Alessio Rastani is a Trader (is he really?), Not a Prophet

Today the Twittersphere is all up in arms about a recent interview conducted on BBC of a gentleman named Alessio Rastani.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp-MQhssCqI&feature=player_embedded

Rastani loosely said in this interview that the global markets are going to crash, Goldman Sachs and Hedge Funds rule the world, they don’t care about the Euro bailout package etc.  He makes a profit when the market go down, anyone can, and that he dreams of market crashes like this.

The moment I heard this interview I thought the BBC was simply parading around a “doom & gloomer” for exposure.  They seem to do it around the time when the markets become volatile, telling their viewers we’re going to hell in a hand basket.  Nouriel Roubini is a famous one that trounced around screaming the sky is falling and he actually got it pretty well right on the 2008 collapse so the news say he has credibility.  I have no idea if he is right or if he is wrong on the world collapsing.  Yes, Goldman Sachs is a ruthless entity that has its tentacles in all the worlds financial affairs but could they care less if the Euro Zone imploded? I think they would rather it not……like most others.  Hedge Funds move the markets but many of them would get their ass handed to them in a world collapse.   The more I listened to the interview the more I realize that this guy’s a trader, not an economist (though there are disputes as to economists being worth their weight in manure) or anyone else that may be credible source.  So why the hell did BBC let him on to tell everyone that the markets are collapsing?  Who is this guy?  Does he have any credentials or a background in finance?  Anything that might lend to his credibility?

Emily Lambert followed up with Mr. Rastani in a Forbes article which revealed more about him than the BBC interview did.  He is a trader that trades his own money for  a living.  He did “work for one institution” but wanted to be his own boss.  He goes on to mention a few traders that he is fond of but that he doesn’t rely on fundamentals.

What you could say, I’m mostly a technical trader. I look at charts. I’m not a big, huge fan of funny analysis, you know, fundamentals.

Isn’t a huge fan of fundamentals?  Isn’t that what he was really speaking to in his interview?  The fundamental basis of the Euro Zone Bailouts and what should happen or as his interviewer asked “Can you pin down what would make investors happy? Make them feel more confident?”  If he would have said something along the lines of “I’m not that kind of trader. I’m a technical trader and the charts point to a likely drop in the markets” I probably would have given more thought to opinions.

On page 3 of the Forbes interview he gives the reader some insights as to his possible motives for saying things that prompted Gawker.com to call him a sociopath.

I was trying to say look guys, it’s not just for traders, it’s for everyone. They should ask me how to do it, I will help you.

It appears that he has a teaching service (I will not link to it. You can find it if you really want to) or an alert service which in my mind, eliminates most of his credibility.  I’m sure his website hits have gone off the charts due to the buzz that has been generated from his interview.

There was some talk that this guy was a member of “The Yes Men” group that distributed the fake Dow Chemical/Bhopal Disaster video.  Though their appearance is similar, the BBC has stood behind their initial determination that he is who he claims to be.

Now on to news that matters to me right now.  Thank you creator of Doritos for all you have given this world…… Rest in Peace.