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A few bits of information for all.
In 1975-6, the advisory committee for trading professionals voted
overwhelmingly requiring an examination on futures basics be required for
CTA's. The CFTC irgnored this recommendation thus allowing almost anyone who
didn't have a criminal record to become a CTA.
We didn't agree with this - what was the sense of registration if there are
no registration requirements (outside of breathing)?
We never intended publishers such as the Wall St Journal, Barrons, etc to be
subject to registration and they are exempt.
In the mid 80's when Lowe took the SEC to the supreme court, Lowe won. The
substance was that if there is no personal advice, no power of attorney and
no control over the account, the publisher is not considered a "professional"
and thus not subject to registration (by the SEC).
The CFTC decided to ignore the Lowe decision and required that all publishers
who give advice or just mention any commodity must be registered. This means
that if you want to say that the Dow is going to 25000, that's OK. But if you
say that Gold is going to $245, that's a violation of the CFTC registration
requirements.Keep in mind, because it's very important to understanding the
case, that we are talking about those publishers that NEVER give personal
advice to anyone. As soon as you give personal advice, you must be registered
- end of story.
Think about what the CFTC is trying to do and then apply it to any
information service in any field.
In my opinion, the only people that should be registered as CTAs are money
managers, those who have a power of attorney aand those who give personal
advice.
The newsletter writers who send the exact same newsletter to 100 or 1,000 or
10,000 subscribers should not need to be registered. There is no examination
required so registration doesn't do anything to protect the public.
Prior restraint of speech is illegal in the United States. By requiring
registration in order to write a newsletter, that is prior restraint.
Best wishes to all
Manning Stoller
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