Comments on: How Porsche hacked the financial system and made a killing

By: Jejar

Jejar — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 02:23:36 +0000

Thank you for elucidating some difficult financial concepts. I enjoyed reading your article.

By: Miguel

Miguel — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:39:27 +0000

Hi. I had this article on “My Favourites” waiting for some time-off to read it. I only focus on economics as an hobby (In fact i´m not even familiar to many of the terms used), even so your article was very clear. Thank´s a lot. Cheers, Miguel, Portugal.

By: Varun

Varun — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 07:31:28 +0000

Worth a movie or a novel! What an innovative and awesome way!

Rock on Porsche!

By: Soora L Ramgopal

Soora L Ramgopal — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 06:51:46 +0000

Brilliant! Goes to show that only money begets money!

By: Rafael Martinez

Rafael Martinez — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:59:05 +0000

Hello,

I have read (more or less) all the comments, and I think you are missing the main point. The actuation of the German regulator (BaFin) was “criminal”.

According with information published Porsche informed BaFin about the accumulation of cash options. But BaFin did not make this information public. This is clear unacceptable, but the worst of this history is that will be very difficult punish Porsche or the banks who sell the options because BaFin was informed.

Yes, we all know that the SEC is rubbish (e.g. case Madoff), but in my humble opinion, the only reason we do not have a Madoff in Europe is because we have been a bit luckier, not because we have a better market watchdogs.

Regards from Spain

By: Phil Metzger

Phil Metzger — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 21:21:17 +0000

A. You can’t fix stupid or in this case greed

B. Whatever Porsche paid their CFO was probably nowhere near enough!

By: Porschephile

Porschephile — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 19:48:13 +0000

Ivan said:
“Kris — at the moment, I doubt Porsche can so much as sneeze while looking at the stock market without inviting regulator scrutiny, which is why they can’t do it again. And the rumblings are that disclosure laws are going to change soon, making this type of thing impossible in the future.”

Porsche does not need to do it again. They already had what they wanted. Not exactly the prettiest move, but goddamn clever.

By: John

John — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 08:33:49 +0000

People would be well advised to invest their own money for themselves, and not delegate that responsibility to know-nothing mutual fund or hedge fund managers. These Wall Street and High Street parasites will take your money when they are successful (2% of the total you invest, and 20% of any profits in the case of hedge funds) but will not pay you back when their wild bets go sour, as with Volkswagen. Steer clear of these so-called “helpers”, invest with a discount broker, sell when the market goes irrationally high, and buy when it collapses. Or, just keep your money in the bank. You’ll do a lot better that way, in the longer run.

By: Kit

Kit — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:01:15 +0000

Brilliant. This is what the goal is, and those who think Porsche is in the business of making cars probably think Ray Kroc was in the hamburger business.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:07:42 +0000

welcome to the investment world, it is truly a battle for investment survival. Anybody that thinks that there is no manipulation and scheming going on is either naive or an idiot. The list of manipulation by the mutual fund industry, the investment banks, and the federal reserve is long enough to write multiple volumes.

We are learning the hard way that the stock market is not a friendly place. If you don’t like that, keep your cash in your house or the bank. Nobody cared about this stuff when the stock market went up all the time , only when they lose money and want someone to blame, then its everybody else’s fault: the short sellers, Porche, etc.

no risk, no reward, but if you can’t handle the risk, stay away instead blaming everybody else and crying and whining for a bailout or worse yet the ultimate self absorbed act of killing yourself.

Don’t cry for the shorts, but don’t blame them either. Most of them can take a loss like a man.