Happy Holidays to My Friends and Customers!

 Yes, yes Spring Break is here. Passover, Easter, Fla and March Madness. Baseball opening day and  sun(maybe).

  So take it all in and enjoy what's most important. Family and friends!

  Happy Holiday!

First Two Rounds of NCAA Tourney Awesome as Usual!

 What can you say if you love hoops? 52 games  in six days. Twelve hours of hoops on Thursday and Friday! Nail biters, blowouts...a 15th seed getting to the Sweet 16. Underdogs, favorites, mid-majors advancing . Didn't finish till midnight last night  with Duke-Creighton.
  Besides the  obvious excitement and quality of play, two things really  jumped out at me. The poise of these young kids in big situations with millions watching. Unreal ! Not to be overlooked is the zest, zeal and enthusiasm of the fans. Many traveling across country to cheer their schools on. The raw emotion is not witnessed  at such a level elsewhere except in rare cases. More to come.
   Hey, and just think,  we just reached the Round of 16. Ok,  now take a deep breath, watch the Heat for 3 days, and be ready for more mayhem Thursday.

  Steve "John Wooden "  Goldman reporting.

NBA, It's a League of Streaks, Heat 23 In a Row, Nuggets 13 !

 As the NBA  regular season winds down and the Western Conference playoff  battle heats up , two teams continue to  play   "amazing hoops" !The Heat and the Nuggets.  The Heat have won 23 straight. Are they simply unbeatable ? Will they break  the Lakers' record? Will  Lebron and Company ever lose again?
   But while  the Heat  have been on their quest, a very interesting little sub-plot has developed over  in the Rocky Mountains. Yes, "George Karl's guys " have  won  13 straight! Yes, 13, you heard  it. They are a very dangerous, deep, athletic team. No superstars, but  believe   me , no one wants to play em.
  So sit back, enjoy the rest of the  regular season, and then the best 60 days in sports....The NBA Playoffs!

   Could we have a Heat -Nuggets final?  Let's see.

  Steve Goldman reporting.

SAC Capital To Pay $616 Million to Settle Insider Trading Litigation...Hey, These Cases Have Turned into a "Cash Cow " For the Gov't!

As  the wheel continues to turn! More historic fines and penalties are being  paid by  Banks and Hedge Funds to  Government Regulatory Agencies. And you know what? SAC Capital can write that check($616 million) without any of the slightest  concerns of "overdrawing " their bank account ! Easy come , easy go.
   With this kind of cash flow from penalties and fines, the SEC should hope and pray that fraud, insider trading, mortgage scams, Ponzi schemes and  derivitative debacles don't end anytime soon.
   And you know what? I'm positive they won't!

  Wall Street Insider Steve "Scoop " Goldman reporting.

DePuy Metal Hip Litigation; Round One in California To the Plaintiffs!

 On   March   8th, 2013  a California  jury   awarded $8.3 million to a Montana  man who was forced to  undergo a  revision surgery to remove the allegedly defective DePuy  metal hip . This was a "huge opening win" for the plaintiffs' bar who are  representing  1000's of plaintiffs in  this "mass litigation".
   Of course, as anyone who follows these cases knows , they ultimately end up being a war of attrition. Can the manufacturer  survive the assault of  body  blows or will the plaintiffs run  out  of $  and desire first?  High stakes for sure. From what I've  read, plaintiffs will contine to use at trial, damaging   emails from DePuy excutives wherein they recognized   "major problems with the hips ", but continued to manufacture and sell them! That evidence will be hard to overcome.
  My prediction; Four or five more verdicts for the plaintiffs  and that dreaded "S word "will  surface. Yes, you guessed it, " Settlement "!    Remember, no need to feel sorry for DePuy.

  Legal analyst Steve "Tort " Goldman reporting.

So The Dow Hits 14,253..What Does That Really Mean?

  So the Dow broke 14,250. All-time high! Woo hoo! Who woulda thunk it?  But at the end of the day while  Wall Street is thrilled, as are "stockmarket players", what does it really mean in the real world?
   More jobs, more available credit, lower unemployment, less poverty , better housing or better schools? So far no .  While corporate America is alive and well, these market gains have really not trickled down to "Joe Schmoe  Citizen ".
  What needs to be done? Your thoughts?

 Wall Street analyst  Steve  " Bull " Goldman reporting.

Lakers Two Back In Loss Column With 22 Games to Play; Can They Do It?

 Kobe  is on a tear, Howard is becoming more of a focal point of the offense and the Lakers are winning!  After pulling out a squeaker against the Hawks last night, Kobe and his pals finally reached the .500 mark[30 and 30] .  But with Houston two games ahead in the loss column and playing very good basketball themselves, one question has to be asked. Is there enough time ?
   Answer: Some how, some way Kobe will will them into the playoffs. He's not human!
    Once in, who knows?   Enjoy the ride!

NBA  beat reporter Steve " Hot Rod " Goldman reporting.