TABLE OF CONTENTS November 2007

Level Three Assets = Toxic Waste?

If you’re hung over this morning (and don’t pretend you’re not, you ruler of Monday nights) here’s a little something that will sober you up real fast: a chart of the top Wall Street banks, their mark-to-model assets (cryptically coined “level 3” holdings) and the ratio of those assets to their total equity. Click, read, voila. You owe us one. > read more

Amaranth: Reasons For Death Greatly Exaggerated?

You knew the Amaranth camp wasn’t going down without a fight, but after more than a year of relative quiet – despite some wild rumors – you could be forgiven for thinking that maybe, just maybe it had finally sunk into that obscure mire where dead hedge funds go. Well, not only is it back, it comes armed with a bizarre alternative “other man” theory (that, presumably, it’s been piecing together since it went under last year) for why it really collapsed. A theory it hopes will win it back more than a billion in damages in a bold new lawsuit it’s filed against JPMorgan. Behold, Amaranth’s ballsiest move yet. > read more

Down, But Not Out

The dollar’s swan dive isn’t just crushing our exchange rate, it’s calling into question whether the greenback really deserves to be the world’s specie of choice for trade anymore. So what currency should step in? Well, that’s a bit trickier. > read more

A-Rod Brings In The G-Men

So, you’re a top-paid Yankees third baseman on the outs with your team? In need of someone to work them over a bit on those pesky salary negotiations? No problem. Just call your guy over at Goldman and he’ll make the bad stuff go away. How an unlikely alliance paid off big time for Wall Street’s ruling bank – and baseball. > read more

It’s Hot; It’s Coal

No kidding. Find out how oil’s streak toward $100 is reshaping the valuations of other strategic commodities, particularly when it comes to the ravenous appetites of the world’s fastest-growing economies. You can forget about saving the planet. But look at it this way: before global warming kills you, you might as well make a killing on our planet’s grubbiest natural resources. > read more

China And Rio Tinto

There have been some interesting developments surrounding Rio Tinto. Last week BHP Billiton made an approach for the company. Now it's being reported that China - via the China Development Bank - is building a stake in the mining company. The Telegraph writes, "Although the stake is small - it is believed to be less than 1 per cent - the emergence of CDB on the shareholder register of Rio is hugely significant." Well, it will certainly be significant for BHP Billiton if it turns out they have to do battle with China for Rio Tinto. > read more

Standard Life Is Out

Standard Life is out of the battle for Resolution. That's the risk with making a stock-based bid. Standard Life's shares fell last week, and with them the value of their bid, which had been worth about £4.9 billion. Now it seems quite certain Pearl will be the winner, with Standard Life out of the way. > read more

For The Record

On the heels of yet another backbiting presidential debate, a look at the political leanings of some of Wall Street’s top power brokers. Does John Thain really swing both ways (as suspected)? Is Jimmy Cayne as much of a wild card with his donations as he is at playing bridge in Nashville? Here, we give the numbers and name the names. > read more

Oil’s Wild Ride

With oil topping of $96 a barrel, closing the gap to the much-crowed-about $100 mark, very few traders – even bearish ones – feel safe about betting against the market. This sentiment was further helped by U.S. oil inventories falling to a two-year low. “The bottom line is, everyone is just too afraid to sell,” says one New York hedge fund trader. “$100 a barrel: it’s become like the pull of gravity – everyone is headed there.” What people are saying now, in light of the fact that there seems to be no end to the Middle East’s strife, equatorial storms and oil-inventory fluctuations. > read more

Uh, That’ll Be $2 Trillion

Usually, we like seeing the “T” rather than the “B” before our “rillion.” But in this case, the number represents what the world’s largest securities firm by value believes the impact of the credit crash might be if leveraged investors realize even HALF of their potential losses. How we got from “B” to “T,” and how the final tally may easily be higher before it’s all over. > read more

P.E. To P.E.

Firth Rixson will be bought by Oak Hill Capital Partners. The English metals company, who makes parts for aerospace companies, is currently owned by Carlyle Group Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings. The transaction is valued at £945 million. Oak Hill Capital Partners is confident about the purchase, and said that Firth Rixson "is well positioned to enjoy record growth over the next few years..." > read more

Credit Crunch: Just Keeps On Crunching

A Fed rate cut has not kept the markets from swooning – good news for volatility-seeking traders, but not the best of portents for the overall health of the economy. Hey, that’s what you get when you build a giant financial industrial complex on a rapidly melting iceberg. With banks still marching out the bad news, are fundamentals finally catching up with investors’ worst fears? > read more

Chaos, Havoc, Icahn

Biotech has been Carl Icahn’s poison of choice lately – but those buying up the stock of this billionaire investor’s chosen targets see his Midas touch as anything but. Watch the master at work as he prods companies to do his will with stake of 1% or less. > read more

The Hedgie Hedgie Shake

To borrow from trader parlance, the hedge fund industry is shaking out its weak longs. About 1,200 funds will launch this year, down 20% from 2006. There were roughly 9,900 funds worldwide at September’s end. And the 20 biggest fund managers control one-third of the industry's assets. In short, that means if you are out to win this game, you’d better stop leaning on brand names and start putting your soft, wussy back to the grindstone. > read more

The Best CEOs In America

Say you were to divide the crème de la crème of the nation’s reigning 100 large-cap companies into 10 economic sectors, sending out 80,000 surveys to financial cognoscenti from coast to coast and asking them to analyze and rank the visionaries leading those firms – not just in terms of past performance, but also, more crucially, future performance. Who do you think would make it to the top of the list? Corporate Leader, a new magazine brought to you by those other visionaries at Trader Monthly, did all the footwork for you to find out. > read more

Oil: Over A Barrel?

Even in the choppy, roller-coaster oil market, a pullback of $3.45 is still seen as pretty huge. Having climbed as high as $98.62, why crude futures may now be taking a breather. A tutorial for those of you who have yet to grasp this market in all its nuance (and if you haven’t been through several economic cycles, that means you) and how a sharp drop need not necessarily mean anyone’s relaxing on the supply-demand front. > read more

Bad Debt Blues

If you hire a guy to clean up your subprime viscera, maybe it’s best not to get the very SAME executive who disentangled Long-Term Capital Management from its disastrous debt holdings almost a decade ago, lest the extrapolating press start linking you with one of the biggest financial implosions in history (as the extrapolating press is wont to do). Since we take this truth to be self-evident, we’re wondering, Citigroup, just what were you thinking when you brought in Mr. S.? Is your mess now so colossal, you don’t even care what people say anymore? > read more

The Fed: Ill Communication

Instead of offering little to no useful information before it screws you, the Fed, in its infinite wisdom, has resolved to take a more Goodfellas type of approach: If it’s going to screw you, it will tell you first...and then screw you. Here, Ben Bernanke elaborates on why he no longer intends to rob you of the thrill of being able to anticipate your imminent financial demise. > read more

The Beder Approach

With a career arc that rivals any on Wall Street, find out how Tanya Styblo Beder went from big-bank derivatives ace to quant-fund all-star. > read more

Auditioning For The Role Of Dollar Successor

For those unhappy folks with overheating economies stuck pegging their currencies to the flagging dollar, the biggest problem seems to be finding another, better currency to play barnacle to. There is, of course, the Malaysian ringgit (our favorite) but no one else appears to be sharing our enthusiasm for this option. And then you have what Long Or Short Capital has recently suggested as the “in-kind price target…” > read more

The Iceman Cometh

Maybe he’s not exactly the warm-fuzzy type (OK, so we hear the guy is practically made of stone) but John Thain has one thing that the other stuffed shirts vying for the top spot at Merrill Lynch didn’t: knowledge of the risk-management techniques that kept Goldman out of hot water this last quarter. Still, is he willing to sell the secret formula? > read more

Oil ETFs ‘Psychotic’?

Maybe the wording is a bit strong on this Nakedshorts Web site posting today, but if anything should trade psychotically right now, we reckon it’s oil. That said, if these ETFs have, indeed, fallen into permanent psychosis, perhaps it would be better to off them along with the Thanksgiving turkey. > read more

‘In Case You’re Asking...’

‘...We think we could probably run your company better than you from a bound and gagged position,’ Pardus Capital Management seems to be saying to Delta Air Lines. Not that Pardus is being as churlish as we would be about it. And not that Delta is asking... > read more

Friday Levity: Digging For Gold

Er, we mean dirt. On Goldman. (Yeah, we knew there was some gold in there somewhere.) Trace the journey of one doughty supersleuth who heads into Goldman’s headquarters with some tough questions, determined not to come out until he finds some answers. Any answers. > read more

Eating Your Own, Part II

OK, just forget about reading any of New York Magazine’s “Wall Streeters That Lost It” feature and just click straight to the bottom of the Web page to the trader screaming matches, which have continued apace. No end to acerbic aspersions and still more drivel from our favorite ex-trader-driveler, Timothy Sykes. > read more

Risks ‘Roughly Balanced’ Our Arse

This is what investors are clearly telegraphing to the Fed, even as it sticks by its party line in assessing the risks between economic growth and inflation as pretty much neck-and-neck. So, will Ben Bernanke’s speech today be received with applause – or rotten tomatoes? > read more

Where’s The Trust?!

Responding to widespread speculation that it would write down billions in subprime losses, Barclays CEO John Varley suggested last week that the bank’s failure to comment on the churning rumor mill stemmed more from its lack of veracity than any reluctance on his part to tackle the tough questions. Then today, Barclays went ahead and wrote down billions in subprime losses. Are we missing something here? > read more

Europe Sizzles

But not for long, say many. While the economic growth of the 13 nations sharing the euro sped ahead of analysts’ forecasts in the third quarter, the credit crunch and skyrocketing oil prices, among other factors, are expected to soon put a wrench in the works. More on growth prospects in the months ahead. > read more

Getting Out The Big Guns

As the long-awaited Markets in Financial Instruments Directive goes live, competition between the banks (Citigroup, Goldman, many others) and global exchanges (NYSE Euronext, Deutsche Boerse and the London Stock Exchange) for trading volumes is about to heat up big time, which is great for you, the trader, since there likely will be a wealth of financial benefits. What to expect. > read more

Elephant In The Room

So, let’s get this straight. When the chit-chat commences over a Citigroup break-up, its stock rises. And when bank executives jabberjaw about no “big changes anytime soon,” its stock falls. Rises. Falls. Hm. We wonder what this could be telling us? Some erudite translations from the peanut gallery. > read more

Just Wake Us When It’s Over

The Wall Street Journal takes a stab at predicting when the credit-market turmoil will end. And it gets roughly 55 economists to placate its pie-eyed “are we there yet?” questions. Here’s what the experts had to say. > read more

Oil: Day Of Reckoning Nigh?

Having edged prices further into record territory, word is that the $100-a-barrel bears and bulls are now poised for a historic showdown. How to duck the carnage this week as traders load up to let the bullets fly. > read more

Giant Fund, Quiet Float

Despite the attitudinal anomalies these days that rank hedge funds alongside pirates, robber barons and Hitler, this $23 billion Lehman spin-off managed to post decent IPO gains before getting more or less reamed in the after-hours market. > read more

All The Sugar, Twice The Caffeine

When it comes to loading up on the gimmicky energy bars and power drinks with Jolt-like abandon, one city stands out from the rest – and it’s not the one you think. > read more

Amaranth Gets Litigious

It’s no secret that Amaranth has been swinging around wildly looking for someone – anyone – it might sue after collapsing in a cloud of $6.5 billion in losses last year. Now it looks like it has its victim. > read more

Citi Traders Get The Heave-Ho

Or so it seems, as more heads belatedly roll in the wake of the credit meltdown. Read on for who’s out and who might be headed for the chopping block next. > read more

For The Trader Who Has (Almost) Everything…

How do you shop for the man who has everything? More specifically, how do you shop for the hedge fund manager who has a multimillion-dollar mansion in Greenwich or East Hampton (or both) a pied-à-terre in town, a boat, a Gulfstream, a dozen cars, a high thread count, a roomful of Manets, and a couple of billion hidden under the mattress? We have just the thing. > read more

Merrill: Deeper In The Hole?

If that is even possible at this stage, it appears the answer is yes. While we are sure none of our own Trader Daily readers would ever do anything like this, it seems Merrill may have struck deals with a handful of hedge funds to delay its booking of certain losses in the wake of the subprime debacle. Given these suspicions, guess which government agency now seems to be sweeping in to take a closer look? > read more

Bank Code: Admit Nothing

The memo from Citigroup’s outgoing Chuck Prince – and another from incoming chairman Robert E. Rubin – seem to lay bare the addled logic that first prompted banks to buy into the shaky debt securities that now ail them. Ready to be educated by Mr. Prince on how CDO losses are really to be blamed on credit-agency downgrades and devaluations by market speculators? (Remind us again why these guys get to negotiate their own exit packages?) > read more

Still Going…

The dollar’s race to the bottom continues apace, with the greenback falling against 15 of the world’s 16 most actively traded currencies today and hitting a new record low versus the euro. And why, you ask, would the dollar be tanking again? Because of more comments from our trusty U.S. officials on high (thanks guys; with friends like you…). > read more

Goldman’s Gravy Train

So, exactly how much have the G-men set aside to compensate their ranks this year? Let’s just say it is more than enough to buy out another one of the world’s biggest investment banks, lock, stock and barrel. But don’t listen to our palaver – check out the cold, hard numbers for yourself. > read more

On A Crash Course?

So far as we know, crash courses don’t have exits, but the dollar’s plunge could certainly use an emergency brake right about now, as skyrocketing oil prices, the subprime morass and slashed interest rates threaten to cause this downward spiral to spin out of control. Some sobering figures from today’s forex charts: 1 U.S. Dollar = 0.47706 British pounds, 0.68341 euros and 0.91446 CANADIAN dollars. And that’s not even the half of it. WSJ posits this perfect storm may only be in its embryonic stages. Here’s why. > read more

Is The Frenzy Over?

Of course we could only be referring to the rate-cutting frenzy, which the Fed appeared to stress it would be concluding yesterday. But you know what they say about pulling the trigger once – after that, it only gets easier. What the legions of talking heads are saying about where Benny & Co. have left us. > read more

The Good News...And The Bad

First, the good news: the bad news isn’t so bad. Now for the bad news: there really is no good news. If things keep going the way they’re going (er, must we elaborate?) Fed chief Ben Bernanke’s hand may be forced to cut rates again. In fact, the dollar’s fresh record low against the euro today already indicates that’s what some investors are expecting. Which would be good news. Or bad. In any case, here is the latest on the dollar turmoil. > read more

Three Words: Asia, Sexual Frustration

Some very brainy people are starting wonder very publicly whether the push for male children in many Asian countries could lead to major economic imbalances. There are words for what is going on here (which you will get to in this article, but we cannot print ourselves, lest this e-mail get blocked from your work account). We’re not saying this is NSFW, but just a warning. > read more

Salary-Gawking: We All Do It

If Ernest Stanley O’Neal (yeah, the “E” stands for Ernest – Stanley was soooo not the way to go in a credit crunch) raked in the fifth-largest exit package in U.S. history, then who ranks ahead of him? We’re glad you asked. > read more

Greenspan’s Brave New World?

Remember Mustapha Mond – the world controller from Aldous Huxley’s most famous novel? Yeah, well this would be like that, only in more of a global-super-banking-regulator-type of capacity. But who, pray who, would take on such a role? > read more

Women On The Edge

The cutting edge, that is. Not content with just an MBA or a piddly stint under George Soros anymore, these gals are clamoring for PhDs in things we can’t even pronounce, let alone grasp. Why? So they can turn around slay you with trading programs you don’t even know are gutting you, piker. How a growing army of quant queens is on a stealth mission to transform the way investing is done on Wall Street. > read more

Et Tu, Dollar?

Answers to all the dollar questions we’ve been getting, in order: No. Yes. If we do that, we think it will hurt us. No, Bryan, we have no idea which ringtone or form of precipitation best describes the dollar’s drop, but thanks for writing. Touche, but we still think the Malaysian ringgit is going to eat another greenback lunch. Now, for a word on the latest record low. > read more

Default Swaps Hit 5-Year High

And guess whose swaps are at the epicenter of it all? Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Wachovia. We assume this means investors continue to suspect that what we still don’t know about what’s on banks’ books could fill Yankee Stadium. Interestingly, some banks’ swaps are fairing better than others, which also could hint at what’s to come. > read more

Charity With A Twist

Have a heart of gold and want to do something extra-nice for your fellow man? How about putting your fellow man in a boxing ring with you, so both of you can try to hit each other in the face? Only on Wall Street would a bunch of young bankers buy into the idea of raising money for charity by taking swings at each other. And now that the dust has settled, we have the review for you on how it all went down. > read more

Sneaky Petes

The way we see it, options traders are to the market what black matter is to the universe: what they do can be detected, but can never truly be seen or tracked. So, which individuals were behind the latest options coup? Who can say, but we know one thing: it involves what may soon be the second-largest megamerger on record. > read more

Tax Terrorism?

Zounds, it turns out that being a whiz at managing money and being a whiz at filing taxes are not quite the same thing. We’re confused about this. Don’t both involve cash, money on paper and lots of annoying charts? In any case, everyone can breathe easy now, because the IRS is totally on the case and, we are sure, will make everything all right. > read more

Europe’s Tear To Go Unbroken?

Europe’s prices are accelerating at their fastest pace in two years. Faced with mounting pressures to hike interest rates, what’s a humble ECB president to do? > read more

The `Goldman’ Mean

Goldman-haters will be thrilled to learn that the bank apparently held a bigger proportion of the dreaded “level three” assets at the end of Q3 than even Citi and Merrill, which were among the worst-hit by the subprime meltdown. So, where, exactly does that leave Goldman? Everyone else seems to be asking the same question. > read more

(Another) Possibly Untrue Supermodel Story

Forget the euro. The dollar’s more meaningful record low seems to be coming from a world even more material than Wall Street. Guess which top supermodel is supposedly caterwauling for her contracts to be anything but dollar-denominated? > read more

Risk Management 101: Dirty Is A Liability

Especially if you are a bit wealthy, as billionaire money manager Jeffrey Epstein invariably is. Jeff, let us help you piece together this tough equation: rich guy + pervy impulses = sitting duck. (That’s you!...Or allegedly you, anyway.) Whatever you do, in particular if it is with an underaged girl and generally seen as disgusting by the rest of society, someone is going to try to make a buck off you. Why are you making it so easy? > read more

Bonus Time: The Truth Hurts

First off, we just want to point out, since we are financial writers and never get ANY bonuses, welcome to our world. (But even that would be unrealistic, because you still are getting a bonus, aren’t you?) Okay, enough about us. Here is your dilemma: a lot of you still don’t know whether you’re getting a normal-sized increase in your bonus check from last year, a much slimmer one, or no boost at all. Luckily, the compensation experts are here to help – and they’ve unveiled their first slate of projections for 2007. > read more

Simple Simons Strike Again

By the headline above, we know your keen intellect will instantly grasp that we could only be speaking of Congress. Apparently, the game there now is to say that either hedge funds get reamed with higher taxes or…21 million middle-class households already saddled with cruddy subprime mortgages get the shaft. Leave it to the lawmakers to put it into retardedly simplistic terms. But don’t take our word for it. This one has to be seen to be believed. > read more

Art Of The Art

How, increasingly, hedge fund managers – not just the famous ones – can be found mixing it up with movie stars while snapping up Rothkos (ugh…just a tip: DO NOT BUY THE ART YOU SEE AT STARBUCKS) in a mad dash to replace connoisseurship with an unquenchable thirst for luxury. > read more

Parting Shots From ‘Stan The Man’

When a monster Wall Street bank loses a heap of money, it's often hard to figure out exactly what happened. Not so with Merrill Lynch, posits Michael Lewis, who cheekily elucidates E. Stanley O’Neal’s invariably high-level thoughts while golfing off his subprime blues. Feast your eyes not only on ESO’s golf scores, but also the never-before-seen notes he wrote to himself as Merrill racked up billions in losses. > read more

`Evil’ Hedge Fund Pays Staff

Not sure what to call this – a “pay shocker”? Excuse us, but last we checked, paying your talent was a virtue. This excoriation by one London newspaper of hedge fund Cheyne Capital Management seems to suggest otherwise. Read on for a new low in what has clearly become the stylish press pastime of beating up on hedgies. > read more

Buy Wine, Grow Rich

As Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote, ``Wine is bottled poetry.'' But, you know, it’s even better poetry when you’ve got a case of it in the cellar that’s reaping you double-digit returns. Some pointers on how to build a drinkable portfolio. > read more

Foreign Markets To US: Save Yourself

The plunge of the Dow Jones Industrial Average late last week marked the steepest three-day drop since 2002, sparking fresh fears of even bigger pullbacks as investors doubted anew the Fed and just about everything else they’ve been taking for granted. Will the boom in global growth – the crutch the U.S. has been leaning on so furiously – also fail it? > read more

Super Bowl Showdown 2007

Get a look at our weekly tallies of the winners of our Pick ‘Em and Survival games. A pair of Super Bowl tickets remains up for grabs, so don’t choke on us now. > read more

It’s The Yen, Stupid

Is it true there’s an unmistakable correlation between the ups and downs in the global stock market and the spreads between the yen and the euro? That is the humble opinion of one outspoken wealth manager in today’s Financial Times. Perhaps today is the perfect day to test his hypothesis: the yen is swooning against 16 of the world’s most actively traded currencies. Read on for the method behind his madness. > read more

Superfund, We Hardly Knew Ye

Remember the halcyon days of the “superfund” (ahem, just few weeks ago) when we heard all about how this high and mighty vehicle would take away the sins of the subprime world? And after that we heard, well, crickets? It turns out that this silence is not so golden. A look at what is really going on, beneath the surface. > read more

Credit Crunch, The Cereal

All this gloom and doom about our crap dollar and the credit crisis getting you down? (We mean, waaaay down. You can only imagine how hard it is for us to cheerfully deliver gobs of bad news every day about our fave banks and deals that are essentially DOA.) If you, like us, need a little pick-me-up, the kind that comes with a healthy dose of schadenfreude, then have we got a treat for you. You need to turn up your speakers, but we promise it’s safe for work. > read more

Gadgets: Micro Managers

Downsize your desk — and haul it around with you — with the help of these small modern marvels. > read more

So Right, Yet So Wrong

Morgan Stanley’s trading desk actually made huge bets on the (correct) prediction that subprime mortgages would fall out of bed. So when they did, why did it strike out so badly? Ah, but the devil is always in the details. > read more

Derigging A Minefield, You Say? No Problem

The U.S. House may be none too sure of how these new-fangled buyout firms and hedge funds work (last we visited the Hill, the lawmakers were still flummoxed over the concept of weather futures) but that’s not going to stop them from fiddling, anyway. And we’re not talking about a bill that will be voted on next year. We are talking about next week. > read more

Street Brawl

In the past year of market turbulence, Goldman Sachs may come out the champion of bonds and buyouts, but when it comes to brawn, Bear Stearns was the indisputable victor at the Extell Wall Street Boxing Charity Championship. Read on for the highlights. > read more

Citi: History On Repeat?

Already, it looks like the bank is having trouble kicking what might be called a fuzzy math habit. Turns out Charles O. Prince III, the outgoing CEO, will be pulling a $12.5 million bonus this year. Not based on his performance in 2007 (no, that would be too sensible) but instead, based on an adjustment to his hefty bonus from 2006. We, in our ignorance, did not realize Citigroup bankers had this option. But aren’t you glad you know in time for your own payout? More on how to make out like a bandit, er, prince. > read more

E*Trade = Time Bomb?

The clock is ticking. While Wall Street reluctantly airs its dirty subprime laundry, E*Trade, which runs a side business that buys and sells mortgage loans and invests in mortgage-backed securities, has been hunkering down and keeping its mouth shut (save for a meager filing last week that warned of bigger-than-expected losses). But that was all before a Citigroup analyst outed it, uttering what no one else dared utter: the B-word. > read more

A Fortress Most Penetrable?

The stock of Fortress Investment Group, the first U.S. hedge fund to go public, is making like a tree (and by that we mean falling, piker, not leaving; please try and keep up). But it seems no one knows why. Still, that doesn’t mean there’s any shortage of theories on what ails it. > read more

Out Of The Woods?

The world’s biggest listed hedge fund coughed up some of its gains in July and August, but we’ve gotta’ hand it to them, they sure know how to repel a subprime snafu: the six-month return on their flagship fund topped 15%. And now for the man who stands at the center of the winner's circle… > read more

Friday Levity: `Timmay’ Sykes Issues New Challenge – To Himself

With apologies to self-proclaimed self-improvers the world over, you know a personal challenge is best kept between you and you. The whole world really doesn’t need to know all the painful details of how you plan to spruce up your image. But if you have to broadcast it like a total narcissist, you might as well make the challenge NOT last a decade (hello, Tim-Tim?). > read more

Street Brawl

In the past year of market turbulence, Goldman Sachs may come out the champion of bonds and buyouts, but when it comes to brawn, Bear Stearns was the indisputable victor Nov 1 at the Extell Wall Street Boxing Charity Championship. > read more

Hockey Vs Greenback

The newfound strength of the Loonie against the American dollar has given NHL teams a much-needed boost to the balance sheet. How currencies affect the business of hockey. > read more

Plenty Of Money Still On The Money Tree

Three CEOs thrown out of top banks in a season? Multibillion-dollar write-downs across the board? Carnage the likes of which has not been seen since WWII? No sweat. Wall Street is still on the cusp of reporting one of its most profitable years – with some hefty paydays to boot. The official tally through a historic lens. > read more

Oil: The Final Countdown

Speaking of the travails of the dollar, the price of crude oil is shaping up to be one of its biggest bullies, especially as the two often move in inverse proportion. All of which means that if you haven’t been angling for petrodollars to line your fund’s coffers, you’re basically a horse’s arse. A preview of oil’s latest record high in its mad dash to $100. > read more

Back Issue: Irrational Exuberance

We scoured the “archives” of one of Dealmaker’s sister publications to unearth this 1987 issue — and excerpted just a few of its timeless insights. > read more

Battle Of The 144as

If you’ve never heard of these unregistered securities before, you probably have no business being a trader. That said, it’s never too late to pull your head out from under the proverbial rock and join the rest of civilization. Now would also be a good time to do so, seeing as Nasdaq, after a long fight, may now be herding this market into one place. > read more

Test: Are You A Psycho?

Or do you just have the makings of a great trader? (As we know, the two are so close on the food chain.) Seems that psychological testing is alive and well at many of the top firms. But can you “study” for their exams? Are they legit? How do you cheat? And who do they really benefit – them or you? > read more

Oil’s Back Broken?

Given that a week ago traders were petrified of being even the slightest bit short, crude oil futures’ retracement of more than a dollar is even more significant than it might seem on its face. A look at OPEC’s possible role in discouraging oil’s winning streak (or at least slowing it down enough to make it look like the cartel cares). > read more

Slick `Pick’

Creating government-like agencies, condemning property and planning a rash of tax-free bonds to fund his rabid search for fresh, drinkable water, is T. Boone Pickens pulling another one of his nutter stunts – or is this just a hallmark of his genius? > read more

Friday Levity: Andante, Larghetto, Retardo

As every wordsmith knows, the power of the English language and its many, many nuances is often a touchy thing. Certain delicate words must be used, well, delicately. Others have double meanings which we, of course, appreciate, but never, ever exploit. (Usually.) But we maintain the right to decide. And we stridently object to the infernal spam filters taking infernal liberties with our purple prose. (Not to mention our occasional blaspheming with the ample aid of numerous %%, ** and @@’s.) That said, we have never ran afoul a filter as hypercharged as this. > read more

Super Bowl Showdown 2007

In a universe full of unanswerable, metaphysical questions (e.g. When will Japan raise interest rates? Will the dollar ever recover?) isn’t it good to know there are hard and fast answers to the most important questions? (What is my standing in Trader Daily’s Pick ‘Em and Survival games this week? Am I a step closer to winning a pair of Super Bowl tickets?) And isn’t it nice to know that in the case of the latter, your answers are just a click away? > read more

This Week In Wall Street History

Just like the adage says, those who don’t learn from history are destined to repeat it. But you, piker, don’t have time for history books. What you do have time for are very, very quick reads that offer instant enlightenment. And we are all about that with this, our inaugural This Week In Wall Street History column. Give the other smart-alecks at the water cooler a run for their money as you become the office’s new master of minutiae. > read more

WGA Pickets Wall Street

No, they weren't filming Spider Man 4. Actors Michael Imperioli of The Sopranos, Seth Meyers of Saturday Night Live, John Oliver of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and actor William Mapother of Lost were all on Wall Street to support the Writers Guild of America. > read more

Inside Paulson’s Billions

Hedge fund manager John Paulson sounded the alarm to investors as early as mid-2006 over the looming subprime meltdown. He warned the frenzy to build and sell housing was a bubble about to burst – a wager that reaped a bonanza for Paulson's Credit Opportunities funds for the first nine months of 2007, in addition to his eight other funds that raked it in. The lowdown on the Paulson paycheck (no relation to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson) and the salaries of this year’s other top hedge fund all-stars. > read more

Dollar Pain Boils Over

As the greenback stumbles to yet another record low against the euro today ahead of what is expected to be a bleak U.S. housing starts report, Persian Gulf nations – many of which peg their currencies to the dollar – are also feeling the sting. Only their economies are scorching-hot, unlike that of the U.S. So, you’d think it’d be a simple matter, then, for them to just chuck the dollar peg. Right? Wrong. > read more

Goldman’s Top Trade Of 2008

We are not going to say a word – other than that right now we are kind of like the turncoat Yankees fans who finally switched their loyalties to the Red Sox this year, because we just couldn’t stand to not win the World Series anymore. And, incidentally, the Malaysian ringgit rocks. > read more

Envelope, Please

Remember earlier this year when we heard nothing but triumphal whoops from all four corners of the globe heralding the momentous decoupling of international economies from the evil clutches of the U.S.? We concede that as the value of M&As and monster trades soared, even we began to wonder if Europe and Asia had finally cut the cord. Well, now that theory has been put to the test and the results are in. > read more

Trader Down! Or: You Cruz, You Lose

Zoe Cruz, we want to apologize for the gloriously tasteless headline. We could not help ourselves and we are in the wrong – we know it. Our bad. We will be reviewing our schadenfreude with our therapist soonest. (But, in a vacuum, doesn’t it give you even the tiniest chuckle?) No? Okay, we digress. So long to a kick-arse trader and the most senior executive woman on Wall Street, whose 25-year career of bashing in glass ceilings at Morgan Stanley has now ended in flames. Zoe, we hardly knew ye; but we know in our hearts you took it like a man. Here, a requiem for a grand dame. > read more

Let Them Trade Equities

If you ply your trade in bonds, but are spoiling for those higher yields, here's a wild and wooly suggestion: Why not look to stocks? An excellent primer for the adventurous not averse to, ahem, swinging both ways. > read more

Oil Barrels $4 Higher

No pun intended. With crude oil inventories at their lowest level since October 2005, the timing of a massive U.S.-Canada pipeline explosion that killed two couldn’t have been worse. With the resulting fire still raging, here’s the scuttlebutt on how long before things turn around – and whether oil could again challenge the $100 mark. > read more

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Sifting Through The Wreckage

As long as Wall Street enjoys setting up (and stepping in) its own bear traps, there will always be opportunists with pitchforks and torches at the ready to raid and pillage its temples for diamonds in the rough. No need for the guilt or pity. You didn’t set any plantations on fire. But as long as you’re passing by, why not take a look around? Some tips on how to do so without getting burned. > read more

We Couldn’t Agree More

Says best-selling true crime writer Joe McGinniss: “You look at his pedigree – Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch – and you say, ``Those kinds of guys aren't supposed to wind up rolled up in a carpet.'' Those kinds of guys, we also hear, aren’t supposed to end up being fed a sedative-laced milkshake by their wives and clubbed to death with a lead statuette, no less. Gossip, mayhem and how to die a natural death. It’s all here. > read more

Pain In The Cheyne

We at Trader Daily remember how, while growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, the street crawlers used to pour whiskey into a Pepsi can and drink that out on the stoop of the local police station all day. No kidding. No one ever caught them, because naturally a Pepsi can must contain Pepsi, must it not? We suspect similar machinations may be afoot over at the venerable hedge fund Cheyne, as it toils to rejigger a $7 billion structured investment vehicle. But, really, what do we know? > read more

Release The Pig

The Wall Street Journal dropped this bombshell just after 4 a.m. this morning: It looks like the Bush administration has recovered from its subprime torpor enough to cobble together a plan that could temporarily freeze interest rates on certain shaky home loans. Is it a good plan? Who knows. Is it a firm plan? We won’t even try to guess. But, we need not remind anyone on Wall Street that once in awhile, when you push the pig out the window, it sometimes flies. > read more

Checkmate: 1000% Return, Baby

Still agog over Paulson & Co.’s 575% return from shorting subprime? Well, pick your jaw up off the floor and take a gander at this year-old Santa Monica-based fund, which just reported a ten-bagger on a similar bet. Not only that, it’s raising a new war chest to short commercial real estate and sinking its money into gold and other precious metals. > read more

The Fed Rumble

Fed chief Ben Bernanke admits to "greater than usual" uncertainty about the U.S. economic outlook in remarks last night, sending the free world into what we could only call a rate-cut-anticipatory tizzy. More from the Big Ben about whether the Fed will come bearing gifts for the holidays – or simply stick the market with a lump of coal. > read more

Dead-Cat Bounce?

Yesterday’s stock market rally, encouraged by Fed comments that opened the door to yet another rate cut next month, packed a punch not seen in more than five years. But should traders be skeptical of the staying power of these gains? > read more

Inflation, Deflation, Stagflation...

We propose a new version of that INXS hit, “Meditate.” (Anyone?) In the meantime, a look-see at where we stand in the raging debate over whether Dow Theory is or is not telegraphing us a bear signal and if stocks are indeed headed for the toilet, although we just suggested above that bond traders might want to go that way. A thought-provoking aerial from newsletter “Greed and Fear” with a nod to our favorite non-tradable product, “structured excreta.” So necessary. > read more

A Civilized Exit

Are currency traders slightly less the archetypal market wildebeests? We would guess not, but perhaps their trading style evinces a certain gentility that their brethren would be well-advised to note. Case in point: The unwinding of the yen carry trade was not only orderly, we dare say it was graceful. A closer look at how to properly exit stage left. > read more

Citadel: Bail Bonds Here

Given that Citadel is fast becoming Wall Street’s Buyer and Lender of Last Resort, we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s also in talks with the proprietors of the Treasury-backed “superfund.” For now, however, it’s content to pitch in with the salvage effort of ETrade. So, since we well know the Chicago hedge fund’s no charity – what’s in it for them? > read more

Non-Trader Sex Scandal

Lest you think we overemphasize the deleterious effects of traders’ nighttime habits, we would like to take this opportunity to point out that those who do not spend their days buying and selling also suffer from the same periodic stumbles from grace. May we present Exhibit A, a group that appears to favor also mixing a little bribery with its debauchery. > read more

Bad Traders Doing Bahhhd Things

We don’t know which is more unbelievable: Illegally using insider information to haul in a hefty payload from the dubiously named Blue Rhino – and somehow getting fined but NOT getting fired for it – or allegedly stealing info from the printer near your desk about nine merger deals your bank is doing and calling your wingman in Pakistan to set up the bets. > read more

‘Dubai Bubble’ A Mirage?

Not strictly a new concept, as the region has been booming for years, the bubble theory is now gaining newfound currency as Trump, Armani and just about anyone who’s anyone hastens to make a footprint in the glittering desert city – however gauche or ostentatious. As deep-pocketed UAE players rapidly scoop up stakes in Western businesses, could this be the start of something beautiful? We see no reason why not. After all, we have a lot in common: They like their money; we like their money. > read more

Driven To Despair

Once en vogue, profiting off corporate events and activism is now giving way to a mad dash for value propositions, as some event-driven funds post double-digit losses for the month of November. More on how a bit of style drift may soon be in the cards for the world’s famed activist investors. > read more

Friday Levity: How To Prove Your Spouse Dead

The good news: Your spouse is dead (uh, we acknowledge the opposite would be true if you actually liked your spouse). The bad news: No one knows where your spouse has got to or what to do about the mother lode of assets he or she has left behind. Now you know what the wife of millionaire-adventurer Steve Fossett feels like. > read more

Jay-Z’s Dollar Diss

OK, you’re watching your favorite rap video and everything seems as usual: fleets of Bentlae with their shocks shot beyond all recognition, baggy clothing on everyone who isn’t a woman and a plenitude of writhing female “dancers.” But when the fisheye lens zooms in real close on the star basking in his piles of money, you espy nary a Benjamin. How popular culture is increasingly reflecting the rising demand for import-only cash. > read more

Bank, Brokerage Debt Defaults Nigh?

Credit-default swap activity, sometimes an early predictor of trouble, is increasingly flashing danger signals when it comes to Citigroup, Bear Stearns and other banks and brokerages. Does this smoke indicate fire – or is it just more scattershot misfirings from hysterical speculators? > read more

5,000-Calorie Meal: Oak Steakhouse

So you’re spending a long weekend burning off some profits at South Carolina’s sublime, trader-friendly Kiawah Island resort, where “monitoring your positions” consists mainly of fixing the wedgie your plaid slacks are giving you in your back nine. After 18 holes, stop by the former Loan & Trust bank on Broad Street in the heart of genteel Charleston, a mere 45 minutes from Kiawah, where this Italian-inspired manse o’ meat has been filling stomachs — and expanding waistlines — since 2005. > read more

Blonde Attrition?

Seems that E. Stanley O’Neal and Charles Prince had more in common than we thought: They both hanker for women of the blonde persuasion – and, to prove it, they both have blonde wives. Given recent research suggests that the mental performances of men drop precipitously when they’re in the presence of blondes (including posters of them) could this be the primary reason for the CEOs’ downfalls? The smoking gun that explains everything. Plus: Of what hue is the hair of Lady Blankfein? > read more

The Economy: What The $%&@? Now?

The only précis you need: Deep breath. Post-T-giving holiday sales rose by more than 8% on the year, but really only for the stuff that had mad-crazy discounts on it. On average, shoppers spent less per head, though there were more of them this year than last. Meanwhile, credit markets are trading at levels suggesting investors are assuming we’re headed for a recession – but is it possible to have a global slowdown without the R-word? > read more

You Knew It Was Coming

The other shoe had to drop sometime, but admit it, when you got up yesterday, you had no idea the first market correction since 2003 was about to sideswipe you. A look at the blow-by-blow – and a sneak peek at the historical odds we’re now facing of a recession. > read more

Bonus Time: Keeping Up With The Joneses

In this case, the Joneses are being played by Goldman, whose ability to pull a rabbit out of the subprime hat means it will be rewarding its employees handsomely come bonus time. As for the other banks, they’ll have to cough up the cash too – lest they lose their best people. Seems like after all the hue and cry over kak bonuses this year, a bonanza is on its way after all. But who will pay? And how much? > read more

The Biggest Loser

Hedge fund losing money hand over fist? Don’t be ham-fisted, just delever and embrace your “smallness metric.” Oldest trick in the book: The less money you have in your fund, the bigger your percentages will be when you do report gains. A useful optical illusion, to be sure – and one that’s now being used by some of the biggest names in the business. > read more

US Tenner Yield Hits Two-Year Low

As oil prices hover just cents away from $100, U.S. Treasuries raise the roof, prompting 10-year yields to do a few things they haven’t done since 2005. Why, despite the standout performance, many traders are expecting even more where that came from. > read more

World’s Best Forex Trade

Continuing its streak of being the world’s favorite whipping post, the greenback is now financing some of the world’s most awesomely profitable currency bets. A look at the ones that are doing the best and why. > read more

Middle East Takes West – Again

An American bank – which, for our money, probably only found out last week what the GCC is – has been bailed out by our Arab friends with petrodollars burning holes in their pockets. In fact, in the last 24 hours, we’ve seen players in the UAE nab not only one of the biggest chunks of Citigroup ever sold, but also a rumored 5% stake in Sony. Way to swoop in on the goods. But what we don’t get is why the stock market seems to be applauding Citi’s announcement of an emergency capital infusion at nearly two and a half times the Fed’s target lending rate. Are we that clueless, or are they that desperate? > read more

Back In The Saddle

After a hellish summer, hedge funds are roaring back with a vengeance. But don’t you get too cocksure; the old rules still apply. If you don’t know what you’re doing you’re screwed. If you’re a small, start-up hedge fund, you are also probably screwed. However, if you’ve found your footing, you may be in for another excellent adventure. Net inflows to hedge funds handily smashed last year’s record high at the end of the third quarter – and by a lot more than you might think. > read more

Dunderheaded Fed?

Anyone else wondering when the Fed will cease falling back on pontificating and palliative measures and actually stick its neck out with, oh, maybe even just one proposal as to what to do in response to a subprime crisis? We are waiting. > read more

Harvard Reverse Indicator

A system for measuring market sell signals based on the plans of Harvard Business School grads (courtesy of Ray Soifer, retired executive from Brown Brothers Harriman) says a lot about the current state of Wall Street. Warning: For cynics only. > read more

Small-Caps = Diamonds In The Rough?

A look at how the cheapest small-cap stocks in four years are attracting droves of equity investors battered by the market’s biggest monthly stock losses since 2002. Who’s buying what and how they expect to fair on this newfound treasure trove. > read more

Subprime Problem ‘Contained,’ In A Fashion

The subprime problem, we were told, would not spread to other markets. It would be “contained,” or, you know, rigorously ring-fenced. And so it has. According to one wiseacre, it has been contained on planet Earth. > read more

A-Rod Coup Gets Buffett Assist

Apparently, the G-men weren’t the only highfalutins involved in Alex Rodriguez’s extraordinary, $275 million deal with the Yankees (John Thain, eat your heart out). How the Oracle of Omaha jostled his way into nabbing a piece of the action. > read more

Another Kind Of Numbers Game

What a shallow and indefensible Web site dedicated to the art of attraction (or lack thereof) says about how we rationalize incontrovertible fact and calculate odds relative to ourselves. > read more

Being Hater Not All It’s ‘Cracked’ Up To Be

We don’t often enjoy the dry-as-a-bone scribblings of The Financial Times, the only newspaper in the world that will inform you while also making you feel like you’re fighting the effects of a tranquilizer dart. And yet, we have to take our hats off to its observation about one of the market’s most outspoken bears: “The trouble with being the leading harbinger of doom is that, rather like crack, you’re going to need to keep pushing the limits to keeping achieving the same highs,” it says. Well done. We assumed the hardest stuff the FT was imbibing was maybe a little absinthe from the top drawer. Wrong, us. And now for more on the trader who inspired all the purple pose. > read more

E*Trade Suitors Bristle

You know how it is: There’s that period of bliss, the long walks along the beach, the candlelit dinners, the trips to Paris. Then you notice they snore and can’t stop chewing with their mouth open. ETrade is now entering phase two with those who dare woo it. It’s not that it’s a discount broker. It’s that it can’t keep away from the hard stuff. > read more

Yen Sags On Distant Deal

Why, even after yesterday’s massive correction, investors are feeling lucky about throwing the dice on some higher-yielding assets by parlaying loans from Japan. > read more

Secrets Of The ‘Turtles’

A famous 1980s trading experiment spawned legions of disciples known as “turtles,” including some highly successful commodities managers. But that’s only half the story. How the author of a new book on the complete turtle trader digs deep into the mythology to uncover the real story behind the Wall Street legend. > read more

Reads: Look-Alike Option

Ballsy Ivy Leaguers and BSDs are back again in this latest doorstopper from Ben Mezrich. > read more

Yen Gets Rowdy

Concerns about housing and growth remain the order of the day, as the yen gains against all 16 of the world's most traded currencies and tops 109 to the dollar for the first time since June 2005. More on what’s in store yen-wise and in terms of the greenback-drubbing. > read more

‘Hands’ Caught In Slamming Door?

Why the mastodons of the financial world – sick of subprime this and subprime that – are now obsessing over Guy Hands and his roughly $8 billion investment in a record company. Lesson learned: Sometimes it’s better to lose out on those good auctions than win the bad ones. > read more

Twelve Days Of Christmas Core Index (Ex-Swans)

Since Congress raised the minimum wage, hiring eight milkmaids will cost you 13.6% more this year. The price of nine ladies dancing is much more dear but, just like this year’s bonuses, the appreciation is less. Good to know > read more

Big Shocker

Research by two U.S. university professors on whether hedge funds tinker with their monthly results unearths a real head-scratcher: It seems that heaps of them are reporting marginally good months, but never marginally bad ones. An in-depth look at some of the tricks of the disclosure trade. > read more

New Cigar Magazine, Web Site Smokin’

There is definitely going to be some smoke in the city, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since pre-ban days. TraderDaily.com has unleashed two new totems to cigar-worshipping: the Cigar Report, a new glossy whose launch this week will make it the most widely distributed cigar magazine in the world by far, and CigarReportDaily.com, a Web site featuring daily blogs, cigar factoids, events and history, plus an online store offering hundreds of cigar brands and accessories. Be a discerning connoisseur – or else just become another one of those cigar-slurping chumps trying to figure out which end of the Cuban is up. Your choice. > read more

Fed In The Head

As Freddie Mac posts a $2 billion loss, suggesting it doesn’t even know yet how it will save itself, let alone the mortgage market, the Fed’s openness to cutting interest rates seems to be increasing. That said, minutes from its October meeting held a few surprises. > read more

Trader TV

Television shows about trading often bite, to put it mildly. We stumbled across one that isn’t half bad. > read more

Greenback Myth Exposed?

The plummeting dollar has set off inflation alarm bells across the U.S. But are they false ones? > read more

Super Bowl Showdown 2007

Time to see where you stand against the rest of Wall Street in our football Pick ‘Em and Survival games. The battle is getting ferocious – and we still have a pair of Super Bowl tickets burning a hole in our pocket. Click here to check out this week’s winners circle. > read more

$20,000 Well Spent: Masterpiece Theater

When your state-of-the-art plasma-screen television just isn’t, you know, showy enough. > read more

My Charity: Fund Of Friends

Inspired by his son’s fighting spirit, Lehman’s Phil Yagoda is now roping in pro golfers and HBO producers to help him and his family raise the bar on brain-tumor treatment. > read more

Super Bowl Showdown 2007

Again, our weekly roundup of the Pick ‘Em and Survival winners that are getting ever closer to winning a pair of Super Bowl tickets. Find out if the aptly named “ratbeer” has resurfaced yet – or if anyone has, for that matter. Every week, our gamers get increasingly diverse, but only one can rise to the top. Will it be you? > read more

DealmakerDaily.com: Meet the 2007 Rainmakers

With this year destined to go down as one of the most volatile in recent M&A history, a few select names weathered storms spectacularly well. When a deal needed to get done amid intensified shareholder activism and credit-market calamity, who got the call? We've sorted through hundreds of peer nominations to compile the most prestigious list in investment banking. > read more

From CorporateLeaderDaily.com: Corporate Con Man

In the age of Sarbanes-Oxley, the biggest danger to your company is not a fierce rival but a trusted lieutenant gone bad. I was that bad lieutenant. For the first time in my own words, here’s how I embezzled $6 million from MCI and became a party to the biggest accounting fraud in U.S. history — and how you can protect yourself from a similar fate. > read more

Rogue Trader: Release The Hell Hound

Brazen trading stunts come and go, but there was only one Henry Rogers. > read more

Trader Awards: The Time Is Now

So what did you happen to trade this year that really got your blood pumping? We wanna’ know. More than that, we’d like to hear from buy-siders which eminently tradable, sell-side products may have well-nigh driven the market this year. So send us your stories – and, of course, your top picks. > read more

Tunes: Encyclopedia Britannica

Here we unearth another U.K.-themed box set of British bands sure to bring out the passive investor in you. > read more

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