Facebook's reported user numbers appear to me to be off by a country mile. Multiple user accounts seem to be chronic. Moreover, besides run-of-the-mill fakes and duplicates, Facebook's identity-theft-enabling business model is, in my opinion, a disgrace for any U.S. public company. Yet Facebook's prospectus and 10Qs for the periods...

Facebook isn't the worst example of financial shenanigans that need investigation by the SEC, but I've chosen to give it attention recently because the general public can easily understand the mechanics of a stock pump and dump.

Facebook's underwriters currently face allegations that at its May 2012 initial...

Before I get to the fast growing fraud -- defined as a user who is not what the user pretends to be, which may or may not have legal ramifications -- let me recap some things about Facebook. A tech blogger wrote me: "I didn't realize that FB's last quarter...

Catholics are aware that some priests have affairs with adult women. Even Popes have had mistresses. The popular television series, The Borgias, is historical fiction about the intrigues and love affairs of Pope Alexander VI. Catholics are also painfully aware of cases of sexual exploitation of children by priests. Lawsuits...

In its last earnings report Facebook touted its mobile revenues strategy--a strategy that it said depends on "sponsored stories"--as the answer to its loss on a GAAP basis (the accounting benchmark for U.S. corporations), declining margins, and sharp decline in revenues from Zynga's games, once 12% of its revenues.

But...

Those who believe we don't need smart and effective crime-stopping financial regulation have only to look at the smallest independent city-state in the world, Vatican City. The tiny oligarchy is surrounded by Italy and ruled by the Pope. It also has its own bank. If you can't trust the Vatican...

When insiders sell stock, that's usually a strong sell signal for everyone else. As I mentioned in a previous post, many of Facebook's early investors cashed out rather than hang onto their shares, and the stock price plummeted from the IPO price of $38 (at one point the...

Will Facebook soon be a $5 stock?

Facebook has seen a tsunami of selling by insiders since May 17 when its IPO raised $16 billion for insiders, early investors and the firm. Its share price nosedived from $38 to $19.52, around half its IPO price, as of close of...

Just after mainstream financial news outlets reported that BP p.l.c. is close to a settlement for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 workers and caused the worst oil spill in U.S. history, there is more bad news for BP that could cause its fine to soar...

As if BP plc didn't have enough trouble with its Gulf Coast damage settlement (more on that in a moment), Norwegian authorities are investigating a "substantial" oil and gas leak off the coast of Norway. BP's production platform maintenance issues aren't limited to the U.S. Many of its...

An important element of national security is the soundness of our currency. Before a currency goes into freefall, its value can be chipped away while a distracted population fails to notice that the currency buys cheaper quality clothing and less food in a package at a grocery store. This can...

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you, to learn some of my managers used insider information when trading at SAC Capital Advisors LP!

I suspected it was happening at many of my competitors' hedge funds. Why? It's because I'm a genius, and they're not! Other hedge fund managers apparently think...

The dispute over the territory known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan (and the U.S.) and as the Diaoyu Islands in China has all the makings of a Tom Clancy thriller.

The 73-year-old Japanese Finance Minister, Tadahiro Matsushita was found hanged -- not death by seppuku --...

The Small Business Association estimates there are around 250,000 angel investors in the USA. Angel investors are drawn to Chicago's tech renaissance of app developers, game developers, a large Drupal community, product developers for mobile devices and much more. Most -- but not all -- startups are losing money.

Yesterday Nokia's management kicked the company in the stomach and then self-immolated. At the most important meeting in the history of the company, Nokia's management blew it.

Why was this meeting so important?

Nokia has become a classic investor's value trap. Theoretically it trades below book value, but...

Dear Sir,

It has come to our attention that you have been offered a role in a porn film for $10 million. We urge you to reject it.

Princely Pay and Elite Status

Goldman Sachs is prepared to pay you much better than porn, and as a partner, your...

Despite widespread crime of various types across all classes of society, most Americans polled were comfortable trusting their own "moral compass." Let's see how we did with that in July.

July 3

Bob Diamond, the American CEO of Barclays Bank in Britain, resigned...

Facebook announced its earnings on July 26 after the close of trading. Its share price fell 8.5 percent to 26.845 before the market close in the wake of Zynga's dismal report. Facebook's own report raised questions, and shares fell 10.7 percent to 23.97 (as of this...

Neil M. Barofsky, formerly the special inspector general in charge of oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, has written a just -released book, Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street. He asserts:

Americans should lose faith in their government....

In the first half of 2012, losses due to the derivatives trading scandal in JPMorgan Chase's Chief Investment Office (CIO) climbed to $5.8 billion and are still rising.

On Friday's conference call, Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, resorted to PR spin referring to...