A lot of those who got burned were farmers and ranchers who were just looking for a place to park the proceeds from one year's harvest/cattle sale until they needed it for the next year's growing season.
MF Global, Peregrine Financial et. al. were allegedly audited and found solvent by the various regulatory agencies for their corners of the securities industries.
How do you propose that the average retail investor personally audit the books of a potential depository to ensure that it's honest?
“A lot of those who got burned were farmers and ranchers who were just looking for a place to park the proceeds from one year’s harvest/cattle sale until they needed it for the next year’s growing season.”
Who those idiot investors are have no impact. They have more money than sense to do a little research on the place that was supposedly giving them a nice return. Nobody is going to stop you if you want to be stupid with your money, regardless of your occupation as farmers and ranchers.
“MF Global, Peregrine Financial et. al. were allegedly audited and found solvent by the various regulatory agencies for their corners of the securities industries.”
That is the downside of trusting the government to do the work you should be doing. If you see a corrupt liberal heading your funds, most likely it is not going to end well. Just facts. It is a free market... you have choice; do not invest with liberals or liberal run companies.
“How do you propose that the average retail investor personally audit the books of a potential depository to ensure that it’s honest?”
Didn’t those “average retail investor” know that it was headed by a corrupt liberal? If so, what were they expecting? If not, then well they were just uninformed and deserved what was coming to them.
I have absolutely no sympathy for MF Global and its victums. In fact, I have no sympathy for the victums of the 2008 crash. They all deserved it for their greed and incompetence.