STOCKGATE TODAY
An online newspaper reporting the issues of Securities Fraud
Dateline NBC throws Fight on Stock Market Fraud. – August 1, 2005
David Patch
With any good prizefight, there is plenty of pre-fight hype that leads up to the main event. As we have seen in the past, the pre-fight hype is sometimes more colorful than the real show. Pay-per-view may have netted the cash but the viewers witnessing the debacles can leave disappointed with a lackluster performance.
On July 31, 2005 Dateline NBC entered into the prize ring against major fraud on Wall Street. As what many expected to take place, instead of playing the role of a prizefighter Dateline NBC pulled their punches and took the dive. They threw the fight. Dateline NBC played the role of Jake Lamotta while Wall Street played the role of the mob controlling the boxing circuit; much to the chagrin of the abused of this nation.
The Hype:
For nearly 2 years Dateline NBC has been under exclusive contract with Houston Lawyer John O’Quinn regarding a form of financial terrorism taking place in our Securities Markets. Hundreds of companies and millions of shareholders are being manipulated by “the system” and nobody knew except Wall Street and the Regulators of Wall Street. Dateline NBC held the exclusive to the details behind this terrorism and the key to opening up Wall Streets Pandora’s box.
As time passed with this exclusive the hype leading to the fight grew as the Depository Trust Clearing Corporation (DTCC) began a public campaign of their own threatening anybody speaking ill of their work and their participation in the fraud. The Securities and Exchange Commission created an affront by taking their own “dive” when they released a watered down version of regulatory reforms trying to placate a growingly concerned Congress. A reform that actually violates the guidelines handed down by previous Congressional sessions under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 but guidelines the present Congress is incapable of understanding.
In the corner for Dateline were audio recordings of the General Counsel to a major Wall Street firm identifying regulatory agency avoidance in taking enforcement actions against abusive trading activities. Dateline held the documents provided by the SEC under subpoena that illustrated settlement failures originating as short sales at $11.00/share and being covered [settled] over a year later at $0.50/share. Dateline held the e-mail evidence of several Wall Street firms and the Canadian Depository [Canada’s version of DTCC] telling a company they could not settle trades asking what the company could do about it. And finally, Dateline had the economic analysis of former Under Secretary of Commerce Robert Shapiro categorizing this as a near $500 Million fraud. Robert Shapiro willing to go on tape to report his findings. Tape filmed by Dateline NBC.
In addition to this package of goodies, left jabs, were the efforts uncovered by the legal team of John O’Quinn and Wes Christian that tied these illegal acts to organized crime, terrorists, and some of the United States largest businesses including information pertaining to possible bribes to Wall Street regulators and Broker-Dealers. They had the right hook and the uppercuts that were to be the knockout blows.
The fight was on and it is all about naked shorting, financial terrorism, death of the US entrepreneurial company, greed, and to some people treason. Or so we thought.
The Fight:
What happened next in this saga could only be explained as a situation where a media source gutted a massive story to protect the self-interests of their parent company under the pressures of the opponent; General Electric. Dateline NBC wanted the opportunity to fight again and so they threw the fight for the guys controlling the ring. Jake Lamotta wanted an opportunity to go after the title so he took a dive against Billy Fox. Many believe General Electric wanted to protect the shares of its wealthiest investors and thus took a dive in a fight against those who control their fate; Wall Street. Right or wrong, Dateline NBC took a dive on this story for some reason.
The airing last night is why mainstream media and big corporations don’t mix. Big business can control what it is you will hear about. The integrity of Woodward and Bernstein excluded.
For this particular prize fight it was over in the first round. Thirty seconds of rope-a-dope, a brush back, and a dive to the mat. If there was blow to be seen, everybody missed it.
The story of mammoth proportions was whittled down to 12 minutes of confusion and filler material. Special Correspondent and Financial Analyst Ron Insana could barely describe what it was he was trying to instill on the viewing public regarding the pitfalls that lie ahead for small business and their investors. Avoided in his description of what happened to Eagletech Communications and their investors was even the remotest description of how and why the stock plummeted from $10.00 per share to mere pennies. We were all left to guess. Certainly those that had never heard of naked shorting never would have connected the dots. Ron Insana knew the dots had to be connected but failed. Instead, the word naked shorting and settlement failures were never mentioned. “It is too complicated to explain” he said and left us all guessing.
The connected dots are actually simple. Naked Shorting, the selling of stock that does not exist, destroyed Eagletech’s ability to raise capital, dropped a stock trading at $10.00/share to pennies in mere months, and forced the company to close their doors due to the inability to raise necessary capital. According to Ron Insana, the naked shorting “may” be illegal.
In the end the Executive Producers of Dateline NBC must live with the decisions they make. With the knowledge and documentation before them that makes this story much bigger than the 12 minutes they afforded it they too aided in the fraud committed against this country in my opinion. They too can be associated with covering up a fraud that destroys companies, families, and finances the very weapons used against our soldiers. A story squelched for personal and political interests.
Dateline NBC has had the reputation of the TV version of Star Magazine and the other tabloids you see in the grocery store. Now it is understood why. They did nothing to change public opinion. With a weekend full of hour long stories about individual families tending to their addicted children, a party gone awry in Arizona, and segments on hair transplants for men, Dateline NBC threw in the towel presenting a brief 12-minute segment on a story that impacts millions of people personally and our overall economy.
In retrospect, since Dateline NBC held the exclusive to this story we have seen Michael Jackson re-live his life over in several hour long segments and a special 2-hour unmasking earlier this year. The Lacy Peterson story has been re-lived from everyone and everything involved, including the dog, in several hour-long segments. We have also been fortunate to see Reuben Stoddard re-live his American Idol dream several times over. Add in a few Princess Diana stories thrown in for good measure and you got some major stories developing. Entertaining to some. Informative? Not a chance.
Dateline NBC proved they are not the news caliper 60-Minutes have become. Dateline NBC stories are closer to an Andy Rooney whimsical loaded with a Star Magazine twist than any real investigative journalism. When people want to hear about real news that affects us all, they will continue to turn to CBS and not NBC. It will be Dateline NBC the viewers will turn to for the stories of space aliens, 3 headed gorillas, and yet another Reuben Stoddard documentary if they are so inclined. After all, how can NBC get ratings up on American Idol if Dateline NBC doesn’t become an hour-long infomercial every few months to reinvigorate viewers? I just wish they would call it an infomercial instead of a news segment.
Dateline NBC spent 2 years filming hundreds of hours of footage for a 12-minute spot that said nothing. It is no wonder GE (NBC) is ranked number four in the big three TV Stations. No guts no glory! Only a great deal of wasted effort and money.
To the Executives of Dateline, those abused and destroyed congratulate you on once again showing what the power of money has become in this country.
To the Producer of this segment, Sharon Hoffman, I apologize on behalf of those at Dateline NBC and GE who belittled your tireless efforts and hacked up your story. You too must be frustrated at knowing the truth that hurts so many died on the cutting room floor with the fake trade tickets.
On with the battle.
For more on this issue please visit the Host site at www.investigatethesec.com .
Copyright 2005
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