HOME
Message Board
CURRENT COLUMNS
- Editor's Corner
- Blogfest 2005
- Commentary
- Commentary Too
- Down The Middle
- Faulking Around
- Global Warning
- This guy walks into a bar...
- Investing 101
- Faulking Opinions
- Off The Rail
- Words
ARCHIVES
LINKS
CONTACT US
 | |||
Faulking Opinions - Jun 27, 2006 - Printable Version
- The Shelby Shuffle Continues
by Mark Faulk
Yesterday, Senator Richard Shelby played dumb on the topic of naked short selling when he claimed on national television that “I’ve never had anyone talk to me and tell me that's fraud” in response to a question from CNBC’s Joe Kernan. Then he played dumber a few hours later when he said through a spokesperson that he “didn’t hear the ‘naked’ part of the question," implying that he thought he was responding to a question about legal short selling, which makes his answer, well…the dumbest. Immediately, emails and letters began to surface that various people sent to Senator Shelby laying out in detail the illegality of naked short selling. Is it possible that Shelby just hasn’t seen anything that has been sent to him, that he has been isolated from reality by his staff, insulated from the truth by those surrounding him?
Not likely.
Here’s another email that discusses naked short selling in detail, only this time it’s an email from Senator Shelby to an Alabama constituent, in response to questions and concerns about the fraudulent practice of naked shorting.
Note to Senator Shelby: Before you go on national television and claim that no one has ever talked to you and told you that naked shorting is fraud, be certain that there isn’t a trail of evidence behind you. You can’t play politics with lives forever and not expect to reap the consequences of your actions.
So Senator, this one’s for you, in your own words:
April 7, 2005
Mr. ***** * *******
976 ******** Rd
Pelham, Alabama 35124
Dear Mr. ***** *******:
Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding your concerns with naked short selling. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on this matter.
As Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, I will continue to work towards restoring investor confidence and the credibility of our capital markets and will be aggressive in oversight work to ensure existing legislation is working as it was intended. Securities regulators are currently conducting investigations and examining the issue of naked short selling. Please be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind during the 109th Congress as I continue to work with the National Association of Securities Dealers and the Securities and Exchange Commission to ensure the integrity of our capital markets. Thank you again for your correspondence. If I may ever be of any future assistance, please do not hesitate to let me know.
Sincerely,
Richard Shelby
RCS:jrs
(P.S. I emailed about ten different people at CNBC today, including Joe Kernan, letting them know that Shelby’s aide had retracted his statement about naked short selling to me, and asking if anyone from his office has issued an official retraction to CNBC. Since I’ve gotten no response from anyone at CNBC, I can only assume that he didn’t issue an “official” retraction, letting his comments that naked short selling has “been going on a long time” and that “I’ve never had anyone talk to me and tell me that's fraud” stand as spoken. As always, I’ll let everyone know if I hear otherwise.)
This commentary is also posted at the Sanity Check along with a great comment section at:
http://www.thesanitycheck.com/Blogs/MarkFaulksBlog/tabid/86/EntryID/358/Default.aspx
Go here to listen to the Judiciary Hearing investigating the relationship between hedge funds and independent analysts live, to be held Wednesday, June 28, 9:30 AM EST: http://www.capitolhearings.org/
Go here to see the schedule and witness list for the Judiciary hearing:
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=1972
Mark Faulk is the Editor of The Faulking Truth, and the author of the upcoming book about the CMKX saga entitled "The Naked Truth: Counterfeiting the American Dream," scheduled for release in early August. For more information on the book and on the stock market scandal, go to http://www.faulkingtruth.com , and to pre-order your copy, go to http://www.theownersgroupinc.com/cart/
Voice your opinion on our message board (you don't have to sign up to post).