Skip to main content

David Brandt Comment On Regulatory Notice 22-08

David Brandt
N/A

(I like the strictly agnostic feature of the FINRA form which requires me to state my country but makes sure that America is not defaulted to the top—we must get a simply *enormous* volume of commenters from Algeria and Andorra and Bangladesh and Bahrain and so on.) I’m just an ordinary American—starts with A—from the USA—down near Vanuata—but the common stock and preferred stock and bond and note and debenture snd whatnot of every single company is so vastly complex that if any mere mortal can comprehend it, a lowbrow common-stripe ‘retail investor’ sure as shootin’ cannot. Not only should common ordinary citizens like me be prohibited by law, regulation, and common decency from buying doubly and triply leveraged ETF bets on oil or volatility or the prospect of sunshine next Tuesday, but I shouldn’t be allowed to own the straight-up common stock of Exxon or Apple. I don’t have access to Exxon’s hedging book, and if I did, I’m just a stupid taxpayer. Heck, I can’t even change my own oil or fix my busted iPhone. I, and all ordinary citizens from Albania to Zimbabwe, and certainly of the USA, should not be allowed to invest in any business touched by FINRA regulations. Except maybe church loans. I remember when church loans used to come in to the filings office along with the red herrings, way back when everything was just NASD down there on K Street.