The Raj Rajaratnam / Galleon Group insider trading case is showing new signs of being a more serious problems for insiders in Silicon Valley. In the latest twist, the Wall Street Journal reports that former Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO Hector Ruiz is the AMD exec referred to in a criminal case filed by the Manhattan D.A.’s office which alleges that an unnamed executive of the chip maker shared confidential information with defendant Danielle Chiesi , a former employee of the

Stocks fall after new government reports delivered mixed signals on the state of the economic recovery The Labor Department said lower energy prices pushed U.S. wholesale prices lower in September, leaving a larger-than-expected monthly decline in the producer price index. Wall Street economists expected a flat reading. The drop comes after a steep rise in August. Separately, the Commerce Department said home building rose a third time in four months during September, reflecting higher sales

Joint mobile phone venture Sony Ericsson has reported poor earnings once again this morning, although the loss was more narrow than expected by Wall Street analysts. For the Q3 2009, losses amounted to euro 164 million (about $245 million USD). Last year, for the same period, losses came to euro 25 million. Revenue was crushed as well, dropping from euro 2.8 billion to 1.6 billion year-on-year. Handset units rose to 14.1 million, up 2 percent for the quarter but still down 45 percent for

Wall Street Journal recently wrote about MySpace and the site’s desire to “recover its cool.” With Twitter and Facebook getting most of the buzz around social media, MySpace is looking to get a little more niche, focusing on entertainment. PRWeek reported in August that MySpace selected Weber Shandwick as its AOR, and it would leverage a relationship with Rogers & Cowan in the entertainment sector. In recent weeks, the movie trailer for A Nightmare on Elm Street and the soundtr

A Secret Deal Between Wall Street and Washington Shines a Harsh Light on Federal Housing Agency By PAM MARTENS CounterPunch W hile the Federal Trade Commission was receiving gut-wrenching documentation of predatory lending abuses at a unit of Citigroup, the Federal agency mandated to level the playing field for low income homeowners, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was quietly awarding 19,968 mortgages of homeowners in distress to Citigroup to dispose of as it s