Cannabis Stocks Come Crashing Down to Earth

The world of finance is full of big egos that exhibit a herd mentality. As long as you’re on the cover of magazines and coming up with innovative ideas the industry can use to sell more stuff, everyone wants to be your friend. Make one mistake though, and you’ll find your name has been erased from every piece of collateral out there so that only your sins remain for the world to see. Just ask Mr. Barr Rosenberg how that works.

Google his name today and the first search result tells the world about how he didn’t let his clients know about a software defect which resulted in some unexpected losses. Consequently, the SEC barred him from the industry – for life. (Sounds like somewhat of a blessing if you ask us.) Prior to that, the man could do no wrong. Anyone remember MSCI Barra? The name “Barra” comes from the company which emerged around the man you see in the above picture. In 2004, Morgan Stanley purchased Barra for over $800 million and eventually transformed it into a $22 billion success story called MSCI (MSCI), a company that now considers Barr to be a four-letter word.

Barr Rosenberg’s innovations were around something called “multi factor risk models,” which are often presented in a series of cryptic formulas,