JP Morgan Chase lost 2 Billion ???

You might have heard that JPMorgan recently announced a $2 Billion loss in one of it's Hedge Funds.  This is being talked about quite a bit since some people fear it's a sign of another oncoming 2008 financial collapse and suggesting more regulation is needed while others are saying this is not 2008.  I've heard people say that this is the reason we need a beefy "Volcker Rule" despite the fact that the full Volcker Rule would not have prevented this type of loss.  Also being over looked is that the Dodd-Frank regulation didn't seem to have any effect on this at all which tells me that the Financial Regulation that the Obama Administration told us was much needed, doesn't really work.  Of course I and many others already knew this but I wanted to point it out.

JPMorgan Chase is engaging in investment banking.  Investment involves risks.  On the radio this morning I heard someone say that "something needs to be done about all these risky investments".  This makes me really worry about what people like this think investments are all about.  There is no such thing as "risk free" investment.  If you invest your money, you are supposed to understand this means you may loose your money.  Sure there are varying degrees or risk, but nothing is completely safe, not even burying your money in the back 40 or keeping it in a bank account.  (FDIC insurance is only as good as the government guarantee backing it.  So if you bank goes bust because your government goes bust, who do you think is going to give you back your $200K???)    Gold/Silver, solid gold "actually in your hand", gold and silver may be one of the safest investments, but there is no guarantee of it's value.  There is no, NO, NONE, Not a single investment that is 100% safe.  If you get involved in a hedge fund and don't understand what is going on, you have no one to blame but yourself.

That all being said, I think it's also important to note that JPMorgan is still going to make Billions this year, so a $2 Billion loss doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but I'm not prepared to say that it's not a sign of what's to come.  I personally believe we have yet to see the real crash, and when we do, 2008 will look like peaches and cream. 

(Ahhh, the good old days when the FED could just print more money and make everything well again)  

:-( 

Cheers,

Mike