When in doubt, blame hedge funds

Hedge funds are mysterious. Some of the managers are billionaires. There is little regulation and there are occasional implosions. More importantly, hedge funds have more than a trillion dollars in assets.

So if there are problems in the financial markets, it's probably a result of the devious schemes of hedge funds, right?

A recent piece in the New York Times looks at this. And, yes, hedge funds are getting the blame for the volatility in the Asian markets.

The theory does have some credence. Over the past few years, hedge funds have become a much bigger part of Asian markets, and the growth is likely to continue.

After all, hedge funds thrive on volatility. That's how they find short-term profit opportunities.

But can they really cause it? Maybe in some cases. But its tough to do this on a consistent basis.

Perhaps the big issue is that there appears to be a slow-down in the Chinese economy, which impacts all Asian markets.

The funny thing is, though, no one complained about the volatility when the markets soared. But once the inevitable correction hit, the hedgies become an easy target.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.