Matters Financial

November 2002


Greenspan's Risky Cut
The delight of Wall Street the day after the election stemmed largely from the announcement that the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee decided to reduce the Fed Funds interest rate to 1.25% -- a 40 year low. Praise for the Fed and its Chairman Alan Greenspan was loud, and virtually unanimous. Not a single voice was heard against the cut, but there should have been several. Click here to read more.

Pitt Leaves SEC Too Late
The release of the news that Harvey Pitt had resigned as head of the Security and Exchange Commission was engineered with astonishing perfection. The Bush administration rarely does things with such flawlessness, but here, they triumphed. While the country was busy watching election returns, Pitt's resignation was put out at 9:01 pm EST, and apart from finance journalists, no one noticed. Click here to read more.

Fastow in a Glass Booth
Former CFO of Enron, Andrew Fastow, faces a 78-count indictment, which could put him in jail for 780 years -- however, Federal sentencing guidelines will reduce that considerable if he's found guilty. And we must remember, he is presumed not guilty until a jury says otherwise. By employing a variation of the Nuremberg Defense, though, his lawyer is telling us something different, and it is painful to hear. Click here for our view.