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From Matthias Knab, currently in Greenwich, Connecticut: We may not be through the current crisis, according to most keynote speakers at the Global Alpha Forum held this week in Greenwich, Connecticut. Before taking a look at these latest doomsday views, let's step back for a moment and applaud two nonconformists who already in 2007 had the brains and the courage to point to the problems which are still unfolding.

Hedge fund manager David Einhorn and economist Nouriel Roubini saw it coming...and Opalesque relayed their message to you...on time: On December 5th 2007, Opalesque reported that David Einhorn, founder of Greenlight Capital, presented his pessimistic analysis on Lehman Brothers at the Value Investing Congress the week before.

According to this Source, Einhorn explained at that conference that FAS 159 underpins his short thesis on Lehman. He went on to show that he believes the majority of Lehman’s earnings in 2007 have been derived from credit spreads widening and the effects of FAS 159. One perverse aspect of this is that as your company’s credit deteriorates, compensation bonus pools tied to earnings become fatter and you are essentially incented to report these fictitious earnings. More information on David's 2007 presentation can also be found ......................

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