UBS AG (UBS)

All Comments on UBS

  • commenter
    auction
    stuck
    Apr 15 12:25 AM
    Retail Investors Stuck Holding Auction Rate Securities [view article]
    here's the thing. I gave strict instructions to my broker. Keep my portfolio looking like its the portfolio of a 98 year old grandmother.
    what happened? Im into this auction rate bs to the tune of over a million dollars. Did the financials know the market was going to collapse? sure they did. My guy at citi came out and told me - that the only fair thing to be done - is to have the banks that peddled this stuff - buy it back and deal with the liquidity issues themselves.

    UBS really came to the plate and knocked it out of the park - when they decided to loan 100 percent against the shares that an investor holds. What does that say to an individual investor? It says they "get it" - which is more than I can say for most of the financial community.

    When will wall street begin to rebuild the trust that they destroyed at their own hands.

    When the dust settles, this auction rate problem will make the sub-prime problem look like a joke.

     Reply
  • commenter
    James Davis
    Apr 15 12:04 AM
    Retail Investors Stuck Holding Auction Rate Securities [view article]
    As I've stated, there was a conspiracy to

    1) Create the illusion of a liquid and fair market, where in fact it was a manipulated , contrived one.

    2) Pull support simultaneously, so that no one dealer got stuck holding the bag. Better for the customers to have that privilege.

    As for the boilerplate in the 'prospectii' as one poster puts it, no one would buy anything ,ever, if every disclaimer was taken at face value.

    Since the dealers so willingly maintained the illusion of liquidity and soundness, let them stand behind their Houdini act for the final bow.

    That or face permanent reputational damage for at least a generation.
    Reply
  • commenter
    Tookit N.
    L'ARS
    Apr 14 10:18 PM
    Retail Investors Stuck Holding Auction Rate Securities [view article]
    Despite the language in the prospectus, the brokerage firms and the issuers happily perpetuated an illusion of security and weekly or monthly liquidity through their willingness to act as the bidder of last resort. That was fine while it lasted, but one major problem is that the dealers did not disclose how heavily dependent the auctions were on their participation and the other major problem is that the dealers unilaterally abandoned the market, without warning. In keeping with a time-honored tradition on Wall Street, the retail investors get fleeced. In all fairness, however, there seems to be a fairly large group of institutional investors hamstrung by this mess. Worry not, though, as the dealers will certainly do well as they collect their banking fees for issuing the debt that will hopefully soon be used to refinance the ARS. Reply
  • commenter
    BK224
    Apr 14 10:01 PM
    Retail Investors Stuck Holding Auction Rate Securities [view article]
    You're dead wrong. The Auction rate market is comprised of individual security issuers and preferred shares of closed end funds. The auction is a pure dutch auction with the auction agent acting as bidder of last resort. I've worked for 2 significant auction dealers and both fully disclose the possibility of failed auctions in the prospectii and marketing material.

    The muni market is working out of this market quite quickly as these securities are being called in now. 50% of the issues my clients have been called. I expect the remaining to be redeemed within 3 months.

    The real ramifications are economic in nature due to the lack of access to short term alternatives for money market funds, and of course the lock-up of money waiting to get out.

    But mark my words, if there is a 300 Billion market of anything out there, some Wall Street Wizard will create liquidity and get in the middle of it to make alot of money. I hope it's me.     Reply
  • commenter
    Serge
    Birbrair
    Apr 14 09:29 PM
    My Website
    Retail Investors Stuck Holding Auction Rate Securities [view article]
    I am looking forward to the next Attorney General willing to throw the Martin Act the brokerage houses and put a few perps in prison.
    www.nothingcontroversi...

    This is a swindle of the century. Time to clean the house.     Reply
  • commenter
    ARS victim
    Apr 14 05:58 PM
    Retail Investors Stuck Holding Auction Rate Securities [view article]
    Blackrock is one of my ARS holdings. They're not working very hard to refinance but they've just raised 10.9 billion to go into a vulture venture in real estate. That money should have been allocated to deleveraging and getting money back to ARS victims/ Here's the article

    www.nytimes.com/2008/0...
     Reply
  • commenter
    Also Stuck
    Apr 14 04:54 PM
    Retail Investors Stuck Holding Auction Rate Securities [view article]
    I got stuck in these securities also being put in them by my UBS "financil advisor" or "wealth manager". Have written to my two Michigan Senators and area Representative. Someone like the SEC has to force these brokerage houses or mutual fund managers to "let my money go!" If this whole thing was not fraud at the highest level, I don't know what you would classify it.

    Seems to me the closed end mutual funds that have my money should be forced to de-leverage and give us our money back. Most of them are saying they are working on it, but don't want to, or can't hurt their common investors.

    How can we ever trust "Wall Street" anymore. All this while normal company pension funds are being abandoned and we are being told to invest in 401Ks and IRAs for our retirement. And now they hold our money. Sad.     Reply
  • commenter
    jimmy46
    Apr 14 03:43 PM
    14 Bank and I-Bank Write-Downs [view article]
    Here in Reno most of the houses for sale last year have sold
    Prices are steady or up a little,

    AND THE BUILDERS ARE STILL BUILDING NEW HOUSES
     Reply
  • commenter
    Rajshree
    Laturia
    Apr 14 01:19 PM
    14 Bank and I-Bank Write-Downs [view article]
    Looks like that the worst is yet to come. With Goldman predicting that there are around a trillion debts in securitisation, this looks like just the tip of an ice berg..! lets see how the market moves.!! Reply
  • commenter
    James Davis
    Apr 14 01:01 PM
    Retail Investors Stuck Holding Auction Rate Securities [view article]
    Full disclosure: I own 1 of these ARS

    There's no question this was , in its final days, a fraudulent market, and a criminal enterprise hosted by the large brokers.

    They allowed and encouraged their 'henchmen' aka sales force, to foist these time bombs on unsuspecting customers.

    The brokers knew full well these were GUARANTEED to fail, since they were the ones that were about to LET THEM FAIL.

    Need to be handled at the criminal level if they refuse to make victims whole.     Reply
  • commenter
    ARS victim
    Apr 14 12:55 PM
    Retail Investors Stuck Holding Auction Rate Securities [view article]
    Nice article. When is someone going to connect the dots and call it what it is "The fraud of the century." We got sucked into ARS as of 10/07, just as ML realized it was short on cash. Not sending any prospectus was a plus. When I finally received one after the auctions were closed I did some research. Everyone of the securities I own is underwritten by ML PLUS each company is really a hedge fund in disguise. They simply dumped their inventory in my account. For my IRA I wanted MM liquidity while I was trading stocks and now I'm a stockholder in hedge funds? I wouldn't touch any brokerage stock for a long time nor will I ever use a financial advisor again. ML has too many conflicts of interest and can not be trusted to protect me. They stupidly screwed their best customers. I don't see them wanting this to go to a class action suit with a jury trial.


    Reply
  • commenter
    helplessobse
    rver
    Apr 14 11:06 AM
    14 Bank and I-Bank Write-Downs [view article]
    Here in Fredericksburg, Va, home prices have dropped from $350k to $275k, selling time has increased from 28 days at the peak to 138 today. Realtors report people are walking away from bad loans. Finally Fredericksburg, Va is a prosperous area with tons of govt dough for workers. Reply
  • commenter
    who
    Apr 14 10:40 AM
    UBS Plan Could Be the Road Map for Financials [view article]
    Simply putting bad apples into another bucket does not mean they are not there.


    Reply
  • commenter
    Roger G
    McCorkle
    Apr 10 02:21 PM
    My Website
    Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [view article]
    Re: GregoryY


    Considering that Soros makes more money in the markets in a week than Greenspan has in a lifetime, I think I know who opinion I value     Reply
  • commenter
    GregY
    Apr 10 11:57 AM
    My Website
    Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [view article]
    Soros vs Greenspan. This is an ideologically colored debate in an economic arena - Social Liberal Democrat, who believes the Government, can do ANYTHING vs Objectivist Libertarian. As long as one remembers that these are believes and opinions, rather than superior knowledge, we can pace our bets and enjoy the entertainment. Reply

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