The World's First All-BS ETF

Largely overlooked in the midst of Friday’s 150-point Dow trip and stumblage, the world got its first BearLinx exchange-traded note, designed to track the performance of the Alerian Master Limited Partnership Select Index (BSR), “a comprehensive benchmark of energy-oriented” master limited partnerships.

Brought to you by Bear Stearns (BSC) Structured Equity Products.

“This ETN is an innovative way for institutions and individual investors to access the MLP market in both a cost and operationally efficient manner,” according to Joshua Dunivant, salesperson in structured equity products, and obviously a man with a firm grasp of structured equity product sales gibberishbabble. So, two things:

1. It’s an ETN, not an ETF. In the normal course—Barclay’s Bank backs the seven previous ETNs issued in the U.S.—that’s a distinction without too much of a difference. However,
2. According to the fund’s prospectus, the issue is a direct obligation of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc (rated A1 by Moody’s/A+ by S&P).

Full faith and credit of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc, huh? That and a quarter, we could talk for hours. Ratted—BS, not the ETN—by Grumpy’s, and Standard and Poo? At, it should be noted, several clicks lower than some of the stuff that so recently, so famously blew-up in its investors’ faces. This should work out well.

So congratulations to the brave little soldiers who swapped 187,000-odd BSRs amongst themselves Friday, but NakedShorts is probably not alone in being of the view that paper with ‘Bear Stearns Structured’-anything on it should be watched at least as closely as Jimmy Cayne looking for a lost golf ball.

More quality bear scat:

Bear Stearns Lists BearLinx Alerian MLP Select Index ETN on the NYSE
New York Stock Exchange
Press release Jul 20 2007

BearLinxSM Alerian MLP Select Index ETN

BearLinxSM Alerian MLP Select Index ETN Fact Sheet

Comments

[Lisa:]

Hilarious!
You made my day. Thank you!

2007 Jul 23 11:07 AM

[David Fry:]

For consistent fun with markets, Greg's da man!

2007 Jul 24 09:30 AM

[j'adoube:]

Call me back when it's at a 10% discount.

j'adoube

2007 Jul 24 12:46 PM

[mangy cat:]

and now?

2008 Mar 16 03:45 PM