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Thank You!

Posted by Larry Doyle on August 7th, 2010 7:50 AM |

I am forever humbled when people read and comment at Sense on Cents.

What is the fuel that drives Sense on Cents? An insatiable competitiveness on my part. My desire to help people. My personal intellectual curiousity to learn more about a wide array of market and economic topics. That said, the fact that people continue to read, share, and comment on my writing is the ultimate fuel that drives this blog/website. Your interests drive my interests. In short, we are helping each other.

Given my recent professional move to Greenwich Investment Management, along with my ongoing desire to maintain and grow my blog/website, I am even more indebted to those who provide an extra set of eyes and ears to topics that fall under the heading of real “sense on cents.”  This form of leverage is truly a practice in which there are no losers. Thank you!

I reference this point of leveraging based on the recent letters and commentary I have had with the likes of Gary Aguirre, various auction-rate securities holders, and many others. Please do not be bashful in writing me and sharing your stories and situations, especially if they may help a wider audience. While obviously protecting personal identities, I am happy to run commentary that serves all our interests.

On that note, thank you again! Now, I am off for the day as my better half and I are going to pick up our 11 year old son at camp. I can’t wait to see our boy!!

Have a great day . . . and keep spreading the ‘sense on cents.’

THANK YOU!

LD


What Happens When Investors Lack Trust?

Posted by Larry Doyle on August 6th, 2010 1:05 PM |

Think the structure of the equity markets is broken? With the preponderance of equity volume now dominated by high frequency trading and true retail investors fleeing in droves, what do people think the chances are that we could experience another Flash Crash as we saw on May 6th?

Last evening, The Wall Street Journal ran an online poll on this topic in Legacy of the ‘Flash Crash.’ I have to admit, I was surprised by the results. Did you get concerned witnessing the 1000 point ‘whoosh’ in a very short time period on May 6th? An overwheming number of pollsters believe it can happen again.

With our computer-drive stock market, could a “flash crash’ happen again?

Read the rest »


Without Job Growth, Here Comes the “QE2”

Posted by Larry Doyle on August 6th, 2010 9:46 AM |

This morning’s Unemployment Report further confirms that our economy remains burdened by our Sense on Cents description of ‘walking pneumonia.’  While this month’s report was decidedly weaker than expectations, once again we witness downward revisions to prior reports. Do you find it strange that more often than not much of the economic data released has displayed this tendency to have downward revisions to prior reports. Think the data is heavily massaged? You think?

Let’s navigate this morning’s report thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s Market Data page: Read the rest »


Gary Aguirre’s Sense on Cents to Chris Dodd and Barney Frank

Posted by Larry Doyle on August 5th, 2010 4:22 PM |

Gary Aguirre is a great American.

To those who closely follow the markets, economy, Wall Street, Washington and global finance, Gary Aguirre needs no introduction. For those not aware of how great an American Mr. Aguirre is, let me inform you that he truly distinguished himself as an attorney both while working at the SEC and after he was unceremoniously pushed out of the SEC.

Was Aguirre let go by the SEC because he was another pawn in the Wall Street-Washington incestuous process? NO, anything but! Gary Aguirre flew in the face of the Wall Street-Washington incest and doggedly fought for justice in exposing an insider trading case against Arthur Samberg of Pequot Capital. Even after being pushed out of the SEC, Aguirre continued his pursuit of justice in the Pequot case.

What was the result? Read the rest »


UBS Loses Huge Auction-Rate Securities Case

Posted by Larry Doyle on August 5th, 2010 7:40 AM |

Morning in America!!!

Are auction-rate securities holders gaining the upper hand against Wall Street in the fight to gain full justice and restitution with penalties for the improper marketing and distribution of ARS? While 2009 brought many judicial and arbitration defeats for ARS holders, lately we witness a shift in the tide. Thank you to a reader of Sense on Cents for sharing that UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland) not only lost an ARS case, but the Swiss bank has to repay ten times the initial ARS investment. WOW!!

What happened here? Why such a large settlement? Let’s navigate as The Wall Street Journal reports, UBS To Pay $81 Million in Auction-Rate Case:

UBS AG has been ordered to pay 10 times the amount a Maryland marketer of cellphones originally invested in auction-rate securities, in another sign of the reckoning still dogging Wall Street for its role in investor losses during the meltdown. Read the rest »


Franklin Raines Must Have Amnesia

Posted by Larry Doyle on August 4th, 2010 1:25 PM |

Former Chairman and CEO of Fannie Mae, Franklin Raines

Whatever happened to the virtues of taking responsibility and ownership for issues? Why do I hold so many senior executives in our financial industry in disdain? For the very simple reason that I have seen very few of these execs stand up and be counted. All too many of them point the finger elsewhere, use the convenient excuse of ‘the perfect storm,’ or develop a convenient case of amnesia.

Who is a fine examplar of the last category? Former Chairman and CEO of Fannie Mae Franklin Raines who wrote into The Wall Street Journal yesterday on the topic of the demise of our two step-children, Fannie and Freddie. Raines promotes that the downfall of these organizations and the enormous burden they now put on American taxpayers were simply the result of the excessive credit risks taken by Freddie and Fannie from 2005-2007. Raines writes, Poor Credit Judgments Sank Fannie and Freddie:

The facts about the financial collapse of Fannie and Freddie are pretty clear and a matter of public record. Read the rest »


SEC Feeling the Heat on Freedom of Information

Posted by Larry Doyle on August 4th, 2010 7:29 AM |

Washington and Wall Street are skilled at utilizing smoke and mirrors to advance their collective agenda. The simple fact is most of our Washington operatives do not understand basic financial concepts. The reality of the situation is that our supposed leaders are content to remain blind to the realities of finance as long as Wall Street continues sending campaign funds their way.

Fortunately, others in our nation take a more impassioned view of the world and aggressively question where Washington often passes. To this end, I thank a friend who shared the following letter highlighted today at the Project on Government Oversight on our new favorite topic about the lack of transparency at the SEC.

This letter is comprehensive in addressing a number of critically important points. Do you ever wish that we could have representatives from these organizations questioning not only our elected officials, but also our appointed officials such as Mary Schapiro? I wish that all the time. Please take a few minutes to ponder the issues embedded in this letter. Ask yourself whom you really believe are protecting your interests.

August 3, 2010

Senator Christopher Dodd
Chairman
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
534 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510 Read the rest »


Investing Uncertainties in the World of Fat Tails

Posted by Larry Doyle on August 3rd, 2010 1:26 PM |

There is little doubt we are living through a period of great uncertainty. There are a wide array of vastly diverging opinions as to what our future economic landscape entails. How often have you felt that people with dramatically disparate outlooks on the market and economy each encompass a number of cogent points? I have felt that sensation numerous times. What is the key variable in each and every opinion and assessment? Timing. When things occur is often more important than what actually occurs.

The expected timing of events leads many to believe that we are living through a period with elevated tail risk, or more succinctly fat tails. In layman’s terms:

What Does Tail Risk Mean? Read the rest »


What Is FINRA Hiding?

Posted by Larry Doyle on August 3rd, 2010 7:30 AM |

Time and again, Wall Street’s self-regulator FINRA has failed to provide real transparency into its inner workings and operations. Despite FINRA’s intransigence, the pursuit continues.  Sense on Cents salutes Lt. Colonel Elton Johnson, Jr., President of Amerivet Securities, for persevering in this admirable effort to provide a window into FINRA.

Johnson appeals to FINRA’s members to compel the regulator to accede to requests for transparency at its upcoming 2010 Annual Meeting. Johnson’s requests have already been rebuffed by FINRA’s board. Why is the board unwilling to open FINRA’s books and records? Johnson’s requests are non-binding. Read the rest »


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Larry Doyle

Larry Doyle A Wall Street veteran's views and instincts on the markets, economy, and all things financial.







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