Harvey Pitt Former SEC Commission is an Apologist for FINRA?

I was stunned last night watching Fox Business with David Asman. He had on his show two Madoff victims, Sue and Dominic Ambrosino, Larry Doyle of senseoncents.com and former SEC Commissioner Harvey Pitt.

The tide is beginning to turn against FINRA. Larry Doyle has long spoken out against FINRA on his blog at www.senseoncents.com. Last night on Fox Business, LD mentioned the fact that FINRA had money in Auction Rate Securities in 2007, but inexplicably got their own money out before the Auction Rate Securities collapse. I guess they are an investor watchdog, but not when it comes to saving their own bacon.

Sue and Dominic Ambrosino are wise to FINRA and their culpability in the Madoff Scandal. They pointed out that FINRA has not been too transparent about whether they too lost money with Madoff. The latest FINRA Annual Report does not disclose whether they did or did not lose money with Madoff or one of his feeder funds. Word on the street is that they did lose money as a result of Madoff.

Former SEC Commissioner Harvey Pitt, not one of the best SEC Commissioners we ever had by the way, seemed to me to have been given talking points. He kept trying to hide the fact that FINRA and its predecessor organization was responsible for the Madoff mess. Pitt kept trying to keep the blame squarely on the SEC. This was stunning to witness from my perspective.

David Asman pointed out that Mary Shapiro was the former head of FINRA and now she is the head of the SEC. I have nothing against Ms. Shapiro, but it seems like they got someone at the helm of the SEC who can probably keep FINRA out of it. However, time will tell. FINRA is guilty as sin in my opinion. You cannot convince me that FINRA did not look the other way when it came to Bernie Madoff.

As a former NASD Registered Principal, I had my office gone through with a fine tooth comb by an ex-NASD Examiner for several years. Of course, I always had good exams. I can guarantee you, the guy that examined my office would have easily discovered the Ponzi scheme Madoff was running.

There is something amiss with regard to FINRA being able to dodge the Madoff scandal up until now. Hopefully, with Fox Business getting a little nosy, the truth will come out about FINRA and their cosy little relationship with Bernie Madoff.

Stay tuned.

The Number of Banks in Trouble Grows

Is there any safe place to put your money these days? Well yes, but you must be smart about it.

Did you know that the FDIC has increased the FDIC coverage for depositors to $250,000 per person, per bank? They have these limits in place until 2013. The thing to do is to not put all your eggs in one bank.

The Wall Street Journal has an article on the status of the FDIC and the banks in today's edition. You can read all about it here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125137695691263385.html .

If you want delve in a little deeper to see what might be going on with your bank, then you may want to take a look at http://www.financialstability.gov/latest/reportsanddocs.html . Look at the latest TARP report by date. This will give you a list of all TARP recipients and show whether they have paid back their TARP funds. Is your favorite bank in here?

When buying CD's, make sure that your brokerage account is not also buying CD's from the same bank. This would jeopardize your FDIC insurance by potential exceeding the $250,000 limit.

You want to be smart about investing? Then, buy and read my book, Keep Your Assets Take My Advice. http://www.amazon.com/Keep-Your-Assets-Take-Advice/dp/1440126933 You will wonder where I have been all your life.

Thanks.

Vilification is Getting Old

The liberal playbook is getting old. The problem is that they believe most Americans are stupid. What the liberal's do to get their way is now common knowledge. Their playbook has not changed. It is:

1. State that there is a major problem.
2. State that they have a solution to the problem.
3. Vilify opponents publicly.
4. Vilify major corporations publicly.
5. Threaten opponents and major corporations.
6. Bring forth legislation to fix the problem.
7. Vote in favor of the legislation.
8. Ignore constituents.
9. Spread the rewards to their cronies.

The problem with the Health Care Reform Public Option is that it affects most everyone. If Congress is passing legislation to build a bridge in some far off state, then that does not really have much effect on everyday Americans. However, health care affects everybody, so people are more engaged on this topic and they are making it known to their Representatives and Senators.

Keep up the good fight America.

I say VTO in 2010. VTO stands for Vote Them Out in 2010! Maybe it should be VTAO. Vote Them All Out!

Bicycling Accident

The last weekend for the Tour de France was kind of exciting for me. I went out and road my Trek bike around on Saturday, the 25th of July. The very next day, I decided to go for another ride. I was almost to my house when I got hit from behind by a car. I spent several hours in the hospital that night. I had cut my head which needed a couple of staples. I had a concussion, lots of road rash and I believe that I might have fractured my collar bone. I slept most of this past week away. I could not stay awake more than an hour. Today, I finally feel like I can stay awake.

The collar bone is painful. I am going to have to visit my personal physician to see about it. I cannot move my arm around without sharp pains.

I marvel at George Hincapie who injured his collar bone and continued to ride in the Tour de France. That guy is my hero. He is tougher than nickel steak. I had an official George Hincapie jersey on which was proudly displaying the Arkansas Razorbacks insignia. I also had a pair of Hincapie gloves on. The Giro helmet saved me from a worse fate. I am very lucky to be here.

I thought I would give you an update as to why I have not blogged in a few weeks. Now you know.

Stay safe out there.