The Media Fumbles on Amex

I wasn't expecting page-one coverage of the SEC's soba-noodle slap yesterday at the American Stock Exchange, which it essentially found was an utter failure at supervising its floor brokers. But I thought it was pretty startling how little attention that it received.

The New York Times totally ignored the story. Not even a news brief. (The Post's Roddy Boyd had a pretty good wrapup, by contrast.) The Wall Street Journal ran a story on page C5 (subscription only, so I won't bother to link) describing how the ex-CEO, Salvatore Sodano, was being pursued for not doing a great job at the Amex. But the central issue, that the Amex is an absolute joke, received short shrift.

Now, I must say, it is interesting that Sodano is dean of the Frank G. Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University. I didn't even know there was a Frank G. Zarb School of Business. But.... what about the Amex? Isn't it doing a lousy job? Shouldn't it be... well, maybe shut down?

Just asking. What I do know is that it's not every day that an entire stock exchange is found to be a complete failure. Isn't that news?

© 2007 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.

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