As regulators dole out punishments that fit the crimes, they are finally closing many of the illegal trading loopholes that have driven so much of Wall Street profits over the past decade.
Online trading firms aim to exploit the gullibility of many retail investors by encouraging the myth that they can outperform professional money managers armed with vastly greater resources, experience and expertise. The E*Trade babies are the most glaring symbol of this myth. The symbol also reinforces the notion that investing is an easy task that takes no special effort or aptitude to succeed.
I take great pleasure in recommending investors buy Clorox (CLX) – an attractive-rated stock, not just because of its strong profitability and cheap valuation but also because of the unusually high quality and integrity of its financial reporting.