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HomeLt. Colonel Elton Johnson ‘Strongly Recommends’ In Bed with Wall Street
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 23rd, 2014 9:55 AM |
I am honored and humbled to read a message that was recently widely disseminated to FINRA member firms. The full body of the e-mail is an endorsement by Lieutenant Colonel Elton Johnson Jr. of Karen Fischer, a candidate for a position on the FINRA Board of Governors. Johnson prefaces his endorsement of Ms. Fischer by writing:
My name is Elton Johnson, Jr. I am an Iraq-Afghanistan war vet having served two tours in Iraq and one tour in Afghanistan and a small broker-dealer owner who took FINRA to task to provide more meaningful transparency.
Much of my story is prominently detailed in the book “In Bed With Wall Street” written by Larry Doyle which I would strongly recommend to EVERY FINRA member (Mr. Doyle was introduced to me by Karen Fischer). (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…)
Barclays Dark Pool Lawsuit and the ‘In Bed with Wall Street Conspiracy’
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 27th, 2014 9:49 AM |
The lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman against Barclays for ‘pernicious fraud’ in the operation of its dark pool sent shock waves through Wall Street yesterday.
The equity valuations for a number of large Wall Street banks declined significantly under the premise that this lawsuit will impact their own business operations in a negative fashion.
Beyond that, though, many might think serious allegations of lying, blatant misrepresentations, fraud, self-dealing, predatory practices aka high frequency trading, investor abuse, and the like mean one thing: just another day on Wall Street.
Let’s play hardball today and navigate a little deeper. (more…)
SEC Commissioner Stein Tells FINRA To Toughen Up
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 10th, 2014 9:38 AM |
“Speak softly but carry a big stick.”
Real leaders and financial cops very much appreciate that principle. Those playing politics and crony capitalism circa 2014 find it to be anathema.
Why is it that bad practices on Wall Street (e.g high frequency trading, abusive sales practices, market manipulation) are too often tolerated in Washington while costing ordinary Americans untold sums? Very simply, when the punishments do not fit the crimes the practices will perpetuate. The penalties become little more than a cost of doing business. Those ‘writing the tickets’ are little more than meter maids.
Those engaged in regulatory oversight might not appreciate these assertions but these realities are part and parcel of the self-regulatory model on Wall Street. To think otherwise is simply to be willfully blind. SEC commissioner Kara Stein recently told the folks at FINRA to take off their blinders. (more…)
Wall Street’s Kangaroo Court: Calling Out FINRA’s Linda Fienberg
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 22nd, 2014 11:27 AM |
Do you ever hear or read a statement put forth by a public official, industry representative, or regulatory spokesperson and think “Are you kidding me?” . . . if not something far less polite than that?
I would guess that in a world in which politicians and their spokesmen are not often called on the carpet, many people allow statements worthy of being challenged to go in one ear and out the other if they bother to listen at all.
Today I am not of a mind to be quite so dismissive given the fact that the topic at hand — Wall Street arbitration — not only touches every employee on Wall Street, but also every investor in the nation.
Let’s navigate and continue to play to win for those who care about real transparency and integrity in America. (more…)
FINRA Enforcement Chief Brad Bennett on HFT, “Better To Be Silent and Thought a Fool . . .”
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 28th, 2014 9:27 AM |
In today’s version of “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up,” we hear from Brad Bennett, the Head of Enforcement at Wall Street’s self-regulatory organization FINRA. Bennett and others spoke on a panel this past Friday at a conference sponsored by the Practicing Law Institute.
On the hot button topic of high frequency trading, Bennett weighed in with a comparison that is so dismissive as to defy credulity. Let’s navigate as the folks at Wealth Management were there to cover and reported:
Benefiting from faster access to the markets is akin to buying a first-class plane ticket, and doesn’t sound unfair, said the top cop at Wall Street regulator FINRA. (more…)
Chris Whalen: True Perpetrators in Michael Lewis’ Tale of Wall Street Greed and Corruption Are Congress, SEC, FINRA, Major Exchanges
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 23rd, 2014 8:23 AM |
Today I am pleased to elevate author and investment banker Chris Whalen into the highest echelon of the Sense on Cents Hall of Fame.
Whalen distinguishes himself as he properly frames the ongoing debate surrounding the scandalous practices within high frequency trading in a recent commentary that ran at Zero Hedge entitled, In “Flash Boys” Michael Lewis Misses the Point — Deliberately.
Let’s navigate as Whalen further exposes how our public officials and regulators charged with protecting the public interest are really “in bed with Wall Street.” (more…)
FINRA Broker Check: Watch Your Wallet, Folks
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 17th, 2014 10:54 AM |
Of all the questions facing investors these days, I would think two of the most important are: (1) with whom are you doing business? (2) how much are you paying for the investment product being pitched to you?
Watch this 6-minute clip and you will understand why I write at length, both at my blog and in my book, on the need for real transparency on Wall Street and especially within the regulatory system so as to help people avoid the perils and pitfalls that inevitably come their way when unsavory characters call on them.
I touched on this topic a few weeks back to expose the fact that Wall Street’s self-regulatory organization FINRA allowed close to 97% of the data on its Broker Check system to be “expunged” over a two and a half year period (mid-2009 to late 2011).
What might they have allowed the industry to hide in doing so? Even the host takes a less than subtle shot at FINRA in this segment.
Watch your wallet, folks.
Navigate accordingly.
Larry Doyle
Please order a hard copy or Kindle version of my book, In Bed with Wall Street: The Conspiracy Crippling Our Global Economy.
For those reading this via a syndicated outlet or by e-mail or another delivery, please visit the blog to comment on this piece of ‘sense on cents.’
Please subscribe to all my work via e-mail.
The opinions expressed are my own. I am a proponent of real transparency within our markets so that investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.
Book Review: Is Wall Street Rigged? “Michael Lewis Is Just Scratching The Surface”
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 14th, 2014 6:40 PM |
I appreciate anybody who takes the time and makes the effort to read and review my book, In Bed with Wall Street.
That said, I deeply appreciate those who in reading my book really seem to “get it” and are then willing to lay it on the line in “delivering it” in their review. On that note, Mark Melin of ValueWalk goes to the front of the class.
Melin dives deeply into the material. I give him credit for reaching out to Wall Street’s self-regulator FINRA to get their take on some of my hard hitting charges detailed in the book. In regard to my long held assertion that FINRA engaged in insider trading in its liquidation of ~$650 million of auction-rate securities, a FINRA spokesperson commented to Melin: (more…)
Michael Lewis on HFT: “It’s All A Scam”; Here’s the Cause and Effect
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 30th, 2014 8:42 PM |
Major props to renowned writer Michael Lewis for using his enormous platform to direct light on the scam that has come to define our equity markets under the construct of high frequency trading.
As Lewis states, the scam is not only restricted to HFT activity but rather the market as a whole has become a scam. Powerful words and worth the minute to listen to the video clip below.
But let’s go deeper than that. (more…)
