Lay/Skillings Convicted!

[Owlman]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060525/ap_on_bi_ge/enron_trial

Both are facing 100 plus years in prison.

This is a big thing in Houston, seeing the guys that screwed familes and investors rot in jail is what everyone wanted.

My only hope is they don't get special treatment and a slap on the wrist.

[RustySlinky]

I think what happened with Enron was worse than the Wendy's chili finger incident.

Enron severely weakened many pension and investment funds. It helped cause billions in electricity overpayments in California. It shook America's faith in stocks, and helped send investors fleeing out of Wall Street and into Real Estate.

But out of the ashes came some good. Financial disclosure requirements are tougher. Pension and investment funds are demanding accountability at corporate shareholder meetings. And ordinary investors are more wary of high-tech stocks.

Sometimes infamous people change-their-ways in their later years, and start writing kids, books. Maybe our grandkids will be enjoying tall tales from Jeff Skilling and ken Lay. :g2f:

[Clarsax]

We'll see what happens. Most of the time it seems cases like this are reduced in sentence to almost nothing.

[Owlman]

I wonder how much they are doing to have to pay the Aryan Nation on the outside to watch their asses in prison?

With all their cash, they can probably hire La eMe too.

[RustySlinky]

The Other Legacy of Enron
New York Times
Alex Berenson
May 28, 2006

. . . Mr. Lay and Mr. Skilling built and championed a culture of trading, a belief that markets could and should price every product and service. Despite its notorious swagger, Enron failed repeatedly as it tried to build these new markets.

Even so, the company came to symbolize the transition to a world where practically anything can be traded, from weather predictions to broadband Internet connections to forecasts involving the housing market. . .

. . . The contracts offered by Mr. Shiller's company, which are traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, aim to allow homeowners to protect themselves from regional downturns without having to sell their homes and moving into rentals. In essence, the contracts are a way to move the risk of housing markets away from individual homeowners and onto people or companies willing to take it on.

For example, investors could buy a contract that will gain value if the local market skids, but be worthless if the market rises. In essence, the buyer would be giving up some potential appreciation in return for protection against a falling market.

At their best, new markets can provide efficient new forms of insurance, enabling people or businesses to transfer risks they cannot control — for a fee, of course.

A contract whose value fluctuates with the weather may seem farfetched. But it could have practical use. A farmer might buy a contract that would only pay off in a year of below-normal rainfall, protecting him from the crop damage produced by a drought. . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/28/weekinreview/28berenson.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1148788800&en=2cfe62b8f0dd207a&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=login

I wonder how much they are doing to have to pay the Aryan Nation on the outside to watch their asses in prison?

With all their cash, they can probably hire La eMe too. Yeah, Skilling and Lay could buy insurance contracts that would only pay off if they got injured from having their asses messed with . . . :bonnie: (just kidding)

But wouldn't their chances of physical injury would be slim anyways, since they're probably going to a Martha Stewart type of prison? Forbes Magazine did an online piece on the top 12 places for Skilling and Lay to go to prison:

. . . Why are prison camps the way to go, if you must go at all? Among other perks, federal prison camps have a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, dormitory-style accommodations and little to no fencing. In fact, inmates could walk away from these camps. Few do, however, because recaptured inmates face severe consequences. . .

Link: http://www.forbes.com/blankslate/2006/04/17/best-prisons-federal_cx_lr_06slate_0418bestprisons.html
But Martha's seems to be doing even better now, since she got out of jail. - Except for that Apprentice TV show she tried to do with Donald.

:ppbb:


But yeah, Maybe a network could sell contracts for their new TV shows. For example, if there was a brand new TV show that I really liked, I could buy a contract with the TV network to either continue producing the new TV series for 5 years, or supply me with one new DVD episode for every year of premature cancellation. If the show runs for 5 seasons, the network don't owe anything. But if the series is cancelled after the first year, the network would owe me 4 free DVD's. And I could sell this contract to another person for however much it's worth.

So basically, the network gets some extra revenue, while I get more insurance that my favorite show will stay around.

[Owlman]

They showed that alot of these guys hire consultants to teach them how to survive in prison.

Pay a lot of money just to know not to drop to soap or sit with La eMe in the lunch room.

[jerseygirl]

I have never been in favor of the death penalty, for many reasons. But for these guys, I think I might make an exception. Just kidding! Although, in the case of white collar criminals, I think it might actually be a deterrent.