The "Big Short" Redux
You remember 2008 when Wall Street invented synthetic CDOs so they could short the middle class, and then they got bailed out by the Middle Class? As we recall, the ongoing tab for that bailout has cost a ludicrous $33 trillion in combined fiscal and monetary stimulus (and counting) as of mid-2013, according to Bank America via Barron's. And still there are CNBC Bulltards who assert that the "bail out" was paid back.
Therefore, I will be happy to learn that the billionaire who shorted the Middle Class and Subprime just got his ass handed to him last year. No, he's not a Slumdog millunaire yet, but his Advantage Fund lost 36% last year and overall, his assets under management have dropped 50% since 2011. If the Advantage Fund lost 36%, I would hate to be in the Disadvantage Fund:
BBG: Jan. 12, 2015
Just the latest proof that today's "Best and Brightest" are merely clever rent-seekers. Speaking of which, the biggest "bet" Paulson made that went south is betting that Government-backed housing lender Fannie Mae, which was bailed out in 2008 would be allowed to share its profits (again) with private shareholders. This stock had been trading like a worthless stub after Lehman and should have been delisted. So hedge funds bought it up and then launched a law suit AGAINST the Federal Government saying that the government bail-out was "illegal", "immoral", anti-capitalist, anti-Christian, anti-American etc. etc.
It turns out the courts didn't agree, so the hedge funds got shellacked:
As we see already, this one will be known as the Rich Man's Panic:
"Everyone gets their day in the sunshine"
Sodom and Gomorrah learned nothing from 2008, except Rinse and Repeat
"Everyone gets their day in the sunshine"
Sodom and Gomorrah learned nothing from 2008, except Rinse and Repeat
