Fooling Some Of The People All Of The Time: A Long Short Story

A revealing look at Wall Street, the financial media, and financial regulators by David Einhorn, the President of Greenlight Capital. Could 2008's credit crisis have been minimized or even avoided? In 2002, David Einhorn — one of the country's top investors — was asked at a charity investment conference to share his best investment advice. Short sell Allied Capital. At the time, Allied was a leader in private financing. Einhorn claimed Allied was using questionable accounting practices to prop itself up. Sound familiar? The story is complete now, and we know Einhorn was right. In 2008, Einhorn advised short selling Lehman Brothers. Had the market been more receptive to his warnings, the meltdown might have been avoided or minimized. Details the battle between Allied Capital and Einhorn's Greenlight Capital. Illuminates how questionable practices are maintained and sometimes protected by Wall Street. Describes the failings of investment banks, analysts, journalists, and regulators. Replays the Allied Capital story in the debate over Lehman Brothers. "Fooling Some of the People All of the Time" underscores the need for effective regulation, free speech, and fairness.