A Senate investigation has found Goldman Sachs developed a strategy to profit from the housing meltdown and reaped billions at the expense of clients.
Top Goldman executives misled investors in complex mortgage investments that became toxic, investigators say. They point to e-mails and other Goldman documents obtained in an 18-month investigation.
Goldman argues it didn't profit from the mortgage meltdown that began in 2007. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., head of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, says, "I think they're misleading the country."
The SEC has alleged that Goldman concocted mortgage investments without telling buyers that the investments had been put together with help from a hedge fund that was betting on them to fail. Goldman disputes the charges.
Some experts say damage to Goldman's reputation has already been done and might be long-lasting.
Regardless of the outcome of the SEC's case, "Goldman Sachs has lost," said James Cox, a Duke University law professor and securities law expert. "It's lost in the arena of public opinion."
A sharply divided federal appeals court on Monday exposed Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to billions of dollars in legal damages when it ruled a massive class action lawsuit alleging gender discrimination over pay for female workers can go to trial.
In its 6-5 ruling, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said the world's largest private employer will have to face charges that it pays women less than men for the same jobs and that female employees receive fewer promotions and have to wait longer for those promotions than male counterparts.
The retailer, based in Bentonville, Ark., has fiercely fought the lawsuit since it was first filed by six women in federal court in San Francisco in 2001, losing two previous rulings in the trial court and again in the appeals court in 2007.
Wal-Mart successfully convinced the appeals court to revisit its 2007 ruling made by a three-judge panel with a larger 11-judge panel, arguing that women who allege discrimination should file individual lawsuits. The retailer argued that the number of litigants that the lawsuit purports to represent is too big to defend.
"Although the size of this class action is large, mere size does not render a case unmanageable," Judge Michael Daly Hawkins wrote for the majority court, which didn't address the merits of the lawsuit, leaving that for the trial court.
Judge Sandra Ikuta wrote a blistering dissent, joined by four of her colleagues.
"No court has ever certified a class like this one, until now. And with good reason," Ikuta wrote. "In this case, six women who have worked in thirteen of Wal-Marts 3,400 stores seek to represent every woman who has worked in those stores over the course of the last decade -- a class estimated in 2001 to include more than 1.5 million women."
A Wal-Mart representative said the retailer was preparing a statement.
Massey: W.Va. Mine Clear Of Gases Before Explosion
Air samples did not show high levels of explosive gases just before an explosion in a West Virginia coal mine that killed 29 workers, and what caused the disaster remains unknown, the mine's owner said Monday.
Massey Energy Co. board director Stanley Suboleski said the samples were taken by foremen as part of a shift change exam at the Upper Big Branch mine, just "tens of minutes" before the blast. The examination also showed that air flow in the underground mine was fine.
"All the indicators are that at the start of the shift, everything was OK," said Suboleski, a mining engineer.
Suboleski, two other Massey board directors and Chief Executive Don Blankenship held a news conference Monday to address several issues related to the explosion, the nation's worst coal mining disaster in 40 years.
Lawmakers: Military May Stop Chicago Crime
Two Illinois lawmakers say violence has become so rampant in Chicago that the National Guard must be called in to help. Chicago Democratic Reps. John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford made a public plea to Gov. Pat Quinn on Sunday to deploy troops.
The request comes amid a recent surge in violent crime, including a night last week that saw seven people killed and 18 wounded, mostly by gunfire.
Fritchey says Chicago has had 113 homicide victims this year. He says the police department has done a commendable job, but its resources are stretched thin.
Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis says he appreciates the lawmakers' frustration and willingness to help, but doubts the National Guard is the best answer.
The conflict over a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration in Arizona intensified Monday as vandals smeared refried beans in the shape of swastikas on the state Capitol's windows.More protests were planned Monday after thousands gathered this weekend to demonstrate against a bill that will make it a state crime to be an illegal immigrant in Arizona.
Opponents say the law will lead to rampant racial profiling and turn Arizona into a police state with provisions that require police to question people about their immigrant status if they suspect they are here illegally. Day laborers can be arrested for soliciting work if they are in the U.S. illegally, and police departments can be sued if they don't carry out the law.
But supporters of the law, set to take effect in late July or August, say it is necessary to protect Arizonans from a litany of crimes committed by illegal immigrants. Arizona is home to an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants.
Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the bill on Friday, argues Arizona must act because the federal government has failed to stop the steady stream of illegal immigrants and drugs that move through Arizona from Mexico. She is scheduled to speak about the issue Monday at a Tucson hotel.
The law has revved up the national debate, drawing the attention of the Obama administration and Congress. Obama has called the new law "misguided" and instructed the Justice Department to examine it to see if it's legal.
The new law makes it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally. Immigrants unable to produce documents showing they are allowed to be in the U.S. could be arrested, jailed for up to six months and fined $2,500.
Arizona officers would arrest people found to be undocumented and turn them over to federal immigration officers. Opponents said the federal government can block the law by refusing to accept them.
State Sen. Russell Pearce, the Republican who sponsored the legislation, said it's "pretty disappointing" that opponents would call on the federal government to refuse to cooperate with Arizona authorities.
"It's outrageous that these people continue to support law breakers over law keepers," Pearce said Sunday.
The law has drawn support from many in Arizona who are fed up with the many problems brought on by illegal immigration.
"If I go to another foreign country, if I go to Mexico, I have to have papers," said Bill Baker, 60, who took time off work at a downtown Phoenix restaurant to sell umbrellas and Mexican and American flags to the largely Hispanic crowd of protesters. "So I don't feel there's anything particularly harsh about the law."
Supporters have dismissed concerns about profiling, saying the law prohibits the use of race or nationality as the sole basis for an immigration check. Brewer has ordered state officials to develop a training course for officers to learn what constitutes reasonable suspicion that someone is in the U.S. illegally.
The March 27 shooting death of rancher Rob Krentz on his property in southeastern Arizona brought illegal immigration and border security into greater focus in the state. Authorities believe Krentz was killed by an illegal border crosser.
Mr. Spock has gone home to Vulcan - in Canada, that is.
"Star Trek" actor Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock on the sci-fi TV series and movies, recently traveled to the Alberta town of Vulcan to celebrate its status as the official "Star Trek" capital of Canada, CTV reported.
The 79-year-old was honored in a parade and given the keys to the town by Vulcan's mayor, who wore a "Star Trek" uniform for the occasion.
Nimoy also made a hand print - the famous Vulcan peace sign - which will be cast in bronze and placed below a bronze bust of Spock in Vulcan.
Grapes May Help Heart, Cut Diabetes
Eating grapes could lower the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, according to a study at the University of Michigan. Researchers studied how eating grapes affected rats.
A powder made from red, green and black grapes was mixed into the animals' food, which was meant to mimic a high-fat diet common in the U.S.
After three months, rats that received the grape-enriched diet had lower blood pressure, better heart function and reduced indicators of inflammation in the heart and the blood than rats who received no grape powder.
The effects were seen even though the grape-fed animals had no change in body weight. Results seen in animals do not always translate into people, but researchers were optimistic.
"The possible reasoning behind the lessening of metabolic syndrome is that the phytochemicals were active in protecting the heart cells from the damaging effects of metabolic syndrome," said Dr. Steven Bolling.
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