TABLE OF CONTENTS
May 2007
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WEDNESDAY MAY 30
China Tax Hike Tanks Stocks
Even China understands the utility and necessity of the occasional cold shower. With 300,000 new investors piling into its markets every day, what else could it do but triple the tax on securities transactions? On cue, stocks are taking a bath.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 30
So Long Wolfie, We Hardly Knew Ye
Okay, so maybe the new pick to head up the World Bank (Robert Zoellick) does look a bit like one of those villains who strokes his Rawley Fingers mustache obsessively while tying girls to railroad tracks. But we’re pretty sure he’s not going to authorize fat promotions and paychecks for them (Wolfie) while running the bank. And that’s good enough for us.
> read more
WEDNESDAY MAY 30
Debt Traders = Hot Assets
If you live, breathe and dream debt defaults, if they make you salivate like you do over your Mark Joseph’s ribeye steak or Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, then you are destined for riches. And we don’t mean middling rich; no, we mean stinking rich in the fine, Howard Hughes why-not-just-wear-pajamas-all-day tradition.
> read more
WEDNESDAY MAY 30
Pakistani Banker Charged With Insider Trading
Welcome to a world where junior associates are accused of masterminding $7.5 million-dollar insider-trading schemes. The SEC and U.S. attorney’s office know that’s chicken feed in the trading world, but somehow they keep going after the little guys.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 30
Goldman’s Alpha Finds None
Shifting currency markets have left the bank’s Global Alpha hedge fund battered, bloodied and vulnerable to client withdrawals. That’s the tough thing about being top dog on Wall Street: The bigger you are, the harder you fall.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 30
Short Sellers Double Down
Or it sure looks like it, as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index races toward an all-time high. It’s face-off time between the bulls and the bears.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 30
ICE Unstoppable
First, this piss-and-vinegar exchange swipes the NYBOT out from under NYMEX’s nose. Then it tries to eat the CME’s lunch by bidding on the CBOT. Now, it’s moving in to clinch the deal by getting cozy with the CBOE. When it comes to unapologetic audacity, this upstart takes the cake.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 30
Laptops Of Luxury
Meet the year’s sleekest, most revolutionary notebooks — the supercars of the computer set.
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TUESDAY MAY 29
The Fat Lady Singhs
Dinakar Singh's hedge fund, TPG-Axon, may not have the most scintillating moniker in the world, but in just two years this refuge camp for ex-Goldman Sachsers has clocked growth of more than 60% to manage upward of $8 billion. Not bad, in a field that’s boasted weak returns of late.
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TUESDAY MAY 29
Charities: Hedgies' Favorite Guise
Anyone else noticing this trend? In our experience, when hedge fund heavies pack the room, there’s no way a charity powwow won’t somehow turn into a wanton stock-tip fest. Just such a conference that ended late last week resulted in just such a fund frolic – and guess who was out there spilling their guts? None other than hedge fund superstars Steve Mandel, William Ackman and Larry Robbins, among other luminaries. Read on for their remarks.
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TUESDAY MAY 29
Emerging Market Inflows Peak
A sobering statistic on how funds to countries such as Hungary, Kazakhstan and Russia have runneth over: In 2006, foreigners bought $94 billion more of emerging-market stocks than they sold. That’s up 40% in just one year.
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TUESDAY MAY 29
Cannes: Hollywood Hideaway – Or Hedge Fund Haven?
That’s right, the hedge funds and banks are inundating Cannes. Get ready to see your favorite starlets commingling with the hedgies you hate to love and love to hate. It’s a surreal life, and it’s about to get a whole lot more surreal as Hollywood Boulevard and Wall Street intersect. It was inevitable.
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TUESDAY MAY 29
RBS Gets Upper Hand
Or, to be fair, the RBS-led consortium gets the upper hand – but that sounds a lot less snappy. In any case, fortune has tipped her hand in favor of the consortium’s takeover bid for ABN, thanks to a sympathetic Dutch court ruling. Too soon to tell whether this means it's checkmate time for ABN's other suitor, Barclays, but don't expect it to go down without a dogfight.
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TUESDAY MAY 29
Trader Monthly 100: The World’s Top Traders 41-50
Read all about how Kempner, Platt and Loeb landed on our roster of the world’s top traders. Every trader on the list needed to make $50 million in 2006 just to gain admission. Behold capitalism’s ultimate honor roll — the fourth annual Trader Monthly 100.
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FRIDAY MAY 25
BREAKING NEWS: Winners of the Asian Hedge Fund Oscars
Winners of the Asian Hedge Fund Oscars Nineteen Awards were held last night at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Singapore with close to 500 guests from the industry attending.
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FRIDAY MAY 25
Think You’re Doing As Well As Dad? This Study Says No.
But it does give you a good reason to keep on asking for that raise. According to this report, the Typical American Family’s income has lagged productivity since 2000 – a grievous break from the post-WWII trend. So get in your boss’s office and demand the extra dough. He can take it.
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FRIDAY MAY 25
A Question Of 'Cosmic Uncertainty'
In a spacey prognostication, BusinessWeek augurs that earnings forecasts are fast moving into this dubious new realm.
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FRIDAY MAY 25
What A Difference Four Years Make…
Expecting OPEC to loosen the spigots on oil output? Better not hold your breath, piker. Once upon a time, members of this powerful oil cartel quaked in their white, Gucci calfskin sandals over the mere mention of soaring prices triggering a recession. But after four years of record highs – and no global fallout – those fears have dissipated.
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FRIDAY MAY 25
Merrill's Turn-Ons
Aside from long walks on the beach and making money, this bank’s latest fetish is the choice alt-investment. And looks like many others are climbing on the bandwagon.
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FRIDAY MAY 25
Top Hedge Funds' Dirty Secret
Pssst. Far from those doughty two-man-and-a-dog outfits the press likes to champion, the biggest, richest hedge funds are, by and large, monster investment banks.
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FRIDAY MAY 25
Nasdaq Finally Bags One
After being soundly shirked by the London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq makes good on its threat to merge with an overseas exchange, wrapping up a deal with Sweden's OMX AB. The price tag? A cool $3.7 billion, but we reckon that’s pretty cheap for Europe’s fifth-largest stock exchange.
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FRIDAY MAY 25
Trader Monthly 100: The World’s Top Traders 31-40
Read all about how Farmer, Kingdon and Salem landed on our roster of the world’s top traders. Every trader on the list needed to make $50 million in 2006 just to gain admission. Behold capitalism’s ultimate honor roll — the fourth annual Trader Monthly 100.
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THURSDAY MAY 24
The US Job Growth Conundrum
The ranks of jobless in the U.S. may be greater than they appear. Increasingly, economists are keeping their eye on the rearview.
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THURSDAY MAY 24
Oilman Trumps Hedgie
At least in the white-hot New York real estate market. The vortex of all this activity, not surprisingly, is the much-salivated-over Plaza Hotel.
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THURSDAY MAY 24
Japan, Europe Spanking US
And they are doing it with uninhibited gusto. Overall, the economies of the OECD's 30 members are expected to expand 2.7% this year, slower than last year but up 2 percentage points from November’s forecast.
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THURSDAY MAY 24
Investors To Hedge Funds: Prove Your Mettle
Maybe it was too good to last. Investors are beginning to ask why a bad year at a hedge fund should hurt the puny investor more than it hurts the hedgie.
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THURSDAY MAY 24
China Talks = Less Than Nothing
Okay, we're engaging in a bit of hyperbole here, but we’re pretty sure adding new air routes between the U.S. and China was not the breakthrough that Paulson had in mind. Looks like Congress will come in now with the big stick. Not sure what that will do, since it seems unlikely that China, a country that assigns the greatest of importance to "keeping face," will roll over on the threat of a few toothless sanctions. But you never know.
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THURSDAY MAY 24
Trader Monthly 100: The World’s Top Traders 21-30
Read all about how Browder, Hohn and Howard landed on our roster of the world’s top traders. Every trader on the list needed to make $50 million in 2006 just to gain admission. Behold capitalism’s ultimate honor roll — the fourth annual Trader Monthly 100.
> read more
WEDNESDAY MAY 23
We Wondered That Too
Congratulations, you’re rich. Your wife hates you, your kids don’t know you and you’re closer to your bottle of Jack than any friend you’ve ever made in, oh, the past couple of decades. When you’re already rolling in it, why do you keep on working?
> read more
WEDNESDAY MAY 23
Morgan Stanley Sinks Billions Into Real Estate
Hardly left catatonic by the subprime jitters that have cowed so many of its rivals, Morgan’s fervor for real estate is not unlike Paris Hilton’s fervor for illegal driving.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 23
It’s A German Thing: Hedge Fund Codes Of Conduct
Since German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck is bringing it up (and apparently has no intention of backing down) we’re just wondering what a good hedge fund code of conduct would look like. And not a moment too soon, as it looks like the peanut-munching pundit crowd already thinks it has the answers.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 23
Paulson Whips Out Big Guns
Characterizing Americans as an “impatient” breed, Paulson warns a Chinese delegation that “even the notion of a dialogue may seem too passive for America's action-oriented ethic." Not sure exactly what he’s saying here, but if it comes to fisticuffs, our money’s on the ex-Goldman Sachser, that old dog.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 23
Options Dragnet Snares Billionaire Couple
Years after the bursting of the dot-com bubble, neither the options-backdating scandal, nor the excesses of dot-com mania have yet to run their course.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 23
Decade-Long Bull Market Nigh?
A growing number of market-watchers say we may already be seeing the beginning of this once-in-a-lifetime phenom. Including one Nobel laureate economist.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 23
Trader Monthly 100: The World’s Top Traders 11-20
Read all about Bacon, Soros and Gottesman on our roster of top traders who needed to make $50 million in 2006 just to gain admission to our list. Behold capitalism’s ultimate honor roll — the fourth annual Trader Monthly 100.
> read more
TUESDAY MAY 22
Kuwait's Cold Shoulder
With Kuwait moving to decouple its currency from the flagging U.S. dollar, all eyes are on the other nations that have pegged their currency for years to the greenback. What they do next could have far-reaching implications.
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TUESDAY MAY 22
Last Refuge From LBOs Flames Up
Finance companies were once considered a sacred refuge from leveraged buyouts – mainly because investors thought their profits depended on investment-grade credit ratings, so they couldn't afford to pile on debt. Turns out they were so, so wrong.
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TUESDAY MAY 22
Gile's Guile
Charles Gile, former Citibank commodities trader and admitted wire fraudster and falsifier of bank documents, shows just what can happen when you underreport market risk and inflate profits to boost your bonus: In his case, the slammer for a year and a day.
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TUESDAY MAY 22
Terrorists Toying With Capital Markets?
Now we’ve really seen it all. In a strange-bedfellows tale for the ages, it looks like the CIA, for the first time in its history, is regularly briefing the SEC on how terrorists might tinker with global capital markets in advance of attacks.
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TUESDAY MAY 22
Hedge Funds Score Lost Treasure – Really
No kidding, we're talking about the honest-to-goodness real thing. A few lucky funds with fat stakes in exploration company Odyssey Marine stand to benefit from an estimated hundred of millions in undersea treasure found aboard a colonial-era shipwreck to which Odyssey now holds the title.
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TUESDAY MAY 22
Kerkorkian’s Eye For MGM’s Crown Jewels
The billionaire investor with a taste for posh assets strikes again. But whether his ambush will succeed remains to be seen.
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TUESDAY MAY 22
Trader Monthly 100: The World’s Top 10 Traders
You needed to have made $50 million in 2006 just to gain admission to this list. You needed $1 billion in annual comp to crack the Top 5. Behold capitalism’s ultimate honor roll — the fourth annual Trader Monthly 100.
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MONDAY MAY 21
Another Day, Another Pre-Merger Options Killing
Jury still out on whether this was, again, purely coincidence or psychic phenomena.
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MONDAY MAY 21
Arrival Of The Credit Hedge Fund
Merrill's acquisition of a grubstake in GSO, an $8 billion hedge fund that makes loans to private-equity buyers, signals the growing potency of the humble credit boutique.
> read more
MONDAY MAY 21
China: Too Hot To Handle?
Consensus is fast growing that pleas from the great and good won’t be the ultimate driver of a yuan revaluation. Instead, China’s hand will be forced by an economy spiraling out of control.
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MONDAY MAY 21
Not Fun Anymore: Backing The Greenback
No one ever supported the U.S. dollar out of the kindness of their hearts. And that's especially true now, as the emerging-markets boom and developed-world heyday leaves the U.S. in the dust.
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MONDAY MAY 21
Modest Digs, Stevie Cohen-Style
Replete with personal wine cellar, sprawling gym, media room and spa, this is a little something to tide Stevie-baby over until he finds a real villa.
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MONDAY MAY 21
Wireless Gets Leg-Up From Goldman, TPG
Cheap debt has yet again paved the way for another bank-breaking buyout. This time, Alltel is the target, so expect a separate but equal reaction in wireless stocks today.
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MONDAY MAY 21
Global Derivatives Sizzle Like The Devil
Thanks to the wild popularity of credit-default swaps, this market expanded at its fastest rate in at least nine years, according to data out today. Very impressive…and unlikely to soothe the peanut gallery’s wailing over an imminent global credit collapse.
> read more
MONDAY MAY 21
Home Equity: Welcome to the Boomtown
During the past decade, Manhattan's luxury real-estate market has enjoyed history's most prolonged — and profitable — bull market. Today, with dozens of spectacular high-end high-rises shooting skyward from the island, it shows little sign of slowing. Behold New York’s newest castles in the sky.
> read more
FRIDAY MAY 18
Friday Levity: The Irrational Exuberance Quiz
From the telegraph to Mark Twain to the Global Crossing bankruptcy to global warming, this eclectic questionnaire will jump-start your otherwise lugubrious Friday.
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FRIDAY MAY 18
A Big, Fat We Already Knew That
If everybody keeps saying the New York Stock Exchange will buy a futures exchange over and over again, do you think that will make it more likely to happen? In any case, we here at Trader Daily hear the NYSE is getting real chummy with the NYMEX.
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FRIDAY MAY 18
The Great Securities-Loan Crackdown
Yup, these aren't your father's securities-lending desks – they're fast-paced and raking it in. But if you work on one, better watch out: The Feds are coming.
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FRIDAY MAY 18
Public Stocks' Disappearing Act
Dwindling polar ice caps are a good reason to worry. But should the declining number of publicly traded U.S. companies be cause for concern?
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FRIDAY MAY 18
Bank Risk Draws Fed Scrutiny
Banks' childlike eagerness to dole out monster loans to private-equity firms is increasingly becoming a concern to the Fed. But, in a slip of the tongue few newspaper writers noticed during Bernanke's press conference yesterday, the Fed chairman said he's "beginning" to look at banks’ balance sheets. Kinda' gives you the feeling he may have just thought of that while doing laps in the pool last weekend...
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FRIDAY MAY 18
And…He's Outta' There!
Wolfowitz resigns as World Bank chief, hammering home to everyone how much lamer it is to resign after kicking and screaming for weeks than to simply stage a graceful exit. Not that we ever expected you to be graceful about it, Wolfie.
> read more
FRIDAY MAY 18
Fashion: Points
Winning isn’t everything? Right, you’ve also got to look good while doing it — especially when locked in competition with a disarming beauty. Don one of these elegant tuxes and consider yourself well-attired for the battle of the sexes.
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THURSDAY MAY 17
Yes, Public Markets Are Clueless
Some people write about the wisdom of crowds. We beg to differ. Case in point: A hedge fund (in this case Fortress) reports quarterly earnings this week, seemingly doing exactly what lawmakers are screaming for every other fund to do. Not remarkably, its earnings are somewhat spiky compared with those of conventional corporations. Investors freak out.
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THURSDAY MAY 17
Japan Growth Slows, But Economy Sizzles
Unlike in the U.S., consumer spending has soundly trumped corporate investment to fire the engines of Japan’s expanding economy.
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THURSDAY MAY 17
Bank Of Montreal's Stiff Upper Lip
Though badly burned by out-of-the-money natural gas bets, BMO has spurned offers from rival firms to acquire its ailing commodities portfolio.
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THURSDAY MAY 17
Where Some Smell Garbage, Others Smell Money
Uh, in this case literally. Carlos Slim, who competes with Warren Buffett for the world title of second-richest man, is turning the lowly landfill into prime real estate.
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THURSDAY MAY 17
Today, Blackstone…Tomorrow, Your Firm
Lawmakers are getting trickier when it comes to assessing how private-equity firms and hedge funds make their money. Are they investment companies, for example? And should they be taxed just like Fidelity or Vanguard? When it comes to the gray areas, you can guess which way the taxman is leaning.
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THURSDAY MAY 17
Merrill EVP Quits To Start Hedge Fund
And that would be another resounding NO to the timeworn question of whether anyone wants to work for a monster bank anymore.
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THURSDAY MAY 17
Three Rules: Young Gun
Giles Hill eschewed the British Army for commodities trading — but still knows how to fight hard in the trenches.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 16
Non-Daimler-Related Ways To Squander $7.4 Billion
Somehow, this laundry list finds not only a way to insult Cerberus and DaimlerChrysler, but also Spiderman, Sacagawea and the famed, Mexico-dwelling, pickled-shark artist Damien Hirst.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 16
Wealth Infusion Alters India's Traditions
Just like Cyndi Lauper sang, money – and five years of double-digit wage increases – changes everything.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 16
Hedge Fund Billionaire Lampert Snaps Up Citigroup Stock
The man with a sweet tooth for beleaguered stocks has now amassed 15.24 million Citigroup shares in his war chest, as well as lesser stakes in Clear Channel and Motorola.
> read more
WEDNESDAY MAY 16
JPMorgan Sacks Trader At $5.2 Billion China Fund
These days, just being suspected of insider trading will get you canned – even if you are as renowned a trader as JPMorgan’s Tang Jian.
> read more
WEDNESDAY MAY 16
Exec Talks To Activist Hedge Fund, Gets Fired
A daredevil Ceridian executive stakes all and loses in the great game of higher-ups and hedge funds. The fund in question, Pershing Square Capital, has emitted some perfunctory squeals of protest, but is doing just fine, thank you.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 16
Euro Mints Fresh Record Against Yen
As the euro reflects expectations of a rate rise in Europe, the dollar is telegraphing the possibility of a rate cut in the U.S. later this year.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 16
Global M&A Hits $2 Trillion, Up 60%
The highlights: Europe's driving the trend (with the U.S. relegated to a supporting role) as mergers and LBOs accumulate at a scorching pace. Rising stock prices and mongoloid private-equity firms paving the way for another record high this year.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 16
Déjà Vu Revisited
Didn’t the whole let’s-register-every-hedge-fund-on-the-planet idea get thrown out by an appeals court last year? Yeah, but Republican Senator Charles Grassley sees no reason why that should keep him from introducing a bill to...register every hedge fund on the planet. Or in the U.S., anyway.
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TUESDAY MAY 15
Hermetically Sealed To Your Blackberry?
The Blackberry helmet can help. But act now – they’re flying off the shelves like so many savory junk bonds. at
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TUESDAY MAY 15
Opting Out Of Optionable
When NYMEX bought 19% of the options broker earlier this year (before yesterday severing all ties to it) its stock promptly skyrocketed. But like Icarus, Optionable is finding the plunge back to earth much swifter.
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TUESDAY MAY 15
JP Morgan's Unusual Step
It's not often you get to access a treasure trove of free research covering a piping-hot market - but JP Morgan is offering just that by dumping its canon of climate-change studies on the Web for anyone to view.
> read more
TUESDAY MAY 15
Merger Activity On Upswing…Just Like Insider Trading?
It's beginning to look a lot like the 1980s. Michael Douglas is teaming up with Fox movie executives to reprise Gordon Gekko, while, on the real Wall Street, the bartering of inside info rages fast and furious. (Or so the press would have us believe.) The only difference is, this time, the SEC is loaded for bear.
> read more
TUESDAY MAY 15
Hedge Funds Beef Up Political Donations
Let’s be honest, with lawmakers circling the wagons desperately trying to figure out how to get their greasy paws on more fund money (read: closing tax loopholes) it’s happening none too soon.
> read more
TUESDAY MAY 15
And Speaking Of Wolfowitz...
Forgetting for a moment that Wolfie’s global market powers are far-flung and formidable, read on for one of the greatest moments in out-of-control tirades by world leaders who refuse to stop acting like 12-year-olds.
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TUESDAY MAY 15
Much-Bewailed Doomsday Scenario For Real?
Other than the imminent Wolfowitz-World Bank cataclysm, what else could we be referring to but junk bonds? With global high-yield debt working itself into a climactic froth, this market’s Greek chorus is increasingly sounding the alarm.
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TUESDAY MAY 15
Head Coach: Just Eat It
Anyone can make money. But how effective are you at losing it? Many traders fail to grasp this part of the game. It’s time to rediscover the lost art of taking losses.
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MONDAY MAY 14
The Fed: Resistance Is Futile
How do you shadowbox an opponent that shows no tendency toward a weave or bob? The answer is, you don’t – and can’t – really.
> read more
MONDAY MAY 14
US Still No. 1 In World Competitiveness Yearbook
But Singapore, Hong Kong and a crush of Northern European nations, including Luxembourg, Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, the Netherlands and Sweden, are snapping at its heels.
> read more
MONDAY MAY 14
Stuck In A Dark Forest? These Are Your Breadcrumbs
Whether you’re a crook or a trader of unimpeachable ethic, options are your crystal ball.
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MONDAY MAY 14
Traders As Supersleuths
It’s just not enough anymore to get breaking news straight off the wire. For a truer edge, trading firms – especially hedge funds – are sending representatives to courtrooms and other hotspots to gauge market-moving news even before it happens.
> read more
MONDAY MAY 14
Correlation Play Long In Tooth?
S&P says no, of course not. But its own index shows that correlation among geographies and asset classes is growing, eroding some of the diversification benefits traders previously enjoyed.
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MONDAY MAY 14
The Obama-Tudor Jones Connection
If you’re a hedgie and you’re not backing Obama, chances are you’re in the minority.
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MONDAY MAY 14
No Ordinary Deal: Cerberus Nabs Controlling DaimlerChrysler Stake
Valued at $7.4 billion, this deal marks a pivotal moment for the ailing U.S. auto industry. If one private-equity firm can swoop in to save Daimler, perhaps GM and Ford stand a chance too. Expect auto stocks to respond in kind.
> read more
MONDAY MAY 14
The Card Shark: Stay Hungry
A winning streak can affect your judgment — and, paradoxically, cause you to miss out on even bigger opportunities.
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FRIDAY MAY 11
Friday Levity: Dusting Off Obscure Economic Indicators
Does the dollar fall commensurate with our hating the president? There are people in this world who actually keep track of this.
> read more
FRIDAY MAY 11
Waxing Poetic On Earnings
Only sick people would do this – and only sick people would get pleasure out of reading it. But we are those people. And we not only like it, we like liking it.
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FRIDAY MAY 11
China Begs Off Gargantuan Trade Surplus
Humble China implores us that it doesn’t like being saddled with its terrible, $17 billion trade surplus. And, this time, it’s really going to put on its thinking cap and try to figure out what’s going on. One thing it’s pretty sure about, though: The culprit is not its grossly undervalued currency. That would really be jumping to conclusions.
> read more
FRIDAY MAY 11
Insult To Injury For Amaranth
The fund has agreed to pay a $716,000 fine, settling charges the SEC brought against it for violating securities rules. And this wasn’t even for its $6 billion blow-up last autumn.
> read more
FRIDAY MAY 11
LTCM Alums Hang Shingle
They’re baaa...ack. And they’re hiring traders and analysts keen to join their Rye Brook, NY, outfit. Presumably, this time the idea is to make billions – not lose them.
> read more
FRIDAY MAY 11
CBOT-ICE Union In Cards?
Maybe the CME can lead the CBOT to water, but it can’t make it drink.
> read more
FRIDAY MAY 11
Couples Who Knew Too Much
This is not the title of the latest, best-selling bodice-ripper (although it should be). We're actually talking about the third couple that's been nabbed for insider trading this week. We've joked about this before, but the trend’s now approaching ridiculous. Really, don't couples enjoy robbing houses anymore?
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FRIDAY MAY 11
The Beat Of The Street: Fightin' Fuld
Whether trading blows with an obnoxious hockey fan or locking horns with a star banker, Dick Fuld is as tough as they come in this business. Mixing it up with Lehman’s fearless CEO.
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THURSDAY MAY 10
US Investigates Oil-Price Tinkering
For decades, crude oil traders have whispered of after-hours trades that riled the market. Now regulators know about them, too.
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THURSDAY MAY 10
Heads Begin To Roll At ABN
But not exactly the way hedge funds had planned. TCI had called for the head of ABN CEO Rijkman Groenink – the silver platter came, but instead it got the CFO.
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THURSDAY MAY 10
Paulson Raises Foreign-Investment Flag
Speaking of Goldman, its ex-chairman is teaming up with Bush on a pro-trade tear to assure the world that the U.S. really does want its money again.
> read more
THURSDAY MAY 10
China’s Irrational Exuberance
When Goldman starts blabbering, we listen. And, like a better-regarded mythical Cassandra, it’s auguring a “correction,” “euphoria” and “demanding valuations” in Chinese stocks.
> read more
THURSDAY MAY 10
New Wall Street, Old Gekko
That’s right. Fox movie executives have quietly inked a deal to resurrect the beloved Gordon Gekko. Only this time, he’s not a corporate raider – he’s an opportunistic hedgie.
> read more
THURSDAY MAY 10
Fed: 'Twas Brillig And The Slithy Toves
With apologies to Lewis Carroll, the Fed still takes the cake for not saying what it really means. So, inflation is being flagged again – no surprise there – but whether that means the Fed’s actually edging toward a rate cut is anyone’s guess.
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THURSDAY MAY 10
Edwards Joined Hedge Fund To Learn About…Poverty
Yes, we here at Trader Daily also find ourselves to be real "poverty" experts.
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THURSDAY MAY 10
Life After Trading: Sky Captain
It's hard to trade while plummeting from 30,000 feet at high speed – so Michael Romanek pulled the ripcord and bid the markets adieu.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 09
Ivy League Hedge Fund Investments Probed
All the big names are here: Harvard, Yale, Stanford...And in the eyes of the U.S. tax collector, their offshore hedge fund accounts look mighty tempting.
> read more
WEDNESDAY MAY 09
Another Husband-Wife Trading Scandal
Guess this is the new "in" thing...This time, it’s a couple in Hong Kong who made a mint buying up Dow Jones stock ahead of the Murdoch offer. Why renew your vows when you can do something really exciting?
> read more
WEDNESDAY MAY 09
What’s Taking The Stuffing Out Of US Economy Again?
Just to recap: a weaker labor market, the much-adoed-about housing slump and lofty gasoline prices. Next up: Probably some not-so-good April sales reports. Look for key stats out tomorrow and Friday.
> read more
WEDNESDAY MAY 09
Investors Balk At 'Covenant-Lite' Financings
Changes appear to be afoot in the credit world. Jittery after Q1 takeovers neared $200 billion, investors are getting a lot more finicky about extending credit to LBOs.
> read more
WEDNESDAY MAY 09
Hottest US Zip Codes
And when we say "hot," what we really mean is staggeringly, appallingly superrrich.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 09
Of Fed Meetings…And Tree-Huggers
The two have always had a very special relationship. And today was no exception, as the latter came out in full force to push the dollar to a three-week high against the euro.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 09
My Worst Trade: Buyer’s Remiss
When Time Warner announced its historic deal to merge with AOL, the entire world took notice. I took a bath.
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TUESDAY MAY 08
Banker Accused Of Insider Trading Faces 25-33 Years
If successfully convicted, ex-Credit Suisse banker Hafiz Muhammad Zubair Naseem could be 70 by the time he’s released from prison.
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TUESDAY MAY 08
DB’s Profits Jump On Debt, Equities Trading
Deutsche Bank’s revenues surge on greater-than-expected quarterly trading income, bolstered by increasing hedge fund and asset-management activity.
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TUESDAY MAY 08
Lehman’s Quest To Build Souped-Up Trading Machine
Banks and hedge funds have yet to give up on the dream of one day replacing all traders with supercomputers.
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TUESDAY MAY 08
Icahn Gets High Hat
Looks like Motorola shareholders have nixed Icahn’s bid for a board seat. We at Trader Daily hope this doesn’t mean an end to Icahn’s wildly amusing personal attacks on Motorola CEO Ed Zander, in which he’s variously referenced Mark Antony, Julius Caesar and even Alice in Wonderland.
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TUESDAY MAY 08
As Pound Soars, UK Stocks Lag
Don’t expect rip-roaring earnings from any British company selling to the U.S.
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TUESDAY MAY 08
Husband-Wife Team Seen Pleading Guilty To Insider Trading
The wife – also a lawyer – apparently worked as a rules-compliance officer for Morgan Stanley. For shame.
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TUESDAY MAY 08
For Paul Tudor Jones, Green Begets Green
But these bets aren’t for the faint of heart: Tudor Jones is wagering $15 million on a zero-profit start-up.
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TUESDAY MAY 08
On A Tear: Dow Activity Unmatched Since 1920s
Not since the days of Calvin Coolidge has the Dow barreled higher so relentlessly.
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TUESDAY MAY 08
Hall of Fame: Iron Man
He’s the Cal Ripken of commodities, a walking testament to the sheer joy of trading. Going long with Artie Reinhardt.
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MONDAY MAY 07
More Complications In ABN Melee
The twists and turns in the ABN battle are really starting to smack of a cheap, banned Marquis de Sade paperback. Will the consortium of RBS succeed in forcing ABN into an ironbound corset? Stay tuned.
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MONDAY MAY 07
Crude Oil-Natural Gas Price Connection Unraveling?
For decades, natural gas prices (as well as those of gasoline, heating oil, propane, et cet) have hinged off crude oil. But as more investors pile into an energy market that no longer holds the crude benchmark sacred, it looks like gas is poised to cut the cord.
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MONDAY MAY 07
Risk-Impervious Investors Pile Into Asia
Asia's onetime corporate basket cases are seeking new investors – and foreigners are champing to buy their stocks and bonds.
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MONDAY MAY 07
NYSE, Nasdaq Crash Antlers Over China
Whether your business is stocks, futures, options or freaky, science fiction-like derivatives instruments, the foothold in China is the new Holy Grail.
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MONDAY MAY 07
Hong Kong Blue Chips Catapult To Record High
Renewed focus on Hong Kong’s exposure to China, combined with soaring global equities and property stocks, sparks relentless bull run – and talk of overheating.
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MONDAY MAY 07
Buffett Weighs In On Media Stocks
As Murdoch rushes WSJ – despite shareholder objections – Buffett signals total ennui with his own newspaper holdings at annual shareholder meeting.
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MONDAY MAY 07
It’s Official: US Dollar Has Lost All Mojo
And yet, it still has room to hit bottom. The greenback could decline another 10% by the end of 2008
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MONDAY MAY 07
How Now Mr. Icahn?
As today’s boardroom showdown looms, heavyweight Motorola shareholder ClearBridge Advisors aligns itself with the I-man.
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MONDAY MAY 07
15 Grand Well Spent: Vinyl Solution
Vinylphiles will find this laser turntable to be one gratifying necessary object.
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FRIDAY MAY 04
Friday Levity: The Undercover Economist
Whose life is worth more – a drug dealer’s or a prostitute’s? From an economic standpoint, it’s a lot more complicated than you might think.
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FRIDAY MAY 04
Media Stocks: So Highly Rated As To Be Overrated?
Murdoch’s advance on WSJ – and, more recently, a third-party bid for Reuters – likely have pushed media stocks beyond where they should be.
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FRIDAY MAY 04
RBS-Led Bid For ABN Makes Fast Strides
As noted on Trader Daily yesterday, Barclays’s offer is toast unless it’s prepared to cough up some more Benjamins. Enter the dark horse.
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FRIDAY MAY 04
The Stuff B-School Dreams Are Made Of…
It all begins with the Gs: Goldman and Google. And then, of course, those other, much greener Gs.
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FRIDAY MAY 04
NY Fed Sounds Alarm Over Hedge Funds
High correlations among hedge fund returns suggest the entire industry runs its greatest risk of systemic collapse since LTCM’s implosion in 1998, says the New York Fed. We say: bollocks.
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FRIDAY MAY 04
Inside The Insider Trading Snafu
Fear the long arm of SEC Chairman Chris Cox. (And don't use your office phone for any funny stuff – the undoing of his latest victim.)
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FRIDAY MAY 04
Credit Suisse Banker Nabbed For Insider Trading
For a long time, the SEC looked the other way when stocks surged ahead of merger announcements. Those days are now coming to an end.
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FRIDAY MAY 04
Reads: Wealth Management
A money-minded modern humorist tackles Adam Smith’s famous treatise – so you don’t have to.
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THURSDAY MAY 03
Volatility Tilts Down In Emerging Markets
Emerging-market countries are finally putting an end to their “original sin” – in this case, borrowing abroad in stronger foreign currencies.
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THURSDAY MAY 03
Barclays Outgunned In Fight Over ABN, Says Bernstein
Bernstein isn’t ready to call the winner, but it is ready to call the loser: Barclays. That said, it still rates the bank at "outperform," based on its solo potential.
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THURSDAY MAY 03
Brokerage Accounts Looted By Fraudsters In Hotels, Cafes
If you check your stock quotes on an account from a public place, your passwords could be captured and used against you, the FBI says. Investors have already lost tens of millions this way.
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THURSDAY MAY 03
Inflation Still Looms Large Ahead Of Fed Meeting
Whoever thought a jump in unemployment could set anyone’s mind at ease? Welcome to the sick and twisted world of the Fed. But it’s not all dysfunctional: They’re also spoiling for the dollar to rise and energy prices to fall.
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THURSDAY MAY 03
Tales From The Auction Block: Open Season On WSJ
Clearly, Murdoch’s bid sought to entice WSJ shareholders while warding off rival bidders. But you don’t think a dealmaker that savvy would start off with his best offer…do you?
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THURSDAY MAY 03
Rumors Of US Economic Slowdown Greatly Exaggerated?
Market-watchers are scratching their heads in befuddlement as stock rallies squeeze weak shorts and outsized growth in manufacturing and factory orders defy indications of a slowing U.S. economy. What gives?
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THURSDAY MAY 03
The Great Hedge Fund Spout-Off
OK, so Tom Wolfe wrote “Bonfire of the Vanities” and all, but that was so, like, last millennium. What has he done for us lately? He’s taken to hedge funds with his broken-down poison pen, that’s what.
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THURSDAY MAY 03
Doctor’s Orders: The Cruelest Twist
Is yoga killing you?
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WEDNESDAY MAY 02
Rising Gasoline Prices, Falling Home Sales Take Toll On US
U.S. auto sales are the latest victim of consumers’ increasingly grim outlook. How far this contagion has yet to spread remains unclear.
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WEDNESDAY MAY 02
European Manufacturing On 22-Month Growth Streak
Despite the economic slowdown in the U.S., European business and consumer confidence is hovering near a six-year high.
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