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To: Francois Goelo who wrote (6849)	2/18/2000 11:20:00 PM
From: Frank_Ching	Respond to of 10354

F.G. The ones that are left here seem to like to play with fire. When they do their digging around, they even say things like "we" need this or that. It does look as if they are working together on their illegal activities.

To: Francois Goelo who wrote (6849)	2/19/2000 2:48:00 PM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10354

The inernational noose tightens! "At the International Organisation of Securities and Commissions (IOSCO), boiler-rooms were a major point of discussion." "Saturday May 23 1993 Don't lose your shirt in the boiler-rooms So-called 'boiler-room' operations are adept at selling shares at huge markups. THE term boiler-room conjures up an image of heat and sweat, with no room to swing a cat. But when it comes to selling shares, the Securities and Futures Commission (HK SFC) has another description, and its advice to investors is to stay clear. 'A boiler-room operation occurs when person, or a group of people, sets up a residence in a country and then starts cold-calling people in another country,' explained Mr Gerard McMahon, SFC executive director. 'Often they sell US over-the-counter shares. They have usually accumulated these shares and then can sell them for a profit of up to 1,000 per cent,' he said. But boiler-room tactics are not confined to individuals trying to sell equities through cold-calling. Futures are sometimes sold, and both may be introduced through a seemingly innocuous newspaper advertisement. The way in which these boiler-rooms operate is relatively simple, and many have managed to catch Hongkong investors in their wide-spread net. The boiler-room operator begins by perhaps taking out an alluring advertisement in a paper or waxing lyrical on a cold call. If the investor expresses interest, information will follow first on the company, later on the shares. By selling shares which are foreign to the targeted investors, such as US over-the-counter shares, boiler-room operators are able to feed convincing information which is often misleading and even inaccurate at times. A sheet of share prices, for example, may look legitimate but lack a date. A brochure may be downright false.'Anyone can construct documents,' said Mr McMahon. Then the offer will come. If the client invests, he may later find out he has bought the shares at too high a price, or the shares may not exist at all. Later he might even discover the boiler-room has closed down. The reason boiler-rooms get away with these fraudulent practices rests in the way in which the businesses are set up. Itinerant salespeople are adept at eluding the grasp of the regulator because they are unregistered abroad. And because boiler-room operators do not sell their services to shareholders in the country from which they operate, regulatory authorities have difficulty in detecting their presence. Regulators do not hear a word from investors who lie outside their domain. Often, the bank account is located in a third country, which adds a reassuring layer of protection against detection. In the last few years, the SFC has uncovered two boiler-room operations in Hongkong. Most recently, the SFC has become suspicious of a third operation in which a Spanish-based company is selling US over-the-counter shares to Hongkong investors. The bank account is based in Ireland. The SFC has handed the case over to the Spanish authorities for investigation. However, the Hongkong investor is not the only victim of these boiler-rooms. 'Its a worldwide problem,' said Mr McMahon. The practise is, in fact, so widespread that at last week's meeting of a working group at the International Organisation of Securities and Commissions (IOSCO), boiler-rooms were a major point of discussion. IOSCO is currently trying to strengthen its fight against what it calls transnational retail securities and futures fraud. A report on the issue is being reviewed by IOSCO's technical committee at present, and publication is expected in early summer. rcmp.com"

To: Francois Goelo who wrote (6849)	2/21/2000 2:38:00 AM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Respond to of 10354

WSJ: FarrowTech Plunges "Current price instability is NO reflection on the Company's Future Prospects... " Yeah sure FrenchFry, keep babbling.

To: Francois Goelo who wrote (6849)	2/23/2000 12:56:00 PM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Respond to of 10354

SEC Issues Preliminary Proposal to End Fragmented Trading 2/23/0 12:38 (New York) SEC Issues Preliminary Proposal to End Fragmented Trading Washington, Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission opened public discussion about the future of U.S. securities markets by issuing a release aimed at ending fragmentation in stock trading. The so-called ``concept release' asks public comment on six alternative plans that seek to increase competition and give customers access to the best possible prices. The plans vary from requiring stock exchanges, brokerages and electronic trading networks to disclose how they route their customers orders, to forming a central market by linking all the U.S. markets. ``The goal of this effort is to seek a wide range of information from as many participants as possible, not to stake out any position,' SEC spokesman Chris Ullman said. SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt has said that fragmentation in the securities industry has prevented investors from having some orders matched with orders placed on another market or trading network. He has said that the concept release will likely usher in many months of often contentious discussion among market participants with disparate business interests. The SEC also issued a New York Stock Exchange proposal that would scrap a rule that prohibits brokerage members from trading many large stocks off the floor of an exchange. Levitt has pushed NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso to eliminate NYSE Rule 390, which has made it difficult for brokerages to match orders internally and on electronic trading networks such as Reuters Group Plc's Instinet Corp. The most controversial of the six plans in the concept release is likely to be the formation of a central market that links all exchanges and trading networks, said Annette Nazareth, SEC market-regulation director. Goldman, Sachs & Co. and other brokerages that handle large orders have expressed support for a central market, while firms such as the Charles Schwab Corp. that handle smaller orders have opposed it, saying it would limit competition. ``If every bid can meet every offer, you're guaranteed to get the best price possible at the time in a simplified market,' said Junius Peake, a University of Northern Colorado finance professor who was a National Association of Securities Dealers vice chairman. The electronic market links under discussion would seek to connect customer ``limit orders' that are made at specified prices. These are increasingly popular orders that now make up the majority of customer orders on the Nasdaq Stock Market and trading networks such as Instinet and Datek Online Holdings Corp.'s Island. The SEC is giving the public 60 days to comment on the concept release and 21 days to comment on the NYSE rule proposal. A concept release often leads to a more specific rule proposal that again seeks public comment before the five commissioners decide whether to approve the plan. The process can take several years, long after Levitt is expected to retire. The Senate Banking Committee, chaired by Texas Republican Phil Gramm, plans to hold hearings next Monday and Tuesday on the future of the securities markets, at which Levitt and Grasso are due to testify.

To: Francois Goelo who wrote (6849)	2/25/2000 4:03:00 PM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10354

Swiftrade has to big a BIG liability: NASD Nails Daytrading Firms as Senate Hearings Open By Robert Kowalski Staff Reporter 2/24/00 8:25 PM ET Adding to the noise surrounding Senate subcommittee hearings on daytrading, the regulatory arm of the National Association of Securities Dealers announced disciplinary actions Thursday against six companies and seven individuals it says violated securities rules involving daytrading. Its activities in the area, however, likely won't end with this week's Washington hoopla. Barry Goldsmith, the head of enforcement at NASD Regulation, says the NASD investigation of daytrading is continuing. "These are significant cases," he says. "We have other ongoing investigations in the area." This time around, though, the infractions included misleading advertising, allowing customers to continue trading after they failed to meet margin requirements, and misuse of investments to provide loans to daytraders, according to the NASD. "While we do not intend to discourage daytrading by individuals who understand and knowingly assume the risks," Goldsmith says, "it is a highly risky form of trading that requires new regulatory initiatives and close attention by securities regulators." The NASD announced the enforcement actions on the first of two days of congressional hearings on daytrading, a practice that involves taking positions in securities for short periods of time in an attempt to capitalize on price changes. Earlier this week, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged two companies and nine individuals with illegally providing loans to daytrading clients, and with failing to properly disclose terms of the loans. Goldsmith, scheduled to testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations which was formed last May, says the NASD has spent eight months looking into daytrading and that the timing of the NASD enforcement actions Thursday was unrelated to the hearings. The NASD enforcement actions stem from an investigation of 22 daytrading companies the agency began last year, Goldsmith says. The enforcement group found numerous rules violations, including exaggerated advertising that failed to disclose risks of daytrading. One ad promised customers could "control (their) own destiny through electronic daytrading," without mentioning a possible downside to the practice. The NASD also found cases of daytrading-firm employees and their customers executing trades without proper registrations. And it found violations of rules regarding short-selling. The NASD announced settlements with five firms in Texas and Chicago, in which the companies neither admitted nor denied rules violations, but agreed to censures, suspensions and fines of $13,000 to $37,500. The companies were: 1 800DAYTRADE.COM of Richardson, Texas; Donnelly & Co. of Midland, Texas; LaSalle St. Securities of Chicago; Addison Securities of Dallas; and Choice Investments of Austin, Texas. The NASD also filed a complaint against Self Trading Securities of Austin, Texas. Three individuals were named as part of the companies' settlements. The NASD also filed disciplinary complaints against four other individuals.