What Billionaires Say About The Wall Street Crisis

[Breeze54]

What Billionaires Say About The Wall Street Crisis

http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/09/17/billionaires-economy-biz-billies-lists-400list08-cx_af_0917billievoices.html

Andrew Farrell, 09.17.08, 6:00 PM ET

How will John Catsimatidis--supermarket billionaire, New York mayoral hopeful and the 215th wealthiest person in America--know when the crisis on Wall Street is over?

"The situation is going to get better when you feel good about buying Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ) stock," he says. "Right now, nobody feels good about buying it."

With all the turmoil on Wall Street these days, it's easy to get spooked.
Miles of newsprint, endless talking heads, pandering candidates and economists quoted up the wazoo--all with opinions, most of them differing.

One group you haven't heard a lot from, though, are America's richest people--some of the savviest entrepreneurs and financiers on the planet. To get some insight into one of the most unpredictable periods in the history of Wall Street, we asked a handful of these billionaires to tell us about the economic indicators they're watching and what they think will happen next.

http://www.forbes.com/2008/09/17/billionaires-economy-biz-billies-400list08-cx_af_0917billievoices_slide_2.html?thisspeed=30000">In Pictures: What Billionaires Say About The Wall Street Crisis

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Wyly, a billionaire who is not on The Forbes 400, advises to invest in areas you know are "rock solid." The author of 1,000 Dollars and An Idea likes companies like energy giant BP (nyse: BP - news - people ). He points to its investments in renewable energy, low price-earning multiple and management team.

As they say, buy when there's blood on the streets.

More.....

[gateley]

1. "As they say, buy when there's blood on the streets."

Lovely.

[phantom power]

2. It's easy for a billionaire to play this game...

it's rather harder when you don't have a billion or so laying around.

[AlCzervik]

3. hmm, i was in Houston in July and i didn't see this---

Billionaire entrepreneur George Lindemann, the 262nd wealthiest person in America with a fortune of $1.8 billion, says we'll see values stabilize much more quickly in some areas than others. "I think that's a regional issue and not a national issue. Houston, for instance, is strong as hell. No vacant jobs, prices are going up and building is continuing."

Maybe i missed that part of Houston.

[Indenturedebtor]

7. "No vacant jobs" translation: "Low wages, no mobility, high unemployment"

Let him keep a million. Repatriate the rest.

[Breeze54]

4. Don Marron: "My own view right now is that cash is king; liquidity is king..."

Don Marron


Investments

Billionaire but not on The Forbes 400

On what to look for in the coming months:

"My own view right now is that cash is king; liquidity is king. I would be doing a lot of research and a lot of homework and not doing anything until you see how the disposition of the assets of these troubled companies plays out.

"You have a number of situations here, notably one company in bankruptcy, where a certain set of assets have to be liquidated, and the market hasn't been tested on these. You want to see actual transactions take place in size. AIG, for example, has announced that it has to sell certain things. As a potential buyer, I would want to wait until we see these sales actually take place, and I think others would too."

[liberal N proud]

5. Here is a good comment on the origin of the crisis

Carl E. Berg
Real Estate

281st wealthiest American

$1.7 billion

On the origins of the crisis:

"The Wall Street crisis has been caused by the years of excesses and the fee-based economy where the only goal is to make fees at any cost without any benefit to the economy. Forbes had the right idea when they suggested a short term moratorium on marking-to-market be enacted since no market exists in sections of the housing market."

[liberal N proud]

6. Dupe

[sinkingfeeling]

8. And Murdoch said, "Hard times are good for big companies" .