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HomeOnly If The Price is Right
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 15th, 2013 11:16 AM |
Regulators and the general media have a way of vilifying people and products in a manner that strikes me as overly simplistic.
All too often, I see situations in which those charged with protecting the public interest take a belated “ready, shoot, aim” approach and promote that as upholding their mandate.
Well, years after the crisis that took down our global economy, we remain mired in a sea of captured regulators and compliant media.
I maintain that to a large extent, investors — and consumers as well — remain largely on their own in terms of meaningful investor education and protection. (more…)
Sucker Born Every Minute: Top Ten Investor ‘Threats’
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 5th, 2013 8:41 AM |
“A con artist will use every trick in the book to take advantage of unsuspecting investors, including exploiting well-intended laws, in order to fatten their wallets.”
– NASAA Past-President Jack E. Herstein
“There’s a sucker born every minute.”
Although widely attributed to the 19th century showman P.T. Barnum, the above oft-referenced quote was actually delivered by Barnum’s main competitor, George Hull of Binghamton, New York. While Hull played his elaborate scam of discovering a giant back in 1869, there are no less sophisticated cons at work this very minute.
The North American Securities Administrators Association cautions investors about the following top investor threats from 2012. In true David Letterman fashion, let’s count down the Top Ten: (more…)
Will Whistleblower Protections Suffer at Hands of Rep. Michael Grimm “Reaper” (R-NY)?
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 7th, 2012 11:14 AM |
Representative Michael Grimm (R-NY) was ceremoniously inducted into the Sense on Cents Hall of Shame in May 2011. Not that I ever believed there was reason to doubt his induction, but recently I witnessed further reason to cement his status in the elevated ranks of shame.
As regular readers are fully aware, I write passionately about pursuing the truth while promoting investor education and investor protection. The history of the last few years has shown that the financial services industry has not exactly shared our passion.
Who has shared the passion and took very real professional risk in the process? Numerous and sundry whistleblowers. (more…)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Hits FINRA Hard
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 20th, 2011 8:49 AM |
Would your blood start to boil if you felt a hand in your back pocket going for your wallet? Damn right it would.
Then your blood should also boil when the topic of financial regulatory reform comes up. Why?
For the very simple reason that the quality of our financial regulations has an enormous impact on that hand reaching for your wallet.
Do you have confidence that either the crowds on Wall Street or in Washington will truly and effectively protect you from that hand? Not much, right? Me neither. Who will? (more…)
An Insider’s Perspective on Insider Trading: “Everyone Doesn’t Belong on Wall Street”
Posted by Larry Doyle on November 26th, 2010 8:16 AM |
The Man in the Arena, written by Teddy Roosevelt in 1910, is certainly one of my favorite passages from history.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
I thought of this passage in light of a communication I received from a regular reader of Sense on Cents. This reader wrote to me in response to my recent commentaries and appearance on CNBC discussing the ongoing insider trading investigation. This individual had a long and distinguished career on Wall Street. (more…)
