Hedge fund vultures circling Madoff victims.

They know it could take years to sort out the 20 billion dollar ponzi scheme that Bernie Madoff ran for decades, so they prey upon the victims, offering them 25-35 cents on the dollar now for their claims against the Madoff estate.These types of hedge funds are known as vulture funds.

Buying up bankruptcy claims isn’t new, but going after Madoff’s victims like a boat-load of ambulance-chasing lawyers shows how scruples and morals are not something these assholes have much of. From the NYT link:

David M. Barse, president and chief executive of Third Avenue Management, an active investor in distressed bankruptcy claims, said in recent months his analysts had advanced the idea of buying Madoff claims.

When the investment idea was discussed in October, claims were trading at about 25 cents on the dollar, and an analysis showed potential recoveries in the range of 40 to 80 cents.

But after discussing the idea with his senior management, Mr. Barse said he had decided that even though the trade sounded promising, Third Avenue would not participate.

“The fraud is just so despicable that we felt that, from a moral perspective, it just didn’t make sense for us,” Mr. Barse said. “There are plenty of other ways to make money in this business.”(emphasis mine)

Mr. Barse evidently has a conscience. A tip of the hat to him. People have committed suicide after losing everything in Madoff’s ponzi scheme. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel for those hoping to recoup some of their original investment. From NYT Dealbook section:

A scandal flush with superlatives added yet another on Friday with a $7.2 billion legal settlement, the largest single forfeiture in American judicial history, to benefit the victims of Bernard L. Madoff’s global fraud.

The total amount available for compensating Madoff victims is now just under $10 billion, far more than expected when Mr. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme — the largest ever — fell apart after his confession and arrest two years ago this month.

Fifty cents on the dollar might sound low but it’s better than losing it all. The Madoff trustee has stated he hopes to start handing out the recouped funds to investors, that drew out less than their original investment, within the first three months of next year.

What balls they have!

Those wonderful folks that helped bring you Enron, the trumped up power shortage in the southwest, price of food and gas..and that nice little recession we have going now and then our government actually bailed the fuckers out thing.

They. Are. Scum…of the lowest form. But,

They are rich scum. I love the title: A ‘Fat Cat’ strikes back. From J.Alter:

President Obama and the business community have been at odds for months. But in July the chairman and cofounder of the Blackstone Group, one of the world’s largest private-equity firms, amped up the rhetoric. Stephen Schwarzman – the leading John McCain supporter in a firm that, in 2008, gave more money to Obama – was addressing board members of a nonprofit organization when he let loose. “It’s a war,” Schwarzman said of the struggle with the administration over increasing taxes on private-equity firms. “It’s like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.”

Attendees at the board meeting (who provided details on condition that they and the organization not be identified) were shocked. “War? Hitler? Poland? A little over the top for a proposal to make hedge-fund managers pay their fair share in taxes,” one attendee says about the comments. Neither Blackstone nor the White House would discuss Schwarzman’s statement, which came in the wake of strong, but less stinging, criticism this summer of the administration from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable.

The USCOC is nothing but a mouthpiece for corporations, greed, money…just for starters. Hedge funds are so under-regulated it’s friggin flat out payoff to the govt to look the other way. Stephen Schwarzman is a piece of corporate shit who only wants more and more and…without even breaking a sweat for it.

And we elect the people that give him what he wants. Fucking amazing.

The Buck sucks..

Lots o’ economic news this week..Bear Stearns, an investment/banking firm that made some stupid decisions is getting a bailout. The Buck has dropped to it’s lowest value against other currency in the history of our nation. The Carlyle Groups investment division, Carlyle Capital is sucking pond scum as well. What ever happened to that investment cry of Diversify Young Man!!!

Why in the blue hell should it be our job, as taxpayers, to bail out idiots that made bad investments? These funds and equity groups dig their own graves by playing fast and loose with other people’s money in the hope that they will make lots of money quickly.

Yet, our Idiot-in-Chief still thinks his retarded ’stimulus package’ will get Americans to spend and spend and invest and invest.

I used to have a part time job wherein I went to various banks and lending institutions acting as if I was a women with a shitload of cash to invest. I did this in order to determine if the investment consultants were following the weak-ass laws regarding disclosure to customers. The lack of oversight by our federal government is horrible..thanks in large part to Bill Clinton’s deregulation of the banking industry. There was very little they had to disclose to me, such as how risky the investment market really had become with hedge funds and equity groups.

What pisses me off is that all this bullshit about the collapse of the markets and various investment groups was caused by the deregulation that has been going on in the modern era. Most of these regulations were put in place after the Stock Market Crash of 1929. The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 was put in place for a fucking reason! Did we learn nothing from that part of our history?

I guess not. Economic growth happens when people are working..when everyone is working. Shoring up the damn investment banks and firms won’t pull America out of this mess.

Kucinich on Edwards..

In an email this morning from the Kucinich campaign:

3. In answer to your questions about why I didn’t support former Senator John Edwards on the second ballot in Iowa: I have serious concerns about his connections to a Wall Street hedge fund, Fortress Investment Group. While attacking others for accepting campaign money from Washington lobbyists, he is up to his ears in money from Wall Street special interests.

He made half a million dollars in a single year for attending a few meetings for Fortress and has invested a substantial part of his own personal wealth in the hedge fund whose portfolios are responsible for sub-prime predatory lending practices, Medicare privatization, and an entire range of corporate sharp dealings that are driving the middle class into poverty.

While I indicated Senator Obama as a preferred second choice in Iowa, Progressives have fundamental disagreements with him and all of the other Presidential candidates on most of their major positions on the issues.

We must have the courage of our convictions to fully support and vote for what it is we really want. For once, we must realize our power, stop playing tactical games, and vote as a bloc – which, as you know, is what the religious right does and why they often win.

We Progressives are in the majority in this election. We will win only when we refuse to compromise and vote with integrity.

Dennis Kucinich

Tags: Kucinich, Edwards, hedge funds, Special Interests