CAR-Think of it this way. I’m sure very knowledgeable people at the top knew that there was only room for so many IBs and the weaker ones had to go one way or another. Many good analysts were calling it way before they all went down. So what the apparent insider knowledge and “controlled” collapse probably means is they were trying to manage it in the least messy way they could so they would not lose control of the situation. Lets face it they all should have went down and certain ones were CHOSEN to stand via taxpayer money infusion. BS and LB were not. Which obviously leads to a myriad much bigger questions if true?
BTW, I like Gary Weiss and think he is a very smart guy. He is also calling for an almost complete collapse of Wall Street that is not close to over. Being a guy that has been involved legitimately in the game for 40+ years and even had a father the worked on wall street in the 20s probably does not want to think the game he worked so hard to understand is rigged at the highest levels. He only wants to think they are a bunch of greedy, short sighted idiots. While mostly true the insider trading stuff IMO, probably indicates that not all are the bumbling idiots that they all appear to be and *gasp* there may actually be people conspiring with insider knowledge to profit and guide the complete destruction of the worlds biggest financial institution and MAY be part of a much larger geostrategic plan.
Also, here is Weiss’s last alert from Feb for anybody that has not seen it.
The nation’s largest banks are so close to collapse and the world economy is coming unglued so rapidly, a major Wall Street meltdown is now imminent.
Specifically, it’s now increasingly likely that virtually all of our forecasts of recent months could come to pass in a very short period of time, including …
Stock market crash: A swift plunge in stocks to about 5000 on the Dow, 500 on the S&P 500 and 900 on the Nasdaq … or lower. (For our reasons, see “Stocks to fall AT LEAST another 40%!“)
Corporate bankruptcies: A chain reaction of Chapter 11 filings or federal takeovers, including not only General Motors and Chrysler, but also Ann Taylor, Best Buy, Jet Blue, Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sears, Toys “R” Us, U.S. Airways and even giants like Ford or General Electric.
Megabank failures: Bankruptcies or nationalization not only of Citigroup and Bank of America, but also JPMorgan Chase and HSBC. (See my January issue, “Megabanks Could Fail Despite Federal Aid.”)
Nationwide epidemic of small and medium-sized bank failures: Outright FDIC takeovers, with little prospect of nationalization. (I’ll give you a link to our free guide with a more extensive list in a moment.)
Insurance failures: State takeovers of companies like Ambac Assurance, Bankers Life and Casualty, Conseco, FGIC, Medical Liability Mutual, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance, Nuclear Electric Insurance, PMI Mortgage, Standard Life of Indiana and many others. (Our free guide also contains a more extensive list of insurers.)
Cities and states: An epidemic of defaults by thousands of cities, states and other issuers of tax-exempt municipal bonds.
Stock market shutdowns: Trading halts on major, big-cap stocks … plus on-again, off-again exchange shutdowns, making it increasingly difficult for investors to liquidate their holdings at any price.
Credit market deep freeze: A virtual shutdown in all debt markets except U.S. Treasuries. An avalanche of selling — and virtually no buyers — for corporate bonds, commercial paper, asset-backed securities, municipal bonds and all forms of bank loans.
Government bond collapse: A steep decline in the price of medium-and long-term government securities, as the U.S. Treasury bids aggressively for scarce funds to finance a ballooning budget deficit.
Shocking? Perhaps. Avoidable? No.
