Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm  Emanuel is the latest lawmaker to get caught up in allegations of insider trading  while a member of Congress.

Then-Rep. Emanuel reportedly sold up to $250,000 in Freddie Mac  stock on February 21, 2003 days before it dropped by 10 percent — and  weeks before it was publicly revealed that the entity was under criminal  investigation for inflating earnings. The allegations are revealed  in Peter Schwiezer’s new book “Throw Them All Out,” which will hit  bookshelves tomorrow.

Emanuel served on the board of the Government-backed lender before his  election to Congress in 2003, and later held a seat on the House Financial  Services’ Committee’s Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and  Government-Sponsored Enterprises — the very committee charged with  regulating the Freddie Mac.

While by no means illegal; lawmakers are exempted from the insider trading  laws they impose on private traders. But the timing of the trades is certainly  suspect, especially given Emanuel’s service on the board during the time period  for with the federal government was investigating the actions of Freddie Mac  executives.

(Report by Business Insider)

The Securities and Exchange Commission says it has disciplined eight employees for failing to uncover the Bernard Madoff’s pyramid scheme over a 16-year period. None of the employees were fired.

SEC spokesman John Nester says the discipline varied. Three employees had their pay reduced. Two received 30-day suspensions without pay, one of whom also received a pay cut. The others received shorter suspension or counseling memos. The actions were based on recommendations by a law firm hired by the agency.

Two years ago, the SEC inspector general questioned the conduct of 21 employees in a report on the Madoff affair. Ten of those employees have since left the agency.

The SEC has been criticized for failing to spot the pyramid scheme. Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence for securities fraud.

(AP)

In advance of the next Republican Presidential debate, a survey by the financial  publication Traders Reserve found Republican candidates failing to inspire US investors, with 25% of investors choosing “None of the Above” over the entire Republican field.

68% of investors rated the current Republican candidates as “average” to  “poor” suggesting the Republicans face a fierce uphill battle for investors’ votes to capture the White House next November.

The survey addressed specific concerns of the investor class as they remain  one of the most overlooked in the current race for votes. Specifically, the survey questioned investors’ financial outlook for the next four years and their primary concerns when considering a presidential candidate.

Chief among those concerns: Creating jobs and the economy.

The survey, conducted in the 48 hours leading up to CNBC’s Debate “Your Money, Your Vote,” shows a growing group of disaffected voters unlikely to support the current group of Republican candidates. In that survey, 25.7% of respondents chose “None of the Above.”

Of the candidates, Newt Gingrich was the surprising leader among investors with 18.7% support. Current GOP favorite Governor Mitt Romney trailed Gingrich, Herman Cain (16.8%)  and Ron Paul (16.5%), with only 12.2% support among potential voters.

The survey showed Gov. Rick Perry, Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Senator Rick Santorum garnering little to no support among US investors.

52% of investors said they remain “very worried” about their ability to get ahead in the next four years, with an additional 28.1% stating they remain “slightly worried.” In all, 8 out of 10 respondents were worried about their personal financial situation in the coming years.

When asked to rank the issues by importance, investors were overwhelming in selecting the economy. 55.9% rated the economy as the most important issue, while 22.6% rated a balanced budget as the most important issue.

In the ongoing battle among the parties in Washington between “creating jobs” and “balancing the
budget” – 55% of investors favored “creating jobs” as the number one focus for the 2012 election’s winner.

(Report by PR Newswire at Breitbart for www.tradersreserve.com)