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I wasn't sure if this should go under stocks, but it is worht a read...
Cuban Proposes Betting Hedge Fund
Tue Nov 30, 5:35 PM ET Business - AP
By DAVID KOENIG, AP Business Writer
DALLAS - Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he plans to start a hedge fund, run by professional gamblers, to make bets on sporting events.
In a 1,278-word Web log posted over the weekend, Cuban said a gambling hedge fund would be no worse than the stock market, which he compared to a Ponzi scheme, with some people trading on inside information and others buying stocks on emotion.
The outspoken NBA team owner, who made his fortune by selling his Internet company at the height of the dot-com boom, accused public companies of manipulating profit numbers and said the Securities and Exchange Commission (news - web sites) fails to make companies follow the rules.
NBA spokesman Tim Frank said the league needed more information about Cuban's plans.
"It's just a blog entry," Frank said. "We just became aware of it this morning, and we haven't had a chance to review it."
Hedge funds are high-risk investments that cater to wealthy individuals and institutional investors, such as pensions. Their number and size have grown wildly in recent years. They are only loosely regulated and are not required to make filings with the SEC, a spokesman said. The agency declined to comment on Cuban's proposal.
In his weekend posting, Cuban said he has "done very well" in stocks over the past 15 years but that for many investors, putting money in stocks is nothing more than gambling.
Cuban added that from "minimal reading and conversations" about sports betting, there are smart gamblers who win repeatedly, which he attributed to the vast information available about sports teams.
In casinos, he added, "Unlike the stock market, you know the rules exactly. You know without question, the house is going to play by the rules. The gaming commission appears to actually enforce rules of play, unlike the SEC."
Cuban did not respond immediately to questions from The Associated Press.
A gambling-regulation expert in Las Vegas said the owner's idea was unlikely to work because of restrictive federal and state laws and professional sports' historic discomfort with gambling.
"He is barking at the wind," said William Thompson, a professor of public administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
The 46-year-old Cuban and a partner started broadcast.com, which broadcast games over the Internet. In 1999, he sold the company to Yahoo! Inc (Nasdaq:YHOO - news). for about $5.7 billion, and bought the Mavericks the next year for $280 million.
Recently, Cuban used his blog to tease billionaire Donald J. Trump over the bankruptcy of his casino empire.
Cuban Proposes Betting Hedge Fund
Tue Nov 30, 5:35 PM ET Business - AP
By DAVID KOENIG, AP Business Writer
DALLAS - Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he plans to start a hedge fund, run by professional gamblers, to make bets on sporting events.
In a 1,278-word Web log posted over the weekend, Cuban said a gambling hedge fund would be no worse than the stock market, which he compared to a Ponzi scheme, with some people trading on inside information and others buying stocks on emotion.
The outspoken NBA team owner, who made his fortune by selling his Internet company at the height of the dot-com boom, accused public companies of manipulating profit numbers and said the Securities and Exchange Commission (news - web sites) fails to make companies follow the rules.
NBA spokesman Tim Frank said the league needed more information about Cuban's plans.
"It's just a blog entry," Frank said. "We just became aware of it this morning, and we haven't had a chance to review it."
Hedge funds are high-risk investments that cater to wealthy individuals and institutional investors, such as pensions. Their number and size have grown wildly in recent years. They are only loosely regulated and are not required to make filings with the SEC, a spokesman said. The agency declined to comment on Cuban's proposal.
In his weekend posting, Cuban said he has "done very well" in stocks over the past 15 years but that for many investors, putting money in stocks is nothing more than gambling.
Cuban added that from "minimal reading and conversations" about sports betting, there are smart gamblers who win repeatedly, which he attributed to the vast information available about sports teams.
In casinos, he added, "Unlike the stock market, you know the rules exactly. You know without question, the house is going to play by the rules. The gaming commission appears to actually enforce rules of play, unlike the SEC."
Cuban did not respond immediately to questions from The Associated Press.
A gambling-regulation expert in Las Vegas said the owner's idea was unlikely to work because of restrictive federal and state laws and professional sports' historic discomfort with gambling.
"He is barking at the wind," said William Thompson, a professor of public administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
The 46-year-old Cuban and a partner started broadcast.com, which broadcast games over the Internet. In 1999, he sold the company to Yahoo! Inc (Nasdaq:YHOO - news). for about $5.7 billion, and bought the Mavericks the next year for $280 million.
Recently, Cuban used his blog to tease billionaire Donald J. Trump over the bankruptcy of his casino empire.
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