Citi’s Slash
Article :
November 2008
Uh, another “dramatic escalation”? We were under the impression that CEO Vikram Pandit was already all over that. Anyhoo...Just what lies in store for the sprawling monster bank as it endeavors to cut one in seven employees from its payroll to shore up its stock price? The following story attempts to decode the undecodeable.
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Premium Provider Of Financial Satire To Become Bank Holding Company
Article :
November 2008
This was totally a subprime thing. Management, clearly, is not to blame. Operations also are not to blame. Traders were not cheating on their mark to market. Capital is now impaired, but the company does not believe it was responsible for that. And, no, these events will in no way interfere with your paycheck, pensions, bonus or company sportscar/Jetstream privileges (natch).
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Hedge Fund Industry Seen Shrinking Up To 50%
Article :
November 2008
Dorothy Parker walks into a bar. Bartender asks: “What are you having?” Her response: “Not much fun.” Looks like global hedge funds can relate. Losing an estimated $100 billion in October as investors fanned the flames of redemptions, here’s your quick and dirty summation of the winners and the losers – and what lies ahead for those who’ve managed to keep themselves from getting bayoneted on the financial battlefield.
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Gendell’s ‘Tontine’ Of Trouble
Article :
November 2008
Find out more about the wayward bets that are now prompting hedge-fund manager Jeffrey Gendell to wind down two of his four hedge funds, including his flagship Tontine Partners, reportedly buffeted by heavy losses this year. (All the best to Gendell’s other two funds – hang in there, Jeffy.)
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Get Ready For A Very Special G20 Summit
Article :
November 2008
German investor confidence may be up, but everywhere else gloom and doom reign, with Russia’s ruble dropping by the most in a month and Australia now facing its first recession in two decades. So much for that whole “decoupling” thing. As World Bank president Robert Zoellick prepares to unveil his master plan to provide aid to developing nations in exchange for elephant tusks (just kidding about that last part) here’s why, as G20 summits go, the one this weekend is expected to be a real doozy.
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Sparx Loses Spark?
Article :
November 2008
Yet another crack in the Asian economy emerges, as the region’s largest hedge-fund manager (with $8.5 billion in assets) notches its steepest decline in almost a month in Tokyo trading after posting a first-half loss on redemptions and falling stock prices (funny that, falling stocks fueling falling stocks, eh?). But just how bad is it? On a scale of 1 to 10, we’d put it at about an eight, which is totally meaningless, as we are, after all numbers freaks. But it does have something to do with the fact that the fund is now slashing executive pay, freezing salaries and asking more than a dozen workers to take voluntary retirement.
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And That’s Just An Aperitif…
Article :
November 2008
What was the real deal with hedge funds’ performances in October? In addition to the average year-to-date decline building to 15.5% (not a typo) we are now hearing that some hedge fund luminaries like Peter Thiel, Jeffrey Gendell, John Burbank III – even Nobel-prize winner Myron Scholes – ran into tight spots. Their stories.
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On Being Tarred, Feathered
Article :
November 2008
As red-letter events go, Europe’s biggest bank (HSBC) setting aside $4.3 billion in rainy-day money for bad U.S. loans and the biggest engine to the world’s growth (China) whipping out a $586 billion stimulus package designed to back ``fast and heavy-handed investment'' in housing and infrastructure and a ``relatively loose'' monetary policy are pretty major, we’d say. But we also posit that having five of the most renowned and wealthiest investment managers summoned for an old-fashioned roasting (reportedly unprecedented for the roughly $1.8 trillion hedge-fund industry) on Capitol Hill might also be impressive. Of course, we won’t know for sure, however, until Thursday.
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Cyclical Stock
Article :
November/December 2008
These luxury turntables are as much works of art as the music you play on them.
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Hedge Fund Havoc As Investors Freak Out
Article :
November 2008
On the heels of steep drops in oil prices and the biggest two-day decline on the Dow since Oct. 20 – and let’s be honest, considering the kind of trading we’ve seen lately, that’s really saying something – hedge funds are increasingly being fingered as the culprits. (Or rather, their tendency to offload billions worth of securities to meet cash and collateral demands is being viewed as disruptive.) Much of the blame is being pinned on one fund in particular (as detailed in this story). But, for the record, we’d just like to point out that if investors weren’t such infernal, yellow-belly ‘fraidy cats, no one would’ve ended up in this position. As one cabbie wisely pronounced to us: “I think people just need to relax and get on with it.” Our sentiments exactly.
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Post-Election Street Sentiment -- Thursday, November 6, 2008
Posting :
First Coverage
:
11/06/2008
Election results bring closure and renewed focus on reality. First Coverage examined the Sentiment on Wall Street during the first day of trading following Tuesday’s historic US presidential election.
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Ace Your Review
Article :
November 2008
In this rising era of job losses and the incredible shrinking bonus (on track to plummet 20% to 70% from last year, according to some experts) perhaps there’s never been a better time to master the fine art of the performance review. Read on for a slate of timely tips.
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Performance: Pain Spotting
Article :
November 2008
A bear to the bone, John Del Vecchio looks for companies hiding dirty, disgusting messes – and then cleans up.
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Emerging Markets: Don’t Diss ‘Em ‘Til You’ve Tried ‘Em
Article :
November 2008
It has long been known that local currency debt is one of the best hedges against structural dollar weakness. And while the dollar may still be coming off its flight-to-quality high amid the much-crowed-about greenback liquidity shortage, the end appears to be nigh. Are you ready? Read this, and you will be.
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Sometimes It’s Better To Look At % Loss Than $ Loss...
Article :
November 2008
What to think when two of Wall Street’s most talented traders are unable to keep one of its most august and hallowed banks from hemorrhaging nearly $1 billion?
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Even The Winners Get Unlucky Sometimes
Article :
November 2008
(With apologies to Tom Petty...) There’s been a lot more bad news today, not the least of which involves Treasury mulling putting its $700 billion of mad money toward a no-holds-barred U.S. any-company buying spree, but we’ll try and spare you the eye-crossingly, mind-numbingly boring details. Right now, the hardest pill to swallow for us is learning that funds that have successfully managed to keep themselves out of hot water are, nonetheless, suffering for the sins of their lesser brethren. Hear the tale of Blue Mountain Capital Management, a $5.5 billion credit hedge fund that admits its investors are pulling out – but not because of anything it did wrong.
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Weekly Street Sentiment for November 3
Posting :
First Coverage
:
11/03/2008
Only two types of investors...the quick & the dead.
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Taleb As His Own Guinea Pig?
Article :
November 2008
We find it a strange phenomenon when the very man who earnestly writes about being “fooled by randomness” and “black swans” perhaps becomes his own best example of these things. Even so, those who dismiss Nassim Nicholas Taleb as a hack (and you might not disagree if you saw him, as we did, speaking in fumbling fashion at London’s Mandarin last month to the shocked bemusement of all) cannot dismiss the performance of his hedge funds, which, according to this report, have been no less than superlative.
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Who’s Got The Coffey?
Article :
November 2008
In times of trouble, looks like even Greg Coffey, former star trader of hedge fund powerhouse GLG, would rather pass up $300 million with which to start his own fund in favor of the loving bosom of a more established firm. But which? Well, let’s just say that until the self-starter coast is clear again, it seems the 37-year-old Aussie will be seeking shelter as co-chief investment officer in Europe for his former employer's closest rival.
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Distress Signals
Article :
November/December 2008
How dire is the situation facing the financial system and the larger economy? A roundtable of distressed-securities experts share their outlook.
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Threat Assessment 2009
Article :
November/December 2008
A veteran risk manager takes the long view on the troubled financial markets. And it's not all bad -- really.
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Survivor: Wall Street Edition
Article :
November/December 2008
What doesn't kill some securities firms only makes them stronger. Here's a closer look at which players COULD emerge from the great financial crisis of 2008 in better shape than before.
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The Tip Sheet
Article :
November/December 2008
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Hot News, Gossip and Industry Dish
Article :
November/December 2008
All the latest news, gossip and industry dish: Henry Paulson on zero shut-eye, the Goldman "shameful-pleasure" trade, mustaches for charity and more.
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Deutsche’s Derring-Do
Article :
October 2008
Did we say Barclays was the latest trading travail to pop up on our radar? Scratch that; we meant the latest – other than this one.
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Weekly Street Sentiment for October 27
Posting :
First Coverage
:
10/27/2008
Sell-Side Says Get Out, Get Short, Get Safe.
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Under Citadel’s Spell
Article :
October 2008
As the market collapsed like a misbegotten soufflé, Citadel’s top dog, Kenneth Griffin, made his move. Amid Wall Street’s wilding, he got on the horn and summoned his investors for a surprise conference call. And they came in droves. But will they heed his remarks?
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Paulson Party Most Definitely Not Over
Article :
October 2008
And by that we mean one Mr. John Paulson. While the pillars of commerce crumble around him, here’s how this market iconoclast has managed to keep his head above water.
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Weekly Street Sentiment for October 20
Posting :
First Coverage
:
10/20/2008
Sell-Side is Certain about their Uncertainty.
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Jess King: New York City's Sarah Brightman
Posting :
Mark Whistler
:
10/17/2008
One musician in New York City is on the verge of "superstar status"; catch her while you can...
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Layoff Watch: 10,000 Jobs On Chopping Block?
Article :
October 2008
Options Group just issued a forecast not only sizing up the amount of jobs hemorrhaged from the hedge fund industry to date – but how many, globally, appear to be hanging in the balance for the rest of this year. Here, another good reason why you might want to start brushing up on your office politics.
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One-Third Of Hedge Funds To Close By 2010?
Article :
October 2008
Yes, if you believe the gloomy Zurich-based analysts at Credit Suisse. But we can’t let that happen. Here’s how hedge fund managers, having ridden out the worst month in a decade (uh huh, even worse than last autumn, if you can fathom that) are seeking to explain what went wrong and what they are doing to keep the investor dollars rolling in.
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Thank the Trading Gods
Article :
October 2008
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Weekly Street Sentiment for October 13
Posting :
First Coverage
:
10/13/2008
Sell-side prepares buy-side for dead-cat bounce.
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The Trading Week: October 12 - 17
Posting :
All Things Forex
:
10/10/2008
The U.S. Retail Sales and a sequence of Consumer Price Indexes scheduled for release from several major industrialized nations will make inflation and consumer spending be the main themes of the week ahead.
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Head Butler -- Books: D.V.
Posting :
Jesse Kornbluth
:
10/10/2008
You know all about "pink is the navy blue of India" and "wash your blond child's hair with dead champagne" and "the bikini is the most important invention since the H-bomb," but you may have been busy elsewhere when Diana Vreeland's memoir appeared.
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Pain Spotting
Article :
October 2008
A bear to the bone, John Del Vecchio looks for companies hiding dirty, disgusting messes-and then cleans up.
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Traveling Circus
Article :
October 2008
Is a one-day stand in Sin City with a bevy of automotive supermodels being unfaithful to your car? We dropped a Vegas-based trader in the saddle of 2,500 horsepower to see if more is ever enough.
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High Society
Article :
October 2008
When canvassing the South Pacific, take a short position against
cruise ships and puddle-jumpers by traveling in the most luxurious
way: island-hopping by helicopter.
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Adjustable-Rate
Article :
October 2008
Alter your positions off the tee with Callaway's new technology.
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Managing Uncertainty and Irrationality to Survive As a Trader
Posting :
Dr. Alden Cass
:
10/08/2008
In the past few months, my practice as a Wall Street trading coach and therapist has been flooded with many individuals who are looking for quick answers and reassurance for their recent trading woes.
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Lehman Makes Its Case
Article :
October 2008
As Bank of America shows its tender underbelly in the form of a profit and dividend cut and Citigroup and Wells Fargo cool their heels in the fight over Wachovia in an uneasy, two-day truce, a new theatre of battle is opening up over Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld. Should he be taken to the tool shed over allowing the bank to pay more than $23 million to three top executives on the cusp of the firm’s implosion?
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Weekly Street Sentiment for October 6
Posting :
First Coverage
:
10/06/2008
Sell-Side says bailout good from far, but far from good.
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Move On Folks, Nothing To See Here!
Article :
October 2008
Yeah, just kidding. You’ve already heard about the dramatic downfalls – or, conversely, the tumultuous tribulations – of many of the smaller hedge funds. But now, a handful of heavy-hitters swinging hefty lines are getting steamrolled by the credit crunch. To wit: Greenlight Capital, Maverick Capital, The Children's Investment Fund and several others. While we root for all those caught in this unholy quagmire, we suggest you take the following to heart, as imminent changes in asset allocations will no doubt lead to further market moves for which you’ll want to be prepared.
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Bedtime with BTIG - Market Observations
Article :
September 2008
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Quoth Of Noth: Week Of Reckoning For Hedge Funds?
Article :
September 2008
"There's going to be a death spiral for a number of these funds, and I don't think we've even begun to see the unwinding," Mark Lehmann, president of JMP Securities in San Francisco, a boutique equity-research and brokerage firm, tells Bloomberg News. So how is today the big decider of the sealing of many funds’ fates?
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Weekly Street Sentiment for September 29
Posting :
First Coverage
:
09/29/2008
Sell-Side telling the Buy-Side bail-out will happen and it will help, at least in the short-term.
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RAB Downfall To Hit Mining Start-Ups?
Article :
September 2008
Why fledgling mining companies could be battered if investors in RAB Capital's flagship $923 million hedge fund nix a slate of much-needed restructuring measures at an emergency meeting today.
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Sticking It To The Man
Article :
September 2008
Man Group, that is. Here’s why its funds under management sank to $70.3 billion by the end of September from $74.6 billion in late March – in addition to a commensurate drop in fees.
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The Trading Week: September 28 - October 3
Posting :
All Things Forex
:
09/26/2008
The Non-Farm Payrolls and Employment Situation report will take the center stage in the busy week ahead that should provide more clues about the condition of the U.S. economy.
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