BBC Interview with Trader; confesses his dream is recession

[Phantasee]

I saw this last night:

BBC Speechless As Trader Tells Truth: "The Collapse Is Coming...And Goldman Rules The World"

In an interview on BBC News this morning that left the hosts gob-smacked (google it... it is the BBC after all), Alessio Rastani outlines in a mere three-and-a-half-minutes what we all know and most ignore. While the whole interview is worth watching, the money shot for us was "This economic crisis is like a cancer, if you just wait and wait hoping it is going to go away, just like a cancer it is going to grow and it will be too late!". While he dreams of recessions, sees Goldman ruling the world, and urges people to prepare, it is hard to disagree with much (or actually anything) of what he says and obviously interventions and machinations means we will have days like this (in Silver for instance), there is only one endgame here and we hope there is less hopeful euphoria (and more preparedness) as we pull back the curtain further and further.

While we do not know who this trader is, one thing we can be 100% certain of is that he will never appear on CNBC.

[Phantasee]

From the BBC:
'Anyone can make money from a crash', says market trader

26 September 2011 Last updated at 07:16 ET Help Ministers from the world's richest nations are reportedly on the way to agreeing a deal for troubled eurozone countries.

Following the IMF meeting in Washington, the BBC understands that three elements have been discussed.

They include a so-called "haircut" of Greece's sovereign debt, meaning institutions holding Greek debt would have to write off half of what they were owed.

The plan also envisages an increase in the size of the European Union bailout fund to two trillion euros.

European governments hope to have the plan in place in five to six weeks.

But one independent market trader - Alessio Rastani - told the BBC the plan "won't work" and that people should be trying to make money from a market crash.

Same video, but cuts early and misses anchor's reaction.

[K. A. Pital]

Haircut of half of the debt is effectively an admission of default. Excellent plan.

I must say that the trader's action is quite understandable. I'm not sure why the anchors were so surprised. Perhaps they wanted more feelgood crap about how everyone's going to save capitalism and live happily ever after and got a dose of cynical "fuck that, make money!", but seriously, people should be prepared that anyone called for an interview may not speak what is necessary for today's propaganda.

I collected quite a few lulz laughs looking at that spectacle.

[PainRack]

So... how does one protect one assets?

Rely on government bailout of banks?

Stuff money under your mattresses?


I know I'm effectively thrown away the thousand dollars I have so far in mutual funds but seriously, in the scenario that's coming up, what I'm hearing is that both government bonds and banks aren't going to be safe.

[Setzer]

When he mentions savings will vanish, what does that mean? Inflation making them worthless? State seizure of private assets?

[J]

So... how does one protect one assets?

Invest in lead and lead delivery systems.

When he mentions savings will vanish, what does that mean? Inflation making them worthless? State seizure of private assets?

A lot of people have a large portion of their savings in mutual funds, retirement savings plans or some other fund which is linked to the markets. When the markets collapse, those "savings" will be destroyed. It happened in 2008, it shall happen again.

[LaCroix]

And that is why my family motto is:

"Stock and money may vanish, but land stays land."

[cosmicalstorm]

I'm an average full time employed single male in Scandinavia with a few thousand dollars in the bank. Whats a good plan for the next ten years or so if there is a full crash of Italy, Greece, Spain and Ireland?

[Rabid]

I'm an average full time employed single male in Scandinavia with a few thousand dollars in the bank. Whats a good plan for the next ten years or so if there is a full crash of Italy, Greece, Spain and Ireland?

Invest in lead and lead delivery systems.

Honestly, though, if your money is invested is euro-bonds that aren't Greeks, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese, there's no need to further secure your investment. Why ? Because if the Euro were to crash, which is what would cause you to lose money, you would have far worse problems than losing your savings anyway. Like losing your job, becoming homeless, seeing radical political ideology gain power in your country... That kinda things.

So really, no need to worry that much. It isn't healthy and it gives you cancer.

Alternatively, you can send me your money, and I ensure you you'll lose not a single Cent from your savings. Satisfaction guaranteed.

[Zaune]

I'm an average full time employed single male in Scandinavia with a few thousand dollars in the bank. Whats a good plan for the next ten years or so if there is a full crash of Italy, Greece, Spain and Ireland?

If you're really worried about your bank going splat, take about half the money out as cash and buy yourself a top of the range fire- and waterproof safe to keep it in. Divide whatever you put away as savings equally between the bank account and the safe, so that either potential disaster scenario -a banking collapse or a particularly determined burglar- only costs you about half your savings.
This stickied thread from Off-Topic has much more useful advice.

[UnderAGreySky]

Hang on folks, there may just be more than meets the eye:

Trader's Goldman Sachs comments spark BBC hoax claims

He caused outrage with his comments on the global economic meltdown claiming "governments don't rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world".

But is independent stock market trader Alessio Rastani, interviewed on the BBC News channel on Monday, all he appears to be?

Twitter was alive with suggestions that Rastani was in fact one of the "Yes Men", a band of "identity correction" artists who pass themselves off as the corporations you love to hate.

When asked by the Guardian, via email, to respond to the allegation that he a member of the prank group, Rastani chose his words carefully. But the BBC's own investigation has concluded that Rastani is authentic.

Rastani has a website, leadingtrader.com. The contact page, however, did not load, repeating an error message that it "could not establish a database connection".

The Yes Men featured in a 2003 documentary The Yes Men Fix The World, the subject of this interview with one of their number, Andy Bichlbaum.

A BBC spokesman said: "We've carried out detailed investigations and can't find any evidence to suggest that the interview with Alessio Rastani was a hoax. He is an independent market trader and one of a range of voices we've had on air to talk about the recession."

First time I've ever heard of "The Yes Men". There's more at the link itself, including further links.

[Stark]

Whatever you do, don't listen to people like J who will directly profit from you making the wrong decisions, or the right decisions too slowly. The 'dumb money' people like her talk about? It's you. You're the ones that fuel her lifestyle (and promotion path).

Either get professional advice from someone who might stand to profit from your success or learn about finance yourself. Listening to J is basically wagering that her need to feel smart on the internet is stronger than her need to filch money from stupid people. Many of the concepts discussed with these issues aren't very complex, but these days if you DO have a lot of money tied up in super funds or whatever you really do need to know what they're doing with the money and what (if anything) you're likely to actually get out of them in the future.

[D.Turtle]

Huh, just read about an interesting study that just came out, that fits this topic:

Share Traders More Reckless Than Psychopaths, Study Shows


What makes individual stockbrokers blow billions in financial markets with criminal trading schemes? According to a new study conducted at a Swiss university, it may be because share traders behave more recklessly and are more manipulative than psychopaths.

Two weeks ago, yet another case of rogue trading shocked the financial world when UBS trader Kweku Adoboli was arrested for allegedly squandering some $2.3 billion with a risky and unauthorized investment scheme. The 31-year-old, who had been based in London for the Swiss bank, remains in jail. The bank's chief executive Oswald Grübel, meanwhile, has resigned over the scandal -- the third major embarrassment to rattle the institution in just a few years.

The situation mirrors a similar scandal at French bank Société Générale, where another young "rogue trader," Jérôme Kerviel, gambled away billions in 2010. He is still serving a three-year jail sentence. But why do these situations keep arising in the financial world?

According to a new study at the University of St. Gallen seen by SPIEGEL, one contributing factor may be that stockbrokers' behavior is more reckless and manipulative than that of psychopaths. Researchers at the Swiss research university measured the readiness to cooperate and the egotism of 28 professional traders who took part in computer simulations and intelligence tests. The results, compared with the behavior of psychopaths, exceeded the expectations of the study's co-authors, forensic expert Pascal Scherrer, and Thomas Noll, a lead administrator at the Pöschwies prison north of Zürich.

Appetite for Destruction

"Naturally one can't characterize the traders as deranged," Noll told SPIEGEL. "But for example, they behaved more egotistically and were more willing to take risks than a group of psychopaths who took the same test."

Particularly shocking for Noll was the fact that the bankers weren't aiming for higher winnings than their comparison group. Instead they were more interested in achieving a competitive advantage. Instead of taking a sober and businesslike approach to reaching the highest profit, "it was most important to the traders to get more than their opponents," Noll explained. "And they spent a lot of energy trying to damage their opponents."

Using a metaphor to describe the behavior, Noll said the stockbrokers behaved as though their neighbor had the same car, "and they took after it with a baseball bat so they could look better themselves."

The researchers were unable to explain this penchant for destruction, they said.

--SPIEGEL Staff

[J]

I must say that the trader's action is quite understandable. I'm not sure why the anchors were so surprised. Perhaps they wanted more feelgood crap about how everyone's going to save capitalism and live happily ever after and got a dose of cynical "fuck that, make money!", but seriously, people should be prepared that anyone called for an interview may not speak what is necessary for today's propaganda.

I collected quite a few lulz laughs looking at that spectacle.

One would think the BBC staff would be used to this by now considering how many times they've had Hugh Hendry on their programs.
For instance the classic "I would recommend you panic", plenty of lulz ensued as Jeffrey Sachs gets owned by Hugh Hendry and Gillian Tett.

[Dave]

I'm an average full time employed single male in Scandinavia with a few thousand dollars in the bank. Whats a good plan for the next ten years or so if there is a full crash of Italy, Greece, Spain and Ireland?

I'm in the same position, only in America. What's a semi-business-savvy person supposed to do to best protect and or grow his modest wealth? Is there no stable ground on which to park some assets for the forseeable future?

I say this as someone who was arguably burned in the doom-and-gloom surrounding this board leading up to the 2008 crash. As a result of arguments made by the Duchess and Admiral Valdemar I briefly pursued a Chemical Engineering degree for the first year of college in an attempt to round-out my skillset. I rapidly found that High School chemistry and math and College chemistry and math are very different things, and switched to a non-engineering field like Information Science. Now, I still got out in 4 years, I value all the time I spent in Engineering, and everything worked out in the end, but had that not happened I could theoretically have made it out in three to three and a half years.

I feel I can safely say that, given that 2008 crash did not result in the kind of situation that requires the use of firearms, that J is full of shit in that respect. (And in any case I do not wish to own one anyway.) However, since I'm starting to invest in a retirement plan, some of my money is now in the control of some anonymous trader in Fidelity. To whom am I to turn for advice?

In my opinion, I suppose the best option is to diversify as much as possible, both from a industry perspective AND a liquidity perspective. (i.e. ranging from money readily accessible in the stuffed-under-the-mattress sense to locked in long-term bonds and CDs and places in-between.)

[mr friendly guy]

The name of the trader Alessio Rastani is an anagram of ass realisation. Could be purely coincidental.

On another note here are pictures of the yes men from their website. Its possible they could have recruited another one.

http://theyesmenfixtheworld.com/story.htm

EDIT - apparently his name also is an anagram for No Alias Satires

[The Kernel]

I feel I can safely say that, given that 2008 crash did not result in the kind of situation that requires the use of firearms, that J is full of shit in that respect. (And in any case I do not wish to own one anyway.) However, since I'm starting to invest in a retirement plan, some of my money is now in the control of some anonymous trader in Fidelity. To whom am I to turn for advice?

In my opinion, I suppose the best option is to diversify as much as possible, both from a industry perspective AND a liquidity perspective. (i.e. ranging from money readily accessible in the stuffed-under-the-mattress sense to locked in long-term bonds and CDs and places in-between.)

Just get a decent Index fund with a low expense ratio (the Fidelity Spartan will work fine) and keep yourself largely in equities until five years before you retire. Make regular deposits, ignore the market fluctuations and don't take advice from anyone and you will do fine.

Just stay the hell away from actively managed funds and don't try to guess the market.

[Stark]

Aside from the touting, that's alarmingly non-alarmist advice. Are you aware, sir, that you are on the internet?

[The Kernel]

Aside from the touting, that's alarmingly non-alarmist advice. Are you aware, sir, that you are on the internet?

Economic recessions come and go. Everyone is convinced that the next one will be the ultimate calamity that will lead to forty years of darkness, blah blah blah. The best thing anyone can do is take advatange of the excellent tax benefits of retirement (either traditional or ROTH) and not try and get an ulcer over it.

And I'm not touting the Spartan, I just happen to know if the poster has a Fidelity 401k that he might get the investor class expense ratio without a massive upfront investment. It really doesn't matter though, all index funds with low expense ratios are essentially the same.

[Block]

I'm an average full time employed single male in Scandinavia with a few thousand dollars in the bank. Whats a good plan for the next ten years or so if there is a full crash of Italy, Greece, Spain and Ireland?

I'm in the same position, only in America. What's a semi-business-savvy person supposed to do to best protect and or grow his modest wealth? Is there no stable ground on which to park some assets for the forseeable future?

I say this as someone who was arguably burned in the doom-and-gloom surrounding this board leading up to the 2008 crash. As a result of arguments made by the Duchess and Admiral Valdemar I briefly pursued a Chemical Engineering degree for the first year of college in an attempt to round-out my skillset. I rapidly found that High School chemistry and math and College chemistry and math are very different things, and switched to a non-engineering field like Information Science. Now, I still got out in 4 years, I value all the time I spent in Engineering, and everything worked out in the end, but had that not happened I could theoretically have made it out in three to three and a half years.

I feel I can safely say that, given that 2008 crash did not result in the kind of situation that requires the use of firearms, that J is full of shit in that respect. (And in any case I do not wish to own one anyway.) However, since I'm starting to invest in a retirement plan, some of my money is now in the control of some anonymous trader in Fidelity. To whom am I to turn for advice?

In my opinion, I suppose the best option is to diversify as much as possible, both from a industry perspective AND a liquidity perspective. (i.e. ranging from money readily accessible in the stuffed-under-the-mattress sense to locked in long-term bonds and CDs and places in-between.)

Do some research. Real research. Figure out what has been historically stable and the least effected by the current problems and put the money in that, and then just leave it. Don't expect massive returns, as long as its doing better than inflation you're fine for now. Part of the reason people saw massive losses in retirement funds is because they opted to put their assets in things that can potentially gain a lot, but ignored the risks that come along with that.

[SpaceMarine93]

Is the situation that hopeless? Or is it that the Trader is simply off his medicine?

[K. A. Pital]

It would be awesome if this was one of the Yes Men. One of the few Western anti-capitalist groups whose stunts are awesome to behold.

[LaCroix]

It might be a Yes Men, but their style is usually much more over the top. He would have told people to do like J supposed. "Guns&tin cans".

The guy on BBC actually made some good points and gave sound advice, and only mentioned Goldman-Sachs once, as an example. He did not bash them all the time, nor any other financial institute, as the Yes Men would do in such a situation.

[Xisiqomelir]

I'm an average full time employed single male in Scandinavia with a few thousand dollars in the bank. Whats a good plan for the next ten years or so if there is a full crash of Italy, Greece, Spain and Ireland?

You have provided a premise, so follow it through. If the the PIGS governments "crash", they probably won't honour their debt payments (Greece almost definitely will not). This sends their bonds into the tank, which devastates big holders of those securities (read: French and German banks), but more importantly is a credit event for a notional of CDS value that is probably orders of magnitude higher than the underlying bonds. Short (or buy puts, or synthesize a put, or buy your own CDS or any of the myriad ways to make money off the decline of securities) the CDS sellers and you should be ok. Assuming you believe your own thesis, of course.

[bobalot]

Whatever you do, don't listen to people like J who will directly profit from you making the wrong decisions, or the right decisions too slowly. The 'dumb money' people like her talk about? It's you. You're the ones that fuel her lifestyle (and promotion path).

Either get professional advice from someone who might stand to profit from your success or learn about finance yourself. Listening to J is basically wagering that her need to feel smart on the internet is stronger than her need to filch money from stupid people. Many of the concepts discussed with these issues aren't very complex, but these days if you DO have a lot of money tied up in super funds or whatever you really do need to know what they're doing with the money and what (if anything) you're likely to actually get out of them in the future.

I second this. There are people I work with who are making big decisions with their savings on the advice of some random unqualified douche. Educate yourself on the basics from reliable sources (i.e. not some random person from an Internet forum) and then get some professional advice.