John Hempton - Values and ethics expert?

[StubbleJumper]

On the Directions website, I found a link to the following blog by John Hempton in which he gets on a soap-box to decry the dishonest business practices of the "Rent-to-own" industry:

 

http://brontecapital.blogspot.com/2010/01/sweetest-usurious-bastards.html

 

 

I've seen quite a few strange occurrences over the past decade or so, but never in my life would I have expected to see John Hempton hold himself up as an authority on values and ethics!  :o :o :o

 

Interesting times.

 

SJ

[beerbaron]

I have no problem with, Rent to own, Cash Checking, Casinos, Liquor stores, etc... In my opinion that is the responsability of everybody to manage their money intelligently. I have a friend that has an accounting degree and for some reason, cannot seem to figure out that a 20% interest on credit cards makes it's available cash a little tight. Then i tried to help him by showing him how to consolidate it's debts. We were able to reduce 1000$ a month payments to 500$ a months. A month later he was back to 1000$ a month because he bought a brand new car and a 42" LCD TV....

 

No matter how hard you try to help others if they don't recognize there is a problem then they will not learn. I might as well profit from it.

 

BeerBaron

[StubbleJumper]

Sure, Rent-to-Own is running a business, and some people like it and some don't. 

 

The irony about the blog is that a certain John Hempton from Platinum Asset Management asked a rather pointed question during a FFH conference call during the period that FFH was under attack by the shorts.  Now, for the record, John Hempton was not named in FFH's lawsuit, but some of us think that his question was a little strange and it did cast aspersions on FFH.  Happily enough, Prem pinned his ears back.

 

Now, I wouldn't suggest that Hempton was a party to the short attack, but it is rather grand that 7 years later he would be posturing himself as an expert in values and ethics after having been ridiculously wrong on FFH.

[EricSchleien]

http://www.nowpublic.com/tech-biz/canadian-company-fairfax-financial-attacked-down-under