Innocence Lost.Who's an investor to blame when he blows a bundle betting on a loser? YOU rarely hear anyone explain how or why they did what they did with their money from early 1996 until early 2000. Me, I hung around for three and a half years and watched a lot of other people, all of whom were clearly inferior to me, get rich in the stock market while I stared mutely mute adj. mut·er, mut·est 1. Refraining from producing speech or vocal sound. 2. a. Often Offensive Unable to speak. b. Unable to vocalize, as certain animals. 3. at my relatively inert inert /in·ert/ (in-ert´) inactive. in·ert adj. 1. Sluggish in action or motion; lethargic. 2. shares in American Home For the American mortgage lender, see . The American Home is a center of intercultural exchange located in Vladimir, Russia. The home is designed to model a typical American suburban home and its main focus is the ESL school that provides lessons for Russian students. Products. No matter how I poked and prodded my Old Economy portfolio, it refused to act young. My shares were like a kennel full of flatulent flatulent characterized by flatulence; distended with gas. old dogs waiting for their stomach pains to pass. By late 1999 I had had enough of the quiet life. I longed for action -- and soon got it. In a single afternoon of passion I hurled a chunk of my retirement account into a company called Exodus Communications Exodus Communications was a high-flying internet hosting and service provider to dot-com businesses that went broke along with their customers. Exodus inception Exodus was founded in 1992 as Fouress, Inc., and reincorporated in 1994 to Exodus Communications. Inc. I paid $160 a share. As it happened, I'd just come from a Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER TYO: 8675 ), through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides capital markets services, investment banking and advisory services, wealth management, asset management, insurance, banking and related products and services on a global basis. conference, where I had listened to Henry Blodget Henry Blodget (born 1966) is a former securities analyst who was senior Internet analyst for Merrill Lynch during the dot-com bubble. Blodget received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and began his career as a freelance journalist and was a proofreader for speak about the future of the Internet. Henry Blodget and Merrill Lynch were bullish on America, more bullish on the Internet, and more bullish still on Exodus. At that very moment, Merrill was proving how deeply bullish it felt by purchasing millions of shares in Exodus. For the benefit of the 500 or so Merrill Lynch brokers in the audience, the firm's bosses rose to explain what exactly Exodus did. Spare me the details I didn't much care what Exodus did -- it created maximum-security prisons for the computers that hosted Web sites -- because I didn't think it mattered. I assumed that the army of stockbrokers seated around me would go out and whip up a frenzy of interest in Exodus, thus sending my shares higher. I would reap massive short-term capital gains Short-term capital gain A profit on the sale of a security or mutual fund share that has been held for one year or less. A short-term capital gain is taxed as ordinary income. . As the gains would occur in my retirement account, they would be exempt from tax. When I arrived at the Merrill Lynch conference, I already had a sneaking suspicion that I was about to become rich. By the time I left I was certain. Of course, it didn't work out that way. Exodus ran up from $160 to $170 or maybe a bit higher, then split two for one, the New Economy's come-hither look. Whereupon where·up·on conj. 1. On which. 2. In close consequence of which: The instructor entered the room, whereupon we got to our feet. it crashed. Last I checked, it was trading at $2.03. My only consolation is that I own twice as many of the shares as I bought. My first reaction to this series of events was to feel very, very stupid. I was deeply embarrassed to be me. I had no one to blame for my sudden misfortune but my greedy little self. For the better part of four years I had sat back and laughed at the total idiots who bought shares in companies with no profits, and no clear idea of when they would have profits, or how many profits they would have. Now I was one of them. No, I was worse. Most of those fools had made money on their stupid investments. But in the past few months I've begun to feel noticeably better. All around me, important people -- Richard Walker Richard Walker may refer to:
A trusting guy After all, Exodus was not my idea. Pd never heard of the company until it was brought to my attention by Merrill Lynch. I hadn't been greedy: I was duped! The man who stumbled into the Merrill Lynch conference at the end of 1999 hadn't been a lazy, calculating jerk looking to make a quick killing from other people's folly. He'd been a simple, trusting man. A straightforward no-nonsense guy, who had been decent enough to take the words spoken by Henry Blodget and Merrill Lynch at face value. Deeply honest himself, he presumed honesty in others. Put that way, it may well bring tears to your eyes. It does to mine. All I now ask is that the people who abused my trust be punished to the full extent of the law. If the law fails to extend itself, change the law. For if these stuck market manipulators go free, or enjoy even one more moment of happiness in their future lives, I will never again be able to enter the stock market in the spirit of innocence for which I am justly known. Michael Lewis Michael Lewis or Mick Lewis may refer to:
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