You know those scarab beetles, last seen as gawddawful CGI in The Mummy franchise? Well, Thraxxus has one firmly planted in his arse. This post is for him. In the August 18th issue of Fortune, the cover article is about bank analyst Meredith Whitney. OK, so I’m a little late with my magazines – they are practically stacked up. My feet have been killing me, and you can only read so much on the can. Not only is Whitney the “the woman who called Wall Street’s meltdown”, but very pretty to boot. Why do I bring this up? Because the article infers that her looks and personal life were reasons why she wasn’t taken seriously. She’s married to a pro wrestler who also moonlights as a stock pundit on Fox News. Keep in mind, this was before Sarah Palin rode hotness, moose hunting, and book-banning to stardom. Back in the day, being beautiful and smart yet disregarded was called The Lara Logan Principle. Another reason she was unpopular: Whitney has a reputation as a hardcore bear, which often pissed off the financial companies she covered. God forbid she does her job and downgrade a stock – what a bitch!

The article goes on to mention six other industry experts who saw the crap hitting the fan – apparently the greed gremlin didn’t have everyone by the throat.

• Sean Egan bitched about subprime-backed bonds from day one.
• Nouriel Roubini called shenanigans on exaggerated home prices, and knew they would sink the economy.
• David Einhorn shorted Lehman stock earlier this year, which makes him smart AND a prick. I’ve read several sources on short-selling and I just don’t get it. It’s not that I don’t understand the process, I don’t understand how you can sell something you don’t technically own. Nevertheless, Einhorn also thought credit-rating agencies weren’t doing their job and monitoring leverage ratios at banks.
• Robert Rodriguez of MFA actually started pulling out of mutual funds way back in 2004 when he thought mortgage lending standards were going down the shitter. Four years ago!
• When Richard Baker was a congressman, he wrote legislation to keep Fannie and Freddie under control. After that bombed, he left to lead a hedge fund lobbying group. Apparently, the little devil on his shoulder won.
• William Poole was also skeptical of Freddie and Fannie – this was way back in 2002.