We once called Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal a “little Spitzer” based on his attitude toward hedge funds. He seems to see them as targets—probable perps who should be federally regulated or at least locally prosecuted. More than once he’s made statements that suggest he looks at business failure and investing losses as a criminal act.
We didn’t know until this morning that he has assembled a task force to investigate hedge funds.
Connecticut's attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, who bears a passing physical resemblance to Spitzer, said on Sept. 19, "The facts about mammoth losses by Amaranth offer additional powerful and compelling evidence about the need to reform disclosure and oversight requirements [for hedge funds]." And he has convened a Hedge Fund Task Force that could lead to a larger investigation."We don't have a horseshoe-shaped table with nameplates," he told Fortune during an interview in his wood-paneled office in Hartford. Instead he's had to cobble together an informal group of hedge fund managers that he can sound out individually (and clandestinely) because these financiers prize secrecy as much as the characters do in the Robert Ludlum novels they read on their G5s to St. Barts. "The meetings are more likely to be in one of their offices or over a cup of coffee at the end of the day." Which is something the 60-year-old father of four can easily swing, as he counts a number of hedgies among his neighbors in Greenwich.
Everyone better lawyer up quick. And whatever you do, don’t let your boss decide who your lawyer is going to be. When it all goes down, you won’t be on the same side anymore.
Hedge hunting season in Connecticut [Fortune at CnnMoney.com]
Posted by Blumenthal's Ignorance, Oct 04, 2006 1:54PM
"We once called Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal a "little Spitzer" based on his attitude toward hedge funds. He seems to see them as targets—probable perps who should be federally regulated or at least locally prosecuted. More than once he's made statements that suggest he looks at business failure and investing losses as a criminal act."
If Blumenthal truly views investing losses as a criminal act, then it seems extremely clear that he is not the right person to investigate hedge funds. He's clearly not intelligent enough. The futures market is a "zero sum game" market, meaning for every dollar that one person makes, another person loses.
In case that is too confusing for him to comprehend, then he should view the futures market like a baseball game. There's always one winner and one loser. With that said, will he try to prosecute the New York Yankees when they lose the World Series?