Enron was involved in derivatives. They were doing it in a big way. Derivatives is the art of betting on the direction or price of underlying commodities. This can be energy in the form of gas or oil, metals, or even food. It is done all the time. In order to do this they needed the help of some major securities dealers. They are the smartest at doing this after all. They did well in this guise for quite a while, and everyone became wealthy. … The concern that we should all have is that this may just be the tip of the iceburg. The securities firms that were involved will stand to lose $BILLIONS$. Yes, that was with a B. (01/27/02)
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