Corruption in the hallowed halls of power, finance and influence? Of Course not! Well then, how about this lil'tidbit?
On Tuesday, March 11th, 2008, somebody — nobody knows who — made one of the craziest bets Wall Street has ever seen. The mystery figure spent $1.7 million on a series of options, gambling that shares in the venerable investment bank Bear Stearns would lose more than half their value in nine days or less. At the close of business that afternoon, Bear Stearns was trading at $62.97.
The very next day, March 12th, Bear went into free fall. Whoever bought those options on March 11th woke up on the morning of March 17th having made 159 times his money, or roughly $270 million. This trader was either the luckiest guy in the world, the smartest son of a bitch ever or…
On Tuesday, March 11th, 2008, somebody — nobody knows who — made one of the craziest bets Wall Street has ever seen. The mystery figure spent $1.7 million on a series of options, gambling that shares in the venerable investment bank Bear Stearns would lose more than half their value in nine days or less. At the close of business that afternoon, Bear Stearns was trading at $62.97.
The very next day, March 12th, Bear went into free fall. Whoever bought those options on March 11th woke up on the morning of March 17th having made 159 times his money, or roughly $270 million. This trader was either the luckiest guy in the world, the smartest son of a bitch ever or…
Another Excellent Taibbi Article
I strongly encourage you to read this marvelous article by Matt Taibbi. It is a fascinating look at the underhanded tactics Goldman Sachs (the very embodiment of evil) and JP Morgan took in 2008. Just about the only thing still good in the U.S. is the fact that journalists can publish articles like this without meaningful fear of being rubbed out.
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