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Bob O'Brien's Sanity Check Blog

Author: bobo Created: 1/10/2006 10:09 AM
This blog is dedicated to Bob O'Brien's Sanity Check editorials, and discussions about the Market Reform Movement, the SEC, failing to deliver/naked shorting, etc. It was created so that his many detractors and fans can tell him that he is full of it, correct his mistakes, rant and rave, kowtow, preen, or whatever seems appropriate. The only sins are being boring, or inarticulate, or dim. Humorous pieces can be found in the new Funny Bunny Blog area above, for a lighter-hearted take on being a bunny. Older Bobo blogs can be viewed by selecting a month under the calendar to your right.
It Was The Best Of Times.....
By bobo on 6/14/2007 4:20 AM
A Tale Of Two Systems Of Justice.
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An Absolutely Amazing and Definitive Video Special On Market Manipulation, Naked Short Selling, Hedge Funds
By bobo on 6/2/2007 2:31 AM
Max Keiser has created a definitive special that clearly explains what is going on in the US capital markets.
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Rocker and Gradient Lose Appeal in OSTK Case - Now What Will They Try to Further Stall?
By bobo on 5/30/2007 10:40 AM
Predictably, stock manipulation and colluding to defame a company aren't free speech, they are conduct. Maybe now Rocker and Gradient can get the discovery train rolling?
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Real Meaningful Reform, or Throwing Some Low Level Foot-soldiers Under The Bus?
By bobo on 5/18/2007 2:56 PM
Hard to imagine Wall Street creating a minor tempest to conceal the larger storm...
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Joe Nocera Continues His Hilarious Antics For The Amusement Of The Cheap Seats
By bobo on 5/12/2007 5:22 AM
Formerly serious NY Times flack Joe Nocera launches a triumph of absurdity without cracking a smile...
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Patrick Byrne Speaks Out About Hedge Funds and their Evil Ways, Media Collectively Applies Double Standard
By bobo on 5/11/2007 5:35 AM
Great video of Patrick in a forum with a pro-short Yale professor (what else?), and the media makes much hay out of Patrick's subpoena from last year (which he actually discussed openly at the time) while conveniently forgetting it was also the target of the same subpoenas...
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The Big Lie Redux: Options Exchanges speak out against changing SHO...
By bobo on 5/5/2007 6:51 AM
I really don't need to write much this time around.
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My Summer State Of The Union
By bobo on 5/4/2007 1:19 PM
Most of the pieces have fallen into place, and the overall picture is beyond ugly and bleak.
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Reading The Latest Rocker Nuggets, I Literally Blew Coffee Through My Nose
By bobo on 4/30/2007 5:10 PM
Sure it's uncomfortable. Even after you blow it, the pain lingers on. Maybe I should sue Rocker, or McDonald's, whose coffee it was that caused me such pain, and so badly traumatized my mucous membranes....?
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OK Passes Anti-NSS Legislation; Eagletech Story Told Without Bias
By bobo on 4/26/2007 6:04 AM
The good folks of Oklahoma have gotten a landmark anti-NSS bill passed. Read all about it.
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The Ever Forgettable and Oft Ignored 'lilGW Hurls Forth Yet More Tortured Idiocy
By bobo on 4/23/2007 2:57 AM
When you have to pretend that everyone reading is addled, does that make you a dimwit, or your readers....?
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Overstock Releases Amusing and Sad Press Release
By bobo on 4/20/2007 8:25 AM
Amusing in the way that being wryly amused by the human condition can be amusing, sad in the same way.
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Must Read letter to SEC in Reg SHO comment section
By bobo on 4/17/2007 8:09 AM
Rarely do I see a summary that is both comprehensive, as well as beautifully structured. This is one of the times.
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PBS Special Featuring Gary Aguirre - What A Loon! A Kook! Oh, Wait, He Isn't...
By bobo on 4/13/2007 7:58 PM
Everyone who claims that those concerned over a systemic collapse due to Wall Street larceny, personified by a corrupt SEC and all-powerful hedge funds, are a bunch of loons, have a tough job now after the Bloomberg, and now the PBS special...
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Q4 SIA Data on NYSE FTDs and FTRs hits $82 Billion
By bobo on 4/2/2007 3:09 PM
$82 billion of failure to deliver and receive shares per the SIA's own website in Q4, 2006, and yet we are still being told this isn't a big deal...
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A Summary Of My Email Comment To The SEC On Reg SHO
By bobo on 3/27/2007 7:12 PM
It seemed like a good idea to summarize my thinking as to how badly screwed up the SEC's handling of our markets has become, and why....
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Remember How The SEC Stalled Meaningful Action for Years on FTDs? More Doing Nothing Ahead...
By bobo on 3/26/2007 1:30 PM
Well, just when you thought it couldn't get any weirder or more obvious, more stalling from those who watch, wait, and do nothing as the barbarians run through the streets raping and pillaging...
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Jim Cramer is Getting A Bum Rap - And NASAA Files A Great Amicus Brief Lambasting the DTCC
By bobo on 3/20/2007 4:34 PM
You heard it here first, folks.... UPDATE - Read the Whistler Amicus from NASAA, in which it cores the DTCC's position that it is too important to be accountable for fraud...
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Bloomberg Special on NSS A Must-Watch. Outstanding Program.
By bobo on 3/12/2007 10:31 PM
I just got finished watching the Bloomberg TV special on NSS. I was ready to hate it, and instead, I walked away thinking, "Wow. They get it. And now so should the rest of the planet." Watch it, and then disseminate it on every message board and blog, and send it to every publication and radio/TV outlet you can think of. This is a massive effort, and the beginning of the end.
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The NY Times Runs A Scathing Parody Of The Obligatory "Wacky Patty" Dross
By bobo on 3/10/2007 12:11 PM
NY Times funnyman Joe Nocera does a ribald satire of the typical attack on Overstock's Patrick Byrne, with hysterical results...
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Bobo Discusses Whose Shirts He Wears With The NY Times
By bobo on 3/8/2007 12:57 PM
Pulitzer prize finalist Joe Nocera, one of the biggest of the big names in NY financial journalism (noteworthy for among other things being involved with Bethany McClean of Fortune's book on Enron), wants to chitty chat about a fly-speck MREIT, and the Easter Bunny's thoughts on Wall Street corruption, lawsuits, shorts, etc. UPDATE$: BLOOMBERG TV TO AIR NSS SPECIAL!
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Wall Street Wins Battle In War To End Larceny, Thievery and Racketeering
By bobo on 3/1/2007 8:04 AM
The Utah battle was won yesterday by Wall Street. Investors lose, as the state effectively gives the green light to racketeering, counterfeiting and fraud, Wall Street style.
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Utah Considering Pulling The Landmark Anti-NSS Bill - Things That Make One Go, "Hmmmm..."
By bobo on 2/25/2007 5:57 PM
Is that odd, where a sunshine bill passes by an overwhelming majority, and then the bill's sponsor is all over the news today backpedaling? UPDATE: MORE UNFOLDING UGLINESS IN THIS BREAKING STORY.
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US Chamber of Commerce Requests Hearings Into Manipulative and Fraudulent Short Selling
By bobo on 2/21/2007 8:24 PM
Is that bad, when the largest group of its kind in the world is demanding the Senate to hold hearings into naked short selling? And we are treated to the obligatory "Byrne's a loon" piece from a hack with a hatchet whose idea of investigative journalism is to parrot 'lilGW's whining. And the NY Times continues to misstate fact, misattributing quotes like Enron invented financials...
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The Media Continue the SEC/Gradient Shagfest, Steamrolling Over Uncomfortable Obvious Conflicts
By bobo on 2/15/2007 9:36 PM
So, the SEC can't say enough or move quickly enough when a private research firm and a private hedge fund are sued by a bunch of companies for allegedly criminal behavior. If you are a public company in the bad guys' sights, you can spend years with a cloud over your head, but apparently if you have juice, you get treated like the head of Microsoft...
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A Tale Of Two Justice Systems - Or Why I Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love Kleptocracy
By bobo on 2/14/2007 8:30 AM
The same reporters issued subpoenas by the SEC were the first out of the gate to herald a not-so-remarkable development in the SEC's "investigation" of Gradient...
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"...Respectfully, What Part Of Illegal Is So Confusing?"
By bobo on 2/13/2007 11:02 AM
Patrick Byrne has issued forth an absolutely must read response to the latest in a string of journalists who are confused over his positions....
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FFH Sues Hedge Funds; DTCC in Controversy Over "lilGW
By bobo on 2/7/2007 7:46 PM
A class action suit on behalf of FFH shareholders against the same group of hedge funds long believed to be responsible for the wholesale abuse of NFI and OSTK is launched, and the DTCC stonewalls basic requests for clarity on whether they are paying a hack shill to spew venom at its critics...
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Overstock Sues Prime Brokers For $3.48 Billion
By bobo on 2/2/2007 1:48 PM
Same suit as the NFI shareholders' suit, but the numbers are way bigger...
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Senators Say SEC Likely Involved in Cover-Up, Obstructing Justice
By bobo on 1/31/2007 9:47 PM
Is that bad, when two guys on the Senate Judiciary Committee come out and say that if the choice of who is more corrupt is between a Bolivian customs office, and the SEC, they would be singing, "I'll choose Bolivia?"
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Liz Moyer in Forbes: A Tale of Naked Shorting, Stock Manipulation, and Wrist-slaps for Miscreants
By bobo on 1/25/2007 9:22 PM
What's the destruction of thousands of American companies if a few thousand guys in NY can make serious jing jang?
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New AZ Bill Submitted, US Chamber Of Commerce Letter To SEC, and Laughable Industry Euphemisms
By bobo on 1/24/2007 1:23 PM
Arizona has a new bill that apparently has the industry and the SEC howling with rage; The US Chamber of Commerce has submitted another great letter to the SEC; and Wall Street lavishes us with new ways to trivialize fraud and stock manipulation...
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VA Introduces Bill Requiring FTDs to be Reported
By bobo on 1/17/2007 12:20 PM
So this is the 3rd state that has introduced a bill to rein in Wall Street's crookery.
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Garbage In, Garbage Out - The Latest Crying Towel From Wall Street
By bobo on 1/15/2007 9:43 PM
Every year, it seems like Wall Street sounds the alarm that all hell will break loose if any rules are changed, or enforced, that would require Wall Street to behave itself...
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Arizona Pushes Bill That Requires Brokers To Divulge FTDs To State
By bobo on 1/12/2007 8:48 PM
It seems that the Utah bill that required brokers to report their naked short positions has gained momentum, with AZ entering the mix with a bill of its own.
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Self- Regulation Op-Ed: How Dumb Do We Look? I Mean, Really? How Stupid?
By bobo on 1/6/2007 3:11 PM
The Op-Ed in the WSJ by Donaldson and Pitt sounds neat, if you know exactly nothing of the market's history...
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NFI Suit Against Prime Brokers Remanded Back To State Court - Wall St Loses Round One
By bobo on 1/5/2007 1:18 PM
The prime brokers' high priced white shoe lawfirms tried to stall discovery and get this remanded to Federal court. That didn't work. Bad day for Wall Street.
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Repeating The Lie
By bobo on 1/4/2007 7:58 AM
I'll be back in the saddle next week, but in the meanwhile I couldn't help but note that the lie is being repeated vigorously by those whose motive is to steal anything left that isn't bolted down...
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A Holiday Dear John Letter
By bobo on 12/28/2006 12:26 PM
Sometimes, even though we have been through a lot, it's time to make tough decisions, a la "Dear John"...
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A quick one from the holiday road
By bobo on 12/26/2006 6:44 AM
I'm out and about and away from things computer and market oriented, but wanted to share some holiday cheer with the folks playing along at home...
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Obstruction of Justice, Fraud, Perjury...Not a problem if ya got "Juice."
By bobo on 12/20/2006 8:40 AM
And in other news, the SEC moves against those dangerous, scheming Estonians, or Latvians, or whatnot...
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Silent Night....Holy Night.....
By bobo on 12/19/2006 8:45 AM
Ho ho ho. Santa knows who's been naughty and nice, however being naughty has never paid better, so Santa is now officially an anachronism...
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Senator Grassley: We Are Not Amused
By bobo on 12/13/2006 8:42 AM
Is that bad, when a Senator basically comes out and calls the SEC a bunch of conniving, lying cheats?
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Tommytoyz's "Dividend Capture Plan" Causes the SEC and Wall Street to Pucker Up
By bobo on 12/8/2006 10:32 PM
So, it seems to be OK for Wall Street to use loopholes to put the pork to investors, day in and day out, stealing their savings and leaving air in their stead. What would happen if we fought back, lawfully, and used the system's larcenous counterfeiting against it?
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Anatomy of a Cover-Up
By bobo on 12/7/2006 2:27 PM
The Aguirre written testimony is hugely damaging and literally a blow by blow of the SEC running a cover-up for Wall Street bigwig crooks. SEE THE NEW SEC/AGUIRRE COVER-UP SECTION OF THIS SITE IN THE MENU AT LEFT.
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Aguirre Senate Judiciary Committee Audio Now Available; 'lilGW A Further Embarrassment to Upright Bipeds
By bobo on 12/6/2006 10:53 AM
Yesterday's astounding Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is now available for download. And 'lilGW further scrambles to salvage whatever credibility he might retain - which is pretty much none at this point. NOW VIDEO OF ENTIRE HEARING AVAILABLE.
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SEC - "It's All A Dirty Lie!" Aguirre: "They've Offered No Proof Since This Started."
By bobo on 12/5/2006 7:28 AM
The SEC trotted out a group of talking heads today, all of whom argued that Gary Aguirre is an unbalanced liar. Of course, many of these gentlemen also probably supported the SEC lie that "Reg SHO is working". So one has to wonder aloud at their credibility. But it was in the contradictory and dishonest-sounding testimony from the SEC that the real meat lay...
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The Parade Of Absurdity Continues
By bobo on 11/30/2006 7:59 AM
Even as a Senate investigation into the SEC's cover-up and whitewash of the Aguirre/Mack matter heads yields troubling preliminary conclusions as to that regulator's desire and capability of policing anything, much less our markets, a "blue ribbon panel" recommends that the SEC do even less policing...UPDATE12/1: NEW CROSSCURRENTS ARTICLE NOW LIVE
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Conversations With A Friend Over The Delivery Failure Crisis & Ensuing Implications
By bobo on 11/27/2006 8:42 PM
I had a chat with a friend today who knows an awful lot about the markets and the system, and what came out of it was as fascinating as it was disturbing...
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Counterfeiting? Fraud? Maybe...But There's More!!!
By bobo on 11/26/2006 10:26 PM
For everyone who's been waiting for an explanation of what it is that the brokers are really doing when they sell you shares and then don't deliver them, but lie and mislead you into believing that they did, your days of waiting for an explanation of what they are actually doing are over...
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