Hi Tom,

Jealousy has nothing to do with it.

There are the old rich who inherited their money through family empires - remnants of the era where you could buy low and sell high and over time amass a fortune. While one could argue this is profiteering in certain instances - it was not the outright fabrication of wealth through glorified, perfectly legal swindling which occured in the glorious underreported stock-swindles of 1997-99.

The US government knew exactly what was going on - believe me - and they didn't lift a finger to stop it and held the SEC on a tight leash only because they knew it was a way of filling the national coffers and pumping up the dollar.

It is the closest the US can come to to printing up unlimited money and also tax all this worthless yet valauable in name only stock - and retrieve HUGE income.



The deficit was plugged by the dot.cons and their taxable stock! In that sense they served a great purpose. In a real sense the government imposed A HUGE tax on all the stockholder/taxpayers of America.

It was a way through "greed" to get taxpayers to pay a lot of money to the government.

The crushing blow to dot.cons were not their expenses - heck a Delaware incorporation, representation, a cubbyhole in slickycon valley, paying a few goateed "creative" techies in stock costs next to nothing! For under 50g almost anyone could be a "player".

What crushed the dot.cons were there TAXES. So dot.con companys would merge, shift stock in trades, all in a delaying tactic. Bottom line is all these companies had SQUAT for income - they had stock value of billions or make believe dollars.

The goal of the game is to cash out make-believe stock dollars for real ones in the stock market and keep the company alive for as long as possible to do this since huge sales of stock tended to quickly depreciate stock and give the public a clue as to what suckers they were!

So new management would be brought on board - the big banks like Credit Suis-- Fir-- Bost--, Deuts--- Bank and many others would fund almost anything. Why?

Because the big banks stock funds are also big scams...they attract investors in funds that have maybe one worthwhile company out of twenty in thier fund!

So when one company goes down in flames - they must put a NEW one into their fund to make it attractive and replenish the depleted worth of the fund! So the banks game is rolling in new companies, helping them get to their IPOs, creating firms with viable "marketed" stock - and then taking the money and running in the same manner as the VCs!

That is how the great stock-swindle of 97-99 came about ...because too many people profited from keeping their mouths shut - Banks, VCs, the lawyers, the federal Government, stockbrokers, even including the very few savvy stockholders who might have figured it out!

When tax time rolled in 2000 - BAM BAM BAMMMM! Tens of thousands of companies which were created simply to roll stock dollars into real ones - couldn't pay.

When you have a supposed company worth of over a billion - do you know what the tax bill looks like? Even the state taxes are enough to sink the smaller dot.cons. Some are STILL delaying the inevitable.

The top execs, immune from prosecution, walked away with millions, often hundreds of millions, and the company suddenly was kaput. More often than not the founding top execs bailed out of the company real early so as to avoid possible complicity and prosecution - and did so under the guise/excuse of creating a "new startup" - and leaving some only moderately well paid six-figure exec-schlump to ride the train to oblivion!

Jealous? Nah, I'm comfortable and have been so all my life. But when you knew exactly what was going on - it was somewhat painful to watch.

To sum up:

Tom...many, many of your neighbors are crooks and cheats! The teachers in your area's schools are too....they know how the game is played....fudge the books to show profit...oops...I mean improvement where there is none.

Like you, I didn't just fall off the turnip truck either Tom...

;-)

SDAI-Tech1