1. Reading about Hedge Funds in The Sunday Times, to paraphrase, ORDINARY PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND HEDGE FUNDS. BUT, THAT’s the point, isn’t it; NO TRANSPARENCY. Further along in the Business Section, Gretchen Morgenson Has A 2013 Guide to Better Behavior. It’s. worth remembering and requesting:
A. Make it Sting; in matters of criminal liability, the shareholders shouldn’t be responsible for fines and penalties attributed to the CEO and the Board. Follow the WorldCom Settlement , each Director had to pay 20% of their Net Worth as part of the Criminal Settlement. This occurred in 2005, what’s changed?
B. Wake up the Regulators: Regulators should be held to a higher standard. When they fail in their responsibilities , their should be consequences.
2. Bye Bye to the Big Board: The proposed sale of the New York Stock Exchange raises questions for regulators! The proposed Merger of ICE AND THE NYSE , would create one of the world’s largest DERIVATIVE MARKET OPERATORS. The promotion of Flash Trades , which remain, UN-monitored and un- regulated, would dominate the Marketplace. This puts individual investors at risk, because they can’t take advantage of price valuations, and it imperils the economy by promoting trading for trading’s sake! THIS MERGER SHOULD REMAIN A PROPOSAL, IT’S WORSE FOR INDIVIDUAL. INVESTORS AND PROVIDES GREATER RISK FOR THE ECONOMY. The market should become more transparent, not more opaque.
3. Financial Times. BOOM YEAR FOR ACTIVIST INVESTORS: Investment Funds that seek to profit by pushing strategy shifts at corporations have returned 25% to investors. The enlightened hedge fund owners are changing corporate governance , one firm has concentrated on Corrections Corporation of America / trying to persuade the ” prison operator” to become a real estate investment trust. ( Change it’s focus, change the population and goals)
4.LOL There’s hope on the Horizon. Maya MacGuineas, of the non- partisan Campaign to fix the debt, has been focusing on this problem for 15 years. That means, in doable terms, we might all be sighing in relief in just 7 years, since real reform. (Takes between 22-30 Yrs). Meanwhile, when Mr Bowles told his mother that he was working to fix the deficit, she stated that was fine, BUT ” DON’T TOUCH MY MEDICARE.”
