Corrupt America

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by David Floyd
Not from an economic point of view - the more money the rich get, the more money gets pumped into the economy in various ways, and the better off we all become.

You sound like Ruish Limbaugh.

[markusf]

Originally posted by Asher

But Boris doesn't know anything either, and he's acting like he says he does. I know more about corporate life and how it works than most people, sadly.


Is that how you define corrupt in your world?

Bre-x there is one you should have heard of considering its from alberta. how many billions where made with that scam? Look at the vse, over 98% of those companies go bankrupt within 10 years, and the CEO & board of directors sit on 2-20 companies board of directors at the same time.. All they do is play the game.. pump the stock, sell shares, bankruptcy. Then there is the mafia, there are countless companies that are just mafia fronts for laundering money.

Then you get into the big time stuff, like currency trading, options, futures, etc etc. There you can find numerous examples of where one mans greed has wiped out banks in a matter of hours, or destroyed whole countries economies.

[Asher]

markusf, finding continual examples of corruption out of a pool of hundreds of thousands of companies is kinda moot.

[markusf]

Originally posted by Asher
markusf, finding continual examples of corruption out of a pool of hundreds of thousands of companies is kinda moot.

Can you not read.

"The TSE published a report last year saying that 70% of all quarterly earnings reports where leaked before hand."

[Asher]

I read that part, and I didn't see a link to it nor did I see any real justification for it. Perhaps the PR people jumped the gun a little bit? Who knows, I didn't get any information.

[DanS]

Yeh, but that's the TSE!

Get burned with your penny stocks, marcusf?

[markusf]

Originally posted by DanS
Yeh, but that's the TSE!

Get burned with your penny stocks, marcusf?

I only short Its pretty much impossible to lose money shorting high flying crap especially these days.



Asher, those reports are sealed no one is supposed to have access to them before they are released to the media, the TSE is blue chips dans.. Besides the US markets make the TSE look like a side show.. (which it is)

[DanS]

"the TSE is blue chips dans.."



I bout lost a nut laughing there, markusf.

Been long any mining stocks lately?

[markusf]

Originally posted by DanS
"the TSE is blue chips dans.."



I bout lost a nut laughing there, markusf.

Been long any mining stocks lately?

Never ever played mining stocks, simpley nothing there to play. Except for PDG options.

I guess the TSE has something like 10 stocks that could count as blue chips LOL Wish i had bought some long positions though, gold had a nice run!

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by David Floyd
Not from an economic point of view - the more money the rich get, the more money gets pumped into the economy in various ways, and the better off we all become.

A rising tide only lifts the boats that aren't anchored to the bottom.

[Adam Smith]

Just a few comments.

Oversight of corporate earnings / statements needs to improve. There has been some movement on this front for some time. For example, the California Public Employees Retirement Fund (CALPERS) holds the worlds largest single stock portfolio. CALPERS has not hesitated to be vocal when it comes to questioning whether corporate management is acting in the interests of shareholders. Many large mutual funds are following suit. These funds are willing to spend the time and effort to keep a close eye on coroporate behavior because they have far more to lose than the average investor.

One factor that has not yet been mentioned here is the greed of some investors, which plays into the hand of corporate fraud. If an investment looks to good to be true, it probably is. In the last year or so a coouple of mutual funds I own took a close look at Enron, Tyco, and the like, and said there is nooooooo waaaaaaay they were going to get anywhere close to these stocks, regardless of what the auditors said. Another fund I owned bought Tyco enthusiastically, and loudly proclaimed their gains. I sold all my holdings in that fund.

Chegitz:
I dont have time to check all of the article you posted, but based on what I know, I dont trust it.

First, 1973 was the last boom year in the world economy before the 1974-1975 oil price increases. 1983 was the trough of a world-wide recession. Comparing the two probably says more about the state of the world economy than about the success or failure of Chilean economic policy. (And since the author could have chosen other years to make his comparison, one suspects the author was trying to mislead rather than inform. )

Second, Chile's economy is now much more diversified. Fruit, wine, and fish are now major exports, and copper is now much less important. This may or may not have required land reform. But the growth of these exports certainly did require substantial entrepeneurship, which is not likely to have occurred under a socialist or communist regime.

Lastly, if you have more "lies of deregulation", I would love to hear about them.

Boris:
Enron did not "single-handedly" screw up the California electricity market. California legislators, who refused to allow long-term supply contracts as part of deregulation, bear the brunt of the blame. This has been discussed in other threads.

[chequita guevara]

Don't you have anything better to do that point out logic at 12:30 AM, ASmith?

[David Floyd]

A rising tide only lifts the boats that aren't anchored to the bottom.

Fortunately, no one is anchored to the bottom, except of course in the more communistic systems.

[chequita guevara]

"No one" being defined as 90% of the population.

[Roland]

And only when the tide goes out, you see who's been swimming naked (I think that's from Buffet).

But no America is not corrupt. In corrupt countries you could buy, for example, impunity....

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/18/business/18WALL.html

Some members of the securities industry are pushing Congress to prevent states from pursuing those who violate securities laws, including Wall Street firms now under investigation for conflicts of interest by their stock analysts.

A proposed amendment on the subject may be attached today to legislation that is actually intended to increase protections for investors by strengthening controls over the nation's accounting system and over stock analysts' practices.

But the draft of the amendment, which began circulating last week, would block the states' current investigation of stock analysts and would severely restrict their enforcement of securities laws in the future, according to the association of state regulators.....

Two legislative sources said Philip J. Purcell, chairman of Morgan Stanley, had recently made the rounds on Capitol Hill to promote legislation to curb state regulators' powers. One person said Mr. Purcell's idea had gained support among both Republicans and Democrats.....

If that fails they can still buy pardons from Bush.