For ordinary investors, the housing bubble was a tricky thing to play. There were two public companies that had CDS portfolios where they stood to make a lot o

For ordinary investors, the housing bubble was a tricky thing to play. There were two public companies that had CDS portfolios where they stood to make a lot of money. A direct equity investment or LEAPS would have worked well there. I took this approach. Alternatively, it seems like out the money puts on financial institutions would have done really well. Michael Lewis chronicles a few guys from Cornwall Capital that made something like 100:1 payouts on out the money puts for Bear Stearns. These guys crushed it when Bear went BK. This cheap insurance approach is used by a few really well known investors and it is the one I'm gravitating towards for the future.