There are many in the financial markets for whom 2007 is proving to be extremely painful, and I am certainly not referring to the problems currently afflicting the great and the good at investments banks such as Merrill Lynch where the chief executive, Stan O’Neil is preparing to fall on his sword for a price reputed to be not less than $169m – such is the price of failure! It is impossible to feel any sympathy for O’Neil or indeed any of the investment banks because in my opinion, it is they who have sown the wind, and we are all suffering the whirlwind. If you would like to read about how the markets are manipulated on a daily basis by the market makers, please visit my site at www.making-bread.co.uk/how-the-stock-markets-work.htm which will explain in detail how these companies are able to make so much money quite legally and still afford to pay the likes of Mr O’Neill the equivalent of the GDP of a small African state.
My view is that those paying the price of this failure are the homeowners whose dream of home ownership has been shattered by repossession, and the investors left holding toxic investments concocted from derivatives, which even the professionals have no idea how to value. Thanks Mr O’Neil!