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Lyndon & Keith. Many Wall Streeters have chafed under the tough and vigorous SEC that John Kennedy appointed, but figured that Lyndon Johnson would give them a better shake, and were encouraged in this belief by persistent hints on the Street that Johnson and Funston had developed a chummy "Lyndon and Keith" relationship. When Funston requested an interview with Johnson, in fact, many Wall Streeters and Washington officials felt that he might try to influence the President in the controversy with the SEC. Funston had half an hour at the White House, but said later that the subject of the controversy had never come up. He also dropped in on SEC Chairman William L. Gary—but got no further toward reaching a compromise.
Congress is complaining that Chairman Gary has been perhaps too patient with Wall Street, but, in fact, the SEC under Gary has become more active than at any time since the 1930s. It is likely to stay that way, even if Gary follows his plan to return to his Columbia law professorship this autumn. One tipoff came last week, when Johnson made his first appointment to the five-man commission. He picked a stern and experienced regulator, Hugh F. Owens, who as administrator of the Oklahoma Securities Commission cleaned up many abuses in his state.