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Joe Sciddurlo Drops Bombshells on FINRA

Posted by Larry Doyle on July 5th, 2011 11:09 AM |

We do not often get an insider’s perspective into the world of Wall Street regulation. That reality should not be a surprise.

Wall Street and those charged with regulating it typically play their cards very close to the vest. Getting a peek ‘over the shoulder’ at the cards held by the banks, the SEC, FINRA, and other regulators is a real treat.

Longtime followers of Sense on Cents may recall the fabulous insights provided by former SEC attorney and Madoff investigator Genevievette Walker-Lightfoot on NQR’s Sense on Cents with Larry Doyle in October 2009.

Last week, longtime and highly regarded financial journalist John Crudele of The New York Post provided a fabulous look into FINRA as he wrote another in a recent series of scathing commentaries on Wall Street’s self-regulatory organization. Read the rest »


God Bless America!!

Posted by Larry Doyle on July 3rd, 2011 6:49 PM |

I hope that you are able to enjoy the holiday weekend celebrating our nation’s birth with family and friends. While many may not be able to celebrate with their loved ones, let us especially remember those who are serving our nation at this very moment.

As many across our land send off fireworks in celebration, those fireworks are truly an expression of the freedom we all enjoy.

Freedom is never free. Let us never forget that…

It’s the soldier, not the reporter who has given us
Freedom of the Press.
It’s the soldier, not the poet, who has given us
Freedom of Speech.
It’s the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the
Freedom to Demonstrate.
It’s the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the
Right to a Fair Trial.
It’s the soldier who salutes the flag, serves under the flag and
whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who gives the protestor the right to burn the flag.

To all those in our Armed Forces protecting our nation, I thank you and salute you.

May God bless you and may God bless America!!

Larry Doyle

Isn’t it time to subscribe to all my work via e-mail, an RSS feed, on Twitter or Facebook?

Please get your friends, family, and colleagues to do the same. Thanks!!

I have no affiliation or business interest with any entity referenced in this commentary. The opinions expressed are my own. I am a proponent of real transparency within our markets, our economy, and our political realm so that meaningful investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.

 


Jordan Page Sings to America “It’s Time to Stand Up”

Posted by Larry Doyle on July 2nd, 2011 10:16 AM |

What happened to America? How is it that we lost our way? Has the silent majority remained silent for too long? I believe it has.

“It’s time to stand up” and speak out for the virtues upon which our great land was founded. Regrettably these virtues of truth, transparency, and integrity –and many more–have been eroded by interests not aligned with those of America’s great but silent majority.

I for one have had enough of the bulls&%t that has brought our nation to its knees. I strongly believe many others who collectively define our nation’s silent majority have had enough as well.

Let’s take back our land. Let’s reinvigorate our social fabric and elevate our prized virtues.

In this spirit, I welcome sharing my blog today with a singer/songwriter who gives voice and passion to a cause which I believe is resonating throughout our land.

I thank the regular reader of this blog who has brought this artist, Jordan Page, to my attention. I hope and believe you will be hearing more of Jordan in the months and years ahead. Who is Jordan Page?  Read the rest »


Follow POGO and ‘Provoke Accountability’

Posted by Larry Doyle on July 1st, 2011 5:50 AM |

POGO Project On Government Oversight

The Project on Government Oversight has, in my opinion, proven itself as the finest “nonpartisan independent watchdog that champions good government reforms” in our nation.

POGO’s work is superb. I check their site daily. America needs a lot more of what POGO does.

What do they really do? POGO digs deeper and works harder on promoting our prized virtues of truth, transparency, and integrity. How do they do it….?   Read the rest »


ARS Update: Raymond James and Morgan Keegan ARS Investors’ ‘Nightmare Over’

Posted by Larry Doyle on June 30th, 2011 4:29 AM |

I strongly believe that the marketing and distribution of auction-rate securities was the single greatest scam perpetrated on investors by Wall Street.

While a full forty months have passed since the ARS market failed that fateful day in February 2008, approximately $100 billion of the original $330 billion ARS remain frozen.

Many thousands of investors continue to wonder if they will ever get a full return of their cash locked up in what were supposedly ‘cash-alternative’, ‘cash-surrogate’, ‘totally liquid’, ‘as good as cash’, ‘money market type’ instruments.

Forty plus months. $100 billion. You think you have stress. Place yourself in the position of these investors. Sense on Cents continues to bang the drum for ARS investors and now we witness two more ‘wins’ but one real ‘disappointment’ on the ARS front. Let’s navigate.

Read the rest »


Can Congress Read? Does It Open Mail Re: FINRA?

Posted by Larry Doyle on June 29th, 2011 1:59 PM |

Do those in Congress know how to read? Do they open their mail?

News is leaking that Congress may be inclined to have Wall Street’s self-regulator, FINRA, gain oversight of the investment advisory industry. That industry is currently regulated by the SEC and operates under a fiduciary standard.

The industry is fighting tooth and nail NOT to be regulated by FINRA which regulates broker-dealers under the less stringent suitability standard.

While the investment advisory industry and FINRA are duking it out, let’s return to my initial questions. Do those in Congress know how to read? Do they open their mail? Why do I ask?  Read the rest »


$8.5 Billion Settlement but No Fraud, Right? They Must Think We’re Stupid.

Posted by Larry Doyle on June 29th, 2011 6:44 AM |

They must think we’re stupid.

News that Bank of America is poised to pay an $8.5 billion settlement in a claim by investors that the firm and a predecessor sold packages of loans/securities which did not meet standards and provide proper disclosures is a joke. Regrettably the joke is on us, that is, the citizens of this great land.

$8.5 billion may be a lot of money but what price warrants real justice? Read the rest »


Bill Cohan: Wall Street’s “Sins of Omission Were Criminal in Nature”

Posted by Larry Doyle on June 28th, 2011 9:52 AM |

William Cohan While America clearly needs real change in terms of how our financial and political systems operate and interact, regrettably we continue to suffer from the fact that, “the more things change, the more they truly stay the same.”

We hear plenty from Tim Geithner, Mary Schapiro, and Jamie Dimon. We really need to hear more from Sheila Bair (highlighted this morning at Sense on Cents), Gary Aguirre, and Bill Cohan.

While regular readers of Sense on Cents may be familiar with Bair and Aguirre, Cohan has received less attention here. I will look to change that. Read the rest »


Sheila Bair’s American Review and Recommendations

Posted by Larry Doyle on June 28th, 2011 7:17 AM |

Few people in our nation today have the perspective, the credibility, and the courage to expose the deep, systemic shortcomings within our national psyche and practices.

Sheila Bair possesses all of these traits.

Our soon to depart chair of the FDIC provided a ‘sense on cents’ classic last Friday in her farewell remarks at the National Press Club.

As  I read and reread her remarks I kept saying to myself, “give me more!!”  Read the rest »


What’s Wrong in America? Laurence Meyer ‘Nails It’

Posted by Larry Doyle on June 27th, 2011 10:55 AM |

It is not often that I witness an individual pierce through the smoke and mirrors that disguise our nation’s central problems and state succinctly what Sense on Cents believes so strongly. I had the benefit of capturing the wisdom of just one such individual this morning.

I welcome sharing the wise perspective of one Laurence Meyer, as highlighted in today’s Wall Street Journal,

MEYER

“I think [pessimism about the state of the country] has absolutely nothing to do with the current cyclical state of the economy. It’s not our budget deficit. It’s not China. It’s our education deficit. You can’t be 20th in the world in every field and be a competitive economy.  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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