Warren Buffett is credited with coining the expression: "You only find out who's been swimming naked when the economic tide goes out." Low tides - at least those near where I grew up - also have a habit of uncovering lots of unsightly detritus and potentially hazardous waste. And so it is this week that two veritable Gekkos of the Street, Marc "Houdini of impersonation" Dreier and Bernard "giant Ponzi scheme" Maddoff  are in custody on charges of fraud - the scale of which in both cases is pretty breathtaking.

Lots more gruesome details to come no doubt as the media does its best to turn these and other cases in to the poster children for all that went wrong with the economy. Personally I'm holding out for the inevitable book deals as the detailed studies in hubris and personal meltdown are sure to be a delicious read.