Carpetbagger

Carpetbagger originally dates back to the American Civil War and was used to describe Northern investors who went to the South after the war to profit from reconstruction.

It suggests a certain lack of moral commitment to the enterprise involved - the investor only being after the biggest and fastest buck possible.

It came back into common usage in the mid-1990s. Millions of building society members rushed to open accounts to qualify for windfall handouts.

Predictably membership of those societies which had announced plans to demutualise soared.

So did membership of others as investors gambled on where the next windfall would come from.

To check on the share prices for mutual societies quoted in the stockmarket, click here.

Last Updated: May 2007 © Moneyextra.com

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