Seattle financial adviser Mark Spangler has pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges accusing him of defrauding investors of nearly $48 million by secretly diverting their money to startup companies he co-founded.
Spangler, the former head of the National Association of Personal Finance Advisors, founded an investment advisory company called The Spangler Group that he ran from his home in Seattle.
On Thursday, a Seattle grand jury indicted the 57-year-old Spangler on 23 criminal charges,…
05/18/2012
Spangler pleads not guilty in $48M fraud case
Seattle financial adviser Mark Spangler has pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges accusing him of defrauding investors of nearly $48 million by secretly diverting their money to startup companies he co-founded.
Spangler, the former head of the National Association of Personal Finance Advisors, founded an investment advisory company called The Spangler Group that he ran from his home in Seattle.
On Thursday, a Seattle grand jury indicted the 57-year-old Spangler on 23 criminal charges,…
05/18/2012
Facebook shares fall flat on IPO debut
Facebook Inc. barely moved the needle on its first day of trading, ending up essentially flat near its IPO price of $38 a share.
The stock jumped 12 percent in the opening minutes of trading on Friday before slipping back from $43 to close to the $38 price IPO investors paid on Thursday.
The Wall Street Journal cited an unnamed source who said that the underwriters on the deal stepped in to prevent it from dropping below the $38 a share price that was set for initial investors on Thursday.
Facebook’s…
05/18/2012
Expect more debate between A320neo and 737 Max as Boeing tries to catch up to Airbus in orders
Expect to see a brass-knuckle battle for orders in coming months as Boeing and Airbus vie for market share in the all-important narrow body jet market.
Here in Boeing country, people may take comfort in Boeing claims that the 737 Max will be more fuel efficient than the competing Airbus A320neo.
But the bottom line is aircraft sold, and at this moment, Boeing is still playing catch-up.
The tightness of the race is indicated by Boeing’s announcement Thursday that it plans to increase the fan size…
05/18/2012
ITC sides with Microsoft in Motorola patent infringement case
Motorola will have to modify its Android smartphones or pay Microsoft a licensing fee if it wants to continue selling them in the United States.
After postponing its decision several times, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled Friday that Motorola’s Android phones violate a Microsoft patent, and ordered an import ban for the offending devices.
“Microsoft sued Motorola in the ITC only after Motorola chose to refuse Microsoft’s efforts to renew a patent license for well over a year,”…
05/18/2012
For tech companies, patents can be cash cows, huge legal expense
While most people’s eyes glaze over when you mention patents and intellectual property law, they can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line — both in revenues and legal fees.
Microsoft, to name one Puget Sound-area company, is involved in more than 60 patent infringement lawsuits, according to recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
While the company wouldn’t tell me how much it spends on legal fees, a survey published by the American Intellectual Property Law Association…
05/18/2012
Judge: Mastro creditor Hazelrigg must redo bankruptcy papers
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Timothy Dore ruled against Bellevue businessman Tom Hazelrigg III Friday morning, saying Hazelrigg could not refuse to answer questions about his finances in his involuntary bankruptcy by making a blanket assertion of his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
Hazelrigg had turned in largely blank bankruptcy schedules earlier with a notation that he was asserting his Fifth Amendment right.
“It’s hard to imagine some of these questions are protected…
05/18/2012
5 warning signs that time to invest in Facebook is over
Facebook Inc.’s performance as a public company wasn’t exactly a showstopper. The stock jumped 12 percent in the opening minutes of trading on Friday before slipping back close to the $38 price IPO investors paid on Thursday, despite reported efforts by underwriters to prop it up.
This raises some interesting points that skeptics have been shouting about for months. Just how great of a buy is Facebook stock? What is its long-term sustainability?
With the help of PrivCo, we’ve put together…
05/18/2012
Facebook jumps 12% on IPO debut, then slips
Now it is Nasdaq investors’ turn to weigh in on what Facebook Inc. stock is worth.
The stock (NASDAQ:FB) jumped 12 percent in the opening minutes of trading on Friday before slipping back from $43 to close to the $38 price IPO investors paid on Thursday. It rebounded to more than $41 after that.
The Wall Street Journal cited an unnamed source who said that the underwriters on the deal stepped in to prevent it from dropping below the $38 a share price that was set for initial investors on Thursday.
The…
05/18/2012
Dendreon shares fall; SEC probe, rival drug may be reasons
Shares in Dendreon Corp. fell more than 11 percent in Thursday trading, and reasons may include a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the Seattle biotech and the success of a rival’s prostate cancer drug.
In Friday trading, Dendreon shares were down another 39 cents, or 5.03 percent, to $7.26.
Earlier this month, Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN) reported in a quarterly report filing that the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating the company in a probe related to lawsuits…
05/18/2012
Seattle fund manager Spangler accused in $48M fraud
A federal grand jury has indicted Seattle financial adviser Mark Spangler on 23 criminal charges, accusing him of defrauding investors of nearly $48 million by secretly diverting their money to startup companies he co-founded.
On Thursday, a Seattle grand jury indicted the 57-year-old Spangler on 23 criminal charges, including wire fraud, money laundering and investment adviser fraud, the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington said in a press release.
Spangler is scheduled…
