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HomeIs SEC Inspector General Kotz Investigating High Profile Washington Law Firm?
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 21st, 2010 2:04 PM |
America has learned all too well about the revolving door between financial regulators and financial firms along with their legal counterparts. While these revolving doors are not necessarily incestuous by themselves, the fact is the proximity of the relationships that develop has clearly led to an overall atmosphere filled with incest.
Has this incest crept into the corner offices of a high profile Washington D.C. based law firm? (more…)
Media Appearance on The Sue Henry Show, 11:00am ET Today **UPDATED WITH AUDIO CLIP**
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 21st, 2010 10:45 AM |
I can be heard on The Sue Henry Show this morning, shortly after 11am ET. Sue’s show is broadcast on WILK Newsradio in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
We will be talking about our favorite financial regulator, FINRA. Representative Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) is scheduled for a dog and pony show with FINRA in early July (details here). The fact is, Kanjorski is a member of two Congressional subcommittees which received a letter from the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) questioning the very validity of the self-regulatory model on Wall Street. Those questions are embodied in my commentary from February 23rd, Is FINRA’s Future in Doubt?.
Kanjorski should forget the dog and pony show and call FINRA on the carpet to answer for the massive shortcomings and transgressions within its purview over the last few years.
If you’d like to listen to The Sue Henry Show live, please click here to bring you to WILK’s website, and then click on the LISTEN LIVE button.
LD
**UPDATE** Click on the following link to listen to an audio clip from my appearance on The Sue Henry Show: LD on The Sue Henry Show
Does Wall Street Add Value?
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 21st, 2010 8:52 AM |
How does one make progress while navigating the economic landscape?
In my opinion, the key that unlocks the door to real, long term progress is the ability of an individual or an enterprise to continually and increasingly “add value.” How does one do that? Initially, one needs to develop skills and relationships. From there, one needs to hone those skills and expand those relationships. Ultimately, one can leverage and ‘sell’ this ability to ‘add value’ to an ever wider audience. In the process, the individual, firm, enterprise, or industry that can drive this process should and typically does flourish.
During the course of my career on Wall Street, I never wanted to plateau in terms of adding value. I was convinced that I needed to continually grow my skills and relationships. I encourage those whom I mentor to take this approach to their careers.
Against this backdrop, the question begs “does Wall Street as an industry truly add value?” (more…)
No Quarter Radio’s Sense on Cents with Larry Doyle Welcomes Back Phil Trupp
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 19th, 2010 6:30 PM |
UPDATE: This episode of NQR’s Sense on Cents with Larry Doyle has concluded. You can listen to a recording of the episode in its entirety by clicking the play button on the audio player provided below. Once the audio begins, you can advance or rewind to any portion of the episode by clicking at any point along the play bar.
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I have often written of the contempt I have for the media, in general, and the financial media, specifically. All too often, I have witnessed shoddy or misinformed reporting in seemingly well respected periodicals. Additionally, many segments of the media seem to merely parrot industry talking points.
In my opinion, the media should not only serve as our nation’s eyes and ears, but also as our national conscience. While navigating the economic landscape and finding rampant evidence of the media’s shortcomings, I have also had the good fortune of meeting an individual who represents the best of what the media should be. (more…)
Saturday in the Park
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 19th, 2010 9:05 AM |
I am a very lucky guy. Having been blessed with a beautiful wife and family, I count my abundant blessings everyday. On that note, I am looking forward to today. I have the good fortune of taking my two youngest boys to Fenway Park for a game between our beloved Boston Red Sox and the legendary boys of Brooklyn moved west, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Having grown up in Boston and attended games at Fenway as a youth, bringing my own boys to America’s most beloved ballpark is a special treat. They have heard all my stories about going to games (bleacher seats for $1.00, and riding the trolley car back home) more often than they would care to mention. That said, memories created from days like today are truly special.
I witnessed a sign of our current economic times in the purchasing of tickets for today’s game. (more…)
ARS Fight Continues: Another Round with Oppenheimer
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 18th, 2010 11:06 AM |
The fight for justice for auction-rate securities investors has many rounds yet to go. I remain determined to fight, cover this story, and highlight the ongoing fraud and injustice perpetrated on ARS investors everywhere until the last punch has been thrown. On that note, let’s get ready to rumble!
I received a recent message from an individual in Florida. The fact that the financial fraud in this specific case and the ARS market in totality remain largely unknown to the American public is an indictment of Wall Street, the financial industry at large, our financial regulators, the broad financial media, Congress, and ultimately our nation. Let’s strap it back on, and go after those individuals and institutions in our country who have failed to protect our brothers and sisters who were defrauded in the distribution of ARS. (more…)
Protecting Yourself Against Mortgage Fraud
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 18th, 2010 9:20 AM |
Financial distress leaves people increasingly vulnerable to financial predators and resulting financial scams and fraud. With homeowners increasingly underwater on their mortgages, the scum in our society are diligently pursuing and perpetrating their vile works. Homeowners looking to modify their mortgages or otherwise investigating avenues of financial assistance need to be exceptionally careful at this point in time.
What should homeowners do? I would highlight two recommended paths. In my local paper this morning were rules of the road to Avoid Becoming a Victim of Fraud:
According to an FBI advisory, these are steps to take to avoid becoming the victim of mortgage fraud: (more…)
Sense on Cents Enters The Debate Room
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 17th, 2010 2:24 PM |
Should European banks conduct bank stress tests. Should individual bank’s test results be publicized? Should the results in totality be publicized? Can the tests themselves be fairly administered and generate robust results?
Bloomberg Businessweek recently asked for my thoughts on this topic for purposes of generating a debate. The Debate Room was just published:
PRO: A SURVIVAL MECHANISM
by Bill Bartmann, Bartmann EnterprisesIt makes good sense for Europe to conduct a series of stress tests on its banks so that countries and companies have some better sense of their risk exposure.
Financial institutions use stress tests to determine the degree to which a bank or financial institution can withstand a shock of a given magnitude. For example, instead of doing a projection on a best-estimate basis, the bank does a scenario analysis looking at negative variables: What happens if interest rates rise to X percent? What happens if loan defaults rise to X percent? What happens if gasoline prices rise to $X?
But stress testing has relevance for other entities as well. One can apply stress tests to an entire nation. For example, what is the impact on the U.K. if the euro falls 25 percent? Or what happens to Germany if Greece defaults on its national debt? Stress testing also works with nonbank companies—say, a manufacturer or a retailer: What happens to Nestlé (NESN:VX) if the dollar rises and exports to the U.S. become more expensive?
The G-20 Financial Stability Board is urging European nations to publish the stress-testing results of its banks, and cites the openness of stress testing in the U.S. as a factor beneficial to restoring market confidence. Conservative or progressive, we can all agree that more stability in markets is a very good thing.
CON: FAULTY MECHANICS
by Larry Doyle, Sense on CentsGiven the success of the bank stress tests run here in the U.S., should the same tests be administered in Europe as a precursor to economic recovery? Only if you believe in shell games, manipulating vigorous accounting principles, and the concept of “too big to fail.” Aside from that, I believe our bank stress tests were largely a charade, and the same would likely transpire in Europe.
For any financial test to be deemed credible, the test itself needs to be truly robust. Those in America may claim our bank stress tests were truly successful, but I firmly believe the tests should be graded incomplete at best.
Why do I make this claim? Let’s enter the world of HELOCs (home equity lines of credit). The base-case assumption used in our bank stress tests was for cumulative losses on this product of 6 percent to 8 percent with a worst-case scenario of 8 percent to 11 percent. Those assumptions were ridiculously low. Our banking system continues to be chock-full of likely hundreds of billions in losses on this product. Those losses were largely overlooked in our tests.
Would European bank stress tests fully expose the nature and value of a variety of loans held on their books or merely disguise them in the same manner as the U.S. tests? If European governments want to play that game, then they should go right ahead and run the same tests and play the same charade, but do not expect real transparency and integrity along with them.
What do you think? How do you score it? Please leave your thoughts and comments at the Bloomberg Businessweek site, as well. Thanks!!
LD
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How Far Underwater Are Homeowners?
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 17th, 2010 12:23 PM |
Jobs and housing remain the key components to our economic future. Why do I believe we are in for a long and winding road as we navigate the economic landscape? The prospects for real improvements on both these fronts are not positive.
Just this morning, initial jobless claims ratcheted back up to 472k.
In regard to housing, if a picture speaks a thousand words, then the pictograph provided after the fold is a short novel. Despite the information provided here, this Wall Street Journal graph does not capture the full picture of our nation’s housing dilemma. (more…)
The China Syndrome circa 2010
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 17th, 2010 8:15 AM |
With ongoing issues here in the U.S. and more so in Europe, clearly global investors need to focus more on investing in Asia generally and China specifically, correct?
I do not disagree that investors need a global perspective, but as with any investment let’s open our eyes and assess risks before diving into the deep end of the pool. Remember, Wall Street analysts touting Asian investments are in the business of selling products. Let’s navigate further and find some independent analysis.
Today’s Financial Times provides just that from Michael Pettis, a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a finance professor at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management, where he specializes in Chinese financial markets.
