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Feb
28
Written by:
guestblog
2/28/2006 6:11 PM
March 1, 2006 (FinancialWire) (By Gayle Essary) If anyone is talking to Linda Thomsen, head of enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, please pass along our message: send a subpoena to us and you know where you can stick it. Jim Cramer at TheStreet.com (OTCBB: TSCM) and Herb Greenberg at Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ) have shown us just how powerful we journalists have become. We’re now above the law, baby, and most definitely out of the reach of SEC enforcement!
And if you have any questions, Linda, just ask Chris, your boss. He’s told the world that no matter what shenanigans we may be up to, as long as we’re part-time journalists, you can use your left-over subpoenas to paper your bathroom, alongside the counterfeit worthless stock certificates the naked short sellers have created for companies like Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK), run by your co-conspirator, Patrick Byrne, or say, Novastar (NYSE: NFI).
Never has being a journalist carried so much clout, and we just can’t wait to take every advantage of it. David Rocker, if you’re listening, that means for the right price (wink) we’ll even sell you 7% to 8% of our media company, and if you like we’ll even install a “journalist” in your offices so it’ll be that much easier for you to help us tidy up any news articles we may write about any of your favorite mismanaged stocks.
The public won’t care. So what if they’ve so far voted 95% at http://www.investrendinformation.com that your SEC Chair Christopher Cox should be “rebuked” for rebuking Thomsen.
The public is used to corked bats, slobbered-on pitches, chemically hulked-up bodies, and hey, what’s wrong with cracking a kneecap if necessary to get on a skating team? The public won’t know the difference between short-selling a spiraling company by acquiring or borrowing stock to bet against it, a system that adds to market liquidity, and naked-shorting a stock in an attempt to maximize profits and run a company out of business before it has a chance to recover.
We’ll help them. Every time the subject of naked short selling comes up, we’ll change the subject to short selling and talk about how poorly the company is performing.
The former makes for good markets. The latter is illegal. But, nothing is illegal for us journalists. So, David, here’s our sweetener. We’ll make you a “contributing editor.” No matter that like Cramer, you didn’t go to journalism school. You do the stock counterfeiting, and we’ll take care of the journalism credential counterfeiting and we’ll laugh together all the way to the bank! Now the conspirators, led by Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, won’t be able to touch you either!
We’ve also got a deal for Herb Greenberg, who has continued to stonewall our request for an interview. Herb, write back. You’ll like our plan. In fact, here it is:
We’ll help you set up and distribute a “paid” newsletter, maybe like the one you recently discontinued. We hope it isn’t because you didn’t have enough subscribers, because here’s the good part. We’ll ask the big hedge funds and money managers to buy subscriptions for their employees, clients, friends and family, say at maybe $1,000 a year each; minimum bulk subscriptions, let’s say, will be about 1,000. We’ll keep half a million and you’ll keep half a million for each bulk subscription package we sell. There are lots of hedge funds, and we can even assign a reporter to each bulk subscriber to be sure our subscribers’ “needs” are well-served.
And don’t forget, our reporter can office at their favorite cooperating analyst firms, like yours and Jim's reporter Brian Harris allegedly did at Gradient Analytics, and we can pretty well assure the subscribing hedge funds wont be dissatisfied with the service. If needed, our reporters can even ghost-write the reports, like one of the affiants swore Brian did, saving them some money on using analysts credentialed by the CFA Institute. Now here’s the best part. You can knock some of these severely mismanaged companies in your newsletter. Heaven knows they deserve it. Where was Martha Stewart, for instance, while her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) was going into the toilet? Off on some vacation somewhere?
Afterwards you and Jim can go on CNBC and talk about how you were trying to save people money and misery by getting them to sell. Never mind that some holders will lose their pensions and health care and their kids won’t be able to go to college. That’s because they bet on bad management, not because our friends and subscribers diluted their holdings by selling stock they never intended to acquire or borrow. What’s a little law-breaking if it’s for a good cause?
Now, follow along with us here. After we knock it in the newsletter, and after our hedge fund subscribers have positioned, you can knock the company in your public column at Marketwatch and Jim can knock it on Mad Money on CNBC and TheStreet.com and our friends will be delighted! It won’t be necessary to disclose to the public that you’ve already written about the company in your newsletter; after all, we’re journalists and it’s not like we shared advance galleys or whatever it was that Winans guy did that got him in trouble (http://www.aim.org/publications/aim_report/1984/04b.html). Helping our friends front-run is not a problem because we’re journalists, and the SEC has already said it won’t touch us.
We have immunity, baby.
Linda, get a real job. We’ve had it up to here with right-meaning, straight-and-narrow enforcement officials trying to be good public servants. That’s old-school.
Now we journalists and politicians are in charge, and it feels good. Bermuda, here we come. We want to visit our money from time to time.
Pssst! Wanna buy some journalist credentials? We can fax your reporter status right over. We can even pre-date them if you’ve already received an SEC subpoena. Tell us what it’s worth to you.
[Gayle Essary, publisher of FinancialWire, actually went to J-School, served as a practicing journalist as reporter, editor and publisher over a four-decade span, and has been a member of the Texas Press Association and National Press Club and was even president of an Austin, Texas chapter of a national journalism society. His credentials are at http://www.investrend.com/articles/secondlevel.asp?level=280 ]
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14 comment(s) so far...
Re: StockGate: Take Your Subpoena, Linda Thomsen, And Park It – We’re All Journalists Here
Excellent essay. Hope Thomsen and Cox over at the SEC take the time to read it. It's the best summation of this NSS scandal that I've seen to date. Keep up the great work, Gayle.
By Retieff on
2/28/2006 7:28 PM
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Re: StockGate: Take Your Subpoena, Linda Thomsen, And Park It – We’re All Journalists Here
PS: Delete that irrelevant, long-winded post by joedipshit. If he wants to ramble on about a lot of irrelevant BS, he can do it on his own blog. This space is for COMMENTS, not essays.
By Retieff on
2/28/2006 7:33 PM
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Re: StockGate: Take Your Subpoena, Linda Thomsen, And Park It – We’re All Journalists Here
SEC, read this and you will have a good idea of what's going on.Good post.
By Sylvain on
2/28/2006 9:08 PM
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Re: StockGate: Take Your Subpoena, Linda Thomsen, And Park It – We’re All Journalists Here
http://biz.yahoo.com/t/23/246.html
Wowsers - cramer dumps TSCM stock after recieving a subpoena but before disclosing it.
What he did on his "vacation". Sold the stuffing out of TSCM stock, just like Rocker Partners.
By Cramer dumps TSCM after subpoena on
2/28/2006 9:09 PM
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Re: StockGate: Take Your Subpoena, Linda Thomsen, And Park It – We’re All Journalists Here
Bobo- Move this info onto your blog or at least highlight it in BIG LETTERS- WOW! I think even Joe Sixpick will start to understand the game whch is what has been needed for these crimes to end. Bring out those tin-foil hats and kool-aid! Great blog Gayle!
By Browntrout on
3/1/2006 6:47 PM
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Re: StockGate: Take Your Subpoena, Linda Thomsen, And Park It – We’re All Journalists Here
LOL
I was wondering where the payola was for HG!
1000 mandatory subscriptions per hedge fun
Devilishly funny...
By J on
3/1/2006 6:48 PM
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Re: StockGate: Take Your Subpoena, Linda Thomsen, And Park It – We’re All Journalists Here
And Linda, if you ever want to go on CNBC you've got to perfect a charming sneer, showing to all your hedge fund buddies that you "get it". Jeff and Herb can help you practice.
By x. trapnell on
3/1/2006 6:49 PM
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Re: StockGate: Take Your Subpoena, Linda Thomsen, And Park It – We’re All Journalists Here
Excellent! A sarcastic, thumb-in-the-eye, satirical masterpiece that lays out the NSS scandal in a way that even an SEC bureaucrat might be able grasp it. So, it comes down simply to a matter of will on their part.
The credibility of the press and the SEC is at stake here. How about the regulators focusing on that reality instead of all this 1st Amendment BS? Do you suppose the framers would appreciate their constitutional efforts being used for this vile purpose? Think this is what they had in mind?
Thanks for your efforts...please keep at it.
By oddest_of_lots on
3/1/2006 6:49 PM
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Re: StockGate: Take Your Subpoena, Linda Thomsen, And Park It – We’re All Journalists Here
CRamer dumped nothing. Keep spreading the lies.
TheStreet.com's Co-founder, James J. Cramer, and Chief Executive Officer, Thomas J. Clarke, Jr., Adopt 10b5-1 Plans
Tuesday February 7, 9:29 am ET
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2006--TheStreet.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSCM - News), a leading provider of financial commentary, analysis, research and news, announced today that James J. Cramer, its co-founder, director and largest shareholder, intends to donate 100,000 shares of stock to the James J. and Karen L. Cramer Family Foundation, Inc., which in turn plans to donate the proceeds from the sale of the shares to The Connection For Women and Families, a charitable organization in Summit, New Jersey. Mr. Cramer owns, directly or indirectly, an additional 3,748,451 shares.
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In addition, Mr. Cramer intends to enter into a selling agreement with Smith Barney that will provide for the sale and exercise of 150,000 stock options held by Mr. Cramer over a 12-month period in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and the company's policies with respect to insider sales.
A Rule 10b5-1 program is designed to enable an executive to avoid any real or perceived conflict of interest in connection with the trading of company securities. The program is established at a time when the executive does not have material inside information. Once a written program is executed, the executive does not retain or exercise any discretion over the shares traded under the program. The broker administering the program is authorized to trade company securities in volumes and at times determined independently by the broker subject to the limitations set forth in the program.
It is Mr. Cramer's intention to provide an orderly liquidation of these options through this plan, which provides for the sale of approximately 12,500 shares on a monthly basis. Proceeds from the sale will be used to pay withholding taxes and the option exercise price and to assist in the diversification of personal assets. Mr. Cramer has options to purchase an additional 540,000 shares that are not subject to this plan.
TheStreet.com also announced that its chairman and chief executive officer, Thomas J. Clarke, Jr., also intends to enter into an unrelated selling agreement with Smith Barney. Mr. Clarke's plan will provide for the exercise and sale of up to 800,000 stock options held by Mr. Clarke through December 31, 2006, by which time many of the options will expire if not exercised. Proceeds from the sales will be used to pay withholding taxes and the option exercise price and to assist in the diversification of personal assets. Mr. Clarke has options to purchase an additional 650,000 shares that are not subject to this plan.
About TheStreet.com, Inc.
TheStreet.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSCM - News) is a leading provider of investment commentary, analysis and news. Founded in 1996, the Company completed its initial public offering in May 1999. On the Internet, its premium, subscription-based Web site, "RealMoney.com" is accompanied by the professionally oriented subscription sites, "Street Insight," "RealMoney Pro Advisor," and the free, flagship site, "TheStreet.com." The Company also produces a suite of subscription services for use by professionals and self-directed investors, each designed to help a specific segment of the investing public make better-informed investing and trading decisions.
Contact:
TheStreet.com, Inc.
Jordan Goldstein, 212-321-5475
Jordan.Goldstein@thestreet.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: TheStreet.com, Inc.
By MORE LIES BY U on
3/1/2006 6:51 PM
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Re: StockGate: Take Your Subpoena, Linda Thomsen, And Park It – We’re All Journalists Here
Aaah...the paid subscriptions racket. I wondered how the hedgies funneled money to Greenberg...what a classic scheme. And the first thing HG pitched overboard when the feds came calling.
By Molon Labe on
3/1/2006 6:50 PM
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Re: StockGate: Take Your Subpoena, Linda Thomsen, And Park It – We’re All Journalists Here
I hope Charles Gasparino reads Essary's comments. They're very thought provoking.
By The Midas Touch co-author on
3/1/2006 9:48 AM
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Re: StockGate: Take Your Subpoena, Linda Thomsen, And Park It – We’re All Journalists Here
Hey "more lies", isn't it a coincidence that all those executives at TSCM sold their stock and announced planned sales after the subpoenas had been signed? Wonder if someone called someone else, you know, to tip them off, give them a little heads up?
By Jojo Ma on
3/1/2006 7:12 PM
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Re: StockGate: Take Your Subpoena, Linda Thomsen, And Park It – We’re All Journalists Here
:) Gayle ! Bravo!
By jcline on
3/2/2006 3:25 PM
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Re: StockGate: Take Your Subpoena, Linda Thomsen, And Park It – We’re All Journalists Here
From Bob's blog:
Re: On The Media Feeding Frenzy to Tout Conspiracy Theories, While Engaging In A Cover-Up By taseraire on 3/1/2006 9:14 PM
Note comments 2 and 3 on this form 4. This is an options exercise of options that don't expire for another year (so no excuse there). The notes are explicit that while there were 100K shares sold for the trust, these ain't them.
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1014001/000095011706000874/xslF345X02/rsr_12452.x
By mfairview on
3/2/2006 2:51 AM
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