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HomeSense on Cents Instant Classic: ProPublica’s Jesse Eisinger Exposes Wall Street and Washington
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 4th, 2014 2:04 PM |
The failure to protect the public interest has not only gained a strong foothold on Wall Street, in Washington, and throughout the financial regulatory system but also in the fourth estate, that being our media.
There are a mere handful of journalists who truly expose in meaningful fashion the money and power that dominate our nation’s financial and political capitals. Today I had the distinct pleasure of observing one of these special individuals, ProPublica’s Jesse Eisinger. In a delivery that touches upon many of the issues I address within my book, Eisinger provides a Sense on Cents Instant Classic in this 40-minute interview with Q/A on CSpan.
After this stellar performance, Jesse Eisinger gains immediate induction into the Sense on Cents Hall of Fame.
I thank the regular reader who brought this clip to my attention.
Larry Doyle
Please order a hard copy or Kindle version of my book, In Bed with Wall Street: The Conspiracy Crippling Our Global Economy.
For those reading this via a syndicated outlet or by e-mail or another delivery, please visit the blog to comment on this piece of ‘sense on cents.’
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The opinions expressed are my own. I am a proponent of real transparency within our markets so that investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.
SEC Fines NYSE for Being ‘In Bed with Wall Street’
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 2nd, 2014 9:25 AM |
As long as the markets are firm who really cares whether they might be rigged, right?
That seems to be the mentality of those who would prefer not to have meaningful transparency and accompanying truths revealed on scandalous practices (if not very real corruption) at the core of our equity markets and financial regulatory oversight.
The fact that the SEC imposed a fine of $4.5mm yesterday on the NYSE and related parties for a failure to uphold or impose rules that would maintain fair markets is a meaningful event. That said, a token fine of this sort leads to far more questions than answers. Let’s navigate and review the fine and then pose questions and comments. Forbes offers this review: (more…)
Bill Black: Regulators’ Latest Betrayal of Homeowners
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 1st, 2014 10:22 AM |
I sing the praises of former banking regulator Bill Black in my book, In Bed with Wall Street, for many reasons.
Black stands up, speaks out, and tells it like it is while all too many in our nation’s capital and regulatory offices prostrate themselves in service and homage to powerful financial elites. Major props to Black for bringing attention today to another in a long line of betrayals of American homeowners.
The WSJ and other periodicals recently made passing reference to an egregious travesty within the bank settlements of foreclosure abuse. Props to Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture for providing the forum for Black to expose real fraud in the system and the accompanying degradation of the rule of law in the process. Let’s navigate as Black provides the transparency that is truly the great disinfectant to a system that smells: (more…)
Elizabeth Warren Exposes Larry Summers: The Game Is Rigged
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 30th, 2014 8:34 AM |
Say what you want about Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), her politics, and her personal foibles, but she provides a national public service in exposing the fraud that is disguised as Washington politics in her new book, A Fighting Chance.
Credit to The New York Times’ acclaimed financial journalist Gretchen Morgenson for launching into the charades played by those in Washington who profit personally while America grows increasingly disenchanted if not totally disgusted. Senator Warren uses the same term to characterize our political process as recently used by Michael Lewis in describing our equity markets.
“The game is rigged and the American people know that. They get it right down to their toes.” (more…)
Sense on Cents Instant Classic: SEC Commissioner Stein Accuses Agency “Strayed From Its Mission”
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 29th, 2014 9:11 AM |
“Financial institutions that are ‘too big to fail,’ combined with politicians who are too compromised to govern and regulators who are too captured and corrupted to protect, produce an incestuous cabal that is simply too big to trust.” pg 187, In Bed with Wall Street: The Conspiracy Crippling Our Global Economy
America is now well attuned to the fact that Wall Street banks that are ‘too big to fail’ are also ‘too big to regulate’, ‘too big to prosecute’, and ultimately ‘too big to trust.’ Of this there is absolutely no doubt.
As if those injustices were not too much to bear, we learn this morning that these banking behemoths are now also ‘too big to bar.’ How is that? With major props to one of the few lone voices crying for integrity inside the regulatory ‘tollbooth’ that is the SEC, I welcome giving SEC Commissioner Kara Stein real credit for standing up and speaking out on this ‘too big’ topic. The following statement is a little lengthy but oh so worth it. Let’s navigate as Commissioner Stein issued a dissenting opinion on the SEC website that qualifies as an instant Sense on Cents classic: (more…)
FINRA Enforcement Chief Brad Bennett on HFT, “Better To Be Silent and Thought a Fool . . .”
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 28th, 2014 9:27 AM |
In today’s version of “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up,” we hear from Brad Bennett, the Head of Enforcement at Wall Street’s self-regulatory organization FINRA. Bennett and others spoke on a panel this past Friday at a conference sponsored by the Practicing Law Institute.
On the hot button topic of high frequency trading, Bennett weighed in with a comparison that is so dismissive as to defy credulity. Let’s navigate as the folks at Wealth Management were there to cover and reported:
Benefiting from faster access to the markets is akin to buying a first-class plane ticket, and doesn’t sound unfair, said the top cop at Wall Street regulator FINRA. (more…)
The Fascinating Case of Louis and Donna Pitch v. Mark “Hollywood” Hotton and Oppenheimer and Co.
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 25th, 2014 7:27 AM |
The following case might appear to be fodder for an episode of CSI but is all too real for a Long Island couple who were little more than prey for an unscrupulous broker who went largely unchecked both by his employer and the regulator charged with protecting the public from the likes of this scum.
Let’s navigate as Antilla writes Case Closed in Securities Dispute, Until New Evidence Is Uncovered:
A Long Island couple who lost $5 million at the hands of Mark C. Hotton, the former stockbroker notorious for defrauding Broadway producers, is arguing that his employer, Oppenheimer & Company, withheld critical evidence during an arbitration hearing and should be held liable. (more…)
Bill Moyers on the American Oligarchy
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 24th, 2014 11:15 AM |
Prior to correcting a problem, one needs to identify and expose it. That said, bringing about real change is challenging when the interests of those charged with protecting and promoting the public interest are outweighed by their personal pursuits and willingness to trade their position for payoffs.
Make no mistake, this reality is ultimately a failure of leadership on so many levels. Bill Moyers offers a few minutes of cutting commentary on the growing presence of an American oligarchy.
The quid pro quo system of governance practiced by our elected officials and regulatory executives allows for a host of corruptible practices including a tax structure that does not advance our national interests, economic and otherwise. (more…)
Chris Whalen: True Perpetrators in Michael Lewis’ Tale of Wall Street Greed and Corruption Are Congress, SEC, FINRA, Major Exchanges
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 23rd, 2014 8:23 AM |
Today I am pleased to elevate author and investment banker Chris Whalen into the highest echelon of the Sense on Cents Hall of Fame.
Whalen distinguishes himself as he properly frames the ongoing debate surrounding the scandalous practices within high frequency trading in a recent commentary that ran at Zero Hedge entitled, In “Flash Boys” Michael Lewis Misses the Point — Deliberately.
Let’s navigate as Whalen further exposes how our public officials and regulators charged with protecting the public interest are really “in bed with Wall Street.” (more…)
Clinton Presidential Documents c.1998: “Who’s on First?”
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 22nd, 2014 2:27 PM |
Every now and then I come across a document or statement that simply stops me in my tracks. In the process of pondering the weight and importance of the embedded message, I am typically left totally aghast.
Today I had one of those experiences as I continued to review the treasure trove of material in the recently released documents from the Clinton Presidential Library. From a document covering the work of the Council of Economic Advisers, I almost spilled my coffee when I read the following: (more…)
