Dealbook reports that the subprime meltdown does not just hurt the poor. It also hurts those who profit from helping put the poor into debt over their heads. Take the case of John Devaney.

Devaney's sour bets on subprime have forced him to put his second home and his yacht -- Positive Carry (a reference to an arbitrage-like trading technique) -- on the market.

Devaney's remarks on subprime remind me of the adage "Be careful what you wish for..." Here's what he had to say back in January: "I personally hate subprime and I'm kind of hoping the whole thing explodes.''

Meanwhile, Dealbook suggested these possible names for the new owner of Devaney's yacht:

• Margin Call
• Sinking Ship
• No Doc Dinghy
• Sub-Merged
• Not so FICO

Feel free to comment with a better one.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

I've always felt that the best way to learn about investing is to follow the stories of successful investors -- whether that's Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, or someone like Phil Town, the author of Rule #1 Investing. Thursday's New York Times features a fascinating piece on John Devaney, who has made a lot of money by predicting the collapse of the subprime lenders. In late January, literally weeks before the collapse of Novastar Financial (NYSE: NFI), he told a group that "I personally hate subprime, and I'm kind of hoping the whole thing explodes." Not only was he hoping, but he was betting that it would. So what is Mr. Devaney's secret? He's a dyed in the wool contrarian, unafraid to bet against the market sentiment at a time when subprime lenders were all the rage.