A Wall Street Tale of Greed, Ignorance and Incompetence

The one constant about the slow-motion meltdown now underway in the housing and credit markets is how rampant stupidity was - is? - in the financial industry.

Many of those who created this mess were allegedly smart individuals, who got paid lots of money for their "knowledge" and "talents."

Yet even with all of the nonsense that's come out so far, sometimes you hear things that just cause your jaw to drop and your head to shake in disbelief.

"What were they thinking?" you might ask - and then you catch yourself, as you realize they weren't (thinking, that is).

In "Color-Blind Merrill in a Sea of Red Flags," the New York Times' Floyd Norris tells a tale of greed, ignorance and incompetence that I'm sure many on Wall Street would just like to forget. Click here to read the full article.

Comments

[Robt1947:]

Stupidity resides in the colour of green!

2008 May 18 10:29 AM

[notsosmart:]

they laughed all the way to the bank. actually very smart(not all im sure) as they made big bucks & had you & i cover them when it collapsed.itsall just a big con game & those in the know must be rolling on thefloor laughing. i think rbt1947 is wrong as i think some of these folks were brilliant. too bad i wasnt in on it.

2008 May 18 10:47 AM

[Robt1947:]

if you base intelligence on deception and greed
my friend, you have the wrong sense of values.
I would rather follow an honest Warren Buffett than a bunch of insane Wall Street junkies.
Hope you "get in" on their next boom and bust,
and hope you know when to get out. Cheers!

2008 May 18 02:15 PM

[User 163896:]

As a former employee and current shareholder of MER and the Bond Fund of America, this is a truly depressing article for me. The greed and stupidity of the last two years is really stunning.

2008 May 18 03:33 PM

[jjason:]

I do not equate "smart" with dishonest either. The people at Merrill Lynch, Bear Sterns and other firms who misled investors should be punished for it.

Just think what the US would be like if everyone was a liar and a cheat.

The sad part of all this is that we cannot trust companies like Merrill, Bear Sterns, Goldman, WB, Bank of America, CFC, WM, etc.

I am appalled at the number of people who don't care about being honest. The current mess is worse than Enron and the S&L crisis that began in 1989-90.

Shame on all of you who were involved in this disaster.

2008 May 19 12:47 PM

[whenthemusi...:]

...ant thats all I gotta say bout that....

2008 May 19 02:58 PM