California IOUs Hit Ebay, Craiglist

California's state tax revenues continue to sink with rising unemployment and falling retail sales. Meanwhile, credit unions have stopped accepting the state's IOUs, but a market for the registered warrants with a 3.75% annualized interest rate the state is paying on them until October 2, has sprung up on Web marketplaces including Craigslist and EBay.

From Reuters:

As California continues to issue "IOUs", more controversy is brewing over their use.

On one side, IOU recipients are beginning to trade them like currency, forcing the California state treasurer's office to issue guidelines if they are sold through eBay (EBAY), Craigslist or other means.
...
California's treasurer is telling recipients of the IOUs that if they sell them to third parties, they will be redeemed by the state treasurer's office only if accompanied by a notarized bill of sale signed by their listed payee.

"We are in the process of contacting officials of eBay and Craigslist to post a notice of the policy on their sites," the statement said.

Speculation is rising over whether California's tax-exempt IOUs... can be bought, sold and traded.

The [SEC] must first determine if the IOUs are securities to regulate them, said Ernesto Lanza, general counsel to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, adding that the board was not working directly with the commission on that decision.

"It looks like it has all the hallmarks of a security," Lanza told Reuters. "If they are securities, I think they're pretty clearly municipal securities."

At least one website aims to offer a platform for selling the registered warrants. Obed Dorceus, owner of ioumarket.com, said he sees a potential secondary market for the IOUs -- and potentially other government promises to pay.

Since when IOUs are condisered securities? California has to put its act together. State bonds moved a step closer to junk status yesterday because of the budget mess, and a group of the biggest U.S. banks ; BofA (BAC), Citigroup Inc. (C), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and J.P. Morgan (JPM), said they would stop accepting states''s IOUs on Friday. What next. source>>>

Read More

Remembering Billy Mays 'the OxiClean guy"

The first time I ever saw Billy Mays in person nobody could actually remember the poor guy's name.

I was sitting at the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., in December, and out of nowhere my cousin turns to me and says, "Hey, isn't that the infomercial guy?"

The man he was pointing at was standing on the field wearing a blue polo shirt and carrying a camera. After a couple of more minutes went by, a few other people in our section noticed the same guy. "It had to be him," everyone agreed. So to get his attention my cousin started chanting the one thing he knew he remembered about the man in the blue shirt: OxiClean. He knew that the man sold a product called OxiClean during one of his infomercials, so chants of "OxiClean, OxiClean" started to fill the air in Section 131 at the Florida Citrus Bowl that night. Within a matter of moments, the bearded man turned around and had a huge smile on his face.

I'm still not exactly sure how we did it, but we convinced our new pal to come into our seats and take some pictures. He literally had to climb over the little railing in our section, but he did this without any problem. The fans were going crazy. As he made his way to us, I finally remembered that the man's name was Billy Mays. When he got to our seats the chants had switched from "OxiClean, OxiClean!" to "Billy Mays, Billy Mays!" Mays' smile got even bigger as he came over and shook everyone's hand and posed for pictures.

My brother, who had gone up to the concession stand to grab some more beers for our group, came back and couldn't believe his eyes. "The guy from the commercials," he said in amazement. He tried to give Mays one of his precious beers, but the pitchman graciously declined, he was on assignment for ESPN, after all.

What struck me more than anything was that when he spoke, he wasn't screaming the way he did in all those commercials. He was just an average guy (with a regular voice) who enjoyed hanging with his fans. He stood near our section for another 10 minutes or so posing and talking to more people. He seemed like a genuine guy who was just happy to be recognized. His appearance was the highlight of an otherwise boring game between FSU and Wisconsin.

When I heard the news of his passing on Sunday morning, that story is the first thing that crossed my mind. In fact, a few hours later, I got a text message from one of my friends who had been with us that night: "Did you know that the OxiClean guy died today??? Ahhhh Champs Bowl." I'm sure Mays' presence made a lot of people smile over the years, and my story is no different. The only reason I'll ever remember that football game is because the "OxiClean guy" appeared and brightened everybody's day. source>>>

Read More

This Day in History

On this date in 1284, it was said that the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Germany lured 130 children out of town, and they were never seen again. On June 26 1963 President John Kennedy gave his, "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner) speech in West Berlin. On June 26, 1974, supermarket scanning of UPC codes began with a pack of chewing gum in Troy, Ohio.

Read More

This date in History

IN 1611, The mutinous crew of English explorer Henry Hudson, after a harsh winter with their ship frozen in Hudson Bay, puts Hudson and eight others adrift in a small boat. They are never seen again. In 1845: The Congress of the Republic of Texas agrees to join the United States, following the wishes of the republic's leading figure, Sam Houston.

Read More

This date in History

On this date in 1815 Napoleon abdicated his throne for the second time after his defeat at Waterloo. In 1981 Mark David Chapman pleaded guilty to killing rock musician John Lennon.

Read More