TABLE OF CONTENTS
September 2007
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28
Friday Levity: Fed Up With The Fed
This past week has yielded a stream of what we can only call colorful love letters from loudmouth market observers and bloggers to the Fed (and we use the word "love" here rather loosely). Combing the newspapers and the Web, we think we have now read them all, and most were a total waste of time. Days and hours we will never have again. This one, however, was not.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28
When Even Hindsight Gets Messy
It's easy to criticize Ben Bernanke from your armchair. But you really don't have a leg to stand on when you can't even give a decent post-mortem of the Fed rate cut without waffling every two seconds about whether it was bad or good. That hasn't stopped two distinct camps from trying, though.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28
Chance Of A Lifetime?
At least 11 firms are now clambering to raise more than $12 billion in hopes of snapping up leveraged-buyout loans on the cheap. An update on who's leading the pack of bloodthirsty buyers in search of unprecedented bargains.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28
Ridding The World Of PHFMM
This, in case you did not get the memo, stands for "potential hedge fund manager misconduct." And the SEC doesn't like it. How authorities' latest swing of the battleaxe has already yielded more than 30 investigations of dread perpetrators of PHFMM, with the latest dragnet promising to be, according to one tough guy, "very productive."
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28
Greenspan's Two Cents
Or more like his 50-cent piece. So, the Fed's chairman emeritus gets his jollies out of stealing his successor's thunder. OK. But imagine getting promoted and having your doddering old boss constantly hanging around, more or less publicly second-guessing you, and dropping the R-bomb. Annoying. Anyway, what the former Fed chief has to say about where the economy is going.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28
Black Monday: The Oral History
Twenty years ago this month, the earth stood still as word spread of the Dow's plummet — the worst securities-market panic in half a century. A rollicking "decade of greed" came crashing to an inglorious last call. Tapping the traders and market players who were closest to the action, sifting through myth and hype, we've detailed one of the darkest days in history — in the words of those who lived it.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27
Watch List: Precious Commodities
We personally scoured the initial public offerings at this year's international watch festivals to unearth these: the top new timepieces of 2007.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27
Tighty Old Blighty
The ranks of cash-desperate in the U.K. have runneth over – and we don't mean the gold-digging girls in Mayfair – we mean the European Central Bank is shelling out more "quid" at a penalty rate than it has in years. But, like the fair maids of Mayfair, the banks will only take so much abuse for their spoils.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27
Too Good To Last?
You knew this would happen. You became a trader because you believed in rugged individualism, you were a maverick, untamable yet brilliant, incorrigible and irrepressible – but charmingly so – a buffet of contradictions, born to be wild. And now, the Treasury Department is forming TWO committees to corral you? Are you gonna' take this?
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27
Deep Thoughts On The Dollar, Part I
If the dollar falls to a record low against other currencies almost every day (today it is the euro) does it cease to qualify as news? More on whether the once-revered greenback has hit bottom – or if this is just another pothole on the long way down.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27
Hedgies…Paychecks…Yada Yada
Citi has polled a trillion dollars worth of pension fund managers about whether they think hedge funds get paid too much and whether the 2-and-20 model of compensation is sustainable. And what do you think they said?
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27
The Credit Crisis, According To Chuck Norris
The tears of Chuck Norris would supply enough liquidity to solve the credit crisis. Too bad he never cries. (If you read only one thing today, pick this. So excellent.)
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 26
Wheels: French Invasion
How to guarantee yourself maximum exposure in the hills of Provence? Let us suggest a little something called the Audi R8.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 26
Risk Research Presents: The Left Tail Report
Are you, like us, still marveling at the grandeur of the Fed's four-bit rate cut? You've got to hand it to them folks; they really know how to put on a feed (or, at any rate, extend one). How is it that just when we were about to turn out the lights on this four-year investment party, the FOMC decides to go on a beer run?
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 26
So Lowly Rated As To Be Underrated?
The dollar has made another near low against something or other again today. That must mean China is making a near high somewhere too. It's the rules, right? But we're getting a little down in the mouth with all this repetition. We wonder which, at this point, is more uplifting? The pre-suicide writings of Nietzsche – or this latest dollar report.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 26
The High Ground
Highland Capital Management is getting rowdy over its investment in California drug company PDL BioPharma, calling for the head of its chairman. And it's teamed up with some of the biggest names in the hedge fund world to do it. Lesson learned: You want the head of the chairman of the company you’re invested in? Well then, take it.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 26
S&P, Moody's Junked?
Yep, they like to hold their ratings-slicing knives under everyone's throats, but what do they do when the tables are turned? Squeal like stuck pigs, we're betting. But don't listen to us. Find out what the real pundits are saying as the rating kings face their first post-subprime grilling today on Capitol Hill.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 26
The New York-Stockholm-Dubai Connection
Er, sounds a little weird to us, but then it's just so crazy, it might work. How three exchange businesses from very disparate locations decided to join forces in the global market-consolidation battle. Now if only that pesky interloper, Qatar, wouldn’t throw a wrench in the works.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 26
The New Three Dimensional Chess?
Turnover in currencies is now a staggering $3.2 trillion a day. That's more than the economic output of China or Germany in a year and a little higher than we, here at Trader Daily, can count. As this market explodes in size, scope and complexity, find out where all the hot spots will be for a front seat on the action.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25
Risk Research, LLC Presents The Left Tail Report
As we write this note, we are still marveling at the
grandeur of the Fed’s four bit rate cut. You’ve got
to hand it to them folks; they really know how to
put on a feed (or, at any rate, extend one).
> read more
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25
The Life: Call Of The Wild
The world's highest bungee jump. Cage-diving with Great White sharks. Kloofing (whatever that is). Find out why South Africa is credited with offering the planet's most astonishing collection of daredevil acts — and sybaritic resorts in which to rest your weary, if not broken, bones.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25
Daily Steal
The damn Magna Carta is for sale. That's right, the same one you learned out while falling asleep in history class in the fifth grade. And former presidential hopeful Ross Perot is selling it. Only $30 million for the whole thing. That's right, they haven’t chopped it up yet, CDO-style (though we suspect the tech king might fetch more for it that way). Come on, something everyone in the world has heard of has gotta' be worth more than half of a Jasper Johns painting.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25
Cult Of Citadel
Does this hedge fund's Midwestern location threaten to undercut its ability to stay competitive? Yes, say headhunters, because all the top talent wants to do is kick arse on Wall Street. (Which is odd, because last we checked, Wall Street proper was a veritable ghost town.) What could soon irk one of the mightiest funds on earth.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25
Credit Freeze Deadly?
Perhaps the lethal chill over the commercial paper market hit many corporations below the belt, but to say it's actually threatened lives would be a bit of a stretch – right? Wrong. One haunting tale from the Arctic Circle of how the credit crunch did just that. After all the mad evangelism over the joys of "spreading risk," it turns out there's a steep price to be paid for playing fast and loose in the global money pit.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25
Inside The Army Of Machines
Why rumors of a quant wild-on over the past couple of months may have been greatly exaggerated. As the dust of hysteria clears, it looks a lot more like the genesis of August's losses was slightly more complicated.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25
Goldman's Good News
Why the world's biggest and most profitable securities firm – despite suffering some pummeling in past weeks – thinks the worst credit-market shakeout since 1998 might now be abating.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25
Separating The 'Man' From The Boys
Credit crunch? Market meltdowns? An impossible multitude of spilt milk? Not at Man Group, the hedge fund titan that's seemingly squeezed a 10% earnings increase from a stone. But just what are the methods to its madness?
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24
The Gloves Come Off!
Boxing and charity. It's a combination that, while not strictly intuitive, has proven to be a real winner in recent years on Wall Street – both in terms of racking up the bucks for a good cause and, of course, high entertainment. Tickets are going fast, but we still have a few good spots left. Think you've seen your corporate brethren get wild and wooly? You ain't seen nothing yet.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24
Fashion: Cuffs & Links
With today's sleek cuts and vibrant colors, find out why "golf fashion" is no longer a misnomer.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24
Getting Smarter – Or Just Getting Better At Looking Stupid?
Deutsche Bank, UBS and Citigroup told their investors to bet against the British pound before it leapt to a 26-year high in July. Okay, so that wasn't so inspired. But now that the U.S. subprime contagion is spreading like the Bubonic throughout Europe, they just might catch a break.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24
Fed's Encore
Why government bond traders who predicted six of the last seven recessions say the Fed will trim interest rates again before the end of the year. (Of course, others are saying the Fed may have to lift rates in 2008 to stem inflation, but we digress.)
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24
Out Of Frying Pan…And Into Fire?
The Fed chops rates. Children stop crying, couples stop fighting, nations cease warring and, everywhere, people throw their hats into the air. Now, some crusty old curmudgeons want to go and ruin all that by resurrecting their dread doomsday talk of recession, inflation and – our favorite – stagflation. What is up with these people?
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24
A Penny For Their Thoughts
Well, if things don't work out for Absolute Capital, which gaily loaded its funds with illiquid U.S. penny stocks before going kerfuffle, we reckon they can always get into doing vodka commercials. We don't think we've seen an Absolut Meltdown one yet. The latest on a fund that snookered everyone – including a London stock exchange.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24
The Richest Of The Rich
The first rule of the Forbes 400 list is that you need to haul in more than a billion a year to be even be considered for it. The second rule is that if you're into managing money you may have just cracked the list for the first time. Read on for who made the grade – and who didn't.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24
Doctor, We're Losing The Patient
When the Malaysian ringgit is thwacking the dollar with an eight-week high, you know the greenback's going need more than just an IV hookup – it needs life support.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 21
The Ask: Seeing Green
How Credit Suisse's carbon-emissions emissary, Paul Ezekiel, set aside a life of healing the sick for a chance to prescribe changes to heal the planet — and, not incidentally, make his employers a bundle.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 21
Gasoline To Raise Roof?
Maybe refined products have yet to track crude oil's stunning price trajectory, but here's some fuel for thought.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 21
We Aren't Advocating This, But...
A new blood sport (so to speak) for the well-heeled is causing a stir in Tokyo's entertainment district. But it's not for the faint of heart. And when we say that, we actually mean it's more for the deeply depraved. Still, as in all things, we at Trader Daily try not to judge and remain, as ever, anthropologically objective.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 21
Another Cold, Wet Towel
Why the U.S. economy's favorite salvation likely will be a no-show this year – and what that means for 2008.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 21
Schadenfreude – It's Not All Bad
Your trading desk took a pummeling last quarter? Take heart – and take a look at these mutual funds whose performances have not only lagged the hedge fund sector in general but the S&P 500 in particular. Start your weekend with a bit of cynical cheer and take a stroll down our walk of shame.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 21
Dollar Makes Like A Tree…
And falls. Again. The greenback is targeting its third straight week of losses as it trades at parity with Canada's currency – something that hasn't happened since the U.S. was in recovery mode from, oh, the Vietnam War (hm…Iraq…Vietnam, surely no parallels here). What economists are saying about what to expect next.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 21
Not Your Father's Middle East
Lest you think otherwise, the credit crunch is a great opportunity for the oil-rich – meaning cash-flush – to step up their involvement in capital markets. How one region's money vacuum has become another region's big chance to grab hold of the brass ring.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20
FRIDAY LEVITY: TRADING’S BUFFOON – THE TIM SYKES EMAILS
Sure, Tuesday’s Trader Monthly “30 Under 30” party in New York was a hot invite, with over 800 attendees, but one shudders at the length Timothy Sykes, up-and-comer turned trading laughingstock, went to try to get in. Sykes, who was on last year’s “30 Under 30” list, and then tried painfully to brand himself as a financial expert and bon vivant, while his small hedge fund began losing money with uncanny monthly regularity. Behold, unedited and in full, the Timothy Sykes grovel chain:
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20
Trader Survey: Open Outcry
Want to know if your fellow traders would act on insider info? What they really think about Dick Grasso and Eliot Spitzer? And whether they trade for the thrill or the money? Behold our inaugural reader survey, taken by more than 2,500 of you, replete with everything you ever wanted to know about trading . . . but were afraid to ask.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20
Brokers Beware
No way! The SEC is teaming up with federal authorities to go after the little guys again? We have also observed that heifers are fat and the sky is blue. Who's being targeted and who's not in this latest witch hunt on the brokerage community.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20
It's Not What They Say, It's What They Do
So far, what we have learned from the global credit crunch is that regulators are either 1) schizophrenic or 2) they have not the foggiest idea what they’re doing. (Judging by the e-mails we’re getting here at Trader Daily, most of you think the latter.) A critical look at the shameless flip-flopping, reversals and equivocations we have seen in the past few days from the Dukes of Moral Hazard.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20
Nasdaq Finds Its Feet
For awhile there, we wondered if Nasdaq hadn't found a permanent place as The Exchange That Will Twist In The Wind. But after many false starts, it has finally pulled something off – "something" being anything that doesn't make it look effectual. And it's done that with a somewhat unusual, if deep-pocketed, ally.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20
Hedgies: Cowboys No More
Old Trees mansion sounds like a hedge fund manager's wet dream: A jaw-dropping 11-acre Southampton estate, with two swimming pools, 21 bedrooms and sweeping view of Lake Agawam. So why is nobody buying it?
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20
On Rate Cuts, Magic Tonics, Hearts Of Rutabaga
So, the rate cut has prompted corporate debt markets to reflower like confused gladiolas in the dead of winter. But as a smattering of companies rush out bond issues before this precious window slams shut, key officials in the White House and Congress are realizing the hard work has only begun.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20
The Dollar: Spanked, Ranked, Tanked
The oft-used phrase, "the almighty dollar" is now officially an oxymoron, as the greenback sinks to a record low against the euro today. And why is this? Not because global markets fear the U.S. housing slump may slow economic growth – no, that would be too easy. But because that's what they fear Ben Bernanke will say. Read on for a perfect example of how, in the markets, perception trumps reality.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19
Beat Of The Street: Over The Hedge
Find out how after spending his entire career making enemies in the financial world, one attorney pulled a 180 to become the trader's best friend.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19
IPO Chit And Chat
Does the poaching of a Goldmanite (specifically, one who formerly headed the bank's investor relations department) signal Citadel's appetite for going public? We dunno – maybe they just really like the guy.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19
Holding The Line
These days, nearly every economy is trying to dodge some kind of poison dart. How a shrinking economy and a recession-crimping U.S. interest rate decision made the Bank of Japan's own rate move a gimme.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19
Funny How That Works
First, one of the founders of hedge fund Absolute Capital Management takes off for parts unknown after a scuffle with the board. Then, its nettlesome investors want to pull their money. The fund's response? Three guesses and the first two don't count.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19
Insiders Will Be Insiders (And Outsiders Will Be Poor)
This is an incontrovertible rule of finance, of trading, of Wall Street and of the world in general. A peek at how the SEC is trying to turn your urge to parlay a juicy illicit tip against you.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19
All Apologies?
Not exactly. Goldman is refusing to grovel at the feet of the rattled investors of its Global Alpha hedge fund, which has lost more than 33% this year (read: dropping to $6 billion from about $10 billion in 2006). Why the bank remains resolutely wedded to its quantitative bets.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19
The Fed: What It All Means
So, the Fed applies the scythe liberally and on cue, the dollar sags, stocks climb and oil prices streak to a fresh record high. Looks like all that high-concept talk of "moral hazards" was just a bunch of stuff and nonsense. At the 11th hour, someone woke up to the fact that maintaining a healthy economy is a slightly higher priority. But don't take our word for it – as the dust clears, find out what everyone else is saying.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18
Super Bowl Showdown 2007
Click here to see who's been kicking your arse at Pick 'Em and Survival this past week. (Conversely, if you made the list, it may be time to double down.)
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18
Head Coach: Profit Envy
So, a little short on fear, but kinda' long on the greed? Nothing wrong with that. Just keep these tips in mind when swinging your big line.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18
Icahn's Got The Brawn
But even that might not be enough to unload a software company that’s losing orders to Oracle and IBM and attracting nary a private-equity bid. How even billionaire investors sometimes back into, shall we say, steaming mounds of dromedary droppings.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18
All In All, Not A Bad Thing…
A look at how the drop in the U.K.'s inflation rate to its lowest level since March (of 2006) may give the Bank of England some of the wiggle room it needs to get back in touch with being – gasp – something akin to a central bank again.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18
Unearthing An Unexpected Gem
John Galt – anyone? Anyone? If you don't know who this guy is, that means you've missed out on one of the best business books of the 20th century. And another thing: This door-stopper is hottttt! (Yes, in the way you think we mean.)
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18
Fighting The Good Fight
Over money, of course. Why one of the founders of hedge fund Absolute Capital Management ended up at loggerheads with his board, ultimately deciding to wash his hands of his own fund.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18
Day Of Reckoning
It's finally here. And for all the rabid frothing going on, you'd think Jesus himself had just pulled up in a Bentley to give his final judgment. Today, it's not just about the short-term interest rates – the Fed also will consider taking action on the rates it's charging banks to borrow money. The latest on whether we'll end this day fed a line, fed a break or just fed up.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 17
Get Your Box On
Yep, it's that time of year again, when unbridled pugilism meets charity. Never seen real white-collar blood on the floor before? – And you call yourself a trader?
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 17
The Card Shark: Exercise In Control
Why putting your ego aside and betting smaller stakes sometimes makes for a smarter game.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 17
Sentinel's Dirty Secret?
Hedge fund activates implosion sequence. About $11 million is mysteriously wired to bank accounts allegedly connected to the fund's founder. Fund suspends redemptions. Coincidence, or psychic phenomena? You decide.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 17
Goldman's Golden Goose
Is it cooked? Is it not cooked? Who knows – but it's getting worse than analysts hyperventilating over a penny on quarter-to-quarter earnings. We get it already: The vulturous press will be trotting out a progress report every five minutes. Like this one.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 17
Ubiquitous Greenspan
Why the man is suddenly everywhere.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 17
Cheat Sheet For A Scary Week
Click here for the blow-by-blow of this week's roller-coaster ride, including today's coming-of-age of $49 billion in commercial paper ($21 billion of which is the dreaded asset-backed kind) and Tuesday's much-awaited Fed interest-rate decision. Forewarned is forearmed and all that.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 17
The Road More Traveled?
Read on for the revealing, close-encounter opinings of hedge-fund princes and private-equity princesses on whether business school is a total waste of time. (As if you don't already know.)
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14
Super Bowl Showdown 2007
Just one more day to sign up for your golden opportunity to win Super Bowl tickets. Read on for our list of who's leading the pack so far in our Pick 'Em and Survival games. (Hint: If you haven't signed up yet, it's not you.)
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14
Friday Levity: Hubris Check II
Last week we spurned hubris, because we were going through one of those cyclical self-hatred periods. This week, we embrace it, because we suddenly realized we are the damn sun gods.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14
Life After Trading: Night Shift
Why Matt Abramcyk quit the hedge-fund game for frenzied action of a different sort: The rigors and rewards of New York nightlife. Hey, don't knock it 'til you try it (or at least read about it).
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14
Buffett Gets Out Of Dodge
Well, not really Dodge. We lied. But, if it's any consolation, it's a place that's slightly controversial.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14
China: 5th Time A Charm?
Yeah, right. But, at present, the rest of the world would love to have its problems. Why the planet’s fastest-growing major economy won't find a circuit breaker that works until it's good and ready.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14
Zoo Of Hsu
More on our favorite shady apparel executive (and Clinton brownnoser) as lawyers and judges pile in. His bail has now been raised to $5 million. How many pairs of Gap bobbysox is that?
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14
Hunter's Cold Comfort
While it should be reassuring that an explosive trader like Brian Hunter is not able to get enough cash together to start a new hedge fund – after sinking the last one – we're still a little disappointed to hear about his plan B. (Like, wasn't the Wild West probably a lot more boring after Jesse James?) Click here to find out where he ended up.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14
Greenspan: Lay Off Bernanke Already
What the former Fed chief has to say about his successor's performance might surprise…
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14
Modern Finance, Stone-Age Regulators
The woeful truth about how, while Wall Street is out frolicking, regulators are essentially taking long lunches, debating the God particle and picking the lint out of their toenails.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13
Super Bowl Showdown 2007
Just two more days to sign up for a chance to win Super Bowl tickets – you know you want to. Read on for our list of who's leading the pack so far in our Pick 'Em and Survival games. (Hint: If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s not you.)
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13
The Trade: Hog Wild
Lest you say 'in a pig's eye,' why the waning pork bellies market should be sitting a lot prettier than it is.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13
Curiouser And Curiouser…
The latest twist in the Norman Hsu saga involves charitable organizations and a smattering of suicide notes. Just what gives with out favorite vanishing apparel exec?
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13
Lies, Damn Lies And Statistics
Dire Straits wanted their MTV. But, when in dire straits, all Ben Bernanke wants is his MAQS.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13
Recession Obsession
The Chicken Littles of the financial world are circulating the R-word faster and more furiously than ever, as can be seen from the results of a spanking-new survey out in The Wall Street Journal today.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13
Hedgie Hotel Redux
This decade's most sought-after Central Park West address is now shutting its doors to new takers – but not before admitting some of Wall Street's biggest superstars (who will, we presume, soon be sharing elevators, wives and cavorting in the rooftop Jacuzzi, laughing raucously from their lofty perch at the low-born and ghastly peasants).
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13
Blood, Carnage, Mayhem!
The press is simply out of vocabulary words when it comes to describing the unspeakable horror of hedge fund losses in August. Read on for detailed accounts of the latest victims of this witch hunt.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12
Super Bowl Showdown 2007
There's still time to sign up, 11th-hour style, for a chance to win Super Bowl tickets. Click here to read who's leading the pack in our Pick 'Em and Survival games.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12
Hall Of Fame: All Hail Hull
Why Blair Hull will forever be remembered for a single trade 20 years ago that changed the course of history.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12
Old Lane's Bane
Find out how the $4.4 billion hedge fund purchased by Citigroup earlier this year (displacing one of its other hedge funds and resulting in the loss of dozens of jobs) faired the Great August Pummeling.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12
Stormin' Norman
Norman Hsu. Erstwhile apparel executive? Clinton-hugger? Smirking international man of mystery? We're damned if we know, but he sure is beating out Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton put together when it comes to grabbing the headlines.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12
Highland – Or High Ground?
How setting your cap for an IPO can be good – so long as you don't have to pull out.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12
Bonuses: The Real Story
So, the press is shrieking that the sky will fall, come bonus time. But the press also has some nettlesome problems in differentiating between things like lower bonuses and lower bonus INCREASES. A look at some real data.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12
Whinge Before The Singe?
The whining over next week's Fed meeting is already in full swing, with the usual Greek chorus of columnists, economists and other full-time handwringers caterwauling in unison over the whys and wherefores of a rate cut. Feast your eyes on exhibit A – which somehow manages to be both amusing and grating at the same time.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12
A New Super Tuesday
Forget presidential elections – we're talking about the Federal Reserve's rate decision next week. How the plunging dollar reveals just what investors are expecting.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 11
Super Bowl Showdown
Keep an eye out for our list of winners from Pick 'Em and Survival every week.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 11
Performance: Market Mover
Ditching his desk for something a little more his speed, Chuck Hackett found an entirely new way to trade the physical.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 11
Another Day, Another Record
As the runaway train of Chinese inflation shoots to a 10-year high, how economists are calling for more drastic steps to be taken than simply raising rates for a fifth time.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 11
Loaded For Bear
Why British billionaire Joseph Lewis has stealthily scooped up a 7% grubstake in Bear Stearns – an amount surpassing even the interest held by the bank’s golfing-while-Rome-burns CEO James Cayne. Could it be Bear is now so lowly rated as to be underrated?
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 11
Fed Fissures
Get all your scuttlebutt here on the great drama that is unfolding over that pesky extra quarter of a percentage point.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 11
Putting The 'Low' In Kozlowski
Lesson No. 1: Do not loot your own company. Lesson No. 2: Do not subsequently end up in divorce proceedings with your wife that are so messy you are then forced to show how much you looted your own company (by disclosing the whole of your Aladdin's trove of glittering assets, $6,000 shower curtains and all). Read it and heed it.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 11
Morgan's About-Face?
Why, in currencies, Morgan Stanley is suddenly sending out tacit signals that the bloom may be coming off the rose.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 10
Superbowl Showdown
Keep an eye out for our list of winners from Pick 'Em and Survival every week.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 10
Risk/Reward: Around The World In 80 Trades
More than a decade ago, Jon Auerbach and David Grayson set out to cover the entire world. What a long, strange trip it's been.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 10
Siren Song 2007
How banks are looking to inveigle investors back into the seized-up credit markets, just as $120 billion of commercial paper outside the U.S. comes due.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 10
T-Bills: Less Thrills, More Chills
Why the U.S. bond rally isn't enough to keep even the biggest backers of government debt from bailing out with a vengeance.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 10
One-Two Punch?
How many times will Fed chief Ben Bernanke have to apply the interest-rate-slicing scythe this year? Economists are now beginning to agree on that magic number.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 10
Cruel Summer Update
So, how much did August bite for hedge funds? Well, a lot.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 10
Volatility: Not Fun Anymore
There's a fine line between riding out a wave of turbulence, eyes wide open and feet firmly planted – and barely keeping your head above water as the waves crash over you. Why, for stock traders of late, it's been more of the latter.
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 10
Bond Market – Or Freak Show?
Yep, you know things are getting topsy-turvy at the Big Top when Bear Stearns's 10-year bond begins to trade at a discount to Colombia. And by that, we don't mean Colombia Goldfields – we mean that South American nation that's scraping along at barely investment grade.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 07
Superbowl Showdown 2007
Click here to see who's made the winners circle this past week at Pick 'Em and Survival. So far, no one's established total domination yet, so there’s still time to fight your way to the top.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 07
Friday Levity: Hubris Check
Digging back through the Trader Daily archive, we unearthed a copy of Custer's last letter. All in all, a good reminder of how, in both war and money, even the best-laid plans can go very, very bad.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 07
Art Class: Hang, Man
Why buy a trading-inspired museum piece? Because it's money, baby.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 07
Under The Gun: Ratings Agencies
All the juicy details on whether U.S. regulators may end up taking the big-name credit-ratings agencies out to the woodshed.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 07
Winding Up – And Down
While one is clearly funner than the other when it comes to setting up and dismantling "conduits" or short-term investment vehicles, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox is looking at the matter with a bit more cerebral probity.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 07
Belaboring Labor Data
Why the credit crisis may still not be hitting U.S. jobs data – and why that's no reason for the Fed to sit on its hands.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 07
Fatal Attraction
Why, when it comes to distressed debt, hedge funds just can't bring themselves to say no.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 07
Run Norman, Run
How our favorite Clinton-plugging, state-fleeing businessman is hoarding all the headlines again.
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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 07
Quants: The Next Generation
The money-minting Godzilla of hedge funds, Renaissance Technologies, is gearing up for its next act – and by all accounts, it's a biggie.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 06
Super Bowl Showdown 2007
Join the battle for Wall Street bragging rights and a pair of Super Bowl tickets – only the holiest of the holy grails. As the season kicks off, don’t forget to file your picks for next week’s games by Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 06
Reads: The Shining
A tale of trading chicanery, filthy lucre and shoe polish.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 06
What’s Hot: Not Banks
Surprise, surprise, U.S. bank stocks are scraping along at the bottom of the S&P 500. Still, we are proud to note that they have outperformed both motorcycle makers and housebuilders – but only just barely. That said, are they getting to be a bit of a bargain?
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 06
Chinese Checkers
The world’s fastest-growing major economy attempts yet another self-cooling maneuver.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 06
‘Dead, Dead, Dead’
That’s what one observer called the M&A market after Labor Day failed to usher in the usual flurry of deal announcements. A look at whether autumn is likely to be a key turning point – or just another dismal stretch.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 06
It’s A Central Bank Thing
How the ECB is tipping its hand after banks across the pond finally copped to how vulnerable they really are to the U.S. subprime morass.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 06
Cruel Summer
In the hit song by that title, Bananarama could have been talking about hedge fund investors when they sang, “It's too hot to handle/So I got to get up and go.” Thank God, someone else has gotten up and tallied the total funds pulled. We can’t count that high.
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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 06
Those Who Prey Together Stay Together?
Looks like the long arm of the law has squeezed still more guilty pleas out of insider-trading couples in what is turning out to be an action-packed year for this weird market niche.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 05
Super Bowl Showdown 2007
Join the battle for Wall Street bragging rights and a pair of Super Bowl tickets – only the holiest of the holy grails. Only three days left...
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 05
Pretty Boy: Mr. Right
There are methods to the madness of a San Francisco salon, which gives Bay Area traders a little California groomin'.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 05
Q: What Does Not Mix?
A: Hedge funds and the little people (you know the little people, the ones with the extra-thin pockets?). Funds: If you need these guys as your investors, you are a dog fund. Little people: If you ever get solicited by a fund, it is even worse off than you.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 05
Canned, Fired, Or Sacked
Investors in the two Bear hedge funds that blew up this summer say the bank can take its pick, so long as it gives up its powers as general partner. But how far they are willing to go to get their way?
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 05
CEOs: It's Getting Personal
For top executives, does the purchase of a McMansion or a death in the family affect their company's performance? Three finance professors do some digging – and unearth some intriguing skeletons.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 05
'Downside Risk Omninous'
The global economy's wings have been clipped, according to the OECD, which also had a gentle piece of advice for the Fed today.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 05
In Canada, Big Names Prowl
Find out which savvy bargain-hunters have been sneaking over the border since Canada's asset-backed commercial paper market took a bath.
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 05
Sacred Cow Slaughtered?
How default expectations have transformed distressed debt from market darling to well-worn scratching post in less than a year.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 04
Superbowl Showdown 2007
Join the battle for Wall Street bragging rights and a pair of Superbowl tickets – only the holiest of holy grails. You know you want to.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 04
Tunes: Door Jams
A new live set offers Jim Morrison drunk, disorderly, and disintegrating.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 04
Sentinel: The Rest Of The Story
Or some of the rest of it, anyway. The SEC, in its infinite wisdom, opted to blot out a hefty portion of the good stuff with black ink.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 04
Suprime Saga: Deep Thoughts
Does spreading out risk out actually make it easier – or harder – to handle?
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 04
Swoon Of Doom
Why hedge funds and black-box traders are fleeing the markets like rats from a ship as Treasurys fall victim to the broadest price swings anyone’s seen in three years.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 04
Bolivar's Call To Arms?
Venezuela has announced it will "relaunch" its currency, the Bolivar next year – all part of President Chavez's march to socialism – or somewhere.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 04
Revival Of The R-Word
For months, it's been uttered in hushed tones – but now the handwringers are getting a little louder.
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 04
