Just today's headlines from Cheatopia

S&P Analyst Joked of ‘Bringing Down the House’ Before Crash

By David McLaughlin - Feb 5, 2013 4:54 PM ET (Bloomberg)

Standard & Poor’s employees joked about the company’s willingness to rate deals “structured by cows” and sang and danced to a mock song inspired by “Burning Down the House” before the 2008 global financial collapse, according to a U.S. government lawsuit.
Two S&P analysts in April 2007 discussed the company’s model for collateralized debt obligations, with one messaging that a deal was “ridiculous” and that S&P “should not be rating it,” according to the complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Los Angeles.

  

RBS Said to Face Up To $783 Million Fine for Manipulating Libor

By Gavin Finch - Feb 5, 2013 4:53 PM ET

Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc is set to pay 400 million to 500 million pounds ($783 million) in fines for manipulating interest rates, the second-biggest penalty imposed in a global regulatory probe, two people with knowledge of the matter said. 
The penalty is the biggest blow to Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hester’s attempt to overhaul the Edinburgh-based bank after it took 45.5 billion pounds in a 2008 taxpayer bailout, the largest in history. 
The fine, the third to result so far from the global probe, would exceed the 290 million pounds Barclays Plc (BARC) paid in June, and be second only to the $1.5 billion UBS AG (UBSN) paid in December. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said this week that RBS should pay the U.S. fines by clawing back bonuses from its investment bankers.  

Eaton CEO Says China GDP Report Overstates Growth Rate

By Thomas Black - Feb 5, 2013 6:12 PM ET

China’s official 7.8 percent economic growth for 2012 may have overstated expansion by twice the real rate, and is only now headed for a “legitimate” 8 percent gain, Eaton Corp. Chief Executive Officer Sandy Cutler said.

The 'ugly story' A-Rod and other stars must confront

Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports6:48p.m. EST February 5, 2013

(Photo: The (Newark) Star-Ledger via USA TODAY Sports)

Story Highlights

• MLB stars will face interrogation from the media and investigators
• Players tied to a South Florida doping scandal have yet to appear publicly
• The residue will likely last through spring training

They may be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but this is baseball, where suddenly no one is innocent.
New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and five of his peers will be interrogated, cross-examined and grilled when they report to spring training camp.
And this will be done simply by the baseball reporters.
Major League Baseball investigators, and perhaps Drug Enforcement Agency officials, also are eagerly and anxiously waiting for answers.
"This is an ugly story that we wish didn't exist, but it's there," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told reporters at a charity benefit Monday night. "We'll take the time to let it process."
The names of six players appeared in documents obtained by the Miami New Times revealing they allegedly received performance-enhancing drugs from a South Florida biochemist. There were handwritten dates, notations, cash payments, doses and schedules.