[Phil]

I was late reading The Big Short and absolutely loved it, even though a fair amount of it was over my head.

Naturally, I had to get my hands on a copy of Boomerang. So far its an interesting read.

I'm stifling the urge to start a hedge fund to buy credit default swaps on muni bonds.

[jonottawa]

I've never been to Mississippi, sounds interesting.

[kenberg]

Phil, on 2012-March-16, 15:25, said:

I was late reading The Big Short and absolutely loved it, even though a fair amount of it was over my head.

Naturally, I had to get my hands on a copy of Boomerang. So far its an interesting read.

I'm stifling the urge to start a hedge fund to buy credit default swaps on muni bonds.

I did see the part about "over my head", still I will ask. I haven't read the Big Short, except maybe some parts, but I have listened to him on interviews. I am interested in your opinion:

Whenever something hugely unexpected happens, someone always predicted it. But then someone always predicts something unexpected, the end of the Earth for example, and no one much notices because the prediction is wrong. What's your take? Lewis really got it right because he really had a strong grasp of the matter, or is it a case of yes he got this one right but sometimes the slam makes on three finesses and a three-three split in the trump suit?

On one interview, he was talking about the interest only no down payment loans. "I can see why someone would like to get such a loan but I couldn't see why anyone would make such a loan". Sure. Even I get that. But there is more, as you say some of it over the heads of many.


Newton stood on the shoulders of giants, others are just in the right place at the right time. Your take on Lewis?

[Phil]

Well its been a few weeks since I read The Big Short, and its back at my local library, but its really just a biography about three groups that went short on the subprime market. In order to even short the market, they also needed to create the financial instrument to do so.

I don't remember Lewis ever saying, "see I saw this coming and I made a ton, look at me". It was all written well after the transaction (which itself took a long time because of the nature of the contracts).

In Boomerang, the subject matter is more 'real time'.