Wall Street Is Already Occupied

ProPublica:

Last week, I had a conversation with a man who runs his own trading firm. In the process of fuming about competition from Goldman Sachs, he said with resignation and exasperation: "The fact that they were bailed out and can borrow for free - It's pretty sickening."

Read the whole story: ProPublica

 

Comments

[paulhunterjones]

06:55 PM on 12/01/2011

Clearly inequality exists between Wall Street firms. They are all competing against one and other. Before deciding what to do about this we need to understand why there is this inequality. Our financial system is based upon competition and inequality. The system does strive towards establishing any degree of parity among brokerage firms. In order to achieve equality it would have to be imposed. The financial markets would stop being free. There would have to be a governing apparatus that would prevent the accumulation of wealth in any particular firm. Maybe the financial industry would be run as some form of collective. Under this scenario innovation, efficiency and competitive spirit would be extinguished.

The bailout of Goldman Sachs was not popular but probably correct. Still there was no bailout of Lehman Brothers which was allowed to collapse. Its failure led to the 2008 financial crisis by causing interbank lending to dry up.

Is there any doubt that the complaining periphery small traders are making good money? It may just be that they want a larger share of the money pie and not an overhaul of the financial system.

[EHenry]

05:01 PM on 12/01/2011

OK - this is my meat. Not as a journalist relying on hearsay from sources but from more than 4 decades of successful experience inside the securities business. As the author of 2 books; what to watch out for in 1990; and what really happened, why and what to do about it now - I believe the author of the ProPublica piece is smart and cares! Unfortunately our media has no exhaustive frame of reference to read between the lines, or put freely offered excuses into proper perspective. By design - I have specialized in Real Estate Private Placements since 1968, so avoided the predicament of needing lots of trades to earn a living. In the late 60s Merrill made reps/brokers sell- advise clients to buy secondaries, securities it issued while it, Merrill, advised institutional clients to sell. I never trusted retail research from that moment and did not recommend market transactions. Many people made money in the market. However, the lack of substance has caught up with reality. If you really want to know the real truth about all the culprits and controlling issues read the only book to date that exposes the whole truth in 1 book. Forgive me that this is self serving, but I have been outraged by how Congress has deregulated greed and devalued ethics since 1986. I tried to warn about our disastrous path in 1990 which has now happened. A new depression - 60M people without any/enough money, or hope. www.howwegotswindled.com

[AJJJr]

05:44 PM on 12/01/2011

Thank you Henry.

[EHenry]

09:02 PM on 12/01/2011

AJJjr - i have read your comments - and we similar issues and similar responses. It is time for this movement and we have the new generation of adults who are fed up with all the greed and inequalities who are leading the way to a better dialogue and more outrage necessary to fight all the ultra rich special interests and the Government that enabled all the financial and social carnage. I tried to follow the link to the movement but it will not accept my password or username - ?? i am not good at this so if you know anyone have them contact me so i can help. Dave Satterfield who wrote the foreword for my book, and was formerly the business editor of the Miami Herald and 2 times Pulitzer Prize-winner thinks the book should become the movements manifesto. Apart from all the obective, accurate and analytical vehemence I have called for the establishment of The Doctrine of Fairness to replace all the greed and self-interest at the expense of the public good - and 4 weeks before the book was published suddenly there is a huge group of Americans calling for the same thing - even if the T Party and most Republicans, and some Dems don't get it. And if they don't it is because they must suffer from collective guilt or just plain sociopathic disregard for their fellow Americans/human beings! Thank you AJJJr for allowing me to feel less isolated.

[MamacitaOfLove]

02:17 PM on 12/01/2011

7. The three most important words you can say to an Occupier: 'I get it.'
Then offer Republican solutions to the problem.

8. Out: 'Entrepreneur.' In: 'Job creator.'
Use the phrases "small business owners" and "job creators" instead of "entrepreneurs" and "innovators."

9. Don't ever ask anyone to 'sacrifice.'
You talk about how 'we're all in this together.' We either succeed together or we fail together."

10. Always blame Washington.
Tell them, "You shouldn't be occupying Wall Street, you should be occupying Washington."

YahooNews

[AJJJr]

02:24 PM on 12/01/2011

This sounds like Newt's GOPAC meme http://www­­.informat­i­oncleari­ng­house.i­nfo­/artic­le44­43.htm , "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control".

It needs to be continually exposed for what it is. BRAINWASHING.

[MamacitaOfLove]

03:09 PM on 12/01/2011

Spin is exactly what it is and too many people fall for it.

[littlebigcheese]

02:24 PM on 12/01/2011

great post, mamacita.

cheers

[MamacitaOfLove]

03:10 PM on 12/01/2011

Hello, friend. I found it on Twitter, which I have grown to love. I never thought I would like it, but it's instantaneous info and I'm hooked!

[PhilipTaylor]

03:12 PM on 12/01/2011

X 2

[MamacitaOfLove]

02:17 PM on 12/01/2011

"I'm so scared of this anti-Wall Street effort. I'm frightened to death_," said Frank Luntz a Republican strategist and one of the nation's foremost experts on crafting the perfect political message. "They're having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism."

His 10 Do/Don'ts in speech to R Governors' Assoc. Mtg:

1. Don't say 'capitalism.'
"I'm trying to get that word removed and we're replacing it with either 'economic freedom' or 'free market,' " Luntz said. "The public . . . still prefers capitalism to socialism, but they think capitalism is immoral. And if we're seen as defenders of quote, Wall Street, end quote, we've got a problem."

2. Don't say that the government 'taxes the rich.' Instead, tell them that the government 'takes from the rich.'

3. Republicans should forget about winning the battle over the 'middle class.' Call them 'hardworking taxpayers.' "They cannot win if the fight is on hardworking taxpayers."

4. Don't talk about 'jobs.' Talk about 'careers.'

5. Don't say 'government spending.' Call it 'waste.'
"It's not about 'government spending.' It's about 'waste.' That's what makes people angry."

6. Don't ever say you're willing to 'compromise.'
What you use in that to replace it with is 'cooperation.' Compromise says that you're selling out those principles."

Cont'd....

[Librick]

02:01 PM on 12/01/2011

Incrementally, the financial sector has gained dominance in the economy. They fill the hole left by outsourced manufacturing.

Many individual retirement savings are invested in IRAs and 401Ks, forcing a stake in the markets. Traditional savings interest rates are at all time lows, pushing people to seek out the markets for a gain that beats inflation, proliferating participation in brokerages like E-trade and Scotttrade.

With all this influx of middle class money and little regulation, Wall Street feels they can do anything with no consequences because they know everyone has a stake in it. Most people don't understand what they are invested in, and with the fat lobbying power that money brings, Wallstreeters feel they can get bailed out of just about anything. After all, it's now your money they are playing with.

It's a rigged system, whereby you throw money in and they

[Bradley Greig Smith]

01:55 PM on 12/01/2011

The stock market loved the announcement that the FED has decided that QEIII would be a worldwide project. This too will fail and within a year we will all be paying for this at the checkout counter. There is no way you can dump this much money into the world economy without causing inflation. In fact that is monetary inflation and price inflation will soon follow. The only reason we didn't have massive inflation after QEI and QEII was because the banks sat on it, if they had dumped this money into the economy inflation would have doubled.

One very good hedge against inflation is precious metals. I personally like junk silver. But then again I bought in at around $6 however, I still think that at $32 it's possibly time to buy more. I'm hoping that this QEIII will cause one more dip possibly to bring it back under $30 and then I will buy in again.

Just wondering does the fact that I buy and trade silver make be lazy and dishonest and criminal so that I should be punished with higher taxes because I was smart and invested well?

[TempestTara]

01:59 PM on 12/01/2011

Silver is nice. I go to about three auctions a week. i buy just for the meltdown factor.

[BannedInBoston]

01:44 PM on 12/01/2011

Wall Street is PREoccupied, that's for sure -- with the love of money. (And everyone knows what that is the root of....)

[TempestTara]

01:49 PM on 12/01/2011

Bentleys?

[BannedInBoston]

01:55 PM on 12/01/2011

Very like....

[SelfCentered]

01:41 PM on 12/01/2011

This was really a great article. It talks about that insider, previously anonymous, view that we haven't gotten to see.

That's a huge part of the problem. We are in the midst of a great number of "proxy engagements" of different forms. Occupy Wall Street movement people stand their ground hoping to get the attention of those in power or those with the capability of implementing change. Instead, the proxy police show up to "clean the parks." When the banks are foreclosing, they send their attorneys, the collection agencies, and again law enforcement with the evictions. They feel nothing from what they do. They are insulated. Ironically, they were also insulated from the business consequences of their poor practices by the tax payers bailing them, the anonymous, out.

I'm tired of living in a pacified society where I can't meet those that oppose me face to face. As long as I have the money to pay an attorney, I get represented. That works just like Congress.

With a lifetime of achievements behind me, if I'm not willing to put out dollars, I don't count. Interesting valuing we've all come up with.

We should all enjoy our plastic Chinese junk, our plastic economy, our plastic society and most certainly our plastic government.

My hope is that the insulation is beginning to erode. The fat cats need to feel something, anything. And, we need to see their faces and they ours.

[MamacitaOfLove]

03:16 PM on 12/01/2011

"And, we need to see their faces and they ours."

I totally agree.

I believe this will be Phase 2 of Occupy: Congress Dec 5.

[TruelyFedUp]

03:19 PM on 12/01/2011

But we also have made ourselves anonymous - just look at this http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1011&bih=722&q=tent+cities+in+america+2011&gbv=2&oq=tent+cities&aq=2&aqi=g8g-m2&aql=&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=1252l5142l0l8746l11l11l0l1l1l0l299l2266l0.3.7l10l0

We use the same police force to keep those "nasty" folks away from our nice neighborhoods. There is not a lot of difference. Until we make available land and resources needed to provide each person's self-sustainability we are no different...

[LiamMc]

01:40 PM on 12/01/2011

"The national debt has given rise to joint stock companies, to dealings in negotiable effects of all kinds, and to agiotage, in a word, to stock exchange gambling and the modern bankocracy." (Marx)

[whythismess]

01:37 PM on 12/01/2011

this is why dems lose w ows. first they join in bashing the rich, then find out that they ARE the rich (1 % president 1% congress) and say "hey they aint all bad".

no wonder you are not in a majority.

[MamacitaOfLove]

01:50 PM on 12/01/2011

Huh?

[Karma2U]

01:36 PM on 12/01/2011

Those who don't see Wall Street for the casino that it is - are willfully ignorant.

[TempestTara]

01:37 PM on 12/01/2011

I play everyday. It is fun and financially rewarding.

[outlandish]

01:40 PM on 12/01/2011

Are you a lady of the night?

[LeanLeftAmerica]

01:52 PM on 12/01/2011

Yes - financially rewarding...

As soon as we pay off the $14 trillion we owe, we can say we broke even.

[outlandish]

01:38 PM on 12/01/2011

It's more like progam enhance ignorance.

[Maarten Wentink]

01:26 PM on 12/01/2011

Now here is a Republican Presidential Candidate that the concervatives should support. He makes more sense than all the other ones.

http://unitedrepublic.org/2011/republican-presidential-candidate-washington-is-corrupt/

[GOPtakesEllisDee]

01:28 PM on 12/01/2011

I sorta like him... but then again he was a democrat.

[MamacitaOfLove]

01:52 PM on 12/01/2011

I do too - what I know of him, which I admit, isn't a lot.

[bikerdude]

01:35 PM on 12/01/2011

If I had a tanker full of snake oil, I'd hire him as my sales manager...

[TempestTara]

01:25 PM on 12/01/2011

Libs hate Wallstreet but love Obama ...I just dont get it

[iLoveOldNY]

01:27 PM on 12/01/2011

I do?

[TempestTara]

01:29 PM on 12/01/2011

whats the secret?

[solvseus]

01:53 PM on 12/01/2011

Where have you been? "Liberals" are disappointed with Obama and constantly complain about his compromises. OWS has protested him as well. They just realize he's still the better of the 2 main options that we'll have regarding such things. Same way the TP will feel about Romney I'm guessing.

[TempestTara]

02:06 PM on 12/01/2011

liberals love the police one day hate them the next. OWS they hated them. A Wisconsin main they fall back in love with them...Very fickled.

[daxster9]

01:25 PM on 12/01/2011

missjulz,

Greater fairness means rewarding hard work and innovation. NOT handing out stimulus money to politically well connected companies and campaign donors.

Penalizing earned success detroys jobs and lowers economic growth, which especially hurts poor people.

[iLoveOldNY]

01:29 PM on 12/01/2011

Know what hurts poor people?

Cutting their schools and food stamps.

Denying them health care.

[TempestTara]

01:33 PM on 12/01/2011

they should try working two or three jobs and invest in the market.

[Bradley Greig Smith]

01:30 PM on 12/01/2011

Right on, there is a huge difference between success and wealth through theft.

[daxster9]

01:31 PM on 12/01/2011

Bingo. But most here fail to make that distinction.

[Hotspot]

01:57 PM on 12/01/2011

. . . like the Wall Street Bankstera the American tax payer supports.

[GOPtakesEllisDee]

01:22 PM on 12/01/2011

Oh goody... a new banking main.