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... being reported in the local and national news for 18+ months straight both times. About Wall Street execs, retail traders, private equity guys, venture capital dudes, startup heads, day traders and hedge fund guys. Very, very few of you younger than 30 will remember any of this, but it was relentless.
I remember the CFO of Fannie Mae, that David Kellerman guy. He was in charge in the months after the feds took it over. He got screamed at daily in congressional hearings over the $200 billion bailout and spat on in the street.
I always felt terrible for the guy after he died, he wasn't even in charge when credit markets went to shit and Fannie and Freddie rolled over, he came in after the feds took over. Folks wanted something to scream at and he was it.
Or that French hedge fund guy in NYC, Pierre something. His fund lost billions after the Bernie Madoff Ponzi was revealed and he was personally wiped out with it. He ODed on prescription drugs.
Or Cliff Baxter, vice chair of Enron. The guy was documented for years complaining about the shady accounting practices the company and Arthur Andersen engaged in and finally quit. He was set to testify before Congress. The receivers of Enron went after him for millions for dumping his shares before Enron went bankrupt. Another guy I felt terrible for after he died.
I remember dozens and dozens of startup founder or hedge fund guys who killed themselves in places like NYC, San Francisco, London, Singapore and Hong Kong. Walking in front of trains or jumping off of garages or high rises was popular. Even here in Texas, there were lots of reports of college student day traders and overleveraged business owners ending it all suddenly over money and the market.
Anyway. The numbers haven't made sense for at least three years now and it feels like the next big market top is upon us. I'm not making a call on the market or anything, I'm just thinking aloud while eating rice cakes and guacamole in bed. Hell if I know what's gonna happen next. Don't play with money you can't afford to lose and don't kill yourselves over something as stupid as money. Thanks.
EDIT - Oh yeah, something else none of you younger than 30 can comprehend. How the stock market was impotent, directionless shit between 2002 and 2007ish. Five years of listless trading and with zero retail trading interest because everyone was burned and ruined during the dot-com/Enron/911 crash. I was out of college and learning this stuff in that environment, it was lonely af. I don't regret it though, was able to scoop up everything at a huge discount pretty much.