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Blogfest 2005 - Mar 28, 2006 - Printable Version
- Roddy Boyd: Choosing up Sides
by Mark Faulk
Let's say, just for the sake of argument, that you're a financial reporter for a major newspaper, say....The New York Post. Now, again just for the sake of argument, let's say that three of your peers had been subpoenaed by the SEC in connection with allegations of collusion involving stock manipulation by a research firm and hedge funds. You'd want to distance yourself from those reporters, wouldn't you, just so as not to align yourself with anyone who might have the slightest chance of being involved with stock manipulation? For a journalist, integrity is priority number one. Right? Apparently, not if your name is Roddy Boyd. After the SEC subpoenas were issued to Herb "I don't know when to shut the f*ck up" Greenberg, Jim "Take this subpoena and shove it!" Cramer, and Carol "Do I blend in with this wallpaper?" Remond, New York Post reporter Boyd was quick to leap headlong to their defense, posting articles that seemed to blatantly align him with the Gang Who Couldn't Write Straight. You know what they say about birds of a feather.
Then, in early March, I received a couple of tips that Boyd himself might be the target of SEC subpoenas. So I did what any self-respecting journalist would do...I emailed Roddy Boyd and asked him outright if he had been subpoenaed. Of course, he had deleted his old email account (which in retrospect was probably not a bad idea), and that one came back "return to sender", but undeterred, I found his current address and resent it.
From: FaulkingTruth.com
Date: Thursday, March 2, 2006 10:11 PM
To: Roddy Boyd
Subject: Request for information
Roddy,
Mark Faulk here. I have received information from a couple of sources that
you have been the recipient of a subpoena from the SEC regarding their
current investigations into either Gradient Analytics or other matters
pertaining to the stock market.
Can you please confirm or deny whether that information is true? If in fact
it is true, will you comply with those subpoenas, or will you, like
Greenberg, Remond, and Cramer, claim first amendment rights of protection.
Thanks in advance.
If you want to call me, my number is (***) ***-****
Mark Faulk
Now, granted, this was a bit of a fishing expedition, but I'm from Oklahoma, and that's what we do for fun around here. I remember my Dad once telling me, "sometimes you cast your line because you see a fish jump, but other times, you just look for a bunch of dead branches and throw it in the middle of them to see what hits."
So I cast my line into the dead branches and waited, and lo and behold, I got a response from Roddy the very next morning. Oddly, he didn't email me back, instead, I awoke to a very early morning phone message (no more of those pesky easy to subpoena emails for R.B.) from Mr. Boyd that went a little something like this:
"Mark, Roddy Boyd here. I am not the target of any subpoenas from the SEC. Whoever told you that was dead wrong. And please take me off of your lists, I don't think I should be aligned with the anti-NSS (naked short-selling) advocates."
Now wait a minute. Boyd has no problem defending the guys accused of defrauding investors, but he "doesn't think he should be aligned with the anti-naked short-selling advocates"? We're advocating reform in the stock market, so he can't associate with us? What's wrong with this picture?
And now, in another cleverly slanted article on Tuesday, Boyd admitted that he was in fact involved in the net being cast by the SEC in the Gradient investigation, and that, in a subpoena issued to Gradient on March 10, requests were made for "Gradient's communications with Bethany McLean of Fortune Magazine, Jesse Eisinger of the Wall Street Journal, Elizabeth MacDonald of Forbes Magazine, former Barron's editor Cheryl Strauss Einhorn and this reporter from The Post."
Now, let's go back to our original question: If you were a financial reporter for a major newspaper, and your peers were being dragged into an investigation into stock market manipulation left and right, which side would you want to be aligned with? The side that advocates honesty, integrity, and reform in our stock market system, or the side that's getting subpoenaed for possible involvement in stock market fraud?
It's time for the media to choose sides in this issue, and it should be a no-brainer. America is paying closer attention to this every day, and in the end, it will be obvious who stood up for "Joe Mainstreet" and who chose the side of corruption, greed, and special interests.
And that's another Sanity Check from the Faulking Truth.
This commentary, along with a great forum for comments, is also posted at:
http://www.thesanitycheck.com/Blogs/MarkFaulksBlog/tabid/86/EntryID/191/Default.aspx
Mark Faulk is the Editor of The Faulking Truth, and the author of the upcoming book entitled "The Naked Truth," due out in June, 2006. For more information on the book and on the stock market scandal, go to http://www.faulkingtruth.com , and to pre-order your copy, go to http://www.theownersgroupinc.com/cart/
For another excellent article on the bevy of reporters who have been pulled into the line of fire of the SEC's stock manipulation investigations, read Bob O'Brien's article "Roddy Boyd’s NY Post Bombshell, and a translation of yesterday's bits and pieces from Herb, Jeff and Mark..."
http://www.thesanitycheck.com/BobsSanityCheckBlog/tabid/56/EntryID/189/Default.aspx
For a brilliant article detailing how corruption in the hedge fund industry effects all of America, read Dave Patch's latest article:
"What’s all this Fuss over Hedge Funds"
http://www.investigatethesec.com/20060328DP.htm
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