He was considered a wizard

Taken directly from this morning's NYT Business section (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/business/18brokers.html?ref=business). One dictionary defines "wizard" as "one skilled in magic". Poof! there goes $50B. He was considered a friend by the who's who of the elite class of the eastern seaboard. The list of folks, organizations and insitutions, and by gosh whole sectors that that have been affected by this deception continues to be immensely staggering! Epic proportions! The latest tentacles from this giant ponzi-octopus to be revealed are delving deep into Commercial RE and Real Estate markets in general, not that they haven't already had the beejeesus kicked out of them. Madoff (pronounced MAY-doff) investments had been posted as collateral against development projects. Are the banks going to be calling in for new collateral? Gee, with the state of our banking system, can this sector take another huge hit in trust and confiednce? Read the South Beach newspapers, and the pawn shops are taking in Ferraris and jewellery. Four high end condos went to market the weekend immediately after the story broke. But somehow the court has decided that its ok for him to hole up in his $7M apartment on Park Avenue when he could not find anyone else to support his bail request? Who makes this stuff up?