"I don't think he's an angel, but I think he gets a little bit of a bad rap. One view is that it's horrendous when a group profits from the misfortunes of others, which is fair in the broadest sense. But another view is that the few people who prepare for foreseeable chaos deserve to do better during the chaos than the other people who just kept dancing."

Quite the conundrum indeed! We can even take it one step further and say that some people (or groups) like that are heroes for warning us before time of problems that are percolating. It is important to note however that not all Cassandra's are the same. There are some that scream fire in a crowded movie theatre to create the chaos they need to profit, and there are some that are really warning that a fire has in fact started.

I like following short sellers for this very reason- for them to be right they usually have to be exactly right and will build and explain their case to the public. To me that is providing a public service and dismissing such people as profiteers is simply shooting the messenger!