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"You're golden. Don't worry"

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

An interview with an alleged victim of Bernie Madoff. Laugh, cry - you decide.

Posted by Tim at 4:05 PM
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8 comments:

Nick said...

Two words: Hedge Fund.

Wait, two more words: No Sympathy. And how about two more: Qualified Investor. There's a reason why you need to be a qualified investor, with substantial assets and the ability to absorb substantial losses, to invest in risky unregulated hedge funds with very low reporting and disclosure requirements, and less oversight than regulated funds.

Yes, it sucks for the people who unknowingly got caught up in a fraud, but that's why there's insurance for the first 250k? or so of losses: so "normal" investors who don't take excessive risk chasing above-market returns from "black box" hedge funds don't get burned. However, I'm SICK of people excusing losses for people who took excessive risk chasing above-market returns from "get rich easy with no risk" schemes, Ponzi, RE, or otherwise. I'm sick of hearing their sob stories and their begging for bailouts at my expense. I'm sick of "bandwagon" news media outlets giving them a forum to complain about how abused their were, while they beg the government to steal my money for them.

January 13, 2009 5:08 PM  
Anonymous said...

Madoff's firm wasn't a hedge fund, it was broker-dealer, just like etrade or Schwab. On top of that, Madoff ran an investment advisory. And the term is "accredited investor" or "qualified purchaser". They mean different things, too.

"excessive risk chasing above-market returns": You realize that Madoff was touting low-risk, moderate-return investments to his clients? That they were given fake statements of securities that were bought and sold from their accounts in transactions that may or may not have actually occurred? You know that his clients are trying to get their assets back from the SIPC, which is not a government agency?

January 13, 2009 5:30 PM  
knightrd said...

I feel for her on a human level. On another level... I can only feel so bad for someone putting all their eggs in one basket.

She can blame the system, Madoff, or whatever she likes. The one person I didn't hear her blaming was herself. She earned the money, yes, but she gambled it and got suckered in. For whatever it's worth, a lot of pros got suckered as well.

January 13, 2009 5:43 PM  
Anonymous said...

I gotta go with the "don't put all your eggs in one basket" mantra. I feel partial sympathy for her loss.

January 13, 2009 6:13 PM  
staghounds said...

Poor woman, of course I feel sorry for her. She trusted friends and "experts", and she was destroyed.

But then of course she says the "system" is the culprit.

Notice how she has no complaints about the "system" when she was doing well.

A thief took your money, not a "system". Ye, the world of investment finance is based on trust, but it's not guaranteed.

January 13, 2009 6:55 PM  
Anthony Alfidi said...

Don't trust an advisor who tells you a concentrated position in something with zero transparency is a good move.

January 13, 2009 9:57 PM  
quiescenticonoclast said...

It takes great courage to admit publicly, such a horrible financial mistake - but one not totally of her own making.

Most of us know how we should invest, but few of us follow our own advice. I empathize with her plight, and admire her for being so candid. Another painful lesson learned.

And let's lock up all the white collar crooks for a long time!

January 13, 2009 11:24 PM  
Anonymous said...

Madoff (or Made-off) was shrewd enough to plead guilty of fraud. Read more why he quickly did this. Because it allows the investors to recover their losses due to federal law due to fraud. All of Made-off's moves have been calculated which includes having his sons turn him in. He realizes that by the government bailing out his investors, there will be less backlash against me from the power brokers who invested in his funds.

January 14, 2009 4:02 AM  

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