chiker

Nasdaq Sale: Why Would Schapiro and FINRA Lie?

LD, I will go to soc. I run bond fund after years on street in convertibles, bonds, and equities. I find the heft you put on lying in the proxy vs additional comp an important distinction. Reading again Secrets of the Temple on the Fed Reserve, mostly under Volcker, reminds that our entire fiat currency / fractional reserve system, at the top of all detail, requires Trust. Without it all investment methods, all asset valuation tools, appear quaint. This would be another erosion of public Trust in the worst way. So of course the only avenue to pursue is putting light on it. Thank you.

On Nov 10 09:26 AM Larry Doyle wrote:

> Chiker,
>
> Thanks for your kind words. For what it is worth, I have been writing
> extensively about FINRA at my site, Sense on Cents. I would encourage
> you to access all of my work there via typing FINRA in the search
> window on any page.
>
> In regard to your questions, I would put forth the following: <br/>1.
> I do not know of any other public IPO of an exchange akin to the
> Nasdaq IPO.
> 2. This is the crux of the Standard Investment Chartered complaint.
> Plaintiff maintains that defendants (FINRA, Mary Schapiro, et al)
> misrepresented orally and in writing (that is, they lied in the proxy
> statement) as to how great the proceeds could be distributed to the
> FINRA member firms. Complaint alleges that the NYSE member firms
> benefitted dramatically at the expense of the FINRA member firms.
>
> 3. Expenses are embedded in the FINRA Annual Reports all of which
> are linked at Sense on Cents.
> 4. FINRA manages its own investment portfolio. Details at SoC.<br/>5.
> 2008 FINRA Annual Report which is linked on June 30th or July 1st
> or 2nd at SoC. Search for 2008 FINRA Annual Report.
>
> While the compensation claim is big, I personally think the allegation
> of lying in a proxy statement takes the cake.
>
>

Nasdaq Sale: Why Would Schapiro and FINRA Lie?

hi larry, this is inches from brilliant. could i ask a few 'follow the money' questions, the answers which may further layout this transaction / Trust con job?

1. in other exchange sales, what do member firms typically receive as payout?
your highlight of page 13 point 6 part b is most intriguing...
2. how do the receipts from sale (the asset) divert to the nyse member firms?
3. what are the costs of SRO for nyse and non-nyse member firms?
4. the investment of the proceeds, net disbursements, is managed by who?
5. where can we find info on the -26% return published for 2008 performance?

If this transaction is selling out Trust for increased comp. that wouldnt surprise. Witnessing metropolitan area political sell-outs while living in new jersey and working on the Street for 19 years i am amazed at 'cheap' corruption. Whether its selilng military secrets for the equivalent of fancy car payments, or politicians allocating contracts illegally for $5k in an envelope - its all sad and very damaging to Trust. thank you.

Fiat Money and a Profligate Congress: A Bad Combination

saw you comment under forsythe/barrons..i hadnt seen your grants comment before i posted. Grant spent many issues laying out the history and decline of the Gold Standard...and probably is one of the few people on the planet that can teach balance-of-payments control(or lack of), where special-drawing-rights failed, the French/Roueff's understanding from the 60's etcetera. Most importantly he can really question what a dollar, or any fiat currency is worth. I used James Fallows books on China and found them very helpful to complete qualitatively, the puzzle of China-USA economics. good luck thank you

Railroads Are Getting Cheaper (vs. Gold and Silver, at Any Rate)

if you bought gold in january 1982 the dollar deflated by 2x and you just got back to even in gold ie u lost bigtime. so gold is no easy trade to hedge inflation.

the TIPS comment makes no sense - if rates skyrocket they treasury's get killed yes? but the principal value of tips adjusts as per the cpi which must also scream. you wont have rates higher with deflation, therefore tips will hold value in inflation or deflation.

DryShips Looks Good, Even Without Its Dividends

before u ever invest in drys - ask these questions:
1. how many employees does drys 'employ?'
2. how many times has drys bought or offered to buy from cardiff?
3. who is cardiff?
4. how much did the latest failed purchase form cardiff cost drys?

after finding answers(about 5 minutes of work) and if you still want a crack at this 'company' then then have at it.

Annaly Capital: Getting Your Slice of the Bail-Out Pie

Chimera (cim) is really a sub of nly in all ways - and it is not agency paper. nly left the shire when they created cim - so toss out fat historical px/book premiums. then if u think their is prepayment risk ask how the funding will look if rates subsequently rise?

Cloud Computing Gathers Steam

Very interesting. Not just urban but also suburban centers that survive on proximity to large corporatations or cities will suffer from IT transporting the revenue streams to cheaper locales. Truly a movement of the 'clouds.' Rostow may have been great economist but watching the documentary 'Hearts and Minds' and reading on the 'Wise Men' reveals a stubborness for war that was unmoved by the deaths of thousands of good Americans and the utter destruction of a small, poor country in Southeast Asia. The country Vietnam, communist as ever, and an current trade partner that bottles Coke and lobbies for Boeing factories. Stubborness for what?

ECB Calls Bernanke's Bluff

The formerly inverted yield curve was drastically re-shaped by Bernanke to rescue banks but it includes a time requirement - one study showed at least one year before the positive slope slowly rebuilds value. While America exports sub-prime mortages other countries also import commodities and those feedstocks are not concerned to give us time. In 1975, my fifth grade teacher defined inflation simply and forever as printing money too fast. As for global tensions contribution to oil prices, there has been a risk premium building in oil since March 2003 that the Bush Administration has been loath to admit (see Andrew Card's disingenuos interview with Maria Bartiromo duing 2004 campaign when he declared we are winning the war on terror while simultaneously saying the price of oil was being effected by increasing fear of terror.) Lastly, Israel has been found guilty multiple times of stealing nuclear secrets from the U.S.A. so that begs the question - Does Israel possess hundreds of nuclear bombs?