Main News

 

Barclays: We're Okay. Really.
Bank says it is on track to meet profit estimates.
Read More

 

First signs of bond managers using 130/30

 

Size is not everything as biggest and smallest FOHFs underperform

 

First Quadrant challenges convention on short-extension strategies

1 November 2007

 

Carlyle's Blue Wave Hedge Fund Loses 9.3% Since March (Update2)
Bloomberg - USA
27 (Bloomberg) -- Blue Wave, the hedge fund started by Carlyle Group in March, lost 9.3 percent this year after credit investments backfired. ...
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Barclays Waxes Confident
Forbes - NY,USA
Subprime mortgage defaults in the US have made debt investors wary of buying mortgage-backed securities, and thus pushed down the market price of these ...
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Industry:Mortgage:International
BankNet 360 - New York,NY,USA
One of the nation's largest banks, Norinchukin Bank, announced today the largest subprime mortgage-related writedown for a Japanese bank yet, ...
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The Fed Downgrades the Future; What About the Present?
The Fed sees slower growth ahead but miss's current weakness.
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB119559409968099639.html?mod=djemBF

 

Simons at Renaissance Cracks Code, Doubling Hedge Fund Assets
Source: Bloomberg
On a hot afternoon in September, Renaissance Technologies LLC founder Jim Simons is too busy to take a phone call. It is, he says, from Cumrun Vafa, a preeminent Harvard University professor and expert on string theory, which describes the building blocks of the universe as extended one-dimensional filaments. More... <http://www.hedgefund-index.com/newstoday.asp>

 

Small hedge funds cling together to beat the big boys
Source: FinancialNews-US.com
Two small hedge funds have merged in a rare deal as tiny investment pools huddle together looking for better returns while giant Citadel could afford to post a 27% gain for the year. More... <http://www.hedgefund-index.com/newstoday.asp>

 

Diversification and Persistence in Hedge Funds
by Craig W. French, Damian B. Ko, & David Abuaf
We examine the current fund of hedge funds universe, and find that funds of hedge funds report holding between 1 and 200 underlying funds, and generally hold 10-30, with close to 20 on average. We regress the performance of this universe on the number of holdings and find that return is practically orthogonal to the number of underlying hedge funds held. However, when we regress risk-adjusted return measured by the ex post Sharpe ratios of funds-of-hedge funds, we do find a statistically significant positive relation over 5-year periods; this seems consistent with our findings that diversification reduces volatility... More... <http://www.hedgefund-index.com/s_diversification.asp>

 

Subprime crisis could cost NY $10B: report

The New York area stands to lose $10. 4 billion in 2008 gross metropolitan product, according to a report from the U. S. Conference of Mayors.
» Read the Full Story

 

Many of our colleagues in the risk management and supervision communities have known for several years that there is a problem baked into the financial system. We're not talking here about the political appointees and their minions, but rather the examiners, ratings analysts and audit professionals who toil in the financial trenches and do the hard work of fundamental analytics. But what we find really amusing is that there are still "value" investors abroad who think that some of the larger banks have positive net worth available for exploitation.

Full Story...

 

Investor optimism plummeted in November, falling 26 points to 44, less than half its level of 103 in January and the lowest point since Hurricane Katrina in September, 2005, according to the UBS/Gallup Index of Investor Optimism. The Index is conducted monthly and had a baseline score of 124 when it was established in October 1996.

Full Story...

 

And it all goes back to risk management. With investment bank after investment bank writing off billions of dollars worth of subprime-related losses, many are now revamping their entire infrastructure and are beginning with the most obvious position – the chief risk officer.

Full Story...

 

The voices chanting ‘recession’ are thundering throughout Wall Street and it appears as if the screams are getting louder and louder with every passing day. But how valid is the information being spewed?

Full Story...

 

Tue, 27 Nov 2007, 06:00

HedgeWeek
Swiss alternative investment manager Harcourt, Swedish insurance group Folksam and Norwegian insurance group Storebrand have launched the Belair Sustainable Alternatives SRI Fund, a Luxembourg domiciled fund of hedge funds.

 

Mon, 26 Nov 2007, 14:59

Wall Street Journal
Do CDOs have a future? Given the massive losses on collateralized debt obligations this year, the fate of these formerly lucrative investment products looks grim. CDOs have caused problems before but nothing like this. They are responsible for nearly $50 billion of write-downs at major Wall Street firms, and have precipitated the ouster of Citigroup boss Charles Prince and Merrill Lynch's Stan O'Neal. And CDOs are at the center of the credit storm ravaging global financial markets.

 

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Yield Curve Corner

 

12 days of Christmas items up 3%, above Bernanke's 1-2% inflation ...
BloggingStocks - USA
No doubt Fed Chair Ben Bernanke will note that these items are not captured in the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) figures he uses to maintain ...
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Natural Disaster Corner

 

Climate Prediction  http://www.nws.noaa.gov/predictions.php

World Meterological Organization http://severe.worldweather.org/

Tornadoes: http://www.disastercenter.com/tornado.htm

Great Sat Pictures of events: http://www.osei.noaa.gov/Events/Current/SNWeurope331_MO.jpg

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Iranian Situation and Other Man Made Disasters

 

The Iranian Missile Program
 http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=298931

 

Iran: Tehran's New Toy
 http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=298943

 

Iran: A New Missile?
 http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=298909

 

Iran orders retrial over Kazemi killing
AFP via Yahoo! News Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:21 PM PST
Iran has ordered a new trial over the killing of Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi in a Tehran prison four years ago after finding faults in the original case, the judiciary said on Tuesday.

 

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Opalesque’s Corner

 

- Opalesque Exclusive: Zurich-based Systematic Absolute Return AG to launch green FoHFs
- New Report: Demystifying Managed Futures - Opportunity set is growing but first class research and innovation are key, New website explains benefits of managed futures
- Opalesque Exclusive: Diamond Age Russia fund with new manager,  Ex-hedge fund manager Schlarbaum joins Global Capital, Advent Capital hires former Merrill convertibles head, Charbonnier quits post as head of alternatives at Threadneedle
- Two small hedge funds have merged to beat the big boys
- Harcourt launches Belair Sustainable Alternatives SRI FoHFs
- Survey finds European pensions divided on alternatives: Invested schemes alternatives already mean mainstream, others not interested, U.S. pensions to move from active long-only to long/short
- Fees in flux for 130/30 strategies: `All is negotiable`
- Merrill honchos to head up Greenwich wealth bank
- HSBC bails out 2 troubled SIV funds, said it will also inject $35bln into the two funds, HSBC $35bln SIV bailout puts pressure on Citi, `Superfund`, Bank of America takes lead in backing `SuperSIV` fund
- Tax Update: MLP investors may bear a much higher total tax burden if US tax proposal goes ahead
- Jack Treynor selected as recipient of 2007 IAFE/SunGard Financial Engineer of the Year Award
- Eze Castle opens `hedge fund hotel` on 5th Av.
- Wall Street Journal takes Merrill Lynch story back, transactions never happened
- Long Ridge & Lehman Brothers among investors agreeing to buy 35% of FXCM held by Refco Estate
- Beijing to launch 1st emission credit trading exchange
- New Swedish hedge fund ready to take on Russia risk, investors are now institutions asking questions
- Investor Analytics releases `next generation` FoHF risk product
- Branson`s Virgin Group in pole position for Northern Rock,  Branson puts in GBP200m own money as part of Northern Rock rescue deal, RAB Capital asks for higher offer, opposes Virgin bid
- Crispin Odey`s European fund up 40% YTD
- Oil boom to further boost Asian FX reserves, sovereign wealth funds, mass $ exit unlikely
- Deutsche takes bets on Asian monetary union, creates index to profit from Asia`s converging currencies
- Mark Mobius has faith in Emerging Markets, says mark-to-market accounting rules make recent credit crunch painful but short-lived
- CAIAA to host Alternative Investment Professionals in Singapore, December 4
- Australia`s Absolute Capital Group placed into voluntary liquidation
- Activist News: Ackman acquires 17% stake in Borders, SAC and Jana got it wrong proposing Ameritrade-E*Trade tie up,  Firm sues Goldstein`s Bulldog Advisors for violating securities laws
- News Briefs: Dubai fund takes stake in Sony, diversifies away from US
- ...And finally: Sarkozy goes to China, secures $30 billion in nuclear and aerospace contracts, pushes deregulation of the yuan, urges less death penalty and release of political prisoners. In related news, Bush got a whole turkey leg, but couldn`t finish it
- Logon: http://www.opalesque.com/main.php?act=archive

 

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Misc. Items of Interest

 

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Funnies, Facts, Quotes, etc….

 

kvetch KVECH, adjective:

1. To complain habitually.
2. A complaint.
3. A habitual complainer.

 

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Conference, Courses, Books, Papers

 

Great Research Sites:

 

Merrill Lynch research Link to full report including important disclosures see example

 

John Mauldin’s Weekly Analysis

 

James Altucher’s Website:

 

Other useful sites:

 

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Index Corner

 

The CSFB/Tremont Hedge Fund Index www.hedgeindex.com.

The Cogent Dynamic Averages http://www.cogenthedge.com/home/inv_strategy.asphttp://www.cogenthedge.com/home/inv_strategy.asp

The Dow Jones Indices: http://www.djhedgefundindexes.com/index.cfm?event=viewPremiumContent (free registration)

HFRX Indices https://www.hedgefundresearch.com/hfrx_reg/index.php?fuse=login&1170880431

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Regulatory Info

 

 

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Disclaimer

 

The information contained in this document does not constitute an offer or solicitation to sell any security or other type of vehicles to or by anyone in any jurisdictions, nor should it be regarded as a contractual document. Under no circumstances should the information provided on this document be considered as financial advice, or as a sufficient basis on which to make investment decisions. The information contained herein has been gathered by Investor DNA, LLC from sources deemed reliable as of the date of publication, but no warranty of accuracy or completeness is given. Investor DNA, LLC is not responsible for and provides no guarantee with respect to any of the information provided herein or through the use of any hypertext link. Past results are no indication of future performance. All information in this newsletter is for educational and informational purposes and does not constitute investment, legal, tax or accounting advice. All materials are the property of the respective publishers, as referenced by header and appropriate hypertext links.