Number 1.
“Freddie Mac and Freddie Mae are fundamentally sound……I think they are in good shape going forward.”
-Barney Frank, House Financial Services Committee Chairman, July 14, 2008. Two months latter, the govt forced the mortgage giants into conservatorships.
Number 2
“AIG could have huge gains in the second quarter”
-Bijan Moazami, analyst, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, May 9, 2008
Number 3
“Existing-Home Sales to trend up in 2008”
-Headlines of a National Association of Realtors press release, December 9, 2007
Number 4
“I expect there will be some failures…..I don’t anticipate any serious problems of that sort among large internationally active banks”
-Ben Bernanke Federal Reserve Chairman. Feb 28, 2008
Number 5 my favorite
“In today’s regulatory environment, it’s virtually impossible to violate rules.”
– Bernard Madoff, money manager, who was arrested for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme of about $50 billion
