TGIF Link Dump

It's the weekend, so there are lots of things to do - raking leaves, buying costumes and spooky accoutrements for the Unknown House. Somewhere in there, I may even get around to more research.

So without further ado, here's today's link dump:

The WSJ Online has just updated their options scorecard, where they track companies under suspision of options backdating. The list is currently up to over 120 companies. HT: Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture.

Businessweek Online profiles one of the biggest names in the investment banking business - Bruce Wasserstein of Lazard Ltd. It's worth a read , as it gives a good look inside a major IB house.

Bloomberg.com reports on a recent study by Credit Derivatives Research LLC that indicates there was informed trading in credit derivatives before a number of LBOs. I'm shocked - positively shocked.

As I reported yesterday, Sharesleuth published another report - this time on Utek Corp. Utek's stock subsequently dropped 36% for the day. This isn't really surprising, since the stocks that Sharesleuth profile tend to be pretty thinly traded. The average daily trading volume for Utek was bout 75,000 shares. The day the report came out, about 1 1/2 million shares changed hands.

Chick Jaffe of Marketwatch.com brings us the Stupid Investment of the Week. He shoots a whole lot of very large holes in George Fontanills' "Optionetics" trading program. Fontanills claims he can teach you to make lots of money trading options with little or no risk. Yeah, right-- pull the other one (it's got bells on it).

Last but not least, Andrea Coombs (also of Marketwatch) tells you about the latest malicious internet scams, tricks, and dangers.

Enjoy. It's now officially the weekend, and it's time to put the munchkins to bed.