I will still never get over the AT&T Wireless spinoff and the WorldCom bond debacles.
At the time, Smith Barney was pushing HARD to be the lead underwriter of the AT&T Wireless spinoff, and Jack Grubman the analyst, caved. I'm sure he wasn't in it for the money (ha). Sure enough, he upgraded T, they got the deal, and waited the required 30 DAYS before downgrading T once again. It was a clownfest. Blatantly obvious! Not certain of ultimate outcome, but here's a synopsis from a while ago:
Law.com: AT&T Investors' Suit Survives Dismissal Motion
And anyone who bought into the largest public bond offering in history at historically high rates offered by WorldCom was quite simply a fool, fooled by either ruthless (the investment bankers) or stupid (the financial advisors on the retail side) people. That was just as obvious at the time.
Now, if someone as dumb as I am could figure all that out AT THAT TIME then how come all the "smart guys" at the SEC and NASD couldn't?
The regulators make me want to just puke. Worthless, completely worthless.
At the time, Smith Barney was pushing HARD to be the lead underwriter of the AT&T Wireless spinoff, and Jack Grubman the analyst, caved. I'm sure he wasn't in it for the money (ha). Sure enough, he upgraded T, they got the deal, and waited the required 30 DAYS before downgrading T once again. It was a clownfest. Blatantly obvious! Not certain of ultimate outcome, but here's a synopsis from a while ago:
Law.com: AT&T Investors' Suit Survives Dismissal Motion
And anyone who bought into the largest public bond offering in history at historically high rates offered by WorldCom was quite simply a fool, fooled by either ruthless (the investment bankers) or stupid (the financial advisors on the retail side) people. That was just as obvious at the time.
Now, if someone as dumb as I am could figure all that out AT THAT TIME then how come all the "smart guys" at the SEC and NASD couldn't?
The regulators make me want to just puke. Worthless, completely worthless.