The Trump administration tax windfall has released billions of dollars into the economy. This windfall has caused more than a few major companies to announce that at least some of this tax money will be used to build much-needed infrastructure, increase employee wages and allow for employee bonuses. Overall it looks as if the economy… [Read More]
The Epic Story of Fannie and Freddie: Is There an End in Sight?
Congress has long debated replacing Fannie and Freddie, who were at ground zero of the 2008 crisis as federally charted privately owned companies. They’d been given directives by Congress to make housing affordable, which pretty much meant: fulfill the American dream by having a chicken in every pot, a car in every driveway and a… [Read More]
Citigroup: The Poster Child of Bad Mortgages!
This past Sunday the PBS documentary produced by WNET, New York, about Sherry Hunt, one of my former chief underwriters (Sherry blew the whistle on Citigroup four years after I was thrown out for warning about their bad mortgages), and myself aired on KERA Channel 13, Dallas PBS. The documentary, entitled “The Whistleblower,” is the first episode in… [Read More]
The House the Revolving Door Built
Last week, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions named Geoffrey S. Berman as interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Berman’s appointment was reportedly supported by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. This high profile office is responsible for Wall Street enforcement and has traditionally been one of the most aggressive pursuers of… [Read More]
Tax Cuts: Will the Rich Get Richer?
So who will really benefit from the latest tax cuts and overseas repatriation? Will companies invest more in their employees and infrastructure so the middle class and society as a whole benefit or will the rich get richer and companies use the “tax gifts” to buy back more stock and engage in the financial engineering … [Read More]
Wall Street, The Fed and Ethics!
Ray Dalia, Founder of Bridgewater Associates said: ”You’re going to be wrong a fair amount of times; so the issue is, how do you be wrong well?” Reading about Randal Quarles, the Federal Reserve’s first-ever vice chair of supervision recusing himself from matters related to Wells Fargo, I asked myself that question, “how do you… [Read More]
Will Small Investment Advisory Firms Go the Way of Community Banks?
This last week I was honored to be invited back to speak to a conference of the Investments and Wealth Institute, a highly regarded professional association for financial advisors, investment consultants, and wealth managers who embrace excellence and ethics. As I was preparing, I noted the strong parallels between the breakdowns of ethics in banking,… [Read More]
Trump and Wall Street vs. Cordray and the American Consumer: All Out War?
This past weekend, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) erupted into chaos as two leaders were appointed as the agency’s acting director. The chaos continues this week between the two acting directors with aggressive emails, donuts and a requested restraining order. So is this a power play? Or a legitimate stance? Either way, there is… [Read More]
A Fairy Tale According to Former DOJ Prosecutor Nicolas Burton
A recent Washington Post article title recently caught my eye: Five Myths About White Collar Crime. As I read the article, all I could think of was that this is a fairy tale by Grimm. Surely no one would believe such dribble! Then I realized yes they would, they have and they will continue to do so unless… [Read More]
How Do You Fix SEC Broken Windows? The answer is – you can’t!
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently announced it is discontinuing their enforcement program requiring admissions of wrongdoing and the prosecutorial approach they were supposedly taking after the 2008 financial crisis. Steven Peikin, co-director of the SEC’s enforcement division, said the SEC would drop the “broken windows” strategy of pursuing many cases over even… [Read More]
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