Sounds like RealMan will be turning his "attention" to the analyst community:
cbs.marketwatch.com
Lawmakers pledge pursuit of analysts
By Matt Andrejczak, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 8:36 PM ET June 13, 2001
WASHINTON (CBS.MW) -- Many years ago, before he was elected to Congress, Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., admits he was victim of an analyst recommendation that went awry.
He dumped thousand of dollars into buying an option on coffee futures, only to see the investment sour. Fellow investors filed a class-action lawsuit that later resulted in a $35 check in Baker's mailbox.
"It was a very painful but helpful lesson that I learned at a cost of three thousand dollars," Baker said. Listen to interview.
On Thursday, the House Capital Markets subcommittee, which Baker chairs, will hold a hearing to determine if Wall Street analysts are distributing unbiased stock research to investors following the massive correction in the stock market that left many investors seething in losses.
It undoubtedly will not be a one-day political event.
"It would be foolhardy for the industry to dig in their heels and say 'we don't have to worry about this'," Baker said.
With the pledged support of House Financial Services Chairman Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, it is the first of several hearings Baker plans to hold over the coming months in an attempt to improve the industry's disclosure and compensation practices when it comes to its stock research.
Baker, citing the proliferation of households trading online, said average investors to "a great extent depend on the credibility and professionalism of the advice they receive to make those important decisions."
At a press conference Wednesday, Oxley promised that Baker's subcommittee and the full committee would pursue the issue with the same vigor as his effort four years ago to change trading in stocks from fractions to pennies. That became a reality earlier this year.
"I have a great reserve of persistence, which I plan to consult again on this analyst issue," Oxley said.
At this point, Baker and Oxley are not suggesting that lawmakers need to draft legislation to remedy the conflict of interest that arises between the lucrative equity underwriting businesses at Wall Street brokerage houses and their analysts' investment recommendations.
Both declare that reform ought to be market, not regulatory-driven, and are encouraging the industry to change its practices.
On Tuesday, the brokerage industry's biggest trade group, the Securities Industry Association, sought to polish the industry's tarnished image by endorsing a code of conduct designed to increase the independent analysis of stock analysts.
Baker was not entirely skeptical of the report, like his colleague Rep. John LaFalce, D-N.Y., was, but did stress that additional recommendations likely will be suggested as a result of the hearings.
Ultimately, lawmakers do want some assurances that Wall Street will not continue its business as usual, and seek some kind of watchdog system to keep the industry from running amok, Baker added.
"There is a value to a public examination asking the industry to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation and then have a mechanism that can confirm or audit that the standards are being followed," Baker said. |
