Re:$1B betting the United States will lose its AAA credit ra...
by patio11 on Thursday July 28, 2011 @07:24AM
(#2816229)
That was my first thought. Totally amateurish, but hey, why not.
$1 billion bet that the US blows up. $20 billion bet that $1 billion bet that the US blows up itself blows up, well, anything really. Pick five thousand things if necessary which go up, or down, or sideways if market sentiment shifts from "The US cannot possibly default" to "The US will almost certainly not default."
A few weeks later you sell your "US blows up" tickets for 80% of what you paid for them - or 8% of what you paid for them - and drown your sorrows at calling the implosion of the US incorrectly while counting your speculative gains on your own private island.
I think the word for this is "speculative attack."
$1 billion bet that the US blows up. $20 billion bet that $1 billion bet that the US blows up itself blows up, well, anything really. Pick five thousand things if necessary which go up, or down, or sideways if market sentiment shifts from "The US cannot possibly default" to "The US will almost certainly not default."
A few weeks later you sell your "US blows up" tickets for 80% of what you paid for them - or 8% of what you paid for them - and drown your sorrows at calling the implosion of the US incorrectly while counting your speculative gains on your own private island.
I think the word for this is "speculative attack."