It's only been a week since the SEC decided to "enhance investor protections" against naked short selling by limiting the practice at 19 companies, primarily large financial institutions including Lehman (LEH) and Citigroup (C). As Reuters reported over the weekend, the American Bankers Association thought that the new rule should be applied to all publicly [...]...

Here at footnoted, we're always fascinated by the odd things that departing executives ask for on their way out the door. One can only imagine the high-powered negotiations that take place over things like the Mercedes, the corporate jet, and even the executive's office furniture — all things we've found in severance agreements over the [...]...

This week TeleTech Holdings (TTEC) restated 12 years' worth of financials dating back to 1996 - the year in which Nintendo 64 debuted, Alan Greenspan spoke of "irrational exuberance" and Christie Brinkley married that scoundrel she's now divorcing. The culprit was misdated stock options. In a February 8-K, TeleTech announced the results of an internal review of option grants [...]...

On Tuesday, Countrywide's sex party house sold at auction for $475K, a substantial haircut from the $1.1 million Countrywide was in for. Keep in mind that as Floyd Norris pointed out last month, that doesn't include any losses from second mortgages. Real Estate Disposition Corp handled the auction on Tuesday and will collect a 5% buyers [...]...

For the past two years, FedEx (FDX) has been dealing with (and routinely disclosing) a grand-jury subpoena from the Department of Justice related to a criminal investigation of anti-competitive behavior in the air-freight transportation industry. As Reuters reported at the time, the subpoena appeared to focus on air surcharge fees imposed after Sept. 11. But in [...]...