What an insensitve, cruel thing to say.

Really. What TPS said.

I've just finished Joan Wickersham's The Suicide Index, which is startlingly clear in its assessment of living past someone's (in her case, her father's) suicide. I keep copying out long passages to share with Guy.

That looks interesting, I'll put it on my list.

Who just wrote a rant a couple of weeks ago saying that American businessmen should act like Japanese businessmen and commit seppuku when they fail on an epic scale such as this. I'm not arguing morality or anything, just struck me that it's finally happened.

The Romans used to do the same. Lots of taking baths and opening up veins...

Who just wrote a rant a couple of weeks ago saying that American businessmen should act like Japanese businessmen and commit seppuku when they fail on an epic scale such as this.

That was esteemed Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA). (He didn't write it, he said it at a press conference.)

And seriously LT, my brother, the "karma's a bitch" thing is callous and wrong. This guy only stepped into the role of CFO in September, after the feds took Freddie and Fannie. All the bad shit that happened happened before he took the helm. He's paying for others' mistakes (with his life).

That's not karma. That's tragedy.

And yes, yes, there are millions of little tragedies occurring every day that don't make the news. But this? This isn't something we should feel smug about. This doesn't make anything better.

I wouldn't generally stick up for anybody that perpetrated this mess we're in. But it looks like this person wasn't even in the decisionmakers' seat when the collapse went down:

worked for Freddie Mac for the past 16 years and was named acting chief financial officer last September when the government seized control of the company and ousted top executives. Freddie Mac lost more than $50 billion last year, and the government has pumped in $45 billion to keep the company afloat.

...he might've just got stuck holding the bag, and it was too much to deal with. Don't know.

Cruel. I don't presume to know the man's motives today. Right now I feel for his family and co-workers.

We recently hired a former Freddie portfolio manager to manage the mortgage portfolio we own. He managed Freddie's secondary MBS portfolio--meaning he bought bonds from other investors rather than working on the team that bought individual mortgages to package into bonds. Also, he was one of David Kellerman's good friends and knew him for the 16 or so years that David worked at Freddie.

In a financial firm like Freddie Mac, where the primary business is management of financial assets, the investment decisions are made by portfolio managers. The CFO heads up the reporting, financial planning and funding side of the operations. In other words, he was the boss of Freddie's internal accountants and NOT an investor in or originator of mortgages.

Both Freddie and Fannie were black boxes from an accounting perspective. These companies, driven by implicit government mandate, were behemoths who originated and purchased, in unparalleled volume, some of those most complicated financial instruments around. To be an accountant there must be like being a Navy SEAL. And even with practically unlimited resources, the financial statements could not be compiled or analyzed correctly. Fannie (Freddie's sister company) spent something like $3B a couple years ago in outside accounting fees to try and audited its books. And they STILL couldn't do it.

In short, I can't think of a more difficult or thankless job than being CFO of Freddie. You get none of the glory of being a mortgage trader, but all the burden of making sense of that huge financial mess. And on top of that, the public is blaming you for everything. This guy took over the job in SEPTEMBER 2008. It's almost heroic that he would step into that position (one with limited compensation potential) when just about EVERY senior person at Freddie/Fannie is running for the doors.

This is a shameful post, LT.

My dad killed himself when I was 6. I understand depression and despair quite intimately, but I continue to not look favorably on killing yourself when you have non-adult children.

(I think that came out more harsh than I intended, when really it's grief that drives my thinking and why I hate that it happens.)

Oi, what a mess. I hate to think that a job can do that to a person. A JOB. Man. I guess I wonder what else was going on in his life? It's really always kinda sad when someone chooses that path. My dad did, when I was thirteen, so perhaps my feelings are a little coloured by that.

Longer story on the nytimes, here. Apparently not over money, as he'd been approved for $800K in bonuses. Wife and kid. Hard to imagine what his motivation was.

Wow - karma's a bitch FOR ME. You're right, guys, this was a petty, rash act on my part. You're definitely right to call me on it. Trigger finger itchy.

Thanks for the re-alignment, folks. Here I am posting in one thread about doing for others being the best way to get over yourself, and then IN THE SAME DAY I get stupid and post this.

Mods - feel free to delete if you like. Lesson learned.

Glad you guys are around to keep my baser nature at bay.
Seriously - I appreciate it.

This is a valuable thread of a sort I think many of us have left in our wake. Voice In Skull calls them "Voyages of Discovery," but I can't bring myself to use such a cliche. If I were you I'd feel pretty good about this thread, LT; it stands as a great teaching tool. The object is the lesson. Everybody's wiser in the end.

As always, great analysis, mulacc; you're a goldmine of information, financial and otherwise, and a top gent. Plus you're living large in Dodge City -- have you been to Roy's Place in Gaithersburg?

LT, your last comment is why we love and respect you.