Bloomberg unmasks Zero Hedge

Tracy Alloway and Luke Kawa of Bloomberg write about the finance news site Zero Hedge and the people behind it.

Alloway and Kawa write, “Since being founded in the depths of the financial crisis, Zero Hedge has grown from a blog to an Internet powerhouse. Often distrustful of the ‘establishment’ and almost always bearish, it’s known for a pessimistic world view. Posts entitled ‘Stocks Are In a Far More Precarious State Than Was Ever Truly Believed Possible’ and ‘America’s Entitled (And Doomed) Upper Middle Class’ are not uncommon.

“The site’s ethos is perhaps best summed up by the tagline at the top of its homepage, also borrowed from Fight Club: ‘On a long enough timeline the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.’ A paean to populism, the 1999 film is filled with loathing for consumerism and the financial system. Brad Pitt portrays Tyler Durden as hell-bent on bringing down the corrupt system of the global elite—an attitude often reflected in Zero Hedge’s content.

“With that in mind, the website has argued that ‘pseudonymous speech’ is necessary amid an atmosphere of stifled public dissent — hence the ‘Tyler Durden’ alias was born. In earlier years, Durden was joined by ‘Marla Singer,’ another Fight Club character, as one of the site’s most prominent authors.

“‘It reminds me of a successful information operation where you mix in the propaganda stories along with other legitimate stories,’ said Craig Pirrong, finance professor at the University of Houston. ‘There are some interesting things on it, and then there are the crazy things.'”

Read more here.