Lehman

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Failings by Lehman Brothers executives and its auditor led to the bank collapse that unleashed the worst of the financial crisis, according to a report by a U.S. bankruptcy court-appointed examiner.

Lehman "repeatedly exceeded its own internal risk limits and controls" and a wide range of bad calls by its management led to the bank's failure, the report says.

The conduct of Lehman executives "ranged from serious but non-culpable errors of business judgment to actionable balance sheet manipulation," the report by examiner Anton Valukas says.

Valukas, of New York law firm Jenner & Block, was appointed in January of last year to examine the causes of Lehman's failure by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

The fall of a Wall Street highflier
Lehman's bankruptcy filing on Sept. 15, 2008 -- the largest Chapter 11 filing in financial history -- capped a 95% slide in the firm's stock price and unleashed a crisis of confidence that threw financial markets worldwide into turmoil, sparking the worst crisis since the Great Depression.

As a credit squeeze caused investor confidence to falter in the fall of 2008 Lehman tried to stave off collapse by painting a misleading picture of its financial condition, the report claims.

In particular, it criticizes Lehman's failure to disclose its use of what it called "Repo 105" transactions to manipulate its balance sheet.

The use of these transactions were not adequately challenged or questioned by its auditor Ernst & Young, according to the report, which runs more than 2,200 pages.

The report is highly critical of Lehman's executives. It says: "Lehman should have done more, done better."

But it says responsibility for its collapse is shared. A flawed business model that rewarded excessive risk and leverage exacerbated the bank's problems, as did government agencies.

Lehman's plight "was more the consequence than the cause of a deteriorating economic climate," Valukas wrote.

China warns Google as Internet row deal seen soon

China warns Google as Internet row deal seen soon

BEIJING (Reuters) - China warned Google, the world's largest search engine, against flouting the country's laws on Friday, as expectations grow for a resolution to a public battle over censorship and cyber-security.


The chief executive of Google, Eric Schmidt, said this week he hoped to announce soon a result to talks with Chinese authorities on offering an uncensored search engine in China.

"Google has made its case, both publicly and privately," China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Li Yizhong, said, but did not confirm directly that his ministry was in talks with Google.

Google in January threatened to pull out of China if it could not offer an unfiltered Chinese search engine, after cyber attacks originating from China on it and about 30 other firms.

"If you don't respect Chinese laws, you are unfriendly and irresponsible, and the consequences will be on you," Li told reporters, in answer to a question on what China would do if Google.cn simply stopped filtering search results.

Li complimented Google on having reached about 30 percent market share in the Chinese market since it launched google.cn about three years ago, and said it was welcome to expand market share further if it abided by Chinese law.

It was up to Google whether to stay in China's market or not, he added.

Ministry officials have wavered between confirming and denying that talks are happening at all, in response to repeated media questions during China's annual legislative session.

"This is really a hot topic, it's easy and yet not easy to respond. A lot of these matters don't fall under my ministry, " Li said.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shares oversight of the Chinese Internet with a number of other bodies, while still more bureaucracies are involved in matters of foreign investment, complicating the Chinese government's response to Google's challenge.

TV star Merlin Olsen dead at 69

Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen, who helped form one of the NFL's greatest defensive lines before embarking on a successful career in television, died Thursday

And yet, Merlin Olsen, Pro Football Hall of Famer, tv star on both Little House on the Prairie and Father Murphy passes with barely a ripple.

MELISSA GILBERT has paid tribute to her LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE co-st ar MERLIN OLSEN, who died on Thursday (11Mar10). The former American football ...

Merlin Olsen dies
He died March 11 of mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer. He was 69. By Matt Schudel Merlin Olsen, 69, a Hall of Fame defensive tackle with the Los Angeles ...


Merlin Olsen passed away Wednesday from mesothelioma, but a doctor has given tips on how to fight the lung disease

How to troubleshoot Windows

How to troubleshoot Windows startup problemsSometimes Windows begins to load but then stops responding during the startup process. In most cases, the problem is a new piece of hardware, a new program, or a corrupted system file. Follow the instructions below to troubleshoot the problem. Try to start your computer after each step. Continue to the next step only if Windows continues to fail during startup.
To troubleshoot startup problems
1. Restart your computer. Immediately after the screen goes blank for the first time, press the F8 key repeatedly. The Windows Advanced Options menu appears. If the menu does not appear, restart your computer and try again. Use the cursor keys on your keyboard (your mouse will not work) to select Last Known Good Configuration, and then press ENTER. Windows XP attempts to start.
2. If you recently installed new hardware, shut down your computer and disconnect the hardware. Then, restart Windows XP and troubleshoot your hardware to get it working properly. 3. Restart your computer and press F8 again. This time, choose Safe Mode and press ENTER. Windows XP attempts to start in Safe Mode, which does not automatically start programs and hardware, and displays very primitive graphics. If Windows XP starts successfully in Safe Mode, you can remove any programs or updates you have recently installed. Then, restart your computer normally.
4. Additional troubleshooting is possible, but it can be complicated and may require reinstalling Windows XP. Contact technical support for further troubleshooting assistance. Alternatively, you can perform a repair installation of Windows XP. It might solve your problem. However, you will lose some settings and need to reinstall updates.