<p>Let's be honest, the i-bankers aren't the only guilty ones. America turned a blind eye to wall street's dealings because we were making money at the time. We ignored the risky actions and the warnings from experts because the economy was good. In a way, we are just as greedy because as long as the system was working at the time, we didn't care to fix it because we were only worried about the now. </p>
<p>When people took loans they couldn't pay for and bankers gave it to them, they were both being greedy. All of America from the ivy leaguers to new home buyers were being greedy.</p>
<p>Well the bailout failed to pass the House so I guess we'll see what the effects are for the banks and the credit system in general, and how it'll effect Main Street</p>
<p>To those knocking Buffet's investment in GS, keep in mind that he bought preferred shares that issue a 10% payout per annum. For his $5 billion put in, Buffet gets about 500 million a year. So unlike many others, he can really afford to be patient with that investment in particular</p>
<p>Haha knocking on Buffet, as far as I'm concerned everybody should be knocking on this dude right now. Invests in GS and GE, and as the economy and the markets tank, he's yelling bailout to protect is his investments from going down under. Then, after he invests in GS and GE, dude is brave enough to write and OP piece in the NY Times telling EVERYBODY to buy stocks. Look how the market is doing now...</p>
<p>Well in the piece he specifically noted that he was referring to investing over a longer time horizon, and that he had no idea how the markets would behave in the short run (even many prolific managers who are doing well have attested the same). And although I know you already know this, I'll go ahead and state the obvious: value investors tend to take contrarian positions months before bear markets subside.</p>