DIZZY ON THE LEHMAN MERRY-GO-ROUND

Here's the deal, if you can follow it. I confess, I have difficulty. Lehman, the investment company that later went belly, up buys into a little company called Hudson Castle which then creates Fenway (sort of a legal shell company). Fenway lends to Lehman subsidiary so that Lehman can buy $3 billion of Fenway notes. No! Wait! It's like this. Fenway loans to Lehman. Lehman buys $3 Billion in Fenway notes. Fenway loans to Lehman subsidiary. The loans are secured by California developer. Lehman pledges Fenway notes to J.P.Morgan to secure loans from them. Folks, it's all in a days work. Does anybody think this is an isolated instance? Or that Lehman is the only outfit to use these "shadow" companies and deals? Actually this seems to be fairly common. Banks or Investment companies who want to hides assets or, more likely, bad investments. Anything that might make their bottom line look, ahhh, ummm, uhhh, what's the right word here, oh, yeh, BAD, can be hidden by using these kinds of gimmicks. Now, I'm pretty sure that if I did anything like this, or even you, and we got caught, it's off to the gallows, or at least the hoose gough (is that the right spelling for the clink?). There would be no last minute reprieve. But do you think the folks at Lehman, or even some of the folks at this Hudson Castle will suffer the penalty or languish away the time in the lockup? They will be forced to accept millions in bonuses. And let that be a lesson to them. From now on little children will be frightened by bedtime stories of Lehman execs being forced to live on the Riviera, or Cancun, sipping mint juleps while getting full body massages. Oh, yes, it's true, crime doesn't pay. At least it doesn't pay for you and me.