Lesson 9: Count on the federal government bailing out the company insuring your credit default swaps. Otherwise, your "investments" will be worthless.

Good tips, but they are definitely not sufficient to make $20 Billion :-)

This is disgusting. Hedgefonds and other similar financial gambling is the root of so much suffering and evil. If you are making money without actually working but by betting on money or even the failure of others you are a pest to society.

But this is what VCs like YCombinator do. They give the money to people who can create value, and get more on average back, thus letting them invest in more people later. And they get rewarded for it.

Isn't this just the same, but more abstract?

It's not so black and white. The world needs investors.

IMO the real problem is with the the Federal Reserve and how it uses taxpayer money to support Wall Street when problems arise. I say let failed companies fail and end the fed.

> by betting on money or even the failure of others you are a pest to society.

Then everyone is a pest. For example, Apple bets that MS will fail to provide a good computer experience for some people.

Important lesson:

Debt markets can do a better job predicting problems than stock markets.