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is this country's leading consumer advocate for financial safety. He has helped millions of Americans judge the financial stability of insurance companies, HMOs, banks, savings and loans, and securities brokers.
Dr. Weiss' new book, Crash Profits: Make Money When Stocks Sink AND Soar, provides investors with easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions on how they can make profits, both while the market is falling and when it recovers, regardless of their age or financial situation. It has been listed on the Wall Street Journal best-seller list.
His best-seller, The Ultimate Safe Money Guide: How Everyone 50 and Over Can Protect, Save, and Grow Their Money, exposed the conflicts of interest that continue to plague the stock brokerage community and gave baby boomers a road map to grow their wealth safely. It was listed on the New York Times Business, Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek best-seller lists, as well as the Barron's Roundup for 2002.
Dr. Weiss began his career in 1971 when he founded Weiss Research, dedicated to evaluating the safety of financial institutions and investments for consulting clients. After spending two years in Japan as a Fulbright Scholar studying management techniques at Japanese financial institutions, Dr. Weiss returned to the United States in 1980 to begin issuing formal safety ratings on banks and savings institutions. His firm issued the first independent insurance ratings in 1989, the first ratings of brokerage firms in 1992, the first HMO ratings in 1994, and the first risk-oriented ratings on stocks in 2001.
He has testified before Congress several times, where he has proposed legislation requiring full financial disclosure to the consumer. His ratings are among the very few that consistently warned investors of financial difficulties, including the failure of large insurance companies in the early 1990's as well as the demise of Enron in 2001. Weiss Ratings is a continuing source of data and financial analysis to the U.S. General Accounting Office, Congressional committees, the Office of Management and Budget, and more.
Dr. Weiss holds a bachelor degree from New York University and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D. Chronology of Public Service Activities
Over the last 14 years, Martin Weiss has been a continuing
advocate for consumers and investors in the insurance, banking
and brokerage industries, dedicating his time and resources
to Congressional testimony, constructive proposals for reforms
in the securities industry, standards of practice for newsletter
publishers as well asound accounting and fiscal policy:
| July 1991 |
U.S. House of Representatives: Martin
D. Weiss testifies before the House Subcommittee on Commerce,
Consumer Protection, and Competitiveness regarding the insurance
crisis, proposing better risk disclosure to consumers. |
| Feb. 1992 |
U.S. Senate: Mr. Weiss testifies before
the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
regarding the crisis of confidence in the insurance industry,
proposing specific steps for overcoming the crisis. |
| 1992 |
Publishing industry: Weiss Research becomes
a member of Newsletter and Electronic Publisher’s
Association (NEPA). |
| 1994 |
Investors: Martin Weiss’ Safe
Money Report warns that stock research and ratings
issued by Wall Street brokerage and investment banking firms
are distorted by conflicts of interest, offering investors
recommendations on how to acquire unbiased and objective
information. |
| 1999 |
Investors: Martin Weiss’ Safe
Money Report warns that a large percentage of corporate
earnings reports are suspect of manipulation, offering investors
instructions on how to avoid any adverse consequences. |
| Nov. 1999 |
Consumers: Martin Weiss offers free advice
to Medicare beneficiaries being dropped from their HMOs.
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| June 2002 |
National Press Club: Martin Weiss presents
the white paper, Crisis of Confidence on Wall Street,
proposing ways to help investors make constructive, informed
decisions in the selection of brokers. |
| July 2002 |
U.S. Senate: Martin Weiss provides a
white paper on accounting reform, proposing that corporate
financial statements be reviewed quarterly and that the
record of each auditing firm's warnings of future difficulties
be tracked and disclosed to the public. The Senate e-mails
highlights of the Weiss white paper to its members immediately
prior to their vote on the Public Company Accounting Reform
and Investor Protection Act of 2002, sponsored by Sen. Paul
Sarbanes (D-MD). |
| Aug. 2002 |
SEC: Weiss submits industry commentary
to the SEC regarding proposed rules on analyst certification.
Weiss recommends that regulators address the sources and
causes of the conflicts with more specific measures aimed
at promoting a change in the structure of the investment
banking and brokerage business. |
| Dec. 2002 |
SEC: Weiss submits public commentary
proposing that nationally recognized statistical rating
organizations (NRSROs) be required to operate without conflicts
of interest in their business models, or failing to do so,
to at least better disclose those conflicts. |
| March 2002 |
SEC: Weiss submits comments on NYSE and
NASD proposed changes relating to exchange rules and to
research analyst conflicts of interest, proposing the creation
of a comprehensive stock ratings database made widely available
to the public, enabling investors to compare the ratings
and historical track records of research analysts and their
firms. |
| Oct. 2002 |
Financial Publishers: Mr. Weiss proposes
improvements to industry marketing practices in order to
provide better investor protection and disclosure, recommending
guidelines for the use of testimonials and the substantiation
of claims. |
| May 2003 |
SEC and state regulators: Martin Weiss
provides a detailed analysis and comparison of overlapping
rule-making initiatives by the SEC, state attorneys general,
the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and the Global Settlement.
Weiss proposes (1) a better centralization of the various
initiatives under the SEC, (2) divestiture of investment
banking from companies providing research analysis and recommendations,
and (3) a better link between each analyst’s incentive
compensation and his or her performance track record. |
| June 2003 |
U.S. Senate: Martin Weiss submits testimony
regarding medical malpractice caps, which, in turn, forms
the primary basis of a presentation by Senator Kennedy on
the Senate floor. |
| Nov. 2003 |
NEPA: Martin Weiss proposes the establishment
of standards of practice for financial newsletter publishers
which NEPA would adopt as a model for its members to adhere
to voluntarily. |
| March 2004 |
Investorside Research Conference: Mr.
Weiss presents white paper “Stock Research for the
Global Settlement: Qualitative or Quantitative Approaches?”
In it, Weiss demonstrates the constructive role quantitative
approaches can play in shielding the research process from
bias and conflicts, proposing that regulators shed any prejudice
they may have against such approaches. |
| Oct. 2004 |
Financial Publishers: Martin Weiss founds
the Financial
Publishers Association, devoted to enhancing and maintaining
the financial publishing industry’s reputation for
excellence while helping individual investors build their
wealth. |
| Nov. 2004 |
Investors and nonprofit groups: Mr. Weiss
launches the Sound Dollar Committee’s Investor Campaign
for an Honest Budget. www.SoundDollarCommittee.org |
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