from Robert Reich
'Last night ABC began its two-part series on the Bernie Madoff “Ponzi-scheme” scandal that defrauded investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Viewers were reminded that for years before the scheme fell apart, Harry Markopolos blew the whistle -- writing the SEC detailed letters that warned about Madoff but were ignored.
Today Pam and Russ Martens, in their “Wall Street on Parade” blog, note two whistle-blowers have been giving the SEC evidence that some Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on U.S. stock exchanges are near-worthless paper dumped by Wall Street firms. They're made to appear as if they’re real assets but they're not backed by anything of real value – not stocks, bonds, or commodities. It’s another Ponzi scheme with the potential to roil markets. In fact, when stock market prices mysteriously collapsed on August 25, 2015, the vast majority of trading halted by the Street’s “circuit breakers” were ETFs.
There will always be con artists like Bernie Madoff and gullible people who fall for them. But when Wall Street itself gets into the con game, we're all endangered. Which is why it's necessary to (1) bust up the big banks, (2) resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act separating investment from commercial banking, and (3) impose a small speculative tax on all financial transactions. All of which Bernie and Elizabeth Warren are fighting for.'
https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/?fref=nf
= new reply since forum marked as read
