Jon Stewart guest explains how Bear Stearns collapsed

[Thorin]

I usually just watch Jon Stewart and then leave it be, rather than linking a whole bunch of his clips.  However, in this particular clip Jon Stewart has a guest named William Cohen who wrote a book called House of Cards, in which he explains what caused Bear Stearns to completely collapse.

http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/full-episodes/april-9-2009/#clip159894

What I didn't know is that Bear Stearns, as an investment bank, borrowed overnight funds from people who also happened to be hedge fund managers.  These hedge fund managers at some point stopped lending overnight money to Bear Stearns (pretty much sealing it's fate) and then turned around and made a killing selling short Bear Stearns stock ("selling short" means they borrow the stock from someone, sell it, buy it back at a lower price, and give it back to who they borrowed it from - they make their money by buying it cheaper than they sell it).

[Mr. Analog]

That paragraph hurt my head...

[Thorin]

That paragraph hurt my head...

Well, that's why I linked the video...  The guy explains it better than I do.

[Lazybones]

I get an episode of corner gas when I follow the link.

[Thorin]

Well dammit!  It worked when I posted it!  And it was the "permalink"!

[Tonnica]

Well dammit!  It worked when I posted it!  And it was the "permalink"!

There's no such beast if CN changes around the location of their stuff on you

Man this reminds me of the "you have to be on the roster to be in the union / you have to be in the union to be on the roster" bit from Wizard of Speed and Time. It's just as circular, and in this case it came crashing down like a dog that's been chasing it's tail too long.

[Thorin]

Okay, now that same link works again.