TABLE OF CONTENTS August 2007

Daily News

Uh Oh...

Remember when at least ten people you knew registered a domain name, became millionaires, bought expensive cars, and then the next time you met up with them, they were broke, and unemployed? Good thing those times are over! Oh wait, did you hear what Bear Stearns' CFO, Sam Molinaro, said recently? Well, he doesn't exactly have a sunny outlook on the bond and fixed income markets. "It's been as bad as I've seen it in 22 years. The fixed-income market environment we've seen in the last eight weeks has been pretty extreme," Molinaro said. 22 years? What's happened in the last 22 years? Well, there was the dot com bust in 2001. And then there was stock market fall of the 80s. And then Long-Term Capital Management tanked in 1998, which wasn't pretty, either. In other words, things are not good. > read more

Wherefore The Rate Cut? Just Look To 10-Year Notes

The question is increasingly not `will the Fed trim rates?’ – but when, and by how much? > read more

Spector is Out

Warren Spector, a co-president of Bear Stearns and their head of stock and bond trading, resigned yesterday. Though, for Spector, it reportedly was not a "you can't fire me, I quit" situation. The New York Times reported that James Cayne, the CEO, asked for Spector's resignation, adding "I can’t work with you anymore.” Spector was said to be "blindsided" by the request. However, this news likely does not come as a shock to many people following Bear Stearns: Two of their hedge funds failed last month, and Spector's departure was predicted by almost every major news outlet over this past weekend. > read more

Paris Fund Wacked By Sentinel

Paris-based Capital Fund Management (now there’s a catchy name for you) blamed the possible loss of 27% of its assets on our favorite bungling cash-management firm Sentinel. This is likely to be only the beginning of another spate of finger-pointing. > read more

Peeking At Playbook Of World’s Richest Man

Guess what floats his boat? You guessed it – legal loopholes. > read more

Bear Stearns' Cayman Plan

Bear Stearns will liquidate its two bankrupt hedge funds in the Cayman Islands - not New York. It's been reported that such a move might prevent some investors and creditors from getting funds back. Furthermore, they are asking a judge to block all lawsuits during the entire process, citing a 2005 bankruptcy law. Not only is this potentially bad news for investors, but there is more concern, as many believe this situation - if allowed to happen - can set precedent for other hedge funds. Said Evan Flaschen, a lawyer: "This is definitely going to be closely watched." > read more

Market Swings Rattle London’s Rich

And exhibit A is the housing market, where some would-be buyers are already backing out of splurging for that luxury townhouse they’d been eyeing. We expect to see more belt-tightening as City bonuses are forecast to drop as much as 15% this year. > read more

The Devil You Know – And The One You Don’t

Is it really a handful of defaults that triggered the subprime credit crunch? Or is it more likely a dearth of reliable instruments to measure market risk that’s to blame? > read more

Test Drive: Rock The Voce

Would a swank new cellphone concierge capably meet the needs of a demanding trader — or just drop the call? > read more

Blackstone Milestone

Blackstone doesn't really do it small. The latest news concerning the company is that they've managed to raise $21.7 billion for the world's biggest private equity fund. Talk about growth: This is more than triple amount they raised five years ago. As Steve Kaplan, a professor at the University of Chicago said, "The credit markets may be shut for now, but they won't be shut forever." Not surprising that Blackstone wouldn't let a little thing like a credit crisis keep it down. > read more

Friday Levity: A Tutorial In HedgeSpeak

How to write or read one of those bad-news hedgie letters that are circulating in great numbers these days. You know the ones: Rife with opaque terminology such as "challenging," "unprecedented circumstances," and (our favorite) "this isn’t a rescue" (which is to say, "this is totally a rescue!!!") Read on for more. > read more

Rally Over

The bad news was back yesterday. Not since 2002 have brokerage shares seen a worse day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell a depressing 387 points, while the S&P 500 lost 3%. To blame: The increase in overnight loan rates in addition to speculation that banks will see their credit investments shrink. The sell-off in China didn't help, either. This ended the US market's three-day rally. > read more

Future Headline: Revenge Of The `Nerds’ Redux

What do you call a market darling when he’s making scads of money and all kinds of pitiful names when he’s not (try “idiot savant” and “Nobel nerd”)? Yes, it’s the oft-celebrated, oft-panned quant jock. But we have a sneaky suspicion quants are going to have the last laugh. > read more

BOJ Nixes Rate Boost

Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui isn’t expecting much of an economic impact from the subprime mess, but it seems a bit early to us for such sweeping prognostications. > read more

Bear: Déjà Vu All Over Again?

Bear Stearns is slamming the door shut on investors trying to back out of a mortgage-investment fund, suggesting – laughably – that it’s for their own protection. Considering the diddly-squat protection Bear investors recently received in the collapse of its two hedge funds, we’re taking that to be code for "better luck next time." > read more

Sentinel? Maybe Not

Given the backlog of questions now dogging Sentinel Management’s fire sale and allegedly mishandled books, perhaps it’s now time to call the fund something else – as its name is increasingly looking like a misnomer. With the understanding that “Bungler,” “Palooka” or “Woodpusher” may come across as a tad vulgar, we’re open to suggestion. > read more

B of A Springs For Countrywide

Ka-ching! That’ll be $2 billion for one giant chunk of the bankruptcy-endangered company’s preferred stock. That not only means that Countrywide is likely to be saved from the clutches of Chapter 11, but that liquidity benefits may spill over into mortgage capital markets. > read more

The Name Is Buffett – Warren Buffet

He says he can spend money “faster than Imelda Marcos” at a shoe-store close-out sale, and we believe him. Now with a stack of $50 billion in cash, the value-minded seer of Omaha may soon turn his attention to picking the bones of the subprime debacle. > read more

Now London Bonuses Under Knife?

Subprime’s tentacles probably will not spare City bonuses, which could shrink as much as 15% this year after climbing 18% last year to a record $17.5 billion. In other words, when spoiling for your handout, just pretend it’s 2005. > read more

Bruise Cruise: More Funds Get Squeezed

Slowly but surely, the ranks of hedge funds likely infected by the subprime debacle are starting to include some really big brand names. Try Tudor Investment Corp. and Caxton Associates, for starters. > read more

Goldman’s Save

Even Jesus needed a helping hand once in awhile. After a $3 billion cash infusion (funded in part by the likes of Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, former chairman of American International Group and billionaire investor Eli Broad) the bank’s Global Equity Opportunities quant fund is finally showing signs of life. > read more

Trading Through Time – Literally

You say time travel is not possible, we say po-tah-to. But just in case it is in the near future, isn’t it nice someone else has already figured out all the ways you can slay markets once you’re in, say, the 24th century? That is, if you don’t vaporize first. > read more

Some Hedge Funds Did Well Despite Subprime Woes

An early look at July hedge fund results suggests that short selling helped some funds to rack up big profits despite the markets' woes. > read more

Long Bond Rally: Last Gasp?

The 30-year Treasury bond may soon be crushed by Fed efforts to end the calamitous carnage of the current credit crunch. (Crimney.) > read more

When To Hold ‘Em, Fold `Em

Some pearls on how to place your bets in uncertain times. (Hint: Right now is probably not ideal for sinking all you have into that cash-poor wind farm you’ve been eyeing.) > read more

Stranger Than Fiction: Tales Of A Hedge Fund Hit Man

What do you get when you mix a cabal of all-star hedge fund managers, a mysterious note mailed to an Anglican church, a "wayward" parishioner and stock play involving a Toronto insurance company? Heck if we know – but, for our money, this story is probably too weird not to be true. > read more

Spector Out?

Remember when Sam Molinaro, CFO of Bear Stearns, said today's bond market conditions are as bad as anything he's seen in more than 20 years? (If not, read the previous article.) Well, speaking of bonds: News wires and services, including Bloomberg, are running with a rumor published by the Wall Street Journal: Bear Stearns is planning on getting rid of Warren Spector, their current head of stock and bond trading. This may come as little surprise to some people, since Bear Stearns managed two hedge funds that both failed last month. The board of Bear Stearns is reportedly set to meet today to discuss the matter. Spector has been on board at Bear Stearns for his entire career; he is also a president, and he holds a seat on the board - something he earned when he was 30. > read more

Fast Food Sells

Usually they sell hamburgers, chicken nuggets, and French fries. But yesterday, McDonald's announced it was selling Boston Market. Sorry hungry dealmakers, the deal is done. McDonald's did not disclose who the buyer is, but the agreement, which is reported to be definitive, is now signed. As of now, McDonalds has said it expects that the sale will not result in a financial loss. > read more

More On Business…And Pleasure

When it comes to fatal attraction, there’s the Glenn Close rabbit-boiling kind, the Shannen Doherty Lifetime-movie please-marry-me kind and then, our favorite, the insider-trading and getting caught with your pants down (metaphorically) kind. The latter being the one to increasingly grab headlines of late. > read more

Threat Alert: Terror vs Subprime

Three guesses and the first two don’t count which is seen as the greater obstacle by economists. (No word yet on whether the evildoers are also running into debt- and financing-related issues…) > read more

Frozen Bonds

The market for high-grade corporate bonds is totally locked up, says the Associated Press. This is bad for both companies, who issue new bonds as a source for capital, and for investors, who buy them as investments. It's kind of a self-perpetuating thing: The more people stay away, the less bonds are actually issued (last week, there was only one, and it was from General Electric, a AAA rated company). As a result, corporate deals get delayed, stocks fall, and more money comes out of the market. The money has to be going somewhere, though. In addition to under the mattress, investors are diverting their money to government bonds. > read more

Icahn’s Biotech Play

Never too proud to learn from a master, Trader Daily is watching closely as Icahn, a former student of medicine, scampers for shares of what he sees as undervalued biotech companies. His latest purchase? A $146.59-million stake in industry stalwart, Biogen. > read more

In The Club

Velvet ropes part, locked doors open, manna falls from heaven and you are generally revered by the public when you drive a Supercar. I have now confirmed these earlier suspicions since having a Ferrari F360 Spider for a weekend courtesy of Manhattan Classic Car Club and RBC Capital Markets. > read more

A Less-Than-Eloquent Hail Mary

How a simple appeal to the White House over the subprime debacle by the manager of the world’s biggest bond fund became bizarrely apocalyptic with half-cocked references to flash floods and Death Valley. > read more

Yay Bond Market

Remember all that commentary about the bond market being totally locked up? Guess what: It's unlocked. Tuesday marked the busiest day in a month for the bond market, as 13 companies sold and renewed bonds. Leading the pack where Kraft and Bear Stearns, who sold $2.25 billion worth of bonds. The big day followed word from the Fed that the economy is still likely to expand. Jeff Ebert, a portfolio manager said, "the market is clearly open for business." Clearly! > read more

Divorce Bull Market Nigh?

With the market in a tizzy and bonuses across Wall Street on the chopping block, the down-low on what sort of advice divorce lawyers are offering the upwardly mobile on cutting their losses. Reader beware – it’s not pretty. > read more

Is This Bull?

A report by InsiderScore.com says that despite all the sell-offs, fear, and volatility, market insiders have been sending bullish signals. An article by the Associated Press, published by Forbes, said that according to InsiderScore.com, "insider sentiment has been firmly bullish throughout the market gyrations, driven by broad-based buying activity." This could suggest that the sell-off is lasting longer than it should, and a turnaround could happen anytime. Let's see how good this "insider" information is. > read more

Just `Cuz It’s Easy To Buy…

…Doesn’t mean it’s easy to sell. Just ask Nasdaq, whose appetite might have been a tad too big for its stomach. > read more

Not Your Father’s Subprime Disaster

From banks to railroads to chemical producers to insurance companies, the worst U.S. housing slump in 16 years has wreaked havoc on many a company and its earnings. For those shrugging off the subprime debacle as a contained one-off, think again. > read more

RIP: Consumer Confidence

Say bye-bye to the six-year high in consumer confidence. A peek at why Americans are feeling precipitously less wealthy. > read more

Burn, Baby, Burn

Money, that is. (What else?) And these days, Carlyle Group, whose mortgage fund is on the wane, can tell you a thing or two about how to stretch the almighty dollar. > read more

Junk Gets Its Groove Back?

Why the worst debt could still be the best around. > read more

So, You Think You Know Football?

All right piker, maybe you can pick stocks, but can you pick a football team that actually wins once in awhile? Test your wits against other great minds on Wall Street in our annual Trader Bowl. You know you want to. > read more

NYMEX To Shut Trading Floor?

Looking to cut costs, there are even rumors the world's largest energy exchange may move its languishing floor to New Jersey. Though we posit a switch from NYMEX to NJMEX would be pretty lame. > read more

Quant Conundrum: Still Ironing Out The Kinks?

Quant funds run by top names (Goldman, Renaissance Technologies, D. E. Shaw, to name a few) have had their pound of flesh taken out of them in the subprime downdraft. And yet many of these were supposed to be “market neutral,” or impervious to volatility. Looks like that fantasy may still be far from reality. > read more

Cell Side: Ask The Dream Doctor

Imprisoned by doubt, one trader who quit his job to strike out on his own has yet to break free. > read more

Ex-Goldman Exec Cops To Insider Trading

How a Goldman associate allegedly netted $6.7 million with a little help from a junior analyst at Merrill Lynch, a Croatian underwear seamstress, two former employees of a BusinessWeek printing plant in Wisconsin and – of course – an exotic dancer. > read more

Cheyne’s Exeunt?

Just one of the many ways the global credit crunch is making yet another hedge fund turn into pretzel shapes. > read more

Russian Industrialists To Putin: Game Over

Sure, playing Stalin is fun for awhile – taking over energy resources, creating "national champions" in aerospace and shipping, seizing automobile plants – but after awhile, you’ve gotta’ wonder whether it’s all really good for business. Behold, the earful businessmen are now giving their esteemed president. > read more

Another One Bites the Dust

American Home Mortgage Investment, the troubled mortgage lender based in Melville, N.Y., will close today, making it the latest company to fail this year as loans made to home buyers, some even with solid credit histories, go bad. > read more

Who’s Killing Off Bill Gates?

Supposedly Renaissance Capital, according to one recent remark from Paul Kedrosky on his Infectious Greed blog. Read on for how Wikipedia is supposedly being used as the killing ground. > read more

It's A Golden Time!

Remember when today's market turmoil was compared to the worst financial times in more than 20 years? Well, actually: don't panic. The sell-off is not serious. In fact, it's a downright great opportunity. At least, that's what David Richards, a fund managaer and one of Barron's favorite interview subjects, says. Barron's once again interviewed David Richards. This time they asked him his thoughts about the panic that seems to be threatening the markets. Seekingalpha posted a helpful summary/annotated version of the article, and wrote that Richards' view is that "capitalism is bringing almost four billion new consumers into the global economy -- which should stimulate a 20 to 40% growth boom similar to the Industrial Revolution." So basically, don't worry about these so-called panics - they're just a drop in the bucket compared to the global emergence of capitalism. Feel better now? > read more

Bear: The Cayman Connection

Don’t you just hate it when you want to reorganize your hedge funds in the Caribbean and your jealous, tropical-island-loathing judge takes his sweet time with the rubber stamp? > read more

China: Not One For Small Gestures

Nope, when China decides to start up a $200 billion investment company, it likes to get the party started right. > read more

Hennessee Cleared

It appeared that Hennessee Group might have been in some hot water regarding the defunct hedge fund, Bayou. But now, they're in the clear. Hennessee put millions of dollars of its clients' money into Bayou. The problem was, Bayou lied about its performance. Henessee was then sued, with the plaintiff saying they should have known something was amiss when conducting their due diligence on Bayou. But, the judge thought otherwise, and the case was thrown out. > read more

So, You Think You Know Football?

All right piker, maybe you can pick stocks, but can you pick a football team that actually wins once in awhile? Test your wits against other great minds on Wall Street in our annual Trader Bowl. You know you want to. > read more

Fed Spares The Hike, Says Something Nice

As the market sells off and deals are delayed, analysts are quick to posit their theories and predictions. Typically absent from all the talk of whether the sky is falling, or how right now is one big golden opportunity for the buy-side, is how the US Federal Reserve feels. They haven't exactly said anything comforting directly about trading. However, they did mention that they believe the economy will keep expanding. And traders loved it. Stocks soared yesterday upon that utterance, and the lack of a rate increase (which was expected). > read more

150 Grand Well Spent: Sound Investment

This boffo stereo system (always use the word, "boffo," whenever and wherever possible) may rock your wallet, but it also will rock your world. > read more

'Seeing Blood'

Even as Australia's Basis Capital scampers to secure bankruptcy protection for its $100-million Basis Yield Alpha Fund, some brave souls are pointing to a light at the end of the subprime tunnel. > read more

They've Got It Figured Out

When everything around you is failing, what can you do? How about this: Get really really rich. Forbes has identified a group of banks who have not only endured the recent market and economic turmoil, but who are making big bucks on it. It wasn't just smart trades. Through CDS Index, which is owned by 16 financial institutions, banks created indexes just in time for the "meltdown." They say they were simply responding to clients' needs. But, the timing is uncanny, shrewd, complicated, and overall quite fascinating. > read more

Yen Pops On Distant Woes

How one seemingly localized event’s knock-on effects can spread to another corner of the world like wildfire. > read more

Simons Says

What James Simons’s monster hedge fund has to say about the scuttlebutt going around about a stake sale on the sly. > read more

SIVs Get The Shiv

The Royal Bank of Scotland is boldly putting an estimate on the total value of commercial paper that will eventually meet with a fire sale before the subprime disaster is over. Why isolated fire sales are fast turning into a CP bonfire. > read more

Quantifiable Losses

Numbers may not lie, but that doesn't mean they make the best trading decisions. "Quant Funds" are funds whose investment decisions are determined by mathematical calculations and algorithms. Seems logical enough: crunch numbers, take emotion out of it. But quant funds run by Highbridge Capital Management, Goldman Sachs Group, and Tykhe Capital are losing money so far for August. But maybe it's all part of the equation... > read more

For Harvard, Sowood Not Sogood

The university that prides itself in training some of the world’s top money managers just took a bath on the foundering of hedge fund Sowood Capital Management – to the tune of $350 million. Or roughly the equivalent of what 1,750 undergrads will pay this year to get their diplomas. > read more

On IPOs, Insiders And Gravy Trains

It’s a combo as old as time – like ignorance and bliss, high school and bad lunches, Lindsay Lohan and drunk driving – but is it getting toxic? > read more

NY Businessman’s Comeuppance?

A cautionary tale on how, if you’ve only just started making political campaign donations over the past few years, you might want to refrain from attempting to game the system until you’ve gotten past amateur hour. > read more

Cojones Q&A: Downward Trend

Find out how competitive cliff diver Frederic Weill stays equally adept at flinging himself into the markets. (Let’s just say trading isn’t wholly unlike hitting the water at 55 mph…) > read more

If You Have A Yen… For Yen

A fight may be brewing over the undervalued yen, but Japan is not likely to be easily swayed. After all, it doesn't spend the equivalent of Indonesia's annual gross domestic product on driving down its own currency for nothing. > read more

The Fed’s ‘No Confidence’ Vote

Behold, the Fed’s move to cut rates on direct loans has done little to stem the bloodletting of the financial system, as yields on short-term T-bills target a 19-year low. Is Bernanke running out of arrows in his quiver? > read more

Shocker: Study Slams Hedgie Pay

Call us callous n’er-do-wells, but we here at Trader Daily aren’t terribly concerned that last year top hedge fund managers pocketed 22,255 times more than the average American worker. (Is that all? Quick, call the remuneration police). But as statistics junkies, we cannot resist any report that combines two of our favorite things: metrics and money. > read more

Homeless? Don’t Let That Stop You From Bidding On Sony

For an itinerant who has lived in a homeless shelter and traveled on Greyhound buses, would-be rainmaker Lawrence Niren thinks pretty big. Why being short of cash need not stop a clever man from causing a lot of commotion. > read more

Turmoil in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Can You Say "Bubble"?

The U.S. subprime-market rout that wiped out $2.1 trillion from global share values last week has "got a long way to go," said Jim Rogers, who predicted the start of the commodities rally in 1999. > read more

Bush Bail-Out – Or Bust?

Make no mistake, it's the Bush administration to the rescue to stem the bloodletting of the subprime crisis. 'Cuz it’s so good at things like this. > read more

Don't Resist the Lock

Remember when that "lock up" you agreed to left a bad taste in your mouth? The Economist reports that you ought to be feeling pretty lucky for agreeing to it in the first place. Sure, the "lock up" (which says that investors can't take their money out for a certain period of time, most often between one and three years) was originally a way for hedge funds to side-step transparency rules. But, the Economist points out with shaky markets, being locked-up can be a good thing: "an investor is likely to earn about 1% more per year when choosing a three-year lock-up over a more liquid one-year lock-up," they wrote. And as for hedge fund managers, lock-ups continue to pay off. After all, when the markets go south, "investors tend to sell what they can, rather than what they should," says the Economist. That's almost poetic. > read more

Checking Up On Insana

What happens when a CNBC commentator (Ron Insana) turns aspiring hedgie (launching Insana Capital Management)? We don't know either, but there's no shortage of speculation on the financial blogs. > read more

Coming Clean, Heels Dragging

The SEC is getting medieval on nearly 300-some-odd companies whose compensation disclosures didn't quite make the grade. Read on for the top names to make the dreaded blacklist. > read more

Best Quote of the Day

In the short term, news is going to be gloomy for those investors who have their money in hedge funds, still hedge funds will likely do better than other industries when it comes to riding out the roughness. Of course, that doesn't mean they won't lose money. The award for Best Quote Of The Day goes to Reuters for nabbing this one from an analyst at CreditSights: ""Investors are about to find out just how their managers fared in the face of the latest financial hurricane and the response of many of them is likely to be, 'well, if you've lost that much of my money, you can give the rest of it back.'" Ouch. > read more

Fed Loan Party’s Over

Remember how we said the Fed’s discount window was busier than a kissing booth on Valentine's Day? Well, that was sooo last week. Here’s the latest about-face. > read more

Rumor With Some Basis?

Bear Stearns is battling rumors that it has bought Ford's Automotive Finance Company, based in India, as the Economic Times has reported. However, don't write it off as an impossibility. It could happen. The company has said that it wants to grow its presence there, and they've confirmed they are in advanced talks with the company. However, a spokesperson for Bear Stearns said "it's too early to confirm the outcome." > read more

Hello, India!

Wal-Mart is coming to India. The American retailing behemoth struck a deal with the India-based Bharti Enterprises to make it happen. Those of you who are Indian-law-savvy will wonder how Wal-Mart is doing this since India does not allow foreign multi-brand retailers to sell directly to its citizenry. That would be a good question, and the crux of the deal: With Bharti, Wal-Mart is opening wholesale outlets that will sell to the retailers. But, if you compare how Wal-Mart was in the US when it first started to how is now, you will probably be right in thinking that this might just be the beginning for Wal-Mart in India. > read more

Doctor's Orders: Nocturnal Omission

You may be a master of markets, but too little sleep can turn you into a walking zombie. Find out if a lack of shut-eye is killing you. > read more

Banks Save The Day

A rally in banks and securities firms was the saving grace on Wall Street yesterday. Such news as the rumor that Bear Stearns would get a capital injection helped bring nearly $369 billion back to the S&P 500. That added up to over a 4.5% advance. Bear Stearns, specifically, witnessed its shares climb more in a single day than they have since 1998. > read more

Friday Levity: Back To Sleep, Piker

Turns out the hysterical fearmongering over so-called 'Bin Laden trades' is probably in vain. So you can stop making those plans to move to Toledo. > read more

Buffett Rides The Rails; Rails Love It

When Warren Buffett gets on board with something, it can have a pretty big impact on the stock. Such is the case for railroads. Earlier this week it was revealed that Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake in Burlington Northern Santa Fe, adding 1.6 million shares to the 39 million it already owns. As a result, Burlington Northern gained big, as did CSX Corportation, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific. Randy Cousins, an analyst, said that Buffetts interest "sends a message, which is that that there is value here." > read more

Tough Times For Devaney

Kicking arse in the hedge fund world? Always fun. Getting your arse kicked back? Not so much. > read more

Merger Arbitrage Funds Take Beating

The credit crunch is the anti-gift that just keeps on taking. The latest parade it's rained on are merger arbitrage hedge funds. These funds' performances are dependent on the performance of the merged or acquired companies which they follow. According to Hedge Fund Research, merger arbitrage hedge funds lost over 2% during July. If the credit crisis hits harder, August might bring worse numbers. > read more

Aussie Subprime Carnage Continues…

The spanker: Global credit markets – what else? The spankee: Macquarie’s Fortress Investments Ltd. high-yield fund – the third Aussie fund manager in recent days to send up a distress signal as the U.S. subprime snafu spirals further out of control. > read more

You Know It's Bad When

How bad is the credit crisis? Well, you've got to figure it's pretty bad when 9/11 starts appearing alongside it in articles. The Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and others pledged more and more cash in credit crisis damage control efforts. The Fed already promised $38 billion, and said it would give more "as necessary." Reporters for Bloomberg say that such a statement is "unprecedented since after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks." The comparison is correct: Not since September 12, 2001 has the Fed purchased so much in temporary funds. > read more

Banks Masking Subprime Losses?

That's what a lot of investors think. And those financial institutions bleating that nothing at all is amiss are the ones whose stocks at taking the biggest hits. Coincidence? We think not. > read more

The Ask: Seeing Green

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, incidentally, make his employers a bundle. > read more

Banks Give Cash, Help Stocks

The European Central Bank pumped yet more cash into the system yesterday even though they said that the market situation was "normalizing." The ECB gave another 47 billion euros to banks who've been pounded by the global credit crisis. Last week, the ECB put 156 billion euros into the banking system. In addition to the money, the ECB made optimistic remarks about market conditions and said that "the supply of aggregate liquidity is ample." Meanwhile, stateside, the Fed kicked in some cash as well, announcing $2 billion in repurchasing. Traders welcomed the moves, and stocks rose with the introduction of the additional liquidity. > read more

NYMEX Goes Green

The New York Mercantile Exchange Inc. said on Thursday it plans to launch a futures contract based on an index of alternative energy companies on its Globex electronic trading platform to help investors gain exposure to the growing sector. > read more

A Look Ahead: Private Markets

While investors take cash from the public markets, some major firms gear up for the launch of their private markets. Nasdaq's Port Market launches today. Take Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers: They say that next month, trading will start on their mutually-maintained market called OPUS-5 (it's an acronym: Open Platform for Unregistered Securities). The Bank of New York Mellon will play admin to it. They're not the first ones, though. DealBook reminds us that "[earlier] this year, Goldman Sachs opened GSTrUE, which now lists shares in Oaktree Capital Management and Apollo Management." Looking ahead, Bear Stearns has announced that it has founded its own market called Best Markets. One wonders: Shouldn't it be called Bear Markets? > read more

Gloomy Forecasts Rain On Stocks

Yesterday, the dim outlooks issued by Wal-Mart and Home Depot had an effect on not only Wall Street, but other markets, as well. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over one and a half percent. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 closed down 1.2%, pretty much wiping out any gains it made on Monday. Analysts blame information that Home Depot and Wal-Mart gave in their earnings forecasts, which said that a weak housing market means less profits. > read more

Done Deal

Remember when Chrysler was sold to Cerberus? Well, that deal is now officially complete. Volatile loan markets had presented an unexpected obstacle when a $12 billion loan was postponed. But with good old fashioned teamwork, DaimlerChrysler and Cerberus pulled it off. Reuters summarizes the agreement: "Cerberus would subscribe $2 billion of second-lien debt for Chrysler's automotive business, to be drawn within 12 months and priced at market conditions. DaimlerChrysler's portion would be $1.5 billion..." DaimlerChrysler does have the ability to sell the loan. In addition to the financing deal, DaimlerChrysler said it is reducing its board of management to six members. > read more

Aimless But Active

Stocks have been somewhat rudderless since Friday's trouble. But even though there wasn't any clear direction yesterday, traders were still willing to make what Forbes called "big bets." Big bets like selling off Bear Stearns after they told their head of stock and bond trading, Warren Spector. Their stock fell more than 7%. > read more

Fee Slashing, Carrot Dangling

You've got to give a little to get a little. And that's exactly what Goldman Sachs is doing to get investors back after their Global Equity Opportunity fund lost nearly 30%. The firm is cutting fees for new investors. Out goes the 2% management charge, and the performance fee is getting sliced in half. You know what they say: buy low. Maybe they were referring to fees. > read more

Paulson Pulls In Huge Gain

What's all this talk about failed hedge funds, credit crunches, and sell-offs? If you've got money in the Paulson Credit Opportunities Fund, things are looking pretty darn good right about now. So far this year, the fund has gained a whopping 303%. So don't let all the bad news lately get you down. As one analyst (Mathieu Klein of Darius Capital Partners) put it: "There are many opportunities created by this market." Paulson apparently found some. > read more

Rose To Blackstone

This is developing into a nice little drama. Blackstone's taken on Goldman's former PR guy, Peter Rose. It's been rumored that Blackstone and Goldman have been enduring a riff as buyout competition has gotten tighter, and maybe because Goldman has some bitterness that Blackstone's significantly smaller tax bill has helped their numbers look much better than Goldman's. But now with how much they've spent on lobbyist coming out, and with their share price enduring some dips since its IPO, Blackstone is looking for some good PR. Interesting they went to Goldman to get it. An act of aggression, or is it humble? > read more

Dumped

Massey's stock is getting dumped. To date (and mostly in the last nine days), the hedge fund, Third Point, sold off 3.3 million shares of the coal company's stock. This comes after they relinquished two seats on Massey's board. All of this started a month and a half ago, when Massey's CEO, Daniel Loeb, stepped down. That was when Third Point started selling shares. However, Third Point still controls 1.5 million shares - a little less than 2% of the company. > read more

Decoding The Market

As the Fed takes a gradualist approach to greasing market liquidity, investors are looking to the stock market routs of 1987 and 1998 for clues as to what may lie ahead. > read more

Another Falling Fund

Goldman Sachs is getting a lot of attention lately, but not too much of the good kind. A day after the firm fought rumors that it was closing down its Global Alpha fund due to poor performance, another one of its funds turned in a sad showing prompting yet more speculation. Their fund, North American Equity Opportunities, is reportedly down more than 15% so far this year. As for closing that fund, Goldman made no comment. > read more

Yen Gets Boost, Carry Trade Sags

As the tally of hedge funds suffering from the subprime debacle adds up (and we are only giving the highlights here – the list runs long and the picture is rather bleak) the yen is showing signs of life, prompting traders to trim their carry trades. > read more

Get Excited!

Michele Steele, an anchor for Forbes Video Network says, "I am pretty excited about next week" (meaning, this week). This comes amidst some of the most market turmoil we've seen since the dot com bubble turned into a downward spiral of financial death. So, why's she eager? She points out it's a big week coming up with Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Deere, WCI Communities and Hewlett-Packard reporting their numbers. But will those numbers be strong enough to stop people from running for the hills (or more accurately, government bonds)? We should know more by mid-week. In the meantime, at least someone's excited... > read more

Enron's Pound Of Flesh

Former investors of the energy giant are still clamoring for restitution – chiefly for the kind that lets them sue third parties (like banks) linked to any marauding, defrauding companies (er, like Enron). > read more

If You Can Pronounce It, We Salute You

That is, the first name and surname of J.P. Morgan Chase’s chief equity strategist, Abhijit Chakrabortti, that dyed-in-the-wool market bear who just jumped ship to join Morgan Stanley. > read more

Global Equity Opportunities Gets Fresh Cash

Goldman Sachs' Global Equity Opportunities Fund is getting a little help. Well, actually, a lot of help: The firm is injecting $2 billion into it, saying they are looking to give the fund's managers "more flexibility to take advantage of the opportunities we believe exist in current market conditions." In addition to the added cash from Goldman, the famed trader Maurice "Hank" Greenberg and Eli Broad are putting $1 billion into the fund, as well. It's been reported that the fund has lost 28% so far this year. But maybe $3 billion can turn it around. > read more

Time to Update Your Insider Trading Scorecard?

The SEC has filed about 35 insider trading cases so far this fiscal year, which started October 1. Here's a chronology of key insider trading prosecutions so far. > read more

More Billions

For those of you keeping track of just how much money the banks are issuing in an effort to offset the credit market turmoil, go ahead and mark another $10.5 billion in the European Central Bank box on your scorecard. ECB issued the cash yesterday. That makes $288 billion total issued since last Thursday. As a result, the ECB says "money market conditions are now close to normal." But they might still have to do some "fine tuning." > read more

Liquid Asset

Remember how In Dr Strangelove, General Ripper goes on and on about precious bodily fluids and water? It's so precious, he's willing to go to war over it. That was all satire, but water is serious business. The New York Times' blog, DealBook, talks about how, lately, water firms have been getting attention, and now there's big money flowing into them. For instance, the hedge fund, Plainfield Asset Management, just invested $25 million into Clean Water Compliance Services, which is a company that develops systems and technologies that clean run-off water before returning it back to the rest of the world. Traditionally, it's alternative energies that get the all the attention. But, the tide may be turning. Martin LaMonica called water "a huge potential market." Plainfield Asset Management clearly thought the same. > read more

Chrysler Gets New CEO

He used to be the chief executive of Home Depot, but now he's been given that title at Chrysler. He's Robert Nardelli, and he's part of Cerberus' plan to get Chrysler back on the road to profit and success. Nardelli has no auto industry experience, which prompted John Wolkonowicz of Global Insight to comment, "What Cerberus is telling us here is that this is not going to be business as usual." Insightful. > read more

Private Equity Is Still Awesome

Reports of the death of private equity by way of the credit crisis have been greatly exaggerated, says CNNMoney. The big investors "are still plowing money into buyout funds," says an article they published yesterday. In it, they cite this statistic: Private equity has already raised $139 billion this year so far. Last year, $212 billion, but that number is set to be exceeded. They say that while the credit crunch might hurt the huge blockbuster deals, there are still a great deal of opportunities and returns to be generated. > read more

Amazon Invests In Music

t's rather fun to watch the music industry try to figure out what to do about music sales, downloading, etc. One of the latest things is a new site called AmieStreet.com, which is a combination online music store and social networking site. It allows its users to rank songs and set the price of the download. What's interesting is that it has some pretty big backing moneywise: Amazon.com is leading the investment in AmieStreet.com. Amazon's VP of business development said, "The idea of having customers directly influence the price of songs is an interesting and novel approach to selling digital music." > read more

CFC Takes Huge Loan

Countrywide Financial Corp has gone all the way and taken advantage of its entire $11.5 billion bank credit line. A total of 40 banks provided the emergency loan. CFC has been in the news lately as Merril Lynch suggested that the lender might be close to bankruptcy. This move did not exactly result in any new inspiration. Christopher Wolfe of Fitch Ratings said "When a company draws on its bank lines, it just basically gives off the impression that it has run out of options." > read more

Evil July For Hedge Funds

The final trading week in July was the worst week in four years for hedge funds worldwide. This became apparent when the Hedge Fund Research's index of investible hedge funds fell over 3% for that week. There are many reasons people are attributing the fall to, but Kevin Harrington, the research director at Clarium Capital (a hedge fund that did not suffer) offered his views on it, saying that the funds that got hit hard had "long lock-ups, and it was the margin calls that triggered their crisis. Once that starts, it's a daisy chain." > read more

Bernanke’s ‘Rookie Mistake’?

By trimming the discount rate and sounding the alarm over potential threats to the economy, Bernanke effectively scrapped the FOMC’s economic-outlook statement from its Aug. 7 meeting. Now what? > read more

ECB's Big Loan Could Scare Some

The European Central Bank took an astonishing approach in dealing with the credit crunch. Though they called it a "fine-tuning operation," the ECB lent out 94.8 billion euros ($130 billion) yesterday to banks. While there was certainly a demand for cash, some wonder if the move will be counterproductive. Peter Lynch, who is chairman of Private Active Capital in Dublin, said, "The ECB is treating this like an emergency; it might make traders even more afraid." > read more

Inflation: A Fading Hobgoblin?

Okay, so maybe the whole subprime thing has not gone so well. That’s true. But every silver lining has a cloud. And the silver lining now is that rampant worries about rising prices are finally abating. > read more

A Tough Month, Indeed

Can Europe reverse its four-week streak of market losses? Experts can't quite say for sure. Take Toby Nagle of Baring Asset Management: "We are not quite sure where it will end. We might see a major economic impact," he said. Wondering what an "economic impact" is? Well, it's been estimated that already nearly $2.7 trillion has been lost in the markets globally. So if that doesn't count as an economic impact, it's rather frightening to even think of what would count as one. > read more

Credit Suisse Posts Record Trading Income

Its secret weapon: Anticipating the subprime rout as long ago as the second quarter of 2006. We just want to know, head of CS trading Brady Dougan, how does it feel to whup all the other i-banks and hedge funds? Give us a call. We'll do lunch. > read more

Icahn, WCI Make Nice

The carnage of hostile takeover attempts, poison pills and board-gutting has finally ended. Just when it was getting exciting. > read more

Dutch Finance Ministry OKs Barclays

Barclays has the OK from the Dutch Finance Ministry in its bid to buy ABN Amro. In a statement, the Ministry said, "a possible merger of Barclays and ABN AMRO raises no objections from Finance Minister Wouter Bos." What remains to be seen, however, is whether or not Barclays 64 billion euro bid will win out. A consortium of banks led by the Royal Bank of Scotland might have the more attractive offer: 71 billion euros. The RBS-led group says it will hear from the Dutch Finance Ministry by mid-September. > read more

Sentinel Seeks To Freeze

Sentinel Management Group handles $1.6 billion of investors' money. But it's seeking to halt withdrawals until, according to a letter from the firm, it "can honor them in an orderly fashion." Sentinel claims it put in a request to take this action with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. However, regulators claim they never received such a request. Anyway, says the CFTC, it's not even their call as to whether or not they can freeze redemptions. > read more

And Then There Were Three...

Nestle is no longer a AAA rated company. Their rating was downgraded by both Moody's Investor Service and Fitch Ratings. The move came after the company initiated a 25 billion Swiss franc buyback. That leaves only three companies with the coveted AAA rating: Johnson & Johnson, Toyota Motor Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. > read more

Goldman Fights Rumors

Don't believe the rumors! At least, that's what Goldman Sachs says. They're denying that they have plans to liquidate their Global Alpha hedge fund. Sources, said to be traders, told Reuters that in addition to closing the fund, yesterday, the fund was selling off its positions in Continental, EADS, and Fiat. Goldman would not comment on that. > read more

China Won't Sell Dollar, They Say

China claims it won't be selling off its reserves of the US dollar. Zhou Whenzong, a Chinese ambassador, told Charles Grassley (a senator from Iowa, who is also a member of the Senate Finance Committee) that "China does not have the plan to drastically adjust the structure of its foreign reserve." Such an action was a rumored threat in response to when the US warned China that it might impose tariffs unless China allowed the yuan to appreciate compared to the dollar. > read more

Underpaid At $70 Million

In a sign of how hedge funds may soon force banks to change their pay models to keep top talent, Mark McGoldrick, star dealmaker at Goldman, has struck out on his own after failing to convince the bank to embrace the same 2 and 20 remuneration standards that have been minting billionaires at rival firms. > read more

More To The Story?

Home Depot's shares took a bad hit yesterday - they lost nearly 5%. The reason: The company's professional supply unit will only be sold for $10.3 billion. And the reason for that? Home Depot says that it's the credit crunch (what's NOT the credit crunch's fault?). However, the New York Times' DealBook says, "we're still skeptical." They say that the private equity firms who are buying the business (Bain Capital, The Carlyle Group, and Clayton Dubilier and Rice) should not be so affected by the credit crunch. DealBook suspects that homebuilding is down, and as such so is the revenue generated by the professional supply unit. > read more

On Weathering Vicissitudes… And Stuff

Turns out Thailand’s king is also its No. 1 stock investor. Now what were the chances of that? > read more

Spot The Trouble

These days, people aren't looking for golden opportunities. Instead, they're trying to figure out who's in trouble. It's a game of guess-the-fund-and/or-bank-with-the- bad-loans. After all, it's not just the financial institutions nowadays who take on the debt. Due to transparency issues, bad rumors and uncertain numbers, it's getting increasingly difficult to anticipate who's going to suffer the most. Christopher Whalen of Institutional Risk Analysis says, "I don’t think any of the regulators have a handle on where the net exposure of subprime is." > read more

Best Hotel Penthouse

From the historic grandiosity of the Waldorf Astoria to the dazzling modernity of the Burj Al Arab, join our fierce debate over which hotel penthouses rank among the very best. > read more

Subprime Delirious Conspirious?

As everyone knows, conspiracies are happening all the time, everywhere – even in the bone-dry subprime market. For those in search of more evidence of pusillanimous pussyfooting in this sector, your hunt may be over... > read more

Huizengas vs Hedge Fund

One of Chicago's wealthiest and most prominent families, the Huizengas, is taking Ritchie Capital Management, a hedge fund, to court. The family invested over $10 million into the fund, and they allege that the hedge fund told them it was well-diversified and performing well. Turns out, the fund wasn't at all diversified. Instead, it was focused almost exclusively on "death bonds," and the fund tanked (the article includes one of the saddest charts ever). Richie Capital said they had no obligation diversify. The family says they were misled. Analysts say it's an important case, as it could be one to set a precedent in these days of investors running scared from unanticipated losses, and wondering if they are entitled to compensation. > read more

A For Adventure: How to Brag at Water Coolers and Dinner Parties

"This bruise? Its from holding an anaconda. We went hunting for them in the Pantanal in Brazil, along with fishing for Piranha." Insights on adventure from TraderDaily.com's exotic travel column. > read more

Fortress Pays For Its Compensation

Fortress Investment Group did not have good news yesterday. They reported $55 milion in losses, up from $42 million one year ago. That Fortress did not post good numbers isn't so much of a surprise. What is news, however, is the reason why their losses grew. Don't blame the credit crisis, say experts. Instead, take a look at how much they're paying employees. Indeed, with salaries and benefits up $87 million from one year ago, it's the compensation that played anchor to the numbers. > read more

Out of Bounds

Remember when games were just games? For example, golf. Some people really have a love for the game, and all that goes with it. Take John Paul Newport. This weekend he wrote a column about life on the links that includes such uplifting yarns about someone he was playing with who "felt compelled to narrate every shot," which in turn compelled Newport to "wrap the club that hit the shot around the commentator's neck." Ah yes, just another stress-free day playing golf... > read more

Norsk Chairman Forced Out

Jan Reinås, the chairman of Norsk Hydro, says he was "stabbed in the back" after he was forced to step down. The controversy came after the company ended its stock option program, but then paid out a much larger salary to Reinås to compensate for it. The stock option program has closed due to a restructuring that is occuring as they merge with Statoil, its rival. > read more

Nice Alternative

Switzerland-based Partners Group, an asset management company worth over $18 billion, has a uniquely sunny outlook. They say that the current market conditions, including the credit crisis, have had "no material impact" on its forecast. The company puts its money in global alternative assets and seems to indicate the current market situation is helping them. The firm says the "structural trend to higher allocations to alternative assets will be reinforced in periods of market turbulence." > read more

Moody's Dire Warning

Moody's investor service has made a rather frightening warning to those who have any stake in the hedge fund industry. Chris Mahoney, a vice-chairman of Moody's, said "a possible consequence of the repricing of risk assets would be the failure and disorderly liquidation of a hedge fund or other institution of sufficient size as to disrupt markets." He likened it to the LTCM collapse in 1998. Hedge funds did not take the comment lightly. Colin Negrych of Barclays shot back "I'm certain there is at least one major hedge fund out there at least as rightly concerned about a collapse in Moody's as the other way around." > read more

Yesterday Was A Good Day

Look at that: As subprime tension eases, the stocks rise. Not only did banks give good performances yesterday, but so did some companies in the tech industry, such as Cisco, who raised their expectations. A government report came out that showed that wholesale sales rose more quickly than retail inventories. It was a good day yesterday as, generally, risk looks lighter. Can it maintain? > read more

Trader Monthly’s 30 Under 30

The future of trading is now. Feast your eyes on our annual round-up of the top young guns tearing up the markets. After scouring every corner of the trading world and sifting through hundreds of candidates — most of them nominated by you, our readers — Trader Monthly submits, for your approval, our annual roundup of the top trading talent age 30 or younger. Our third 30 Under 30 club, it is by far our best, an eclectic group spanning all manner of gender, ethnicity, geography, product space and trading technique. Such diversity, mind you, was not preordained; our picks were based solely on money, pedigree and skills — although we did afford extra credit to those brave souls who trade their own dough. > read more

Best Hotel Penthouse

From the historic grandiosity of the Waldorf Astoria to the dazzling modernity of the Burj Al Arab, join our fierce debate over which hotel penthouses rank among the very best. > read more

Global Alpha's Big Loss

Goldman's Global Alpha hedge fund has not been getting much good press lately. In fact, rumors have been flying that Goldman might yank the fund due to its poor performance. They've denied those rumors, but some are wondering exactly how poor the performance has been. Bloomberg has put a number on it. They are reporting that, according to people with knowledge of the fund, Global Alpha has lost 26% so far this year. With losses like that, Goldman may not have to bother pulling it as more and more people run from the losses. > read more

Fight!

The Extell Wall Street Boxing Charity Championship is on, folks! Yes, it might sound like a new reality television show, but this is for real. And it's live! We're talking about financial professionals boxing each other. You really can't miss this. Anyway, it's got to be good: We're sponsoring it. > read more

Get On The Web...Quick!

The clock is ticking, says the London Stock Exchange. The LSE warns that companies listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) must have a website. If they don't have one in less than one-week's time, they will be de-listed. Furthermore, it's not enough to simply have a home on the web. The companies must also abide by the LSE's specific criteria when it comes to site content. The deadline is August 20. What's baffling is the idea that an AIM company, these days, would not have a website. > read more

Hard Tumble For CFC

Countrywide Financial Corp might be on the brink. The mortgage lender's shares suffered a far fall yesterday when they plummeted 13% That, Bloomberg, points out is the worst drop its stock has suffered since the 1987 stock market crash. Kenneth Bruce, a Merrill Lynch analyst, said "If liquidations occur in a weak market, then it is possible for CFC to go bankrupt." So far this year, CFC's shares have dropped almost 50% in value. > read more

Fannie Mae Sees More Bad News

Those mortgage defaults are going to keep happening, says Fannie Mae. Consequently, its credit losses will increase "to its historical average of 0.04-0.06 pct in 2007, and possibly higher in 2008," according to Forbes. Among the reasons for the piling mortgage defaults, Daniel Mudd, the CEO, cited lower home costs in 2006, and singled out the midwest region as being a particularly affected area. > read more

Solent’s Lament

London credit-fund manager Solent Capital, which had $1.3 billion of short-term debt at the end of March, has admitted it may soon have to bail out of its mortgage-backed securities investments. Yet another victim in the en masse subprime fall from grace? > read more

Branson To Buy Back?

Richard Branson may take Singapore Airlines' 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic off their hands. The airline has been reportely unhappy with its investment in Virgn Atlantic. If they decide to sell, Branson's Virgin Group may exercise its right of first refusal and match any offers for the stake. For now, though, Singapore Airlines is being coy about its decision to sell, saying that while all options are on the table, they've not made any decisions either way. > read more

Getaway Car

Could the luxurious new Bentley Continental GTC help an Atlanta-based Citigroup V.P. escape from a big weekend — and big allergies — in the big city? The challenge, as they say, is on. > read more

Big Money

Blackstone reported some very good numbers in their first-ever report as a public company. Where last year at this time, Blackstone had a net income of $224 million, they now have a net income of $774 million. This news helped Blackstone shares make a small recovery, and they rose to $25.71. Acknowledging the credit crunch and the slow-down and delays of some delays in the private equity and M&A world, Tony James - Blackstone's COO - made assurances that their deal to acquire Hilton Hotels is still on schedule and going as planned. > read more

What Hedge Funds Are Really Saying

When women say they're "not mad, just upset," they're mad. When guys say "I just got something in my eye," they're actually crying. When hedge funds say "Our results were affected by the selling behavior of other firms," they mean "We made the same dumb trades as everyone else." Come along as Slate translates more hedge fund speak - the kind you hear when the numbers go south. This is funny (because it's true) stuff. > read more

Mortage Kerfuffle: Not So Mysterious?

Contrary to the party line of lenders and banks, many saw this rarefied event coming from a long way off. One hedge fund manager’s story. > read more

Retreats: Sweet Carolina

Retreats High in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a new ownership resort balances world-class amenities with a devotion to preserving the environment — and your peace of mind > read more

Karl Rove to Resign

Karl Rove, President Bush's longtime political adviser, is resigning as White House deputy chief of staff effective Aug. 31, and returning to Texas, he said in an interview with Paul Gigot, editor of The Wall Street Journal's editorial page. > read more

30 Under 30 Exclusive Video

We're talking about the top 30 trades under 30 years of age. It's not enough to read about them: check out our videos, too. We've got exclusive online video clips Alerian Capital Management’s Kenny Feng and Lightspeed Trading’s Paolo Fontana. Check them out now! > read more

China Focused Fund of Funds

It might seem like a bad time for funds of funds, but KGR Capital (a UK/Hong Kong based firm) launched a new one not long ago - this one is rooted in China-based hedge funds. It's called the KGR Capital China Absolute Return fund. So far the fund is worth $8 million, and for the two months worth of numbers that are available - June and July - the fund has seen modest gains. That has quieted some critics who questioned the launch in a time of an A-share market bubble. > read more

Bank Of England Won't Play That Game

The Bank of England is staying apart from the pack. As other banks around the world have been pumping cash into the system in an effort to combat the credit crisis, the Bank of England hasn't injected a pound. Experts say the Bank of England isn't going to start anytime soon, either. As far as their concerned, things are as they should be. As one fund manager said, "People can borrow as much money as they want but at a cost." > read more

Financial Companies Bounce Back

If today’s leap in financial stocks – with UBS, Prudential and Macquarie Bank all charging higher – is any measure, some, if not all, of the worst could be over for global equity markets. > read more

Golf Score, Share Price

You've got to hand it to the folks over at the New York Times' DealBook: They're certainly creative. On Friday, they put together a chart that overlays Bear Stearns' stock price and James E. Cayne’s (Bear Stearns' CEO) golf score. They say that the "the trends are fairly clear." DealBook "found a 35 percent correlation between Bear Stearns’ stock and Mr. Cayne’s score. That’s a fairly weak, but 'positive' correlation." In other words, the worse the stock does, the better his game. Shareholders should hope he's not an obsessive golfer, because that would give him a pretty poor incentive to get that stock up. > read more

Subprime’s Next Victim: Wall Street Bonuses

The subprime disaster may abate by the end of the year, but probably not before hitting traders below the belt. And by that we mean their wallets. > read more

Fed: What Panic Button?

Taking a tone of cautious optimism (Fed-speak for the jury’s still out, thank you very much) interest rates remain the formidable market tool under glass that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is unwilling to break. > read more

Abandoned Maserti Alert

When the markets get a little crazy, hedge fund managers sometimes forget to look after their sportscars. Hey, it happens. But luckily, Bloomberg News – the Fox News Channel of print journalism – can always be counted on to cover the many nuances of this type of complex story. The scene of the latest car-orphaning: London. The perpetrator: Bertrand Des Pallieres, founder of the SPQR Capital. The car’s value: $160,000. > read more

The Beat Of The Street: Over The Hedge

Having spent his career creating enemies in the financial world, attorney Jake Zamansky is suddenly a trader’s best friend. > read more

Solent, Avendis Fund Ratings Junked

The fallen are piling up fast, as investors make clear they’d sooner stuff their money under a dirty mattress than give it up to a lowly mortgage-backed securities fund. S&P says its next victims may include London’s Cairn Capital Ltd. and Sachsen LB Europe. > read more

How Now John Henry?

The principal owner of the Boston Red Sox may be counting his lucky stars on the playing field this year, but in the more turbulent capital markets, the eponymous hedge fund of John W. Henry may be less fortunate. > read more

The Great Paper Chase

If you think selling debt is hard now, check back in 90 days when about $550 billion of the commercial paper market comes due. > read more

NYMEX In Play

The worst-kept secret on Wall Street is out of the bag…er, again. But now the chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the world’s largest energy market, is personally confirming it. NYMEX’s likely partner(s)-to-be? The NYSE, Deutsche Boerse and/or the CME. Our money is on door No. 1. > read more

Trader Bowl 2007

Registration for Trader Bowl 2007 has begun! > read more

Articles

Subprime Delirious Conspirious?

As everyone knows, conspiracies are happening all the time, everywhere – even in the bone-dry subprime market. For those in search of more evidence of pusillanimous pussyfooting in this sector, your hunt may be over... > read more

Extell Wall Street Boxing Charity Championship Begins

The Extell Wall Street Boxing Charity Championship, staged by Trader Monthly and Dealmaker magazines, kicks off today. > read more

Extell Wall Street Boxing Charity Championship Begins

The Extell Wall Street Boxing Charity Championship, staged by Trader Monthly and Dealmaker magazines, kicks off today. > read more

In the Club
By Dan Ryan
> read more

In the Club, part 2
By