For the Love of Money - an article about Wall St.

[Chiefcrowe]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/for-the-love-of-money.html

 

[Newell Steamer]

OP, stop vilifying the rich.

 

[Exterous]

OP, stop vilifying the rich.

Well at least the Democrats and Republicans united in their stance to not really do anything to hold Wall Street accountable

 

[dawheat]

I will say that the fury about any increased taxes or removal of tax loopholes is true for the folks I know on Wall Street. Totally normal guys until the above comes up and they freaking turn into raving lunatics.

Oh, and absolutely 0 remorse about the financial crisis. Basically the view is they're essential to the economy, they're the smartest people in the world, things can't progress without them.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Someone has been watching Wolf of Wallstreet a wee bit too much

 

[trenchfoot]

I find it amazing how folks can conjure up piles of money out of thin air with no other tangible product to make use of just the same as watching folks go to Las Vegas, and with the odds totally against them, dump their hard earned cash into some machine, walk away and say how much fun that was and how they mournfully wish they had their money back to do it over again.

 

[Newell Steamer]

Well at least the Democrats and Republicans united in their stance to not really do anything to hold Wall Street accountable

If they do, their campaign money, sports tickets and yatch parties go tits up!

 

[glenn1]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/for-the-love-of-money.html

It is somehow news to you that successful Wall Street traders make a lot of money? Just like with professional athletes, this isn't some sort of hereditary noble title where all but a tiny handful are excluded as a matter of law. With the right talents, determination, and a bit of luck this is a career anyone could break into. If you want to complain about how much traders or athletes make as a matter of political principle that's fine, but don't act like this is a completely unobtainable goal for the OP or anyone else on this forum. Fact is, a lot of people wouldn't be willing to make the needed tradeoffs to earn millions in finance; the 100+ hour workweeks for years on end, no social life, a complete monomaniacal focus on the job at hand, and more often than not complete professional burnout by your late 20s.

 

[Texashiker]

How is it those who contribute so little somehow earn so much.

 

[bshole]

Wow, these bankers have a brand new pyramid scheme you all. Privatizing gains and publicizing losses, these guys are the bomb.

Banks, hedge funds, and private equity firms have been amassing those real estate holdings for a few years now, but their plan for wringing profit out of the rental market is just starting to draw real scrutiny. The New York-based hedge fund Blackstone Group is now the nation’s largest landlord after purchasing over 40,000 foreclosed family homes for the purpose of renting them out.
:
But firms like Blackstone aren’t just renting the homes, of course. The real money for the firm is in turning the rent payments it will receive from those 40,000 units into financial products called securities that it can sell to other investors. The practice could prove to be a broadly beneficial way to allocate scarce housing resources — or it could mirror the casino culture that turned the subprime bubble into an economy-wrecking conflagration.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/01/24/3203471/wall-street-landlord/

 

[glenn1]

Wow, these bankers have a brand new pyramid scheme you all. Privatizing gains and publicizing losses, these guys are the bomb.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/01/24/3203471/wall-street-landlord/

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) or Mortgage REITs (MREITs) are neither new nor a pyramid scheme and just show that both you and the article author are woefully ignorant about common financial products. Chance are if you're looking at a commercial properties in the U.S., it's owned by a REIT whether its an office building, shopping mall, hotel, hospital, or even govenrment agency.

 

[Texashiker]

Wow, these bankers have a brand new pyramid scheme you all. Privatizing gains and publicizing losses, these guys are the bomb.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/01/24/3203471/wall-street-landlord/

Where do you think that $85 billion a money the federal reserve has been dumping into the mortgage backed bond market has been going?

In other words, the federal reserve is printing money out of thin air to corner the real estate market.

 

[Anarchist420]

wall street is perpetuated by the State's monetary policy and i cant believe anyone could be ignorant enough to look to the State for protection against wall street.

 

[bshole]

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) or Mortgage REITs (MREITs) are neither new nor a pyramid scheme and just show that both you and the article author are woefully ignorant about common financial products. Chance are if you're looking at a commercial properties in the U.S., it's owned by a REIT whether its an office building, shopping mall, hotel, hospital, or even govenrment agency.

Actually I have 50K from my wife's 401k in a REIT. I bought in when the real estate market collapsed. I suppose I am not so outraged after all.

http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/IRGIX/f?t=IRGIX

 

[glenn1]

Actually I have 50K from my wife's 401k in a REIT. I bought in when the real estate market collapsed. I suppose I am not so outraged after all.

http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/IRGIX/f?t=IRGIX

So if you bought into that fund at the exact bottom, you'd have a double now more or less unless you didn't reinvest the dividends. I grabbed some NLY and TWO myself not long ago, and think REITs are a far more responsible option for securitization than Mortage Backed Securities while presenting far less risk to the broader financial market. I have no doubt some MREIT companies act like dicks to their tennants and hopefully the Blackrock guys will act in a responsible fashion.

 

[Thebobo]

OP, stop vilifying the rich.

Sarcasm?

 

[MagickMan]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/for-the-love-of-money.html

No commentary, you're just going to shit and run?

 

[Engineer]

Is this a repost? I've seen this story before but don't remember where?

 

[thraashman]

Is this a repost? I've seen this story before but don't remember where?

I've seen it too, but I'm pretty sure I saw it posted by a friend on Facebook. It's a good read.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

I don't think all rich people are necessarily evil but there are a definitely some that are. We've seen many banks, etc. profit off financial crises which basically make those who are not well off struggle even more, and they aren't even being punished really.

I just thought that this was an interesting insight into why some of these people in the financial industry act and do what they do.