I regret if I sound cynical, but it strikes me that the system performed quite successfully for its real beneficiaries, the financial establishment–from Wall St. through USG regulators great and small to the humblest bond rater and accountant. What failed was the cover story to the effect that regulators protect the public from the occasional excesses of the greatest financial system history has ever seen.

Consider that Jamie Dimon was channeling Big Capital when he recently said that we should expect financial crises every five to seven years. Call it a cost of successful business as usual. Collateral damage.

But I’ll agree with you that the situation is utterly disgusting.

You can make money in these markets. You can make money in Las Vegas playing craps, blackjack or roulette. For joe six pack, which has better odds. The financial markets are now completely and totally a shame. You can most certainly make a trade and profit from it. Your profits are going to be someone else’s losses. How long do we think a system that is so broken, corrupt and disgusting is going to last? A year, ten years? When this mess comes to a dramatic conclusion I hope that what ever money we “won” is enough to protect us from the screaming starving hordes.

If we are not part of the solution we are part of the problem. Just because you can do something, just because everyone else is doing it and just because there is no law against it – Does Not Make It Right. Pay back is a bitch and pay back is always just around the next corner.

When the French had their revolution it was not pretty. This 30 year old massive explosion of “greed is good” mind set and philosophy which has a strangle hold on our society will need to be put to rest. In my opinion when the inevitable happens, it too will not be a very pretty sight to see.

It is important for us to determine reasonable rules for distinguishing and curbing short selling, CDSs, etc. when they are used for non-productive means.

One other negative of short selling is that it can incentive non-productive behaviors. For example, my employer reasonably prohibits me from taking short positions on my employer’s stock (via equity or option). This is a reasonable request, as otherwise there may be incentive both incentive and opportunity for employees to decrease the value of the company’s stock price.

I feel your pain. In truth the whole point of the 401k was to get people “stuck” in equities. It’s part-and-parcel of TBTF.

If the Street hadn’t been able to regurgitate talking points such as “90% of Americans own stocks” then the public would have been much less inclined to let Hank Paulson give away the national Treasury to save his cronies.

Tax-advantaged savings and investments are good ideas. But pretending that throwing darts at a few mutual funds is “good for America” is Grade A crapola, particularly since any sane investor now buys a sizable quantity of non-US equities, bonds, and currency anyway.

Maybe all this is just an example of the Law of Unintended Consequences. And maybe I’m the bleedin’ King of England.

I thought that Enron taught us that “Off Balance Sheet” items, Conduits and the like, should not be permitted for Public Companies. Then FASB, quite contrary to logic, bent to pressure from Wall Street (Actually Congress but, well it’s the same thing) to abandon Mark to Market accounting principles.

The Accountants, the Ratings Agencies, Companies,m Regulators, Congress; it’s the same everywhere. I continue to believe that the US has an ethical and moral crisis first and foremost.

I would tell him this post is me speaking as an outraged citizen.

But as a trader, I would keep my eye on volume and equity exposures to see if in fact the public is walking away from the markets.

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As Bruce Springsteen has in an old Song…(I think from Pete Seeger…but maybe not…(don’t have time to search link)

“KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE.” In your profession that’s what you have to do…….

We small wee investors..gotta do that, also.

Thanks for the input…”Trading or Investing …ALL ALONE!”

But, watching…and reading.