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HomeWould You Buy a Used Car From Lloyd Blankfein?
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 8th, 2013 8:41 AM |
America awakes this morning with another 20 billion reasons not to trust those running our major financial institutions, our regulatory agencies, or those in Congress ultimately charged with overseeing them.
Wall Street’s merely paying of fines for activities (mortgage fraud) that by any measure would be defined as part and parcel of racketeering only serves to further erode what little trust the American public might still hold in these aforementioned entities.
Trust….what price does trust trade at? What value does it hold? Would you know it if you ‘saw’ it? (more…)
Tom Brown’s Dire Outlook for Banking
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 11th, 2012 11:04 AM |
Most market participants are understandably focused on immediate developments in the Euro-zone and the implications of the shell game being played over there for our domestic economy and markets.
From my perspective, the perpetual kicking of the can down the road in Europe and the variations thereof here in the U.S. portend little more than an ongoing slow-motion train wreck for our global economy.
While central bankers try desperately to keep the train on the tracks, the easy money flowing into the system does not come without very real costs. Ask savers and individuals trying to live on a fixed income what a 0% Fed Funds rate does for them. Who else is being negatively impacted? The banking industry at large.
Really, how is that? (more…)
Who/What is Driving European Sovereign Spreads?
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 27th, 2012 9:11 AM |
The center of our global financial crisis squarely rests upon the Euro-zone in general and a number of peripheral sovereign states specifically. The movement in spreads within this market are often vicious.
The European Central Bank has thrown the kitchen sink in the form of its 3-year LTRO (long term refinancing operation) at the massive debt problem. The LTRO aside, do you get the sense that there is a far greater force at work behind the scenes driving these markets? I do. Who and what are really driving spreads within the Euro-zone?
Let’s navigate as the Journal of International Money and Finance addresses this critically important topic in its April 2012 issue. (more…)
Goldman’s Greg Smith Skewers Firm, Airs Dirty Laundry
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 14th, 2012 8:25 AM |
Thanks to a regular reader for sharing a New York Times editorial which will captivate Wall Street today.
Our friends at FINRA who may be faced with real backlash from the news spreading of their losing 8 hours of testimony in an arbitration case might want to buy lunch and dinner for Goldman Sachs’ senior executive Greg Smith.
Perhaps I should say former senior executive Greg Smith as he admits that today will be his last day at the firm. What else does Mr. Smith have to say? A LOT and if you see smoke rising off the top of 200 West Street today it is likely the steam rising from the heads of Lloyd Blankfein, Gary Cohn, and the other chiefs at Wall Street’s dominant firm. (more…)
Trading Volumes Plummet, “Choose Not To Play”
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 9th, 2012 8:58 AM |
“The problem here is, when the public becomes aware of the nature of the game, they may choose not to play. This is the problem not only for Goldman but for Wall Street as a whole if people choose not to play.”
I made that statement in the midst of an interview two years ago with CNBC’s Mark Haines (may he rest in eternal peace) about Goldman Sachs. (For those interested you can access that interview here. My comments about Goldman specifically and this topic begin around the 3 minute mark.)
What have trading volumes done on the NYSE over the last two years? (more…)
Support H.R. 757 for Real Investor Protection
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 5th, 2012 8:47 AM |
All too often I have heard over the last few years from investors violated by the Wall Street-Washington incestuous process and feeling totally disenfranchised as a result. Why have investors gotten trampled?
Great question and worthy of widespread debate and discussion. In an attempt to narrow our focus today, let’s zero in on the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, the organization designed to:
restoring funds to investors with assets in the hands of bankrupt and otherwise financially troubled brokerage firms. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation was not chartered by Congress to combat fraud.
From where does SIPC raise its funds in order to offer this protection to investors? (more…)
Matt Taibbi Presents ‘The People vs. Goldman Sachs’
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 13th, 2011 8:58 AM |
(This is a long commentary, but if you have any interest whatsoever in Wall Street, our markets, our economy, and our national character it is a MUST READ. Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi lays out in voluminous detail why I have aggressively questioned the validity of a self-regulatory model for Wall Street and whether under that construct Wall Street violated the Racketeering Act. Read it and weep. Then for our national interest, please share this with your friends and colleagues. I thank the loyal Sense on Cents supporter who brought this story to my attention. LD)
On March 2, 2010, I was invited on CNBC’s Street Signs to discuss Goldman Sachs. I pulled no punches that day in cautioning people interested in Goldman Sachs that the greatest risk with Goldman was its’ ‘reputational risk’. For those who care to view that 4 minute Media Appearance on CNBC, my specific comments about GS’ reputation come in at about the 3-minute mark.
Over the last fourteen plus months, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is higher by approximately 20% and Goldman Sachs’ stock is lower by approximately 10%. (more…)
How Did FINRA Know the ARS Market Was Failing Well Before 2007?
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 1st, 2010 10:24 PM |
If you knew a market were starting to fail, would you step in and purchase that asset?
If that market were failing, but simultaneously being propped up by underwriters, do you believe regulators should protect you?
If that market were failing and a regulator charged with protecting you actually dumped some of those failing assets from its own portfolio, how would you feel?
If you owned some of these securities, do you think you might be protected by the regulator? The government?
Let’s reenter the world of auction rate securities and continue to bang the drum for those investors in America who have been so badly mistreated by the financial industry, the regulators charged with protecting them, and our government.
Although I have written voluminously on the auction-rate securities market, I was never fully aware of when auctions started to fail. Until now. (more…)
“Illegal Insider Trading is Rampant and May Even Be On the Rise”
Posted by Larry Doyle on November 20th, 2010 6:54 AM |
How are regular retail investors supposed to compete?
Why have investors been fleeing our markets in droves?
Well, if the financial earthquake of 2008 did not crush you then perhaps the “Flash Crash” of May 6th left you sufficiently unnerved. Were you able to weather both those upheavals? If so, I congratulate you for your discipline and perspicacity. I would also encourage you not to let your guard down. Why’s that?
The fact is the challenge in navigating our economic landscape is not only addressing the squalls and storms that we can observe on the horizon but also the insidious work of those who would betray the very integrity of our markets. Is this even possible? Let’s navigate. (more…)
The Cost of Doing Business
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 28th, 2010 7:15 AM |
It takes money to make money.
Simple business principle, correct? A basic, fundamental business tenet, right?
Well if the money it ‘takes’ is used to pay inordinate fines and penalties resulting from management’s willingness to jeopardize reputation and principle in pursuit of profit, what does that say about the business enterprise itself?
Will the $550 million fine recently imposed on Goldman Sachs fundamentally change the manner in which Goldman engages clients and operates its business? I have chuckled more than a few times upon reading that Goldman’s mortgage employees involved in the structuring, trading, and sales of the securities at the center of this entire debacle will have to undergo continuing education type classes. These classes are truly nothing more than a ‘check the box’ perfunctory exercise. Honestly, I would love to be a fly on the wall during these classes as I am sure some of the material covered and accompanying discussions would provide real comedic fodder. (more…)
