The Big Short (2015) - Jared Vennett's Pitch to Front Point Partners (Jenga Blocks Scene) [HD 1080p]
Why Hacker News recommends it
Used as a quick visual explanation of how CDOs packaged risky mortgage debt.
What it is
A scene from The Big Short in which Jared Vennett pitches credit default swaps on mortgage bonds to a hedge fund team, using a Jenga tower to illustrate collateralized debt obligations.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2019 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Cites grey-area · 2019-03 · on “Wall Street’s Latest Love Affair with Risky Repackaged Debt”
The 2018 crisis was caused by CDOs - packaged mortgage debt which is going to default, mixed and dressed up as very safe debt, then sold on to some poor sucker (including you in your pension). [this video] The article is saying that people are buying CLOs - packaged corporate debt which is going to default, mixed and dressed up as very safe debt, then sold on to some poor sucker (including you in your pension). TLDR: History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.
Cites adhesive_wombat · 2023-07 · on “Tuition costs have risen 710% since 1983 (1200% since 1980). Inflation: 194%”
The Big Short also has an earlier explanation of a non-synthetic CDO ("we just repackage it [low-quality risky debt] along with a bunch of other shit that didn't sell and put it into a CDO"): [this video]
Cites umvi · 2024-03 · on “Tech Debt: My Rust Library Is Now a CDO”
PSA: you basically have to have seen the movie "The Big Short" to understand the analogy in the article. Or at least this scene: [this video]