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Russian Mafia in bed with Wall Street, CEO says
The Daily Utah Chronicle ^ | March 5, 2008 | Dan Treasure

Posted on 03/05/2008 6:05:56 PM PST by Clintonfatigued

Every day, thousands of Americans look to invest their money in stocks, and many of them go through brokers and traders to simplify the process.

Unfortunately, according to Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, a majority of those purchasers will be victims of Wall Street's criminal tactics and will help line the pockets of corrupt brokers and lawyers. Byrne, a Utahn who founded Overstock.com, talked to a crowd in the Union on Monday about how New York financial media and law firms have teamed up with big-wig business elites to create massive amounts of profit at the cost of American consumers.

Byrne said when someone purchases a stock, there is a three-day stock settlement period during which a broker or a trader must provide a purchaser with that stock. However, through loopholes in the system, brokers and traders can legally not provide you with that stock almost indefinitely, giving the purchaser an IOU instead, Byrne said.

"It's my thesis that certain people have figured out how they can abuse that loophole, and flood the market...often in connivance with a broker dealer," he said.

Through this "flooding," the brokers can essentially issue the same stock to hundreds of people at no penalty. By increasing the supply of stocks, these dealers can dramatically drop the price according to the laws of supply and demand.

(Excerpt) Read more at media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Russia
KEYWORDS: organizedcrime; overstock; overstockcom; russianmafia; wallstreet

1 posted on 03/05/2008 6:05:57 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
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To: kronos77; fieldmarshaldj; AuntB; cripplecreek; Beagle8U; ExTexasRedhead; neverdem; JulieRNR21; ...

This is damned scary.


2 posted on 03/05/2008 6:08:06 PM PST by Clintonfatigued (You can't be serious about national security unless you're serious about border security)
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To: Clintonfatigued

Yeah, especially coming from one of our most famous kooks, who has engaged in a bizarre dispute with short-sellers who think his company and business ideas are not the greatest.


3 posted on 03/05/2008 6:10:27 PM PST by proxy_user
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To: Clintonfatigued

I doubt it.


4 posted on 03/05/2008 6:10:55 PM PST by Uncle Miltie (New York Times Endorsed!!!)
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To: Clintonfatigued

just because this guy wears a tin foil hat doesn’t mean the street doesn’t game the system.


5 posted on 03/05/2008 6:21:11 PM PST by the invisib1e hand (the model prescribes the required behavior. disincentives ensure compliance.)
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To: the invisib1e hand

“the street doesn’t game the system.”

the street doesn’t game the system. The street’s system is the game.


6 posted on 03/05/2008 6:25:01 PM PST by Sunnyflorida (Drill in the Gulf of Mexico/Anwar & we can join OPEC!!! || Write in Thomas Sowell for President.)
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To: the invisib1e hand

He has a complete tinfoil outfit - matching coat, vest, and trousers.

Just think about it for a minute. You buy a stock today for $30. If your broker doesn’t get the stock for you until Friday, what if it’s $40 then? Disregarding all the rules, laws and regulations they are required to follow, do you think they’d risk their own money like that?


7 posted on 03/05/2008 6:26:35 PM PST by proxy_user
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To: Clintonfatigued

There is, as usual, a simple solution to this problem.

Make a profit and declare a CASH dividend.

All short sellers, naked or otherwise, will have to pony up the cash so they will look for another company to prey upon.


8 posted on 03/05/2008 6:26:47 PM PST by Kenny500c
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To: Clintonfatigued

Forbes has written about this, if tangentially. It has to do with the fact that your brokerage can lend stocks it holds on your behalf to short sellers, etc., because the stock is in the brokerage’s name not yours.


9 posted on 03/05/2008 6:52:13 PM PST by ikka
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To: ikka

It doesn’t lend them to short sellers. It sells them to the shorts with the understanding that the shorts will replace them at an agreed upon time.


10 posted on 03/05/2008 7:02:02 PM PST by durasell (!)
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To: Clintonfatigued
I think Russia mobs are into stocks. I don’t know the extent of their involvement. I hope they are relatively marginal players.
11 posted on 03/05/2008 7:09:12 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster (kim jong-il, chia head, ppogri, In Grim Reaper we trust)
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To: proxy_user

I think the problem is the illegal “dilution”
of the stock that sends it south.


12 posted on 03/05/2008 7:33:40 PM PST by spanalot
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To: Clintonfatigued
Scatter shooting while wondering if the powers that be at Citigroup (the executive team that is) will still be getting BIG bonuses while my 80+ shares (and thousands of other "little" stockholders) get the "benefit" of a 50%+ loss in per sh. price over the last year.

C is one of the few individual stocks I own these days (I've gravitated to low cost index mutual funds and have been looking at ETFs as another option).

13 posted on 03/05/2008 8:05:50 PM PST by Trajan88 (www.bullittclub.com)
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To: proxy_user
Uh, no, your broker never gets the stock for your account - unless you ask for delivery of the certificates. Your broker floats the shares in various ways for the duration. SEC recently announced it will be investigating various practices involving "short selling".

Money from nothing...

14 posted on 03/05/2008 8:05:54 PM PST by GregoryFul
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To: GregoryFul
RE: “Your broker floats the shares in various ways for the duration.”

This happens on the floor. Runners (is that the name of the persons on the floor?) Have to make up where they lost through other trades. Sometimes you can get your ass handed to at the bell. Other times (I assume) it’s a win for the brokerage house, meaning a Christmas bonus.

15 posted on 03/05/2008 8:25:10 PM PST by endthematrix (He was shouting 'Allah!' but I didn't hear that. It just sounded like a lot of crap to me.)
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To: Clintonfatigued

bump for later read.


16 posted on 03/05/2008 9:27:21 PM PST by khnyny (Quid Est Veritas)
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To: Clintonfatigued

It is scary.
Now we all must understand following:
US president is George Bush, Russian is KGB top agent (his successor aswell)
Now....

Clash over Kosovo with russia is futile and waiste of time, money and energy.
While US is playing over Kosovo, Russia took over the World in energy departmant, and will do the same with economy.

US soldiers are dying in Iraq, and price of oil goes sky high. That brings more money to Russia.....


17 posted on 03/06/2008 4:28:48 AM PST by kronos77 (Kosovo is Serbian Jerusalem. No Serbia without Kosovo.)
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To: Sunnyflorida

Hey, Mr. Byrne, “It’s all about the $.” LOL


18 posted on 03/06/2008 4:31:08 AM PST by 1rudeboy
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To: kronos77

Wake me up when the size of Russia’s economy approaches that of one of our larger states.


19 posted on 03/06/2008 4:32:11 AM PST by 1rudeboy
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To: 1rudeboy

The biggest scam on Wall Street is the PIPE.

It allows a special class of investors to secretly buy shares in a public company at a steep discount to the current or recent share price. The existing share holders are not warned and are not necessarily allowed to participate. It is all done in secret and there is no warning of pending dilution to existing share holders.

These happen everyday. It is a complete scam and it is legal.


20 posted on 03/06/2008 10:56:25 AM PST by Sunnyflorida (Drill in the Gulf of Mexico/Anwar & we can join OPEC!!! || Write in Thomas Sowell for President.)
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