Wall Street continues to reel from the Madoff scandal

By Madoff having his family turn him in he thinks the SEC/Govt is to stupid to recognize his family as co-conspirators. I feel so sorry for him having to hole up in his apartment while out on bail. What a joke. How about CNN's top ten rip-off artists, lets not forget them. Nothing infuriates me more then when I read/hear about these so-called big execs getting bonuses. They all need to be locked up.

He got one of my customers for a million or more, nice guy, retired early because of health. He is in trouble now.

A few years ago, there was a documentary where several famous con artists who had run various scams like these Ponzi schemes were interviewed. The one main point that they all made was this: It is almost impossible to get to someone who is not greedy. The hook they all use is greed. They said that someone who only wants a reasonable rate of return is a mark that they cannot convert to their program.

Investors that lost everything with Mr. Madoff put all their eggs in one basket. For this lack of conservative diversification it cost them their life savings. In a way it was their own greed that turned them away from properly diversifying their portfolio in favor of an almost guaranteed 1% monthly return. A lesson for all of us. It kind of like leaving your keys in the car and blaming the thief when its stolen.

The Madoff scandal offers an important lesson for investors courtesy of our mothers: "if it seems too good to be true, chances are that it is."

OK, this "lesson" has been said for so OFTEN for so long, that ANYONE who ignored this principle, then they literally "deserve to be taken to the cleaners".

The problem is that the invesment markets have become so intertwined and complex that "average investors" wind up having absolutely NO IDEA that they investments are involved in, and impacted by this massive Madoff FRAUD.

The fallout from the Madoff Ponzi scheme are going to result in people becoming aware of the REAL HIDDEN RISKS in investing in various "funds" and investment vehicles. This is going to result in a FURTHER SUBSTANTIAL RELUCTANCE to invest in such funds/ investment groups . . . and will result in the loss of many employment positions with these types of companies.

That will also significantly impact our overall economic activity . . . people are going to be much more cautious with their investments . . . economic activity is going to slow down appreciably.

As is said: "For every 'Loser' there is a 'Winner' . . . someone WAS paid for those investments that have now gone bad . . . the "wealth has been redistributed somewhat,", right? (Of course the CEOs, and corporate management have skimmed off a lot of these monies in the compensation packages worth HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of dollars INDIVIDUALLY.)

So, a lot of the money is "still out there", somewhwere, with someone; it just isn't being "circulated'; and the average American's dispoasable descretionary income has virtually disappeared. Who has the money??? And what will it take to get this money "circulated"???

He would already been executed if he was in china...done deal, over, kaput.

I wonder how many more ponzi schemes are out there lurking around and will eventually fall. The punishment for Bernie Madoff has not even been invented yet. That must have all been money on paper and not in reality. Where is some of that money? Does Bernie have it in a Swiss bank account or some other obscure place? Remember investment ponzi schemers, that if the economy falls you will get caught just like Skilling, Ley, and other players that bilked other peoples money. Wall Street has now gotten a rotten reputation. Put your money under a mattress. There is no interest on it anyway, and Wall Street can't find companies worth invesing in since companies are falling like dominoes anyway.

Uncle Bernie is their really an Easter Bunny? How about Santa Claus Uncle Bernie?

You take the advice it is too good to be true --- so you don't invest in Madoff. You also diversify your holdings, investing in Companies A, B, & C --- However, Companies A, B, & C have invested in Madoff --- It is "Good Bye Retirement." [See Article esp. para. 4, It states: "So let me get this straight: MassMutual entrusted some of its investors' money to one of the supposed geniuses of Wall Street and did not want anyone to know? Maybe the company did not want its customers to know that it was collecting fees..."]

Is it my imagination or are most of the names that pop up in this Madoff circle-jerk of Irish extraction?

GREED IS A WONDERFUL THING... IT WIPES OUT THE GREEDY..I DONT FEEL SORRY FOR ANY OF THEM

They knew what this guy was doing had some red flags. From my understanding the flags where large and many of them. The fund was too good to be real. Please do not feel bad for many of these people for they used them as a tax shelter for so many "foundations" to hide many from taxes. For those older people who put everything they had on the advice from one of his friends and lost everything I feel bad for and they truly should get their money back first if there is any to give out. If the goverment is going to do a bail out for this I think I will puke. Remember investing is a gamble no matter what. I just lost $2000.00 at the casino will they bail me out. (I expected to loose the money prior to going to the casino - had alot of fun while I watched those black chips go bye bye)

AS A MODEST SUGGESTION MAY BERNIE BE GIVEN A 'WRIST SLAP' PUNISHMENT....IN THIS CASE A WRIST SLAP WOULD INCLUDE BURNING HIS HOUSE DOWN , SELLING HIS ENTIRE IMMEDIATE FAMILY INTO SLAVERY AND HIM BEING ENCASED IN A 55 GALLON BARREL OF HOG EXCREMENT WITH HEAD PROTRUDING FOR 12 HOURS DAILY AT BROAD AND WALL STREET FOR A PERIOD OF 2 YEARS. IF HE DOES IT AGAIN WE'LL BE FORCED TO EMPLOY LESS ENLIGHTEN PUNISHMENTS ...

i honestly think his crime should be punishable by death. yes, i believe he (and any other upper management who he colluded with) should be executed for the crimes they've committed.

Madoff scandal? thought ponzi scheme...illegal?

More and more, I hear the projections that the stock markets will NOT be profitable throuh the year 2010 . . . it's just going to take that long for everything to settle out and "hit bottom".

The longer the FIs and corporations hide their losses and drag these matters out, the longer it will take for everything to "bottom out". Of course if they admitted to the truth (as they should be being required to do) many of the CEOs would be thrown out of their positions, and probably indicted . . . that is why they are dragging their feet on revealing the truth. But it is the "recovery" that is suffering from all of this.

The FACT is that everything has to "bottom out" in order for a recovery to start.

The government should begin to make crimnal indictments of those CEOs who have been concealing losses in their corporations.

Rich, we Irish do not have the $$$

Just a poor country boy trying to make a living and putting monies aside for a comfortable retirement. Along comes this pathetic creep and many of us are now going to suffer. What will happen to him? Slap on the wrist, some time sitting in a federal prison (doubtful). Hopefully maybe Patrick Fitzgerald will look into his actions and take him down like he did the Govenors of Illinois.

The entire market is a ponzi scheme, Madoff had great teachers!

REPUBLICAN MIDGETS MARCH TO SONG !

Heigh Ho! Heigh Ho!

It's off to deregulate we go!

Heigh Ho! Heigh Ho!

We'll screw friend and foe !

Roland C. Woodaka

(Limited Poetic Talent)!