Stuffee Redux?

Kudos to Naked Capitalism for showcasing a story that deserves all the play it can get (link): a lawsuit against Merrill Lynch, alleging that they sold securities to (to the City of Springfield, MA) without adequately disclosing the risk—in the argot of the trade, to a “stuffee.”

Excuse me for askin’, but could it be that that the stuffing of shaky securities is not just an anomaly at Merrill, but rather part of the firm’s grand business plan? Seems like just a heartbeat ago that Merrill was up to its eyebrows in what remains the galaxy’s largest-ever municipal bankruptcy—the debacle in Orange County, California, triggered in large part by the fact that the incompetent in the county treasurer’s office allowed his portfolio to be cargoed and swamped by any bit of leftover diddley-poo at the Merrill supersalesman chose to unload (link)?

Here’s news, folks: your banker is not your friend, any more than your used-car dealer, or your neighborhood crack pusher. In this respect (though not necessarily in all others), your banker is no different from the pump-and-dump bucket shop: the salesman gets paid only if he moves product, and the end of the trail is you.