The New York Stock Exchange chief talked tough Sunday, arguing that jail time was appropriate for perpetrators of corporate fraud, while urging investors not to bolt as share values slide.
"Those who've misused the public's trust, I think they've got to go to jail," Richard Grasso, chairman and CEO of the NYSE, told NBC television.
"The public's confidence has been tested, [but] our economy is strong," he said.
He added that "public trust and confidence need to be returned to the marketplace."
Grasso said he believed President George W. Bush has "laid out a long-term plan to restore the public's confidence. We've got to wage a war against terrorism in the boardroom, against misleading the shareholders. It's a long-term project, and I think it's being successfully deployed."
"I think history has proven that individuals are the most patient. I think they're going to continue to be patient and willing to invest. ... You've got to look beyond what happens to the market beyond [Monday]," Grasso said.
"Please be patient," he implored. "Don't do something that emotionally feels good but in the long run is a mistake."
A horrific week sent the Dow Jones industrials crashing below post-Sept. 11 lows, down 665.27 points, or 7.6 percent, to 8,019.26, after briefly slipping below 8,000 in a brutal selloff Friday.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 shared in the pain, hitting lows not seen since 1997 as it plunged 73.64 points, or 7.99 percent, to 847.75.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ, while also hitting a five-year low, held up only slightly better, with a loss of 54.35 points, or 3.96 percent, to 1,319.15.
Analysts said the slump was mainly psychological, with many investors throwing in the towel after losing confidence in corporate financial data, though they said the slump was irrational in the face of a strengthening US economy.
Analyst Abby Joseph Cohen of Goldman Sachs said she believed the market had hit near bottom, if not bottom.
"A good deal [of the risk] is priced into the market, and over the next period of time, I think the direction for stock prices is higher, not lower," she told CBS television.
"The pendulum has swung too far in the wrong direction. That doesn't mean it can't go a little further, but over a long period of time, I think stock prices are moving higher, not lower."
As far as concerns about corporate accounting, "most of corporate America has spent the last two or three quarters making dramatic adjustments already in their accounting. In the second half of the year, these numbers are going to be very, very clean," Cohen said.
US House of Representatives Majority Leader Dick Armey, for his part, conceded on NBC: "We are nervous on behalf of the economy."
Adding fuel to the fire, WorldCom Inc said Sunday it will file Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after it buckled under a mountain of junk-rated debt.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique