Comments on: Crack of Doom: Bernie. In the Lipstick Building. With the Shoebox.

By: John M.

John M. — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:10:58 +0000

twist -

This isn’t (from the article, link at #1 above)

They called it “playing the spread.” Five years ago, if someone had a mortgage-free home in Aspen worth $15 million, he could easily get a mortgage on it for $10 million at 4 percent interest. The carrying costs on that $10 million mortgage would have been $400,000 per year. By investing the $10 million proceeds of the mortgage with Madoff at a 12 percent return, the 8 percent difference between the carrying costs and the return would have given the owner $800,000 per year. One friend said, “A lot of people here own their houses free and clear, so that would be a home run.”

Vanity Fair indeed. Igor says, “absurd!”

By: twist

twist — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:39:34 +0000

John-

Wow- that was gorgeous.

By: John M.

John M. — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:06:41 +0000

twist (#3) -

"Too much," says Igor.

By: twist

twist — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:50:02 +0000

I saw this "Bumper Sticker of the Day" on the Bubble Meter blog this morning, and thought this was pretty funny:

By: twist

twist — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:40:43 +0000

How is this for a "You know things are bad when..." [Hat tip L!]

MOUNT GILEAD, Ohio – An Ohio city court says it will only accept new case filings from people who bring their own paper.

Judge Lee McClelland of Morrow County Municipal Court in north-central Ohio says the court has just enough paper to handle hearing notices and other documents for pending cases.

McClelland says the court will stop accepting case filings Monday because it cannot afford to reorder more paper. He told The Columbus Dispatch that the county still hasn't paid the bill for basic supplies the court ordered in November.

I wonder if Bernanke's "Recovery in 2Q" comments are making the folks in Mt. Gilead feel better.

By: toysarefun

toysarefun — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:27:37 +0000

When someone blew the whistle for 9 years already, I don’t believe anything else they say about this guy.

Lots of people pleading stupidity and pretending they don’t know anything these days.

Kind of like the airing of last nights 60 minutes.

By: John M.

John M. — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:11:32 +0000

I doubt I'll be spending too much time contemplating where the dull boring 10s of billions of dollars of outflow went while the media is throwing high-quality dust like this into my face: "Madoff’s World", by Mark Seal, Vanity Fair, April 2008 edition.

... “If you want to know about Bernie Madoff,” said Mary T. Browne, the renowned psychic and author, who counsels many heavy hitters on Wall Street, “you need to talk to my friend Carmen Dell’Orefice.” She was referring to one of the original supermodels, the platinum-blonde beauty who had posed for Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Francesco Scavullo, and Norman Parkinson, and who had been a muse to Salvador Dalí. ...