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Home“I Just Can’t Trust Them…”
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 20th, 2011 7:06 AM |
Screw me once, shame on you!! Screw me twice, ….
You know how that works. Yes, indeed, we do know how that works. In fact, Americans know all too well that they were badly screwed by many within the financial industry. In the spirit of fairness, there were also many consumers who screwed the system by knowingly falsifying info on mortgages and loans. From both ends, the biggest loser over the course of the last decade has been our virtues of truth, transparency, and integrity. Rest assured, though, that pursuit goes on and it is having ripple effects across Wall Street specifically and the financial industry as a whole.
I see clear evidence of this dynamic in a recent commentary at The Center for Public Integrity. Why are banks very concerned and scrambling to protect their franchise value? (more…)
Life is Precious
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 9th, 2011 8:43 PM |
As I contemplated writing about the Friday Employment Report or the ongoing issues within the European debt crisis or the prospects for the market, my mind kept coming back to something so much more important. That is, life itself.
I can not put into words how badly I feel and how much I empathize with the families impacted by the tragedy that occurred in Tucson, AZ this weekend. Situations such as this tragedy once again raise the unanswerable question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
While there are those who may want to politicize this tragedy, I care to direct my focus and attention elsewhere. To the families of those who lost their loved ones yesterday, “I am sorry. Our collective national heart breaks with yours. We care.”
For those who were injured yesterday, including Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), our prayers go out to you for a full and total physical and emotional recovery.
To our nation as a whole, let us never forget and always appreciate that “life is precious.” Let us also understand that there is a power of evil in our presence. This evil left unchecked will continue to erode the very core of our nation. Let us lead the charge against those individuals and those practices which promote evil. How so? Be an active and consistent force for love, charity, and hope. Choose joy!!
Our children are counting on us to do nothing less.
God Bless America.
Larry Doyle
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I have no affiliation or business interest with any entity referenced in this commentary. The opinions expressed are my own and not those of Greenwich Investment Management. As President of Greenwich Investment Management, an SEC regulated privately held registered investment adviser, I am merely a proponent of real transparency within our markets so that investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.
Sowing the Seeds of Tyranny
Posted by Larry Doyle on January 6th, 2011 6:30 AM |
Without truth, can we ever determine right from wrong and good from bad?
Without transparency, can we ever get to the truth?
Without integrity, can those with ill gotten gains ever be prosecuted?
Without an undying and unbridled passion for truth, transparency, and integrity how can our nation thrive? I am deadly serious. We are nowhere close to thriving currently. (more…)
Sense on Cents Halls of Fame and Shame: 2010 Inductees
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 30th, 2010 10:44 AM |
With 2010 now close to being in the rear view mirror, I am compelled to provide my accolades and derision to those who did or did not embrace Sense on Cents’ perpetual pursuit of truth, transparency, and integrity. My lists are certainly far from complete. I welcome and encourage an open, healthy debate with these selections. The numbering of my picks is based on the calendar–that is, when I referenced these individuals/institutions during the course of the year– more than on any degree of fame or shame.
I put forth the following names with enthusiasm. I would ask you to comment liberally. Do you agree, disagree, or have names you would add? Who deserves even further recognition in terms of gold, silver, and bronze medals? With no further adieu . . .
2010 Sense on Cents Hall of Fame Inductees (more…)
How Do We Get Our Economy Moving Again?
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 29th, 2010 8:44 AM |
Is there any doubt that our economy remains under severe duress or, as I have often maintained, is dealing with a serious bout of ‘walking pneumonia’? Are we supposed to merely wait this thing out? Is there little that can be done to resuscitate ‘our patient’? While there is little difficulty in identifying our economic malady, what is the cure? What mix of ‘economic medications’ may bring some life back to our national pulse?
Are we completely beholden to partisan posturing in Washington and debt strangulation in our state capitols?
What do you think should be done to get our economy moving again?
I received a recent communication from an avid supporter of Sense on Cents who shared the following: (more…)
Doyle Holiday Cheer
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 23rd, 2010 7:58 AM |
What do you get when you put five Irish guys involved in finance around a table?
1. A lot of laughs.
2. Varied opinions.
3. Interesting insights.
4. A mix of plenty BS and zero BS depending on the topic.
5. Real bonding and true friendship.
6. ‘Sense on cents.’
7. All of the above.
Well, last evening 4 of my 7 siblings (6 brothers) and I got together with our respective families, including 16 nieces and nephews, for some Doyle holiday cheer. We covered all of the points highlighted above, plus some. Having experienced many of these get togethers over the years, I often wish that a tape recorder were running to capture the material and bantering. (more…)
“The Lack of Transparency and Accountability at FINRA Is Absurd”
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 10th, 2010 6:46 AM |
I detest those people and organizations paying mere lip service to issues needing real transparency and accountability.
I love having the voice provided by Sense on Cents so I can highlight a wide array of these issues and so people can more effectively navigate the economic landscape. I also love being able to ask the hard questions and call out those whom I think are not serving the public interest.
What else do I love? I love when a voice far stronger than my own echoes my thoughts, shares my opinion, and blasts away in pursuit of real truth, transparency, and integrity along our economic landscape.
With only a few exceptions, the media as a whole has shown itself unwilling to truly take the gloves off and go after the aforementioned ‘lip serving’ individuals and institutions. Independent watchdogs in pursuit of good government are far more aggressive.
On this note and against this backdrop, I have to admit my adrenaline picked up yesterday. How so? Let’s navigate as I was informed of the following: (more…)
Operation Broken Trust Missed “The Big One”
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 8th, 2010 7:55 AM |
$8 billion is a lot of money, right? Right.
But when is $8 billion NOT a lot of money?
$8 billion is NOT a lot of money when it is compared to $35 billion, $135 billion, or $335 billion. Agreed?
Agreed. Thank you. Let’s continue.
Sense on Cents is a huge proponent of exposing and prosecuting financial fraud wherever it occurs. To this end, I was happy to see that the Feds have had their ‘street cleaners’ operating overtime the last few months. The results of the Fed’s ‘street cleaning’, also known as Operation Broken Trust, is a not insignificant collection of 231 cases totaling $8 billion in losses. Well done. In all sincerity, I commend each and every individual involved in this effort. While those arrested deserve due process, they also deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If guilty, I hope they receive maximum sentences.
Regrettably, though, the street cleaners missed “The Big One.” Which scam is that? A scam which by any measure could reasonably be described by any of those much larger figures referenced above. (more…)
Fooling Some of the People All of the Time
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 7th, 2010 9:21 AM |
Who is willing to stand up and call out the companies, the financial regulators, and others who both enabled and embodied the practices which brought about our financial crisis?
There have been and will continue to be many well written books highlighting some of the finer points from this economic period. Will there be any books written which truly take off the gloves and call out the individuals and institutions deeply involved in the ‘Wall Street-Washington incest’ central to our economic demise? One book I plan to read seems to address this very theme. I thank a regular reader of Sense on Cents for bringing David Einhorn’s Fooling Some of the People All of the Time to my attention.
To those involved in the financial industry, Einhorn needs no introduction. To those in the general public, let me inform you that David Einhorn–more than any other individual– publicly called out Lehman Bros. as a disaster waiting to happen, and well in advance of anybody saying the same. What does Einhorn have to say now? What does he address in this book? Let’s navigate. (more…)
