Moths to a flame

Amaranth Advisors became famous for all the wrong reasons. When the Connecticut-based hedge fund lost two-thirds of its $9 billion asset stash in the space of just a week in September 2006, people took notice. The fund had invested far too much in trades that bet that natural gas prices would continue to rise. When those prices dropped amidst high energy reserves and predictions of a mild winter, it didn't take long for $6 billion to go down the pipe. Amaranth's spectacular implosion made it