While regular people stumble around brainwashed with the "you can't time markets" mantra, many private equity managers capitalized famously in the late bull market ending 2007--by timing their own exits perfectly.

This morning's Wall Street Journal points out the painful truth for unsuspecting and now decimated investors. See Private Equity's Ultimate Buyout:

"Two years ago the founders of Blackstone, Fortress Investment Group and Apollo Management were the toast of Wall Street. Now investors who bought into their vision know what getting toasted really means: Their shareholdings in the listed vehicles are down between 85% and 95%.

But not everyone is in the dumps. In 2007, the firms' key principals -- comprising just 11 men -- took $6 billion in cash off the table. The combined market value of those three firms today? Roughly $6 billion."

...there is more if you care to read the whole list of examples.

Lest US stars get in our eyes. Canada also had some bull market heroes who sold their companies at peak cycle to hoards of greedy buyers. The Sprott Inc. IPO in May of 2008 was an incredible feat of timing for its founding principals. See Does Sportt's IPO signal end of rally? We now know the answer to this article's rhetorical question was a resounding "YES"...   more »