[RenegadeRick]

Wall Street's Naked Swindle

Great article, that I admittedly only skimmed so far. It explains how short selling works in everyman's language, and talks of an insane options play on Bear Stearns as they went down. The interesting thing is that while they refer to the mystery optioneer, there can be no such thing. I worked in the options industry, and it is not possible for a mystery investor to exist. Everyone is known to the systems in place, and therefore it is not possible for a mystery put buyer to participate in the market. This has the same stinky smell as the mystery put buyer of UAL and AA prior to 9-11. It isn't possible to be unknown in this game, and such a thing could only occur with some kind of protectionism by the "supposed" market regulators.

 

[stoney]

He still misses a couple of large parts, but yes, he generally gets it. Try www.deepcapture.com much more infomrative.

 

[Nick]

I've spent the better part of yesterday and this morning reading "The Story of Deep Capture" and other articles on deepcapture .... wow.

If it wasn't so damn complex I'd be embarassed to say I had no idea.

 

[stoney]

It's a big topic, and there are a lot of moving parts, but when you look at it in detail then step back and look again, the outline becomes clear. It's a f*in scam.

 

[3D.]

Shameful, but this will never have a real investigation. Geitner will never let it happen. Being once employed by the NY Fed and indirectly/directly associated with some possible shady Bear bailout money, plus many others, puts him in a bad position. no surprise

Some bits from Gary Weiss's 5,000word piece, May 12 2008

It doesn’t help that the deal is teeming with connections that are sure to raise questions. [JPMorgan Chase Chief Jamie] Dimon is one of the three class-A directors of the board of the New York Fed, and its head is Stephen Friedman, a former Goldman Sachs chairman, who still sits on the investment bank’s board. The New York Fed’s board also includes Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers, a firm that is another oft-rumored potential candidate for a bailout. Fuld is a class-B director, meaning that he is elected by member banks, astoundingly, to represent the public. (Friedman is also supposed to be looking out for you: He was “appointed by the board of governors to represent the public.”) Thus Geithner reports to a board that is composed of people who are not only under his purview but would also benefit from any potential bailouts. The structure of the New York Fed’s board bears more than a passing resemblance to that of the New York Stock Exchange in the bad old days, when member firms, regulated by the N.Y.S.E., were heavily represented on its board.

One of the most discussed topics during the crisis was why Geithner was involved in the first place. The Fed, despite its broad financial oversight, does not have authority over investment banks—either to audit their books or lend them money. When Bear finally got its loan, via J.P. Morgan, it was through emergency authority that had rarely been invoked since the Depression.

it's a casino method, the house always wins on the way in and the way out and Gietner has been helping to represent the house for a long time.
article
http://www.portfolio.com/executives/features/2008/05/12/New-York-Fed-Chief-Tim-Geithner/index3.html