UBS Trader Charged with $2 Billion Fraud

Kweki Adoboli, a trader at UBS AG, was arrested on September 15th after the firm discovered unauthorized trades that caused a $2 billion loss, and accounting fraud dating back to October 2008. Adoboli worked for UBS's investment bank at the Delta One desk, advising clients on trades that speculated the performance of a basket of securities. He was charged on three accounts. First, he falsified records of exchange traded fund transactions to gain personally. Second, he was charged with false accounting. Finally, he was also charged as acting against the interest of UBS and abusing the power given to someone in his position. Read more here: http://bloom.bg/qEhcJR

Opposition regarding the AT&T/T-Mobile deal

A couple of weeks ago, AT&T announced its proposed purchase of T-Mobile. However, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit soon after the announcement, and now has the backing of seven other states. Since the cell phone industry is already dominated by four large companies, the $39 billion merger between two of the four large carriers could cause quite a stir by discouraging new competition and upsetting the current competition. The merger would put AT&T at the number 1 spot, pushing Verizon out of its coveted position, along with frustrating Sprint, the number 3 spot. It might also increase service prices, as T-Mobile is one of the lower-priced carriers. However, AT&T is trying to be cooperative and ensures that it will reach a favorable agreement. It claims that the merger will bring 5000 jobs back to America from overseas and it plans to extend high-speed internet access to 97% of all Americans.

Welcome Back! Join Us At Our Kickoff Event

The Finance Society would like to welcome you back to a new semester here at NYU. We are very excited to present to you the brand new structure of the club, as well as many of the new initiatives the club has planned for the semester. Make sure you join us at our kickoff event this Thursday, September 15th, during common hour, to learn more about the club, exciting upcoming professional events, and all the benefits of being a member of NYU's Finance Society. Afterwards, you can meet the current Executive Board, and mingle with other members. Oh, there's also free food!

Date: Thursday, September 15th, 2011

Time: 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm

Location: Tisch 200

Commodities: Gains on Fed announcement

On Wednesday 4/27, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made a public statement that effectively said the following: we're done buying bonds, but we don't expect interest rates to drastically change. With low interest rates comes the possibility/probability of inflation -- with this inflationary expectation, it's no surprise that commodities prices ascended. AGQ, an ETF with a bullish stance on the value of silver, saw a single day gain of over 13.5% on 4/27. GLD, a similar ETF linked positively to the value of gold, saw a more tempered (but still positive) gain of ~2% on Wednesday the 27th. The value of these instruments (and their underlying commodities) should be interesting to follow in the coming months, especially as QE2 comes to a close at the end of the second quarter.

Newsletter - 1st & 2nd Volume

Hey Guys,

Check out the first two volumes of our newsletter!

See links below:

Newsletter Volume 1

Newsletter Volume 2

Costly College: More than Tuition

Think paying for tuition and rooms and board is good enough? Think again!

When it comes to paying for college, tuition and housing are just the beginning. The real catch is the supposedly trivial miscellaneous costs. These costs include cab fare, parking permits, concert tickets, eating out, shopping spree, and much more. School meals plans cannot cover all the midnight food deliveries and caffeinated beverages, just like free university shuttles cannot guarantee low transportation costs. And students often find themselves packing new clothes into their wardrobes. Now, as we approach the end of our school year, what happens to all those things that we stuffed into our wardrobes and dorm rooms? Last things on the budget, storage payments and extra shipping costs.

Read personal accounts from parents at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704487904576267393582628666.html?mod=WSJ_PersonalFinance_PF4#articleTabs%3Darticle

3 Years in Jail for Blogging

In Cairo, an Egyptian blogger, Maikel Nabil, was sentenced to three years in prison for criticizing the military in what human rights advocates called one of the more alarming violations of freedom of expression since a popular uprising led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak two months ago.

Mr. Nabil assailed the Egyptian armed forces for what he called its continuation of the corruption and anti-democratic practices of Mr. Mubarak.

Read more at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/world/middleeast/12egypt.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto