication is a must and presents an immediate market opportunity for both Synacor and cable operators to deliver TV Everywhere experiences to the vast audience of pay-TV subscribers whose preferred language is other than English,” said Michael Bishara, Synacor VP and GM of TV Everywhere. “Spanish is the primary language for 37 million Americans. By providing multiple language options for subscribers, Synacor adds greater depth to our ‘TV Everywhere for Everyone’ campaign and helps accelerate TV Everywhere adoption across the U.S. and beyond.”
Synacor customers first to launch the new multi-language authentication feature will be announced in coming weeks. Synacor's white-label TV Everywhere solution includes video aggregation, mediation, and single sign-on authentication, as well as back-office integrations with cable operators' rights, I.D., and billing systems. Synacor's exhaustive metadata allows pay-TV subscribers quick and seamless access to content that's most relevant to them, ensuring an easy and enjoyable search and discovery experience.
For more information on Synacor’s TV Everywhere services including “TV Everywhere for Everyone,” please visit synacor.com or email tvee(at)synacor(dot)com.
About Synacor
Synacor’s customer-branded platform enables cable, satellite, telecom and consumer electronics companies to deliver TV Everywhere, digital entertainment, services and apps to their end-consumers, strengthening those relationships while monetizing the engagement. Synacor (NASDAQ: SYNC), is headquartered in Buffalo, NY.
Integrate. Authenticate. Engage.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/6/prweb9645047.htm

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/business/press-releases/article/Synacor-Announces-Multi-Language-Authentication-3666272.php#ixzz1z294YYqT

Risk trades show a pulse

Japan has brought some life to the market with yen sales boosting risk trades since the top of the hour.
AUD/USD has broken through medium-zied offers at 1.0020/25. The 5-day moving average at 1.0074 offers the next line of resistance with stops above 1.0080.
Month-end flows suggest mild EUR/USD buying on portfolio rebalancing (esp from the UK) but, by all reports, flows are expected to be light.



By Adam Button  || June 26, 2012 at 00:26 GMT              

Moody's cuts credit ratings on 15 major banks

Associated Press

June 21, 2012, 4:11 p.m.

Moody's Investors Service lowered the credit ratings of 15 the world's largest banks late Thursday, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, saying their long-term prospects for profitability and growth are shrinking.

The ratings agency said it was especially concerned about banks with significant financial markets businesses because those markets have become so volatile. Some of the largest European banks were also downgraded, including Barclays, Deutsche Bank and HSBC.

The downgrades mean Moody's is more concerned about the ability of the banks to repay their debts. Moody's had said in February that it was considering downgrading the credit ratings of major banks in the U.S. and in Europe.

A downgrade usually means that it becomes more costly for banks to raise money by selling debt. Investors demand higher interest for riskier debt, which is what the downgrades represent. However, with interest rates already at rock-bottom levels, the downgrades may not affect the cost of funding for the banks that much.

The stock market has also priced in any negative impact from the ratings downgrades, according to Bert Ely, a banking consultant in the Washington, D.C. area. "They've been telegraphing this thing for months," Ely said.

In a sign that investors were taking the news in stride, stocks of major U.S. banks rose in after-hours electronic trading. Moody's made its announcement after regular stock trading had closed. Morgan Stanley rose the most, 3.3 percent, gaining 45 cents to $14.41. JPMorgan Chase rose 41 cents to $35.92 and Bank of America rose 12 cents to $7.94.

The downgrades come at a time of great uncertainty in the global economy. Europe's currency union is under threat from bad bank loans. The U.S. economy is slowing and the fast-growing emerging economies of India, Brazil and China are also cooling. Financial markets have also been volatile.

On Thursday the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 251 points, its second-worst loss of the year, as new reports indicating slower manufacturing in the U.S. and China made investors fearful that the global economy could be heading for another slump.

Moody's has been on a downgrading spree lately. In June Moody's downgraded Spain by three notches, after downgrading 16 Spanish lenders in May. It also cut the ratings on seven German and three Austrian lenders in June.

Among the banks that were downgraded Thursday:

- Bank of America's debt was downgraded to Baa2 from Baa1. That's just a couple of notches above junk status.

- JPMorgan Chase's debt was downgraded to A2 from Aa3

- Citigroup's to Baa2 from A3

- Morgan Stanley's to Baa1 from A2

- Goldman Sachs's to A3 from A1

- HSBC's to Aa3 from Aa2

- Barclay's to A3 from A1

JPMorgan Suspend Stock Buybacks

(RTTNews.com) - Embattled U.S. lender JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) will suspend stock buybacks, chief executive officer Jamie Dimon said Monday while speaking at the Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.Global Financial Services Investor Conference in New York.

However, Dimon said that said the suspension of the stock buyback program did not imply that the lender was suffering worse losses than already stated. He also that the company plans to maintain its dividend.

"I've been asked a lot of questions about capital distribution," Dimon said. "I made the mistake at the shareholder meeting, saying I hoped to continue dividends. No, we intend to maintain the dividend."

The move comes 10 days after the New York-based company disclosed a $2 billion trading loss in its chief investment office.

Dimon said at the Deutsche Bank conference Monday that the company decided to suspend share buybacks in order to meet global regulatory requirements on higher capital levels, and not because of the size of trading losses.

In March, JPMorgan announced a new $15 billion equity repurchase program and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share after the Federal Reserve cleared the company's capital distributions proposal.

JPMorgan shares closed Monday's regular trading session at $32.51, down 98 cents or 2.93%, but gained 0.49% in after hours trading.

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