AMERICA’S WAR ON TERROR – Day 401
The news as reported in The Washington Times:
[Note – All links go to The Washington Times’ website.]
1. The Fairfax county Chief of Police said, yesterday, that clues from the latest sniper shooting will lead to an arrest.
[Ok, fine, like what else is he going to say? What we found here will not lead to an arrest? He threw the media a bone.]
Fairfax chief predicts sniper's arrest
2. Iraq is attempting to buy chemicals used to make rocket fuel from a state-run enterprise in China.
[Guess Saddam is testing out that 100% mandate of his.]
Iraq seeks chemical for arms from China
3. Better than expected earnings reports gave the stock market a boost to energize a rally the size of which hasn’t been seen in many years.
[Daschle – call your office. Your pet election topic is leaving you!]
Earnings news fuels hefty market rally
4. President Bush will meat with PM Sharon and lay out Washington’s plans for keeping Israel both safe and out of the war when the bubble goes up with Iraq.
[The President will sign the joint resolution today authorizing an attack on Iraq. Saddam – we ARE coming. There’s only a little while to make those exile hotel reservations. Act fast!]
Bush plans to keep Israel out of any war with Iraq
5. ImClone founder will plead guilty to illegal insider trading.
[Well, Martha – it may not be a good week after all, what do you think?]
ImClone founder enters plea of guilty
6. The manufacturer of the Acela Express trains has introduced a new locomotive powered by a jet turbine.
[Does this mean we’ll have to have a FOD walkdown before the train can make any scheduled run?]
7. The Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that prohibited a man from displaying the Confederate flag on Confederate soldiers’ graves any time of the year, but rather when the Department of Veterans Affairs would allow it – which is in the same manner as foreign soldiers buried on American soil. This limits the display to certain major holidays – in the case of the Confederacy, it would be Memorial Day and Confederate Memorial Day.
[Ouch. The Confederacy never recognized Memorial Day, until its definition was changed when it was made a Monday holiday.]
Confederate flag quest ends at Supreme Court
We shall not rest until we have cut a swath 60-miles wide through the entire left - taking all that is before us with us as we go. We shall leave nothing to the enemy that may be of value to him. We shall show him that he may count on nothing and will be able to keep nothing, not his spirit, not his soul, not that upon which he shall feed. We shall not cease until the moment we have rent through their entire land and have arrived at the sea, with our glorious victory upon us.
Home Page of the December 19th Society
Now you have the info, go support the United States of America!!!
But....we're trying to buy a house within the next few months and I want to take advantage of the low, low interest rates. The article said that bonds suffered their greatest loss in 6 years yesterday and that is driving up long-term interest rates.
We'd like to build and there are plenty of places around here to build, but we're told that we'd get better value if we buy.
[Well, Martha – it may not be a good week after all, what do you think?]
I think Martha is in the clear. Waksal plead guilty to insider trading. He claims he told his father and daughter to sell but did not tell them why. He will not admit telling Martha anything at all. They would have to prove that Waksal told them. They have no proof. Waksal has zero reason to rat on anyone else. It is impossible to prove that he told anyone anything that makes the other peoples acts illegal. There is zero proof he told Martha anything.
There is proof that a Merril Lynch assistant broker called Martha first. She did not call him. He told her to sell. She did. If they take Martha to court she will put Merril Lynch and the SEC on trial. They will not want that.
There is evidence that the assistant Broker from Merrill Lynch called Martha and told her the FDA had rejected the drug and advised her to sell. She acted on the information of her broker and that is not an insider trade. They could get her for lying to a federal officer. But a conviction on that is not likely. Not in New York.
Putting someone in jail for selling stock when her broker tells her to do so, is not something that will help a rally on wall street.
What is not a crime and should be is a brokerage firm selling stock that it knows to be worthless. Merrill Lynch sold the WakSal families ImClone stock for millions of dollars. The Merril Lynch agent knew it was worthless stock and he knew it involved insider trading. Merril Lynch, the prosecuter, and the SEC see nothing wrong with brokerage firms such as Merril Lynch making such a sale. It is legal for the broker to rip off the buyers and brokerage firm has no responsiblity at all. It is legal for a brokerage firm to make illegal trades.
Could a drug store sell you a bad drug that it knew was bad.... because the drug maker said to sell it? Would that be OK? Then why is it legal for a brokerage firm to do the same thing?
Can you imagine what would happen to a used car dealer that sold worthless cars it knew to be worthless for millions of dollars?
But a wall street brokerage firm can legally conduct trades it knows are illegal insider trades. It can conduct these trades when it knows the stock it is trading is worthless.