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<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image">Screenshot CNBC</div></div>Today is senior stock correspondent <keyword id="1816651" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Herb-Greenberg">Herb Greenberg</keyword>'s last full-time day at CNBC.
Greenberg is moving back to <keyword id="1816650" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="TheStreet-com">TheStreet.com</keyword> where he previously worked for many years.
In his new role, Greenberg will be the editor of Herb Greenberg's Reality Check, a subscription newsletter for investors focused on risk.
In a post on Facebook, Greenberg explained that his CNBC contract was about to expire and that he and his wife decided to move back to San Diego. 
He will remain a CNBC contributor and they will install a camera in his California home, he wrote. He added that he'll return to the studio for a week a month. 
Here's <a href="http://investor-relations.thestreet.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=785376">the press release:</a> 
TheStreet, Inc. (Nasdaq:TST), a leading digital financial media company, announced today that Herb Greenberg has rejoined the Company.
"We're thrilled Herb Greenberg is returning to TheStreet. No one is more passionate and does more work around companies and industries than Herb does. He sparks serious conversation to help investors separate speculation from reality by shining a spotlight on risks," said Elisabeth DeMarse, CEO and Chairman of TheStreet. "Our goal is to educate investors, and help investors make money. But avoiding losing money is just as important as making it -- and nobody does it better than Herb."
Mr. Greenberg, previously a senior stocks commentator on CNBC, will serve as editor of Herb Greenberg's Reality Check, a subscription newsletter designed to help investors better manage risk; write a daily blog for TheStreet's main free site and contribute to Real Money's "Columnist Conversation." He also will remain a regular CNBC contributor.
"I'm excited to be returning to my online journalism roots," Mr. Greenberg said. "A lot has changed over the years, but one thing hasn't: TheStreet stands out as an independent, edgy voice. It remains a perfect place to give investors a dose of reality -- and remind them of the risk many choose to ignore."
Mr. Greenberg was senior columnist for TheStreet from 1998 until 2006, before joining MarketWatch, during which time he also wrote a weekly column for The Wall Street Journal. For many years he wrote a monthly column for Fortune Magazine. Earlier in his career, he was a daily business columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and a business reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
Mr. Greenberg will be based in San Diego.

Herb Greenberg Is Leaving CNBC For TheStreet.com

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image">Screenshot CNBC</div></div>CNBC's senior stock correspondent <keyword id="1816651" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Herb-Greenberg">Herb Greenberg</keyword> is moving back to <keyword id="1816650" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="TheStreet-com">TheStreet.com</keyword> where he previously worked for many years.
In his new role, Greenberg will be the editor of Herb Greenberg's Reality Check, a subscription newsletter for investors, according to a press release.
He'll be based in San Diego and he's still going to be a CNBC contributor. 
Here's <a href="http://investor-relations.thestreet.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=785376">the release:</a> 
TheStreet, Inc. (Nasdaq:TST), a leading digital financial media company, announced today that Herb Greenberg has rejoined the Company.
"We're thrilled Herb Greenberg is returning to TheStreet. No one is more passionate and does more work around companies and industries than Herb does. He sparks serious conversation to help investors separate speculation from reality by shining a spotlight on risks," said Elisabeth DeMarse, CEO and Chairman of TheStreet. "Our goal is to educate investors, and help investors make money. But avoiding losing money is just as important as making it -- and nobody does it better than Herb."
Mr. Greenberg, previously a senior stocks commentator on CNBC, will serve as editor of Herb Greenberg's Reality Check, a subscription newsletter designed to help investors better manage risk; write a daily blog for TheStreet's main free site and contribute to Real Money's "Columnist Conversation." He also will remain a regular CNBC contributor.
"I'm excited to be returning to my online journalism roots," Mr. Greenberg said. "A lot has changed over the years, but one thing hasn't: TheStreet stands out as an independent, edgy voice. It remains a perfect place to give investors a dose of reality -- and remind them of the risk many choose to ignore."
Mr. Greenberg was senior columnist for TheStreet from 1998 until 2006, before joining MarketWatch, during which time he also wrote a weekly column for The Wall Street Journal. For many years he wrote a monthly column for Fortune Magazine. Earlier in his career, he was a daily business columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and a business reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
Mr. Greenberg will be based in San Diego.

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Financial journalist Herb Greenberg just announced on Facebook that he's leaving TheStreet.com to join the newly formed short-focused firm GVB Financial Research.
Greenberg didn't announce his new role, but said the only other employees will be Donn Vickrey, a former accounting professor who co-founded Gradient Analytics, and John Bossler, a former hedge fund portfolio manager who Greenberg said has been one of his sources for decades.
He will remain a contributor at CNBC.
"This move back to research will be a natural progression of what I've been doing much of my career," wrote Greenberg, who was the senior stocks commentator at CNBC for three years before joining TheStreet.com 
From 2008-2010, Greenberg took a hiatus from journalism to co-found and run Greenberg Meritz Research &amp; Analytics. He's also contributed to MarketWatch.com and The Wall Street Journal. 
"I enjoy being part of running a business and, quite frankly, have missed it!" he wrote. 
Here's the full announcement from Greenberg:
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
At the end of the year I'll be leaving TheStreet to join forensic accountant Donn Vickrey and investigative research analyst John Bossler at the newly formed GVB Financial Research, an institutional short-oriented independent research firm.

I thoroughly enjoyed working on Reality Check at TheStreet.com over the last year, and much of what I did on Reality Check laid the foundation for this next chapter. Reality Check, without question, has contained some of the best work of my career.

The beauty of having spent a career in the news biz is that it sets you up to go in many different directions. This move back to research will be a natural progression of what I've been doing much of my career, including CNBC, The Street, MarketWatch and, until four years ago, GreenbergMeritz Research &amp; Analytics.

Plus, I enjoy being part of running a business and, quite frankly, have missed it!

I've known Donn and John for years and can't think of a better team with more experience, perspective and, perhaps most importantly, our collective instincts.

Donn is a former accounting professor who co-founded Gradient Analytics and is unquestionably one of the top independent forensic analysts of publicly traded companies.

In addition to doing deep-dive research, John has managed short-only assets and has been a hedge fund portfolio manager. He has also been a source of mine since the late 1990s. His work uncovering the fraud, Exide Battery -- whose CEO went to prison -- still sticks out as one of my favorites.

I, of course, know how to report and tell the stories.

Best of all, it will be just the three of us hashing out the ideas and doing the research. I will remain a contributor at CNBC.

And thanks to TheStreet and my friend Jim Cramer for supporting me in work that I love: my passion for uncovering unique risk reward ideas.

Onward....

Star Financial Reporter Herb Greenberg Is Leaving TheStreet.com For A New Research Firm

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image">Nu Skin</div></div></div>Shares of direct selling company Nu Skin were down more than 24% after reporting second quarter earnings and revenue that missed expectations.
The company also gave a third quarter revenue outlook that came in well below expectations.
Nu Skin is a direct selling company that distributes anti-aging products.
<a href="http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&amp;-Self-Employed/Retail-Industry-ATG-Chapter-3-Examination-Techniques-for-Specific-Industries-Direct-Sellers">According to the IRS</a>, direct selling companies market their products via independent sellers who contact customers away from a retail store. These companies can operate as single- or multi-level marketing companies, with single-level marketers compensating sellers only for products sold, while multi-level marketers allow sales reps to earn commission from sales made by their underlying sellers. 
Herbalife, for example, is a multi-level marketer that hedge funder Bill Ackman is famously short. Herbalife shares <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ackman-closer-to-break-even-on-herbalife-2014-8">are also having a rough day</a>, falling to a 52-week low. 
In Q2, Nu Skin earned $1.22 per share, below the $1.27 expected by Wall Street, on revenue of $650 million, shy of the $709 million expected by the Street. 
In Q3, the company said revenue is expected to come in between $620-$640 million, well below current analysts estimates for revenue of $847 million. 
Nu Skin also amended its 10-Q for the first quarter, to include a $21 million charge related to currency and tax-related adjustments. 
The troubles for Nu Skin follow regulatory reviews the company faced in China earlier this year, which forced the company to suspend business promotional meetings from January until May. 
On Twitter, TheStreet.com's Herb Greenberg, who has long been critical of the company, tweeted some of the "highlights" from Nu Skins' earnings conference call.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24NUS&amp;src=ctag">$NUS</a> on China: "Business activities are still limited…"
- Herb Greenberg (@herbgreenberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/herbgreenberg/statuses/497039113766187008">August 6, 2014</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24NUS&amp;src=ctag">$NUS</a> says "lectured" by China reps "that this is just way it is in China. And it's the way you all need to get used to doing business here…"
- Herb Greenberg (@herbgreenberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/herbgreenberg/statuses/497041004059324417">August 6, 2014</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
When pushed by analysts on China, it sounds like <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24NUS&amp;src=ctag">$NUS</a> execs remain in the dark on what's really going on in China.Lots of careful wording.
- Herb Greenberg (@herbgreenberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/herbgreenberg/statuses/497041366455566337">August 6, 2014</a></blockquote>

Direct Selling Company Nu Skin Is Crashing After Earnings

Shares of Keurig Green Mountain went crazy into the close today.
Shares of the K-cup maker gained more gaining more than $9, or more than 8% in the final two hours of trade to close at $122.07.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image">Google Finance</div></div></div>
<a href="http://www.theflyonthewall.com/permalinks/entry.php/GMCRid2021846/GMCR-Keurig-Green-Mountain-rises--to-?utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=theflyonthewall.com">Theflyonthewall.com</a>, and many on Twitter, noted an increase in call option volume in the stock. 
A call option gives an investor the right to purchase a stock at a given price at a future date. The calls in question today were the June 13 expiration $120 calls.
This table from Yahoo Finance shows the activity in Keurig options today.

Circled in red is the trading volume in the June 13 calls, which traded more than 11,000 contracts, or more than five times any other contract. These contracts expire next Friday, when the contract owners will have the right to buy shares of Keurig at $120, regardless of the stock's market price.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image">Yahoo Finance</div></div></div>
Trading in options contracts is what piqued the interest of regulators in the Carl Icahn and Phil Mickelson <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/icahn-mickelson-insider-trading-investigation-2014-6">insider trading investigation</a>. 
On Twitter, The Street's <a href="https://twitter.com/herbgreenberg/status/475001287977623552">Herb Greenberg noted</a> that a late Friday move like for a stock is suspicious. 
Earlier this year, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/coca-cola-green-mountain-2014-2">Coca-Cola took a 10% stake in Keurig</a> and the stock went nuts.
Into the weekend, we'll be keeping an eye out.

Keurig Green Mountain Went Crazy Into The Close

This is a chart showing trading in a company called CYNK Technology since June 17. The stock is up nearly 25,000%. That's not a typo.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image">Google Finance</div></div></div>
The company's stock has gone from $0.10 at June 17 to $14.71 as of Wednesday's close.
This is a gain of more than 24,000%. For some perspective, Apple, one of the most successful companies and stocks of the last generation, is up about 18,000% since it went public in 1980.
But there is, as you could imagine, a slight problem with CYNK: It's not clear if there's any value to it.
The website associated with the company is introbiz.com. On introbiz.com, under the "About IntroBiz" section, it says that, "Thru our marketplace you may both buy and sell the ability to socially connect to individuals such as celebrities, business owners, and talented IT professionals." 
This premise, as we understand it, is basically a Facebook-like social network where you would pay IntroBiz (or CYNK, or whoever), to connect you with someone else.
Maybe someone cool or famous. Who knows.
Here's a screen shot of the home page. We're not quite sure what to make of it.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="introbiz.com" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53bda722ecad04ce52b61b18-960/screen shot 2014-07-09 at 4.32.30 pm.png"></a>introbiz.com</div></div></div>
The stock trades over-the-counter on an unregulated exchange, and as a result isn't required to follow the same financial reporting rules as companies that trade on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq.
The <a href="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1540160/000116552714000210/g7364.txt">last SEC filing for the company</a> is a Form 15, which is a filing used by foreign companies to suspend their duty to file financial reports with the SEC.
On March 31, the <a href="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1540160/000116552714000174/g7332.txt">company told the SEC</a> it would be unable to file its Annual Report on Form 10-K. 
And so trying to get a picture of CYNK's financials is a difficult task.
The company's contact info, per <a href="http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/CYNK/profile">otcmarkets.com</a>, lists an address in Belize.
However the same site says the company is incorporated in Nevada, and is classified as a data processing and preparation firm.
According to <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=cynk">data on Yahoo Finance</a>, the company reported no revenue for any of its fiscal years ended on December 31 2011, 2012, or 2013. This data also shows that the company's total operating loss for 2013 totaled $1.5 million.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image">Yahoo Finance</div></div></div>
The company's last <a href="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1540160/000116552713000929/g7143.txt">financial report with the SEC</a> is from November 2013, and reports CYNK's quarterly results for the quarter ended September 30, 2013.
There again, no revenue is reported.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="SEC" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53bda9aeeab8eaaf477c8077-960/cynk_september_30_10q.png"></a>SEC</div></div></div>
The company's 10-Q also shows that it has no assets.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image">SEC</div></div></div>
Beyond the company's financials, just who is involved with the company gets even stranger: there is only one employee.
In its March filing with the SEC that says the company will not be able to file its annual report, Marlon Luis Sanchez is listed as the company's president, CEO, CFO, chief accounting officer, secretary, treasurer, and director.
In a <a href="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1540160/000116552713000929/g7143.txt">filing with the SEC</a>, however, the company says it "does not have an employment contract with its key employee, the sole shareholder who is the Chief Executive and Chief Technical Officer."
According to data from Bloomberg, Sanchez owns 210 million shares of the company.
As of November 7, 2013, there were 291.45 million shares of the company outstanding, according to an SEC filing.
Just today, the stock was up more than $8, or nearly 150%, and people began to take notice.
TheStreet.com's Herb Greenberg on Twitter said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Who trades garbage like <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24CYNK&amp;src=ctag">$CYNK</a>? Based in Belize…registered in Nevada…has only one exec. God love bull markets.
- Herb Greenberg (@herbgreenberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/herbgreenberg/statuses/486968203768107008">July 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
Others found that <a href="https://twitter.com/jamielissette/status/486959459504504832">calls to phone numbers</a> listed for the company went unanswered. Business Insider found the same.
A <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24CYNK&amp;src=typd">Twitter search</a> for $CYNK is instructive. No one really knows what is going. Except probably something that's, well, impure at the very least.
It's unclear who is buying CYNK stock, and not a lot of the outstanding shares are even being traded.
According to <a href="https://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=0&amp;chdd=1&amp;chds=1&amp;chdv=1&amp;chvs=Linear&amp;chdeh=0&amp;chfdeh=0&amp;chdet=1404938749478&amp;chddm=6256&amp;chls=IntervalBasedLine&amp;q=OTCMKTS:CYNK&amp;ntsp=0&amp;ei=bJ-9U_mtN4Ol8wbEvoHwBQ">Google Finance</a>, just less than 100,000 of its 291 million outstanding shares traded hands today. Yelp, another social media company worth about $5 billion, saw 4.7 million of its 60.9 million outstanding shares trade hands today.
It's unclear how this ends - or who is left holding the bag at $14 per share - when people realize the company has no assets and no revenue.

A 'Social Networking' Stock Has Exploded 25,000% In A Few Days, And It's Not Even Clear If The Company Exists

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifVZn70-LcE">YouTube/Bloomberg</a></div></div>Four years ago, hedge funder <keyword id="1783807" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Bill-Fleckenstein">Bill Fleckenstein</keyword> closed down his <keyword id="25817" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="short">short</keyword> fund to go exclusively long.
Now, Fleckenstein has announced <a href="http://www.thestreet.com/story/12066065/1/greenberg-fleckenstein-to-restart-short-fund.html">he will reopen his short fund</a> amid a bullish market, The Street's Herb Greenberg is reporting. From the Street:
"For four years and counting, there was no reason to think about shorting," [Fleckenstein] told me. "I survived from 2000 to 2009, even when the market was going up, because I made what the Fed was doing a key variable."
When that variable changed, he figured "it would be impossible to make money on the short side. I knew the Fed and the other central bankers would print a tremendous amount of money and it would be impossible to be short until the time the bond market takes away the printing presses - I mean, forces them to stop."
That's where Fleckenstein thinks we are now.
"I could be off by a year, I don't know," Fleckenstein told The Street. "I may have to sit in cash for a year. I know the bond market will have to stop the Fed. Money printing was the problem and more of it won't fix anything. But you can't win that argument as a short until such time that the bond market stops it."
<a href="http://www.thestreet.com/story/12066065/1/greenberg-fleckenstein-to-restart-short-fund.html">Read the full report at The Street »</a>

Bill Fleckenstein Is Restarting His Short Hedge Fund

UPDATE 1: CNBC's <a href="https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/295942001814302720">Herb Greenberg,</a> citing an unnamed source, reports that the <keyword id="88852" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="FTC">FTC</keyword>'s press conference about an allegedly illegal pyramid scheme does not have to do with <keyword id="380994" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Herbalife">Herbalife</keyword>. 
UPDATE 2: The Kentucky AG presser is about Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing. <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ky-ag-press-conferences">Watch it here &gt;</a>
Shares of Herbalife, the multi-level marketing firm that hedge fund titan <keyword id="1150206" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Bill-Ackman">Bill Ackman</keyword> is shorting because he thinks it's a "pyramid scheme", were getting smoked moments ago.
The stock was trading down about 9%. It's now down about 4.5%. 
Another multi-level marketing company, Nu-Skin, was getting slammed as well. It was last down 4.4%.
Nobody had any idea what was going on.
Traders got jitters about an FTC announcement in Kentucky that will target an allegedly illegal pyramid scheme.
There was no evidence that it had anything to do with Herbalife, which is based in California, but the news of the FTC going against anyone was being cited as an excuse for the selloff.
<a href="http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/01/lexingtonky_ma.shtm">From the release:</a> 
The Federal Trade Commission will co-host a press conference in Lexington, KY, today at 1 p.m. ET (Noon Central Time), with the Kentucky Attorney General’s office, to announce a major action against an allegedly illegal pyramid scheme.
Steve Baker, Director of the FTC’s Midwest Region Office, and Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway will be available to answer reporters’ questions.
Check out the HLF chart here. 
<table class="image-container" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"></div><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=HLF+Interactive#symbol=hlf;range=1d;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;">Yahoo Finance</a></td></tr></table>
Here's NuSkin's chart: 
<table class="image-container" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"></div><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=NUS+Interactive#symbol=NUS;range=1d">Yahoo! Finance</a></td></tr></table>

UPDATED: Shares Of Herbalife And Nu-Skin Are Getting Crushed 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The New Jersey Nets planned to take Kobe Bryant with the eighth pick of the 1996 draft until a last-minute turn of events, as documented in Jonathan Abrams' book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Boys-Among-Men-Prep-Pro/dp/080413927X">"Boys Among Men."</a></li><li>New Nets head coach and executive vice president John Calipari got cold feet about drafting Bryant when Bryant told him he would play in Italy if the Nets drafted him.</li><li>Meanwhile, powerful NBA agent David Falk told the Nets to draft Kerry Kittles, while Nets ownership expressed doubt about selecting a player straight out of high school.</li><li>Bryant fell to 13th in the draft and was taken by the Charlotte Hornets, who then traded the rights to Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers for center Vlade Divac.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Kobe Bryant spent all 20 years of his NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers, but he might not have ended up there in the first place if not for some crafty draft-day maneuvering and a unique set of circumstances.NBA writer <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Boys-Among-Men-Prep-Pro/dp/080413927X">Jonathan Abrams' 2016 book "Boys Among Men,"</a> about the generation of high-school-to-pros NBA players, recounts how the New Jersey Nets were locked onto Bryant in the 1996 draft until forces internal and external changed their plans.Leading up to the 1996 draft, Bryant had made a name for himself as a high school basketball star at Lower Merion High School outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Stories of Bryant dominating college prospects and NBA players in workouts had made waves around the league, though at the time, a stigma remained in the NBA about drafting players straight from high school.The New Jersey Nets had just hired John Nash as GM and John Calipari, who was fresh off a Final Four appearance with the University of Massachusetts in 1995-96, as head coach and executive vice president. Calipari had veto power in player personnel decisions.The Nets had the eighth pick in the draft and viewed Bryant as a sure-fire star who could catapult their rebuild.According to Abrams, the Nets had Bryant in for three workouts - an unusually high number - and had all but locked in on him. On the eve of the draft, Nash and Calipari had dinner with Bryant's parents, Joe and Pamela, and told them they would draft their son.<h2>Ownership has other thoughts</h2>According to Abrams, a group of businessmen nicknamed "The Secaucus Seven" owned the Nets at the time. The owners rotated "who acted as basketball liaison" to work with Nash and Calipari. In 1996, Joe Taub had that responsibility.On the day of the draft, Nash and Calipari had lunch with Taub and told him they planned to draft Bryant. Taub, according to Abrams, expressed doubt, wondering if it would take too long for Bryant to be ready to contribute in the NBA. Nash tried to assure Taub that Bryant would be prepared to play right away.According to Abrams, Taub asked Nash and Calipari to consider drafting John Wallace, a senior forward from Syracuse, who had helped lead his team to win the NCAA championship in 1995-96.Nash told him they would consider Wallace, but "still planned to acquire Bryant," Abrams wrote.<h2>Three fateful phone calls change plans</h2>In the build-up to the draft, Bryant apparently had a change-of-heart about the Nets.According to Abrams, shortly after meeting with Taub, Nash received a call from legendary NBA agent Arn Tellem, who was working with Bryant. Tellem told Nash that it "isn't going to work out" and that the Nets shouldn't draft Bryant.Tellem told Nash that Bryant had had a falling-out with his parents, and didn't want to play in New Jersey, where he'd be close to home and his parents."I never bought that," Nash told Abrams.Meanwhile, Calipari had gotten a call from Bryant himself in which Bryant threatened to play in Italy if the Nets drafted him.Nash told Calipari not to worry, saying he would try to get to the bottom of why Bryant was getting cold feet.Calipari then got another phone call, this time from another super-agent, David Falk, who had gotten wind of Bryant's desire to play elsewhere. Falk told Calipari the Nets should draft Kerry Kittles, a guard he represented from Villanova who had averaged 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists per game in his senior year.Calipari was beginning to get cold feet, according to Abrams. He was nervous about going against ownership's wishes, particularly by taking a high school player who some viewed as a risk. It was especially risky to gamble on a high school player who then might spurn the team and play internationally.Additionally, Calipari had been mocked in the media after the Nets hosted Bryant for workouts. According to Abrams, some joked that Calipari didn't realize he no longer needed to work out high school athletes as an NBA coach instead of a college coach.<h2>The Lakers get involved</h2>Then-GM and Lakers legend Jerry West was looking for a big splash in the 1996 offseason, primarily in free agency, where the Lakers planned to target Shaquille O'Neal, a dominant, 24-year-old center who had an interest in the Lakers.To open up cap space to sign O'Neal, the Lakers needed to move center Vlade Divac. The Lakers had offered Divac to the Nets for the eighth pick, but the Nets said no, as Divac didn't fit their timeline.In the meantime, West had grown enamored with Bryant after hosting Bryant for two workouts that Bryant dominated, all against bigger, older competition. The Lakers had the 24th pick, and West didn't think Bryant would be on the board when they picked.After the second workout with Bryant, West reportedly said, "We've got to do everything we can to get this guy."<h2>The Nets get scared, and Bryant falls in the draft</h2>On the night of the draft, Calipari had told ownership that if Kittles were there at eight, the Nets would pick him. If not, they would take Bryant. Nash told Abrams he had a good idea of what the order would be and knew that both players would be available at eight. "I was devastated," Nash told Abrams.Seemingly every team came up with reasons not to draft Bryant. For many, it worked out OK - the 1996 draft is considered one of the best, producing Bryant, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, Ray Allen, Stephon Marbury, Jermaine O'Neal, Marcus Camby, and more.There was a recurring theme through the first several picks - teams were interested in Bryant after working him out but couldn't swallow, taking an unknown high school player so high.<ul><li>The 76ers had the No. 1 pick in the draft, and then-GM Brad Greenberg liked Iverson. 76ers scout Tony DiLeo, who had worked out Bryant, suggested trading star wing Jerry Stackhouse for a lottery pick to select Bryant. The team didn't want to trade Stackhouse, who they had taken with the third pick the year before. They selected Iverson.</li><li>The Toronto Raptors had the second pick, but then-GM Isiah Thomas had heard of West's' interest in Bryant and had been told by Bryant's father that he didn't want Bryant playing in Canada. They selected Marcus Camby.</li><li>The Vancouver Grizzlies wanted a frontcourt player with the third pick and selected forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim.</li><li>The Milwaukee Bucks hatched a plan with the fourth pick, developed by head coach Mike Dunleavy. It "amounted to a pyramid scheme," according to Abrams. They would take Marbury fourth, then trade him to the Minnesota Timberwolves at five for Ray Allen, plus a future draft pick. They would then flip Allen to the Boston Celtics at six, for an extra pick. Dunleavy also had a plan to trade the sixth pick to the Nets for No. 8 and a future pick, then select Bryant at eight. But then-Bucks owner Herb Kohl shot down the idea. The Bucks ended up with Allen, and the Wolves got Marbury.</li><li>The Celtics at six were too nervous about drafting a high school player and selected Antoine Walker.</li><li>The Clippers also thought Bryant was too young and selected Lorenzen Wright instead.</li></ul>The Nets folded and drafted Kittles with the eighth pick. Calipari told reporters at the time, "It's the best thing we can do."Bryant continued to fall in the draft, with four more teams passing over him. Eventually, the Charlotte Hornets selected Bryant with the 13th overall pick.<h2>The Hornets and Lakers strike a deal</h2>With West needing to dump Divac's contract to open up cap space, he was able to agree to a deal that would send Divac to the Hornets for the 13th pick in Bryant. West would get Bryant and open up the cap space for O'Neal.There was one problem - Divac was threatening not to go to Charlotte, holding up the deal. While a trade agreement had been reached, it wasn't finalized for almost two weeks.Finally, Divac relented on July 11, 1996."For me to go somewhere just to play because I have a contract wasn't fun for me," Divac told Abrams. But he didn't want to hold up the future plans of so many other people."And then I realized I'm going to screw the deal with Kobe and Shaq and [late Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss] and went to Charlotte for a couple of days and I said, 'I'll give it a chance.'"So, Divac went to Charlotte, Bryant went to the Lakers, and the Lakers signed O'Neal to a seven-year, $121 million contract."[The Nets] could've drafted [Bryant]," West told Abrams. "He would've played there. He had no choice. I was shocked that he didn't go there, to be honest."Bryant, who was one of nine people killed in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020, harbored resentment toward the Hornets for moving him. In 2014, he tweeted that the Hornets traded him because "they had no use for me."Nash, meanwhile, is still resentful for the turn of events. He stayed with the Nets until 2000. Calipari remained with the Nets for three years before returning to college basketball."If David Falk hadn't been so insistent on us taking Kittles, I think Kobe would have been drafted by the Nets, and John would probably still be the coach," he told Abrams. "Who knows? Maybe I would have even survived."<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-kobe-bryant-all-time-great-nba-player-2020-1">How Kobe Bryant became one of the NBA's all-time greatest players and an almost mythical figure in the process</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/carli-lloyd-kobe-bryant-thriving-in-retirement-inspired-her-2020-2">Carli Lloyd says that watching Kobe Bryant look 'so happy' in retirement gave her comfort about 'what my post-soccer career might look like'</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kobe-bryant-worried-lakers-would-cut-him-join-knicks-2020-1">Kobe Bryant reportedly got irrationally nervous about the Lakers cutting him late in his career and said he would join the Knicks if they did</a></li></ul>

The wild story of how Kobe Bryant nearly ended up with the Nets - and several others teams - in the legendary 1996 NBA draft

<div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image">AP</div></div>You may have heard that <keyword id="10387" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> paid $7 billion for <keyword id="6354716" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nokia">Nokia</keyword>. 
You may have also heard that this is a dumb deal.
If not, Om Malik lays out <a href="http://gigaom.com/2013/09/03/why-i-think-the-7-2-billion-microsoft-nokia-deal-is-a-terrible-idea/">all the reasons the deal is a "terrible idea."</a> Largely, it seems he just thinks Microsoft's mobile efforts are toast and this deal does nothing to change that. 
Malik is just espousing the conventional wisdom on the deal. As <a href="https://twitter.com/herbgreenberg/status/374887713263996928">Herb Greenberg tweeted</a>, everyone is lined up to hate on this deal. 
Malik is probably right. Microsoft is probably doomed to being an unprofitable, third-tier player in the smartphone space. 
The smartest thing for Microsoft is to break up into different pieces. 
But guess what? That doesn't seem likely to happen. 
As such, it had to something in the smartphone business.
Its options seemed to be: Buy Nokia for $7 billion. Or try to build its own smartphone business from scratch. Or completely give up on smartphones.
Giving up is not a real option. Building from scratch is insane. Therefore buying Nokia is really the only choice. 
Couldn't Microsoft just leave Nokia alone? Couldn't the two companies have continued as a partnership? 
Yes, and no.
Nokia was burning hudreds of millions in cash. It was probably going to go bankrupt in a few years. Microsoft needed to take over and infuse it with some cash. (In the announcement of the deal, Nokia said Microsoft would provide €1.5 billion in financing.) 
Microsoft may have felt that it had to step in and save Nokia before it destroyed its distribution and manufacturing via cost cutting. Microsoft has the money to be patient.
Then, there's the fact that Microsoft and Nokia's original deal was about to expire. On a call with analysts and the press, CEO Steve Ballmer said 2014 was the re-commitment date. Nokia could have gone to Android, which would leave Microsoft with nothing.
So, yes the partnership could have rolled on, but it looked like Nokia was in trouble, or ready to bail, so no it couldn't have been business as usual.
This led to Microsoft spending $7 billion to just buy the whole handset business. 
And here's the key thing about Microsoft's $7 billion - that money was just sitting around. 
Microsoft has billions in cash that's off shore. Microsoft is not bringing that cash back to the U.S. because it will get taxed. So, the cash will never be a dividend. It will never be used for stock buybacks. It's just going to sit there.
Microsoft might as well use it to buy an overseas company like Nokia. 
For that reason alone, this deal makes plenty of sense, despite all the hate.

There's A Simple, Boring, Tax-Based Reason Microsoft's Nokia Purchase Makes Plenty Of Sense

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>"[T]he certainty with which the woman that I got interviewed by (on CNBC) this week sees the future, and the need (she sees) to be involved in stocks is rather remarkable since most talking heads don't know anything about investing," Bill Fleckenstein of Fleckenstein Capital said. "Otherwise they would be doing it instead of talking about other people doing it, you know what I mean?"
In a new interview with <a href="http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2014/9/19_Fleckenstein_Responds_To_Outrageous_CNBC_Interview.html">King World News</a>, long-time Fed-critic Fleckenstein addresses the startling shouting match he got into with CNBC anchor Jackie DeAngelis on Tuesday.
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/bill-fleckenstein">For years</a>, Fleckenstein had been warning investors through interviews that the loose monetary policies of the various developed market central banks would <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-fleckensteins-greatest-fear-is-that-europe-wont-print-enough-money-2012-3">end in financial catastrophe</a>.
And the manner in which he sounded his warnings made it seem as if this doom would be <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-fleckenstein-money-printing-era-2011-11">somewhat imminent</a>.
<h2>Last Tuesday's On-Air Blowup</h2>
"At what point are you willing to concede that you've misunderstood monetary policy?" <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-fleckenstein-rounding-errors-fed-2014-9">DeAngelis asked point blank</a>.
This had Fleckenstein understandably incensed.
"I don't misunderstand monetary policy," he responded. "I closed my short fund in 2009 because I knew the Fed would print money... If you want to pursue idiots like the Fed, and their crazy policies, and you think you can get out in time, go for it."
Indeed, Fleckenstein has had <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-fleckenstein-restarting-short-fund-2013-10">little skin in the game</a> during the duration of the current bull market.
"The problem I have with what you're saying and what others have been recommending, is that if people had listened to you guys over the last few months, they've really missed out on a big piece of the market gain," DeAngelis said. Indeed, such dire warnings would encourage most reasonable people to sit on the sidelines or perhaps short the market. 
"So what?!" Fleckenstein responded. "So in the last two months the markets have gone up by a rounding error, so what?"
<h2>Fleckenstein Is Sticking To His Message</h2>
"All I can say is I feel like as sure as I know my own name, and as certain as I was that there would be a crash after the stock bubble and the real estate bubble burst, I feel like it's going to happen again," Fleckenstein said to King World News. "I'm just saying that the outcome is going to be a big dislocation. And all these people who think they have won the lottery because the market has gone up don't understand that it's really a Potemkin village and it can collapse in no time. And at some point it will.
"At some point this bullishness that's fed on itself will crack and there will be no buyers on the way down because they are only buying them because they (fund managers) had to and they had to perform," he added. "So the fact that the (CNBC) commentators are so rabid and feel like they know everything, it's just a function of the times. Anyone close to the market who believes in it thinks that their vision of the future, which is happy times are here again, is a slam dunk guarantee, when there's no shot that that happens."
Last fall, Fleckenstein told TheStreet.com's Herb Greenberg that he would <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-fleckenstein-restarting-short-fund-2013-10">soon be reopening his short fund</a>. And the last we heard, he was <a href="http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/bill-fleckenstein/reopening-short-fund">still in the process of ramping it up</a>. But until that happens, investors listening to Fleckenstein should note that his commentary is largely just talk and probably not intended to be actionable investment advice.
Read and listen to Fleckenstein's interview at <a href="http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2014/9/19_Fleckenstein_Responds_To_Outrageous_CNBC_Interview.html">KingWorldNews.com</a>.

Fleckenstein Goes After CNBC Anchor And Her Rabid Colleagues For Talking Up A Happy Future 'When There's No Shot That That Happens'

LinkedIn recently published a series featuring a wide range of things that can provide <keyword id="6387628" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Inspiration">inspiration</keyword>.
In the series titled "<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/channels/inspiration?trk=tod3-chn-cta">What Inspires Me,</a>" LinkedIn Influencers shared what keeps them working, from a harsh rejection they received at the beginning of their career to the hard-working people they see every day in the office.
The people who didn't believe in her
<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130723111146-1291685-what-inspires-me-please-tell-me-i-can-t?trk=cha-feed-art-title">Naomi Simson, founder of RedBalloon</a>, will never forget the pet name given to her by classmates during college: "Num" because it rhymes with "dumb."
"I had an idea that I was not the smartest academic in class – and that there were definitely cleverer students on campus. In fact my own father said to me as I was finishing my degree: 'Just in case your university education does not get you a job – let me send you on a touch-typing course, at least you will have that to fall back on.'"
"At some point I said to myself 'you just wait – I will show you, I will be a success.' I have never thought that people took me seriously. It is as if my need to 'prove' myself has fueled my relentless pursuit to create a best work place, for growth and for being 'world-famous' for what we do. To show all those people that said to me 'you can't' – that in fact I can."
<div class="image-container" style="width:800px"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130723111146-1291685-what-inspires-me-please-tell-me-i-can-t?trk=cha-feed-art-title">LinkedIn</a></div></div>
Game-changing people
<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130722225611-204068115-what-inspires-me-game-changing-people-everywhere?trk=cha-hero-art-title">Richard Branson is inspired</a> by something Steve Jobs once said: "The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."
"My professional inspiration has no separation from my personal inspiration: it is people who will stop at nothing to make a positive difference to other people's lives," Branson writes. "I am fortunate to come across quite a few of these game-changing people, and the desire to help (and keep up with them!) is what drives me.'"
<div class="image-container" style="width:800px"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130722225611-204068115-what-inspires-me-game-changing-people-everywhere?trk=cha-hero-art-title">LinkedIn</a></div></div>
A harsh rejection letter
In the winter of 1976, CNBC's Herb Greenberg interviewed for a job with the Detroit Free Press, but was <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130722225531-29478030-what-inspires-me-there-is-no-greater-motivator-than-rejection">rejected because the city editor believed</a> the newspaper could find "somebody better."
"Those words inspired one of those, 'Well, I’ll show them!' moments. Being told 'we can find somebody better' is crushing. But at the same time, those words resonate and continually inspire me."
"I keep that memory in my hip pocket and pull it out whenever anybody questions or criticizes my work — or whenever I feel I’m stepping out of my professional comfort zone."
<div class="image-container" style="width:800px"><div class="image">Screenshot CNBC</div></div>
Dreaming the Disney way
BuzzFeed's Jon Steinberg was once a high school intern at Walt Disney Imagineering and hasn't stopped <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130723111003-900547-what-inspires-me-it-was-all-started-by-a-mouse?trk=cha-hero-art-title">dreaming on building the impossible</a> since then.
"When I'm faced with a challenge or a project that seems too large, I swivel my desk chair and look at the picture of Walt or my badge from my days at Imagineering: It makes me realize that anything can be built, and that decades ago, people with far less technology built things that seem even daunting even today. One day at a time, brick by brick, anything can be built."
<div class="image-container" style="width:800px"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130723111003-900547-what-inspires-me-it-was-all-started-by-a-mouse?trk=cha-hero-art-title">LinkedIn</a>Jon Steinberg's old Disney badge continues to inspire him.</div></div>
Reading 200 books each year
"Reading has been my favorite pastime since my earliest memory, and in my adult years books have become some of my greatest inspirations," says Twitter head of social innovation Claire Diaz-Ortiz. "I read more than more than <a href="http://clairediazortiz.com/about/what-im-reading-150-books-in-2013/" target="_blank">200 books a year</a>, and most of these books are non-fiction. Business, inspiration, and leadership top the charts in terms of what I spend most of my time reading, and I the reason I put so much of my energy into reading these particular categories is because books in this genre, again and again, have changed the way I think."
<div class="image-container" style="width:800px"><div class="image">YouTube</div></div>
Doing something unsafe
While on a "solid promotion track within academic health care administration" in the 1990s, Steven J. Thompson followed a <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130723113539-37102839-what-inspires-me-doing-something-unsafe?trk=cha-feed-art-title">unexpected opportunity in the emerging biotech sector in Singapore</a>, which he knew nothing about. It worked out, and today he is the senior vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine and runs Johns Hopkins Medicine International.
"What the leader who gave me the assignment knew, and that I didn’t, is that people with leadership potential often don’t discover it and tap into it until they are faced with a truly difficult challenge, one that pulls them out of their comfort zone and makes failure a real option."
<div class="image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/international/about/leadership/steven_thompson_ceo.html">Screenshot courtesy of hopkinsmedecine.org</a></div></div></div>
The curiosity of his co-workers
"<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130723103214-205519992-what-inspires-me-the-curiosity-of-my-coworkers?trk=tod-posts-art-">Curiosity is not found on the resume</a>," says Bloomberg anchor Tom Keene. " You have to drag it out somewhere between the first and fifth interview. You would be surprised at the low pass/fail rate on curiosity."
<div class="image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130723103214-205519992-what-inspires-me-the-curiosity-of-my-coworkers?trk=tod-posts-art-">LinkedIn</a></div></div></div>
Donald Trump
VC <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130723111710-10878085-what-inspires-me-donald-trump-really?trk=cha-feed-art-title">Richard A. Moran says</a> that a "consistent and reliable source of inspiration" for him is Donald Trump.
"On the one hand he is a bold decision maker and risk taker. He is clear in his communications and uses the media in ways others wish they could. All good. His success could be a source of inspiration and should be considered. But there is that other hand. As a CEO and leader, Donald Trump inspires me to behave in the opposite ways he behaves."
<div class="image-container display-table"><div><div class="image">Getty Images</div></div></div>
Flawed people
Shane Snow, co-founder of Contently, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130722225542-7374576-what-inspires-me-flawed-people-and-underdogs?trk=cha-hero-art-title">isn't inspired by Superman</a>, because "he can't lose" and "that's not inspiring."
"Personally, I'm inspired by people who overcome bad fortune or circumstance to fulfill their dreams. Professionally, I'm inspired by people and businesses that do incredible things despite glaring flaws or environmental disadvantages," Snow writes.
"I like flawed people and underdogs. They can't just work hard to overcome their obstacles, they have to work hard and smart. And that leads to amazing things."
<div class="image-container" style="width:800px"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acHvrObN08Q">Mashable/YouTube</a></div></div>

You Searched For "Herb Greenberg" and got 13 results

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