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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Earlie who wrote (73494)	1/13/2000 4:29:00 PM
From: Lucretius	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

you in calls yet?

To: Earlie who wrote (73494)	1/13/2000 5:28:00 PM
From: gnuman	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 132070

Earlie, the report is up on the site. A quick perusal shows Q4 revenues and earnings for the IABG were exactly flat YOY. Did very well in interest income and the "Other" category. <g> JMHO intel.com Prepare for a jott attack. <VBG>

To: Earlie who wrote (73494)	1/13/2000 7:49:00 PM
From: yard_man	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Gotta love this headline, Earlie biz.yahoo.com

To: Earlie who wrote (73494)	1/28/2000 9:10:00 AM
From: accountclosed	Respond to of 132070

whoa earlie. doing some back reading and saw this note. thanks!!

To: Earlie who wrote (73494)	1/28/2000 9:13:00 AM
From: Cynic 2005	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Early and all: Only now SEC and the Feds are looking at the margin debt? What a joke these two bodies have become? Are they so dumb to not know that this has been happening in the last 4-5 years and really reached manic heights in the last 6 months? ----------------- January 28, 2000 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEC Studies Recent Increase In Investors' Margin Buying By MICHAEL SCHROEDER and JACOB M. SCHLESINGER Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL WASHINGTON -- The Securities and Exchange Commission is studying the recent spike in stock-related borrowing at the request of a worried Federal Reserve. An SEC official confirmed that the agency is talking with the Fed and the Treasury about the factors behind the rise in small investors' buying stock on margin, the amount of money that an investor can borrow from a broker. The SEC also is talking to the stock exchanges and broker-dealers "to better understand ... what lies behind the numbers," he said. The study is in the early stages, he said, and there is no timetable for completion. A Fed spokesman wouldn't comment on the SEC's statements. But in his Wednesday testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan seemed to allude to such talks, saying that the rise in margin debt "has created a good deal of evaluation on our part and, obviously, the supervisory regulators." He reiterated his longstanding opposition to raising the margin requirement despite frothiness in the stock market. Separately, New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer, whose questions prompted Mr. Greenspan's remarks, Thursday requested special Banking Committee hearings on margin debt. "The committee should explore the possible short- and long-term effects increased margin debt is having on the market and the economy and whether government action is warranted," he said in a letter to the panel's chairman, Sen. Phil Gramm (R., Texas). In an interview, Mr. Schumer said he wasn't persuaded by Mr. Greenspan's arguments against using the Fed's powers to raise margin requirements. Stock-related borrowing has been growing in recent years. But in the past two months of 1999, margin debt surged even faster than the rallying stock market. Such borrowing at New York Stock Exchange member firms shot up 25% to $229 billion in November and December, according to Big Board figures, while total market value grew by just 11%. Congress directed the Fed in 1934 to set margin requirements as a way of giving monetary policy makers a more precise tool for pricking asset bubbles than the blunt interest-rate increases that helped bring about the 1929 market crash and the Great Depression. For the next four decades, the Fed frequently raised and lowered the margin limit. But the current level has remained unchanged at 50% since 1974. That means brokers can help investors borrow as much as half the value of a certain security to buy that stock. If a stock is worth $100, the investor can borrow through a broker as much as $50. If the margin requirement were raised to 60%, an investor could only borrow as much as 40% of the stock's value, or only $40 for a $100 share. Late last year, the NYSE and the National Association of Securities Dealers, which operates the Nasdaq Stock Market, jointly approved tighter margin requirements on "day traders," investors who buy and then sell the same stock quickly, but they left the limits for other traders unchanged. Write to Michael Schroeder at michael.schroeder@wsj.com and Jacob M at jacob.schlesinger@wsj.com