Mark Cuban is under investigation (update). And the info bounce exists! Or it did in '04.

"Under investigation" is a technical term, a piece of jargon, that we use in the finance biz to designate that someone is facing potential jailtime.

Normally I wouldn't recommend TheSmokingGun.com b/c of its controversial nature, but this is just precious, as my little white-haired granny would say.

Holy smoke.  Look at pages 6 and 7 of the complaint.  It says that he made $750,000 on the deal!   Sounds pretty clear to me, and a jury will may think so too.

The full report is here.

I wonder if this has anything to do with his outspoken opposition to the current bailout environment.  [We should get our tinfoil hats ready, and wish him lots of luck.] Of course, this all may be some kind of misunderstanding.

His anti-bailout website.

OK, so how is this relevant? Note that the stock (pages 6 and 7) lost 9.3% at the announcement of the PIPE. So, the "private equity" portion of the PIPE mitigated some of the asymmetric information effect, but it still took at hit. Wow, this finance stuff really means something.

In this case, it may mean some time in the Big House. Ouch. Can't go to jail without demonstrable "ill gotten gains." Man, what a bummer.

On closer inspection, though, it looks as though the Feds are just asking for a fine and not jail time. I'm not used to reading insider trading indictments, but that's what it looks like (page 2, at the top). Maybe that isn't where they ask for slammer time.

AOL Webspace is going away!

Just so you guys know, AOL webspace is getting shut down 10/31/08.  I will be moving our documents to WebCT or some other host as soon as I can.  Watch this space for links/announcements.

If WebCT is going to be a firewall issue for anyone, please let me know at michael@uhcl.edu as soon as possible.

Welcome to the UHCL Finance Blog

I thought it would be a good idea to set up a blog for undergrad finance at UH Clear Lake.  We'll see where this goes.

New Syllabi

Hey Everyone:

Don't forget that I've ended up with new syllabi for each class that incorporate new test dates and make-up days for Ike (see below). You can visit each course's Web site to pick up copies of the post-Ike revisions. I handed out the changes (one-page) in class last week (9/22 or 9/24).

UHCL Makeup schedule for Ike -- my classes

To make up time for what we lost due to Ike, the administration at UHCL has determined that we need to have classes on Friday and Saturday. It's unofficial so far, but here's the schedule for my 4331 and 5133 classes.

Monday at 1PM will meet Friday 10/3 from 1-4

Monday at 7PM will meet Sat. 10/4 from 1-4

Wednesday at 7PM will meet Sat. 10/18 from 1-4


I will clarify as new info becomes available, but I suggest that folks keep Fridays and Saturdays flexible for the next two months.

Update: I've gotten some emails about this. I'll try to answer questions in class this week.

OK, so Ike came and went

Thanks to those folks who've emailed about our safety or lack thereof. We're fine. We evac'ed to Woodville TX and found out that they were under mandatory evac too, and they're going to be without power until 10/8 or so.

[Update: Some folks in Woodville and points west actually got power back on Friday 9/19, but that's mainly around the center of town. During our drive back from Woodville on Sat. 9/20 there was plenty of damage and quite a number of destroyed homes.]

Here, we lost some of the roof (so we have a blue tarp now) and the back fence, so we've spent all week working on that stuff. I never knew I could see so much from up on my roof! I can almost see where Kemah was! We've had some family here from parts outward, and we've had fun.

But seriously -- we'll have to reevaluate where we stand in class and make sure that we can make up for lost time. According to the ALMOST OFFICIAL UHCL disaster recovery plan, our lost class (from this past week) will be made up on Saturday, 10/18 from 1 to 4. We'll discuss in class on 9/24 the new schedule.

Note: Your other classes will have a makeup schedule too, so get ready. Saturday classes would appear to be the new norm.

I hope everyone is OK after the storm, and I'm looking forward to class next week.

Ike is coming

See below for links to Ike cone and models. We'll be watching closely.