Above all, I want to thank my wife, Theresa Eichenwald. Her love and patience were an endless resource for me. When she delivered faster than I did, she assumed extra burdens to allow me to finish. She helped me through many difficult days and many more difficult chapters. She was my keenest adviser, my first editor, and my best friend. Her wisdom and support are reflected on every page.
APPENDIX
In this book, I used a small group of the seven hundred partnerships sold by Prudential-Bache to demonstrate the wanton, reckless nature of the Direct Investment Group. I did that to keep the narrative focused. Readers should not assume that partnerships that were not discussed were properly sold. I have reviewed the marketing material and performance for more than one hundred of the partnerships and, almost without exception, the story is the same. The marketing material stressed safety and targeted retirees, who usually invest in CDs, money markets, municipal bonds, and utility stocks. Then the partnerships collapsed in value. It made no difference whether the partnerships were sold before or after tax reform, or whether they invested in horses, cable television, energy, real estate, airplanes, or high technology. Almost everything the Direct Investment Group touched turned to dross. The following table includes many of the largest partnerships that have not been examined in this book. Their performance speaks volumes.
ALSO BY KURT EICHENWALD
THE INFORMANT
CONSPIRACY OF FOOLS
SERPENT ON THE ROCK.
Copyright © 1995, 1996 by Kurt Eichenwald.
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