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Microcap & Penny Stocks : HITSGALORE.COM (HITT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TideGlider who wrote (4521)	10/19/1999 3:47:00 PM
From: PatiBob	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7056

Now a days when kids are born, the hospital has you fill out a SS form along with the birth certificate info before you leave, thank you very much. Just seems you can't ever escape the ever widening grasp of the Government. PB

To: TideGlider who wrote (4521)	10/19/1999 3:51:00 PM
From: PatiBob	Respond to of 7056

I found this in the paper this morning: Paper: Houston Chronicle Date: TUE 10/19/99 Section: BUSINESS Page: 5 Edition: 3 STAR Citing fairness, SEC eyes rules to stop leaks of data to analysts By MARCY GORDON Associated Press WASHINGTON - Federal regulators plan to act against the practice of publicly traded companies leaking information to Wall Street analysts before making it public, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday. SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt also appealed to corporate America, "in the spirit of fair play," to open to everyone its quarterly conference calls with financial analysts by posting them on the Internet and inviting the media. "The behind-the-scenes feeding of . . . (significant) information from companies to analysts is a stain on our markets," Levitt said in a speech to an economists' group. "This selectiveness is a disservice to investors and it undermines the fundamental principle of fairness." In an era when information flows freely and instantly, he added, "these sorts of whispers are an insult to fair and public disclosure." Levitt was speaking Monday night in Manhattan to the Economic Club of New York. Copies of his speech were released earlier in Washington. He said the SEC planned in the next few months to consider new rules "to close the gap between those in the . . . `know' and the rest of us in the public." He did not provide details of a possible proposal by the market watchdog agency. About 13 percent of big, publicly traded companies already transmit their conference calls publicly over the Internet, said Lou Thompson, president and chief executive officer of the National Investor Relations Institute, a group representing company officials who deal with shareholders. "Most discussions between companies and analysts are above board, they are legal and they do not constitute selective disclosure," Thompson said. "There are exceptions . . . but it isn't a common problem." SEC officials have stepped up criticism in recent weeks of what they see as efforts by some company executives to curry favor with analysts by giving them data in advance of officially announcing quarterly earnings or other financial news. Levitt also has been pushing companies to improve their financial reporting and avoid manipulating their earnings to meet analysts' projections. Last month, the SEC accused 68 people and companies - including Hall of Fame quarterback and Atlanta businessman Fran Tarkenton - of accounting fraud in the first nationwide sweep against inflating earnings and other alleged reporting misconduct. "Quality information is the lifeblood of strong, vibrant markets," Levitt said. "Without it, investor confidence erodes. . . . Fair and efficient markets simply cease to exist." While denouncing what he called "gamesmanship over the numbers," he said strong progress has been made in getting corporate America to reduce it, but it still persists.