7.5% Above the Current Debt Interest Rate Buys a Lot of Books

April 16th, 2012 - Posted by Big Al

I'm going to tell you something about myself that might surprise you—I like to read. Doesn't matter to me if the book's on an eReader or a bound copy from the library, words are words. Now that I've mentioned this, it should not be a surprise that some of my favorite books are in the sub genre of financial crime!

These include books by Paul Erdman, who I met when he was detained by Swiss authorities over some ill-timed cocoa futures (hey, in the 1960s $40 million was a lot—more than I could come up with). His The Billion Dollar Sure Thing is as fun today as it was in 1973 when it first released. It has to do with the U.S. going off the gold standard and the wee profits that could be made with just a little foreknowledge.

Another I like is the spookily prophetic The Ropespinner Conspiracy by Michael M. Thomas, Written in 1988, it focuses on an economic collapse brought on by collateralized debt obligations.

So I suggest anything by Erdman or Thomas.

One book I'm not recommending is one I grabbed recently, Need You Now by James Grippando. It's about, get this, a fictional former president of the NASDAQ who ran a $60 billion Ponzi scheme right under the noses of the SEC, even though the SEC had been warned about it.

How do people think up this stuff?

The book goes on to suggest, and this is what got my hair up, that the $60 billion never really existed. People have been saying things like that about me for years and years. Every cent I loan is backed by real property and securities. I also utilize a proprietary investment technique, which is a careful blend of calls and puts in S&P 100 companies, all of which is overseen by a well known futures exchange. Let me tell you, it works, and I'll open my books to anyone who has the guts to look...

But I digress. The subject here is I like to read. And I'm hoping you good folks will consider using the comments area below to recommend to me and others fun fiction for the summer reading season. And just to make it a little more interesting, the best suggestion is going to get from me an $100 million, yours to do with as you wish.

See you at the beach!

Big Al is the Capsim lender of last resort. When Capsim companies run out of money, Big Al arrives, with a checkbook and a smile, to write a check that covers the shortfall - at above market interest, of course!