US markets steadied, buoyed by some solid economic data and corporate earnings releases - Dow up +100-points or +0.39% The broader S&P500 rose +0.25%. One story garnering headlines was Forensic accountant Harry Markopolos - who correctly identified the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme - released a 175-page report on Thursday (15 August). In it he claimed that General Electric Company is a larger accounting fraud than Enron - "GE's US$38B in accounting fraud amounts to over 40% of GE's market capitalisation" Markopolos wrote, "making it more serious than either the Enron or WorldCom accounting frauds." GE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Larry Culp bought 252,200 shares at US$7.93 per share, a purchase worth almost $2M, according to an SEC filing. The news helped lift GE ~2% in extended trading after closing down -11.3% in the regular session The NASDAQ dipped -0.09%.
