'Casualties of War:' Lousy Returns, Madoff Scandal Spell Doom for Hedge Funds

Does anyone have the ability to translate the wonderful ramblings of Johnny Ike? They should be interviewed by Task

Wall Street is a bad bet. You get a fairer shake with legitimate odds in Vegas. As for corpoate fund managers as far as I am concerned we should put them unarmed in the woods during deer season with antlers wired to their heads. I wonder how long they would last?

I believe that 2009 will be better than '08 be patient ride the wave.

Somewhere, the world's smallest violin is playing... Hearts and flowers forever.

I HAVE A COUPLE OF MY LOVELY WHISKY....WHAT I MEAN FOR NERCY IS MERCY....NO MERCY FOR THE SEC FIRE THEM ALL FROM THE TOP TO BOTTOM.........THEY ARE MORE BLIND THAN ME.........10 YEARS THEY NEVER THE PONZI ACTS OF MADOFF......I AM NOT GOOD IN ENGLISH BECAUSE DROP -OUT IN MY SCHOOL DAYS BUT I AM NOT A THIEVES LIKE WITH THOSE DOCTORATE.......LIKE MADOFF ,COX,PAULSON AND BERNANKE.......

Hedge funds should be illegal. They constantly seek to manipulate the market. The big example recently was levered speculation by the hedge funds with oil. What do hedge funds do? Make wealthy people wealthier (sometimes). We don't need this form of "cRapitalism."

You can't let people like Madoff walk...He must be prosecuted to the fullest that the law will allow and made to disclose fully where the "Money Is"...It is humanly Impossible to lose 100% of the Fraud..He has comitted the worst of crimes against humanity...equal to the Holoocaust...

In reply to most of the posts regarding the SEC & regulators in general. All of wall street is crooked. You would be hard pressed to find one individual or company that does not have larceny in their heart. The only way to make money in the market today is to invest in blue chips companies that have gone bad and when they recover take your $2 profit and run and look for another downtrodden stock. Someone is pumping and dumpting whether it be individuals or companies like Goldman.

It is impossible to to allow Madoff to walk free with out being prosecuted to the fullest degree that the law allows...it sends the wrong message to the public and destabalizes confidence in our government by the people...this is the worst of all crimes against humanity...equal to the Holocaust !

Stop the "revolving door" from government to wall street. Government officials should not be able to be employed in the financial or lobbying industry for AT LEAST 5 years after leaving government service. Greedy Old Pigs (GOP) caused this mess; the rich ones, and their pools of wealth, whether in the US or dubai or bermuda, should pay for it. Nationalize the useless banks. Time for socialist government.

Somehow, I have come to believe that these two guys know exactly nothing about markets, politics, or anything else they write about. Market crashes, etc. don't have ANY lasting effect on stock prices and neither will Madoff's 20 year scam make the slightest difference about hedge funds. Stocks have in the past appeared that were scams and guess what? People still buy stocks. Stocks have in the past (not too distant past) had lousy returns and , guess what? People still buy stocks. Housing has had a terrible three years but guess what? People will still always buy houses. These Tech Ticker incompetents haven't even lived thru a recession but I'm sure will talk about them as if they were experts. They are definitely not experts. About anything. Why are these guys being alowed to ruin the amosphere with their silly, poinless BS? Now THAT'S something to wonder about.

HEDGE FUNDS!!! GOOD RIDDANCE!!! THE SOONER THE BETTER!!! Throw in naked short selling, and then I will trade again. JIM HSV ALA

how can we as tax payers continue to allow these people to keep on stealing when people are loosing thier homes and life savings.our federal,state and local governments are being ran by crooks and highly educated criminals.

The rich can't have it both ways. I mean like the rich have paid no taxes for the last 8 years and at the same time didn't want "regulations" to keep investment firms honest. Now the rich are getting wiped out. Does anyone care? The rich get their due. Getting blown up in a hedge fund is God's way of telling you you have too much money. Read the signs. It's all over for the wealthy, just like the great depression days. I invested in my education and nobody or any hedge fund can take that away from me.

There is so much more to the current crisis than anyone like Paulson would ever disclose to the American people. Why for example did the banks all go bankrupt? They were holding mortages but there was real estate backing those mortages. Sell the real estate at a forclosure sale and the bank has money. The banks are acting like the real estate was a total loss. Then, there is this hidden fact that the banks were borrowing money to write the mortgages. Usually banks use depositors money to loan out as mortages. This banks borrowing from other banks etc...is like a chain letter. Why did Paulson give the money to banks to loan out to other banks? Banks should get back into the banking business and learn how to make money from banking. The system that has been created can't be sustained unless the US government keeps supplying the money to the banks forever. And back to my original question, what is the bank doing with the money from foreclosures? The banks are no better than Bernie Madoff. Ask Mr. Paulson when will the taxpayer will get the money back? Never.

Capitalism, as now allowed to function, is the biggest Ponzi Scheme of all. No way, no how is the Ceo of any company worth $25-$150 million a year ...and given multi-million dollar a year bonus after driving the company into the ground. It's just a giant pyramid with the working class/taxpayers at the bottom and the politically connected, entitled and and well-to-do relatives of previous generations stealing the rest of us blind. I mean, really, how much does one really need to live comfortably.....they just "can't make it on a couple of mill a year? The greed of those on top is incredible. Take every cent they've robbed in the name of "leverage", put a broom and a toilet brush in their hands, and show them what real work is.

Johnny Ike: Learn grammar, spelling and punctuation -- otherwise, stop posting. You write like a second grade drop out.

Madoff's whole family should be on suicide watch. In jail to make it easier.

The problem with oversight isn't the oversight itself. It is what it signifies for a free market society. When everything is regulated and the citizens of a free nation demand that everything be governmentally regulated, then you no longer have a free society. You have a socialistic state. When you have a socialistic state you have a severe curtail in creative genious and individual desire to excel, things which impel great and wonderful answers, answers which benefit all of mankind all throughout the world, but answers which also buck governmental regulation. For what it's worth, you can't compel or force honesty. Look at the inmates in the prison system. Are they more honest because they are under tighter security? Does evil cease to exist because the guards are watching? Whose watching the guards? Whose watching the guys who are watching the guards? Where does it end? If a free society is to exist then you need individual responsibility, morality, honesty, and courage - not more government control.

I live in CT so I know several hedge fund employees. Guys in their 30's making millions. Couldn't figure it out because I've never been impressed with their intellect. These guys are anything but rocket scientists and frequently confuse luck for brains. Merely gambling with other peoples money.