More mortgage meltdown - Whitney Tilson

A clear look at how to capture investment profits during difficult financial times

The U.S. economy has become crippled by the credit and real estate catastrophe. Even though we've all been affected by the calamity and have heard no shortage of news about it, it still seems unfathomable and utterly incomprehensible to most people that the actions of certain mortgage brokers, bankers, ratings agencies, and investment banks could break the economic engine of the world.

Now, for the first time, and in terms everyone can grasp, noted analysts and value investing experts Whitney Tilson and Glenn Tongue explain not only how it happened, but shows that the tsunami of credit problems isn't over. The second wave has yet to come. But if you know catastrophe is looming, you can sidestep the train wreck-and even profit. You just need to understand how bad times present opportunity and where to look. More Mortgage Meltdown can help you achieve this goal. The book

• Breaks down the complex mortgage products and rocket-science securities Wall Street created
• Addresses how to find investment opportunities within the rubble and position your portfolio to take advantage of the crisis
• Explains exactly how the combination of aggressive lending, government missteps, and Wall Street trading practices created the perfect economic storm
• Shows you why the crisis is not yet over and what we can expect going forward

More Mortgage Meltdown can help you understand the events that have unfolded, and put you in a better position to profit from the opportunities that arise during these tough financial times.

Whitney Tilson and Glenn Tongue are the Managing Partners of T2 Partners LLC and the Tilson Mutual Funds. The former firm manages three value-oriented hedge funds, while the latter is comprised of two mutual funds, Tilson Focus Fund and Tilson Dividend Fund.

Mr. Tilson is the cofounder and Chairman of the Value Investing Congress, a biannual investment conference in New York City and Los Angeles, as well as the investment newsletters Value Investor Insight and SuperInvestor Insight. He writes a regular column on value investing for Kiplinger's Personal Finance, has written for the Financial Times and TheStreet.com, and was one of the authors of Poor Charlie's Almanack, the definitive book on Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger. He was featured on 60 Minutes in December 2008, was one of five investors included in SmartMoney's 2006 Power 30, was named by Institutional Investor in 2007 as one of twenty Rising Stars, and appears regularly on CNBC and Bloomberg TV. He received an MBA with high distinction from the Harvard Business School, where he was elected a Baker Scholar, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a bachelor's degree in government.

Mr. Tongue spent seventeen years on Wall Street prior to joining T2 Partners, most recently as an investment banker at UBS, where he was a managing director specializing in acquisitions and leveraged finance. Before UBS, Mr. Tongue was at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette for thirteen years, the last three of which he served as the president of NYSE-listed DLJdirect, the consistently top-rated online brokerage firm. Prior to DLJdirect, Mr. Tongue was a managing director in the investment bank at DLJ, where he worked on over 100 transactions, aggregating more than $40 billion. He received an MBA with distinction from the Wharton School of Business and received a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton University.
Visit www.moremortgagemeltdown.com to ask Whitney and Glenn questions, read their latest thoughts on the companies they analyze in the book, see updated color versions of the book's charts, and much more.

"Most original in its opinions on what happens from here and how investors can profit. Tilson and Tongue argue that the mess is far from over in housing. . . That said, Tilson and Tongue argue that there are opportunities for stock pickers to profit. . . The book concludes with an interesting analysis of Wells Fargo, which the authors shorted at $30 a share but then went long on at $10. . . Overall, the book is well worth reading." (The Free Lance-Star)