SAC lawyers met prosecutors to argue against charges

By Emily Flitter and Matthew Goldstein

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Steven A. Cohen's lawyers made their best case argument a month ago to federal prosecutors about why the hedge fund billionaire and his SAC Capital Advisors should not be charged with criminal wrongdoing in a long-running insider trading investigation.

But people familiar with the late April meeting said the lengthy presentation did not impress federal prosecutors, who are now considering whether to use a law aimed at prosecuting the Mafia and drug gangs to pursue a criminal case against Cohen's $15 billion hedge fund.

Cohen's lawyers had asked for the meeting with federal prosecutors after agreeing in March to pay $616 million to U.S. securities regulators to settle allegations the firm's employees had used inside information to make trades in four stocks. The sources said Cohen's lawyers wanted to meet with prosecutors to bring to a conclusion a criminal investigation that has dogged his hedge fund for nearly seven years.

Cohen has not been charged with wrongdoing.

Lawyers for the 21-year-old hedge fund made an "aggressive presentation," according to the sources, reviewing the government's investigation in detail to support their claim that the government did not have enough evidence to charge Cohen with either insider trading or any other securities law violation.

A lawyer for SAC Capital did not respond to a request for comment. Representatives of the FBI declined to comment.

In the meeting, Cohen's legal team, led by Martin Klotz of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, spent several hours with top prosecutors for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, including Deputy U.S. Attorney Richard Zabel and Lorin Reisner, chief of the criminal division.

A representative from the FBI also attended the meeting, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

Cohen's lawyers prepared a stock by stock, trade by trade analysis for prosecutors in an attempt to dispel any notion that Cohen had done anything wrong.

The lawyers also argued that prosecutors should not file criminal charges against SAC Capital, which has $15 billion under management, because doing so would effectively force the hedge fund to shut down and result in the loss of 1,000 jobs.

A move by the government that could either force SAC Capital to shut down or dramatically scale back its operations would have an impact on Wall Street which counts on the big hedge fund to generate hundreds of millions in trading commission each year.

"They believe that the best defense is an offense, which is a way to deal with this," said C. Evan Stewart, a partner at law firm Zuckerman Spaeder in New York who is not connected to the case. "If you have this much scrutiny and this much attention from not just one government agency but multiple government agencies, just sitting back and waiting for it to go away isn't the right strategy."

Prosecutors did not agree to drop the case, however; in fact, they have since done the opposite. Last week, a few weeks after the meeting, prosecutors served a subpoena on Cohen seeking his testimony before a grand jury.

Prosecutors are considering charging SAC using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, most commonly associated with cases against the mafia. Federal prosecutors have used the 40-year-old RICO statute to go after white collar crimes before. Through RICO, prosecutors could allege Cohen managed to stay away from specific incidents of insider trading but generally knew his employees were engaging in the practice to the benefit of the firm, legal experts said.

Federal prosecutors are stepping up the pressure on Cohen's firm at a time the statute of limitations for bringing charges on some of the trades being investigated by authorities is about to expire. Cohen and his hedge fund have emerged as the most prominent subjects of the long-running investigation into insider trading in the hedge fund industry.

So far, nine one-time employees of the firm have been charged or implicated in insider trading schemes. The latest two are Mathew Martoma, a former portfolio manager for SAC's fund CR Intrinsic Investors, who was charged last November with trading on non-public information about two drug stocks. The dollar value of the trades makes Martoma's case the largest in the history of insider trading cases.

In late March, the FBI arrested Michael Steinberg, one of Cohen's top portfolio managers. He was charged with insider trading in shares of Dell and Nvidia .

Both men have pleaded not guilty.

Sources said several other executives at the hedge fund were served with subpoenas along with Cohen, seeking their testimony before the grand jury.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that subpoenas were sent to SAC's head trader Phillipp Villhauer, the firm's president Thomas Conheeney and Steven Kessler, SAC's chief compliance officer.

(Reporting by Emily Flitter and Matthew Goldstein; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Doina Chiacu and Claudia Parsons)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sac-lawyers-met-prosecutors-argue-against-charges-sources-190550706.html

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Twitter Introduces Login Verification Via SMS For A More Secure Sign-In Process [Updates]

Twitter has announced a new security feature which resembles the two-factor authentication offered on websites such as Facebook, Google, and Dropbox. The new feature makes sure that the person logging into your Twitter account is really you, helping you protect your account from phishing and other security breaches.

The new authentication method utilizes your cell phone, making sure you?re really you by sending you a code via text message, which you will have to enter every time you log into Twitter. To activate the secure sign-in, head over to your Twitter Settings page and scroll down to find the new ?Require a verification code when I sign in? option. In order to check the option, you?re going to need to add a cell phone number to your Twitter account.

Once your phone number is added and verified, enable the code verification, and you?re done. Unlike other websites that offer a similar feature, Twitter?s two-factor authentication is limited to text messaging, and doesn?t make use of designated apps such as Google Authenticator.

In addition, it seems that Twitter is not yet set up to support this feature worldwide. When I tried enabling it for my account using my local cell phone, I got an error message telling me my carrier was not yet supported, and that I should hold tight and wait until it is. If your carrier is supported, however, this I a feature worth enabling to protect your account from unwanted logins. Just keep in mind that every time you log in to Twitter, you?re going to need your cell phone handy to type in the code.

Will you enable Twitter?s new login verification?

Source: Twitter Blog

Source: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/twitter-introduces-login-verification-via-sms-for-a-more-secure-sign-in-process-updates/

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Been to Rome? Love the fountains? Here's some eye-candy if you're longing to go...

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Source: http://www.facebook.com/CatholicNewsService/posts/10151406643350723

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Bruins rally, push Rangers to brink of elimination

NEW YORK (AP) ? John Tortorella's message isn't going to change even though his New York Rangers are in an even more desperate situation than before their latest loss to the Boston Bruins.

The margin of error went from slim to none in an uncharacteristic home loss that put the Broadway Blueshirts on the brink of elimination.

New York squandered a one-goal lead in the third period and lost 2-1 on Tuesday night to fall into an 0-3 series hole. The Rangers can be ousted by the Bruins as early as Thursday in Game 4 at home.

"We'll meet (Wednesday), practice, and we're going to try to win a game," Tortorella said. "That's all you can do. Down 3-0, it's a very tough situation, but I have full faith in our athletes. They will be ready to play another game.

"You try to win one and see where you go from there."

After two losses in Boston, the Rangers seemed headed toward getting back into it. They had won nine straight at Madison Square Garden, dating to the final six games of the regular season, and hadn't lost in regulation when leading after two periods in more than three years.

But defenseman Johnny Boychuk tied it 3:10 into the third and Daniel Paille scored the winner with 3:31 remaining to push the Bruins to the verge of the Eastern Conference finals.

Only three NHL teams have rallied from an 0-3 hole to advance. However, the Philadelphia Flyers did it to the Bruins in 2010.

"We haven't talked about history at all," Tortorella said. "We just try to go about our business."

Bruins coach Claude Julien discussed it briefly, but only when asked about the collapse three years ago and another near one in the first round this year when Toronto nearly eliminated Boston after trailing the series 3-1.

"We can talk about it all we want, but that's in the past," Julien said. "We had to live with that and we still have to live with that."

The Bruins did some rallying of their own in that one, erasing a three-goal deficit in the third period of Game 7 before winning in overtime.

"The Toronto series, I didn't think our team was in the zone the way it is right now," Julien said. "I anticipate ? knowing my team ? that we're going to come out the same next game and certainly not be the Jekyll and Hyde team that we were in the first round."

The Bruins shook off the 2010 collapse and swept Philadelphia in the conference semifinals the following year before going on to win the Stanley Cup.

The Rangers haven't been swept since New Jersey did it to them in 2006 in the first round.

"You can't look at it as you have to win four games," said Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who stayed down on his knees for several moments after Paille's goal. "You just have to focus on the next one. The season is on the line, so you have to leave everything out there.

"We definitely have to give everything right now, mentally and physically, and put it out there on Thursday."

Boychuk tied it with his fourth of the playoffs after he netted just one in 44 regular-season games.

Boston thought it had grabbed the lead seconds before Paille scored when a shot deflected off the mask of Lundqvist, popped up in the air and landed on the goal line. Lundqvist couldn't find it before Paille swooped in from behind the net and poked in the puck.

Taylor Pyatt had made it 1-0 in the second period for the Rangers, who were outscored 8-4 in two games at Boston. Lundqvist was sharp in making 32 saves. He bounced back well after allowing five goals in the Game 2 loss.

"You have to be pretty happy with the situation right now," said Tuukka Rask, who made 23 saves for Boston. "We were really happy with our effort. I think this was our best defensive effort in a long, long time. We just have to stay calm, keep playing our style of hockey, and good things will happen."

The Rangers again couldn't get their power play untracked, failing in both of their chances and dropping to 0-for-10 in the series. New York has only two power-play goals in 38 opportunities during these playoffs.

Boychuk was credited with the tying goal after the puck appeared to deflect into the net off Rangers defenseman John Moore.

The game turned rougher moments later when New York forward Chris Kreider was struck under his visor by the stick of Boston's Tyler Seguin, who was following through on a shot just inside the blue line. Seguin was then clipped in the exchange by the stick of Rangers defenseman Steve Eminger.

Shortly after, Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron had a cut over his eye that left his white jersey bloodstained. No penalties were called on any of the plays.

New York took just its second lead of the series 3:53 into the second period when Pyatt deflected in a shot by defenseman Ryan McDonagh.

Lundqvist shined in the second, making a pad stop on Seguin about 6 1/2 minutes in, stretching across to knock away a drive by rookie defenseman Torey Krug ? who scored in each of the first two games of the series ? and then bringing the crowd to its feet with a lunging glove snare of Gregory Campbell's slap shot from the left circle with 8:24 remaining.

That got the Bruins even in shots (15-15) before they outshot New York 8-1 the rest of the second.

The Rangers got off to a sluggish start after losing the opening faceoff, and didn't mount any kind of early surge fueled by the excited home crowd. New York didn't carry the puck into the Boston end until 1:35 had elapsed.

New York got trapped in its end more and more as the game went on, and got caught there again on the winning goal.

"They just kept us in the end zone, bouncing around, and Paille beat our defenseman back to the net and scored the goal," Tortorella said. "We just didn't spend enough time in their end zone."

The Rangers picked up their play and built a 6-1 edge in shots, including scoring opportunities on Rask. New York earned the first power play of the night, however it was as ineffective as it has been throughout the postseason.

The tide turned back to the Bruins' favor just before the midway point in the period, starting with a partial breakaway after New York turned over the puck at the Boston blue line. Chris Kelly raced ahead with the puck and was stopped in tight by Lundqvist when he tried a backhanded shot.

Shawn Thornton was also denied when he came in alone on Lundqvist with 8:46 left in the period, and Jaromir Jagr couldn't score, either, when he got a pair of whacks at the puck that the New York goalie turned aside.

The Bruins' surge gave them an 8-7 edge in shots, but Boston finished the period trailing 11-9.

"We were down but we weren't playing that poorly," Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said of the team's third-period mindset. "We needed to stay aggressive, try to tie the game. We just wanted to get pucks to the net. We did that and we were rewarded."

NOTES: The Rangers didn't yield a power-play chance for the second straight home game. ... New York D Anton Stralman was injured in the second period and didn't return. ... Since Boston trailed 4-1 in Game 7 against Toronto, Rask has allowed five goals in four-plus games.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bruins-rally-push-rangers-brink-elimination-072705103.html

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Israel to hold massive chemical warfare drill - Times of Israel

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Source: http://www.worthynews.com/top/timesofisrael-com-israel-braces-for-massive-chemical-warfare-drill-/

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Existing home sales highest in almost three-and-a-half years

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Home resales rose in April to the highest level in nearly 3-1/2 years, which should support the housing sector and the overall economic recovery.

The National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday existing home sales advanced 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 4.97 million units, the highest level since November 2009.

The increase, however, was below expectations for a rise to a 4.99 million-unit rate last month.

Compared to April last year, home resales were up 9.7 percent.

Tight supplies in some parts of the country are slowing down the pace of sales, but sellers are starting to wade back into the market, attracted by rising house prices.

The housing market is one of the bright spots in the economy, which has been hit by higher taxes and deep government budget cuts.

While manufacturing has come under pressure from tighter fiscal policy, particularly $850 billion in across-the-board government spending cuts, consumer spending is getting support from firming house prices and steady gains in employment.

That should limit the degree to which the economy slows this quarter after it expanded at a 2.5 percent annual pace in the first three months of the year.

In April, the median home sales price increased 11 percent from a year ago to $192,800, the highest level since August 2008. With prices rising, more sellers put their properties on the market, lifting the inventory of homes 11.9 percent from March to 2.16 million.

That represented a 5.2 months' supply at April's sales pace, up from 4.7 months in March. Still, it remained below the 6.0 months that is normally considered as a healthy balance between supply and demand.

A very accommodative monetary policy by the Federal Reserve, which has held mortgage rates near record lows, is helping to lift the housing market.

Adding to signs that the housing market recovery was establishing itself, distressed properties - which previously weighed on prices because they typically sold at deep discounts - accounted for only 18 percent of overall sales last month.

That was the lowest since the Realtors group started tracking the series in October 2008. These properties, foreclosures and short sales, had made up 21 percent of sales in March.

Also underscoring the firming housing market tone, properties are selling fast. The median time on market for homes was 46 days in April, down from 62 days the prior month.

About 44 percent of all homes sold in April had been on the market for less than a month, while only 8 percent had been for a year and longer.

Last month, first-time buyers accounted for 29 percent of the transactions, with investors buying 19 percent of homes. Investors, both individuals and institutional firms, are mostly buying homes for renting.

(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Neil Stempleman and Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/existing-home-sales-highest-almost-3-1-2-140246267.html

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Clippers won't offer Del Negro new deal as coach

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Vinny Del Negro is out as coach of the Los Angeles Clippers after a season in which the team won its first division title but lost in the first round of the playoffs.

The team said Tuesday he won't be offered a contract when his current one expires at the end of June. He is just the second coach to leave the team with a winning record, following Larry Brown in 1993.

"This was a difficult decision, but we feel this is the best decision for our franchise moving forward," said Gary Sacks, vice president of basketball operations.

Del Negro had a 128-102 regular-season record in three years with the team. The Clippers made the playoffs the last two seasons, including last year when they advanced to the second round for only the second time since the franchise moved to Los Angeles in 1984.

This season, the team won a franchise-record 56 games, including a 17-game winning streak. And with All-Stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, the Clippers were one of the NBA's most exciting attractions, with acrobatic dunks and dazzling playmaking. But the postseason was quick and disappointing ? an exit in six games to Memphis despite a 2-0 lead.

"We would like to thank Vinny for everything he did during his three years with the organization," Sacks said. "Vinny helped this team win a Pacific Division title and we greatly appreciate all that he and his staff helped us accomplish."

The search for a new coach will begin immediately.

Del Negro had the highest winning percentage (.557) for a coach in the club's beleaguered history. He is the only coach to have consecutive winning seasons since the Buffalo Braves moved to California and became the Clippers in 1978. The Clippers had just six winning seasons in their first 41 years. Now they've put together consecutive winning records and playoff appearances for the first time in 20 years.

"We've set every franchise record," Del Negro said two weeks ago. "So I'm proud of a lot of things we did."

Much of the credit for the dramatic turnaround went to Paul and Griffin. Del Negro was criticized at times this season for his rotations, and there was speculation about whether he would return.

Paul and Griffin have been supportive of their coach, and two weeks ago Sacks acknowledged that the players' opinions would be part of the decision on Del Negro.

"I think Vinny did a great job of managing the egos and taking this team to a new level," veteran Matt Barnes said after his exit interview at the end of the season.

Del Negro had said he enjoyed working with Paul and Griffin.

"They're the nucleus of the team, obviously, that you want to keep intact and move forward with," he said.

Sacks made it clear that the team's top priority is to re-sign Paul, who becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1. He could receive a five-year, $108 million deal.

Del Negro came to the Clippers from the Chicago Bulls, where the 46-year-old coach went 82-82 in two seasons including back-to-back playoff appearances before being fired.

Before that, Del Negro had front-office roles with Phoenix from 2006-08. He previously worked as a broadcaster for the Suns and San Antonio. He played in the NBA for 12 years.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-21-BKN-Clippers-Del-Negro/id-a98379a0c1844e7b99489a3593789c20

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