Obama’s $6.3 Trillion Scam Is America’s Shame: Jonathan Weil Look through President Barack Obama’s proposed 2011 budget, and you’ll see a line calling for a $235 million increase in the Justice Department’s funding to fight financial fraud. Lucky for them, the people who wrote the budget can’t be prosecuted for cooking the government’s books.

Wells Fargo Hedges Misbehave at Just Right Time: Jonathan Weil A strange thing happened last quarter at Wells Fargo & Co. A bunch of derivatives that were supposed to act as hedges on other assets seemed to go berserk.

Wall Street Fix Is In at Bank-Crisis Coroner: Jonathan Weil When Fannie Mae hired former U.S. Senator Warren Rudman in 2004 to investigate how its accounting practices had gone awry, his law firm’s final report took 17 months to complete and cost the company more than $60 million.

‘Worthless’ AIG Shares Belie Company’s Books: Jonathan Weil Turns out the folks in charge of winding down American International Group Inc. are smart after all. They might be too clever by half, though.

Citigroup’s Crystal Ball Too Fogged Up to Work: Jonathan Weil When the Treasury Department shelved its plans to sell $5 billion of Citigroup Inc. common stock in a public offering last week, the news came only two days after the bank had said the sale was a go. The delay was a reminder that predicting the future can be a tough exercise.

Five Lessons for Next Time Banks Come Begging: Jonathan Weil The last of America’s largest, systemically dangerous banks are about to repay their government rescue money. And while the public’s anger at bailing them out has only grown since last year, there at least are plenty of lessons to take away from it all.      Bank of America Corp. is out of the Troubled Asset Relief Program’s clutches. Wells Fargo & Co. is on its way. Citigroup Inc. has unveiled its own plans for raising money to repay the government. We can only hope Treasury Secr

Bean Counter Freaks Out Over Al-Qaeda Assassins: Jonathan Weil If the people who audit the nation’s public companies are forced to reveal themselves, then the terrorists will win.

Fudging Losses Is Easy When the FDIC Does It, Too: Jonathan Weil No wonder so many banks are delaying their losses. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. keeps showing them how, by doing the same thing with its own.

Wells Fargo Needs TARP Money More Than It Admits: Jonathan Weil When it comes to giving the U.S. taxpayers their money back, it’s time for Wells Fargo & Co. to put up or shut up.

Blankfein Invokes God and Man at Goldman Sachs: Jonathan Weil What’s the difference between Lloyd Blankfein and the Blues Brothers of 1980 cinema fame? Elwood, the felonious musician played by Dan Aykroyd, meant it when he said he and his brother Jake were on a mission from God. Blankfein wants to take his own similar words back.