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How To Lose $7.2B With Just a Few Basic Skills

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the l33t-skillz-not-required dept.

Cityslacker recommends a Register piece speculating on how a lowly trader at the French bank SocGen was able to lose billions using only Excel VB. The author freely admits that his story is not based on hard sources, but his experience in the banking industry lends plausibility.

21 of 234 comments (clear)

  1. it must be microsofts fault! by Richard.g.k · · Score: 5, Funny

    The solution is clearly to blame microsoft for it.

    1. Re:it must be microsofts fault! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Where did you think they get the 44.6 bilion to buy yahoo? By selling Vistas? AHHAHAHAahahah.

    2. Re:it must be microsofts fault! by sempernoctis · · Score: 5, Funny

      Do you really want to throw away $7,200,000,000?

                <OK> <Cancel>

    3. Re:it must be microsofts fault! by fm6 · · Score: 2, Funny

      And there's good reason to do so! VBA still doesn't have a binary-coded decimal data type. So people use binary floating point to handle currency values. Do enough transactions, and you can easily misplace $7.2B through rounding errors!

  2. lemme try by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 4, Funny

    Give me $7.2B and I'll conveniently "lose" it for you. And I have no skills!

    --
    This guy's the limit!
  3. Easy! by arcite · · Score: 5, Funny

    Buy high, sell low!

    1. Re:Easy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Or better... Put all your money in the sandwich-heavy portfolio!

  4. Our president lost trillions... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    and he also has no skilz.

    Cost of Iraq war

  5. Prior Art by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Give me $7.2B and I'll conveniently "lose" it for you. And I have no skills!

    Isn't that how Red Hat started?
  6. The code used by Malevolent+Tester · · Score: 5, Funny

    10 STEAL Money
    20 GOTO 10

    --
    If you haven't made a developer cry, you've wasted a day.
    1. Re:The code used by HeavensFire · · Score: 3, Funny

      *break* *break* *break*
      *break* *break* *break*

      *pulls power cord*

  7. Re:Reliable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ... responds the anonymous coward.

  8. Re:Reliable? by MrNemesis · · Score: 3, Funny

    D'oh! Reading the wrong damned thread! We need an article about multitasking making you stupid.

    --
    Moderation Total: -1 Troll, +3 Goat
  9. Re:Insider knowledge by sskagent · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...employ creative accounting.
    Is that where they draw little faces out of the 0's and make 8's into eyes??

  10. Re:they admit currency trading is gambling by QuickFox · · Score: 2, Funny

    Either way, the house/broker always wins and it's a net loss for the players. But of course. That's why they're called brokers. They make people go broke.
    --
    Terrorists can't threaten a country's freedom and democracy. Only lawmakers and voters can do that.
  11. Startanairline by ShakaUVM · · Score: 4, Funny

    According to Richard Branson, the best way to become a millionaire is to start as a billionaire and found an airline.

  12. How to make a small fortune. by JonTurner · · Score: 5, Funny

    Q: Want to know how to make a small fortune in the stock market?
    A: Start with a large fortune.

    thankyouverymuch. Don't forget to tip the waiter. No stock tips, please.

  13. Re:Huh? by cleatsupkeep · · Score: 2, Funny

    So here is how I understand it. He modified the system so that when a transaction used fractions of a cent, it truncated it and put the fractions of a cent into a new account he had made. However, he must have missed a decimal point, because when he checked the next day, he had 7.2 billion dollars. He lost it by writing a check and putting it under his bosses door when the office was closed.

  14. Could Easily Do This by c_woolley · · Score: 2, Funny

    How to lose this kind of money is SIMPLE! Get married.

  15. Re:a common preception by jellomizer · · Score: 2, Funny

    Dag Nabbit, I haven't upgraded my News Database for Y2k complience and things have never been better. Stock prices are dirt cheap and just going up. Although I am worried about world news just today "King Carlos & Crown Prince Assassinated"

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  16. Re:Beyond trusting sources, don't trust the author by Niko. · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...and the wine! Don't forget the wine!