Lasantha
04-01 11:08 AM
What is your PD illusions?
gc4me, i had made a mistake, i was looking at the "Application Mailed" date instead of the PD, and got all excited.... i have since edited my response.
gc4me, i had made a mistake, i was looking at the "Application Mailed" date instead of the PD, and got all excited.... i have since edited my response.
wallpaper Mississippi River Delta
Rajeev
11-08 02:56 PM
Yes, it seems that the bill S 1085 has become active again. I received e-mails from both New Jersey Senators in the last 45 days talking about the bill.
goosetavo
02-05 12:00 PM
My flight has been booked. Two folks confirmed from WA, working on more.
2011 tattoo MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA
reddymjm
07-14 11:55 AM
coopheal ,
I have been contributing. Even for the latest Capitol Hill effort I did call my friends and they did contribute. I have the numbers. I myself contributed 100$. I would have spent at least 8 hours making calls and making my friends contribute $. I never gave up on that. But still I do not get enough motivation to keep this doing. I have collected around 200$ at my work for meeting the lawmakers effort but returned the money to individuals. I am sure it would have ended up helping EB2.
I have been contributing. Even for the latest Capitol Hill effort I did call my friends and they did contribute. I have the numbers. I myself contributed 100$. I would have spent at least 8 hours making calls and making my friends contribute $. I never gave up on that. But still I do not get enough motivation to keep this doing. I have collected around 200$ at my work for meeting the lawmakers effort but returned the money to individuals. I am sure it would have ended up helping EB2.
more...
actaccord
02-01 04:46 PM
will work on this task... :) This is a good idea.
Could you find people willing to help create posters on a new thread. IV can help form a group that would take care of all creating posters, fliers, banner ads etc for this event.
Could you find people willing to help create posters on a new thread. IV can help form a group that would take care of all creating posters, fliers, banner ads etc for this event.
sroyc
09-25 06:19 PM
I don't know if there was a memo. I think AILA communicated this to the lawyers and I read it on Ron Gotcher's forum.
Apparently, the re-interpretation of laws were based on the changes in AC21, something they were ignoring till 2008.
Thanks. I also do not want to drag us into that direction. Just for the sake of my satisfaction, may I ask to you or anybody here to put any link/doc for any memo or other USCIS doc which states this?
Apparently, the re-interpretation of laws were based on the changes in AC21, something they were ignoring till 2008.
Thanks. I also do not want to drag us into that direction. Just for the sake of my satisfaction, may I ask to you or anybody here to put any link/doc for any memo or other USCIS doc which states this?
more...
leoindiano
09-02 06:47 PM
My PD is Mar-04, RD=14Aug07
On USCIS status, it says.." On October 11, 2007, we received this I485..." .
Processing time for TSC is Aug07.. Does this mean my case will not processed now?
I am in same boat. Was your case transferred to EAC and then came back to TSC?
On USCIS status, it says.." On October 11, 2007, we received this I485..." .
Processing time for TSC is Aug07.. Does this mean my case will not processed now?
I am in same boat. Was your case transferred to EAC and then came back to TSC?
2010 Shelter in the Mississippi
snathan
03-25 04:04 PM
Totally agree with ya.
Unless crises strikes people and they are shatters they do not care.
Just see the old threads of EAD delays. All these people with EADs were sobbing on those threads pleading to IV to help them. Most did not have a donor status or had contributed a dime. They were on the verge of losing their jobs when IV helped them get their EADs on time. Now where are all those hundreds of people. Are they contributing a dime for the lobby day? I bet after 2 years, they will come again to IV and sob about EADs delays and ask IV to help them.
This is the part I am not agreeing with IV and don�t like very much. Why would IV ever need to help people who never bothered to contribute time or money?
If they can get it for free why would anyone wants to contribute ?
Unless crises strikes people and they are shatters they do not care.
Just see the old threads of EAD delays. All these people with EADs were sobbing on those threads pleading to IV to help them. Most did not have a donor status or had contributed a dime. They were on the verge of losing their jobs when IV helped them get their EADs on time. Now where are all those hundreds of people. Are they contributing a dime for the lobby day? I bet after 2 years, they will come again to IV and sob about EADs delays and ask IV to help them.
This is the part I am not agreeing with IV and don�t like very much. Why would IV ever need to help people who never bothered to contribute time or money?
If they can get it for free why would anyone wants to contribute ?
more...
whitecollarslave
03-20 11:19 AM
As some of you know, I have been working with news media, government leaders, and immigration lawyers over the past year because of the stimulus debacle. As a result, I have developed some strong contacts in government. I will be meeting some congressional immigration staffers in the next few days and I have developed a list of issues to discuss. If you want to post your own issues, feel free to do so in this thread and I will add them to the list. These are the same people who helped get the last stimulus bill changed in our favor, so they do have influence.
What was in "our" favor in the last stimulus bill? Which bill are you talking about?
What was in "our" favor in the last stimulus bill? Which bill are you talking about?
hair of the Mississippi River.
SGP
04-17 05:26 PM
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$GOOD EVENING GC$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Deadline = April 30th, 2011
Goal = 5000 votes on survey (see I-485 filing w/o current PD thread) and momentum to continue with this campaign.The survey is a platform to gather and push for launching action items. Based on response by 04/30/2011 - IV will decide whether to even proceed with initiative or not.
Actions - 1) Vote on survey.
2)Email ivcoordinator@gmail.com with PD, ph#,email & subject "I485 filing impacted�,
3)Print/Circulate Fliers and spread FB, wiki link (see "support thread")
This is a supporting thread to the "Want to File I-485 without Current Priority Date? Gather here" thread started by pappu.
As suggested by pappu/starsun, this supporting thread provides impacted members with additional information and tools to help the initiative.
Visit Immigration Voice Wiki (http://immigrationvoice.org/wiki/index.php/Employment_Based_Green_Card#Process_.28EB1.2C_EB2. 2C_and_EB3.29) - for overview of Employment Based - Green Card process
Visit I485 Filing w/o current PD Wiki (http://immigrationvoice.org/wiki/index.php/Current_Grass-Roots_Initiative_-_I-485_Filing_without_Current_Priority_Date) - for overview of this initiative
As pappu stated in the first post of the above referenced thread - some of the ongoing efforts include finding how many IV members would get benefit from such a provision and get basic details such as username/Priority Date of impacted members. Future action items might include drafting documents and letters to support this provision. There maybe actions such as sending emails etc. However we would not be able to open a public action item unless we can have thousands of our members willing to participate in a grassroots action item. This survey intends to understand the needs of our membership for this provision and collect grassroots information.
The fact is we have a dedicated group of volunteers (and we need more) who have been trying their best to spread the message about this initiative so that a strong grass-roots support can be created leading up to launch of the public action items. So far we have around 1100 people who have responded. Based on quick calculations carried out using PERM data, it is estimated that there are at least 60K-70K EB applicants waiting to file I-485/EAD/AP (this is a very conservative estimate..the actual number could be much more). Grass-roots initiatives require time and patience and we request maximum number of impacted folks to participate actively.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What can you do to participate?
1) Vote on the poll/survey created by Pappu.
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/forum14-members-forum/1599353-want-to-file-485-when-pd-is-not-current-gather-here.html
Then please send an email to ivcoordinator@gmail.com (starsun) with subject - "I485 filing without current PD - Impacted Member". Include your a) IV username b) Email address c) Phone #, d) State of Residence e) Priority Date - so that grassroot efforts can be coordinated
2) Print out below Flier and circulate at all asian/indian malls/groceries/theaters. Forward the flier to your friends/co-workers and ask them to do the same.
I485 Filing Initiative Flier (http://immigrationvoice.org/wiki/images/a/a8/Flier_I485_latest2.pdf)
3) Volunteers have created a facebook community and an Immigration Voice WIKI page to spread the message about this initiative. Please circulate these links among your friends/co-workers who will be helped.
Please "Share" and "Link" and "send to friend" the facebook community via your Facebook account. Also include these two links when you post on the IV forum.
Facebook - IV I485 filing w/o current PD initiative community (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Immigration-Voice-Grass-roots-Campaigns/150562351660693?v=info)
(Just FYI that you might have to be logged in for the above link to direct to the facebook community. Alternately, search for "Immigration Voice Grass-roots Campaigns" to find the community after logging in. Search "Immigration Voice" to go to the IV's main facebook page)
Immigration Wiki -
I485 Filing Initiative - IV Wiki (http://immigrationvoice.org/wiki/index.php/Current_Grass-Roots_Initiative_-_I-485_Filing_without_Current_Priority_Date)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PM these members for additional info:
nmdial ; geevikram ; vbkris77 ; ashwin_27 ; snathan
Dedicated members can also join the leaders group: http://groups.google.com/group/485-filing-iv-initiative
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deadline = April 30th, 2011
Goal = 5000 votes on survey (see I-485 filing w/o current PD thread) and momentum to continue with this campaign.The survey is a platform to gather and push for launching action items. Based on response by 04/30/2011 - IV will decide whether to even proceed with initiative or not.
Actions - 1) Vote on survey.
2)Email ivcoordinator@gmail.com with PD, ph#,email & subject "I485 filing impacted�,
3)Print/Circulate Fliers and spread FB, wiki link (see "support thread")
This is a supporting thread to the "Want to File I-485 without Current Priority Date? Gather here" thread started by pappu.
As suggested by pappu/starsun, this supporting thread provides impacted members with additional information and tools to help the initiative.
Visit Immigration Voice Wiki (http://immigrationvoice.org/wiki/index.php/Employment_Based_Green_Card#Process_.28EB1.2C_EB2. 2C_and_EB3.29) - for overview of Employment Based - Green Card process
Visit I485 Filing w/o current PD Wiki (http://immigrationvoice.org/wiki/index.php/Current_Grass-Roots_Initiative_-_I-485_Filing_without_Current_Priority_Date) - for overview of this initiative
As pappu stated in the first post of the above referenced thread - some of the ongoing efforts include finding how many IV members would get benefit from such a provision and get basic details such as username/Priority Date of impacted members. Future action items might include drafting documents and letters to support this provision. There maybe actions such as sending emails etc. However we would not be able to open a public action item unless we can have thousands of our members willing to participate in a grassroots action item. This survey intends to understand the needs of our membership for this provision and collect grassroots information.
The fact is we have a dedicated group of volunteers (and we need more) who have been trying their best to spread the message about this initiative so that a strong grass-roots support can be created leading up to launch of the public action items. So far we have around 1100 people who have responded. Based on quick calculations carried out using PERM data, it is estimated that there are at least 60K-70K EB applicants waiting to file I-485/EAD/AP (this is a very conservative estimate..the actual number could be much more). Grass-roots initiatives require time and patience and we request maximum number of impacted folks to participate actively.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What can you do to participate?
1) Vote on the poll/survey created by Pappu.
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/forum14-members-forum/1599353-want-to-file-485-when-pd-is-not-current-gather-here.html
Then please send an email to ivcoordinator@gmail.com (starsun) with subject - "I485 filing without current PD - Impacted Member". Include your a) IV username b) Email address c) Phone #, d) State of Residence e) Priority Date - so that grassroot efforts can be coordinated
2) Print out below Flier and circulate at all asian/indian malls/groceries/theaters. Forward the flier to your friends/co-workers and ask them to do the same.
I485 Filing Initiative Flier (http://immigrationvoice.org/wiki/images/a/a8/Flier_I485_latest2.pdf)
3) Volunteers have created a facebook community and an Immigration Voice WIKI page to spread the message about this initiative. Please circulate these links among your friends/co-workers who will be helped.
Please "Share" and "Link" and "send to friend" the facebook community via your Facebook account. Also include these two links when you post on the IV forum.
Facebook - IV I485 filing w/o current PD initiative community (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Immigration-Voice-Grass-roots-Campaigns/150562351660693?v=info)
(Just FYI that you might have to be logged in for the above link to direct to the facebook community. Alternately, search for "Immigration Voice Grass-roots Campaigns" to find the community after logging in. Search "Immigration Voice" to go to the IV's main facebook page)
Immigration Wiki -
I485 Filing Initiative - IV Wiki (http://immigrationvoice.org/wiki/index.php/Current_Grass-Roots_Initiative_-_I-485_Filing_without_Current_Priority_Date)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PM these members for additional info:
nmdial ; geevikram ; vbkris77 ; ashwin_27 ; snathan
Dedicated members can also join the leaders group: http://groups.google.com/group/485-filing-iv-initiative
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
more...
tonyHK12
03-22 07:50 PM
^^^
hot Lower Mississippi River Delta
GCapplicant
05-15 04:00 PM
Called them ...Staff were quite friendly.
more...
house The Mississippi River is the
chanukya
02-01 09:37 PM
This is what is there in 187, no mention of page s1105
Only mention page s1121, s1044-1045.
I am still wondering to which amendment S1105 attached
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d110:87:./temp/~bdVZ5O::
S.AMDT.187
Amends: H.R.2 , S.AMDT.112
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (submitted 1/24/2007) (proposed 1/24/2007)
AMENDMENT PURPOSE:
In the nature of a substitute.
TEXT OF AMENDMENT AS SUBMITTED: CR S1121
STATUS:
1/24/2007:
Amendment SA 187 proposed by Senator Kennedy for Senator Kerry to Amendment SA 112. (consideration: CR S1044-1045; text: CR S1044)
1/24/2007:
Amendment SA 187 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.
s1105 refers to a page. This corresponds to SA 187 ( and I request you to see BACKLOG REDUCTION is there).
Only mention page s1121, s1044-1045.
I am still wondering to which amendment S1105 attached
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d110:87:./temp/~bdVZ5O::
S.AMDT.187
Amends: H.R.2 , S.AMDT.112
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (submitted 1/24/2007) (proposed 1/24/2007)
AMENDMENT PURPOSE:
In the nature of a substitute.
TEXT OF AMENDMENT AS SUBMITTED: CR S1121
STATUS:
1/24/2007:
Amendment SA 187 proposed by Senator Kennedy for Senator Kerry to Amendment SA 112. (consideration: CR S1044-1045; text: CR S1044)
1/24/2007:
Amendment SA 187 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.
s1105 refers to a page. This corresponds to SA 187 ( and I request you to see BACKLOG REDUCTION is there).
tattoo Lower Mississippi River Delta
imh1b
02-16 08:41 AM
I want to come to Advocacy day. If my plans change, I will contribute the amount I would have spent for my travel, food and stay in DC to IV.
more...
pictures Mississippi River Flood
flthere
07-15 01:41 PM
What Per-Country limits and fighting against it, I wish someone fight against the whole EB classification :(
dresses 0 comments. Opening a
hellomms
05-04 11:12 PM
Here is the most up-to-date list of people who have reported their issues with the audit delays:
http://www.mediafire.com/?a3znd69ymyz
I think its about time that we start brain storming the plan of action, I did like the idea of rally but that had its own Pros and Cons. We need more ideas coming from the people...
I was thinking that we could draft a letter of request to DoL and have all the members sign on it to reflect the massiveness of the issue that Management needs to know - this is becoming a major issue in the EB immigration process. We could then write up a follow-up article for newspaper or even provide a copy of that signed letter to them. Any input to this?
I have requested IV Admins to provide some input as well, but if you have any ideas please speak up!
Here is what one of the IV administrators communicated to me:
"In order for anything to be successful, it is important that we get as many people affected involved. Based on the number of people who wish to take part in solving the issue we can initiate a campaign.
Pls let everyone know that IV can help them. We need everyone affected willing to help themselves by coming out and actively participating in a campaign."
So please, dont disperse or lose hope, we need to gather more people to support the campaign, once started.
Admins: I am unable to add the files as an attachment, even after making sure that the file size is under the limit. Am I missing something?
http://www.mediafire.com/?a3znd69ymyz
I think its about time that we start brain storming the plan of action, I did like the idea of rally but that had its own Pros and Cons. We need more ideas coming from the people...
I was thinking that we could draft a letter of request to DoL and have all the members sign on it to reflect the massiveness of the issue that Management needs to know - this is becoming a major issue in the EB immigration process. We could then write up a follow-up article for newspaper or even provide a copy of that signed letter to them. Any input to this?
I have requested IV Admins to provide some input as well, but if you have any ideas please speak up!
Here is what one of the IV administrators communicated to me:
"In order for anything to be successful, it is important that we get as many people affected involved. Based on the number of people who wish to take part in solving the issue we can initiate a campaign.
Pls let everyone know that IV can help them. We need everyone affected willing to help themselves by coming out and actively participating in a campaign."
So please, dont disperse or lose hope, we need to gather more people to support the campaign, once started.
Admins: I am unable to add the files as an attachment, even after making sure that the file size is under the limit. Am I missing something?
more...
makeup Mississippi River Delta
.bmp "The Mississippi River is the")
vparam
06-07 12:41 PM
Where are we? CIR has not yet been recieved in the house, no conference commitees. what is really happening? is the CIR dead on arrival?
girlfriend of the Mississippi River
breddy2000
01-14 10:07 AM
Wall Street's Rigged Casino
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/barry/2009/0113.html
Last year was certainly a turbulent one for investors. Not only did good assets and companies sell off with bad, but the very integrity of the U.S. markets was brought into question. Financial firms spend millions of dollars convincing the average citizen that investing in stocks is necessary and prudent, yet the playing field is far from level. Fraud, naked shorting and other forms of manipulation are now endemic to the American markets. As Overstock's lawyer, John O'Quinn points out, “You have more chance to be treated fairly in a casino in Vegas.” How can you invest if you can't trust the system?
Jim Puplava, Mike Schneider and a few other journalists have exposed the prevalence of naked shorting on Wall Street. While selling short is a legitimate activity, naked shorting occurs when parties sell shares they don't own and don't intend to borrow, causing more shares to be traded than actually exist. Approximately 7.5% of the trades reported by the DTCC fail to deliver each day, and this agency is private and not at all transparent. Furthermore, 96% of all stock transactions are completed outside the official system and are totally unregulated.
Regulation SHO was enacted in 2005 by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to supposedly eliminate chronic settlement failures by forcing brokers to close out positions after thirteen consecutive trading days. However the regulation doesn't cover small and micro cap companies, or failures to deliver (FTDs) that are below a certain numerical threshold. Market makers were exempt from this regulation until last fall, and old FTDs were allowed to remain open. Some corporations remained on the threshold list for over a year consecutively with no relief from the SEC.
Chairman Cox admitted in July 2006 that there were many large loopholes in Regulation SHO which allowed predatory shorting to continue. Few firms were investigated, and even those brokers who were caught paid minimal fines. Almost nothing was done until naked shorting threatened “the stability of financial institutions,” according to Cox. In July 2008, the SEC banned naked shorting of 19 select financial firms. With this rule and the subsequent emergency order banning all short selling in 799 financial institutions, Cox admitted that naked shorting was a serious problem, but the SEC would only enforce the rules for certain institutions that deserved the effort.
The Commission has demonstrated where its real allegiance lies, and it’s not with the small investor. For years, hedge funds, brokerages, and investment banks soaked up fat profits by naked shorting promising companies to death. These shorts never have to be covered if the company is delisted and goes bankrupt, so it’s a very lucrative criminal practice. When some of these same corporations that preyed on small cap stocks suffered share price drops due to their hideous balance sheets, the SEC moved in to give them special protection.
Even with some of the loopholes closed, market manipulation still goes on. As Allan Young points out on his website, naked shorting is in effect another derivative like credit default swaps or mortgage backed securities. Predatory brokers can sell more shares than exist, as if they are buying a put (a bet that prices will go down). Sell enough shares and you can ensure your bet is correct. These brokers can later close out their naked shorts and avoid censure from the SEC.
Although the most egregious violations of the naked short rules have been eliminated, with corporations like Overstock now off the naked short list, much of the damage has already been done. Many solid businesses have been naked shorted out of existence, leading to unemployment and destruction of wealth for millions of taxpayers. U.S. citizens are angry and scared as they watch their stock portfolios shrink, and see their pensions in jeopardy.
This begs the question as to why the U.S. government would prop the markets up on one hand using the Plunge Protection Team, while allowing naked shorting on the other which pushes the share prices down. I can only conclude that the system is designed to redistribute wealth from small investors to elite bankers and hedge fund managers. Perhaps the stock markets were allowed to decline so the politically connected shorts could cover profitably. With the close relationship between Wall Street, regulators, Congress, and the Treasury Department full of former Goldman Sachs executives, it's clear that the average worker with retirement money invested in the market is at an extreme disadvantage.
The SEC suffered another embarassment with the revelation that Bernard Madoff ran a US$50 billion Ponzi scheme disguised as a hedge fund for several years. Only a tip from Madoff's sons to the FBI unraveled the scheme. In fact, the SEC investigated Madoff's company eight times over more than a decade and failed to find any fraud. A former SEC attorney is now married to Madoff's niece, raising doubts about his objectivity in examining Madoff's books. Even when Harry Markopoulos, a private whistleblower, produced evidence that Madoff's trading results could not be replicated, no one at the SEC took him seriously.
Congress has been quick to blame Commissioner Cox, a former colleague for the Madoff scandal. However, missteps and inadequate enforcement predate Cox, who has only run the SEC since August 2005.
Obama's pick to replace Cox, Mary Schapiro has many flaws of her own. She previously appointed one of Madoff's sons to a disciplinary board, making her judgement look very poor. Schapiro is currently chief of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a self regulating body which has been even less willing than usual to crack down on Wall Street abuses during her tenure. She ran the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under President Clinton, an agency that has been unable or unwilling to perceive the manipulation in the precious metals markets while pursuing collusion in other commodities. Schapiro stated she was inspired to pursue a regulatory career by watching the Hunt brothers' silver moves, so we know where her biases lie.
As an analyst, I spend hours each week poring over balance sheets, and reading financial statements of companies I may want to recommend to my subscribers. My task is made very difficult by the widespread financial fraud. While Madoff's results were too good to be true, other forms of deception are extremely hard to detect. Satyam is the latest scandal to hit Wall Street. Although the corporation is headquartered in India, Satyam has Fortune 500 clients in the U.S. and is listed on the NYSE. It has to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley regulations just like any American company, rules that are supposed to enforce honesty and transparency. Satyam – which is Sanskrit for truth - was awarded the Golden Peacock award for corporate governance just three months ago, in an amazing bit of irony.
With all these scandals, no wonder Merrill Lynch reports that rich customers are demanding gold coins and bars instead of shares in “paper gold” like ETFs. Credible stories indicate that the COMEX warehouses are experiencing record activity as receipt holders seek delivery of their gold. Brokers are apparently attempting to discourage this activity to squelch metal demand. When trust is eroded, people naturally seek safety in an asset without counterparty risk like gold.
If you are a stock investor despite all these perils, how to you separate the wheat from the chaff? First you have to find industries with impeccable fundamentals. While commodities suffered greatly in 2008, I believe they will see a strong rebound in 2009.
Second, check the track record of management and look for any hints of impropriety. Third, read the financial statements and look for unnecessarily complicated structures or conflicts of interest: these are red flags. Fourth, if results seem unbelievably excellent, they may be fictional. Fifth, while you can no longer take delivery of shares in the United States, you can contact the companies you invest in to determine if you are on the list of legitimate shareholders or a victim of naked shorting. Sixth, diversify into several different companies so if one is fraudulent you don't lose all your money. With the danger inherent in stocks, I recommend only investing capital you can afford to lose.
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/barry/2009/0113.html
Last year was certainly a turbulent one for investors. Not only did good assets and companies sell off with bad, but the very integrity of the U.S. markets was brought into question. Financial firms spend millions of dollars convincing the average citizen that investing in stocks is necessary and prudent, yet the playing field is far from level. Fraud, naked shorting and other forms of manipulation are now endemic to the American markets. As Overstock's lawyer, John O'Quinn points out, “You have more chance to be treated fairly in a casino in Vegas.” How can you invest if you can't trust the system?
Jim Puplava, Mike Schneider and a few other journalists have exposed the prevalence of naked shorting on Wall Street. While selling short is a legitimate activity, naked shorting occurs when parties sell shares they don't own and don't intend to borrow, causing more shares to be traded than actually exist. Approximately 7.5% of the trades reported by the DTCC fail to deliver each day, and this agency is private and not at all transparent. Furthermore, 96% of all stock transactions are completed outside the official system and are totally unregulated.
Regulation SHO was enacted in 2005 by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to supposedly eliminate chronic settlement failures by forcing brokers to close out positions after thirteen consecutive trading days. However the regulation doesn't cover small and micro cap companies, or failures to deliver (FTDs) that are below a certain numerical threshold. Market makers were exempt from this regulation until last fall, and old FTDs were allowed to remain open. Some corporations remained on the threshold list for over a year consecutively with no relief from the SEC.
Chairman Cox admitted in July 2006 that there were many large loopholes in Regulation SHO which allowed predatory shorting to continue. Few firms were investigated, and even those brokers who were caught paid minimal fines. Almost nothing was done until naked shorting threatened “the stability of financial institutions,” according to Cox. In July 2008, the SEC banned naked shorting of 19 select financial firms. With this rule and the subsequent emergency order banning all short selling in 799 financial institutions, Cox admitted that naked shorting was a serious problem, but the SEC would only enforce the rules for certain institutions that deserved the effort.
The Commission has demonstrated where its real allegiance lies, and it’s not with the small investor. For years, hedge funds, brokerages, and investment banks soaked up fat profits by naked shorting promising companies to death. These shorts never have to be covered if the company is delisted and goes bankrupt, so it’s a very lucrative criminal practice. When some of these same corporations that preyed on small cap stocks suffered share price drops due to their hideous balance sheets, the SEC moved in to give them special protection.
Even with some of the loopholes closed, market manipulation still goes on. As Allan Young points out on his website, naked shorting is in effect another derivative like credit default swaps or mortgage backed securities. Predatory brokers can sell more shares than exist, as if they are buying a put (a bet that prices will go down). Sell enough shares and you can ensure your bet is correct. These brokers can later close out their naked shorts and avoid censure from the SEC.
Although the most egregious violations of the naked short rules have been eliminated, with corporations like Overstock now off the naked short list, much of the damage has already been done. Many solid businesses have been naked shorted out of existence, leading to unemployment and destruction of wealth for millions of taxpayers. U.S. citizens are angry and scared as they watch their stock portfolios shrink, and see their pensions in jeopardy.
This begs the question as to why the U.S. government would prop the markets up on one hand using the Plunge Protection Team, while allowing naked shorting on the other which pushes the share prices down. I can only conclude that the system is designed to redistribute wealth from small investors to elite bankers and hedge fund managers. Perhaps the stock markets were allowed to decline so the politically connected shorts could cover profitably. With the close relationship between Wall Street, regulators, Congress, and the Treasury Department full of former Goldman Sachs executives, it's clear that the average worker with retirement money invested in the market is at an extreme disadvantage.
The SEC suffered another embarassment with the revelation that Bernard Madoff ran a US$50 billion Ponzi scheme disguised as a hedge fund for several years. Only a tip from Madoff's sons to the FBI unraveled the scheme. In fact, the SEC investigated Madoff's company eight times over more than a decade and failed to find any fraud. A former SEC attorney is now married to Madoff's niece, raising doubts about his objectivity in examining Madoff's books. Even when Harry Markopoulos, a private whistleblower, produced evidence that Madoff's trading results could not be replicated, no one at the SEC took him seriously.
Congress has been quick to blame Commissioner Cox, a former colleague for the Madoff scandal. However, missteps and inadequate enforcement predate Cox, who has only run the SEC since August 2005.
Obama's pick to replace Cox, Mary Schapiro has many flaws of her own. She previously appointed one of Madoff's sons to a disciplinary board, making her judgement look very poor. Schapiro is currently chief of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a self regulating body which has been even less willing than usual to crack down on Wall Street abuses during her tenure. She ran the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under President Clinton, an agency that has been unable or unwilling to perceive the manipulation in the precious metals markets while pursuing collusion in other commodities. Schapiro stated she was inspired to pursue a regulatory career by watching the Hunt brothers' silver moves, so we know where her biases lie.
As an analyst, I spend hours each week poring over balance sheets, and reading financial statements of companies I may want to recommend to my subscribers. My task is made very difficult by the widespread financial fraud. While Madoff's results were too good to be true, other forms of deception are extremely hard to detect. Satyam is the latest scandal to hit Wall Street. Although the corporation is headquartered in India, Satyam has Fortune 500 clients in the U.S. and is listed on the NYSE. It has to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley regulations just like any American company, rules that are supposed to enforce honesty and transparency. Satyam – which is Sanskrit for truth - was awarded the Golden Peacock award for corporate governance just three months ago, in an amazing bit of irony.
With all these scandals, no wonder Merrill Lynch reports that rich customers are demanding gold coins and bars instead of shares in “paper gold” like ETFs. Credible stories indicate that the COMEX warehouses are experiencing record activity as receipt holders seek delivery of their gold. Brokers are apparently attempting to discourage this activity to squelch metal demand. When trust is eroded, people naturally seek safety in an asset without counterparty risk like gold.
If you are a stock investor despite all these perils, how to you separate the wheat from the chaff? First you have to find industries with impeccable fundamentals. While commodities suffered greatly in 2008, I believe they will see a strong rebound in 2009.
Second, check the track record of management and look for any hints of impropriety. Third, read the financial statements and look for unnecessarily complicated structures or conflicts of interest: these are red flags. Fourth, if results seem unbelievably excellent, they may be fictional. Fifth, while you can no longer take delivery of shares in the United States, you can contact the companies you invest in to determine if you are on the list of legitimate shareholders or a victim of naked shorting. Sixth, diversify into several different companies so if one is fraudulent you don't lose all your money. With the danger inherent in stocks, I recommend only investing capital you can afford to lose.
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gantilk
08-02 09:30 AM
Hi
Could someone please help me? I was trying to schedule an InfoPass appointment, ontheir website,
I clicked on
You need Service on a case that has already been filed
Then next page clicked on
EAD inquiry appointment - If your I-765 employment authorization application has been pending for more than 90 days.
Give me following message:
At this time, there are no information appointments available for the office in your area. Please try back again later.
Return to USCIS On-Line
I was wondering how you were able to schedule an appointment? I would appreciate if you could help me in this.
Regards,
GCCovet
I got the same thing too for EAD inquiries.. so choose inquiry abt other services and you may have some appntmnts available for that.
Could someone please help me? I was trying to schedule an InfoPass appointment, ontheir website,
I clicked on
You need Service on a case that has already been filed
Then next page clicked on
EAD inquiry appointment - If your I-765 employment authorization application has been pending for more than 90 days.
Give me following message:
At this time, there are no information appointments available for the office in your area. Please try back again later.
Return to USCIS On-Line
I was wondering how you were able to schedule an appointment? I would appreciate if you could help me in this.
Regards,
GCCovet
I got the same thing too for EAD inquiries.. so choose inquiry abt other services and you may have some appntmnts available for that.
billu
03-11 02:02 PM
My current passport has my old India residential address. Now, my parents have moved to a new address. When I apply for new passport, can I provide my new India address?Do I have to provide any proof for that?Has anyone had this situation?
thanks
thanks
AllVNeedGcPc
09-25 09:37 AM
Same here, I have Masters from a very high rated US University and 10 years of experience, but was misguided by attorneys, as there was no retrogression when I applied. Ending up with EB3.
Members like I_Got_Skillz are new kids on the block, who think that only they got masters in the whole world. Just from their sign-in names you can tell how immature they are.
I think big changes like CIR, elimination of EB2 or legislative amendments are not feasible right now, and we should try for some low profile but effective changes that can be done by decision makers at USCIS itself, unnoticed by politicians. For example, somehow convincing USCIS to change their spillover rules, so that EB3-I can get some benefits. We can try to make them understand that doing this will eliminate a lot of their old time backlog and will increase their reputation among other federal departments.
ChrisRock, Raju & other EB3 members must realize as long as members like I_Got_Skillz are here who are lurking just to ruin any EB3 conversation, it is very difficult to come up with a solution.
Also, the idea that an EB2 is more skilled and EB3 is not, is wrong since EB2s are nothing but the same qualification with a few more years of experience and EB3s are the same but who have been misguided by the attorneys when retrogression was never there.
Example, in my case, I have a masters, 7 years of experience before starting my green card app. Currently, I have a total of 15 years of experience as of today working in various domains.
In my opinion if you are looking for a solution which is more radical but practical, it should be in a way where there is a highly skilled category which should be more like EB1 and the rest. I think EB2 should be eliminated and merge both EB3 & EB2 candidates and do a FIFO processing. Isn't this the way most of the countries in rest of the world gave their process?
These are all changes which cannot be done due to politics, but in my opinion is the right approach.
Even some of the IV state chapter leaders etc are people with EB2 apps and they shoot down anything which works to their disadvantages.
It is only the IV Core & a few other members which really care about the backlog irrespective of category.
Please note, I am not naming any state chapter leaders in particular, but I have observed via threads & posts how their line of thoughts are.
Members like I_Got_Skillz are new kids on the block, who think that only they got masters in the whole world. Just from their sign-in names you can tell how immature they are.
I think big changes like CIR, elimination of EB2 or legislative amendments are not feasible right now, and we should try for some low profile but effective changes that can be done by decision makers at USCIS itself, unnoticed by politicians. For example, somehow convincing USCIS to change their spillover rules, so that EB3-I can get some benefits. We can try to make them understand that doing this will eliminate a lot of their old time backlog and will increase their reputation among other federal departments.
ChrisRock, Raju & other EB3 members must realize as long as members like I_Got_Skillz are here who are lurking just to ruin any EB3 conversation, it is very difficult to come up with a solution.
Also, the idea that an EB2 is more skilled and EB3 is not, is wrong since EB2s are nothing but the same qualification with a few more years of experience and EB3s are the same but who have been misguided by the attorneys when retrogression was never there.
Example, in my case, I have a masters, 7 years of experience before starting my green card app. Currently, I have a total of 15 years of experience as of today working in various domains.
In my opinion if you are looking for a solution which is more radical but practical, it should be in a way where there is a highly skilled category which should be more like EB1 and the rest. I think EB2 should be eliminated and merge both EB3 & EB2 candidates and do a FIFO processing. Isn't this the way most of the countries in rest of the world gave their process?
These are all changes which cannot be done due to politics, but in my opinion is the right approach.
Even some of the IV state chapter leaders etc are people with EB2 apps and they shoot down anything which works to their disadvantages.
It is only the IV Core & a few other members which really care about the backlog irrespective of category.
Please note, I am not naming any state chapter leaders in particular, but I have observed via threads & posts how their line of thoughts are.
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