Mad Dog Madoff Steals 50 Billion, Gets Bail - Tip of the Iceberg

I hope they have round the clock guards watching him. What is to stop Madoff from bolting, offing himself, or somebody executing him to keep his mouth shut. I am hearing that this is just the tip of the iceberg. I hope they at least took away the yacht.

My theory on "the children" turning him in, is that it was a last ditch effort to try to detach themselves from him. "We didn't know". Yeah, right, and I am going to be appointed the next senator from Illinois. "

(scroll to bottom for updates)

http://www.DeepCapture.com

Whatever the real story, it is clear that market makers are accessories to a crime that is much, much bigger than Madoff.

The key players in this crime are 20 or so mega-billionaire hedge fund managers, who operate with a supporting cast that includes not just market makers, but also smaller hedge funds, rogue prime brokerages, corrupt lawyers, dishonest journalists, bogus one-man credit rating agencies, dubious index trackers, bribed “experts,” skalawag statisticians, paid-off professors, private investigators, crooked financial researchers, captured government regulators, hustlers, felons, thugs and card-carrying members of the Mafia.

The mega-billionaires masterminded their scheme in the 1980s, and ever since, they and their progeny have been working together – raiding and destroying public companies for profit. In the rubble of these attacks (there are hundreds of examples) one can almost always find evidence of unrestrained naked short selling (people selling things that they do not possess – phantom stock, phantom bonds, phantom mortgage backed securities, phantom CDOs, all manner of phantom derivatives).

This is the organized exploitation of our national clearing and settlement system – a system that fails utterly to ensure that traders actually deliver that which they have sold. If the SEC and FBI are looking for a “Ponzi scheme” of “epic proportions” – this is it.

Mr. Madoff surely knows something about this scheme. Market makers such as him are exempt from rules prohibiting naked short selling. They can sell stock that they have not yet borrowed or purchased, so long as they are legitimately “making a market” (i.e. maintaining liquidity) — and only if they intend to settle the trade soon after. In practice, however, billionaire hedge fund managers have rented market makers’ exemptions to manipulate markets with phantom securities – a blatant crime that is rarely prosecuted.

While Mr. Madoff is talking to the SEC and the FBI, I am going to begin telling you more about the scheme that is bigger than Bernie. Soon, I will name those 20 mega-billionaires, their supporting cast — and the man who is their guru. The evidence is pouring in – there is much to reveal.

But for now, let me leave you with a quotation from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s “Notice 93-77.” It reads:

Shortly after the market crash of 1987, “then Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady referred to the clearance and settlement system as the weakest link in the nation’s financial system…Gerald Corrigan, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York noted: ‘The greatest threat to the stability of the financial system as a whole was the danger of a major default in one of these clearing and settlement systems…”

“The connection between a crisis in the clearance and settlement system and the financial industry was highlighted by the bankruptcy in 1990 of Drexel Burnham Lambert Group…As described in the [SEC’s] testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, near gridlock developed in the mortgage-backed securities market and in the corporate debt and equity markets where Drexel was an active participant.”

Now that our financial system has come to a screeching halt, read those words for clues as to how much worse things can get – and whom we need to stop to prevent that from happening.

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Mark Mitchell is a reporter for DeepCapture.com. He previously worked at the Wall Street Journal editorial page in Europe, Time magazine Asia, the Far Eastern Economic Review, and the Columbia Journalism Review. Email: mitch0033@gmail.com

Posted in The Mitchell Report | 42 Comments »

 http://www.deepcapture.com/

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Here is the growing list of his victims

http://www.investorvillage.com/smbd.asp?mb=3532&mn=28181&pt=msg&mid=6289819

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More obscenities from Wall Street
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/12/masters-of-the-universe-ver-12/
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How do Frank, Dodd and Schumer get away with it.

They can't reelect these clowns fast enough. (no offense to clowns)

good info on Schumer

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/business/14schumer.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

>>But in building support, he has embraced the industry’s free-market, deregulatory agenda more than almost any other Democrat in Congress, even backing some measures now blamed for contributing to the financial crisis.>>

>>Mr. Schumer became a magnet for campaign donations from wealthy industry executives, including Jamie Dimon, now the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase; John J. Mack, the chief executive at Morgan Stanley; and Charles O. Prince III, the former chief executive of Citigroup. And he was not at all reluctant to ask them for more.

Donors describe the Schumer pitch as unusually aggressive: He calls repeatedly to suggest breakfast or dinner, coffee or cocktails. He enlists intermediaries to invite prospects to events and recruits several senators to tag along. And he presses for the maximum contribution — “I need you to max out,” he is known to say — then follows up by asking that a donor’s spouse and four or five friends write checks, too.>>

>>s a result, he has collected over his career more in campaign contributions from the securities and investment industry than any of his peers in Congress, with the exception of Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic nominee for president in 2004, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which analyzed federal data. (By 2005, Mr. Schumer had so much cash in reserve that he shut down his fund-raising efforts.)>> 

http://www.investorvillage.com/smbd.asp?mb=3532&mn=28228&pt=msg&mid=6293322

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towel anyone?

LOL.... had forgotten that one.         <<<   Sorry to editorialize, but I strongly believe the Commission should bring its rules into the present and prosecute the big offenders as well as the little ones.  Otherwise, the Commish will have a hard time denying their characterization by Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, who has referred to the SEC as Wall Street's towel boy.  >>>     http://www.examiner.com/x-1997-SF-Financial-Fraud-Examiner~y2008m12d13-Madoff-Ponzi-scam-raises-50-billion-questions-about-the-regulators  
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In 2007, Shana Madoff married Eric Swanson. He served at the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1996 to 2006, rising to the title of Assistant Director in the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations' market oversight unit in Washington. His duties included supervising the Commission's inspection program responsible for regulatory oversight of trading on the securities exchanges and ECNs.

http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/125150

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Conspiracy theorist might want to take a peek at Madoff’s political contributions over the past decade - the largest beneficiary was the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and it would appear, while New Jersey’s Frank Lautenberg was a friend and client, New York State’s Chuck Schumer was among the largest beneficiary of Bernie Madoff’s largesse:

The biggest recipient of Madoff’s contributions was the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which received $100,000 in the past four years. The DSCC chairman during that time was Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who also got $39,000 for his own campaign account from Madoffs since 1998, according to reports filed with the FEC.

Since 1986, Madoff and family members connected with the firm also made at least $419,000 in contributions to federal candidates in New Jersey, including the Senate campaigns of Lautenberg and Jon Corzine, and the presidential campaign of former Sen. Bill Bradley, according to CQMoneyline.com.

Madoff, a former chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange, was among the first contributors when Corzine entered the 2000 U.S. Senate campaign. NorthJersey.com

I would hope that our honorable representatives in Washington are above leaning on securities regulators who are poking around in the cesspool that is Wall Street, there are bound to be questions raised anytime big bucks are involved; will we hear more about this?

For the moment Bernie is the only dead man walking, but I will be sure to let you know if this gets hairy for any of his Beltway buddies.

http://www.1440wallstreet.com/index.php/site/comments/weekend_at_bernies/#extended


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Fed Refuses to Disclose Recipients of $2 Trillion
Friday 12 December 2008
»
by: Mark Pittam, Bloomberg News
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=apx7XNLnZZlc&refer=home


Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke is seen through a cracked door. The Fed is refusing to disclose exactly who is receiving $2 trillion in non-TARP bank loans. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters)

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I wonder if Dodd is feeling the heat yetor are he and frank still made out of teflon

The town of Fairfield, Conn., said it placed nearly 15 percent of its retiree pension fund with Madoff. Officials were scrambling to determine how much of the $42 million remained.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--wallstreet-arrest1213dec13,0,3403434.story

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yawn . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Re: NASAA Outlines Regulatory Reform Plan Promoting Wall Street Change for the Benefit of Main Street

NASAA is the oldest international organization devoted to investor protection. Its membership consists of the securities administrators in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada and Mexico.         

http://www.nasaa.org/NASAA_Newsroom/Current_NASAA_Headlines/10002.cfm
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""We are moving quickly and decisively to stop the fraud and protect remaining assets for investors, and we are working closely with the criminal authorities to hold Mr. Madoff accountable," said S.E.C. enforcement director Linda Chatman Thomsen in a statement.

"We have 16 examiners on site all day and through the night poring over the records," S.E.C. associate director Andrew Calamari told the New York Times.

For Madoff's investors, it's a little late for the S.E.C.'s grandstanding.  

Where was the "poring over records" in 1999, when the agency was told about Madoff's dubious returns? And in 2001, when Barron's raised more questions? What about in 2005, when the agency received even more inquiries about his mysterious trades?

The S.E.C. won't likely be forthcoming with these answers, but that shouldn't stop Madoff's investors from demanding them.   " http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/top-5/2008/12/12/SEC-in-Bernard-Madoff-Fraud

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Madoff pushed cheap, efficient, electronic trading, arguing that fair prices are best set by "multiple players interacting continuously," Gasparino wrote.

He also helped spawn an industry of trading against the retail customer to capture the differential between the bid and the offer in stocks, said Jon Najarian, a founder of Web information site optionmonster.com.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE4BB6Q220081212?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=10272


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There is a rumor among Madoff investors that he has $1 billion stashed in an overseas bank account. Sorkin, Madoff's lawyer, would not comment on this.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/28225044

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He even got his name on an SEC rule. The "Madoff exception" allowed market makers such as Mr. Madoff to sell stock short to facilitate a customer buy order, even if the stock in question was ticking downward. Under a rule that was in place until last year, short sales on a downward-ticking stock were normally prohibited. In a short sale, investors borrow stock and sell it.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122928886040304911.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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video with Bernie Madoff 

starts at 9:30 minutes

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Gclja-C2sOU

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Updated list of victims

http://uk.reuters.com/article/stocksNews/idUKLNE4BE01920081215?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

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http://www.nypost.com/seven/12142008/news/regionalnews/daily_news_owner_mort_zuckerman_madoff_v_144237.htm

Daily News owner and real-estate mogul Mort Zuckerman is one of the investors ripped off by swindler Bernard Madoff, it was reported today.

Zuckerman, who also owns US News & World Report, has "significant exposure" through a fund that invested virtually all of its assets with Madoff, The Wall Street Journal says, quoting a person familiar with his investments.

A Zuckerman spokesman did not comment to the Journal.

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SIPC liquidating Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLCThe Securities Investor Protection Corporation said late Monday that it is liquidating Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.  ....Harbeck said in a statement it is "unlikely that SIPC and the Trustee will be able to transfer the customer accounts of the firm to a solvent brokerage firm." The agency also said it's too early to determine the size of misappropriated funds at this stage.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/SIPC-liquidating-Bernard-L-Madoff/story.aspx?guid=%7B9725A835-E42E-47ED-83A0-6B9EC55D8AD4%7D

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And New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg's family charity also took a bath, investing most of its $14 million trust with Madoff, his lawyer told The Record of Bergen County.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12142008/news/regionalnews/daily_news_owner_mort_zuckerman_madoff_v_144237.htm

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Here is the list of the stocks that Madoff made a market in.
(link no longer works. I will paste the list in my next blog)

I see that Dendreon (DNDN) is on the list. Imagine counterfeiting shares to destroy a small biotech company that has found a better way to treat cancer. Although Provenge has been through over 10 years of testing, and went before a special FDA Advisory Committee assembled to get better, safer treatments approved for the sick, and the committee voted it 17 - 0 safe and 13 - 4 substantial evidence of efficacy (some of the naysayers were severely conflicted, and conflict rules have since been changed at the FDA to address this for future drugs), this non toxic, non invasive immunotherapy has been delayed for almost 2 years so far, by a corrupt FDA. We believe it was Wall Streets illegal naked shorting influence that wagged the dogs at the FDA. There is much more to this story, and we want to present the court with the evidence of the corruption that took place. Hey, cancer is big business. The FDA can't let better treatments get in the way of the cartel.

Hedge Funds to Cancer Patients: “Die.”

http://my.nowpublic.com/health/hedge-funds-cancer-patients-die

one of the comments on the blog

Dr. Jim DeCosta Says:
after publication. --> December 4th, 2008 at 5:01 pm

The development stage yet to be cash flow positive biomedical companies are the perfect targets for NSS attacks. They have high monthly burn rates and there is no way they can become cash flow positive for many years due to how the FDA process works. Abusive naked short sellers can easily flood their share structures with failures to deliver (FTDs) that procreate the “accounting measures” known as “securities entitlements” that UCC Article 8 unfortunately made readily sellable due to the assumed short term nature of any delivery delay at the DTCC. All securities fraudsters have to do is to refuse to deliver that which they sell and a self-fulfilling prophecy can easily be accessed. As the readily sellable “securities entitlements” stack up the share price of the company under attack has to implode since the sum of the “supply” of readily sellable “shares” plus the “supply” of readily sellable “securities entitlements” gets artificially manipulated upwards. “Supply” and “demand” forces still interact to determine share prices through a process known as “price discovery” but these two variables are easily manipulated. The share price can easily be manipulated into a self-propagating death spiral. Non-cash flow positive biomeds like Dendreon can thus be forced to raise money to pay their expensive monthly burn rates at often steep discounts (due to the implied risk of financing a company whose share price is in a death spiral) to ever-decreasing share price levels. If they ever do survive their attack and become successful then their future earnings per share will be small because of the gazillions of shares they will have outstanding by the time they become cash flow positive. More mature cash flow positive corporations can always buy back and cancel their shares when their share price becomes ridiculously low. The Dendreons of the world don’t have this luxury. The crooks know that it would make no sense for Dendreon to sell shares at steep discounts to market and use that cash to buy back shares at market levels. It’s tough for the Dendreons of the world to sell a piece of their company for cash UNTIL their cancer cure is well proven which takes time and money and therefore dilution. The combination of a high monthly burn rate and the predictable inability to become cash flow positive for extended periods of time is what these criminals crave. The choice of going after companies with prospective cancer cures gives us all a little bit of insight into the hearts and souls (or lack thereof) of these crooks. Their recent targeting of a company that retrofits Humvees to better sustain the effects of IEDs used in Iraq to maim and kill our soldiers is equally appalling. The collateral damage involving the taking down of our entire financial system in order for these crooks to cash in on attacking certain banks perceived to be defenseless at the time was also very inspiring. Kudos to Patrick for the charts clearly showing the astronomic increase in the levels of FTDs right as the share prices of these targeted corporations fell off the cliff.

 You can find the rest on the Dendreon Provenge prostate cancer story here. We currently have a writ in front of the Supreme Court to try to get this treatment to the 30,000 American men who die each year from prostate cancer. 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with pc in their lifetimes. Unfortunately the delay has put Dendreon's research for breast, colon, lung etc immunotherapies on the back burner. http://www.CareToLive.com

Here is convicted felon Mike Milken, FDA Commissioner Andy Von Eschenbach, and CDER FDA division head Richard Pazdur (who is withholding freedom of information documents from us) all of whom we believe conspired to derail Provenge. FYI Milken is/was invested with Proquest Investments, he actually helped start them, and is in their press release. They do not invest in Dendreon, but they do invest in competitiors.

You can find a lot of the info here
http://caretolive.com/research/

Proquest Investments News Release Link
Nov-01-1998 Start-Up 1 The Opportunity in Cancer: Goldberg’s Variation Prostate cancer will be the focus of ProQuest Investments LP, a new venture fund founded by Jeremy Goldberg. With investors the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Foundation of Chicago, Alza Corp., and high net worth individuals, including Michael Milken, ProQuest has raised $40.5 million in its first closing.

May-01-2000 Start-Up Proquest Investments LP Proquest Investments is a $100 million oncology-focused investment fund, partnered by Jeremy Goldberg and Jay Moorin. The firm aims to leverage its specialization and focus to create a brand that will make it the preferred VC firm for Internet, device, biotech and pharmaceutical companies with products that advance the treatment and cure of cancer, its founders hope.

Madoff was a donor to Michael Milken's Prostate Cancer Foundation
      "Michael Milken. Leslie D.Michelson. Founder and Chairman. Chief Executive Officer ...... Bernard L. Madoff. Howard and Nancy Marks. Stanley and Pamela Maron ..."
      www.prostatecancerfoundation.org/atf/cf/%7B705B3273-F2EF-4EF6-A653-E15C5D8BB6B1%7D/2005PCFannualReport.pdf

2. 1250 Fourth Street Santa Monica, California 90401 Tel 310.570.4700 ...

      "Michael Milken. Founder and Chairman. 4. This year, we urge you ...... Bernard L . Madoff. Laurence H. Mandelbaum. Howard and Nancy Marks ..."
      www.prostatecancerfoundation.org/atf/cf/%7B705B3273-F2EF-4EF6-A653-E15C5D8BB6B1%7D/PCF_AR04_0718.pdf

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Dave Patch of Investigate the SEC weighs in on Madoff
 
http://www.investigatethesec.com/drupal-5.5/?q=node/517

SEC and Madoff

The Bernard Madoff story is gaining momentum as both friend and foe of the SEC are coming out and wondering what exactly this agency does to protect the investing public.

Whistleblowers came to the SEC regarding Madoff much the way a Putnam whistleblower came to the SEC regarding market timing fraud.  Just as we saw then, the SEC ignored the concerns raised by the whistleblowers and failed to take appropriate steps to protect the investing public.  The SEC may have even investigated Madoff but if there was an investigation conducted it clearly held no intent of finding fault.  Madoff was a highly respected player and like John Mack, was given courtesy beyond what any average individual would receive.

Many came forward suspecting fraud claiming ‘the returns year-over-year were too good to be true’ and now we know why.  But what about those bigger hedge funds who outperformed Madoff?  If 15 – 20% returns are too good to be true, what about the 25 – 30% year over year returns by some of our nations largest hedge funds?  How many times have we heard stories about illegal trading at SAC Capital and yet their returns were far better than Madoff’s?  Can SAC really provide such returns legally - year after year after year?

Where is the SEC in all this?  Have they buried their heads once again into the sand in hopes that this will all pass by?  Will they again misuse their resources to seek out restitution for sophisticated and wealthy investors who chose to invest in non-reporting investment schemes when real victims of such abuses exist to much larger degrees?  When will teh SEC clean up teh market making practices or will that remain a free for all for crooks?

I will try to place files as attachments to this note that defines the coziness between Madoff and the SEC.  I tell you, after seeing these documents and reading the stories it is no wonder people have lost faith in our government, the markets, and more specifically the SEC.

Best,

Dave

Attachment                         Size
Madoff Mtg w SEC.pdf     27.57 KB
Task Force Madoff.pdf     571.55 KB
Madoff Comment letter.pdf     266.14 KB

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Many charities are being decimated by the Madoff disaster. I am truly sorry for that. I  see the Robin Hood Foundationl also took a hit. Stevie Cohen is on the Board of Directors. Hopefully he can fill the gap, perhaps by forgoing the new wing on his digs.



 ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Charity’

October 29, 2008, 10:30 am

But giving to charity, then having the charity to invest in your hedge fund taints the gift with a potential conflict of interest. In a similar controversy, hedge-fund directors at the Robin Hood Foundation found themselves under scrutiny from Congress last year after directing Foundation money into their own hedge funds (which then pays the 2-and-20 fees). The group quickly ended the practice.

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2008/10/29/t-boone-pickens-honey-i-shrunk-the-charity/



A Dressing Room For Steven Cohen November 20, 2008

For hedge fund kingpin Steven Cohen, 35,000 square feet is simply not enough. Is the SAC Capital Management chief to go without a dressing room, a breakfast room and a garden room at his Greenwich, Conn. estate?

Not if he can help it, that’s for sure. The billionaire has asked Greenwich’s Planning and Zoning Commission for permission to add 1,145 square feet in a pair of additions to his 35,085-square-foot, 14-acre Crown Lane estate. The commission is set to review Cohen’s application at its Dec. 16 meeting. In addition to the aforementioned new rooms, the expansions would also include more storage space.

Cohen’s mansion already boasts an ice rink (with Zamboni machines!), an indoor pool, a basketball court and, based on aerial views of the palatial manor, a tennis court and a two-hole golf course. He has already made copious additions to the home since he and his wife, Alexandra, bought it in 1998 for $14 million.

http://www.finalternatives.com/node/6146

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SEC Official Married into Madoff Family Madoff Boasted of Close SEC Relationship, "My Niece Even Married One" By BRIAN ROSS and JOSEPH RHEE
Dec. 16, 2008

A top Securities and Exchange Commission compliance official who worked for the SEC when it found no problems at Bernard Madoff's firm in 2005, later began to date and married Madoff's niece, who was a compliance lawyer for the company.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/WallStreet/story?id=6471863&page=1

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Here are 3 of the BOD members of the STANY in 2008. One worked for Madoff and the other 2 were with Drexel Burnham Lambert at one time.

http://www.stany.org/Home/about_us/board_of_directors.aspx

Security Traders Association of New YorkLarry T. Birch
Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC
President

Larry Birch has spent his entire 20 year career in the securities industry with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. In his early years with the firm, he traded listed and Nasdaq securities as well as convertible bonds, warrants, and preferreds. In 1999, his role shifted to a senior managerial position. Larry now oversees all of the firm's client relationships. His responsibilities include 1) oversight for best execution performance and strategy, 2) maintenance of existing broker dealer and institutional relationships, 3) development of new client relationships, 4) management of the sales trading desk, and 5) direct involvement in corporate strategy.

• Robert Arancio
  Rob is Head of Equity Trading for Asset Management at Neuberger Berman.  Prior to this appointment, Rob spent the majority of his career in Lehman Brother’s Equities division, where he held various roles within trading, the last being co-head of U.S. Liquid Markets Trading.  In this role, he co-managed the Firm’s Equity, Flow Volatility, Relative Value and International ADR trading desks in the U.S.  Previous to this position, he served as the head of U.S. Cash Equity Trading as well as U.S. Technology Trading Sector head.

  Before joining Lehman, he worked on the NASDAQ trading desk at Drexel Burnham Lambert in New York City.  Rob currently serves on the Firm’s Equity Management Committee, and is a member of both the Security Traders Association of New York (VP), and NASDAQ’s Quality of Markets Committee.
  

Kimberly Unger
Executive Director

Kim was a member of the legal departments of several Wall Street firms including Drexel Burnham Lambert; Prudential; and Gruntal. Immediately prior to joining STANY, she worked as a Senior Regional Attorney and member of the management team in the NASD's District 10 office.

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  Opinion The moral of Madoff's tale   The alleged $50-billion swindle shows that this country's financial deregulation has failed.   Tim Rutten

December 17, 2008

        [..............................]

In retrospect, it's a sentiment that brings to mind not Graves but Groucho -- "The secret to life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made." The breathtaking hypocrisy of publishing such a declaration suggests a lesson to be learned, and a mystery to be pondered.

The lesson is one that becomes clearer with each excruciating turn of the Wall Street screw. The long, bipartisan experiment with financial deregulation has failed utterly. The argument that a return to rigorous oversight will somehow stifle Wall Street's "creativity" is no longer convincing. Whatever its theoretical costs, regulation is dramatically cheaper than intervention. And absolutist insistence on the superiority of "individual choice" and "free markets" now is exposed as so much vacant rhetoric.

Any system that permits a scam artist like Madoff to deceive not just widows and orphans but also sophisticated investors, like Fairfield Greenwich Group's Walter Noel and Hollywood's Jeffrey Katzenberg, isn't a market at all; it's a shooting gallery. We need, moreover, to re-regulate our securities markets because, if we don't, foreign investors -- like the European banks Madoff conned -- simply will walk away from Wall Street, an exodus that will fatally undermine America's position in the globalized financial system.
                [...................................]     http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/la-oe-rutten17-2008dec17,1,2178881.column
From the Los Angeles Times
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