The SEC Hones in on Investools

In Wall Street Vs. America I describe how two leading business news outlets -- CNBC and BusinessWeek -- loaned their name to an operator of useless investment workshops called Investools. What made this relationship even scuzzier was that Investools has a murky corporate history, and its corporate predecessor, a penny stock outfit called ZiaSun, engaged in a protracted legal campaign against critics.

The CNBC and BW connections are a thing of the past, and today Investools disclosed that it is the subject of an informal inquiry by the SEC. The securities watchdogs are examining "representations by certain presenters in certain portions of their presentations at some of the company's seminars."

Evidently the SEC finally got around to reading Wall Street Versus America or this FINRA investor alert. There are plenty more seminar operators out there worthy of scrutiny, needless to say.

Investools says that it is changing its name to Thinkorswim Group Inc. I think "Sinkorswin" might be a better name. Emphasis on "Sink."

© 2008 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.