If the allegations were true, it would show, once again, how little respect some industry registrants have for the owner of capital.

Now some people will say that, in any event, four bad apples shouldn't be held against an industry that employs well over a million people. I disagree on the grounds that this kind of miscreant behavior is repeated in the news every year, every month and, in fact, every week.

It's not as exciting as listening to Cramer tell us why GOOG should be trading at $250 or $350 or whatever, but it is a Wall Street reality that more people ought to be paying attention to. I say that because it shows the nature of people, operating in their self- interest ahead of others who they don't know personally, or may only have a minor acquaintance with.

Every time I bring up this subject, I can almost hear Ronald Reagan saying, Oh no, there you go again."

It's true; I speak about this problem a lot. But I only do it for the reason that I fundamentally believe that the individual investor needs to take more responsibility over personal assets because personal interests are always first served.

If Wall Street would stop the ugly practice of calling their registered sales persons financial advisors", then I would spend less time pointing out cases where they (i.e., Wall Street firms) are not working in the clients' best interest.