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Monday,
October 22, 2008
(Cont'd from
above)...
Jim (continued):
Outrage #1:
The SEC's decision
to focus on Marc
Cuban, given the
bigger problems that
prevail in the
markets
First, credit
default swaps... ah,
who cares...
Spreading rumors to
wipe out whole firms
like Lehman and Bear
Stearns... Oh
please, why not?...
Allowing AIG to run
wild and do whatever
it wants with no
disclosure?... no
problemo... Letting
banks hide billions
of bad loans?...
What's the big deal?
Batching
innanely-issued
mortgages into
impenetrable
baskets, and letting
the brokers make a
fortune gaffing
clients with
them?... It sounds
like a good thing to
do. Getting rid of
the uptick rule to
allow bear raids...
brilliant! Not
prosecuting
fail-to-deliver
strategies, allowing
short sellers to run
amock? Seems fair...
But going after Marc
Cuban for dumping
stock in
Mamma.com... after
he got a tip from
management that it
planned doing a
terribly-dillutive
equity deal?... Now
that's worth going
after for
certain!...
Yeah, today the SEC
drew the line... It
drew the line on all
the shicanery that's
gone on during the
last four years of
its ignomanious
stewardship... On
this day, the SEC
stood up and said,
"No more!"...
Because, today, the
SEC decided to train
its guns on Cuban
for trading in
Mamma.com.
Now look, if Cuban
did what they say he
did, then he's going
to have a tough time
with the case. You
can't admit that
you're frozen after
getting insider
dope, and then trade
on it, if that's
what really has
happened. But it
just seems like,
with all the endless
shicanery, even
malfeasance, we've
seen in this era, I
simply wish that the
SEC would bring,
like, a little case
against someone who,
you know, took
Lehman down, or Bear
(Stearns), or that
kind of thing...
Maybe bring one case
against the Wall
Street gangsters
that have brought
down the western
financial world...
I mean, maybe they
have a ton of staff
to build cases, and
this is just one of
a gazillion things
they're going to
do... And I'm
definitely in favor
of the Commission
taking on insider
trading cases... But
this really feels
like the first time
we've heard from the
"commish" in a
while...
It's alas, a real
stunner... if only
because of how
completely and
utterly irrelevant
it is to all of the
financial
smokescreens the SEC
has passively
endorsed with its
total failure to
pursue those who
have hidden
trillions in losses,
and then lied
repeatedly about
them.
Marc Cuban... best
of luck. If you're
guilty, you're
guilty. If you're
innocent, you're
innocent... but
you're a terrific
sideshow... just a
real carnival act.
● ● ●
● ●
Outrage #2:
Target (TGT)
Alright, here's
outrage #2. This one
is Target... A
horrible quarter.
Here's the company
that bought back 2.5
million shares at
$53.93, much higher
than the stock's
current price of
$32.
TGT's earnings, down
24% for the quarter,
were hideous. And
its credit card
business, where
earnings were down
83% for the quarter,
absolutely awful...
Let me tell you
something about the
credit card
problems... I had a
Target card... You
know, how you go
there, you spend a
lot, they give you a
card, 10% off if you
just take it. I took
it. You know, I
signed up. I got the
10% off. I started
using the card a
bit. And then I
said, you know what,
I don't like these
credit cards,
because they cost
you money, and so I
canceled it.
Now, TGT claimed
that I owed money,
and they were
threatening to ruin
my credit. That's
what they said,
they'd "ruin my
credit"... because I
owed money on the
credit card bill.
They called me, they
harassed me, they
left voicemails on
my cell phone,
saying they were
going to ruin me...
Well, and panicked
of course... saying,
whatever you say,
whatever you say...
Well, it turns out,
I had a credit
balance. They owed
me money. $71.29 to
be exact. Here's a
facsimile (showing
it) of the check. Is
that how Target
makes its money...
living off the float
from guys like me
who get talked into
paying them when
they're not supposed
to? Hey, that's a
real good business.
The stuff that's
going on now...
Read Jim's next Segment
here
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