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The London Whale was hooked by a NYC "monster." The tale of how Boaz Weinstein and other hedge...

Sunday, May 27, 2012, 7:50 AM ET
The London Whale was hooked by a NYC "monster." The tale of how Boaz Weinstein and other hedge fund managers took JPMorgan for billions. Now running his own money, Weinstein was once a whale himself on the wrong side of a trade, he and his team at Deutsche Bank losing $1.8B in 2008.

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This news story has 19 comments:

Leftfield Comments (3454)

Taxpayers should continue to allow and to backstop TBTF Wall Street leveraged financial engineering and gambling because......?

27 May 2012, 08:25 AM Reply Like

Dopamine Comments (363)

TBTF friends and family contribute so much to politcal campaigns, that they get what they...want...

27 May 2012, 09:07 AM Reply Like

Rupert Nicholson Comments (311)

A sad fact of the world we live in. It exists in every area of American politics. Look at how the NRA have influenced and shaped gun laws.

27 May 2012, 06:45 PM Reply Like

Peter Schmotzer Comments (71)

"There's always a bigger fish."

27 May 2012, 10:37 AM Reply Like

Uncle Pie Comments (1583)

When I was a kid in the 1950s, there was a comic strip in the newspapers called, "They'll Do It Every Time."

I think of that excellent comic strip when I read the NYT account of the JPM fiasco.

27 May 2012, 11:16 AM Reply Like

IgnisFatuus Comments (1126)

I remember a one cell comic called " There Ought to be a Law" in the daily newspaper when I was a kid in the 50's-60's.

28 May 2012, 12:02 AM Reply Like

Rupert Nicholson Comments (311)

JP Morgan's (JPM) even more naive than I thought if this really happened

27 May 2012, 02:25 PM Reply Like

Andrew Mann Comments (901)

So ridiculous, it really is a casino. As long as Boaz could get enough hedgies to keep buying the CDS of course the price would go up. Add in emerging Euro fears (pure chance), and everyone thinks he is a genius.

27 May 2012, 04:43 PM Reply Like

Whitehawk Comments (2800)

Wolves and whales are both trophies, and gaming will never go out of style.

27 May 2012, 06:08 PM Reply Like

Whitehawk Comments (2800)

"wolf pack of like-minded hedge fund managers"

Funny when you think about the various polychotomies, or to put it simply, usual BS.

27 May 2012, 06:02 PM Reply Like

Trader2708 Comments (205)

Now, add a Glass-Steagall to a mixture, and you will see why "too-big-to-fail" will always expect to be bailed out by taxpayers money. Of course they do not want Glass-Steagall Act to be reinstated, so they could have free lunches like this one - and if they blow it, well, US taxpayers will always bail them out.

27 May 2012, 06:17 PM Reply Like

phxcrane Comments (320)

Everyone forgets it seems that the bank bailouts were highly profitable. The auto/UAW bailouts not so much.

28 May 2012, 12:06 AM Reply Like

Reel Ken Comments (1843)

Actually, the GM bailout was, in its overall effect, the most profitable of them all. Had we not done it, then much more would have had to be pumped into the economy in terms of stimulus, tax breaks, unemployment benefits, bailouts, etc..

One must not lose sight that there is not only a cost to doing something, there is a cost in NOT doing something.

Let's not lose sight of the Big Picture.

28 May 2012, 05:57 AM Reply Like

$CLU Comments (202)

Only a matter of time before Weinstein becomes the "whale" again and blows up even more spectacularly. The hedge funds celebrate him for making them money but you can bet that they are noting that this fellow would make a great "whale" (again) as well. They will probably pay anything to know his biggest bets and then work to understand the side they should play (for or against). Only a matter of time and then we will see groveling and TBTF talk for Saba capital.
Honestly, if you had to invest in a set of gamblers. Would you invest in consistency or the guy that likes to push all the chips across the table? This particular gambler has lost big once and now has won big once. He's waiting for you to give him money for his next huge bet. How do you think it will go? Do you care? It seems to be a story that will have a sad ending no matter how the next trade goes.

28 May 2012, 07:00 AM Reply Like

john1940 Comments (237)

The beauty of the hedge funds, whales, etc is that the money they are losing is their own capital or their investors. No bank or bank depositor is at risk with the positions that the hedge funds take.

TBTF is stupid. The size of the banks and their regulations is what needs attention. It's stupid to have banks the size of JPM, BAC, etc have the ability to take large risks. They eventually blow it and the taxpayer covers the loss. By the way, that's the same taxpayer that can't support the cost of the federal govt either. Or even their own debt.

28 May 2012, 07:37 AM Reply Like

Andresrue Comments (167)

People seem to forget that Boaz Weinstein lost $2 billion for Deutsche Bank not so many years ago. Now, his luck has turned and he is making a killing (for himself - losses are always somebody else's problem in hedge fund-world). It doesn't mean Weinstein is a genuis. It only means he's a gambler who gambles with other people's money and uses jaw-dropping amounts of leverage. If the so-called euro crisis does not play out as planned, his trades will turn against him, he will be taken to the cleaners, and he will essentially be harpooned by the London Whale. Should be entertaining to just sit and watch by the sidelines.

28 May 2012, 03:33 PM Reply Like