Citi Paves The Road To Hell
If you thought Wall Street has acted with brazen stupidity over the past few years, you apparently ain't seen nothing yet. CNBC is reporting that certain Wall Street firms are pitching a new derivatives-based product that would effectively let hedge funds skirt the ban on short-selling of financial stocks. Among the culprits is Citi: An official there who spoke on condition on anonymity said the technique is still in the discussion stages, adding that if it is rolled out, it will be used purely for hedging purposes. Hedge funds will not be able to use the technique to create a "net short" position. Rather, the technique will be used to hedge against potential losses from going long on a financial stock on the banned list. Are you kidding me? Wall Street pushes for this ban in order to protect itself, and now is working on a scheme that could easily circumvent those very protections. And for what end? To help out the short-selling hedgies that many bank executives think caused their problems in the first place? Most Americans don't understand
