SEC Inept, What's New
Research for Online Investors

by John Dalt

9/04/09

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is being criticized for not catching Bernie Madoff while he ran his ponzi scheme for over sixteen years right under their noses.  We have reported before about the letters written to the SEC that spelled out the empirical evidence that Madoff was a crook.  The SEC (like most government agencies) was completely inept.  You can read the executive summary of the SEC Inspector General.

I would point out that an “Executive Summary” is nice for you and me to read.  Why provide it?  The people in government like long reports, that way they can waste more time reading them, not to learn anything and correct their mistakes.  Just to waste time.  How many more ponzi schemes are going on right now?  I assure you there are some, and the SEC has no idea, until they blow up and everyone loses everything.

I was up early watching for insight from the overnight market and open interest on the futures.  Where would the market head today?  Charles Payne was on Fox Business (he is a daily guest) and made one of the funniest comments about the SEC, “...their inability to detect the scam is part Pink Panther and part Silence of the Lambs.”

Like every government program, no one will be fired or demoted.  The problem always ends that they don’t have a large enough budget, so the recommendation is to increase the budget and hire more people to mill around and look busy.

When I was a County Commissioner, the tendency of department heads to want to take on more programs (and increase in budget), when they were not executing their primary responsibilities was amazing.  It was always about hiring more people to increase their departments, rather than execute primary missions.

It was difficult for me understand, as I owned a construction business that billed about one-third the total county budget.  I ran it with one part time secretary-bookkeeper, while the county had thirteen people to receive payments and pay bills.

We have a three-day weekend; it may be what the market needs.  The closing yesterday was up in the last 25 minutes.  Volume was so low it is hard to read much into it, but today the market is ignoring a bad jobs report.  Could it be that the sentiment is turning to ignoring bad news?  We shall see next week.  There will be no letter Monday as the market is closed.  This weekend kicks off College Football; we will attend the University of Kansas season opener.  I hope your team does well.

Last year's Season Opener

This quote reveals that the socialist problem we face with Oh! Bama has its roots in another great socialist.

" Not only our future economic soundness, but the very soundness of our democratic institutions depends on the determination of our government to give employment to idle men." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Breathtaking

Something a little more thoughtful:

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take everything you have. "---attributed to Gerald Ford inspired by Thomas Jefferson

The information presented in this newsletter is based on generally available news releases, corporate filings, current events, interviews and the editor’s opinions.  It may contain errors and you should not make investment decisions based solely on what you believe you have read here.  Do your own research, it is your money.  If you lose it, it is your responsibility, not ours or your grandmothers!  The editor may or may not have a position in any securities discussed.  The editor may have held a position in a security earlier, or in the future.

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