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The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday accused a New York City-based trader of defrauding investors out of millions of dollars by covering up trading losses at her currency-focused hedge fund. According to the SEC, since at least January 2012, Haena Park, 40, lied about the profitability of her strategies for trading foreign currencies and futures to solicit investments in her fund, Phaetra Capital. In that time, she raised at least $14 million from more than 30 investors while suffering more than $16 million in trading losses, the SEC said. The complaint alleges Park used fictitious monthly statements to cover up her losses and paid back early investors with new money invested in the fund, an arrangement the SEC described as “Ponzi-like.” Park attended Harvard University and was employed at various financial firms between 1998 and 2008, according to the SEC’s complaint. The SEC is bringing a civil action against Park while the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York will pursue criminal charges. Park ran her fund out of an office on 6th Avenue according to an SEC filing. Park didn’t respond to a request for comment.

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From:: Stock Market News

Gap Inc. said Thursday that sales for the month of May fell 5% to $1.18 billion from $1.25 billion for the same period last year. Same-store sales decreased 6%, with the company reporting declines at each of its brands. The namesake Gap brand saw same-store sales fall 3%. Same store sales at Banana Republic were down 11%. And at Old Navy, same-store sales were down 7%. The company said in a release that performance improved leading into the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Sunday and Monday of the holiday fell in the fiscal month of June, as opposed to May last year, which negatively impacted May results. Gap shares are up 4.5% in after-hours trading, but down 51.3% for the past year. The S&P 500 is down 0.2% for the last 12 months.

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From:: Stock Market News

Broadcom Ltd. shares rose more than 6% late Thursday after the San Jose, Calif., chip maker formerly known as Avago reported better-than-expected adjusted second-quarter earnings and sales in line with forecasts. Broadcom said it earned $3.56 million, or $2.53 a share, in the second quarter, up from $2.13 a share in the second quarter of 2015. Revenue reached $3.54 million, up from $1.61 million from the year-ago quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to report adjusted earnings of $2.38 a share on sales of $3.55 million. The company also announced an interim dividend of 50 cents a share, up from 49 cents in March. The dividend is payable on June 30 to shareholders of record on June 17.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday with the S&P 500 closing above the 2,100-mark for the first time since April as oil prices rebounded on the back of a weekly drop in U.S. crude supplies. Crude oil had been pressured earlier after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries failed to reach an agreement to cap member production. July West Texas Intermediate crude rose 16 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $49.17 a barrel, bouncing back from below $48.
The S&P 500 gained 6 points, or 0.3%, to close at 2,105 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average [S: DJIA] climbed 49 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 17,838. The Nasdaq rose 19 points, or 0.4%, to close at 4,971.

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From:: Stock Market News

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday, buoyed by data showing weekly declines in U.S. crude supplies and production. The data outweighed earlier pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ failure to reach a pact to cap output. July WTI crude settled at $49.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 16 cents, or 0.3%, recovering from an earlier dip below the $48 mark.

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From:: Stock Market News

New York’s Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, ruled Thursday that the 11-year civil-fraud lawsuit against the former chief executive of American International Group Inc. , Hank Greenberg, could proceed, the Associated Press reported. Greenberg’s legal team argued that the case should be dismissed because there are no remedies available to the New York Attorney General’s office. The court ruled that AG Eric Schneiderman could seek the return of ill-gotten profits, a ban from the securities industry, and a ban from serving as a director and officer of a public company. According to The Wall Street Journal, Greenberg, who denies any wrongdoing, also said the effort to ban him was a waste of taxpayer dollars.

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From:: Stock Market News

Gold futures settled at more than three-month low Thursday on mounting expectations of an imminent U.S. interest-rate hike. Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan reiterated that the Fed should tighten the monetary policy as the economy continues to show signs of recovery while inflationary pressure has started to build, according to Reuters. June gold slipped $2.10, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,209.80, its lowest since Feb. 16.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Clearside Biomedical Inc. were up 12% in midday trade Thursday in the company’s debut on the Nasdaq. Shares were trading at $7.85, above the company’s $7 issue price. The company sold 7.2 million shares to raise $50.4 million. Cowen and Company and Stifel were the lead underwriters.

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From:: Stock Market News