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.
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