We have a high opinion of The New York Times' editorial values. This having been stated, we would like to correct the record on a matter contained in an article published in The New York Times on October 24, 2004 titled "Miner's Benefits Vanish With Bankruptcy Ruling." (Click here to view article.) The New York Times' misunderstandings illustrate the difficulties that the media has identifying Wall Street deceptions and the importance of investor advocacy (what others call short selling) to our society.

The article deals with a bankruptcy court’s ruling that eliminated a union contract and its member’s healthcare benefits. The article questioned the fairness of the ruling and allowed an unidentified union to claim that the bankruptcy was the product of a conspiracy to buy coal assets at low prices. Unfortunately, the article entirely missed the real cause of the miner’s loss: an unfettered and unopposed Wall Street promotion.

The simple fact is that Larry Addington, who The New York Times could have noted contributed $598,000 to Bush’s 2000 campaign, used irregular and questionable mining practices to generate short-term gains that he used to borrow over $2.8 billion before filing for bankruptcy twice in 2 years. Coal provides 50% of the nation’s electrical power. So Mr. Addington’s $2.8 billion debt may not appear grossly excessive until you know that the bankrupt’s crown jewels were sold at a public auction attended by most of the coal industry’s largest leaders for less than $800 million.

Wall Street's swindles cannot produce good jobs. The influence of large corporate interest on this Administration and their influence on legislation and the courts can harm workers. This is a fair topic to explore. Yet the deeper issues in this case, Mr. Addington's acts and the system that supports and condones such acts, are still today unexplored by the media or, for obvious reasons, politicians. These are the issues that asensio.com advocates. Our recent work with NVE Corporation (NASDAQ: NVEC, $31.22), KFx Inc. (AMEX: KFX, $8.70), and Multimedia Games, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGAM, $12.19), all executed as independent investor advocates with no financial interest after our restructuring, shows the great benefits to society at large of free and open opposition to Wall Street's promotions.