Claeren, I work in the financial industry and it boggles my mind as well! i suppose that I relate this to a thought that I attribute to Edmund Burke (perhaps mistakenly on my part...but I think that is who it was).
He basically said that democracy is great as long as people are altruistic and vote for the common good. As soon as they realise that they can vote themselves some dollars or advantage though, it falls apart. Same thing in operation here...it works great with an ethical guy like Warren Buffett or Charlie Munger running a corporation, but as soon as personal gain becomes evident things can get ugly.
I do think that its horrible how many hedge funds are going under. Many of them are shutting the doors willingly, and will re-start next year. They know that they aren't making any money this year, so the sentiment basically becomes "why bother". Pretty bad for the average investor with a large piece invested there.
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