More and more, the NYSE is coming under heavy fire. Today: "The $138 billion California Public Employees Retirement System sued the New York Stock Exchange and the specialist firms that operate there on Tuesday, claiming the system by which stocks are bought and sold on the exchange is regularly abused and nothing is ever done about it. " Now I was suspicious before that Grasso engineered his own ouster by taking the money in such a blatent fashion. At this point, I figure he, being of sound mind and body, knew it was gonna hit the fan and needed a 'hole in the ground' to crawl into. Padded with the 139 million of course. Yeah, makes sense to me.
NY Times: Should the directors try to settle with Mr. Grasso, Mr. Reed said he would serve as the negotiator. He said he had never met Mr. Grasso and had put off talking with him until the board chose its course of action. But, he added, if he were Mr. Grasso, he would make the first move. "If I were him, I'd call me up and say, 'John, let's talk,' '' Mr. Reed said. He mused aloud that Mr. Grasso might agree to "write a check for $150 million'' to end the whole matter. But Mr. Reed said he doubted that that would happen.