MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE

Financiers, stockbrokers and City wheeler-dealers are fond of portraying themselves as masters of the universe whose expertise and accumen gives them an insight into how modern capitalism works. However one of their numbers, David Tepper has revealed in a recent TV interview some of the tricks of his trade that cast doubt on the master of the universe description. "Last year we learnt that the founder of Appaloosa Management kept a pair of brass testicles on his desk to rub for good luck. Another of his tricks emerged in an interview with CNBC last week. "We keep three little pigs in the office and we shake a pig to see which way to invest. If it lands on its feet we go long, if it lands on its back we go short." (Sunday Times, 26 September) David Tepper as a hedge fund billionaire investor may regard himself as a master of the universe, but to socialists he is more a master of the con-trick! RD