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Non-Tech : Derivatives: Darth Vader's Revenge -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (219)	9/27/1998 5:04:00 PM
From: Henry Volquardsen	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2794

Lots of good questions. Crony capitalism? Perhaps but not on the governmental level. There was a good article in today's New York Times that made it appear that it was a senior partner at Goldman who started pulling things together. The Fed, at least according to the article, acted more as a facilitator for getting everyone together. There are others who claim the Fed was behind it all so I am sure the debate will continue. Where there may be some real questions about 'crony' capitalism could be in the relationship between LTC and senior executives at some of the lending firms. If some of the rumours are true one has to wonder what the compliance departments were doing. If you want to see if there are massive unwindings of positions watch credit spreads. If credit spreads continue to widen it may mean that the positions are being unwound. Confidence has definitely not been shattered. If it requires a huge ego to view this as an opportunity then I must have one :) It is always fun to know who has the biggest position and how nervous he is about it. I am sure I am not alone in this. At the risk of sounding arrogant, this gives me a very clear picture of what is out there and a better chance to position accordingly. I am sure I am not alone. People don't get into a position of being able to trade these risky portfolios without having resilient egos. Every trader I know has gotten his head handed to him several times. The only thing to do is get back up, learn from the loss and go right back after it. Henry