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"An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less."

- Nicholas Murray Butler -

E-mails show Goldman boasting as meltdown unfolds

By DAN STRUMPF, AP Business Writer

Dan Strumpf, Ap Business Writer

18 mins ago

NEW YORK – E-mails released Saturday morning show top executives at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boasting about the money the firm was making as the national housing market collapsed in 2007.

The e-mails suggest Goldman benefited from its bets that securities backed by subprime mortgages would lose value. The messages seem to contradict previous statements by the investment bank that it lost money on the securities.

"Of course we didn't dodge the mortgage mess," CEO Lloyd Blankfein wrote in an e-mail dated Nov. 18, 2007, according to the e-mails released Saturday by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "We lost money, then made more than we lost because of shorts."

Goldman restated its position Saturday that it did not reap huge profit from bets against the market.

Short positions are bets that the market will go down. As the housing bubble burst, Goldman and a few powerful hedge funds took short positions on the market. Many of those bets required other investors to bet the market would rise.

When the market went bust, people with short positions cleaned up.

"We were just smaller in the toxic products," Goldman's president, Gary Cohn, writes back to Blankfein that same Sunday evening.

Critics say their bets added fuel to the financial crisis.

One of those bets is at the heart of civil fraud charges the Securities and Exchange Commission filed against Goldman this month. The SEC says Goldman let hedge fund Paulson & Co. help select investments for a portfolio that was designed to lose value, then marketed the deal to investors who were betting the portfolio's value would rise.

The SEC says Goldman did not tell the investors — mostly European banks — that the deal was created in part by the hedge fund and therefore was designed to fail.

Separately Saturday, Goldman released a series of e-mails from Fabrice Tourre, the trader at the heart of the SEC charges. In them, Tourre jokes about selling investments to "widows and orphans" when he already expects the market to go bust.

He writes in an e-mail dated March 7, 2007, that Dan Sparks, leader of Goldman's U.S. subprime business, said the business "is totally dead, and the poor little subprime borrowers will not last so long!!!"

That April, he joked about the bonds the SEC charges he misled clients about.

"I've managed to sell a few abacus bonds to widows and orphans that I ran into at the airport, apparently these Belgians adore" the complex investments, Tourre wrote.

The e-mails are in a mixture of French and English, and are to a woman with whom Tourre appeared to be romantically involved. Goldman provided translations.

The same e-mails were excerpted in the SEC's complaint against Goldman, but the full context was not reported previously.

The subcommittee, whose probe is not connected with the SEC's, has been investigating the causes of the financial crisis for 18 months. Its fourth and final hearing Tuesday will include testimony from Blankfein and Fabrice Tourre, a trader named in the SEC case.

Goldman has denied wrongdoing and says it will fight the charges. In a statement Saturday, spokesman Lucas Van Praag said the bank lost $1.2 billion in the residential mortgage market during 2007 and 2008.

"As a firm, we obviously could not have been significantly net short since we lost money in a declining housing market," Van Praag said in a statement. He said the Senate panel "cherry-picked" four e-mail threads out of 20 million pages Goldman provided.

Van Praag is one of the handful of top executives who contributed to the e-mails the Senate committee released Saturday.

Blankfein's comment about Goldman making more than it lost was a response to an e-mail from Van Praag in which Van Praag discussed a forthcoming New York Times article about the firm. It would show "how we dodged the mortgage mess," Van Praag explained.

In one, Goldman Chief Financial Officer David Viniar says that in one day the firm made more than $50 million on bets that the housing market would collapse, according to a statement from Levin's office.

Viniar, also scheduled to testify Tuesday, summed up the position of investors who had not bet against the market:

"Tells you what might be happening to people who don't have the big short," Viniar writes in the message dated July 25, 2007.

The e-mails were released by subcommittee chair Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. In a statement, Levin called banks like Goldman "self-interested promoters of risky and complicated financial schemes that helped trigger the crisis."

Goldman said in its 2009 annual report that its short positions sought to offset its long positions in the mortgage market and did not generate large profits. Through 2006, Goldman "generally was long in exposure" in the mortgage-backed securities market, according to the report, and after taking losses on those securities in 2006 it reduced its exposure.

"Although Goldman Sachs held various positions in residential mortgage-related products in 2007, our short positions were not 'a bet against our clients,'" according to the report.

Titans trade LenDale White on Day 3 of NFL draft

By BARRY WILNER, AP Football Writer

Barry Wilner, Ap Football Writer

50 mins ago

NEW YORK – Time to draft and time to trade.

The final day of the NFL draft began with St. Louis further bolstering its anemic offense by taking wide receiver Mardy Gilyard, who once lost his scholarship at Cincinnati and even lived out of his car. Moments later Saturday, the Tennessee Titans dealt LenDale White to Seattle, reuniting him with his college coach, Pete Carroll.

Soon after, the Oakland Raiders sent their starting middle linebacker, Kirk Morrison, to Jacksonville as the bartering got heavy in Round 4.

In Round 5, the New York Jets dealt running back-kick returner Leon Washington to Seattle.

New Seahawks coach Carroll dealt for one of his mainstays at Southern California, getting White from the Titans for Seattle's fourth-rounder and sixth-rounder. The Seahawks also received defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson, and the Titans selected UCLA cornerback Alterraun Verner with the spot acquired in the deal.

The burly and bruising White helped Carroll win a national championship with the Trojans. But he lost his starting job to Chris Johnson, and had problems with being late for meetings.

"As far as LenDale falling out of favor, he practiced," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "He was prepared to play. I think I can't blame him for wanting to play more. That's the kind of players you want on your roster. Considering the circumstances, he handled things. There were issues I don't need to bring up. I thought he handled things reasonably well."

Vickerson was suspended for four games in 2008 for violating the NFL performance enhancers policy. He's been a situational player for Tennessee.

Washington missed half of 2009 with a severe leg injury. He recently re-signed with the Jets, for whom he has starred as a kick returner, runner and receiver.

Oakland selected one of the draft's fastest players, wideout Jacoby Ford of Clemson, with the pick acquired from the Jaguars. After drafting Rolando McClain in the first round to take over at middle linebacker, Morrison became expendable despite leading the Raiders in tackles the past four seasons.

"For me, it's a new beginning. I feel like I was drafted all over again," Morrison said. "I definitely didn't see a slip in my play. Now I can move to Jacksonville and show what I can do."

St. Louis made quarterback Sam Bradford the first overall selection Thursday night and began the second round Friday by choosing offensive lineman Rodger Saffold from Indiana.

Gilyard was pick No. 99 overall and one of the most high-profile players still available. He should help the Rams on kick returns, too.

"It's like slim to none that kids actually get to go pro," Gilyard said. "My mom, she's bananas right now. She's going to call me about eight times in a row."

In another deal, the Jets moved up to Carolina's spot to draft USC's Joe McKnight at No. 112. That freed the way to deal Washington, and New York chose Kentucky fullback John Conner with the pick secured from Seattle.

All-American tight end Aaron Hernandez of Florida went to New England, the second tight end chosen by the Patriots. When DE Eric Norwood of South Carolina was taken by the Panthers at No. 124, every eligible All-American except placekicker Leigh Tiffin had gone.

The first Ohio State player chosen was linebacker Thaddeus Gibson, 116th overall by Pittsburgh. Such other notable programs as Pitt, West Virginia and Michigan State had no players taken through 125 picks.

'Avatar' Sets Blu-ray Record

 April 23, 2010 | By: Chris Harnick

 

Not even Blu-ray and DVD release could slow down the record-breaking streak of 'Avatar.'

According to the Hollywood Reporter, James Cameron's blockbuster sold 1.5 million Blu-ray copies in one day, besting the previous champ, 'The Dark Knight.'

Early estimates had retailers selling out of 60 percent of its Blu-ray inventory and 50 percent of its DVDs, a Fox representative told the Hollywood Reporter.

Fans who want to experience 'Avatar' in 3D will have to wait until early next year; Fox reportedly wanted to wait until there were more homes equipped with 3D Blu-ray players.

A special edition of the DVD is expected in November.

'Avatar' remains the highest-grossing film of all-time, taking in over $745 million, domestically, and over $2.7 billion, worldwide.

Updated: April 23, 2010, 8:47 AM ET

Roddick pulls out of Rome Masters

Associated Press

ROME -- Seventh-ranked Andy Roddick has withdrawn from the Rome Masters, citing personal reasons.

The American recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of his marriage to model Brooklyn Decker, who was on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in February.

Roddick also skipped Rome last year when he took a break after the wedding, meaning he doesn't have any ranking points to defend in the clay-court tournament, which begins Sunday.

Although this tournament is mandatory for top-ranked players, Roddick will not be fined because he is allowed one free exemption per year as a veteran with more than 600 matches played on tour.

The ATP said Roddick was expected to be back for the Madrid Masters on May 9. Both the Rome and Madrid tournaments are key warmups for the French Open, which starts May 23.

Roddick also skipped last week's Monte Carlo Masters, although that tournament is no longer mandatory for the top players. In the last tournament he did play, Roddick won the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., three weeks ago.

Fourth-ranked Juan Martin del Potro and No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko also will not play in Rome -- both due to long-term wrist injuries.

Top-ranked Roger Federer, No. 2 Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Rafael Nadal all are expected at the Foro Italico, which will debut a new 10,500-seat stadium this year.

Federer has reached the final twice in Rome but has never won. Djokovic took the title in 2008 and Nadal has won four of the past five years.

Updated: April 23, 2010, 12:03 AM ET

Stern warns coaches to quit griping

By Dave McMenamin
ESPNLosAngeles.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- As entertaining of a matchup Game 3 of the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder's first-round playoff series was, NBA commissioner David Stern made sure there was one more compelling battle Thursday night.

 

 

Stern, on hand at the Ford Center to witness the first NBA playoff game in the history of Oklahoma, was asked by reporters before the game about the two $35,000 fines Lakers coach Phil Jackson has received in the past two weeks, and the commissioner held nothing back.

 

 

"I wish I had it to do all over again, and starting 20 years ago, I'd be suspending Phil and Pat Riley for all the games they play in the media, because you guys know that our referees go out there and they knock themselves out and do the best job they can. We have coaches who will do whatever it takes to try to work them publicly," Stern said. "What that does is erode fan confidence, and then we get some of the situations that we have. So, our coaches should be quiet because this is a good business that makes them good livings and supports a lot of families, and if they don't like, they should go get a job someplace else."

 

 

Jackson was fined for comments made regarding the Thunder's Kevin Durant prior to the series, insinuating the 21-year-old scoring champion led the league in free throw attempts in part because, "I think a lot of the referees are treating him like a superstar; he gets to the line easy and often."

 

 

Jackson was fined earlier in the month for saying the "referees turned against us" after a game against San Antonio and for calling out veteran official Bennett Salvatore by name and saying, "With Bennett, you don't know what you're going to get."

 

 

Stern and Jackson passed each other in the hallway prior to the commissioner's news conference.

 

 

"I think Phil's a great coach," Stern said. "He's a friend of many years; I just came by and said, 'Hi,' and he said, 'I don't like you today,' and I said, 'I like you.'"

 

Stern did not limit his comments to Jackson. Earlier Thursday, the league levied three separate $35,000 fines to Boston Celtics forward Rasheed Wallace, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy and Magic forward Matt Barnes for publicly criticizing game officials.

 

 

"It's corrosive," Stern said. "It's corrosive, and because of the pressure cooker that is the NBA playoffs, over the years I've let it go, but when you hear a Chicago coach say, 'Oh, they're doing it because' ... or, 'This game was lost because NBC wants an extra game,' and you hear a New York coach say, 'Well, what are you going to do? [Michael] Jordan gets all the calls.'

 

 

"Or you hear a Stan Van Gundy do what he wants to say and then the players join in. We know, inside the community, what it's meant to do, so, 'OK, it's playoff time, everyone's crazy so back off,' but, if I had to do it again, I would stop it and the price wouldn't be a modest $35,000 fine. It would be whatever a day's pay is and then two days pay and then a week's pay.

 

 

"And if someone wants to try me in the rest of these playoffs, you know, make my day because the game is too important and I don't think that the people who trash it are respecting it and we'll do what we have to do -- to players and coaches alike."

 

 

Stern finished with a half-sarcastic hyperbole, endorsing the league's officials.

 

 

"[Coaches and players] give the impression to our fans that the referees somehow have an agenda," Stern said. "Yeah, they have an agenda -- it's to knock themselves out to give the best call that they can and then to send their checks homes to their mothers and give the rest to charity."

As of April 19, 2010

 

1   (1)      WILLIAMS, SERENA   USA             7946.00 15 .00 .00 .00

2   (2)      WOZNIACKI, CAROLINE   DEN       6255.00 24 200.00 .00 125.00

3   (3)      SAFINA, DINARA   RUS                 6150.00 18 .00 .00 1.00

4   (4)      WILLIAMS, VENUS   USA               5817.00 16 .00 .00 .00

5   (5)      KUZNETSOVA, SVETLANA   RUS     5620.00 19 .00 .00 1.00

6   (6)      DEMENTIEVA, ELENA   RUS           4965.00 19 .00 .00 60.00

7   (7)      JANKOVIC, JELENA   SRB              4740.00 21 120.00 .00 120.00

8   (8)      RADWANSKA, AGNIESZKA   POL    4190.00 22 .00 .00 120.00

9   (9)      AZARENKA, VICTORIA   BLR          4080.00 19 1.00 .00 60.00

10  (11)    STOSUR, SAMANTHA   AUS            3975.00 20 470.00 .00 60.00

World's No.1 Serena Williams joins elite club

April 22, 2010

By: www.TENNIS.com

On Monday, Serena Williams will become the seventh player in WTA Tour history to hold the No.1 ranking for 100 or more weeks, joining Steffi Graf (377), Martina Navratilova (332), Chris Evert (260), Martina Hingis (209), Monica Seles (178), and Justine Henin (117). Serena will enter Roland Garros as the top-ranked player even if current No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki wins all the singles titles leading up to the French Open.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Melanie Oudin, who is ranked a career-high No. 31, is trying to become the first American woman outside of the Williams sisters to be a seeded at a Grand Slam event since Lindsay Davenport was seeded No. 10 at the 2006 U.S. Open.

 "Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship." - Benjamin Franklin -

"We don't understand life any better at 40 than at 20, but we know it and admit it."

 - Jules Renard -

NCAA to expand March Madness from 65 to 68 teams

By MICHAEL MAROT, AP Sports Writer

Michael Marot, Ap Sports Writer

15 mins ago

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA plans to expand the men's basketball tournament from 65 to 68 teams beginning next year and announced a new, $10.8 billion broadcasting deal with CBS and Turner Broadcasting on Thursday that will allow every game to be shown live for the first time.

The three-team expansion is much more modest than 80- and 96-team proposals the NCAA outlined just a few weeks ago at the Final Four. The move coincides with the new, 14-year broadcasting arrangement that interim NCAA president Jim Isch said will provide an average of $740 million to its conferences and schools each year.

The NCAA badly wanted every tourney game broadcast live.

"It was a goal from the very, very beginning and I believe it's what our memberships want and it's want our fans want across the country," Isch said. "I think without question, it was one of the driving factors in our position and why CBS and Turner make such great partners."

The men's tournament last expanded in 2001, adding one team to the 64-team field that was set in 1985. Talk of tweaking March Madness again generated a lot of chatter from fans worried the competition would be watered down and those who feared the additional bracket guesswork needed to predict a winner.

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who favored expansion, said the proposal was "better than nothing."

"As a coach I'd like to see more people get in but 68 is a good step and the easiest way, to have the least amount of turmoil," Boeheim said. "There's really no way to do a little bit bigger expansion. You can't expand by eight, 10. There's no way to figure that out. This is the easiest way and hopefully down the road there will be a bigger expansion."

Fellow Big East coach Jim Calhoun of Connecticut was less enthusiastic. He pointed to this year's tournament, which included deep runs by Cornell, Northern Iowa, Xavier and national runner-up Butler.

"I have a tough time seeing why we have to change a concept that has been so good," Calhoun said. "This year, the parity was incredible. If you have something that has become magical and what has enhanced it is not more games, but the Butlers and the parity. Those things are what have done it. George Mason. It's been proven time and again."

Less than four weeks ago, turning the NCAA's signature event into a 96-team field seemed like all but a done deal.

During the Final Four, NCAA vice president Greg Shaheen talked extensively about plans to go to 96, saying the three-week event would start two days later and eliminate the play-in game. But more games would have been added to Week 2, and that caused concerns about how much class time the athletes would miss.

Shaheen also cautioned then that nothing had been decided.

Any move hinged on the NCAA's $6 billion, 11-year television deal with CBS Sports, which has broadcast championship games since 1982. The deal, signed in 1999, had a mutual opt-out until July 31, and the NCAA took it amid speculation that ESPN might become a partner in one of the most popular and lucrative tournaments in sports.

"We made an aggressive bid and believe our combination of TV distribution, digital capabilities, season-long coverage and year-round marketing would have served the interests of the NCAA and college fans very well," ESPN said in a statement posted on its website.

The NCAA's agreement with CBS and Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting System Inc. runs from 2011 through 2024. It means that every game next March will be shown live — on CBS, TBS, TNT or truTV — for the first time in the tournament's 73-year history.

Next year, everything through the second round will be shown nationally on the four networks. CBS and Turner, an entity of Time Warner Inc., will split coverage of the regional semifinal games, while CBS will retain coverage of the regional finals, the Final Four and the championship game through 2015.

Beginning in 2016, coverage of the regional finals will be split by CBS and Turner; the Final Four and the championship game will alternate every year between CBS and TBS. Under the agreement, the NCAA and CBSSports.com will again provide live streaming video of games, though Turner secured rights for any player it develops.

"This is a landmark deal for Turner Broadcasting and we're extremely pleased to begin a long-term relationship with the NCAA and our partners at CBS and to have a commitment that extends well into the next decade," said David Levy, president of sales, distribution and sports for Turner Broadcasting.

The NCAA said the Division I Men's Basketball Committee unanimously passed the proposal and it will be reviewed by the Board of Directors next Thursday.

How critical is the deal to the NCAA? More than 95 percent of the governing body's total revenue comes from the broadcast rights to the men's basketball tournament.

And it was clearly important to New York-based CBS. Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports, said the "new strategic partnership" was a core asset and a profitable one, though he hinted that the annual payments of $700 million over the last three years of the original deal were a load.

"We were prepared to do the last three years of the current deal, it was no secret that those three years would be very challenging," he said. "But this deal was based on the NCAA coming to us saying that we would like a new deal in place."

The National Association of Basketball Coaches has long advocated expansion, citing the fact that while the number of Division I teams has expanded greatly over the last quarter-century, the tourney has only added one team.

A 96-team field would have likely enveloped the 32-team NIT, the NCAA's other, independently run season-ending tournament.

The proposal is strictly for the men's tournament. Another NCAA committee is looking at whether to expand the women's tournament or keep it in the current format.

Midday & Evening

** until 4-25-10 **

204, 034, 405, 047, 408, 124, 431, 415, 147, 148

462, 643, 456, 674, 684, 249, 493, 459, 497, 849

243, 524, 247, 482, 435, 473, 384, 754, 548, 784

Midday 4-22-10 Evening

** until 4-25-10 **

3840, 3841, 3842, 3843, 3844, 3845, 3846, 3847, 3848, 3849

0840, 1840, 2840, 3840, 4840, 5840, 6840, 7840, 8840, 9840

All Draws

** until 4-25-10 **

0127 0128 0136 0137 0145 0146 0168 0178 0235 0236 0245 0258 0267 0268 0348 0357 0358 0367 0456 0457 0478 0568 0578 1234 1235 1239 1248 1249 1257 1258 1267 1279 1289 1347 1348 1356 1357 1369 1378 1379 1456 1459 1468 1469 1478 1567 1568 2346 2347 2356 2359 2368 2369 2378 2458 2459 2467 2468 2567 3457 3458 3467 0028 0037 0038 0046 0047 0056 0078 1108 1126 1127 1135 1136 1145 1149 1158 1159 1167 1168 1189 2206 2207 2215 2216 2234 2238 2239 2247 2248 2256 2257 2269 2278 2279 3304 3305 3314 3318 3319 3327 3328 3345 3346 3349 3358 3359 3367 3368 4402 4403 4407 4408 4412 4416 4417 4425 4426 4429 4435 4438 4439 4456 4457 5501 5506 5514 5518 5519 5523 5524 5527 5528 5536 5537 5546 6603 6604 6607 6608 6612 6613 6617 6625 6634 6635 7701 7702 7705 7706 7714 7715 7723 7724 8803 8804 8812 8813 0055 0088 1144 1177 1199 2233 2266 2288 3355 3377 4466