The best story I've heard recently was a bet Warren Buffett has taken up. He's taking the S&P 500 against 10-year hedge fund performance.

The story that gets the prize for the most entertaining around the index industry is this one. Here's the bet:

Over a ten-year period commencing on January 1, 2008, and ending on December 31, 2017, the S&P 500 will outperform a portfolio of funds of hedge funds, when performance is measured on a basis net of fees, costs and expenses.

You can find the details here. I'm loath to hand that free promotion to Protégé Partners, the operation that runs a fund of hedge funds, and is on the other side of the deal. But it's worth it for entertainment, and the result should be a nice bookend to the winding down of hedge fund mania.

This is for a million bucks (to go to charity at the end), so there's some real money there. And man, if there were an ETF out there that would allow me to make a play on Warren Buffett's team, I'd be all over it. (anyone?)

Don't even get me started on hedge funds. I know there are hedgies out there among you, and I've just got this to say: WHAT A RACKET. It's the biggest snow job in the history of financial services. A few very skillful guys hit it big, and you've got THOUSANDS of hedge funds out there charging 2 and 20 and you think you're going to be making money. Well, I've got a bridge in London I'd like to sell you, my friend.

Now back to Matt's blog. I think you're dead right, and with the correlation between the fate of the dollar and the price of oil, you're certainly reflecting the widespread conventional wisdom out there, though apparently no one told the ECB.

The reality (and increasingly interconnected complexity) of the market will always be just ahead of the abilities of the Fed wizards to successfully intervene and smooth out the ride, I'm afraid, as Matt and I mentioned in two recent blogs, Fox in the Henhouse (Matt's) and Academics Gone Wild (mine).

For those of you who didn't pick it up off of our boards, there's a great piece in yesterday's NY Times by David Brooks (free NY Times registration required) on how the frugal culture of the U.S. has been overrun with the need for instant gratification. I think he's right on the money, so to speak.