NASDAQ:VVUS

When the value of the dollar, often considered the world’s reserve currency, is falling, investors often turn to gold as a relatively safe alternative place to put their money.

“When you have currencies weakening and there’s no currency of choice (among traders), you move to gold,” said Carlos Sanchez, an analyst with CPM Group in New York.

The market thinks inflation is coming and sometimes perception is reality. Some say Gold may finish the year at or above $1200 dollars an ounce.

According to Bloomberg.com “The SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest ETF backed by the metal, reached an all-time high of 1,134.03 metric tons on June 1. The fund, which held 1,077.63 tons as of Sept. 4, has overtaken Switzerland as the world’s sixth-largest gold holding. Bullion held in ETF Securities Ltd.’s exchange-traded products gained 6,640 ounces to a record 8 million ounces (248.8 tons) yesterday, its Web site showed.”

Here is what was reported on the DOJ website

WASHINGTON – The government filed a lawsuit today in Miami against Swiss bank UBS AG, the Justice Department announced. The lawsuit asks the court to order the international bank to disclose to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the identities of the bank’s U.S. customers with secret Swiss accounts. According to the lawsuit, as many as 52,000 U.S. customers hid their UBS accounts from the government in violation of the tax laws.

The government alleges in the lawsuit that of those 52,000 secret accounts, about 20,000 contained securities and about 32,000 contained cash. According to a UBS document filed with the lawsuit, as of the mid-2000s, those secret accounts held about $14.8 billion in assets. Court documents allege that U.S. citizens failed to report and pay U.S. income taxes on income earned in those secret accounts.

According to the lawsuit, Swiss-based bankers actively marketed UBS’s services to wealthy U.S. customers within the United States. UBS documents filed with the lawsuit show that UBS bankers came to the United States to meet with U.S. clients nearly 4,000 times per year, in violation of U.S. law. According to court documents, the government alleges that UBS trained its bankers to avoid detection by U.S. authorities. Court documents further assert that many U.S. contacts occurred through UBS-sponsored sporting and cultural events, designed to appeal to extremely wealthy Americans.

The lawsuit alleges that UBS engaged in cross-border securities transactions in the United States that it knew violated U.S. security laws. The lawsuit also alleges that UBS helped hundreds of U.S. taxpayers set up dummy offshore companies, to make it easier for those taxpayers to avoid their reporting obligations under U.S. tax laws.

“At a time when millions of Americans are losing their jobs, their homes and their health care, it is appalling that more than 50,000 of the wealthiest among us have actively sought to evade their civic and legal duty to pay taxes,” said John A. DiCicco, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “It is time for those who are trying to hide from the IRS to rethink their actions. The Department of Justice is committed to do all that it can to aid the IRS in locating those who would seek to hide behind secret accounts and in holding them accountable under the federal tax laws.”

“We are committed to moving forward with the summons enforcement process. This action sends a strong signal to taxpayers hiding their money offshore. The IRS will be aggressive in pursuing people who shirk their obligations under the tax law. These people owe it to their fellow citizens to pay their fair share of taxes,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “As Commissioner, I am committed to bringing to bear the full arsenal of IRS resources to pursue egregious offshore tax abuse. International tax issues are a top priority, and we will continue to aggressively pursue people hiding assets offshore. For people who are hiding money offshore, this serves as a wake-up call that they need to get right with their government. Taxpayers should talk to a tax professional and come forward under our voluntary disclosure process. Having the IRS find you could mean a much heavier price than coming forward on your own.”

US DOJ Post

The Overland Park, Kan., wireless carrier lost 1.3 million subscribers in the fourth quarter – still an alarmingly high rate – but suggested the declines were stabilizing as predicted. Such stabilization is occurring as growth in the broader U.S. wireless industry slows during a decline in consumer spending and market saturation.

“Despite losing customers, Sprint seems to be moving in the right direction, especially in light of a slow-growth quarter posted by AT&T and Verizon,” said Rick Franklin, an analyst at Edward Jones.

Chief Executive Dan Hesse said he sees subscriber losses narrowing this year. But the company declined to provide further financial details, citing the economic uncertainty.

“These are unprecedented economic conditions,” Hesse said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires. “We’ve seen some impact, but not dramatic impact. But we can’t guarantee that will continue to be the case.”

Sprint shares recently rose 22.1% to $3.31.

Read more at CNN

“The swing in the revenue outlook is particularly glaring and suggests that, clearly, their business has slowed materially over the last two months,” said Calyon Securities analyst Shebly Seyrafi.

The company earned $1.9 billion in profit on $28.8 billion in sales for the last quarter — which ended on January 31 — though revenue increased only 1 percent compared to the same time in 2008.  HP’s sales of PCs, printers, ink and servers also declined, with several other HP businesses expected to be hurt in the future.

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