?It was a weekend for the history books. On September 13, a fierce hurricane swept though Texas causing devastating economic results and a tragic human toll. Two days later another storm, entirely man-made, swept through Wall Street with equally catastrophic results.


The morning after Hurricane Ike tore through Houston, we could not see the pavement of residential streets for all the downed leaves, branches and tree limbs. Driving through neighborhoods was like driving through a finely chopped salad, or green snow. In most blocks, trees leaned on every other house.


In my neighborhood, one lucky homeowner woke Saturday morning to find four large pine trees resting on his roof and one blocking his driveway. Lucky? Yes, because he survived.


No one was injured on Wall Street either, at least not physically. But Lehman Brothers, some 158 years old yet crippled by $60 billion of bad debt, filed for bankruptcy when no one would rescue it. At the same time, proud bull Merrill Lynch sought refuge in the arms of Bank of America to the tune of $50 billion. How could these venerable institutions not see their own approaching storm? The Fed and a group of 10 banks, acting as a financial FEMA, were forced to pump $70 billion into the precarious financial system and $85 billion into teetering AIG.


News item No. 1: The Dow collapsed 504 points and crude oil on the Nymex fell to $95 that Monday, then $92 on Tuesday, a seven-month low.


No. 2: At press time we learned that Ike destroyed 49 production platforms and three jackups, and two rigs had drifted off their locations. BP’s Mad Dog platform lost its derrick to Davy Jones locker.


It is not clear which will recover first, Texas or Wall Street. My bet is on Texas. It will take at least a year to rebuild homes and businesses, especially in Galveston. No doubt it will take a year to rebuild trust in our financial system.


Given time, both will recover. But many lessons must be learned in the aftermath. Can the arrogance or naiveté of coastal residents who refused to evacuate be overcome? Maybe, now that they’ve suffered the consequences. Can the greedy hubris of someone who was swept up in overheated markets be overcome? I doubt it, but we’ll see.


Texans who prepared carefully fared pretty well. But on Wall Street, it is apparent that no one boarded up the windows. No one laid in a week’s supply of water or food. There were not enough reserves in the pantry.


Just as military helicopters, at taxpayers’ expense, rescued people near Galveston who refused the mandatory evacuation order, now taxpayers are rescuing Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. How much more can the federal government do, given that it is essentially broke already, and the financial mess looks like a set of dominoes blown down one by one?


What we saw last month was a case study of personal ambition versus corporate responsibility, of human preparedness versus financial greed. In its way, to write a risky mortgage or create convoluted financial instruments that are far out the risk curve, without checking on the borrower’s income, without proper documentation or due diligence, is as foolish as to whistle in the wind while watching the water rise.


How can thousands of MBAs who have studied finance, economics and markets plunge headlong into a mess of their own making? They created an exotic international web of financial connections, all the while ignoring the rules of the road.


Now, we need a return to normalcy. Normalcy is when your favorite radio station plays music in the afternoon instead of airing an emergency mayoral press conference. Normalcy is when the grocery store reopens and people don’t have to drive an hour to find food, water, diapers or gasoline.


For Wall Street, normalcy is when rules and fiduciary responsibilities are respected and professionals use more appropriate measures for risk and reward.

Comments