'and another one of those drinks with the little umbrellas, while you're at it' http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090302/ap_on_bi_ge/aig_rescue I believe that's 180 billion now, just for AIG
Are there any 'AIG Open' professional gold or tennis events this year? What a fubar company if there ever was one; an insurance company playing in the derivatives market. Nice.
most people just dont get that an insurance company has NO BUSINESS in unhedged speculation whatsoever their charter is to actuarially ballance risk, with a margin for safety not a margin account for speculation
They weren't speculating. They provided risk management via CDS. They were the insurance. What they had no business doing was providing insurance against obvious mass defaults. But since everyone just cares about lining their pockets, why bother actually running the company like it should be run. The execs & others got paid, and stuck the shareholders and the taxpayers with the bill.