Comments on: "Hedge Fund Manager Describes Rock Bottom"

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:16:00 +0000

The trilogy comes full circle.

Part I:
"As Subprime Market Implodes, a Contrarian Prospers"
Which includes the classic “I don’t think there is anyone in the business who wouldn’t want to be John Devaney,” said Mark H. Adelson, a senior analyst with Nomura Securities in New York

Part II:
"Creators of Credit Crisis Revel in Las Vegas"
Where we learn: in Las Vegas fashion, he said he was doubling down.

We know how Part III ended.

I look forward to not buying the book.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:23:00 +0000

One of the best blog comments that I ever read was about the sale DeVaney’s yacht, which he had humbly named “Positive Carry”.

The blog poster said that the new owner would rename it “Margin Call”

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:18:00 +0000

“I feel horrible that I’ve lost my own money and that so many people who saw the skills I have and trusted in us have now been hurt.”…

Excuse me? What skills would they be? Bilking investors? Egomania? Pigheaded stubborness?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:36:00 +0000

I’m devastated, I’m totally devastated,” Mr. Devaney said by telephone from Aspen, Colo. “I feel horrible that I’ve lost my own money.”…
This tells you everything you need to know.

By: Scott Finch

Scott Finch — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:25:00 +0000

The best bit included in the article was, hands down, “the skills I have”. what about luck?

im bullish on libraries too.

By: Jo Mama

Jo Mama — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:02:00 +0000

Hate the game, bro. Don’t hate the player.

By: Ginger Yellow

Ginger Yellow — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:38:00 +0000

Addendum: here’s what I wrote at the time. “John Devaney, CEO of specialist broker-dealer United Capital Markets, was unrelentingly bearish, saying total losses from the credti crisis could reach $1tr and there was a 20% chance of a major international investment bank going bust. He also underscored the scale of market value declines by revealing that had bought mortgage paper for as little as 10 cents on the dollar.”

Turns out he wasn’t bearish enough.

By: Ginger Yellow

Ginger Yellow — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:35:00 +0000

At the ASF conference in February, Devaney said on during a panel that anyone who wanted to buy his fund’s securities should just head over to the UCM booth and upt in a bid. The guy seemed pretty desperate even then.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:13:00 +0000

This is exactly why I do not watch TV and do not read newspapers. Much better to get your news via “trickle up” blog postings that wrap the main stream fluff in a healthy dose of reality. (I’m also bullish on libraries.)

By: Richard Kline

Richard Kline — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:15:00 +0000

So Dave at 12:45, thanks for the context; that’s just what this situation smelled like. ” . . . [T}he siren call of 40% annual returns . . . ” THAT salient fact tells me everything I need to know about Devaney, but somehow this didn’t make it into the NYT’s ‘Tragadey for the Fallen Heroic Investor’ piece.

40% annual from mortgages paying a fraction of that??? *HAHAHAHAHAHAHA* “It’s all in how you slice it boys: cut real fine and they won’t even realize their carotid’s gone for, oh, two and a half years.”