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The book's origins date to the 1980s at Bear Stearns, and it has gone
through various iterations on its journey into the hands of the lucky JTF
broker who, after impressing superiors, is walked down the street to a
Kinkos, where senior brokers supervise the book's copying and hand-
off.
"It's a reward for senior brokers to give to junior brokers on their team
as an investment in them," the source said. "Once they had it, they used
it all the time."
The book offers a rare behind-the-scenes look into the world of high-
pressure, hard-scrabble Wall Street stock jockeying, featuring detailed
scenarios and responses used to pitch stocks to prospective clients.
The aggressive pitch tactics in the book and supporting JTF documents,
such as what one scenario described by the source as "Don't Pitch The
Bitch," have caught the attention of the FBI, the Securities and
Exchange Commission, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
In March, the SEC charged Belisis with fraud for a hedge fund scheme
in which he steered bloated fees to JTF. A month later, Finra filed a
formal complaint against JTF regarding the firm's actions in Februrary
2012, when it allegedly pushed shares of America West Resources, Inc.
(AWSR) common stock on investors, thus inflating the price. Brokers at
the firm also allegedly failed to execute sale orders for clients in a timely
manner but sold the majority of its proprietary shares for a more than $1
million profit.
The firm's alleged failure to execute at least 14 client sell orders lost
investors thousands, and America West is now in bankruptcy. In an
even more outrageous twist, the Finra complaint accuses Belesis of
intimidating employees with threats of maligning their broker records
and, in one case, running over an employee with his car.
Against that backdrop, here are some of the techniques outlined in the
"Golden Pitchbook" used by JTF brokers. The firm's attorney, Robert
Bursky, in February told Bloomberg it did not use "high-pressure
tactics." He said at the time it doesn't use scripts. Bursky did not
respond to BuzzFeed's requests for comment.
"Let's face it, if you go home and tell your wife that you want
to invest with a broker whom you don't know very well,
chances are you will be hit with a frying pan and spending the
night on the couch. However, once she sees my brochure from
the firm and a dossier that I send you in the FedEx package
with a buy confirmation, what do you think she is going to say?
Besides, it is a lot easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for
permission right?"
"Should I send it to your home where your wife will throw it out
or to the office where you will put it by your merchant banker
book that you never read either?"
JTF brokers want prospects to know that they are in this thing
for the long haul, but they are definitely NOT gay.
"Let's face it, your first step is the hardest. I am not looking for
a one night stand. You married your girlfriend right? Let me
ask you a question, you met your wife, but you did not jump
into bed with her on the first night did you? Of course not!!
Maybe you held her hand or maybe even kiss. Well look, I am
not looking to jump into bed with you or even get a kiss, I
simply want you to hold my hand with 100 shares and [in] 3-6
months you are gonna (sic) want to get into bed with me quite
frankly. I am not that guy [laugh]. So do the 100 shares not
because it's good for me, but because it is good for you."
...And the more you invest with JTF, the better your chances of
becoming rich.
"I want to say sincerely: I have many clients with net worths
ranging between $500K to $50 million...If I could just show you
what lies ahead in the future and the types of deals I get
involved with, I know you would be very impressed."
"My firm has turned the average investor into millionaires and
the millionaires into multi-millionaires. Not on one trade, but
on a series of 3-4 transactions over a 1-2 year time frame."
"Are you familiar with George Soros? This is the guy you want
on your side....Let's not let him make ALL the money!"
Scenario #6: You Have Money, You Just Don't Want to Give It to Me
A client claiming to not have money to invest is considered an
insult, or an outright lie. Literally.
"Guys like you don't ever let your bank accounts fall below 6
figures. Its not that you cant do it, its that you wont do it. I am
going to buy you (shares) of (stock) at (price), money is due in
one week but make me a promise. When I am not just right
but exactly right, next time out we work in size and you send
me 3 of your golfing buddiesOK?"
"By the time you get information or research reports, you are
buying the stock 5 points higher. The way to make money in
this business is to buy in to fundamentally sound companies
that are timed with near term events or catalysts. With this
approach I have made a fortune for a select group of
individuals."
Like, say, customers who may have just bought the next
America West from a broker at John Thomas Financial.