Arthur Levitt
Arthur Levitt
Arthur Levitt Jr.was the twenty-fifth and longest-serving Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commissionfrom 1993 to 2001. Widely hailed as a champion of the individual investor, he has been criticized for not pushing for tougher accounting rules. Since May 2001 he has been employed as a senior adviser at the Carlyle Group. Levitt previously served as a policy advisor to Goldman Sachs and is a Director of Bloomberg LP, parent of Bloomberg News...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPublic Servant
Date of Birth3 February 1931
CountryUnited States of America
Investors should start with a view of skepticism. They should become intellectual investors rather than emotional investors. They should be careful, and they should be skeptical.
But when that information travels only to a privileged few, when it is used to profit at the expense of the investing public, when that information comes by way of favored access rather than by acumen, insight or diligence, we must ask, 'Whose interest is really being served?'.
While fund performance is unpredictable, the impact of fees is not, .. A 1- percent annual fee will reduce an ending account balance by 17 percent after 20 years.
Today it's fashionable to talk about the New Economy, or the Information Economy, or the Knowledge Economy. But when I think about the imperatives of this market, I view today's economy as the Value Economy. Adding value has become more than just a sound business principle; it is both the common denominator and the competitive edge.
Personally I don't think day traders are speculating, because traditional speculation requires some market knowledge. They are, instead, gambling, which doesn't.
We are not looking for a bit of window dressing on the same old recycled gobbledygook, ... We expect you to do whatever it takes to speak to investors in a language they understand -- English.
Our purpose, as we face these challenges, remains clear - fair and orderly markets that allow for efficient capital formation, while protecting the interests of investors.
Our role is to maintain and monitor a framework in which fair competition can flourish.
They have been compared to a high-tech version of morning gossip or advice at the company water cooler, ... At least you knew your co-workers at the water cooler.
Bad deals have led to some titanic failures for shareholders.
a way to gain and maintain favor with particular analysts.
This is bound to inflame investor passion. Evidently, Raymond did a first-rate job. Why do they want to hurt his legacy and his image by creating a compensation package that is so skewed and so unnecessary?
This is the best hope that the investor community has today, ... This is the first time that a group made up of this type of individuals has come out for expensing stock options and curbs on the excessive compensation executives have been receiving.
This is outrageous that just two months ago, a public offering was done. Major banking institutions simply were asleep at the switch. There was clearly wrongdoing here that neither the accountants nor the underwriters nor the principal owners had any idea of.