MarketWatch is a conventional site for business news. That was why I was amazed when I read David Weidner’s assessment of the MF Global bankruptcy. He was open about the entire process. The company lost $1.2 billion. No one knows where it went. The headline:
MF Global and the lie about safe accounts
Commentary: Why the brokerage industry should be worried
He called it a lie. That is strong language.
The company is 3 months past bankruptcy. The firm can’t find the money.
He then asks the key question.
But for everyone who doesn’t have an MF Global account, can you really be sure that the brokerage account at your “safer,” more “stable” firm is any more secure?
He thinks the answer is “no.”
The money just disappeared from clients’ accounts. There is no explanation.
How could this be? Again, there is no explanation.
No one at MF Global noticed. No one sounded an alarm.
How did these funds get out of the segregated accounts? The company was using this money to meet margin calls.
His conclusion is scary. There is no FDIC. There is the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Where is the coverage?
His conclusion is disturbing. “That’s why this isn’t just about a bunch of farmers, traders and institutional investors who are on the hook. It’s about the safety of the system — and by all appearances, nothing is safe.”
When you read an article like this on a conventional site, you should begin to re-think your retirement, your security, and your plans for the future. This is not some off-the-wall blog by some obscure commentator.
Are you in an online community of like-minded people, where you can share your concerns. I hope so.
That shoulder shrugging and blank stare with 'I don't know where the money went' (I am paraphrasing) from Jon Corzine when testifying before congress was one of the most amazing admissions (truthful or not) I have ever seen or heard. These are the cream of the crop of the Wharton School of Business or Harvard Business School ??? I think Corzine is definitely ready for a high post in the federal government….that's who Joe Biden would call and ask him 'what do you think we should do?' for advice on the economy. I constantly warn friends and family ..'Wall Street is crooked carnival game….think you can beat them??'
Long ago, I ceased to be amazed at the putative bona fides of the Ivy League money manipulators. For all their accumen, they have failed America. Too much theory and not enough pragmatism has permeated Wall Street and even Main Street. We have many Jon Corzines, just as we have many Bernie Madoff's. Many are just government pogues who are equally adept at hiding monies and circumventing the oversight of Congress or any other group of class clowns.
But…I would like the same rigor of punishment for these financial wizards as China permits. When such egregrious and nefarious acts of stealing and subterfuge occur over there, the perpetrators are executed. Harsh? Damn straight, and justifiable. For the tens of thousands who have lost significant monies, or they're entire life savings, due not to market downturns, there must be a powerful penalty for the evil they committed. These are not victimless crimes, and they are arguably worse than many crimes for which extensive prison time is garnered. In fact, I'm all for public executions, for that would send a chill down all those coxsuckers' spines, and they'd be very hesitant to pull that shit any longer.
Amen. Causing the downfall of a country is traitorous… Executions are called for.
Well….we kinda need to maybe take some baby steps first…like 20 years minimum to life with no parole and then move on to harsher penalties.
You are right these criminals have stolen the hard earned monies of many…..destroyed many retirement dreams ….
I can't really feel much sympathy for most of 'Made-off' victims, most were suckered in on the old scam 'you must be a 'fellow' to be allowed in' confidence game and thought they were the more sly and clever as opposed to normal stock buyers…..so I consider most of his investors losses as poetic justice.
@Bill McCroskey,
I agree with your bit more moderate view of punishment of those who commit these white-collar crimes.
Read an interesting article not too long ago that said that the real difference on Wall Street happened when the brokerage firms were no longer partnerships. In a partnership, each partner's own capital was at risk. Now it is somebody else's money so more risk is taken. Plus the MBA whiz kids, and now e-trading and digital money it is all being manipulated and is highly risky. Thus most small investors have pulled out of the stock market. Currently the government Plunge Protection Team is propping it up, which can't last forever.