next shoe drop; credit-default swap market...??

[bobola]

NY Post, August 12, 2009

Harry Markopolos -- the whistleblower on Bernie Madoff who proved to be much smarter than the SEC -- says there are evildoers out there who will make the Ponzi scum "look like small-time."

Markopolos gave a speech to 400 of the faithful at the Greek Orthodox Church in Southampton and predicted major scandals will soon be revealed about the unregulated, $600 trillion, credit-default swap market.

"To put it in simple terms, it is like buying fire insurance policies from five different insurance companies on your neighbor's house and then burning down the house," he said.



How can a 600 trillion market be left unregulated...??? How is that possible..??

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: next shoe drop; credit-default swap market...??

[quote=bobola;115992]
NY Post, August 12, 2009

Harry Markopolos -- the whistleblower on Bernie Madoff who proved to be much smarter than the SEC -- says there are evildoers out there who will make the Ponzi scum "look like small-time."

Markopolos gave a speech to 400 of the faithful at the Greek Orthodox Church in Southampton and predicted major scandals will soon be revealed about the unregulated, $600 trillion, credit-default swap market.

"To put it in simple terms, it is like buying fire insurance policies from five different insurance companies on your neighbor's house and then burning down the house," he said.



How can a 600 trillion market be left unregulated...??? How is that possible..??
[/quote]


Shoot, man, this is America, anything is possible.

BTW, links to stories are good and to be encouraged I believe.

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: next shoe drop; credit-default swap market...??

BTW, links to stories are good and to be encouraged I believe.

I searched around the New York Post website. You can find this article at SCANDAL BIGGER THAN BERNIE.

[D-Mack]

Re: next shoe drop; credit-default swap market...??

Did he mean 60 trillion CDS market or 600 trillion derivatives market ?

[Slimprofits]

Re: next shoe drop; credit-default swap market...??

Markopolos is talking about the naked CDS market.

This is interesting. Has he decided to enter the public eye again? Is this a speaking tour of sorts that he's doing?

http://www.thesunnews.com/575/story/1023269.html

Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009

Legislators from across South confer in NC city
The Associated Press

The Southern Legislative Conference opens Saturday in Winston-Salem. It allows state lawmakers to swap stories about challenges and their solutions. The program includes a forum on food safety, a discussion of autism and schools, and a summary of high speed rail efforts.

The legislators will hear from Harry Markopolos, who warned federal regulators beginning 10 years ago that Bernard Madoff was cheating investors.

[Slimprofits]

Re: next shoe drop; credit-default swap market...??

Here is a report with more details from the Hellenic News of America about Markopolos' speech in Southampton.

The New York Post hides it's coverage of Markopolos in the celebrity gossip pages (Richard Johnson page 6? Where is Harry's bikini shot?) and *shockingly* fails to mention the quotes in which he rips the mainstream media to shreds:

http://www.hellenicnews.com/readnews...=10563&lang=US

“Tonight, this event is about Democracy and Justice,” said Dr. Michalos. “Mr. Markopoulos, who is of Chian background, is a teacher and educator. He explained to the United States Congress and the entire world what financial transparency is all about. The Ancient Greek Philosopher Isocrates said the roots of education are often bitter, but the fruit is sweet.”

Bernard Madoff cost thousands of investors $65 billion, according to a recent report by Larry Neumeister. “Many people were negligent in the Madoff fraud, including the government's watchdog agencies. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Mary Shapiro has said the agency has been revamping itself, buttressing enforcement efforts and taking initiatives to protect investors following the Madoff scandal.” In his lecture, Mr. Markopolos explained that his “documentation was buried in the SEC and ignored. SEC had a negative attitude towards his findings. The Hedge Fund industry must be more diligent to customers, revealing exactly what they are doing, and not in secret. This is a global tragedy. Research, Non-profit Institutions, Endowments are now gone. The banking and security regulators were asleep, destroying the United States' credibility.” His dry sense of humor kept everyone's attention during the lecture. He described complex events in simple terms understandable to the average person.

“I know I am not a hero,” said Markopolos. “Nor am I brave. We were four men of four faiths who worked against an Army of Bernard Madoff. We tried going to the Press. The Press thought we were crazy and did not print our findings. One may ask where did the Ponzi money go? Twelve percent went to victims and individual investments. Feeder funds and marketing agencies received four percent. Madoff received one percent.” A Ponzi scheme uses money from new clients to pay off old ones. According to a recent interview with Bernard Madoff in Neumeister's article, “it might be in many different venues …because money was paid out to Feeders.”

Markopoulos believes the Feeder Agencies helped Madoff to succeed. “Greeks are tactless. I tell it like it is. Madoff did not allow outside audits, taking money from organized crime and nations. Forty-nine nations were affected by this Ponzi scheme. We are now less trusting of financial institutions. What frightened our team of four persons was that the Press could not take Madoff down. He was the President of Nasdaq. We were really worried about ourselves. I believed that if Madoff found out I turned him in, I would not be long for this world.”

[GRG55]

Re: next shoe drop; credit-default swap market...??

Markopolos is talking about the naked CDS market.

This is interesting. Has he decided to enter the public eye again? Is this a speaking tour of sorts that he's doing?

This is a guy that couldn't figure out:

1. that the system didn't work the way it's supposed to work;
2. that, despite years of trying, the system wasn't going to help him if he tried to work within the officially published rules;
3. that everyone who figured out what the real rules were...got rich;

Now he's just figured out he wasn't one of them...:rolleyes:

[Slimprofits]

Re: next shoe drop; credit-default swap market...??

http://www.slcatlanta.org/ - Southern Legislative Conference:

As a Certified Fraud Examiner, Markopolos continues to attack what he calls “medical terrorism” or the huge amount of Medicare fraud, going to where he can make the best case against the biggest offender that will become an overall nationwide deterrent. He will educate and inform about how to identify Medicare fraud and what do to prevent it from ever happening to you in the future.

[GRG55]

Re: next shoe drop; credit-default swap market...??

http://www.slcatlanta.org/ - Southern Legislative Conference:

As a Certified Fraud Examiner, Markopolos continues to attack what he calls “medical terrorism” or the huge amount of Medicare fraud, going to where he can make the best case against the biggest offender that will become an overall nationwide deterrent. He will educate and inform about how to identify Medicare fraud and what do to prevent it from ever happening to you in the future.

In my professional wanderings in places such as the Middle East, Nigeria and some of the Central Asian Republics, it was never very hard to spot profound inefficiencies, and therefore seemingly excellent business opportunities.

However, the trick to staying alive was to figure out exactly who's existing lucrative arrangement you'd be treading on if you actually tried to fix the inefficiency. This simple learning goes a long way to understanding why so many of these corrupt economies are such a bloody mess and, despite copious quantities of political rhetoric, will remain so for generations to come.

In the USA they don't shoot you for uncovering fraud [just ask Spitzer]...but time passes & things change, and the second law of thermodynamics is always in the background chipping away at things...

[0tr]

Re: next shoe drop; credit-default swap market...??

Three laws of thermodynamics, for the uninitiated;

1) you can't win;

2) you can't break even;

3) you can't quit the game;

....And what do you get for all of your pain? you get a lot more, more of the same.

Keep smiling, it takes less energy than frowning!

[GRG55]

Re: next shoe drop; credit-default swap market...??

Three laws of thermodynamics, for the uninitiated;

1) you can't win;

2) you can't break even;

3) you can't quit the game;

....And what do you get for all of your pain? you get a lot more, more of the same.

Keep smiling, it takes less energy than frowning!

And then there's the zeroth law of thermodynamics:

0) Even when everything looks like its in balance, shzt happens...and it all goes to hell...

[jk]

Re: next shoe drop; credit-default swap market...??

those 3 laws of thermodynamics all look like the 2nd law to me. and so does grg's 0th law.

[GRG55]

Re: next shoe drop; credit-default swap market...??

those 3 laws of thermodynamics all look like the 2nd law to me. and so does grg's 0th law.

Okay. Let's try again.

Zeroth Law
Official Version: If two thermodynamic systems are each in thermal equilibrium with a third, then they are in thermal equilibrium with each other.

Real World Version: Whenever everything in your life looks like it's in perfect balance [equilibrium] it's time to be afraid. Very afraid. The real world is never so convenient and something is undoubtedly about to go disasterously wrong.

First Law
Official Version: Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only change forms. In any process, the total energy of the universe remains the same.

Real World Version: Heat is work and work is heat, and only bankers can create "more" through the magic of derivatives...or at least that's what they told us [and we bought it].

Second Law
Official Version: Energy systems have a tendency to increase their entropy rather than decrease it.

Real World Version: No matter what you do, things always get worse with time.

Third Law
Official Version: As temperature approaches absolute zero, the entropy of a system approaches a constant minimum.

Real World Version: The only time things don't keep getting worse is when Congress is frozen in a deadlock.

Special bonus for iTulipers:
Ideal Gas Law
Official Version: pV = nRT

Real World Version: Things get worse faster, under pressure.

[metalman]

Re: next shoe drop; credit-default swap market...??

Okay. Let's try again.

Zeroth Law
Official Version: If two thermodynamic systems are each in thermal equilibrium with a third, then they are in thermal equilibrium with each other.

Real World Version: Whenever everything in your life looks like it's in perfect balance [equilibrium] it's time to be afraid. Very afraid. The real world is never so convenient and something is undoubtedly about to go disasterously wrong.

First Law
Official Version: Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only change forms. In any process, the total energy of the universe remains the same.

Real World Version: Heat is work and work is heat, and only bankers can create "more" through the magic of derivatives...or at least that's what they told us [and we bought it].

Second Law
Official Version: Energy systems have a tendency to increase their entropy rather than decrease it.

Real World Version: No matter what you do, things always get worse with time.

Third Law
Official Version: As temperature approaches absolute zero, the entropy of a system approaches a constant minimum.

Real World Version: The only time things don't keep getting worse is when Congress is frozen in a deadlock.

Special bonus for iTulipers:
Ideal Gas Law
Official Version: pV = nRT

Real World Version: Things get worse faster, under pressure.

bravo!!!



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