Thom Calandra

Thom Calandra was the founding editor and chief columnist for CBS MarketWatch.com until his resignation in 2004. He subsequently settled civil fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SEC complaint

In January 2004, Calandra resigned from Marketwatch after an internal probe into his trading activities that followed an SEC request for data on personal stock trades and e-mail messages. [ [http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/ex-marketwatch-writer-calandra-settles-sec/story.aspx "Calandra Settles Fraud Charges," Marketwatch.com, Jan 10, 2005] ] A year later, the SEC accused him of "scalping": selling stocks shortly after his investment newsletter's positive recommendations of the stocks caused their prices to rise, without disclosing the sales. In 2005, Calandra settled the charges, without admitting or denying the allegations, by paying over $540,000 in penalties.

The SEC said that from March to December 2003, Calandra made over $400,000 through buying shares of 23 different small-cap stocks while writing favorable newsletter profiles recommending the stocks, and then selling the his shares after the stocks rose after his columns were published. The SEC also accused Calandra of failing to disclose that he was compensated from a stock promoter affiliated with two companies that he profiled. [ cite web|url=http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr19028.htm
title=Thom Calandra, Litigation Release No. 19028
author=SEC
date= January 10, 2005] [ cite web|url=http://www.businessjournalism.org/pages/biz/2004/01/commentator_calandra_resigns_a/
title=Commentator Calandra Resigns Amid SEC Trading Probe
author=Business Journalism
date= January 30, 2004]

The SEC said in a statement that Calandra "betrayed his readers' trust" by using his newsletter to engage in trading profits. "Calandra's readers were entitled to know about his trading activity, so that they could evaluate the credibility and impartiality of Calandra's investment advice for themselves," SEC District Administrator Helane Morrison said in a statement. ["Calandra Settles Fraud Charges," Marketwatch.com]

Background and personal life

Calandra was a commentator on investing topics for almost 25 years, and was the San Francisco Examiner's daily investing columnist. He also appeared on the CBS Evening News, CBS Radio Network, and the CBS MarketWatch Weekend television show. Calandra was also a London-based columnist for Bloomberg News and was the financial editor of USAToday.com. [ [http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/2004-01-22-commentator-quits_x.htm MarketWatch.com's chief commentator quits, Michael Liedtke, Associated Press, January 22, 2004] ] The TJFR Group named Calandra one of the top 100 financial journalists in the United States. [ cite web|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/support/executives.asp?&siteid=mktw
title=Executives|author=CBS Marketwatch]

Calandra was editor of the 2002 book "How America Made a Fortune and Lost Its Shirt." He is currently an investor in Bambi Francisco’s Vator.tv. He is the author of a forthcoming novel, "Pablo By Numbers". [ [http://www.thomcalandra.com/index.html Calandra's homepage] ]

Calandra holds a Master's degree in English from the University of Arizona and a Bachelor's degree of Arts from City University of New York at Brooklyn College. He lives with his wife and two children in Sausalito, California.Fact|date=July 2007

References

ee also

*United States journalism scandals

External links

* [http://www.thomcalandra.com Calandra's website]
* [http://www.forbes.com/personalfinance/2004/01/23/cz_nv_0123calandra.html Calandra Quits Amid Probe, Forbes, January 23, 2004 article]
* [http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/comp19028.pdf SEC complaint against Thom Calandra]