Now that I've got a couple minutes, sit back and think about this in the arena that the economy is in shambles, and we almost, and still could, lose it all. The SEC is "The Investor's Advocate". The Director of Enforcement, Linda Thompsen, squashed subpoenas issued to Cramer and Greenberg by her SF office. She fired Gary Aguirre. She is being recommended for disciplinary action in the case. Now, Senators are saying she colluded with a former Dir of Enf in the matter of BSC / JPM takeover. This is extremely serious; it's no surprise to Patchie, who four years ago stared a website "Investigate the SEC". It is no surprise to me. But what it does, is illustrate the fact that these people coddled Wall St. for favors, AND THAT THEY HAD ABSOLUTELY NO FEAR OF BEING BROUGHT TO JUSTICE. That's about to change. Imagine when the rubes figure this out. They'll be like their depression forefathers. They will never return to the market. You youngsters probably don't remember when anything made in Japan was considered junk, or the fact that even as recently as the seventies, no one would even consider buying a stock. Sorta tightens up the capital markets. We're there.
And to belabor the point about worthless, kept regulators, check this out>>>>>>>> http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2008/10/...regulatory-fine-for-lehman-short-sales/print/ We See Dead People: $250K Fine for Lehman Short-Sales Posted By Heidi N. Moore On October 22, 2008 @ 3:15 pm In Lehman Brothers, Regulators | 2 Comments Sometimes, when Deal Journal closes our eyes, we can picture Lehman Brothers Holdings as it was when it was still alive. We arenât the only ones, apparently. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or Finra, scores our prize for Great Moments in Delayed Reactions for its fine and censure of Lehman. As Bill Singerâs Broke and Broker Blog discovered today, Finra has censured and levied a $250,000 fine on the defunct firm, which is in the process of unwinding what it owes to creditors. Of course, Finra, a Wall Street self-regulatory group, was investigating the complaint before Lehmanâs bankruptcy filing in mid September. Finraâs complaintâall too prescient, as it turns outâwas that Lehman didnât provide enough disclosure about its short sales and didnât do enough to distinguish between the securities firmâs own short-selling orders and those of customers. Finra says: âThe Firmâs ability to ensure the accuracy of its trade reports as to whether a particular trade was long or short, and whether a particular short sale was prohibited, was impaired and that, in some instances, this impairment resulted in flawed calculations of net positionsâ¦.The Firm accepted short sales in securities for its proprietary account and customer short sale orders and, for each order, failed to annotate an affirmative determination that the firm would receive delivery of the security or that the firm could borrow the security or otherwise provide for delivery of the securities by settlement date.â If Lehman couldnât guarantee that it was allowed to borrow the stock or would in fact receive the borrowed share, that would count as naked short-selling, a practice that isnât illegal but was roundly criticized in recent months. Finra isnât the only one to get its licks in long after Lehmanâs surprising bankruptcy filing. Credit raters Moodyâs Investors Service and Fitch famously downgraded Lehman to a junk ratingâafter the Sept. 15 bankruptcy filing. Lehmanâs bankruptcy proceedings are teeming with angry creditors trying to figure out just how much the firm had in assets, and how much they can expect to get. Considering that those creditors are trying to figure out where over $630 billion in stated assets went, Finraâs $250,000 claim is hardly the biggest concern.
UH OH!!! Seems the rubes are getting the light........... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#27304832