The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Upon Further Investigation

7.7.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 3 of 5)

Within the week of March 10, Bear Stearns' common shares traded at $70. Yet on Tuesday, March 11, options exchanges began trading March put options at a strike price of $25; those options were far out of the money and due to expire within a week, yet they were bought very heavily. On the same day, April put options began trading at strike prices as low as $20, and also were bought heavily. With the deal terms of $2 per share largely government-imposed the following Sunday, profits on the March put options alone were in the range of $175 million.

Obviously, somebody knew the Bear Stearns take-down was coming and profited greatly on the inside information. Congress demanded an SEC investigation of trading practices involved in the financial collapse of the firm. SEC reportedly opened such an investigation but closed it shortly thereafter and refused to disclose the results, even to Congress. What is going on? That would be a story worthy of your attention and a service to the country.
-- Wayne Jett
Managing Principal
Classical Capital LLC

Senator McCain, please meet Chairman Cox. He will be your running mate. The chairman will use his youth and Conservative base to offset your negatives, and with his favorite son status, he will deliver California for you. Lastly, if you don't muck things up too badly with the economy, he will be the next true Republican President of the United States.

Thank me later.
-- Ira M. Kessel
Rochester, New York

WEASEL WORDER
Re: George Neumayr's Wedding Belle:

In addition to being exposed as the far-left ideologue he is, Obama is now showing himself to be a coward and a weasel. He can't bring himself to say that he supports same-sex marriage, so he allows his wife to be the point "man" on this issue even though she still uses subterfuge in her choice of words. The man hyped as our country's political savior and who hopes to be elected president using slogans like "change we can believe in" won't clearly articulate what kind of change he is proposing for fear that it will be resoundingly rejected by average Americans. So, in an effort to keep from alienating the ideologically pure base of his party and not offending everyone else, he parses his words when he speaks on this issue in public. He claims to be an agent of change but he's no different than the majority of politicians these days.

Just once I want to hear someone running for office say what he means without first checking with a coterie of his political consultants to make sure that his statement contains enough obfuscation to leave him wiggle-room if the comment proves to be politically damaging. It is this type of spinelessness that contributes to the abysmal approval ratings for politicians of all stripes.

I can respect a man who speaks clearly about what he believes even if I find his ideas morally repugnant; however, I detest public officials who engage in sophistry in an effort to disguise their true intentions. Should we believe Obama as he prattles on about change? I say balderdash!
-- Rick Arand
Lee's Summit, Missouri

ROSE GARDEN REDUX
Re: Peter Hannaford's Warp Speed at State:

Is it just me, or do others see the U.S. proposed opening of an "interests" section in Teheran as a de facto recognition that Iran will become a "player" after it acquires nuclear weapons? And just how do the maladroits at the State Department imagine the Mullahs will be hoodwinked into tolerating a cultural outreach program? The Iranians have such a sterling track record in respecting the inviolability of US embassies. If the State Department whiners have a personal safety problem in being posted to Baghdad, won't they become apoplectic with the creation of a new hostage boutique in Iran?
-- William J. Dye, Jr.
Glencoe, Missouri

Memories may be short, but, as I recall, the last time we had anything resembling a diplomatic mission in Tehran, the Islamicists allowed it to be raided by radicals, our diplomats were taken hostage, and our country went through a long stretch of agony and humiliation. Some reports say one of the abovementioned "radicals" is the current Iranian president.

I don't think the gain would be worth risking putting us through that again.
-- Robert Nowall
Cape Coral, Florida

INDEPENDENCE MISERY
Re: Lawrence Henry's What America is All About:

Picking nits perhaps, but this always bothers me when I see it. It's called INDEPENDENCE DAY, not the Fourth of July.

Please, let's have some respect for the single most important day recognized in America history.

Letter to the Editor

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