When we think about the hedge fund (hedge fund news) managers who made a killing betting against mortgage-related bonds we think of the likes of John Paulson. But the guy who was onto all of this before any of the others was Michael Burry, the most successful bond investor you never heard of.

Vanity Fair offers a terrific excerpt from Michael Lewis's new book about his travails in locking in bets against subprime-related bonds. One might quibble with the notion that he invented the idea of CDSs (CDS news) against residential mortgage and residential-related CDOs. But this is still an epic tale worth savoring: The story of how a really smart guy who found out he wasn't bipolar, only to discover he might have Asperger's Syndrome, who made it through medical school only to find himself an underground stock expert cult hit, who eventually made $100 million at least on his amateur credit savvy. And yes, there's a Goldman Sachs angle.

A Reuters columnist suggests its an example of the "scandalous" client service the big banks offered. Burry's saleswoman went sort of haywire when the subprime stuff started to hit the fan. But then again, so did all his other banks. In any case, this is a must read. 

For more:
- here's the article

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