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Archive for January, 2011

Who is More Effective, Wikileaks or SEC?

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 31st, 2011 10:13 PM |

If you were a senior accountant at a firm and suspected senior officials of perpetrating a fraud, would you run the risk of professional suicide and bring the information to the SEC or maintain cover and contact Wikileaks? What do you think? Do the right thing and hope you are protected or put your trust in the great equalizer known as Wikileaks?

Let’s not lose faith in Uncle Sam, right? Go straight to Washington and let them do their thing protecting America, yes? Well, maybe not.

Let’s check in with somebody who went to Washington while blowing the whistle on one of the greatest frauds in the history of our nation. Of whom do I speak? Sherron Watkins. Sherron who? Remember Enron? (more…)

FCIC Report: Wall Street and Washington Failed America

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 28th, 2011 7:16 AM |

A multiple trillion dollar loss emanates from Wall Street and no crimes are committed? Will any form of real justice ever be served? Will those who facilitated and enabled this crisis to unfold ever be singled out? Are there individuals on both Wall Street and in Washington who just exhaled thinking, “We got away with it.”

The report released yesterday by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission highlights that Wall Street and Washington collectively failed our nation. Specifically the FCIC writes on page 23:

We do place special responsibility with the public leaders charged with protecting our financial system, those entrusted to run our regulatory agencies, and the chief executives of companies whose failures drove us to crisis. These individuals sought and accepted positions of significant responsibility and obligation. Tone at the top does matter and, in this instance, we were let down. No one said “no.”

How is it that these ‘supposed leaders’ failed to perform? (more…)

How Much Do We Trust Our Banks, Media, and Government? NOT MUCH!

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 27th, 2011 8:26 AM |

If you do not trust an individual, a company, an industry, or any entity, how can you really do business with them? At the very least, how or why would you want to engage them? The simple fact is without trust, nobody really wants to engage.  

Why are banks, the media, and our government finding it so difficult to get things done and grow their footprint and influence with American consumers, investors, and the populace at large? To an ever increasing extent, Americans do not trust our banks, our media, and our government. Why is that?

Americans know and feel that these industries and bodies have violated their trust. Once, twice, multiple times burned, Americans are now not so quick to trust. Can you blame them? (more…)

Will the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission ‘Name Names’?

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 26th, 2011 9:25 AM |

Tomorrow the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission will release its widely anticipated report investigating the causes of our financial crisis. While many on Wall Street would like to promote the fact that the financial crisis was nothing more than ‘the perfect storm,’ we know that is not the case. The New York Times has received a preview of the FCIC’s report and highlights the fact that the Financial Crisis Was Avoidable, Inquiry Finds,

The 2008 financial crisis was an “avoidable” disaster caused by widespread failures in government regulation, corporate mismanagement and heedless risk-taking by Wall Street, according to the conclusions of a federal inquiry. (more…)

POGO: “Reports the SEC Doesn’t Want You to See”

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 24th, 2011 10:52 PM |

The Project on Government Oversight has become the financial regulatory eyes and ears for our nation. While one would think Congress might care to thoroughly investigate government agencies and hold them to account, our recent history has shown us that the Congressional oversight is severely lacking. Enter POGO. What has POGO provided us now?

By utilizing the Freedom of Information Act, POGO has provided a huge window of transparency into the SEC. Why should POGO have to perform these acts? Where is the Congressional oversight? Heck, where is the SEC chair Mary Schapiro?

I strongly encourage readers to save this commentary as POGO provides links to a wealth of amazing stories and investigations. THANK YOU POGO for performing a national public service in opening the windows into the SEC. (more…)

John Lounsbury: “A Very Low Opinion of FINRA”

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 24th, 2011 7:00 AM |

“Who will protect me?”

How many investors in our nation continue to ask that question?

A lot!!

Throughout the crisis of the past few years and certainly well beyond that, investors have come to appreciate that they really need to learn to protect themselves. Why is that? We have rampant evidence  that neither Wall Street nor the financial regulators overseeing Wall Street have truly protected investors. So now what? (more…)

Walter Williams: “Politicians Exploit Economic Illiteracy”

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 22nd, 2011 8:14 AM |

Walter Williams

Prior to reading the Weekend Interview in this morning’s Wall Street Journal, I had never heard of Walter Williams. After reading this interview, I will be looking for more of Williams’ work. What really struck me this morning about the George Mason University economist? He badly wants the truth and he embodies the best of ‘sense on cents’ in pursuing it. How so? Do you have any doubts that Williams nails the truth after reading:

Over the decades, Mr. Williams’s writings have sought to highlight “the moral superiority of individual liberty and free markets,” as he puts it. “I try to write so that economics is understandable to the ordinary person without an economics background.” His motivation? “I think it’s important for people to understand the ideas of scarcity and decision-making in everyday life so that they won’t be ripped off by politicians,” he says. “Politicians exploit economic illiteracy.”

Amen!! (more…)

Why Are Interest Rates Headed Higher? “There’s a Whole New Risk Factor”

Posted by Larry Doyle on January 21st, 2011 7:19 AM |

With 2011 just barely out of the starting block, there are a lot of developments across our global economic landscape. What do I see? Long term interest rates are flashing warning signs. How so?

Many reasons domestically and internationally, but especially the following: (more…)

“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…)






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