I’ve been calling for changes in the way Wall Street works for several years. Financial markets were designed for raising long term capital for investment in business concerns- based on long term business strategies. What they’ve become is a casino, where people invest for minutes, hours and days- based on fluctuation and whim.
Google hasn’t changed its business model in months, yet the stock price has been all over the place [1].
With the latest disaster in France, where a “rogue trader” lost 7 billion dollars, the realization of the absurdity of the situation brought a common sense statement from French President Sarkozy:
Rogue Trader Held in French Bank Scandal | World Latest | Guardian Unlimited [2]
“If we can make profits in a matter of hours, we can also have huge losses,” President Nicolas Sarkozy said during a visit to India. “We must stop with this system that has gone haywire and that has lost track of its aim.”He added: “It appears to be time to … inject a bit of common sense into all these systems.”
Exactly what I’ve been saying. When the Federal Reserve is focused on the gyrations of the market, and business decisions are not based on operating profits, but on stock price, the system is broken. Worldcom, Enron, Countrywide should have been the wake-up call. Unfortunately, our elected leaders have been hitting snooze while their contributors have been robbing the country blind while they still can.
“It’s time to wake up, America” to quote the sage, Earl Pitts.