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Business Brokerage By H. Bernstein - Editor, StockPatrol

Securities brokers and dealers $53, 700 Security and commodity services 46, 900 Mortgage bankers and brokers 36, 300 Commercial banks 33, 000 Stockbrokers, who provide personalized service and more guidance over a client's investments, usually are paid a commission based on the amount of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, insurance, and other products they sell. Commission earnings are likely to be high when there is much buying and selling and low when there is a slump in market activity.

Forex Broker Is the mutual fund scandal just another sign of the times, or the symptom of a more deeply rooted problem?Visit our AXcess News Forum and add your comments on this story. Try your hand at writing, the best story will be published on our news network. Take our business poll too!

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Real Estate Broker November 21, 2003 (StockPatrol) New York - There is a scene towards the end of the film "The Natural" where Robert Redford's aging Roy Hobbs, reflecting on a silver bullet that cut short his career as "the best" pitcher around and almost ended his life, concedes (and we admit we're paraphrasing here) that "I never saw it coming." He should have suspected something when a sultry young woman, Harriet Bird, greeted him dressed in a flimsy outfit, topped by a black hat and widow's veil. Instead, he was left to lament, "Some mistakes you never stop paying for."

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Agency Brokerage Spark The fictional Hobbs' confession came to mind this past weekend when former SEC Chairman, Arthur Levitt, offered his "explanation" for the mutual fund crisis that threatens to subvert the final vestiges of public confidence in our fragile financial system. "I believe this is the worst scandal we've seen in 50 years and I can't say I saw it coming," Levitt said. Levitt went on to say that he "probably worried about funds less than insider trading, accounting issues and fair disclosure."He should have been worrying about the integrity of the marketplace. Then he might have found that all of those other issues would fall neatly into place.Like Roy Hobbs, the nation's chief securities regulator (and to be perfectly fair, his predecessors, successors, colleagues, associates and subordinates) failed to see what was plainly before their eyes. But institutional blindness prevented that - and not just when it came to monitoring mutual funds.

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Business Broker Let's face it, there was a great deal to see, starting with those mutual funds. Consider the list, which is growing almost daily - Putnam Investments, Nations Funds, Alliance, Strong, Fred Alger, Pilgrim Baxter, Charles Schwab. Dozens of other funds have been subpoenaed. This hardly was an isolated incident. Only the most severe myopia could have failed to recognize its magnitude. Late trading of mutual funds (that is, unlawful trades that occurred at stale prices after the market closed) may have been infrequent, but "market timing" by fund professionals and their cronies was epidemic. Hundreds - more likely thousands - of individuals were involved in the process.And regulators didn't see it coming.

Brokerage Account Then again, that lack of visual acuity can be seen elsewhere as well. It seems that regulators only recently "discovered" that Wall Street's leading brokerage firms expected a quid pro quo when they doled out shares of "hot" IPOs to their favored customers. To most observers, this was no revelation. Those shares routinely go to people who can return the favor. Just ask any public investor who has tried to get his or her hands on even a modest allocation of a hot IPO.Regulators were outraged to discover the conflicts of interest that caused brokerage firm analysts to concoct phony reports at the behest of their investment banking brethren. Here again thoughtful observers had long recognized the porous nature of the "Chinese Wall" that purportedly separated analysts from investment bankers.And they expressed righteous indignation when they discovered the magnitude of NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso's compensation, having long failed to address regulatory shortcomings at the NYSE during Grasso's tenure.

Stock Broker The latest "surprise" - that mutual funds were mismanaged - is, in reality, no surprise at all. Putnam Investments admits that it learned of the improper practices several years ago - and did nothing until negative publicity compelled action. Prudential Securities received something like 25,000 complaints about "market timing" trades of mutual funds, yet failed to address the situation.

Brokerage Online Stock Trading Sadly, all of these practices were widely known, but widely tolerated. Securities regulators are not blind, but all too often they have worn blinders, constrained by a system that panders to a handful of powerful brokerage firms and financial institutions.If Mr. Levitt and his regulatory brethren didn't see all of this going on, where do you suppose they were looking? Down, is one answer, at brokerage firms that couldn't gain admission to the club.

Broker Justin Ticket Sanctions imposed on securities law violators reflect a two-tiered structure. Regulators have routinely pounced upon small brokerage firms, seeking - and often obtaining - the equivalent of a death penalty, barring them from the industry for violations that include rigged research reports and manipulated IPOs. Oddly, in those cases regulators have had no difficulty seeing misconduct - and finding appropriate, meaningful remedies. Yet powerful broker-dealers, entrenched members of the Wall Street establishment, either escape notice or emerge from similar charges with a mere slap on the wrist.

Real Estate Brokerage Take the recent $1.4 billion settlement between securities regulators and a roster of Wall Street's leading brokerage firms. The brokerage firms were assessed that financial penalty after authorities learned that the firms had skewed research reports in order to support favored public companies. Put more graphically, the firms lied to their investors.And their punishment? Sanctions that probably did not amount to a significant fraction of the money they made through their unlawful efforts. No death penalty for these firms. No suspension from issuing research reports. Just another cost of doing business.Compare that to the SEC's vigorous prosecution of penny stock firms which, routinely, and rightfully, are shut down once regulators establish wrongdoing.Now the SEC has been given another opportunity to send a strong message to transgressors. Once more, the message is muted, at best. Putnam, while declining to "admit or deny" the SEC's allegations, has agreed to reform its practices - something of a non-event since many of those reforms already were underway at Putnam. Fines and monetary sanctions have been deferred. The death penalty? Don't hold your breathe.

Commodity Broker It's not so much a case of what they didn't see coming, but how they addressed these problems once they opened their eyes. Take it from Roy Hobbs, who finally understood that "we live two lives, the one we learn with and the one we lead after..."

Brokerage House Today, we all have learned some of Wall Street's deepest darkest secrets. Now, the public sees a flawed system, dominated by a handful of powerful players who have tolerated excessive activities by members of the club. Finally, things must change.

Real Estate Broker Exam Otherwise, as Hobbs put it, "Some mistakes you never stop paying for."

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