If you get the chance to see the movie “The Big Short” take it. After watching the movie. I went home to take a shower and try and get some of the Wall Street scum off me that had come from watching how horrible (and stupid) Wall Street is.
It seems to me that when Wall Street makes a deal on some new variation of an old idea, it ends badly, sometimes for them and generally for the customer.
The reverse might have recently happened when FINRA (the self-governing body http://www.finra.org) ruled that brokers could no longer broker practice a century-long sales secret. It might seem simple to a buyer not to know when it becomes extremely critical and expensive. Beginning shortly, brokers will have to disclose how much money they make on selling a bond.
While that may not seem significant, it is quite important. You see, bonds are one of those products that can be marketed with whatever the consumer will bear, and the cost of acquisition is merely tied into the cost of buying the bond.
For an investor to have that information means the actual cost of the bond (naked) can be known, and the buyer can grab any possible tax benefit such as deduction acquisition costs. It also shows the buyer exactly how much is made on each bond sale which seems important to me. It deals with transparency and honesty.
Here is more: http://www.fa-mag.com/news/finra-plan-means-brokers-couldn-t-keep-bond-mark-ups-secret-25412.html.
