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>you mean like VC's and angels Since when do VCs bet 30:1 on anything? If anything it's 1:1, because they can't borrow more money against their fund. That's th

>you mean like VC's and angels Since when do VCs bet 30:1 on anything? If anything it's 1:1, because they can't borrow more money against their fund. That's the whole point behind venture capital - people put money in where tradtional banks {d,w}on't. I was referring to CDOs and default swaps, you know, the stuff that almost crashed the American economy a couple years back. >I'm really not sure what your criticism of Blackhawk Partners is. Could you elaborate? Sure. He's using pizza shops and construction contractors and other working class small businesses as a cover to justify his job of moving rich people's money from one place to another and calling it productivity. In other words, he takes the example of people who, you know, actually provide a product or service to the bulk of Americans as an emotional crutch to justify his firm's greed by pretending that it's largess for Main Street businesses. And, there's a reason they're called raiders. They don't usually "improve" anything except for their wallet.

ryanwaggoner 16y ago
And, there's a reason they're called raiders. They don't usually "improve" anything except for their wallet. Yes, because populist journalists and working folks who lose their jobs because a poorly-performing company gets shut down and sold off piecemeal are great, unbiased sources of truth in such matters. Sometimes the best thing that can happen to a company is for it to die. If we'd had the balls to let some of our airlines and auto companies and banks die the painful death they deserve, we probably wouldn't have to face the prospect of repeatedly bailing out underperforming companies in those (now heavily-regulated) industries.
- btilly 16y ago
  I don't particularly mind having poorly performing companies which are worth less than their book value be broken up and sold off for a profit. What I have a lot more trouble with is a stable company being bought in a transaction designed to load it with debt for the tax benefit, deliberately run into the ground, and then flipped around for profit. To name a random example, Sealy and Serta used to make good mattresses before they got bought and destroyed by private equity. And a lot of people's local community hospitals used to be decent and are now crap because private equity saw a profit opportunity.
yummyfajitas 16y ago
I assumed that by "30:1", you were referring to odds. Now I take it you are referring to leverage? In any case, why do you believe Blackhawk trades in CDO's and CDS? Near as I can tell, they do mostly private equity, also some commodities. http://blackhawkpartners.com/Portfolio.aspx http://blackhawkpartners.com/Portfolio.aspx And, there's a reason they're called raiders. Yes, the reason is that they are outsiders coming in against the wishes of insiders. Typically their goal is to increase shareholder value at the expense of entrenched interests (e.g., management which cares more about their paycheck than about growing the company).

ryanwaggoner 16y ago

And, there's a reason they're called raiders. They don't usually "improve" anything except for their wallet. Yes, because populist journalists and working folks who lose their jobs because a poorly-performing company gets shut down and sold off piecemeal are great, unbiased sources of truth in such matters. Sometimes the best thing that can happen to a company is for it to die. If we'd had the balls to let some of our airlines and auto companies and banks die the painful death they deserve, we probably wouldn't have to face the prospect of repeatedly bailing out underperforming companies in those (now heavily-regulated) industries.

btilly 16y ago
I don't particularly mind having poorly performing companies which are worth less than their book value be broken up and sold off for a profit. What I have a lot more trouble with is a stable company being bought in a transaction designed to load it with debt for the tax benefit, deliberately run into the ground, and then flipped around for profit. To name a random example, Sealy and Serta used to make good mattresses before they got bought and destroyed by private equity. And a lot of people's local community hospitals used to be decent and are now crap because private equity saw a profit opportunity.

yummyfajitas 16y ago

I assumed that by "30:1", you were referring to odds. Now I take it you are referring to leverage? In any case, why do you believe Blackhawk trades in CDO's and CDS? Near as I can tell, they do mostly private equity, also some commodities. http://blackhawkpartners.com/Portfolio.aspx http://blackhawkpartners.com/Portfolio.aspx And, there's a reason they're called raiders. Yes, the reason is that they are outsiders coming in against the wishes of insiders. Typically their goal is to increase shareholder value at the expense of entrenched interests (e.g., management which cares more about their paycheck than about growing the company).