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HomeRE2PECT for The Game
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 15th, 2014 8:00 AM |
Today I take a break from our normal navigation of the economic landscape to reflect and pay re2pect. This evening the MLB All-Star game will be played in Minneapolis.
Growing up as a sports nut in Boston in the late ’60s and ’70s, one of my favorite days and events of the summer was baseball’s Midsummer Classic. I distinctly recall watching the greats of the game including Al Kaline, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, our own Carl Yastrzemski, and so many more. I recall as if it were yesterday hoping that whomever represented our Red Sox would have a great game.
While the individual All-Stars and their talents were superb, ultimately the game itself was the real attraction. Playing the game the right way was the thing to be truly admired. What was the virtue on display that seems to have passed as the years have gone by? Respect. (more…)
Citi’s $7Bln Settlement: Truth and Justice Delayed Is Truth and Justice Denied
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 14th, 2014 11:40 AM |
Running down the clock used to be a strategy employed by renowned North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith to win many a game. College basketball ultimately employed a shot clock to keep the games going.
Perhaps the Department of Justice should also have some sort of effective ‘shot clock’ imposed upon it in certain circumstances. Why so?
Just look at the announcement today (July 14, 2014) that Citigroup is paying a $7 billion fine to settle an array of egregious practices involved in transactions the firm brought from 2003 to 2008. The WSJ offers that AG Eric Holder will provide the following details: (more…)
Part-Time America:Unemployment Rate of Little Value
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 14th, 2014 9:30 AM |
If the employment situation in our nation has improved so markedly, then why isn’t our economy growing more rapidly? I mean with an unemployment rate of 6.1%, wouldn’t it make sense that our economy would be generating a higher level of GDP?
If we were to simply rely upon the prognosis of those paid to spew a party line, then yes we should expect that lower unemployment levels would be highly correlated with an increased level of GDP. But when did we start to rely upon the party line to decipher what is truly happening as we navigate the economic landscape?
Not in the past, now, or in the future should we or will we take that tact at Sense on Cents.
So then why hasn’t the admittedly improved rate of the “officially” unemployed correlated to an improved rate of economic growth? A few specific reasons: (more…)
Hot New Magazine: Unsung Heroes: Truth, Support and Free Speech for Financial Advisors
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 10th, 2014 9:08 AM |
Information is everything.
The other day a reader left a comment with the following inquiry:
I would love to join any other advisors who have issues with FINRA. I am a former CPA.PFS financial advisor with Morgan Stanley. I too went through a long and expensive FINRA process.
In addition, we filed two whistle blower cases to expose MSSB’s unfair and unethical business practices. The difference, we have over thirty thousand pages of material collected in our case, including some damning e-mails. It is time that someone stood up to these firms who apparently believe that because they have unlimited access to shareholder money, they can always get their way. Let’s come up with some ideas on how to use the legal system if we can, and social media if we cannot, to educate the public on this travesty of a business model. One that cannot even tell its’ own clients that it will “act in their best interest.”
Any takers?
I am confident there are many takers, including those who have collaborated on a new magazine entitled Unsung Heroes: Truth, Support, and Free Speech for Financial Advisors: >>>>>>>>>>>> (more…)
Will It Take Another Crisis for Real Reform?
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 9th, 2014 9:59 AM |
“Our current cronyism is not the property of one political party or the other. As with any cancer, it does not care who it attacks or where it spreads. In the process of unearthing and exposing these crony Wall Street- Washington paths, we have come to learn that large numbers from both political parties, their well-heeled financial benefactors, and many of our financial regulators, all sit on one side of the table while the general investing, consuming, and taxpaying public — along with a large percentage of Wall Street’s own employees — sit on the other.”
page 187, In Bed with Wall Street: The Conspiracy Crippling Our Global Economy
A full 6 years from the onset of our ongoing economic crisis, I remain convinced that our nation’s markets and economy remain burdened by the cancer that metatstatized from the corrupt Wall Street-Washington dynamic.
I stated as much in my book as quoted above.
Many have asked me if the current crisis was not enough to excise this cancer what might it take. Another crisis? (more…)
The DOJ’s Double Standard
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 8th, 2014 9:00 AM |
Let’s see here.
The public at large rails on those in Washington for going easy on our ‘too big to fail’ banks for a host of clearly criminal practices.
Uncle Sam — that is the SEC, other regulators, and ultimately the Department of Justice — try to talk tough and hit an array of institutions with sizable fines but little really changes.
The public continues to see through the facade and lets Uncle Sam know it.
The ‘old man’ decides he needs to really get tough and begins to mandate that institutions admit guilt as part of the settlement process. The first guilty party is Credit Suisse, then next up is BNP Paribas.
Now we awake this morning to see that Germany’s second largest lender, Commerzbank, is likely next in the crosshairs. Do you detect a pattern here? Bloomberg provides further color in reporting: (more…)
Bill Isaac Embraces The Rule of Law
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 7th, 2014 10:12 AM |
The overarching theme both at this blog and in my book is the need for our nation to embrace the rule of law as the prerequisite to healing our economy and leading to better days ahead.
Flouting the rule of law is regrettably an all too common pursuit by those engaged in crony and corrupt practices. Our nation suffers badly as a result.
While all too many politicians from both sides of the aisle spout forth messages that do little more than distract, the future of our country depends on finding new leaders who care nothing for cronyism and embrace the rule of law. I personally believe that in the recent Republican House race in Virginia Dave Brat slaughtered former House Speaker Eric Cantor with this very approach.
I will keep the commentary brief today but a smile crossed my lips this morning as I read an editorial in today’s Wall Street Journal by a Sense on Cents favorite Bill Isaac. This former chair of the FDIC wrote about the manner in which Uncle Sam has abused the rule of law in the process of managing our nation’s housing finance behemoths that go by the name of Fannie and Freddie. (more…)
Journalist Sues SEC To Get Naked Short Selling Files
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 3rd, 2014 7:26 AM |
Selling counterfeit stock would seem to be a nefarious undertaking worthy of meaningful exposure.
It is.
A recent suit against the SEC under the Freedom of Information Act looks to do just that. Let’s navigate as the law offices of highly acclaimed and widely respected SEC whistleblower Gary Aguirre recently released the following statement:
Lawsuit seeks to tear down SEC’s veil of secrecy
Journalist Mark Mitchell has filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to obtain the agency’s investigative files relating to more than a dozen aborted investigations and cases involving naked short selling. (more…)
Chuck Lewis on Moyers: 935 Lies, A National Crisis Must Watch Video
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 2nd, 2014 7:39 AM |
How unsettling that as we approach the anniversary of our nation’s independence that we find ourselves a nation in crisis.
What is at the core of our crisis? Very simply, the truth, or dare I say the lack thereof. If the truth is fundamental to our national well being — and I for one think it is — then listen to what the highly acclaimed investigative journalist Chuck Lewis recently said to Bill Moyers:
“We really have a problem here. If we don’t know what the truth is in this country, then we don’t have a country. It’s end of story. It’s not our country anymore. This is fundamental.”
I fully concur.
I could not possibly more highly recommended a video than this. As a Washington insider and investigative journalistic giant, Lewis provides a chilling perspective and indictment of so much that transpires in our nation’s capital and those who inhibit the truth from making its way across our land. (more…)
Buy Used Car from Barclays, BNP Paribas, GM, et al?
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 1st, 2014 8:08 AM |
In light of recent developments I am compelled to wonder why anybody might care to deal with the following organizations:
1. Barclays: New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman lays out detailed allegations showing the bank to have engaged in a ‘pernicious fraud’ and lied to customers regarding the operation of its equity dark pool. In the process, Barclays allowed high frequency trading firms to act in a predatory fashion against other clients.
2. BNP Paribas: as Reuters details:
The bank essentially functioned as the “central bank for the government of Sudan” (LD’s edit: Sudan has long been regarded as a state sponsor of terrorism), concealed its tracks and failed to cooperate when first contacted by law enforcement, U.S. authorities said.
