Financial Markets

Uwe Boll, Worst Director Alive, to Wall Street Execs: "Don't Think You're Safe"

The perennial worst director is gunning for the bastards -- and respect

Turn In Your Gun For a Walmart Gift Certificate This Saturday

Ever thought to yourself, "Boy, I really wish I could get rid of this gun," while at the same time thought, "Boy, I really wish I had a hundred dollars so I can buy stuff at Walmart"? Well Saturday is your lucky day, sir. Sheriff Scott Israel and the Broward Sheriff's Office are holding a gun buyb ... More >>

Power Rank Friday: Jah Jams, Overstuffed Government Contracts, and Helmetless Dolphins

The local personalities, egos, and public figures who swung through the news cycle this week, ranked by New Times' crack research department using a highly scientific algorithm (i.e., burning stacks of old Broward phone books and reading the ashes).5. Hollywood 104.7 FM "The Jam." Hollywood Police h ... More >>

Cosmopolis: Robert Pattinson's Latest Film Limos Through the Mind of a Master of the Universe

Lake Worth's Gulfstream Hotel: Bahraini Petrodollars, the Black Gatsby, and Foreclosure

The fate of the Gulfstream Hotel, the faded crown jewel of Lake Worth's historic downtown, appears at first glance to rest in the hands of the Schlesinger family of Palm Beach and Connecticut. The hoteliers/developers bought the property in 2005 but have fallen on hard times. The hotel is in foreclo ... More >>

Citigroup to Palm Beach County School District: Pony Up!

Fire Ant -- an invasive species, tinged bright red, with an annoying, sometimes fatal bite -- covers Palm Beach County. Soon, his column will appear twice a week on The Pulp. Got feedback or a tip? Contact fire.ant@browardpalmbeach.com.Would the fine folks at an institution like Citigroup steal ... More >>

America's Petro-Terrorists

Wall Street and Washington conspire to destabilize the U.S.economy, one barrel of oil at a time.

Orlando Man Charged in Astrology-Based Ponzi Scheme; Lost $400k to Bad Gravity Predictions

Gurudeo "Buddy" Persaud is accused of organizing an investment scheme with a fraud that was... cosmic.The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday charged Persaud with stealing more than $1 million from investors between 2007 and the beginning of 2010: He promised them returns of 6 to 18 perc ... More >>

What if the Sun-Sentinel's New Owners Decide to Sell the Paper?

For a long time, South Florida has been a three-newspaper land. The Palm Beach Post, the Sun-Sentinel, and the Miami Herald all overlapped to some degree, giving this stranger-than-fiction region a little competition in the newspaper business. That sets us apart from the rest of the country, but it' ... More >>

Feeling Burned by Facebook's IPO? Be Pissed Instead at the Stock Market, a True Sucker's Bet

On May 9, Facebook's upper brass had a meeting with financial analysts to tell them the company's revenue should be on the low end of projections, according to the Associated Press. That was bad news, especially considering Facebook was about to sell stock publicly for the first time. The analysts f ... More >>

Frank Preve Emailed Scott Rothstein: "I Can't Show Anyone That I Am a Complete Idiot"

This is one of those times when the documents speak for themselves; I could rewrite and paraphrase the claims made by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but that wouldn't be better for either of us.The short version of the story: The SEC says Fort Lauderdale-based hedge fund managers Georg ... More >>

George Levin, Frank Preve Hit With SEC Charges in Scott Rothstein Ponzi Scheme

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it has filed a complaint against two of the men who provided investors for Scott Rothstein's Ponzi scheme.The SEC says George Levin and Frank Preve helped Rothstein raise more than $157 million in his billion-dollar scheme by getting invest ... More >>

Ninety-Seven F-Bombs From Ozzie Guillen Won't Erase That Awful Stadium Deal

Showtime released a 30-minute preview on Saturday to its show The Franchise: A Season With the Miami Marlins, which will chronicle the travails of baseball's version of a court jester. There's a scene near the start of the show where loudmouth manager Ozzie Guillen is addressing his new players for ... More >>

Allen West Says Stock Market Is Up Because a Republican Will Be President

​Welcome to the inaugural post of our Allen West Fact Party series, in which we take claims made by the District 22 Republican and attempt to figure out whether they have a basis in reality.Today's Fact Party analysis comes to you from the world of finance. Congressman Allen West was on Fox News o ... More >>

Florida Qualifies for List of Best-Run States in America for Simply Being a State in America

​Luckily for Florida, a new list of the best-run states in the U.S. of A. included all 50 states or it may not have made the cut.Based on what 24/7 Wall Street calls "the 10 most important measurements of financial and government management," Florida ranked 40th.In fact, a lot of those financial a ... More >>

Broward Investment Manager Allegedly Sold $11 Million Worth of Imaginary Technology Stock

bnet.comJust like Jim Cramer doesn't have access to stock from Iron Man, John Mattera didn't have access to multiple things he was allegedly selling.​As they say in South Florida: another day, another alleged multimillion-dollar scam.John Mattera, 50, was arrested at his Fort Lauderdale home yeste ... More >>

Occupy Fort Lauderdale Protesters Defy Rain as Hundreds Turn Out to Express Grievances

​Amid the unfavorable weather that hovered over Fort Lauderdale last night, a couple of hundred people still gathered near the Broward Main Public Library to express their distaste, distrust, and disdain for the state of the country.There's a common misconception that the Occupy movement is a rein ... More >>

Happy Hour: Duffy's Sports Bar On University Drive

​Duffy's on University Drive is the mega-center for mega-sports. Upon entering you're smacked by flat screens everywhere you look. I counted thirty, got dizzy and gave up (a hostess saw me struggling and informed me there are 70 ). Its decor is clean combination of football fanatic frat boy ... More >>

In "I Don't Know How She Does It," Sarah Jessica Parker Does It All

The Maltese Falcon, the World's Largest Floating Metaphor for the Financial Collapse, to Sail Into Port Everglades

The Maltese Falcon stands for something, and it's something you can't afford.​Sometime this week, a giant, floating, three-masted metaphor will arrive in Port Everglades. Specifically, it's the Maltese Falcon, one of the world's largest and most expensive private boats. The 289-foot ship is every ... More >>

Bernie Madoff Breaks His Silence, Says Banks and Hedge Funds Turned a Blind Eye

via www.jamesallen.com​Bernard Madoff, the Ponzi villain with Palm Beach roots in real estate and scorned investors, told the New York Times that banks and hedge funds handling his fortune turned a blind (an perhaps unlawful) eye to his criminal schemes. The Times article is based on a prison inte ... More >>

New York Hedge Funds Strike Back In Rothstein Suit

We've heard all about how the Centurion and Platinum hedge funds in New York sank hundreds of millions of dollars into Scott Rothstein's Ponzi scheme.  Fort Lauderdale attorney Bill Scherer is suing them, claiming they were privy to the fraud and now must cough up ... More >>

Spring Break for Wall Street to Descend on South Florida

​Looks like South Florida's spring break this year isn't going to be just where the boys are. Fort Lauderdale will also be the locale for some bonds gone wild with the top guns of Wall Street. LDV Capital Management will party with its own series of weeklong celebrations at its fourth G ... More >>

"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" Lets the Bad Guys Off Easy

Analyzing Jeff Greene's New Campaign Videos

Jeff Greene's ad campaign launched today, and despite his billionaire status, Pixar animations were left on the cutting room floor. Also absent from the two spots: Greene's "I took on Wall Street and won" slogan. With the campaign heating up, it looks like our badboy is reforming. "He's starting w ... More >>

State Ethics Commission, Broward Prosecutor Clear Hospital Commissioner

browardhealth.orgFernandez​Broward Health Commissioner Mike Fernandez is breathing a bit easier these days. He won't face criminal charges or disciplinary action in connection with a conflict of interest between his public role and his private-sector work.A few weeks ago, the Florida Commission on ... More >>

Wilted Wall Street Protest Highlights Obama Fatigue

Lisa Rab​The small crowd gathered outside the West Palm Beach courthouse at noon today was sweaty and subdued. Holding signs urging people to "Stand With the President: Support Wall Street Reform!" the ten protesters -- polite, mostly middle-aged, in shorts and sneakers -- drew mixed reactions."Ye ... More >>

Billionaire Jeff Greene's Campaign Slogan: "I Took on Wall Street and Won"

Courtesy Jeff Greene's campaignJeff Greene also took on headshots and won.​Pulling away from last week's will-he-won't-he-gasp-he-did Crist frenzy for just a sec, I got an e-mail yesterday from Democrat Jeff Greene's campaign, in which Greene reminds voters that he "took on Wall Street and won and ... More >>

Enthusiasm for Porn Found Lacking in Investors

Flickr: Reans​Aren't investors supposed to be ruthless believers in the shallowness and depravity of the human race? That seems to be the bet that FriendFinder Networks was making when the Boca Raton-based website promoter decided to stage an initial public offering. The pitch: This could feed the ... More >>

Dippolito Fraud Victims Get a Pittance for Their Trouble

flickr user: bradipoNemeth lost $20,000 in Dippolito's scam.​Every month, George Nemeth gets a check in the mail from the Florida Department of Corrections. Sometimes it's for $8, sometimes $9.12. Once, the amount spiked to $10.18.At this rate, it will be 167 years before Nemeth recovers the $20,0 ... More >>

Michael Dippolito's Fraud Scheme: Take Investors' Money, Buy Phone Sex

Florida Department of CorrectionsDippolito is still on probation for the scheme.​Long before he made headlines as the victim of his wife's alleged plot to have him killed, Michael Dippolito had a scheme of his own.From a Boca Raton apartment, he ran a telemarketing business that preyed on stranger ... More >>

Kahn Job: Lauderdale Woman Is Key Witness in Major Insider Trading Case

A 51-year-old Fort Lauderdale woman named Roomy Khan is prepared to testify against her former boss at Galleon, a $3 billion hedge fund ensnared in one of the nation's largest-ever insider trading cases.But Khan will be taking quite a bit of baggage to the witness stand.

Another Palm Beach Snowbird Takes the Ponzi Plunge

Flickr: b_cuzzIf there was graffiti in Palm Beach, it would look like this.​Do they still put you in jail for a Ponzi scheme of less than $25 million? Or is that the kind of crime that just gets you laughed out of a Palm Beach country club? Ask Tony Young, the investor who in Palm Beach was a next ... More >>

More Money, More Drama

Eats for Under $7: Italian Combo Sub From Doris' Italian Market

​There's nothing like walking into an Italian market and finding it packed with customers debating the pronunciation of gabagool and capicola. Doris' Italian Market is that kind of place. Straight-off-the-boat Italians and hardcore Sopranos wannabes alike flock to Doris' to pick up freshly made It ... More >>

Surf Rider Condo a Victim of Shark Attack?

The alleged shark is named Pamela Lynn Csolkovits. A Broward Sheriff's Office statement says she admitted to stealing some $200,000 from her fellow residents of the Surf Rider Condominium Association on Ocean Boulevard in Pompano Beach. An audit allegedly found that the actual losses were more than ... More >>

Pop In This Bubble

Does Kemp's Death Alter Deal for Panthers?

Flickr User: gojaysgo9293Jack KempAn investment fund chaired by longtime Republican Congressman and former Vice Presidential Candidate Jack Kemp emerged last week as a potential buyer of the Florida Panthers and their handsome revenue-sharing lease at the BankAtlantic Center. Then this weekend, Kemp ... More >>

High Oil: Now It's Definitely A Bush Thing

First You Get the Money, Then You Get the Power,

Then you get ze Jews!

Triple Play

Maybe I’m Crazy? Probably.

Daddy´s Dog

Saying she´s treated like a stray cur, the wife of ¨Daddy´s Girl¨ millionaire Bruce McMahan breaks her silence

Chump Tower

South Florida's housing bubble has popped, suckas! But the Donald still wants your millions for his condos.

Cesar's Palace

Hoboken Grill draws chi-chi crowds to the 'hood

Best Place to Check Your E-Mail

Goldfinger North

Italy in Hallandale

The best pasta south of the Mason-Dixonetti

The Real Boiler Room

Hollywood's International Currency Management specialized in trading foreign currency -- and helping clients' money disappear

Her Word Is Not Her Bond

Former Broward County financial adviser Teressa Cawley had a bright career… until the SEC passed judgment on her

Foodstuff