Monday, February 20, 2012

Rewards for Failure

This post is not about the Ruling Classes (CEOs, government bureaucrats and politicians) who loot the public to get richer & more powerful while failing to deliver anything to the common man and woman.  This post is about the beefers, aka big, evil funds, mostly private investment partnerships also known as hedge funds, who led the hoard of financial vikings who looted the nation before and during the Panic of 2008 and its aftermath.  A new book shows that nearly the entire industry is a scam.  The hedge fund managers make plenty of money, but the investors get nothing cumulatively.  Remember that old book and adage about the financial industry during the Great Depression - "Where are the Customers' Yachts?".  The hedge fund industry is a reprise writ large.

A review of "The Hedge Fund Mirage: The Illusion of Big Money and Why It's Too Good to be True" [Simon Lack, Wiley] in the weekend Financial Times contains all you need to know.  "If all the money that's ever been invested in hedge funds had been put in Treasury bills instead, the results would have been twice as good."

More: "Never in the field of human finance has so much been charged for so little."

And:  "The prime purpose of the sector is to provide jobs and wealth creation for the industry professionals:  managers, consultants, allocators, prime brokers, and other service providers."

The total amount of money lost by hedge funds in the Panic of 2008  - "some $450bn-odd vaporised in a single year ... destroyed all the value that hedge funds ever created."

The managers made big money. "From 1998 to 2010, the cumulative split was just $9bn to investors versus $440bn to managers."  That is a breathtaking vision of pure greed and fraud.

The author has the numbers and data to back up every conclusion ... and every smirk of disgust at the hogs at the trough.  In the end, though, he blames the investors.  They are the stupid cows being milked and leeched by the parasites in the hedge fund industry.  They want to get ... more.  And they get what they deserve - less.

Your author, the Bunkerman, has been saying and writing this for years, to the smirks and jibes of various pontificating (and well paid) pundits and some hedge fund managers themselves.  It's nice to see Bunkerman proven right ... again.

14 comments:

Spin-em said...

gas price is the only thing left to defeat Obama....republican voters portfolios are off the canvass.....but the people who had no $$$..the very same the president is out to protect... arent any better off ....are hit every day by fuel... they should be the ones Romney,Santorum are talking to....but they won't..cuz they are dopes.. have no plan..like going after that very sliver of voters that they need to win...would rather talk to the base... about religion....and other nonsense......they'd rather win a battle than a war...What did you (the voter) say about W?..."He hasnt had enough time to get the job done"...he got it and the shit hit the fan...Will people learn from history...nope...He'll get 4 more years and deservedly reap what he sows......

Bunkerman said...

Santorum will drive the center away with all his religion talk.

Rs are proving themselves mostly idiots.

In a way, he's making Romney more electable, IF he can get the nomination.

Bud said...

come on Bman

surely you miss the days when u got up at 3am to trade commodity futures


come on.........fire up the trading turret again

Bud said...

Bman what do u have for ES weekly pivot?

Bunkerman said...

lol, Bud.

I went to the MG range yesterday.

It was fun mowing down eight targets with one magazine, no aiming.

I continue to improve :)

Bunkerman said...

Am going on a road trip next week to visit all my "places" in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee.

Was in Ft. Lauderdale to visit a "place" there last week.

Gonna have to crack some heads ...

The "workers" are working hard, but the managers are goofing off.

Spin-em said...

If Rommy,Santy were smart..they arent...they'd do a tv spot...split screen...BHO..party time with the richies singing sweet home chicagooo and joe six pack at gas pump and all you hear is ...ding...ding....ding...gas pump style....the theme? ...out of touch...or

Mr Obama...you have a $76 million re-election war chest??....Could you give $50 million of that to feed the poor???....nfw???....its your money and you want to keep it???...you dont want somebody telling you how to spend your own $$$??...now you know how we feel....

Spin-em said...

alright Bunky...I dont know how many places you have..but they all have parking lots and the need to be lighted right??...prolly standard..175W light....now the LED light is nice.. for the same light..they use 50W...but the cost for a new one is $450 plus whatever to install....(let the price come down)
back to your old light...
each light has a ballast kit....have your boyz disconnect and take that out(just a coupla wires)...that will leave you 2 white wires..2 black...a ground..connect them...buy a mogul insert ..cuz the 175 W light is a bigger base bulb...now with the insert..$6..just screws in...buy a 300W fluorescent $16 ....thats 65W...pay a guy $30 to convert 1 light....(thats pretty fn high to twist off wires...15 minutes but..lol)...so youre all set for $50?/light... we have 1 place 21 lights

21 x 175 = 3675W
21 X 65 = 1365W

multiply by location??

if you need to be a cost chopper...pretty cool

Bunky bigger mountain of cash....(why give it to electric company when you can use for a trip to Europa..lol)..just from using the ol noodle...lol

or F-it raise the drinks $1..lmao

Bunkerman said...

I have heard gripes about that cost ... not my problem ... pay me.

:)

Bunkerman said...

Yup, spin, they all have parking lots and lights ... and do mucho business at night.

I can see it in the "place" P&L.

Electric companies also hose the places with peak demand billing.

Bud said...

lemme get this right


Bman you were in ftlauderdale ???? i Frickin live in ftlauderdale !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



we could have had a good time..............WTF????????????????????????

Bunkerman said...

well, one day was all business and the second day I was escorted around by two beautiful women

they kept be rather busy

:)

Bud said...

gee thanks Bman


i thought we were friends..............apparently not

Bud said...

Bman you really need to start day-trading again......good action


'2012..............year of the trader'