Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Microcap & Penny Stocks : The Hartcourt Companies, Inc. (HRCT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SinoKnowledge who wrote (1854)	2/13/2001 12:58:18 AM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 2413

Pump and Dump: The Inside Story of D.H. Blair By Timothy Harper Section 1: Greed is Not Good Throughout most of the 1990s, pretty much everybody who worked on Wall Street knew that D.H. Blair & Co. was a brokerage house that played fast and loose with the rules. It was the kind of place where young brokers could make a lot of money fast -- especially if they weren’t bothered by ethics, or by losing money for their clients. Consequently, it was no surprise last month when 15 former executives and brokers at the now-defunct D.H. Blair were indicted by the Manhattan district attorney on charges of enterprise corruption -- a polite legal term for using a supposedly legitimate company for fraud and racketeering. What was shocking was that it took so long for authorities to bring criminal charges against Blair’s shady practices. The indictments against D.H. Blair and some former employees -- including the chairman, two vice chairmen, the head trader and 11 brokers -- alleged that Blair was “a criminal enterprise” from 1989 until 1998, when it was closed. The 173-count indictment accuses Blair and its brokers of cheating clients out of tens of millions of dollars in a number of ways. Among the alleged illegal acts were stock price manipulation, insider trading, high-pressure sales tactics, selling shares for more than their market prices and stealing client lists from other brokerages. Why did it take so long to bring action against D.H. Blair? Why is it so hard for prosecutors to bring charges against any crooked brokerage? The answers lie in a basic conflict of interest in the financial services industry, and in the fundamental way that brokers do business with their clients. Many Americans see brokers as trusted professional advisors. In reality, brokers are first and foremost sales people. Their top priority is to make money for themselves and their companies, not for investors. They tell us the best way to make money in the market is to buy and hold, but they make money only if we buy and sell and buy again. Brokers are not required to have any training or education in personal finance, economics or the markets. Their only requirement is to pass the Series 7 exam. Seventy out of 100 is a passing grade. My book License to Steal was written with a former D.H. Blair stockbroker -- Blair & Co. was “Junior College” in the book -- who freely described the way that he and his colleagues misled investors who often thought of themselves as sophisticated players in the markets. In fact, my anonymous collaborator preferred experienced clients with larger portfolios. He wasn’t interested in gullible novice investors. “Pikers” he called them. Next: Of Stocks and Snake Oil

To: SinoKnowledge who wrote (1854)	2/13/2001 12:58:18 AM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 2413

Pump and Dump: The Inside Story of D.H. Blair By Timothy Harper Section 1: Greed is Not Good Throughout most of the 1990s, pretty much everybody who worked on Wall Street knew that D.H. Blair & Co. was a brokerage house that played fast and loose with the rules. It was the kind of place where young brokers could make a lot of money fast -- especially if they weren’t bothered by ethics, or by losing money for their clients. Consequently, it was no surprise last month when 15 former executives and brokers at the now-defunct D.H. Blair were indicted by the Manhattan district attorney on charges of enterprise corruption -- a polite legal term for using a supposedly legitimate company for fraud and racketeering. What was shocking was that it took so long for authorities to bring criminal charges against Blair’s shady practices. The indictments against D.H. Blair and some former employees -- including the chairman, two vice chairmen, the head trader and 11 brokers -- alleged that Blair was “a criminal enterprise” from 1989 until 1998, when it was closed. The 173-count indictment accuses Blair and its brokers of cheating clients out of tens of millions of dollars in a number of ways. Among the alleged illegal acts were stock price manipulation, insider trading, high-pressure sales tactics, selling shares for more than their market prices and stealing client lists from other brokerages. Why did it take so long to bring action against D.H. Blair? Why is it so hard for prosecutors to bring charges against any crooked brokerage? The answers lie in a basic conflict of interest in the financial services industry, and in the fundamental way that brokers do business with their clients. Many Americans see brokers as trusted professional advisors. In reality, brokers are first and foremost sales people. Their top priority is to make money for themselves and their companies, not for investors. They tell us the best way to make money in the market is to buy and hold, but they make money only if we buy and sell and buy again. Brokers are not required to have any training or education in personal finance, economics or the markets. Their only requirement is to pass the Series 7 exam. Seventy out of 100 is a passing grade. My book License to Steal was written with a former D.H. Blair stockbroker -- Blair & Co. was “Junior College” in the book -- who freely described the way that he and his colleagues misled investors who often thought of themselves as sophisticated players in the markets. In fact, my anonymous collaborator preferred experienced clients with larger portfolios. He wasn’t interested in gullible novice investors. “Pikers” he called them. Next: Of Stocks and Snake Oil