Scotch anyone?

“While we dodged some bullets, we could not get out of the way of the freight train.”

I was recently asked to speak to the future (soon to be unemployed hedge fund analyst) son-in-law of a family friend to give some thoughtful advice on the hedge fund industry. After sharing a scotch and staring into those young 30 something "deer in headlights" eyes, I immediately started going over past "hedgespeak" files and explained that, though this market may be worse than others, our industry has a regular cyclical downturn every 4 years. Just read the letters! The above was actually written back in September 1998. The more one reads the more one realizes that little changes except for the actors caught up in a similar cycle. He left a little wiser and a little more secure with the thought that the sky may ultimately not fall.