NBC?s Chuck Todd sat down with Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum at his Iowa headquarters where they discussed his rise in the Iowa polls, his GOP rivals, his positions on social issues, and his knowledge of Iowa trivia.
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The Alabama Department of Insurance said insurers have paid at least $2.2 billion in claims arising from the April tornado outbreak in Alabama, and more than 2,500 claims are still pending eight months after the storms.
According to the Birmingham News, the figures include amounts that insurance companies regulated by the state have paid for homes, cars, businesses and other property damaged on April 27.
The figures do not include claims paid by companies such as Lloyd's of London, which insure some Alabama property but are not regulated by the state.
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In this Dec. 14, 2011 photo, a line worker moves an engine on the assembly line for a Ford Focus at the Ford Michigan Assembly plant in Wayne, Mich. The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose for the first time in a month, a week after applications fell to their lowest level in three and a half years. But the monthly average of applications fell to the lowest level since June 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
In this Dec. 14, 2011 photo, a line worker moves an engine on the assembly line for a Ford Focus at the Ford Michigan Assembly plant in Wayne, Mich. The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose for the first time in a month, a week after applications fell to their lowest level in three and a half years. But the monthly average of applications fell to the lowest level since June 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
FILE - In this Dec. 12, 2011 file photo, people wait to talk with potential employers at a job fair sponsored by National Career Fairs, in New York. The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose for the first time in a month, a week after applications fell to their lowest level in three and a half years. But the monthly average of applications fell to the lowest level since June 2008.(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
In this Dec. 12, 2011 photo, people wait to talk with potential employers at a job fair sponsored by National Career Fairs, in New York. The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose for the first time in a month, a week after applications fell to their lowest level in three and a half years. But the monthly average of applications fell to the lowest level since June 2008. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
In this Dec. 12, 2011 photo, people wait to talk with potential employers at a job fair sponsored by National Career Fairs, in New York. The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose for the first time in a month, a week after applications fell to their lowest level in three and a half years. But the monthly average of applications fell to the lowest level since June 2008. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week after three weeks of decline.
Even with the gain, applications remained at a level consistent with modest hiring. And the broader trend over the past month suggests job growth could pick up further in the new year.
Weekly applications increased by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 381,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped for the fourth straight week to 375,000. That's the lowest level since June 2008.
"Despite the rise in the weekly claims data, the longer-term trend ... suggests that the recovery in the labor market is maintaining its momentum," said Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays Capital, in a note to clients.
Applications generally must fall below 375,000 ? consistently ? to signal that hiring is strong enough to reduce the unemployment rate.
While layoffs have fallen sharply since the recession officially ended two and a half years ago, many companies have been slow to add jobs.
Economists caution that the figures can be volatile around the holidays. The data for seven states, including California and Virginia, were estimated because of the Monday holiday, a Labor Department spokesman said. Those estimates have in the past proven reliable, the spokesman said, and haven't required major revision.
Hiring has improved in recent months. Employers have added an average of 143,000 net jobs a month from September through November. That's almost double the average for the previous three months.
Next year should be even better. A survey of 36 economists by the Associated Press this month found that they expect the economy will generate an average of about 175,000 jobs per month in 2012.
More small businesses plan to hire than at any time in three years, a trade group said earlier this month. And a separate private-sector survey found more companies are planning to add workers in the first quarter of next year than at any time since 2008.
In November, the unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent from 9 percent. Still, about half that decline occurred because many of the unemployed gave up looking for work. When people stop looking for a job, they're no longer counted as unemployed.
The pickup in hiring reflects some modest improvement in the economy. Growth will likely top 3 percent at an annual rate in the final three months of this year, economists expect. That would be better than the 1.8 percent growth in the July-September quarter.
Europe is almost certain to fall into recession because of its financial troubles. And without more jobs and higher incomes, consumers may have to cut back on spending. Both could drag on growth next year.
Congress removed one potential threat last week when it agreed to extend a payroll tax cut and to keep emergency unemployment benefits for two additional months. Both programs were scheduled to expire at the end of this month. Economists worried that ending the tax break and the extended unemployment benefits program would have left Americans with less money to spend.
About 7.2 million people are receiving benefits, as of the week ending Dec. 10, the latest data available. That's an increase of about 80,000 from the previous week.
That figure includes about 3.5 million laid-off workers that are receiving benefits under an extended benefits program put in place during the recession.
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Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg with girlfriend Priscilla Chan. Photograph: Facebook
Benjamin Cohen, the Channel 4 News technology correspondent, reflects on a pivotal year for tech firms and looks ahead to the year when Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook will grow up.
? What will 2011 be remembered for?
The death of Steve Jobs. Love Apple or loathe it, he did manage to revolutionise a number of industries through an uncanny knack of perfect timing and design, as well as a knack of locking customers into closed, propitiatory systems. The challenge for Apple now is to continue his product roadmap, properly into televisions and beyond that create new products that in that makes us pay a little bit more for things we didn't know we needed, but then suddenly can't imagine living without.
I think 2011 was also the year that Google proved it understands people, not just engineering with the launch of Google+. It remains to be seen whether it will prove to be a long term rival to Facebook. That's a hard feat to achieve but it tapped into a growing public unease about how much is being shared online and to whom. The innovations it pioneered have in a lot of ways already been taken up by Facebook.
I'll leave it to others to talk about phone hacking.
? What was your best and worst moment
On a personal basis, it was the fascinating trip to Microsoft's HQ in Redmond to see behind the scenes at their research labs, touching, waving and talking to the future. It provided a glimpse of how a company too easily written off by some in the tech press continues to be gazing at the future, working on the sort of innovations that will shape our digital lives in the years to come.
My worst tech moment was discovering that my converted new iPhone 4S and its key feature isn't up to much, in the UK at least. ITN gave me mine a few weeks after I'd been playing with my American friends' phones in the US. Location-based services don't work here and in a sense, it takes away from the clever stuff that phone could do for you.
? What's your hot tip for 2012?
Facebook going public. It will probably be the biggest flotation ever in US corporate history and the success of that stock will determine the future market for internet investments around the world. When it does float, it will complete its transformation into a proper, grown-up company. Mark Zuckerberg, already responsible for 850 million peoples' private information, will also in a funny way have to shoulder the future property of millions of Americans' pension funds. If Facebook can't continue its revenue growth, as such a large player, it will bring into question the future performance of all of the most recent generation of internet-based listed companies.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2011/dec/30/channel4news-bejamin-cohen
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Is betting on horses very different from picking stocks? Can understanding a gambler?s approach and mentality give a better understanding of fund managers?
In searching for answers to these questions, I spoke to Paul Moulton, a professional gambler who originally worked in the fund management industry. He then set up a fund research company (Fitzrovia International, which he eventually sold to Reuters), although his working life began with an attempt to become a professional chess player.
Most of the fraternity of professional gamblers who make a living from horse racing are what Moulton describes as ?traders? or ?chisellers?.
This group do not really look at horses at all, but look at market movements, hedging back their bets, and aiming to make tiny but regular profits with much less risk. They remain tucked away in their homes in front of an array of computer screens.
Moulton sees himself as part of a second, smaller group of professional punters, those he refers to as ?judges?, some of whom look at horses in the paddock to assess their physical condition and thus their chances, while others are more reliant on assessing form based on previous races.
Some of them may even be conscious of the FSA?s warnings on funds? past performance, which is deemed to be no guide to future returns. Although past performance does tend to shorten a horse?s starting price.
As part of this approach, Moulton has gathered vast amounts of data on all aspects of racing (jockeys, trainers, pedigrees, speed figures and so on) in a database that covers all horses in all races in the UK and Ireland since January 2005.
Although his background in fund research lends itself to such an approach, Moulton admits that, while his original idea was to ?out-stat? everyone else, this approach has turned out to be much more limited for determining which outsiders to back.
He did try to do all of this from home, but in the end he was better able to deal with losses when trackside. The journey home enables Moulton to carry out a post-mortem of his performance, win or lose, and to clear his mind before returning to the family.
So he now spends more time looking at the horses in the paddock too, even though being at a course means that it is a little more ?archaic? when trying to work out ?what the market is doing?.?But even this has a beneficial side-effect: it is far easier to bet on too many horses in too many races when sitting at home and betting over the internet, he says, while, for practical reasons, this is far less the case when at a course.
TOO MUCH INFORMATION
Moulton acknowledges the above findings from Russo and Shoemaker. From his own experience of building a horse racing database, he is all too aware of the desire to add in a new piece of information after virtually every race.
In the early days this process of amassing more and more data on which to base decisions was ?comforting? he says, but he has found that ?it doesn?t help results.? The more detailed any extra analysis that he runs, the smaller the sample size becomes (for more recent races) and the less meaningful the findings are.
?Once filtered to that degree, apparent patterns are really just statistical tricks.?
At its heart, Moulton?s approach to placing bets is to look for value in the market. He creates a ?tissue? for each race, assessing the price at which he would be prepared to back a horse and then compares this to the odds offered by a bookmaker.
Moulton tries to divorce himself from picking winners. ??Anybody can pick winners,? he says. ?There?s no point in picking winners if you?re backing them at the wrong prices, because sooner or later you?ll come a cropper.?
It?s for this reason that he?s always reluctant to answer the question from the occasional punter ?who is going to win the 2.30 at Haydock??
?In all likelihood I?ll back several horses in the race if I think they?re good value and still expect to lose, which most [amateur] punters can?t quite get their heads around.?
Yet after all this work over the past five years of professional gambling, it might come as a surprise that 93 percent of the time Moulton?s chosen horses lose.
Luca Cumani, one of British racing?s leading trainers (and who trains some horses that Moulton owns), on hearing this said, ?if I got 93 percent of my decisions wrong, I would not be able to call myself a professional anything.? ? Moulton?s response to this is that it doesn?t matter as long as the average odds of his selections are greater than a 7 percent chance (or 13-1) because, in the end, ?it?s all about profit?.
In the same way, if typically one backed horses at 33-1 (i.e. a 3 percent chance of winning), then one could get away with losing 96 percent of the time and still make a profit. This contrasts with picking 2-1 shots (a 33 percent chance), where one has to be right more than 35 percent of the time.
In Moulton?s view, each gambler has to decide where on this ?risk spectrum? he believes he can succeed, much of which comes down to temperament. Most professional gamblers are focused on those horses with shorter odds, while Moulton chooses horses with longer odds but has to deal with losing more frequently.
He admits that there are very few punters at his end of the spectrum. But this does not come as a surprise, indeed he seems to relish the apparent loneliness. As he says, ?it does do funny things to your brain when you lose 93 percent of your bets!?
Whatever happens, he can draw more than a little comfort from the fact that all his work is tax free (since the 9 percent betting commission was abolished a decade ago) and has gone to great lengths to check that HMRC will not come knocking at his door . It is as though all of his investments are held in a huge ISA wrapper.
To hit the golden 7 percent, he spends over 80 hours a week at work. His unwavering logic is that to spend that amount of time he needs a decent return, and to do this he needs to place a decent stake. ?So Moulton fairly routinely turns over ?100,000 a day at the big festivals and consequently turns over several million pounds a year.
?I don?t think there?s a serious professional gambler who has made 10 percent of turnover? he says, so his daily stakes of a few hundred pounds back in 2006 were simply not high enough to earn the sort of living he wants to sustain.
Even to make ?25,000 a year, on 5 percent of turnover one would need to turn over ?500,000 a year or ?2,000 a day. ?As a result, Moulton concludes that ?betting on horses is only 50 percent of a professional gambler?s skill, the rest is in temperament and stake management, both if betting too much and too little.?
DEALING WITH LOSING
The biggest challenge for Moulton remains how to deal with losing runs when a 7 percent success rate looks further and further away.
For Moulton it is in the nature of things that he will hit bad spells as winners don?t come neatly spaced between losses. His approach requires consistency but a run of losers has often tempted him to start tinkering with that approach in order to try and end the losing streak ? a fatal error.
This has clear echoes of the pressure on fund managers to deliver short-term returns despite managing money for the long-term. Perhaps Professor John Kay, who is leading an independent review into long-term investing in UK equity markets, has considered talking to professional gamblers.
Moulton has learned this the hard way. Each year he has gone through a ?horrible, horrible losing run? and each year he has tried to train himself to deal with it better. ?Indeed early on he admits to losing all confidence in his abilities. ?He puts such losing runs down to being in his chosen end of the risk spectrum and he admits it would be ?far better for my mental health? if he could find a proven method of making money from backing 4-1 shots.
Despite this, after five full years of betting, with 7,000 to 9,000 bets each year, Moulton has experienced two years that were essentially flat (before expenses) and three ?pretty spectacular? years.
The occasional anonymous mention in the pages of the ?Racing Post? stands as testament to some huge wins. In July 2008 one columnist wrote in disbelief at meeting Moulton and finding that he had won ?200,000 and ?250,000 within a few weeks of each other. And in September this year he made nearly ?600,000 over two pool bets.
INSIDER?
More generally, when considering the similarities with investing in the stock market, Moulton points out that the vast majority of the time, the competitive environment in which companies operate changes relatively slowly, enabling analysis to be carried out over a reasonable length of time and in depth.
He contrasts this with the competitive environment for a horse race that can change in moments ? and often does, such as the previous race highlighting a bias relating to positions in the draw. And of course a horse race is over within a matter of minutes. Moulton has not had to develop the equivalent of a ?buy and hold? investment strategy.
While he may have found an asset class uncorrelated to stocks, bonds or even gold, indeed even the euro zone crisis does not figure very prominently in the minds of punters, if oil rich Middle Eastern owners such as Godolphin (the Maktoum family?s private horseracing stable) decided to leave British racing, this would surely send an earthquake through the sport.
Meanwhile, Moulton?s own moderate success as an owner ? despite friendships across a range of trainers and jockeys ? gives the lie to the idea that apparent ?inside information? is the key to success. ?? ?Indeed much trackside information is available to all, with those in the paddock able to tweet their views to punters within moments. Moulton himself is an avid tweeter ?? @moulton66. So ?market chatter? is increasingly open ? and you don?t get much more transparent than when a horse is sweating!
As for dealing with bookmakers, his response makes clear the implicit trust in those relationships: ?If I had to choose one group of people with whom to do business the rest of my life, it would be bookies.?
THE BITTER END
Moulton would not be drawn on whether his family was the equivalent of dealing with investors in a mutual fund, although he has avoided running a syndicate because this would end up with him being answerable to shareholders. Instead he asserts that he is better at being a professional gambler than anything else he could turn into a career and so it offers the best chance for him to support his family comfortably.
What might be seen as a risky career is bolstered by steadfast confidence. ?Even if I lost 50 percent of my capital, I would ? I would, I would, I would ? turn it around.?
So in 2010 when he sold his beloved E-Type Jaguar to raise some cash, he did not adopt a more cautious approach and proceeded to lose the money made from the sale in 45 minutes on the racecourse.
So how far would he really go? ?I would go all the way.?
Conviction, dedication, self-awareness and a consistent investment process. Surely attributes all investors long for in a fund manager; although you would allow them some nerves if the trackside approach to capital preservation turned up in their fund factsheet.
(Editing by Joel Dimmock) ?((joel.dimmock@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @reutersJoelD; +44 20 7542 3505;))
Source: http://blogs.reuters.com/fundshub/2011/12/28/lipper-equine-vs-equity-investing/
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YANGON, Myanmar ? A fire followed by several explosions engulfed state warehouses and neighboring homes in Myanmar's main city of Yangon on Thursday, killing at least 17 people and injuring 108.
The blasts occurred as firefighters were putting out the fire that had started in a state-owned warehouse before spreading to other warehouses and nearby homes and buildings before dawn.
Six of the dead were firefighters, a home ministry source said. He did not want to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
He added the fire and blasts destroyed 16 warehouses, a Buddhist monastery and 76 homes in Mingalar Taung Nyunt township in eastern Yangon.
A total of 108 injured people were brought to Yangon General Hospital, said a senior nurse. The nurse did not want to be identified because she is not authorized to speak to the media.
"Many of the dead were hit by flying debris of broken walls and stone slabs that were flung on to the streets due to the explosions," Maung Win, a 45-year-old resident, told the Associated Press.
The explosions rocked the entire city, jolting residents from sleep. A 20-foot (6-meter) -wide and 15-foot (4.5-meter) -deep crater was visible at the site. Black smoke was seen billowing from the rubble Thursday morning.
Firefighters were searching for bodies from among the debris.
It was not immediately clear what caused the fire, but the home ministry official said the explosions were due to chemicals, including ammonia and potassium nitrate, stored in one of the warehouses.
Residents said the fire started in a warehouse that stored electronic goods then spread to other warehouses and houses.
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BEIJING, Dec 28 (Reuters) The Chinese government has called on the country's biggest energy users to save 250 million tonnes of standard coal in the five years ending 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a release published on Wednesday.
The 17,000 companies, which annually consume more than 10,000 tonnes of standard coal each, or above 5,000 tonnes for certain stipulated companies, accounted for more than 60 percent of total energy consumption in 2010, the commission said.
China consumed 3.25 billion tonnes of standard coal in 2010, 5.9 percent more than a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The world's top energy user has pledged to cut energy intensity the amount of energy used for each unit of gross domestic product by 16 percent by 2015 from the level in 2010, after reducing 2010 energy intensity by nearly 20 percent from levels in 2005.
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ASHBURN ? The Washington Redskins have released running back Ryan Torain, who started four games this season, but fell behind rookies Roy Helu and Evan Royster on the depth chart.
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Bobbie Gardner is an animal lover who is allergic to dogs and cats. She no longer owns pets, but she knows firsthand that they are cherished companions for many.
The Boise grandma is part of a group of volunteers trying to prevent homebound seniors in the Treasure Valley from losing their pets because they can?t afford to feed them. Once a month, she loads up her Suzuki with bags of donated pet food and delivers it to a half-dozen or more residents in Boise and Meridian.
?They?re very appreciative,? said Gardner, a nurse who works part time. ?They say it?s so important to them to keep their animals with them, and if we didn?t help them they wouldn?t be able to.?
The pet food delivery service ? run through the Idaho Humane Society ? is done in collaboration with Elks Meals on Wheels. Volunteers with Meals on Wheels deliver meals each day to 800 seniors in Ada County, including 400 homebound seniors and 400 at dining centers.
?For many of these people who receive Meals on Wheels, it is their only daily source of nutrition,? said Grant Jones, development director for Elks Meals on Wheels. ?It?s very critical that they eat all of that and that they don?t have to make a choice between themselves and their pet.?
The Idaho Humane Society has been assisting with pet food donation for needy seniors for years. In late 2008, the nonprofit launched a separate delivery service to ease the burden on Meals on Wheels volunteers.
?It was just asking them to do a lot extra. In some cases, that pet food is very heavy, very bulky,? Jones said. ?It just made it easier.?
At about the same time, shelter officials began to notice that many families were giving up their pets due to financial hardship.
?We determined that people were using food stamps to buy food for their pets ? tuna for their cats, little wieners for their dogs,? said Christine Wiersema, development director at the Idaho Humane Society. ?That?s taking food away from the family, so that?s not good.
?We reassessed things because we want to keep these families together,? Wiersema said. That?s when the shelter?s Pet Food Pantry was launched.
The pantry, housed in a construction trailer, is also a collection site for the Meals on Wheels pet food delivery service. They collect and distribute about 7,000 pounds of pet food a month.
?This could be my whole job,? Wiersema said. All of the food is donated by the community or purchased with cash donations.
There are pet food donation drop-offs at 60 locations in the Valley, including Zamzows stores and veterinary offices.
Some businesses hold food drives to help out. The Idaho Athletic Club held four drives this year and donated 10,000 pounds of pet food. Hewlett-Packard employees contributed 640 pounds and $780 in cash.
Twice a month, about 100 families pick up food to feed for up to four pets. They may receive the donated pet food for up to six months.
The Meals on Wheels pet food delivery service is separate from the food pickup operation. It currently provides food to 225 animals at residences throughout Ada County.
About 10 to 15 volunteers gather the first week of the month to pack the pet food into their vehicles. They spend an hour or two delivering it over the next day or so.
Wiersema said many of the seniors in the delivery program have older and/or special-needs pets. Grants from two foundations allow the shelter to offer medical treatment and other care for those animals.
While talking to one pet owner, volunteer Gardner discovered that he was living in frigid temperatures due to a broken furnace. She called local agencies and businesses until she found one that would work with him on a payment plan for a new furnace.
In that way, the pet food delivery service is about so much more than pets, Wiersema said.
?It?s just one more touch from the community ? that sense we can all take care of each other,? she said.
Katy Moeller: 377-6413
Source: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/12/26/1929828/pantry-gets-food-to-pets-of-needy.html
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SHANGHAI (Reuters) ? The yuan closed up against the dollar on Monday after hitting an all-time high in intraday trading, guided by a stronger mid-point by the People's Bank of China, and looks set for an over-4-percent appreciation for 2011, traders said.
The yuan is expected to remain stable or rise slightly in the last week of the year to close 2011 near 6.30 versus the dollar, in line with market expectations.
The currency is likely to continue to appreciate next year as China continues to post big trade surpluses despite a slowdown in exports and amid pressure from the United States to let the yuan rise to balance bilateral trade, traders said.
But the yuan's appreciation is likely to slow to around 3 percent in 2012, with much of the rise seen in the second half of next year as China may keep the yuan relatively stable in the first half to assess the impact of the euro zone crisis, they said.
"The PBOC has recently set a slew of strong mid-points and pumped dollars into the market via state banks, giving the market a clear signal that the government won't let the yuan depreciate," said a trader at a major Chinese bank in Shanghai.
"But the central bank appears not in a hurry to let the yuan appreciate amid global economic uncertainties resulting from the euro zone debt crisis. So the yuan is likely to move largely sideways in coming months."
Spot yuan closed at 6.3198 against the dollar, up from Friday's close of 6.3364, after hitting an all-time high of 6.3160. Its previous peak was 6.3294 hit on December 16.
The PBOC set the dollar/yuan mid-point at 6.3167 on Monday, stronger than Friday's 6.3209 and near the record-high fixing of 6.3165 on November 4.
FIGHTING SPECULATORS
The yuan has appreciated 4.27 percent so far this year, with most of the gain being recorded in the first 10 months of the year as China tries to rebalance trade and use the currency to help fight high inflation.
While the government has recently halted yuan appreciation amid slowing exports, it also seems to be wary of a weaker yuan that may lead to capital outflows.
Some overseas investors appear to have been shorting the yuan in recent months amid signs that China's growth is slowing under the double weight of a global slowdown and the country's monetary tightening policy in place since October last year.
The PBOC, in addition to using strong mid-points to signal government intentions to keep the yuan stable, has also acted to inject dollars into the market via state-owned banks whenever there are signs that the yuan is set to weaken sharply.
The yuan has thus been effectively kept in a range of 6.3 to 6.4 against the dollar since early November -- a trend traders say they believe to continue well into 2012.
In contrast, offshore benchmark one-year non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) have largely been forecasting a yuan depreciation in a year's time since late September, reversing a general trend of predicting an appreciation since the yuan's revaluation in July 2005.
One-year NDFs fell slightly to 6.3790 on Monday against 6.3810 at the close on Friday, implying that the yuan will depreciate 0.97 percent in 12 months from Modnay's PBOC mid-point, compared with a 1.01 percent fall implied on Friday.
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Over time, the neurons in your brain are going to change. And that's only natural. When you experience a new event, your brain encodes the memory by altering the connections between neurons, which is caused by turning on several genes within these neurons. Recenty, a team of neuroscientists at MIT published their findings in the Dec. 23rd issue of Science in which the group was able to pinpoint some of the exact locations of memory formation within the brain. The team, led by Yingxi Lin, found that the Npas4 gene is especially active in the hippocampus, a brain structure known to be critical in forming long-term memories. Once engaged, the Npas4 gene turns on a series of other genes that modify the brain's internal wiring by adjusting the strength of synapses, or connections between neurons. The findings were obtained by studying the neural activity of mice which underwent mild electric shocks when they entered a specific chamber. Upon receiving the shock, researchers noted that Npas4 is turned on very early during this conditioning. The research is still in its early stages and while the researchers have identified only a few of the genes regulated by Npas4, they suspect there could be hundreds more that help with the memory formation process. The lesson learned: stick to it and if you have any questions, mildly shock some mice.MIT researchers locate genes that help underlie memory formation, zap some mice originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped up pledges to curb Jewish zealotry in Israel on Sunday after an 8-year-old girl complained of being menaced by ultra-Orthodox men who deemed her dress immodest.
While his conservative government insists such incidents are fringe phenomena in the mostly secular country, Mr. Netanyahu?s repeated announcements on the matter reflected concern about widening religious and political schisms.
?In a Western, liberal democracy, the public realm is open and safe for all, men and women both, and neither harassment nor discrimination have any place there,? the prime minister told his cabinet in broadcast remarks.
He said he had ordered law enforcement authorities to crack down on ?whoever spits, whoever lifts a hand (in violence), whoever harasses? and to remove street signs segregating men from women in some ultra-Orthodox districts.
The statement appeared to have been prompted by an expose aired on Israel?s top-rated weekend television news about spiralling intra-Jewish friction in Beit Shemesh, a town of about 87,000 people near Jerusalem.
Eight-year-old Naama Margolese told Channel Two TV she was terrified of walking to her moderate Orthodox school because of passersby who wanted her ?to dress like a Haredi? ? the Hebrew term for the ascetic, black-coated Jews who are in ?awe? of God.
?I?m afraid I might get hurt or something,? the girl said.
Margolese?s mother Hadassa, an American immigrant who wore a headscarf and skirt in deference to religious Jewish tradition, said the sidewalk abuse could include spitting, curses like ?whores? and ?bastards? and calls to ?clear out of here.?
Channel Two showed a Beit Shemesh street sign ordering women to keep to one side, away from a synagogue. A few ultra-Orthodox men who were interviewed disavowed religiously motivated aggression toward women. Others sought to justify it. Some shunned the TV crew, shouting at the journalists to leave.
The report resonated in Israel given recent media focus on the impact of ultra-Orthodox gender segregation on public transport and in the conscript military, where some religious troops boycott women instructors and entertainers.
The ultra-Orthodox make up only about 10 per cent of Israel?s population of 7.7 million. But their high birthrates and bloc voting patterns have helped them secure welfare benefits and wider influence. One of Mr. Netanyahu?s biggest partners in the coalition government, Shas, is a party run by rabbis.
According to Channel Two, the Beit Shemesh story has generated momentum for a demonstration against ultra-Orthodox violence in the town, scheduled for Tuesday.
?Beit Shemesh shocked Netanyahu not because of new facts but because of old facts that were recounted by a lovely little blond-haired girl with blue eyes,? said Nahum Barnea, senior commentator for the biggest-selling newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
?But their thuggery, just like the thuggery in the settlement outposts, paralyses other people in their midst who are less extreme, who warn the establishment, from the prime minister down. The tail wags the dog.?
Reuters
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-International/~3/3OU4DBdZWd8/
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Santa style: Greg Lilly photographs a group of Santas walking through Hollywood at SantaCon 2011 in this Dec. 17 photo.
Every day of 2011, we're featuring reader-submitted photos of Southern California Moments. Follow us on Twitter and visit the Southern California Moments homepage for more on this series.
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This CT scan reveals the sixth "toe" - here seen in dark green towards the back on the elephant's foot
A mysterious bony growth found in elephants' feet is actually a sixth "toe", scientists report.
For more than 300 years, the structure has puzzled researchers, but this study suggests that it helps to support elephants' colossal weight.
Fossils reveal that this "pre-digit" evolved about 40 million years ago, at a point when early elephants became larger and more land-based.
The research is published in the journal Science.
Lead author Professor John Hutchinson, from the UK's structure and motion laboratory at the Royal Veterinary College, said: "It's a cool mystery that goes back to 1706, when the first elephant was dissected by a Scottish surgeon."
Continue reading the main story
End Quote Professor John Hutchinson Royal Veterinary CollegeAnyone who has studied elephants' feet has wondered about it. They've thought: 'Huh, that's weird'?
Many people, he said, thought that the structure was a huge lump of cartilage, and over the years its purpose or lack of purpose has been debated.
"Anyone who has studied elephants' feet has wondered about it. They've thought: 'Huh, that's weird,' and then moved on," he added.
But Prof Hutchinson and colleagues used a combination of CT scans, histology, dissection and electron microscopy to solve the puzzle.
The researchers said the structure was made of bone, although bone with a highly irregular and unusual arrangement.
But closer examination also revealed that it showed a strong similarity with an unusual bone that is found in the front feet of pandas.
This bone - which is not quite an extra digit, but does the job of one - helps the panda to grip bamboo, and is called the panda's "thumb" or "sixth finger". Moles too have a bone masquerading as an extra digit, which helps them to dig.
And now, the team says that elephants can be added to the list of species for whom five fingers or toes are not quite enough.
Prof Hutchinson said: "It would have started out as a little nub in the tissue, which may have not even have been bone originally - it could have been cartilage.
"A lot of animals have these structures, cartilaginous lumps, and they sometimes turn to bone with these very different functions in some species."
For elephants, the structure serves a simple purpose: it helps the hefty animals to stand up.
Unlike pandas and moles, which only have the false digit in their front feet, elephants have the bone in all four of their feet.
And although their feet may look like tree trunks, inside the anatomy is more complex.
Their five conventional toes point forwards, giving elephants a tip-toed stance, but the extra "toe" points backwards into the heel pad, adding extra support and helping the heaviest land animal to hold up its bulk.
Evolution example
To find out when and why this strange bone appeared, the researchers examined elephant fossils.
Prof Hutchinson said: "The first elephants appear around 55 million years ago.
"We looked at early elephants and they had a different kind of foot, which seemed to be quite flat footed and didn't leave much room for this structure underneath.
"The structure seemed to evolved around 40 million years ago, and it seems to have evolved in concert with elephants getting bigger and more terrestrial and having upright feet, with a more tip-toed foot posture."
He added that this was a remarkable case of evolution in action.
He said: "It is a great example of how evolution tinkers and tweaks tissue to provide different functions - in this case to be co-opted to be used like a digit."
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/science-environment-16250725
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NAIROBI, Kenya ? Rosalia Adhiambo won't take the free anti-HIV drugs that would prolong her life. The spiraling price of food in Kenya means she can't afford to feed both her grandniece and herself.
So she feeds 5-year-old Emily and doesn't take her own medicine, fearing that the nausea she would get from taking the drugs without adequate food will make her too weak to look for work.
Prices for staple foods this year are almost twice as high as in 2009, the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization says. The rising prices and a dwindling of funds for HIV programs mean countless poor families must decide whether to focus on the health of an HIV-positive adult or on a child's hunger.
Valerian Kamito, a nurse at the clinic that gives Adhiambo her food, says some patients are refusing to start treatment for HIV and around a quarter of his 1,555 patients on anti-HIV drugs are now skipping their medication.
"They say they cannot take them on an empty stomach," Kamito said. Before prices rose, he said, "it was very rare."
HIV-positive adults need 10 percent more calories than other people just to maintain their body weight. Children with HIV need between 30 percent to 50 percent more calories than other children. They will lose weight and be vulnerable to infections without those calories, said nutritionist Kate Greenaway from the aid agency Catholic Relief Services.
Annual inflation in Kenya is around 20 percent, but wages haven't kept pace. Around half of Kenyans live on less than $2 a day, including 52-year-old Adhiambo, who makes $1 each day she does housework.
"When there is nothing to eat, we go to bed hungry. I tell Emily it is because God did not send us food today," said Adhiambo, motioning to a cardboard picture of Jesus on the wall of their corrugated iron shack.
"Emily stands before that picture and prays, 'God, please remember to send us food tomorrow,'" said Adhiambo.
She had work for two weeks last month, but the younger women get most of the jobs. Adhiambo relies on her daily free meal of rice, beans and vegetables from a clinic run by Catholic Relief Services in the Mathare slum, though she sometimes misses that if she is searching for work. The staff there are trying to persuade her to take her anti-HIV drugs.
But Adhiambo carries the food home and gives most of it to Emily, who isn't signed up for the CRS program, though workers there are trying to get her into it. The bright-eyed little girl in the torn blue dress is almost all that's left of Adhiambo's family. Adhiambo's brother, two sisters and husband are all dead. Emily's mother is alive, but ill. She refuses to be tested. Emily has been tested and is HIV positive.
Adhiambo needs to take drugs called anti-retrovirals, or ARVs, and so will Emily. Taken regularly, the medicine can prolong life by years, possibly decades. But if taken sporadically, the medicine will lose its effectiveness.
Patients say the medicine can cause nausea, fatigue, and diarrhea at first, especially if there is no food to go with it, said Greenaway. The drugs also cause a ravenous hunger as the body starts to recover. Adhiambo, afraid that the side effects will prevent her from working, refuses to take the pills.
The clinic gives 400 of its patients, Adhiambo among them, "prescribed food" to eat with their medicines so they'll continue the treatment. But most take the meals home to share with their families, said Kamito. The program has a long waiting list. The financial crisis means there is no money to expand it.
Globally, there has been around a 10 percent decline in HIV/AIDS funding, said Michel Sidibe, the UNAIDS executive director. The world's top funder of public health programs ? the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria ? has disbursed $15 billion since 2002, but it cannot afford to pay for any new or expanded programs until 2014.
Poverty, meanwhile, continues to eat at the gains made by modern medicine in fighting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Twenty to 30 percent of HIV-positive patients in the developing world drop out in the first two years of treatment, said Nils Grede, the deputy chief of the World Food Program's nutrition and HIV/AIDS unit.
"Barriers to continue the treatment ... are often related to poverty. You don't have the money to pay for the bus, you don't have enough food, so you spend your time on trying to make sure that your family eats," Grede told The Associated Press in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
"People adhere much better to drug regimens when there is food," said Greenaway. "But in poor families, that might mean mothers who want to stay strong have to decide whether to take something from their children's plates."
Adhiambo's neighbor Ishmael Abongo, a 35-year-old father of four, must do just that. He and his wife Mary are both HIV positive, as is one of their sons. The whole family shares the clinic's food. When he has found work, Abongo takes a bit of porridge from dinner and saves it for the morning so he isn't too dizzy for a two-hour bus journey.
"I know it is important to take the drugs," he said.
He recounted knowing four people who did not take the pills because they had no food. They are now all dead, Abongo said.
A clinic social worker visited Adhiambo in her tiny shack in December, trying to persuade her to take her medication or risk dying, and leaving Emily with no family to care for her. But Adhiambo was more worried about their present situation.
"What will happen to her if I take these drugs and I get sick?" Adhiambo asked, adding that if she can't work or even walk because of side effects from the medicine they won't have any food.
Eventually, Adhiambo stood up. She needed to find some clothes or a floor that needed washing. She was two months behind with the rent ? $15 a month ? and could be evicted.
The white-winged Jesus that Emily prays to was shown in the picture walking through a garden, nothing like the smelly alley outside the shack.
Words below picture said: "May my prayers come before you, that you heal me according to your will."
___
Associated Press writer Luc van Kemenade in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia contributed to this report.
___
Follow Katharine Houreld at http://twitter.com/khoureld
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He was mindful, too, that his win signalled a watershed, ushering cycling into the mainstream of British sport. ?The more people who are riding bikes, the more they can appreciate what it means,? he said.
?It is not just the Tour de France ? one race a year. We are racing 100 days a year. They know what it is to race such distances for such a long time. They appreciate all it takes to do that.?
Cavendish, whose nickname is the ?Manx Missile?. has disclosed he still wears he rainbow jersey he earned from the unforgettable afternoon in Copenhagen when he won the road cycling world title. That Sunday in September, the eight-strong GB team ignored all breakaways to control the peloton over the 170-mile course before delivering Cavendish to the finishing line in grand style.
His exploits in the Tour de France were even more staggering: besides the green jersey he took as the leading sprinter, he claimed a third successive stage win in Paris that made him the first man to have won the final three stages in succession since the great Belgian Eddy Merckx in 1972.
Talking of Belgium, Cavendish told the story of how it had been the first country to acclaim him as the leading sports personality ? twice. ?To be honest it has been like this in other countries for a few years now,? he said with a smile as pregnant girlfriend Peta Todd looked on.
Knowing that he could seize Britain?s first gold in London next summer, Cavendish said: ?There couldn?t be a more perfect way to go into the Olympics than as Sports Personality of the country. We go in, it?s the first medal on offer at the Games and
everyone is looking at me and my team to achieve that first goal. It couldn?t be more fitting that I am doing that with this accolade under my belt.?
Clarke?s runner-up placing was his reward for a year of gloriously unexpected success. True to exuberant form, Clarke marked the honour by recalling an incident on the evening of his post-Open celebrations where, briefly, he thought he had lost the Claret Jug.
But it was prove a false alarm: the Northern Irishman had indeed won the prize he most coveted, having started the tournament as a 200-1 outsider.
Farah, who heads to Kenya today for four weeks of high-intensity training was a popular choice in third. Having moved to train to the United States with Alberto Salazar, he found 2011 was the year all his graft reaped handsome dividends. His win in the 5,000m was not just the most significant distance win by a Briton since that by Ireland?s Eamonn Coghlan at the Worlds in 1983, but also the first long distance gold won by a British male at a global championships.
Novak Djokovic, after his remarkable haul of three Grand Slam titles, emulated rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to become the Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.
Breaking the Federer-Nadal duopoly at the head of men?s tennis, the Serbian enjoyed an extraordinarily decorated season, amassing six titles in succession from the Australian Open to the Rome Masters.
It was the year when England?s cricketers combined the exquisite triumph of winning the Ashes in Australia for the first time in 25 years with the satisfaction of being officially recognised as the world?s best Test side.
Andrew Strauss?s players, who sealed their elevation to No?1 status with a 4-0 series whitewash against India in August, last night can now add Team of the Year to that portfolio, while England team director Andy Flower was named Coach of the Year.
Sir Steve Redgrave, who won the main prize in 2000 in the year of his fifth Olympic gold, savoured rich acclaim as winner of the Lifetime Achievement award.
The honour, presented by the Princess Royal, reflected not merely Redgrave?s prolonged and garlanded career at the pinnacle of rowing but also his continued charitable commitments.
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LOS ANGELES ? KB Home is increasingly catering to more affluent homebuyers in markets where there is less competition from homes up for resale and foreclosures, and the strategy is paying off.
The homebuilder reported on Wednesday that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 20 percent on rising expenses. Its shares fell 52 cents, or 6.7 percent, to close at $7.22.
But the company's recent trends show improvement. KB's new home orders jumped 38 percent from year earlier and home deliveries rose 4 percent. The average selling price of the builder's homes rose 3 percent.
The surge in home orders drove a 61 percent increase in KB's backlog of homes under contract at the end of the quarter ? at 2,156, the highest year-end level since 2008. Backlog is a leading indicator of potential home deliveries and revenue for homebuilders.
"We have a lot of things going for us that we haven't had in years, and it starts with the backlog," President and CEO Jeffrey Mezger said.
The backlog sets KB Home up for a strong start heading into the seasonally slow winter months. Spring is traditionally the peak period for home sales.
Company executives forecast that KB will deliver more homes at higher prices next year than in 2011, as it opens more communities in markets along the California coast and elsewhere that draw wealthier homebuyers.
Mezger expressed optimism that the company has laid the foundation to improve next year, even as the housing market remains hampered by high unemployment, tighter mortgage lending standards and uncertainty over the economy.
"While the challenges of the market certainly remain the same, we're in a very different business as we enter 2012," Mezger said.
Homebuilders' sales have improved this fall against relatively easy-to-beat sales benchmarks in the second half of 2010. That was the worst year for new home sales in half a century.
Sales of new homes climbed nationally in October and September after declining from May through August, as builders cut prices because of depressed demand. Figures on new home sales for November are due out on Friday.
ITG Investment Research Chief Economist Steve Blitz said KB Home's sales trends bolster his view that the housing market has at least bottomed and is headed for a better 2012.
Recent housing data also have been positive.
An industry survey released on Monday showed builders are more optimistic than at any time since May 2010. On Tuesday, the government reported that builders in November broke ground on homes and apartments at an annual rate of 685,000. That's an increase of 9.3 percent from October and the fastest pace since April 2010, the last month a tax credit aimed at spurring home sales was still in effect.
KB Home, which is based in Los Angeles, was ranked the fifth-largest homebuilder in the nation last year, by closings.
The company still caters primarily to first-time homebuyers, who are purchasing 65 percent of the company's houses.
"But it's a high-income first-time buyer," Mezger said. "That's what's different for us now."
KB reported that it earned $13.9 million, or 18 cents per share, for the three months ended Nov. 30. That compares with $17.4 million, or 23 cents per share, a year earlier.
The results beat the 4 cents per share that analysts polled by FactSet expected. It was the company's first net profit in 2011.
Quarterly selling, general and administrative expenses climbed 36 percent to $75.6 million.
Revenue rose 6 percent to $479.9 million from $451 million, topping Wall Street's $467.9 million forecast.
Home deliveries increased to 1,995, while average selling price rose to $238,400 compared with $232,500 in the prior-year period.
Fourth-quarter net orders climbed to 1,494 from 1,085.
For the full year, KB Home lost $178.8 million, or $2.32 per share, compared with a loss of $69.4 million, or 90 cents per share, in the previous year.
Annual revenue slipped 17 percent to $1.32 billion from $1.59 billion.
Net orders rose to 6,632 from 6,556, which was the first rise in full-year net orders in two years.
KB ended the September-to-November quarter with an 11 percent increase in open communities. It is looking to open 25 new communities in the first half of 2012.
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BEIJING ? "Batman" star Christian Bale should feel embarrassed for trying to visit a human rights activist while he was in China to promote a movie the country has submitted for an Oscar, a government spokesman said Wednesday.
Bale was physically stopped by government-backed guards from visiting blind activist Chen Guangcheng who lives under house arrest in eastern China last week. A CNN crew he was traveling with recorded the scuffle.
Asked whether the publicity has been embarrassing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said he thought the actor should feel embarrassed, not China.
He said Bale was invited by director Zhang Yimou to attend the opening ceremony of the film "The Flowers of War."
"But he was not invited to create a story or shoot film in a certain village," said Liu. "I think if you want to make up news in China, you will not be welcome here."
Bale, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for last year's "The Fighter," said he wanted to shake Chen's hand and tell him "what an inspiration he is."
Chen documented forced late-term abortions and sterilizations and other abuses by overzealous authorities trying to meet population control goals in his rural community. He was imprisoned for allegedly instigating an attack on government offices and organizing a group of people to disrupt traffic, charges his supporters say were fabricated.
Although now officially free under the law, he has been confined to his home in the village eight hours' drive from Beijing and subjected to periodic beatings and other abuse, activists say.
Chen's case has been raised publicly by U.S. lawmakers and diplomats, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, all to no response from China.
CNN said Bale first learned of Chen from news reports when he was in China filming "The Flowers of War," China's official submission this year for best foreign language film Oscar.
The movie centers on the 1937 sacking of the eastern city of Nanjing, known in the West as the "Rape of Nanking," and has been described by some critics as hewing to official propaganda portraying Chinese as heroic victims and Japanese as one-dimensional cartoon villains.
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Kris Humphries is a free agent no more ... professionally anyway.
His old NBA team, the New Jersey Nets, have signed him to a one-year contract reportedly worth $8 million for the coming season, which opens next week.
Humphries, who has been training in his native Minnesota, was not offered a new contract to return for a second season of Kourtney & Kim Take New York.
Kris became an unrestricted free agent after last season, averaging 10 points and 10 rebounds in what was by far the best of his seven seasons as a pro.
He quickly went from being involved in the NBA's Most Improved Player conversation to being involved in the most ridiculous celebrity breakup of all time.
The Nets are set to face off against the Knicks in a preseason tilt tomorrow night, and NBA sources tell ESPN that Kris Humphries is expected to play.
He is expected to resume his role as New Jersey's starting power forward and focus on hoops instead of the circus that has become his personal life.
There are concerns that Kris' return may diminish Brook Lopez's rebounding production, but the center said he welcomes the return of "the Hump."
Funny, that's what we say every day at THG. About Kim.
[Photo: WENN.com]
Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/kris-humphries-re-signs-with-new-jersey-nets/
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NEW YORK ? A judge called the imprisoned son of actor Michael Douglas reckless and irresponsible as he nearly doubled his prison sentence Wednesday from five years to 9 1/2 years for repeated drug offenses.
U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan cited Cameron Douglas' "history of reckless behavior" as he imposed a new punishment that was more than double what prosecutors were seeking for Douglas' guilty plea to drug charges that arose from his successful efforts to smuggle drugs into prison.
Berman added 4 1/2 years to the five-year term he gave Douglas last year for his guilty plea in connection with his sales of methamphetamine in July 2009 from a high-end Manhattan hotel.
The judge said he had never had a case before in which a defendant "has so recklessly, wantonly, flagrantly and criminally acted in such a destructive and manipulative fashion as Cameron Douglas has."
Berman reminded Douglas' lawyers that he had warned at the earlier sentencing that it was the defendant's last chance to turn around a life derailed by drugs and mental troubles stretching into his teenage years.
The judge also criticized the government for being too lenient on Douglas after he repeatedly violated prison rules by arranging to get drugs. The judge said the violations included four instances in which a lawyer smuggled anti-anxiety prescription drugs into prison for Douglas in her bra. The lawyer entered into a deferred prosecution agreement that enabled the charges against her to be dropped if she stayed out of trouble for six months.
The 33-year-old Douglas asked the judge to give him another chance at treatment.
"I cannot seem to find comfort within my own skin," he said. "I feel ashamed. I feel defeated. ... I know that I bear in my heart what it will take to overcome this plague."
He asked Berman to give him "the room to deal with this situation medically."
His lawyer also requested leniency for his client, saying that his efforts to get drugs in prison were not unusual for a drug addict who had not been rehabilitated.
The judge noted at one point that Michael Douglas had told probation authorities that his son had been treated six or seven times for drug addiction, but had not completed the treatments.
Berman recommended that Cameron Douglas be sent to a prison facility that can offer him drug treatment and mental health care, although the final decision is let up to the Bureau of Prisons. He also recommended that Douglas be allowed family visits, which have been disallowed since he has been held in solitary confinement for 11 months for violating prison rules.
Earlier this year, Douglas testified as part of a cooperation deal with the government at a drug supplier's trial.
He said he had been addicted to heroin for five years before his 2009 arrest.
The cooperation by the son of the Oscar-winning actor allowed him to escape the mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison that the charges to which he pleaded otherwise required.
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SINGAPORE (AP) ? Oil slipped below $93 a barrel Monday in Asia as crude followed the region's stock markets lower after North Korea announced the death of leader Kim Jong Il.
Benchmark crude for January delivery was down 78 cents to $92.75 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 34 cents to settle at $93.53 on Friday.
In London, Brent crude was down 45 cents at $102.90 on the ICE futures exchange.
Asian stock markets dropped Monday amid fears Kim's death could lead to greater instability on the divided Korean peninsular. South Korea's stock market fell 3.3 percent, Hong Kong slid 2.5 percent and Japan was down 1.1 percent.
Crude has fallen from above $100 earlier this month on growing fears Europe's debt crisis will trigger a recession on the continent next year and undermine global oil demand.
Oil prices have been supported by signs of a slowly improving U.S. economy, and the latest data on U.S. housing and gross domestic product are scheduled to be announced later this week.
"Attention to these numbers could shift focus away from Europe for a week or so and toward the U.S. with a potential rebound in the stock market sparking another rally across the energy complex," energy consultant Ritterbusch and Associates said in a report
In other energy trading on the Nymex, natural gas fell 4.0 cents to $3.09 per 1,000 cubic feet. Heating oil dropped 1.3 cents to $2.80 a gallon and gasoline futures were down 1 cent to $2.49 a gallon.
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WASHINGTON ? The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday brought civil fraud charges against six former top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying they misled investors about risky subprime loans the mortgage giants held when the housing bubble burst.
Those charged include the agencies' two former CEOs, Fannie's Daniel Mudd and Freddie's Richard Syron. They are the highest-profile individuals to be charged in connection with the 2008 financial crisis.
The federal government has faced criticism for not bringing charges against top executives who may have contributed to the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression.
Mudd, 53, and Syron, 68, led the mortgage giants in 2007, when home prices began to collapse. The four other top executives also worked for the companies during that time.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York City.
"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives told the world that their subprime exposure was substantially smaller than it really was," said Robert Khuzami, SEC's enforcement director. "These material misstatements occurred during a time of acute investor interest in financial institutions' exposure to subprime loans, and misled the market about the amount of risk."
Fannie and Freddie both entered into agreements with the government on Friday, accepting responsibility for its conduct without admitting or denying the charges. The government-controlled companies also agreed to cooperate with the SEC on the cases against the former executives.
The Justice Department has opened up probes into Fannie and Freddie but has not charged anyone with a crime.
In a statement released through his attorney, Mudd said the lawsuit "should never have been brought" and said the government reviewed and approved all of the company's financial disclosures.
"Every piece of material data about loans held by Fannie Mae was known to the United States government to the investing public," Mudd said. "The SEC is wrong, and I look forward to a court where fairness and reason ? not politics ? is the standard for justice."
Syron's lawyers said the case was "without merit," and said the term "subprime had no uniform definition in the market" at that time.
"There was no shortage of meaningful disclosures, all of which permitted the reader to assess the degree of risk in Freddie Mac's" portfolio, the lawyers said in a statement. "The SEC's theory and approach are fatally flawed."
According to the lawsuit, Fannie told investors in 2007 that it had roughly $4.8 billion worth of subprime loans on its books, or just 0.2 percent of its portfolio. The SEC says that Fannie actually had about $43 billion worth of products targeted to borrowers with weak credit, or 11 percent of its holdings.
Mudd told a congressional panel in March 2007 that Fannie's subprime business represented less than "2 percent of our book." He also said the company held subprime mortgages "very carefully." A month later, he told a separate congressional panel that subprime loans represented less than 2.5 percent of Fannie's books.
Freddie told investors in 2006 that it held between $2 billion and $6 billion of subprime mortgages on its books. The SEC says its holdings were actually closer to $141 billion, or 10 percent of its portfolio in 2006, and $244 billion, or 14 percent, by 2008.
In a May 2007 speech in New York, Syron said Freddie had "basically no subprime exposure," according to the suit.
Fannie and Freddie buy home loans from banks and other lenders, package them into bonds with a guarantee against default and then sell them to investors around the world. The two own or guarantee about half of U.S. mortgages, or nearly 31 million loans.
During the financial crisis, the two firms verged on collapse. The Bush administration seized control of them in September 2008.
So far, the companies have cost taxpayers almost $150 billion ? the largest bailout of the financial crisis. They could cost up to $259 billion, according to its government regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Administration.
Mudd was fired from Fannie after the government took over. He's now the chief executive of the New York hedge fund Fortress Investment Group.
Syron resigned from Freddie in 2008. He's now an adjunct professor at Boston College.
The other executives charged were Fannie's Enrico Dallavecchia, 50, a former chief risk officer, and Thomas Lund, 53, a former executive vice president; and Freddie's Patricia Cook, 58, a former executive vice president and chief business officer, and Donald Bisenius, 53, a former senior vice president.
Lund's lawyer, Michael Levy, said in a statement that Lund "did not mislead anyone." Lawyers for the other defendants declined to comment Friday morning.
Fannie and Freddie had traditionally purchased a small number of subprime mortgage loans, which involved borrowers with credit problems who could not qualify for cheaper prime loans. But starting in the late 1990s many firms started purchasing subprime loans, and Fannie and Freddie followed suit.
Legal experts say the cases, while unusual, might not yield much in penalties against the former executives.
In July, Citigroup paid just $75 million to settle similar civil charges with the SEC. The company's chief financial officer and head of investor relations were accused of failing to disclose more than $50 billion worth of potential losses from subprime mortgages. The two executives charged paid $100,000 and $80,000 in civil penalties.
A federal judge in the case said she was "baffled" by the low settlement.
Fines against executives charged in SEC civil cases can reach up to $150,000 per violation. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro has asked Congress to raise the limit to $1 million.
Mudd made nearly $4 million in salary and bonuses in 2007, and Syron made more than $18 million, according to company statements.
The SEC has charged more than 80 people, including 40 CEOs and senior executives, with violations stemming from the 2008 financial crisis.
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