Please sign the petition. We dodged a bullet. Let's be sure these idiots can't do it again until we're all dead, which may be in a week or two, if this keeps up: http://mainstreetamericans.info/ Pass it around. Get signatures. Let these morons, who he already saw for the past three years, understand they have to move. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/...hs-speech-outlining-bailout-plan,555016.shtml 'Is Something Not Worth Doing Worth Doing Well?' asks Byrne SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 24 SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Overstock.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: OSTK) chairman and CEO Patrick M. Byrne comments on President Bush's September 24, 2008 speech outlining the President's market rescue plan. Dr. Byrne commented: "This bailout is necessary to save the bacchanal that is our US financial system. However, at the core of the administration's plan is the assumption that Wall Street is worth saving. It is not. For years Wall Street has bossed Washington, DC around like they're hired flunkies, while preying on Main Street businesses and investors. The federal government should use this opportunity to extract from Wall Street concessions that could never be extracted were Washington in its customary subordinate position. "If American taxpayers are to bailout the Power Elite, they should attach conditions. Taxpayers should share in any upside, and gaping flaws in the current system should be fixed. Towards that end, I believe that any bailout legislation should include at least the following protections: 1. Taxpayers need to share in the upside if the bailout works, to compensate them for the risk that the administration is forcing them to take. This could be accomplished through warrants on shares in the firms being bailed out, such as those Mr. Buffett extracted from Goldman Sachs. 2. The government should impose a tax on those that benefit most from bailout -- Wall Street itself. Perhaps a 0.25% transaction tax on all securities trades is in order? Such a tax would be insignificant to investors, while be largely borne by those that are merely speculators - including those that churn trades in an attempt to manipulate the markets. 3. Bailout or none, the government must fix underlying problems in our capital market. The fixes includes: a. Reforming our stock settlement system so that trades actually settle promptly, precisely as Congress stipulated in 1934. This can be accomplished by putting in place a market-wide mandatory pre-borrow requirement (like the SEC did in the 30-day July 15, 2008 emergency order that protected the 19 financial institutions); b. Creating the obligation that if a naked short seller fails to deliver a share, the broker-dealer must force a mandatory buy-in (as is done in civilized countries, such as Canada); c. Tracking trades cradle-to-grave (rather than net blocks of trades against each other), so that it is obvious who the naked short sellers are and the total amounts they are stealing; d. Providing regular, timely disclosure of when and how many shares have failed to deliver; e. Enforcing the rules, including significant monetary penalties and jail time. "Keynes said that an ocean of productivity can support a bubble of speculation, but an ocean of speculation cannot support a bubble of productivity. Washington has been captured by speculators at the expense of producers. I have long been talking about systemic risk and potential financial crisis (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIHw7C73s3E for a three- minute video from as early as October 2005). I am proposing specific steps to fix the system. For those that agree with these fixes which protect Main Street Americans, I ask you to sign the electronic petition at http://mainstreetamericans.info." About Overstock.com Overstock.com, Inc. is an online retailer offering brand-name merchandise at discount prices. The company offers its customers an opportunity to shop for bargains conveniently, while offering its suppliers an alternative inventory distribution channel. Overstock.com, headquartered in Salt Lake City, is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ Global Market System and can be found online at http://www.overstock.com. Overstock.com(R) is a registered trademark of Overstock.com, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding whether Wall Street should be saved and whether the proposed solutions can solve the current financial crisis. Our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, or any amendments thereto, and our other subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission identify important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections, estimates or forward-looking statements. SOURCE Overstock.com, Inc.
Uhm no, once again Byrne is pushing his absurd agenda. Using an important issue to steer the attention toward his petty complaints. He needs to run the company instead of wasting everyone's time. Overstock is finished, they could not make money during the happy mortgage times, so no chance now. I would sign as I feel strongly about the issue, but Patrick Byrne's crying & searching for scapegoats just ruined this effort.
Thank you flytiger, thank you for posting over 4,000 times. Your insight is always... Fuck man, do you actually trade?
No, he is paid by Byrne to surf the forums and cry cry cry. I hear he actually steps out of his lonely apartment on occasion to cry to officials in person.
flytiger - The LUNATIC witch hunter of ET. I say let's sign a petition removing flytiger from ET. [x] flytiger is an ignorant self righteous fool who doesn't have a clue about the reality of capitalism. [ ] flytiger is just a sweet guy trying to help.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2008 SEC Presses Hedge Funds By KARA SCANNELL WASHINGTON -- The Securities and Exchange Commission ordered more than two dozen hedge funds to turn over trading information as it ramps up its investigation into whether traders were spreading rumors to manipulate shares, according to people familiar with the matter. The order, dated Sept. 22, identifies six financial institutions the SEC believes may have been subject to such manipulation. The order is akin to a subpoena and requires information to be handed over with a sworn statement attesting to its accuracy. It seeks a wide range of trading data and email communications over a period of three weeks involving American International Group Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Morgan Stanley, Washington Mutual Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co., according to the order, which has been viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The broad investigation, which was announced Friday, is part of an effort to crack down on rumor mongering and abusive short selling, which some believe contributed to the collapse of Bear Stearns. Earlier this year, the SEC sent subpoenas to more than 50 hedge funds looking at whether they were spreading rumors about Lehman Brothers, including apparently false information about takeover talks and the possibility of government financing. In a regular short sale, a trader sells borrowed stock in hopes that it drops and can be bought at a lower price. Under SEC rules, a trader needs to locate stock to borrow ahead of a short sale, and the stock needs to be delivered within three trading days. Concerns about abusive short sales increased leading up to Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy filing and moves by other financial companies to seek cash infusions or merger partners. The SEC took the extraordinary step last week of temporarily banning short selling in stocks of financial companies. About the same time, it announced an investigation into credit-default swaps, complex instruments akin to insurance contracts. The order requested detailed and extensive information about transactions conducted between Sept. 1 and Sept. 19, when certain financial markets came close to freezing up, threatening the broader economy. The requests include details of funds' positions in stocks, derivatives, swaps and other financial instruments, as well as when trades were initiated and settled and whom they involved. The SEC is trying to determine whether any traders were involved in abusive short selling, in which numerous short positions were placed at once and the stock was never borrowed and the position never covered. That method can have the effect of putting extra selling pressure on stock prices. The subpoenas are seeking proof that firms located and borrowed shares ahead of the short sales. The SEC also is seeking detailed information about rumors or other information received by the funds and how it was communicated. Hedge funds also have to turn over information if they forwarded a message to anyone. Write to Kara Scannell at kara.scannell@wsj.com
You bloody idiots. The rest of the country hates you so much, that the calls to congress were 300:1 against the bailout. I can't believe people as dumb as you guys are in the business. You can't even see, if there isn't penance of some sort, you'll have to go find jobs that don't exist. fools.