OK, now the double-reverse:
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Defense Counsel: Mr. Asser, can you tell the Court why you trusted Trading Places and it analysts?
Asser: They claimed 94% accuracy on all plays. MB Trading and CyberTrader recommended them, to the point of allowing their trading lessons on their own brokerage firm websites. We saw our friends at Cyber and MBT every day at TP. They were there all the time congratulating everyone on choosing TP and their firms.
DC: Indeed. And who would these "employees" be?
Asser: Well, there was CyberJo, that's JO Speir marketing directors. Cute photo of her and her young daughter was up on TP's website for a long time, right next to Merlin and Julia sitting on the yacht. Then there were MBT-Steve, that's Steve Demarest. Nice guy until I questioned his deals with TP - then he turned on me and started asking questions about taxes. A few weeks later the IRS was informed I made $125 million with MBT and never paid the taxes. I wanted to pay those taxes on that $125 mill, believe me, but Terra Nova lost the funds I guess, because I never saw them.
DC: Your, Honor, I move to strike that last.
Hon. Judge X: Denied. You asked him about the employees, he answered you - and this Court already has established material issues related to the IRS, counsel.
DC: OK, Mr. Asser, no more about those employees, so don't say anything about MBT-Ross or MBT-Mark, MBT-Phil, no one cares. Now, why didn't you take all the recommendations TP advised you.
Asser: Well, at any one time there would be 5-10 recommendations simultaneously. I wanted to, but I guess only if I had a trading platform with displays like the NASDA Marketsite could I have followed them all. Also, I didn't have the capital.
DC: So which did you take? You had to choose the best ones right?
Asser: I took the recommendations they made first, and the ones they said were the best, because they called them so many times. This meant I was getting into and out of stocks a lot, trying my best to keep up with the recommendations, because there were so many, and Merlin told us if we didn't do our best to follow all of them, then we weren't worthy.
DC: This court is not interested in your commissions, Mr. Asser. Your counsel stated earlier that Merlin made recommendations. You are aware that MB Trading, Terra Nova, CyberTrader and Schwab have all supported previous arguments stating there was no advice?
Asser: Yes.
DC: Then these were really all your own decisions, weren't they? Trading Places and the defendants had nothing to do with it, did they?
Asser: You just asked me why I didn't act on all the recommendations. Now you ask me if they were my own recommendations?
DC: Move to strike.
Hon X: Denied. Please continue, Mr. Asser.
Asser: I paid a lot of money so Trading Places would give me advice. Cyber and MBT linked to them, saying they were a valuable outfit for traders. There were testimonials to how good they were n the TP website. So many traders like, Roxy, Stoned, benat, bentleyfin, Viper, Nimrod, Warlock and others were taking home 20 stones a day, that's what they said.
DC: "Stones"?
Asser: $1,000 in profits.
DC: Now why would you believe them? They were just clients. Could have been just playing games with you.
Asser: Merlin always congratulated them, told us what great traders they were, following his advice. He held them up as an example to the rest of us, what we might become.
DC: How congratulated?
Asser: Well, when I became an analyst, I saw there was a control button for Congratulations: [client name]. It was entered to give credit for following the advice, congratulating the client and also of course by definition in a way the recommendation.
Merlin [from the back of the room]: This is an outrage. A Duke has sat on this exchange since it was founded. Turn those machines back on! Turn those machines back ooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Counsel, you idiot!"
Hon. X: This Court is adjourned. Bailiff, fetch the restraints, and see to the needs of Mr. Merlin immediately! |
