Financial Markets

Cosmopolis Limos Through the Mind of a Master of the Universe

Barbarians in the Ivory Tower

America's for-profit colleges offer education only a con man (or a congressman) could love.

For-Profit Colleges Only a Con Man Could Love

Barbarians in the Ivory Tower

How Will Raising the Cap on Electricity Prices Affect You? How Do You Think?

When Texas Public Utility tentatively voted to increase the ceiling on the wholesale price of electricity by 50 percent by August 1, public reaction was swift. It sounded like this: chirp ... cheep ... when you wish ... chirp ... cheep ... upon a star. Which was surprising. Stereotypically, you'd ... More >>

Fracking Boom a Ponzi-Inflated Bubble About To Pop? Rolling Stone Sure Thinks So.

Is the United States the "Saudi Arabia of natural gas?" as President Barack Obama has said. Or has the energy industry used fuzzy math to hype its estimated reserves to entice buyouts and Wall Street investment? Tough to say for sure, but last month the U.S. Energy Information Administration scaled ... More >>

Before Council Votes to Help Uplift Sell Bonds, More Questions, Answers and Concerns

​Earlier today Rudy posted an explainer to the City Hall blog about those so-called "conduit bonds" Uplift Education hopes to sell with City Hall's backing. But long story short, per a Los Angeles Times piece last year, they "allow private entities to tap into low-cost municipal bond financing for ... More >>

Want to Understand Politics, the Economy, Everything? Follow the Levees.

​Figured it out. I can tell you why the Republicans keep assassinating their own nominees. It all goes back to the Trinity River levees. What? You think I can't connect those dots? Stand back. Right now the GOP rivals are reducing Newt Gingrich to road-kill in Iowa with Super-PAC attack ads o ... More >>

Dallas Gets Occupied

​Doubtless you've heard about Occupy Wall Street, the protests against corporate greed and Wall Street bailouts (among other things) that have been going on for the last three weeks in New York. The protesters call themselves "the other 99 percent" or just "The 99," and this morning in Pike Park o ... More >>

Investors Trust Judge Joe Ashmore, But His Trust Doesn't Pay Back

Investors say a former Dallas judge is the face of a multimillion-dollar investment scheme. But investors and investigators are catching on.

In Dallas Federal Court, Those Swindled by Allen Stanford Sue SEC For Failing to Stop Him

R. Allen Stanford​Spencer Barasch is a partner at the downtown Dallas law firm Andrews Kurth, where he is in charge of the corporate governance and securities enforcement team. But before that, and for close to 20 years, he worked for the Fort Worth office of the Securities and Exchange Commission ... More >>

As Virgin America Deflowers DFW, A Few Questions, Such As: What's Next? And How?

Andrea GrimesRichard Branson on the DFW tarmac following Virgin's official debut at DFW​At this very moment, a fellow Unfair Parker is headed to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to catch a Virgin America flight bound for Los Angeles; looking forward to the in-flight review. But mere weeks a ... More >>

SEC Says Sam, Charles Wyly Illegally Pocketed $550 Million Over the Last 13 Years

​The Securities and Exchange Commission just sent word: In New York federal court today it filed a 78-page complaint charging Sam and Charles Wyly with violating federal securities laws over the last 13 years, during which the SEC alleges the Dallas brothers pocketed more than $550 million in "und ... More >>

Alan Todd May, Who Feds Say Ran Ponzi Scheme From Downtown, Caught in S.F.

Some of the very generic imagery featured on Alan Todd May's company's Web site​Alan Todd May spent the better part of 1983 to 2002 in and out of prison, having been arrested for such things as credit card abuse, check fraud, theft ... well, you name the hustle, he hustled it. There were 14 convic ... More >>

Slowly But Surely, Blockbuster's Stock is Rising. Why? The Little Things Count.

​A few days ago, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Renaissance Tower-based Blockbuster sent word: It's pushing back its shareholders meeting one month, to June 24. Said Tom Casey, the video-rental company's exec veep and CFO, "We believe the additional time will provide us w ... More >>

Of Bond Sales and Dr. No: Hunt Is Worried the City is Borrowing More Than It Can Afford

​The last time Angela Hunt voiced her concerns about about bond projects and the attendant jump in debt service, she gave us the by-now classic slogan: "We must do [X] to make Dallas a great city. If you oppose [X], you don't want Dallas to be a great city." (Now available on a coffee mug, no kid ... More >>

Build America, Eff Yeah! U.S. Treasurer to Visit Convention Center Hotel Site Tomorrow.

Sam MertenNo, this is not the same picture we've run before. Merten's got a ton of them for his coffee-table book.​Took, oh, 'bout four months, but I see the city finally got around to posting The Official Convention Center Hotel Groundbreaking Video, which I've embedded after the jump. Good timin ... More >>

Malcolm Gladwell Sends Convention Planners Packing With a Recession Lesson: It Takes Humility to Be a Winner.

Photos by Patrick MichelsThe Professional Convention Management Association closed out its national gathering at the Dallas Convention Center this afternoon with a slick keynote luncheon that telegraphed to the hundreds of event planners: Watch closely, this is how it's done.The food presentation, s ... More >>

U.S. District Judge Fitzwater Dismisses SEC's Insider Trading Case Against Mark Cuban

This morning, U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater dismissed the Securities and Exchange Commission's complaint that Mark Cuban violated insider-trading laws in 2004, when he sold off $750,000 in Mamma.com stock. Why the heave-ho? You know what, just read the judge's opinion and order for yourself, ... More >>

Will the Issuance of Bonds for the Convention Center Hotel Affect the City's Credit? We're Going With Maybe.

Patrick MichelsMayor Leppert is this close to landing the interest rate he wants for the hotel.When Mayor Tom Leppert testified last week on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, he conveniently failed to mention his own agenda while lobbying the U.S. House Financial Services Committee to loosen ... More >>

SEC Accuses Two Dallas "Oil and Gas" Men of Luring Investors Down a Dry Hole

Late last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission went to Dallas federal court to accuse 62-year-old Harmut Theodor Rose and 47-year-old James Patrick Reedy of swindling about 300 folks out of at least $10 million. According to the complaint, from August 2003 to August '05, Rose and Reedy ran a ... More >>

Food For Thought 5.1.09

"It's killing our markets. Where they got the name, I just don't know." (Iowa hog farmer Francis Gilmore on the effect of swine flu on the value of his product. Since the outbreak and spread of this virus, hog prices have dropped from a $62 per 100 pounds average to $59 per 100 pounds, on ... More >>

Wednesday's Planned Construction on Convention Center Hotel Canceled; Bond Issuance Appears Unlikely Before Vote

Voters can thank the bond market for the opportunity to endorse or kill Mayor Tom Leppert's convention center hotel project at the polls May 9.Since the Dallas City Council approved the developer and operator agreements for the convention center hotel, the Vote No'ers have been eagerly awaiting an ... More >>

SMU Economics Prof Ravi Batra Says You Need a Bailout, Not Your Bank

After the jump, SMU professor of economics and prophet Ravi Batra's five-point plan for fixing the U.S.'s busted economy. No doubt, the sixth point of that plan involves writing books about the busted economy, then sending out press releases promoting one of those books exactly two years after its p ... More >>

And The Maximum Price For Your New Convention Center Hotel Is...

Moments ago, Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez announced a GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price) for the convention center hotel of $356 million to the council's Economic Development Committee, which will be voted on by the full council in January, along with a final development agreement with Matthew ... More >>

SEC Claims Cuban Engaged in Insider Trading in '04

From the Securities and Exchange Commission this morning: "The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it filed insider trading charges today against Dallas entrepreneur Mark Cuban in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas." The suit -- which can be read in its enti ... More >>

Dallas Mavericks' Owner Mark Cuban Charged With Insider Trading

Uh-oh. Breaking news this morning that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Mavs' owner Mark Cuban with insider trading, stemming from a 2004 sale of stock in an Internet company. Me? I dunno the diff between "insider trading" and a "hot stock tip", but I do this ain't g ... More >>

Taking Stock: Not a Good Time for "Fast Casual" or Casual Furniture Biz

Some Kind of Hypnotist

Blood Money

Buffett Buys Billions in TXU Bonds

The Feds Are Not Going After Belo For Phony Circulation Numbers

The Kornman Falleth

ACS: Whatever Suits Ya

Got Half a Billion ACS Can Borrow? Like, Now?

Red Light District

Buy Belo. Or: Bye, Belo.

Conflicts of Interest Are, Ya Know, Interesting

Pain in the ACS?

Fourteen Against One, or: Who'd Want That Lousy Gig, Anyway?

It's Your Call, Mayor Laura

How Belo Can You Go

The REIT Stuff

Good News is Not Good News

These Guns for Hire

Vice is Nice

Checking in on the wages of sin

Best Furniture store

Gabberts Furniture Outlet

Best Chef-leveraged Buyout

Suze

Road Rage

Homeowners in a Denton County neighborhood wage battle against "taxation without representation"

Mix-ican food

Cabo tries to redefine taqueria

Boomer bust

In the rockin' '80s, Bill Brosseau's sexy success story put his face in Money and Cosmopolitan. Times and fortunes change. Now he's a broke former cocaine addict facing a stint in federal prison.