Hi John,
Thanks for speaking up about contacting Congress about abuses in the markets. They're spinning out of control, I feel.
It is extraordinary for William Safire, of the NY Times, to comment on the markets, but I think everyone is on pins and needles these days, his discussion of the chicanery and outright casino aspects of the derivatives markets is really demanding some investigation and reining in, IMHO.
nytimes.com
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Hedge funds are supposed to spread and reduce risk; in reality, they are often used to make huge bets unknown to their institutional investors. Accountants are supposed to enforce disclosure of all liabilities, but many have become expert in the concealment of risk.
I don't profess to understand the worries some of my financial sources express about dangerous excesses in the convertible bond market, "swaptions" and ever-narrowing derivatives. But my unwillingness to break my head learning these intricacies gives the wheeler-dealers an edge. Complication and secrecy are mother's milk to them, while the average investor's best protection is full disclosure.
When you flip over a flat rock like Enron or Global Crossing, you see much panicky scurrying-about by those who like to work in the dark. For too long, new-economy corporate creeps and their accounting Heeps have hidden risk in arcane off-the-books dealing. The new S.E.C. chairman, Harvey Pitt, seems not to get it: Stop pretending....
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