Former Wells Fargo CEO Richard Kovacevich: 2008 Crash Manufactured – Made Insiders Tremendous Amounts of Money -

Former Wells Fargo CEO Richard Kovacevich: 2008 Crash Manufactured – Made Insiders Tremendous Amounts of Money - 




Kovacevich talks about the Fed requiring banks to take bailout funds. The Fed and the government needed this money to be loaned out to increase the money supply. By giving member banks more money, the Fed wanted them to loan it out to the public, which would create even more money. Kovacevich says the that regulators simply failed to do their jobs – no new regulations were needed. TARP was simply a coverup for regulators’ corruption and negligence. Financiers profited tremendously from the market collapse, a collapse that they knew was coming because they saw the enormous leverage and risk lenders were taking.

$78k Bottle of 224 Year Old Cognac Shattered By Clumsy Customer...-

$78k Bottle of 224 Year Old Cognac Shattered By Clumsy Customer...- 




The Coganc, a Clos de Griffier Vieux from 1788, was destroyed after a businessman, who had ordered two glasses of the brandy at £5,050 a measure, asked to look at the bottle.


As the customer stood up, he sent the bottle flying across the club, before it smashed on the floor.


The Cognac was due to feature in the world’s most expensive cocktail, which would have been mixed this week by Salvatore Calabrese in front of judges from Guinness World Records.


Apparently the bottle is not insured because it had already been opened.


Speaking to the Evening Standard after the accident happened at the end of last week, Salvatore said: “We all just froze, then it sunk in. I’ve been heartbroken. Not because of the value of the bottle, but because it is a piece of history that has been lost.”


The bottle had previously been in the cellars of Paris restaurant La Tour d’Argent and was auctioned in late 2009, fetching €25,000, before appearing on the drinks list at the Playboy Club.


Read more - 
http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2012/07/50000-historic-cognac-bottle-shattered/

Canadian Oil and gas producer Nexen has agreed to be acquired by Chinese Oil Company for US $15.1 Billion CASH -

Canadian Oil and gas producer Nexen has agreed to be acquired by Chinese Oil Company for US $15.1 Billion CASH - 




Oil and gas producer Nexen Inc. (TSX: NXY) has agreed to be acquired by China National Offshore Oil Company for US$15.1 billion cash.


The Calgary-based firm will be purchased by CNOOC Ltd. in an all-cash transaction worth $27.50 per Nexen share.


The agreement is a 66 per cent premium over the 20-day weighed volume average of Nexen shares, and a 61 per cent premium on the closing price of its shares on Friday at the New York Stock Exchange.


In pre-market trading, shares (NYSE: NXY) of the company were up $9.50 to US$26.56 on the NYSE.


“This transaction will allow for significant investment in our business and opens the door to new opportunities for our employees,” said Nexen chief executive Kevin Reinhart in a release.


As part of the transaction, CNOOC said it plans to list its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It also intends to have a head office in Calgary to oversee its North and Central American operations.


CNOOC also noted that it intends to keep Nexen’s existing management and staff.


Read more - 
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1230343--nexen-to-be-acquired-by-china-s-cnooc-for-15-1-billion-in-cash