'Boiler Room' Redux

One of the serious, ongoing problems faced by the stock market -- one that you rarely read about in the media -- is the ongoing menace of stock-pushing boiler rooms, selling U.S. stocks to overseas investors. The problem is highlighted in this article, which appeared in London's Sunday Times yesterday.

The newspaper reported that it "has been inundated with letters from readers who have lost up to £100,000 after investing through boiler rooms — so-called because of their hard-sell tactics and high-pressure sales targets."

This very good piece highlights the problems posed by one of the most idiotic features of our securities laws, the "Regulation S" shares that are sold exclusively overseas.

These boiler rooms operate across national borders so they are difficult to tackle. And as I describe in Wall Street Versus America, they are not a new problem by any means. They have been operating for literally decades as badwill ambassadors of American capitalism.

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Wall Street Versus America will be published by Penguin USA on April 6.
Click here for its Amazon.com listing and here for more information on the book, from my web site.