In case you missed Matt Lauer’s interview with Harry Markopolis, here it is. Markopolis is the money manager from Boston who met with SEC four times and tried to expose Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. He said some terrific things during the interview and some that give my pause:

  1. “If you don’t understand the strategy, don’t invest in it.” Absolutely correct. I’ve attached a link to my post from 2009, Top Ten Ways to Spot Financial Fraud, which highlights red flags for non-money managers.
  2. Did Madoff have help? He operated in 40 nations, worked with 399 feeder companies, and paid 90 percent of his fees to third parties.
  3. There’s a new Dirty Harry in town, and this one goes by the name Markopolis. Wait until you hear what he says about carrying a gun.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Look, Markopolis is pitching his book. I bought it, look forward to reading it, and hope to post a review here sometime in the next month.

Norb Vonnegut