Wednesday, December 21, 2005

J-Comm, Mizuho & the TSE (part III)

Practical Market Philosophy Question #217: What's worse for an exchange : (a) admitting an error or mistake and taking steps to justly correct it, or (b) allowing the exchange become of farcical cariaciature of its intention and its members honor?

Yes, I've created a straw man of the the view that I think absurd. But what good does the latter serve with respect to the primary objective and function of the largest stock exchange in the world's second largest economy? How can this possibly represent the interests of the companies that are listed on the exchange without which the stock exchange would be nothing short of a pari-mutuel off-track betting office for the ponies? How can allowing the trade to stand possibly further the conception of a fair and orderly market? One look at the daily price and volume recap of a company with 15,000 Shares outstanding reveals the patent absurdity of anything less than "BUST THE TRADES!".
(Remember there are 15,000 shares outstanding, the float of which is only 3,660!!

DATE PRICE VOLUME
12/08/2005 772,000 708,000 (~500,000 lollipops taken from the baby at 572000)
12/09/2005 Not Traded
12/12/2005 Not Traded
12/13/2005 Not Traded
12/14/2005 1,020,000 215 (Bid-only, Limit Up Allocation)
12/15/2005 1,220,000 342 (Bid-only, Limit Up Allocation)
12/16/2005 1,420,000 6,472 (Limit Up - Allocation on close)
12/19/2005 1,620,000 1,622 (Limit Up - Allocation in close)
12/20/2005 1,920,000 1,826 (Limit Up - Allocation in close)
12/21/2005 1,900,000 1,367

It was less than 10 mintues, between the huge, ridiculuous and obviously mistaken offer of non-existant shares and the time when the clever-cats knowingly lifted more than 500 times the shares sold at the IPO. By way of precedent, if your bank makes a mistake and puts money on your account that is NOT yours, you are not permitted to keep it. If you spend it, you are liable. If you are shopping in teh supermarket, and a bag of candy has broken open, that is NOT free booty for you as a shopper to loot. If bags of money fall out of a Brinks truck, it is NOT finders-keepers, irrespective of how irresistible it may seem. Yet, the news media continues to treat this as though "the lucky ones" won the lottery, or "pulled triple-sixes on the one-eyed bandit's grand jackpot" in a fair game of chance. I admit it makes for a wonderful spectacle, and interesting reading as to how a twenty-four year unemployed programmer will spend his windfall, but won't someone, BOJ Gov Hayami, PM Koizumi, Kofi Annan, Billy Graham, SOMEONE, ANYONE please please please just take a stand and admit it is just plain wrong??!!

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