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Post by Franko10 ™ on Jan 10, 2005 14:58:11 GMT -5
3rd UPDATE: Ex-Markethingych.com Columnist Settles With SEC
14:54 EST Monday, January 10, 2005
(Adds fresh quote in fourth paragraph; new details in fifth and seventh paragraphs.)
By Siobhan Hughes
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A former columnist for CBS Markethingych.com will pay more than $540,000 to settle charges he used his investment newsletter to make profits by promoting stock that he owned.
Thom Calandra, who wrote the Calandra Report for the company now known as Markethingych Inc. (MKTW), settled the Securities and Exchange Commission charges without admitting or denying wrongdoing. Calandra, who co-founded the company and had served as editor in chief, resigned in January 2004 amid the SEC probe.
The SEC said Calandra made more than $400,000 in illegal profits by buying shares of thinly traded small-cap companies, writing favorable profiles of the companies, and then selling most of his shares after his columns had driven up the price of the securities.
"This case sends the message that people who speak to the public about securities should be very careful about not only what they say but what they do, " said Sahil Desai, the SEC staff attorney who investigated the trades.
The trading occurred from March to December 2003 and involved 23 securities and more than 100 sales, the SEC said. Calandra's fine consists of a $125,000 civil penalty and $416,000 representing the return of wrongly earned profits, plus interest, to investors.
"I am happy to have finally reached a settlement with the SEC on this matter," Calandra said in a statement. "It has been a challenging year, to put it mildly, and I do not wish to expose my family to a protracted public dispute with the Commission on this matter."
The SEC had also alleged Calandra failed to disclose that he received money in the form of discounted stock from a Canadian stock promoter affiliated with two mining companies profiled in his reports. The SEC didn't name the promoter in its settlement.
Dow Jones & Co. (DJ), publisher of The Wall Street Journal and parent of this newswire, agreed to purchase Markethingych in November 2004.
-By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires ; 202-862-6654; Siobhan.Hughes@ dowjones.com
Dow Jones Newswires
01-10-05 1451ET
Copyright (C) 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
14:54 EST Monday, January 10, 2005
(Adds fresh quote in fourth paragraph; new details in fifth and seventh paragraphs.)
By Siobhan Hughes
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A former columnist for CBS Markethingych.com will pay more than $540,000 to settle charges he used his investment newsletter to make profits by promoting stock that he owned.
Thom Calandra, who wrote the Calandra Report for the company now known as Markethingych Inc. (MKTW), settled the Securities and Exchange Commission charges without admitting or denying wrongdoing. Calandra, who co-founded the company and had served as editor in chief, resigned in January 2004 amid the SEC probe.
The SEC said Calandra made more than $400,000 in illegal profits by buying shares of thinly traded small-cap companies, writing favorable profiles of the companies, and then selling most of his shares after his columns had driven up the price of the securities.
"This case sends the message that people who speak to the public about securities should be very careful about not only what they say but what they do, " said Sahil Desai, the SEC staff attorney who investigated the trades.
The trading occurred from March to December 2003 and involved 23 securities and more than 100 sales, the SEC said. Calandra's fine consists of a $125,000 civil penalty and $416,000 representing the return of wrongly earned profits, plus interest, to investors.
"I am happy to have finally reached a settlement with the SEC on this matter," Calandra said in a statement. "It has been a challenging year, to put it mildly, and I do not wish to expose my family to a protracted public dispute with the Commission on this matter."
The SEC had also alleged Calandra failed to disclose that he received money in the form of discounted stock from a Canadian stock promoter affiliated with two mining companies profiled in his reports. The SEC didn't name the promoter in its settlement.
Dow Jones & Co. (DJ), publisher of The Wall Street Journal and parent of this newswire, agreed to purchase Markethingych in November 2004.
-By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires ; 202-862-6654; Siobhan.Hughes@ dowjones.com
Dow Jones Newswires
01-10-05 1451ET
Copyright (C) 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
