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

To: Kerry Phineas who wrote (27603)	4/22/1998 1:19:00 PM
From: Mike M2	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 132070

Kerry, rules are made to be broken and they only matter if you get caught furthermore a slap on the wrist doesn't hurt much-g- Mike

To: Kerry Phineas who wrote (27603)	4/23/1998 11:18:00 AM
From: Knighty Tin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Kerry, There are rules, but they are loosy-goosy to begin with and even the solid parts are not enforced. For example, if the trading desk is the banker for the stock, all rules go out the window. Second, if they aren't the banker, how do you catch them? He likes Dell and I like Dell. People with the same information flow can make the same decision about a stock and defend it fairly easily. There are no johns that say analysts only or traders only. Or bars or restaurants. I can't remember the last time anyone was prosecuted for violating the Chinese Wall. This also goes for asset mgr. divisions of brokerage firms. Merrill is not supposed to give MLAM any advanced information and MLAM is not supposed to give Merrill priority in commission trades. And everyone is paid on how much money the entire firm makes. Oh, yeah, that leaves no room for abuse whatsoever. And this is not to pick on Merrill. Heck, at least they moved MLAM to Princeton. At lots of firms, they share the same building, library, restrooms, break rooms, elevators, secretaries, etc. It is like the rule not to tell your wife about a case when you are sitting on a jury. The only people who follow that rule find themselves in a court again, divorce court. <G> MB