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Post by WWJDthrume on Oct 7, 2004 15:05:58 GMT -5
This is very long in Six Parts-
Part I
StockGate: 'Dateline' Naked Short Feature Now Said To Be Imminent
Oct 7, 2004 (financialwire.net via COMTEX) -- (FinancialWire) The Faulking Truth (http://www.faulkingtruth.com) has reported that the "Dateline NBC" feature from the General Electric (GE) unit is still being produced, and may wrap up in time for a bombastic debut before the elections three weeks from now.
The online publication also reported yet another lawsuit by the O'Quinn legal combine, this one naming E*Trade (ET), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Bear Stearns (BSC), among others as defendants.
There was some speculation that when O'Quinn's suit on behalf of Jag Media Holdings (JGMHA)(JAGH) was dismissed due to filing deficiencies, it might have cooled Dateline's interest.
Not so, reports Mark Faulk, who published a dialogue between himself and Sharon Hoffman, who he said is the producer working on the StockGate piece:
"Sharon, I have information that you are planning to air the segment on the stock market scandal
'sometime in the next three weeks'. My sources, which are extremely credible, have told me that they are '90% certain that it will air before the election on Nov. 2'.
"As always, I would love to have some kind of confirmation from you that this is accurate."
His published response purportedly from Hoffman:
"Mr. Faulk: Thanks for your email. We are, in fact, still shooting interviews for the story, and it does not yet have a scheduled air date. I will definitely email you to alert you to the air date as soon as I know what it is, since I know you and your readers have a strong interest in the subject. Regards, Sharon Hoffman."
"In answer to my followup question about whether the segment will air before the election, Faulk said, "Hoffman told me that 'there is a chance we'll air before the election, but also a chance that we won't. I'll let you know when I know'."
The reportage is said to focus on allegations that "brokers, through their wholly owned clearing house system, the Depository Trust Corporation (DTCC), have effectively been creating counterfeit shares of stock through their 'Stock Borrow Program', which allows brokers to 'borrow' the same shares over and over again, artificially inflating the share count and driving the price of the stock down. They also claim that the governing body that has been entrusted with the task of protecting the individual investors, the self-proclaimed 'Investor's Advocate', the SEC, has failed to protect investors, and has succumbed to pressure from the brokers who profit from the naked short selling scandal, said Faulk.
"We have also confirmed that several states have opened investigations into the naked short selling scandal, including Nevada , Washington, California, Florida, and Louisiana. In fact, Louisiana has filed a criminal subpoena against Paine Webber for failure to deliver shares of Nutek, a Las Vegas, Nevada holding company. According to our sources, several other states are considering similar investigations," said Faulk.
The campaign against illegal and manipulative naked short selling suffered a major blow recently as a U.S. District Judge dismissed Jag Media Holdings' (JAGH) suit upon a motion by some 75 defendants, including A.G. Edwards (AGE) and Citigroup's (C) Citibank.
It left leaders of the campaign disillusioned at the quality of legal work being performed by the vaunted law firms Christian, Smith, Wukoson and Jewell, and OQuinn, Laminack and Pirtle, whose notches already include environmental targets, the breast implant industry and the tobacco industry.
According to Dow Jones (DJ) reporter Carol Remond who first broke the story, Jag Media and Gary Valinoti, the company's former chief executive, sued over 100 brokerage firms, investment firms and financial institutions in July 2002, alleging that they entered into a civil conspiracy and concert of action to short sell Jag Media's stock.
Stockgate, a growing global malady, is being contested on multiple levels, including judicial, legislative and political.
Delegates to the September 20 annual SEC Forum on Small Business passed several resolutions on the issue to be submitted to the SEC. Among them were:
1. Extend Reg. SHO to apply to all publicly traded companies including non-reporting companies.
2. Recommend that the SEC Commissioners reinstate the proposed provision in Regulation SHO that prohibited a selling shareholder from withdrawing his/her profits from the trade until after delivery of the underlying sold shares.
3. SEC should require all SROs, and any clearinghouse for an SRO that receives securities into accounts for security holders to disclose the fact of the ability to loan the securities in the accounts and allow security holders to opt out of allowing the securities to be loaned.
Robert Shapiro, chair of Sonecon LLC, an economic advisory firm and former Under Secretary of Commerce from 1998 to 2001 and principal economic advisor to President William Clinton in his 1992 campaign, has expressed "serious concerns about the impact of the final version of Regulation SHO regarding short sales on the equity and transparency of our equity markets."
Shapiro holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and has been a Fellow of the National Bureau
of Economic Research, the Brookings Institution, and Harvard University.
Shapiro said the SEC is correct to broaden the terms of regulation of short sales, and applauded the section directing broker dealers to mark all equity orders as "long," "short" or "short exempt." More important, he said, the new "locate and delivery" requirements could substantially reduce stock manipulation carried out through naked short sales -- but only if those requirements are widely applied and strictly enforced.
"Unfortunately, Regulation SHO does not meet either of these two standards. The troubling result is that the Regulation, in effect, establishes an official level of tolerance for unsettled or naked short sales," Shapiro charged.
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Post by WWJDthrume on Oct 7, 2004 15:07:20 GMT -5
Part II Shapiro said he strongly concurs with the comments of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) on the draft rule, which said NASAA was "unable to determine why the Commission proposes to permit significant settlement failures at all. While there are instances when settlement may be legitimately delayed, existing regulations provide for extensions for settlement. If the Commission continues to allow settlement failures, it may well facilitate the harm that the proposal is designed to remedy." "Until Regulation SHO, this economic counterfeiting has been facilitated by electronic record keeping and the apparent practice of the DTCC and its subsidiary National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) of often disregarding persistent unsettled short positions. With Regulation SHO, the SEC has provided its implicit imprimatur for the same practice in cases covering the vast majority of public companies and billions of dollars." Shapiro urged the SEC to "reconsider the provisions of Regulations SHO and, at a minimum, apply the 'locate and delivery' requirements for threshold securities to all short sale transactions, and adopt a zero-tolerance policy for significant settlement failures. American investors should feel confident that the SEC will ensure the integrity of every equity transaction they undertake and fully protect their right to receive what they have paid for." While the battle is still waged in the U.S., some of the threats to small investors' investments are being exacted overseas. Despite some 250 companies winning their exit pass, the FaulkingTruth.com website reported that dozens of companies are still being refused delistings from the Berlin-Bremin Exchange, including ImageWare Systems (IW) and Action Products International (APII). FinancialWire also reported that Sontra Medical Corp. (SONT) is among those whose shares Berlin has resisted delisting. In all, Faulk said Berliner Freiverkehr CEO Holger Timm reported he has been asked by 386 firms to cease their trading. He is said to have balked at the term delisting, noting that "Trading foreign shares on the third-tier market segment at the Berlin or any other German exchange is not being regarded as a 'listing', therefore it is incorrect to use the term 'delisting' if a company wants to cease trading." FaulkingTruth said others refused delistings include Endevco Inc. (ENDE), Limelight Media Group (LMMG), IpVoice Communications (OTCBB: IPVO), now NewMarket Technology Inc, (NMKT), Force Protection (FRCP), Cyber Digital Inc. (CYBD), and XRAYMEDIA (XRYM). Others mentioned yesterday included Military Communications Technology (MLTA), Dalrada Financial Corp. (DRDF), and Mannatech Inc. (MTEX). Timm sent a letter to companies asking to be delisted, which promised if "after considering the above aspects, should you still prefer your stocks not to be traded in Germany we will respect your wish and apply for delisting on the Berlin stock exchange." However, for dozens of companies, that appears to have been an empty offer. In a comment letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Larry Thompson, Managing Director and Senior Deputy General Counsel for the DTCC, said it is a violation of Section 17A of the Securities Act of 1934 to impose any process or restriction that would cause delays in the settlement process, said the online newsletter, published by www.investigatethesec.com. "Although not the intent of the comment letter, Mr. Thomson has just become part of a growing number of people who contend that the most recent short selling reform package out of the SEC, Regulation SHO, may not be in compliance with federal law. "The letter submitted to the SEC on August 16, 2004 was addressing the SEC's proposal to restrict all transfer agents from clearing trades on those issuers who created a 'Custody Only"' restriction on the trading of their securities," noted the newsletter. "Many companies have, in the past sought out this 'self-help' measure to reduce the abuses of naked short selling. Without regulatory support in the fraud this was the only possible means of protection available to these issuers. Thomson, whose agency would stand to lose business by this 'Custody Only' style of trading, was agreeing with the SEC's proposal when he ventured into the legal aspects of the issuers proposed restrictions. "His legal points, presumably unintended, actually shot squarely across the bow of the SEC's Regulation SHO," said StockGate Today, pointing to www.sec.gov/rules/proposed/s72404/s72404-14.pdf"Thompson concludes his opinion letter to the SEC by surmising that the SEC should proceed on with this proposal as written because issuers are not authorized to put restrictions on their stock. For transfer agents to clear these stocks would be aiding and abetting unlawful conduct. The point of law being the settlement requirements defined in Section 17A of the Securities Act of 1934. |
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Post by WWJDthrume on Oct 7, 2004 15:08:00 GMT -5
Part III "Thus, asked the newsletter, with Thompson "claiming that a delay in the settlement of trades is unlawful how can Regulation SHO be grounded by the presumption that trade settlements are not a mandatory part of the Markets? "The SEC, in Regulation SHO claims that 4% of all publicly traded companies have levels of settlement failures that exceed an abusive threshold. They also admit that in some cases the failures exceed the entire public float of companies. These are market conditions not only create delays and inefficiencies but fraud and manipulation as well. The SEC's final package never addressed forced settlements and forced timelines on the failures but instead simply threatened 'future enforcement' possibilities and placed "restrictions' above abusive levels. The final Regulation SHO rules are at www.sec.gov/rules/final/34-50103.htm. The trade reporting requirements are at www.nasdr.com/2610_2004.asp#04-54. Recently it was reported that regulated companies, such as dealers, brokers, mutual fund companies, financing firms, and investment houses, have been told they have to submit revised operating manuals to incorporate changes in the Anti-Money-Laundering Act of 2001 by Oct. 29. The key is a requirement that regulated firms "must know their customers" to prevent money-laundering practices. The firms have to have a procedure to get satisfactory proof of the customer's identity and ensure that effective procedures for verifying the identity of new customers are in place. However, FinancialWire interviews with spokespersons at the SEC has determined that individuals may open nominee offshore firms without providing their identities to anyone, and by using a multiple number of such nominee firms can even gain complete control of a public company while never revealing their true identities. The SEC told FinancialWire that it has no power to require identification of individuals behind such firms. Columnist Jack Anderson has stated that millions if not billions of dollars are laundered through naked short selling schemes. Twenty civil cases have now been filed by O'Quinn, Laminack & Pirtle, Christian Smith & Jewell, and Heard, Robins, Cloud, Lubel & Greenwood, LLP, all of Houston, Texas. The consortium of law firms, famed for the giant awards they obtained suing tobacco companies. The group recently brought suit against the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp. for allegedly participating in the short-selling conspiracy through its "stock borrow" program which the attorneys say is nothing more than an illegal electronic printing press for stock certificates. Lead counsel John O'Quinn said: "We are committed to the relentless pursuit of justice." All this has led to some major changes on Wall Street, if not regulatory attentiveness. Recently observers were surprised to find a comment letter submitted to the SEC by Mike Alexander, Senior VP of Charles Schwab, that admits outright that brokerages regularly ignore rules and regulations, saying it is not rules that need to be written; it is changes in behavior that is needed. The comments were directed towards proposed changes in the U.S. settlement system, but could easily apply to other regulations as well. "Improvements in the U.S. settlement system will only be truly achieved if and when regulations are rationalized to ensure that all market participants are held accountable for compliance. For example, the industry has struggled with the issue of institutional trade affirmation for quite some time now. While the benefits to the clearance and settlement system are self-evident, Buy-Side firms and Custodian banks have been resistant to make those changes that provide for same-day trade confirmation / affirmation and assurance of trade settlement," said Alexander. "Schwab opposes the notion that securities intermediaries such as broker-dealers be required to police compliance," he stated. "The NYSE and other SROs have had trade affirmation rules on their books for some time. However, such rules have not been effective in changing the behavior of Buy-Side firms or their custodians; nor do the rules provide assurance that the affirmed trade will settle. "Recognition of this fact is evidence that changes to the settlement cycle not only require overhauling systems, but also changing behavior. We believe that only by holding all market participants directly accountable for making required affirmations will the necessary changes to behavior," he stated at www.sec.gov/rules/concept/s71304/charlesschwab061604.pdf . "The SEC claims that the number of companies involved in this 'threshold security' category is 4% of all publicly traded companies. If in fact it is that small the process is certainly manageable," said the website InvestigatetheSEC.com at www.investigatethesec.com . "It is also the right of every issuer, in protecting their business and their investors to know the status of their stock trading." Some were discussing whether the SEC can keep such information private under the Freedom of Information Act. The marketplace is already upset over promises by the Berlin Stock Exchange, since broken, that it would delist any company upon request. "Please understand that cessation of trading in the shares of XRAYMEDIA Inc. (XRYM) is not possible," the exchange told one such requester. It's not just U.S. companies such as Whistler Investments (WHIS), Sonoran Energy (OTCBB: SNRN), Celsion Corporation (CLN), and eLinear Inc. (ELU) or Israeli companies that have had serious concerns about their unannounced and unathrorized listings on the Berlin-Bremen Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, Whistler, Sonoran and eLinear have announced they have successfully secured their delistings, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has rescheduled its open hearing to consider the adoption of amendments to Regulation Sho to October 7 at 9:30 a.m. The announcement is at www.sec.gov/news/digest/dig061504.txt . According to court filings supported by the O'Quinn/Christian legal network, almost $1 billion annually is received by the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp. for its "Stock Borrow Program," which the lawsuits claim is just a fancy name for counterfeiting, as the DTCC purportedly lends out many multiples of the actual certificates in the float. Apparently the SEC receives a transaction fee for each transaction facilitated by these loans of non-existent certificates, which could knock a hole in its budget should the revenues from the practice be halted. The North American Securities Administrators Association, comprised of state and Canadian regulators, has pointedly told the SEC that either it must rethink its cozy DTCC relationship, or it hints, some of its more aggressive state practitioners (think Eliot Spitzer) may do the rethinking for the SEC. Naked short selling is worrisome for hundreds of small U.S. companies, including those recently asking to be delisted from the Berlin Stock Exchange, such as Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc. (GPXM), Nannaco, Inc. (NNCO), 5G Wireless Communications, Inc. (FGWC), CyberAds, Inc. (CYAD), Provectus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PVCT), House of Brussels Chocolates (HBSL), InforMedix, Inc. (IFMX), Tissera, Inc. (TSSR), Americana Publishing, Inc. (OTCBB: APBH), Celsion Corporation (CLN), ChampionLyte Holdings, Inc. (CPLY), Pickups Plus, Inc. (PUPS), China Wireless Communications Inc. (CWLC), CareDecision Corp. (CDED), Titan General Holdings, Inc. (TTGH), IPVoice Communications, Inc. (OTCBB: IPVO), Whistler Investments (WHIS), WARP Technology Holdings, Inc. (WRPT), BGR Corp. (OTCBB: BGRR), ICOA, Inc., (ICOA), DICUT, INC. (OTCBB: DCUTE), NHC Communications Inc. (NHC), Stratus Services Group, Inc. (OTCBB: SERV), Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc. (GPXM). Berliner Freiverkehr (Aktien) AG has been singled out as the broker and market maker that has been "listing" the companies. It is suspected that one broker, RA Angsar Limprecht, is involved in all if not most of the listings. Small public companies are squeezed not only by hedge funds, naked short sellers, overseas listers such as the Berlin Stock Exchange, and the out-of-control "Stock Borrow Program" run by the governance-conflict-laden Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, but to the amazement of the industry, as often and not by their own regulators. A new staff recommendation by Annette Nazareth, director of the division of market regulation at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to "outlaw" ownership of paper certificates at the same time the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation is under intense scrutiny for alleged electronic counterfeiting has begun hitting the small public company markets, company executives, shareholders and manipulative short-selling opponents like the proverbial ton of bricks. A Dow Jones (DJ) article by Judith Burns sparked the uproar, as the inextricably intertwined web of connections between the SEC and the DTC, which is sagging from the weight of conflicted governance by representatives from a rollcall of industry heavyweights, including NASD, which owns NASDAQ (NDAQ), the New York Stock Exchange, Goldman Sachs (GS) and Lehman Brothers (LEH), to name only a few. The Dow Jones report noted that "naked short-selling occurs when sellers don't buy shares to replace those they borrowed, a manipulative practice that can drive a company's stock price sharply lower. The recent lawsuit filed by Nanopierce Technologies (NPCT) alleges that the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp. has a lot of reasons, almost one billion of them a year, to keep illegal naked short selling in operation. It was the shot across the bow by the legendary Houston law firms of Christian, Smith, Wukoson and Jewell, and OQuinn, Laminack and Pirtle, whose notches already include environmental targets, the breast implant industry and the tobacco industry, all brought to their knees. |
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Post by WWJDthrume on Oct 7, 2004 15:08:48 GMT -5
Part IV
In comments to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, C. Austin Burrell, who is providing litigation support and research for the law firms, said that StockGate is more massive than anyone may have imagined. "Illegal Naked Short Selling has stripped hundreds of billions, if not TRILLIONS, of dollars from American investors," and have resulted in over 7,000 public companies having been "shorted out of existence over the past six years." Burrell said some experts believe as much as $1 trillion to $3 trillion has been lost to this practice.
He stated that the restrictions on short selling were deliberately put into the Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934 because of the first-hand evidence then available that the "sheer scale of the crashes was a direct result of intentional manipulation of US markets through abusive short selling by a massive conspiracy."
Burrell noted that the 65-lawyer team presided over by lead lawyers Wes Christian and John O'Quinn has uncovered more than 1,200 hedge fund and offshore accounts working through more than 150 broker-dealers and market makers in a joint cooperative effort to strip small and medium size public companies of their value.
Last year, many besieged public companies sought refuge from the manipulation by seeking to exit the DTC, but on October 7, 2003, the SEC stated "the issues surrounding naked short selling are not germane to the manner in which DTC operates as a depository registered as a clearing agency. Decisions to engage in such transactions are made by parties other than DTC. DTC does not allow its participants to establish short positions resulting from their failure to deliver securities at settlement. While the Commission appreciates commenters' concerns about manipulative activity, those concerns must be addressed by other means."
According to lawyer Christian, et.al., the DTC is at the very heart of the problem, and has almost a billion dollars a year at stake in keeping the problem.
The Depository Trust Company (DTC) is a member of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, a limited-purpose trust company under New York State banking law and a registered clearing agency with the SEC. The depository supposedly brings efficiency to the securities industry by retaining custody of some 2 million securities issues, effectively "dematerializing" most of them so that they exist only as electronic files rather than as countless pieces of paper. The depository also provides the services necessary for the maintenance of the securities it has in "custody."
According to the suit, the DTCC has an enormous pecuniary and conflicted interest in the entire short selling scandal through the huge income stream they were realizing from it every day. They have made literally billions of dollars lending individual real shares, in most cases over and over, getting a fee each time they made a journal entry in the "Stock Borrow Program."
The Stock Borrow Program was purportedly set up to facilitate expedited clearance of stock trades. Somewhere along the line, the DTCC became aware that if it could lend a single share an unlimited number of times, it could collect a fee each time, according to Burrell. "There are numerous cases of a single share being lent ten or many more times," giving rise to the complaint that the DTCC has been electronically counterfeiting just as was done via printed certificates before the Crash.
"Such re-hypothecation has in effect made the potential 'float' in a single company's shares virtually unlimited and the term 'float' meaningless. Shares could be electronically created/counterfeited/kited without a registration statement being filed, and without the underlying company having any knowledge such shares are being sold or even in existence." Burrell said the Christian/O'Quinn lawsuits will seek to show that the "counterfeiting/creation of unregistered shares is a specific violation of the Securities Act of 1933, barring the 'Sale of Unregistered Securities'."
One lawsuit alleges that the DTC has a colossal disincentive to stop the "stock borrow" program, booking revenues from services of $425,416,000 and similarly, the NSCC deriving revenues of $293,133,000.
Further, the suit alleges that "open positions" resulting from this activity at the close of business on December 31, 2003, "approximated $3,025,467,000" due to NSCC, and $2,303,717,000 due by NSCC, and unsettled positions of $721,750,000 for securities borrowed through the NSCC's "Stock Borrow Program."
Nanopierce claims that DTCC and NSCC have joined in a "scheme" to "manipulate downward the price of the affected securities, thereby reducing the market value of the open fail to deliver positions." The suit also claims that the s have permitted sellers to maintain open fail to deliver positions of tens of millions of shares for periods of a year and even longer.
It quotes the National Association of Security Dealers as admitting that "concerns have been raised by members, issuers, investors and other interested parties about potentially abusive short selling activities occurring in the marketplace. In particular, naked short selling, or selling short without borrowing securities to make delivery, can result in long term failures to deliver, including aggregate failures to deliver that exceed the total float of a security. NASD believes such extended failures to deliver can have a negative effect on the market. Among other things, by not having to deliver securities, naked short sellers can take on larger short positions than would otherwise be permissible, which can facilitate manipulative activity."
The largely unregulated DTC has become something of a defacto Czar presiding over the entire U.S. markets system, wielding more day-to-day influence and control than the SEC, the NASD and NASDAQ combined. And, as the SEC's October 7 ruling indicates, its monopoly over the electronic trading system appears even to be protected.
The Depository Trust and Clearing Corp.'s two preferred shareholders are the New York Stock Exchange and the NASD, a regulatory agency that also owns the NASDAQ (NDAQ) and the embattled American Stock Exchange! Regulators, regulate thyself?
In an era when corporate governance is the primary interest for the SEC and state regulators, the DTCC is hardly a role model. Its 21 directors represent a virtual litany of conflict:
They include Bradley Abelow, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (GS); Jonathan E. Beyman, Chief Information Officer, Lehman Brothers (LEH); Frank J. Bisignano, Chief Administrative Officer and Senior Executive Vice President, Citigroup / Solomon Smith Barney's Corporate Investment Bank (C); Michael C. Bodson, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley (MWD); Gary Bullock, Global Head of Logistics, Infrastructure, UBS Investment Bank (UBS); Stephen P. Casper, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, Fischer Francis Trees & Watts, Inc.; Jill M. Considine,Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC);
Also, Paul F. Costello, President, Business Services Group, Wachovia Securities (WB); John W. Cummings, Senior Vice President & Head of Global Technology & Services, Merrill Lynch & Co. (MER); Donald F. Donahue, Chief Operating Officer, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC); Norman Eaker, General Partner, Edward Jones; George Hrabovsky, President, Alliance Global Investors Service; Catherine R. Kinney, President and Co-Chief Operating Officer, New York Stock Exchange; Thomas J. McCrossan, Executive Vice President, State Street Corporation (STT); Eileen K. Murray, Managing Director, Credit Suisse First Boston (CSR); James P. Palermo, Vice Chairman, Mellon Financial Corporation (MEL); Thomas J. Perna, Senior Executive Vice President, Financial Companies Services Sector of The Bank of New York (BNY); Ronald Purpora, Chief Executive Officer, Garban LLC; Douglas Shulman, President, Regulatory Services and Operations, NASD; and Thompson M. Swayne, Executive Vice President, JPMorgan Chase (JPM).
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Post by WWJDthrume on Oct 7, 2004 15:10:02 GMT -5
Part V In their comments to the SEC regarding Regulation SHO in January, the 50 state regulators, through their association, the North American Association of Securities Administrators (NASAA) issued what many consider to be a strong warning that if the DTC is not dealt with in the final regulations, state regulators such as New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer may step to the plate. In what many considered to have been explosive comments, Ralph Lambiase, NASAA president and Director of the Connecticut Division of Securities, warned "NASAA urges the Commission to reconsider its stance regarding the role of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (the DTC). As a threshold matter, NASAA believes that the Commission should explicitly prohibit the DTC from lending more shares of a security than it actually holds. The ability of the overall proposed rule would be severely impared unless the Commission undertakes to implement such a prohibition." Recently, leading market makers and brokers named in various lawsuits and other actions, including FleetBoston (NYSE: FBF), Goldman, Sachs & Co. (GS), H. Myerson & Co., Inc. (NASDAQ: MHMY), Olde / H&R Block (HRB), Charles Schwab (SCH), Toronto-Dominion's (TD), TD Waterhouse Group, Bank of America's (BAC) Banc of America Securities LLC, Societe Generale's (SCGLF) SG Cowen Securities Corp. vFinance, Inc. (VFIN), Knight Trading Group, Inc. (NITE), A.G. Edwards, Inc. (AGE), Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD), Deutsche Bank AG (DB), and ETrade Group, Inc. (ET), were forced to comply with new short-selling market regulations imposed by the NASD after the SEC had "sat on" the NASD request to plug material loopholes for almost 2-1/2 years. "The new rules expand the scope of the affirmative determination requirements to include orders received from broker/dealers that are not members of NASD ("non-member broker/dealers"). The new rule is on the web at www.nasdr.com/2610_2004.asp#04-03Some 122 companies, including 13 brokers, such as FleetBoston (NYSE: FBF), Goldman, Sachs & Co. (GS), H. Myerson & Co., Inc. (NASDAQ: MHMY), Olde / H&R Block (HRB), Charles Schwab (SCH), Toronto-Dominion's (TD), TD Waterhouse Group and vFinance, Inc. (VFIN). A.G. Edwards, Inc. (AGE), Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD), Deutsche Bank AG (DB), Knight (NITE) and ETrade Group, Inc. (ET), have been embroiled for over a year in a raging controversy The remaining 109 companies among the 122 named to date have issued press releases or been named in the media as having been victimized, or as taking various actions, either alone or in concert with other companies, to oppose manipulative trading in the form of illegal naked short selling. The actions have ranged from lawsuits to withdrawals and threatened withdrawals from the electronic trading system managed by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., to withdrawals from toxic financings, to the issuance of dividends or name changes designed to squeeze manipulators, to joining associations or networks or to contacting regulatory authorities to provide documentation of abuses or otherwise complain. The complete list of those 108 companies include Advanced Viral Research Corp. (ADVR), AdZone Research, Inc. (ADZR), Amazon Natural Treasures (OTC: ANTD), America's Senior Financial Services (OTCBB: AMSE), American Ammunition, Inc. (AAMI), AngelCiti Entertainment (OTCBB: AGLC), ATSI Communications, Inc. (ATSC), Federal Agricultural Mortgage / Farmer Mac (AGM) Allied Capital (ALD), American Motorcycle (OTC: AMCYV), American International Industries (AMIN), Ameri-Dream (OTC: AMDR), Adirondack Pure Springs Mt. Water Co. (OTCBB: APSW), ATSI Communications,Inc. (ATSC) Bluebook International (BBIC), Blue Industries (OTCBB: BLIIV), Bentley Communications (OTCBB: BTLY), BIFS Technologies Corporation (BIFT), Biocurex (BOCX). Broadleaf Capital Partners, Inc. (BDLF), Chattem, Inc. (CHTT), Critical Home Care (CCLH), Composite Holdings (COHIA), CyberDigital, Inc. (CYBD). Diamond International Group (OTCBB: DMND), Dobson Communications Corp. (DCEL), Eagle Tech Communications (EATC), Edgetech Services (EDGH); Also, Endovasc Ltd. (EVSC), Enviro-Energy Corporation (ENGY), Environmental Products & Technologies (OTC: EPTC), Environmental Solutions Worldwide, Inc. (ESWW), EPIXTAR Corp. (EPXR), eResearchTechnologies, Inc. (ERES), Flight Safety Technologies (OTCBB: FLST), Freddie Mac (FRE), FreeStar Technologies (OTCBB: FSRCE), Front Porch Digital, Inc. (FPDI), Geotec Thermal Generators, Inc. (GETC), Genesis Intermedia (GENI), GeneMax Corp. (GMXX), Global Explorations Inc (GXXL), Global Path (OTCBB: GBPI), GloTech Industries, Inc. (OTCBB: GTHI), Green Dolphin Systems (OTCBB: GLDS), Group Management (OTCBB: GPMT), Hop-On (HPON), H-Quotient, Inc., (HQNT), Hyperdynamics Corp. (HYPD), International Biochem (IBCL), Intergold Corp. (OTCBB: IGCO), International Broadcasting Corporation (IBCS), InternetStudios, Inc. (ISTO), ITIS Holdings (ITHH), Investco Corp. (IVCO), Lair Holdings (LAIR), Lifeline BioTechnologies Inc. (LBTT), Life Energy & Technology (OTCBB: LETH), MBIA (MBI); |
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Post by WWJDthrume on Oct 7, 2004 15:10:31 GMT -5
Part VI or VI Also, MegaMania Interactive (MNIA), MetaSource Group, Inc. (MTSR),Midastrade.com (MIDS), Make Your Move (OTCBB: MKMV), Medinah Minerals (MDMN), MSM Jewelry Corp. (OTC: MSMC), Nanopierce Technologies, Inc. (NPCT), Nutra Pharmaceutical (NPHC), Nutek (OTCBB: NUTK), Navigator Ventures (NVGV), Orbit E-Commerce, Inc. (OECI), Pitts & Spitts (OTC: PSPP), Sales OnLine Direct (OTCBB: PAID), Pacel Corp. (OTCBB: PACC), PayStar Corporation (PYST),Petrogen Corp. (PTGC), Pinnacle Business Management (OTC: PCBM), Premier Development & Investment, Inc. (PDVN), PrimeHoldings.com, Inc. (OTC: PRIM), Phlo Corporation (PHLC), Resourcing Solutions (RESG), Reed Holdings (OTC: RDHC), Rocky Mountain Energy Corp. (OTCBB: RMECE), RTIN Holdings (OTCBB: RTNHE), Saflink Corp. (SFLK), Safe Travel Care (OTCBB: SFTVV), Sedona Corp. (SDNA); Also, Sionix Corp. (SINX), Sonoran Energy (OTCBB: SNRN), Starmax Technologies (SMXIF), Storage Suites America (SSUA), Suncomm Technologies (OTC: STEH), Sports Resorts International (SPRI), Technology Logistics (TLOS), Swiss Medica, Inc. (SWME), Ten Stix, Inc. (TNTI), Tidelands Oil (TIDE), Titan Construction (TTCS), Trezac Corp. (OTCBB: TRZAV), Universal Express, Inc. (USXP), Valesc Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: VLSHV), Vega Atlantic (OTCBB: VGAC), Viragen (VRA), Viragen International (VGNI), Vista Continental Corporation, (VICC), Viva International (VIVI), Vtex Energy (VXENE) and Wizzard Software (WIZD), WorldTradeShow.com (WTSW) and Y3K Secure Enterprise Software, Inc. (OTCBB: YTHK). Earlier in 2003, the SEC fined Rhino Advisors, Inc., $1 million for its representation of Amro International in the financing and manipulation of Sedona Corp. Amro, also known as AMRO, was registered in Panama, a secretive offshore haven, but was not named in the SEC settlement. Another 60 public companies may have been manipulated by the fined Rhino Advisors and its indicted principals, or its funding apparatus, Amro. These include: All American Food Group Inc (AAFGQ), Amanda Co Inc (AMNA), Antra Holdings (RECD), Aquis Communications Group Inc (OTCBB: AQUIS), Avanir Pharmaceuticals (AVN), Bionutrics Inc (BNRX), Brilliant Digital Entertainment Inc (AMEX: BDE), Bravo! Foods International Corp. (OTCBB: BRVOE), Butler National Corp (BUTL),Calypte Biomedical Corp (OTCBB: CYPT), Chemtrak Inc/DE (CMTR), Clicknsettle Com Inc (CLIK), Corporate Vision Inc (OTC: CVIA), Crown Laboratories Inc/DE (CLWB), Dental Medical Diagnostic Systems Inc (DMDS), Detour Media Group Inc (DTRM), Also, Digital Privacy Inc/DE (OTC: DGPV), Senior Services Inc (DISS), International Inc (DYNX), Endovasc Ltd Inc (EVSC), Esynch Corp/CA (OTCBB: ESYN), Focus Enhancements Inc (NASDAQ: FSCE), Frederick Brewing Co (FRBW), Greystone Digital Technology Inc (GSTN), Havana Republic Inc/FL (OTCBB: HVNR), Henley Healthcare Inc (HENL), Hollywood Media Corp (HOLL), Ibiz Technology Corp (OTCBB: IBZT), Diagnostic Systems Inc/FL (IMDS), Imaging Technologies (OTCBB: IMTO), Integrated Surgical Systems Inc (RDOC), Also, Interferon Sciences Inc (IFSC), Interiors Inc (OTC: ITRNA), Laminaire Corp (THMZ), Medisys Technologies Inc (SCEP), Milestone Scientific Inc/NJ (MS), Nevada Manhattan Group Inc (NVMH), Innovations Inc (OTCBB: NTGE),Systems Group (OSYM), Pacific Systems Control Technology Inc (PFSY), Professional Transportation Group Ltd Inc (TRUC), Rnethealth Inc (RNTT), Also, Sand Technology Inc (SNDT), Sedona Corp (SDNA), Silverado Foods Inc (SVFO), Stockgroup Information Systems (SWEB) Surgilight Inc (SRGL), Tasty Fries Inc (TFRY), Tech Laboratories Inc (TCHL), Teltran International Group Ltd (TLTG), Titan Motorcycle Co of America Inc (TMOTQ), Trans Energy Inc (TSRG), Motorcycle Co (UMCC), Universal Communication Systems Inc (UCSY), Medical Systems Inc (UMSI), Vianet Technologies Inc (VNTK),Viragen Inc (VRA), Webcatalyst Inc (WBCL), Worldwide Wireless Networks Inc (WWWNQ), and ZAP (ZAPZ). For up-to-the-minute news, features and links click on www.financialwire.netFinancialWire is an independent, proprietary news service of Investrend Information, a division of Investrend Communications, Inc. It is not a press release service and receives no compensation for its news or opinions. Other divisions of Investrend, however, provide shareholder empowerment platforms such as forums, independent research and webcasting. For more information or to receive the FirstAlert daily summary of news, commentary, research reports, webcasts, events and conference calls, click on www.investrend.com/contact.aspListen to StreetSignals" (Investrend "ON-THE-AIR") "live" Saturdays from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. on stations coast-to-coast, or right now on the web at www.BusinessTalkRadio.net. The FinancialWire NewsFeed is now available in multiple formats to your site or desktop, free. Click on: www.investrend.com/XmlFeeds?level=268www.financialwire.net(C) 2004 financialwire.net, Inc. All rights reserved. © 1997-2004 MarketWatch.com, Inc. |
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Post by WWJDthrume on Oct 7, 2004 15:16:05 GMT -5
NBC is on the client list of E & A the firm the CMKX attorney is part of. Since I have thought from the beginning that the naked short issue was going to be BIG and possibly change the way OTCBB and Pinksheet stocks are sold I don't think the timing is a coincidence.
The flight staff have prepared the cabin and the Captain has indicated we are ready for take off. Fasten your seat belts and hold on to your TV trays boys and girls we are about to lift off. IMO-Debi
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Post by johnsilverman on Oct 7, 2004 22:09:24 GMT -5
Wow! If anyone will be at Presidential town meeting debate tommorrow, this would be a great question to ask about the naked shorting. John
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Post by Tombraider38d on Oct 7, 2004 23:58:25 GMT -5
Deb, read the entire thing, perhaps it's too late and grey matter not working well but are the new rules that took effect last friday the ones that were discused here? It seems a lot has happened that paved the way for CMKX. Agree? AL
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