Main News

 

 

Hedge Fund Activist to Sue S.E.C. Over Marketing Rules
Source: The New York Times
Phillip Goldstein, who two years ago successfully sued the Securities and Exchange Commission to overturn a rule requiring hedge fund managers to register as investment advisers, is planning to sue the regulator to lift its ban on hedge fund marketing and advertising. More... <http://www.hedgefund-index.com/newstoday.asp>

 

Hedge Fund Manager Millennium Announces Acquisition
Centre Daily Times Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:23 AM PST
Millennium Capital Management announced today that it has acquired the assets of Castlegrove Capital, a London multi-strategy hedge fund active in global equity markets. In connection with the transaction, a number of portfolio managers and other employees currently at Castlegrove will become part of the Millennium Group, joining Catapult Capital Partners LLP (a Millennium Group affiliate) in ...

 

Wealthy investors flee Renaissance <http://e.ccialerts.com/a/hBHzH59AMtqiZAMuTGFAWyfiTKU/in13>
Renaissance Technologies' grand experiment - a quantitative net long hedge fund designed to manage as much as $100 billion - lost about one-third of its assets since August.

 

Risk strategies threaten to misfire
Drawing a comparison between their funds and a finely-engineered car - smooth-running, high-performing and reliable - is a popular game among marketers presenting to asset management conferences. However, a glimpse of what was going on beneath the bonnet published last week left a worrying feeling that something might be wrong with the powerplant.
http://mail2.efnmail.co.uk/r/344281/MTk4MTI1OjE2NTgw/

 

Buffett says U.S. in recession, stocks not cheap
March 03, 2008 07:51 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warren Buffett on Monday said the U.S. economy
is in recession and that "stocks are not cheap."
http://links.reuters.com/r/04S1Z/T0ROE/SDS14/FI21J/Q7Y8J/YT/t

 

Credit Crisis Seen As Economic Threat
The Associated Press -
In congressional testimony this past week, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled that the central bank believes weak growth is the biggest threat at the ...

 

Select committee says banks ignored credit crunch warnings
Guardian - UK
The committee singled out Lord Aldington, chairman of the Deutsche Bank's London branch, who declined to explain the difference between a CDO and a ...

 

China's Risky Pension Fund Plan
March 3, 2008 0808 GMT
China’s social security fund says it could begin to assume control of the government’s shares of public state-owned companies. This could be a huge gamble for Beijing.
http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/china_1

 

Oxford Funding Corp. Forms Hedge Fund
Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oxford Funding Corporation (OTC:OXFD) has formed a hedge fund which will invest in discounted portfolios of residential and ...

 

Traditionalists turn to hedge funds
Financial Times - London,England,UK
By Steve Johnson Traditional fund management groups are falling back on the expertise of the hedge fund industry in an attempt to prop up the struggling ...

 

Lampert: Think Eli Manning To Edward Lampert, the likeness of his current predicament to the storybook career of Eli Manning is a no-brainer. [more]

 

Credit Crisis May Make College Loans More Costly
Many college students across the nation will begin to see higher costs for loans this spring, while others will be turned away by banks altogether as the credit crisis roiling the U.S. economy spreads into yet another sector, student lenders and Wall Street firms say.
(By David Cho and Maria Glod, The Washington Post)

 

MF Global Shares Fall Again
Wall Street Journal - USA
One futures firm that was similar to MF Global: Refco Inc., which filed for bankruptcy-court protection in 2005 amid an accounting scandal that led to MF ...

 

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Yield Curve Corner

 

Fed's Plosser: Market woes warrant low rates
March 03, 2008 08:34 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. financial turmoil is serious enough
for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, but the central
bank should be ready to raise rates when conditions stabilize,
Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser said
on Monday.
http://links.reuters.com/r/04S1Z/T0ROE/SDS14/FI21J/AU6Q0/YT/t

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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/VSHoidoinyolengai063_MO.jpg

Climate change takes on new importance <http://e.ccialerts.com/a/hBHzH59AMtqiZAMuTGFAWyfiTKU/in19>

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Iranian Situation and Other Man Made Disasters

 

UN approves new sanctions against Iran
AP via Yahoo! News Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:12 PM PST
The U.N. Security Council approved a third round of sanctions against Iran on Monday with near unanimous support, sending a strong signal to Tehran that its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment is unacceptable and becoming increasingly costly.

 

Iraq, Iran: Ahmadinejad Cancels Trips To 2 Cities
March 3, 2008 1458 GMT
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on March 3 canceled trips to the Iraqi holy cities of An...
http://www.stratfor.com/sitrep/iraq_iran_ahmadinejad_cancels_trips_2_cities

 

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Opalesque’s Corner

 

- Reech AiM launches international marketing campaign for second fund
- Fund launches: ABN reboots hedge fund business with China strategy, Stenham Advisors plans two new FoHFs, Ex-Citi executives launch Asia Telecom Fund, As European traditionalists turn to hedge funds, Pioneer launches Ucits III Absolute Return Equity fund
- Peloton Update: Banks are seizing Peloton`s assets, Peloton`s crash may force more hedge funds to close, Comment: Peloton and the complexities of multi-strategy funds
- Jamaica Special: New alternative investments firm in Jamaica, Capital Blue, plans to eventually establish a hedge fund - Jamaica exploring possibility of becoming offshore centre, Will Jamaicans become bullish on hedge funds?, broker NCB to offer hedge fund in partnership with Man
- Australasia Special: Australian Hedge Newsletter launched, Aussies have A$87.5bln invested in hedge funds, new firms formed in New Zealand, Australian share market in the grip of short-selling cycle
- Performance: Russell struggles to restore performance following departure of head of alternatives, Harcourt`s AUM increased by 22% to $5.5bln in 2007, Muni hedge funds hit by margin calls, Pimco says, Muni bonds continue falling amid hedge-fund squeeze, Focus Capital liquidates big positions, raises fear of implosion
- Performance commentaries: Hubris returns to haunt hedge funds as industry faces reality check
- Credit Hedge Funds: Making sense of CDS yield curve shapes through Barclays` new Long-Short Credit Steepener Index
- Fund Manager Profile: Highbridge duo survives rout after hedge fund sale to JPMorgan
- Investors: Investors see no need for innovation in HF industry but for consistent out-performance, Furniture company - or hedge fund? How a diversified portfolio helps firm to survive, Credit crunch fuels investor thirst for art, wine
- 130/30 - HF Replication: Eurekahedge launches Enhanced Equity 130/30 Fund database and directory, A long/short answer to risk gains popularity but the `hedge fund lite` tag has been unhelpful, Clones go slow but sure, finding investors is not easy
- Credit Crunch Update: Financial firms to face at least $600bln loss from credit crunch, according to UBS estimates, HSBC to unveil $16bn writedown, Moody`s: Ambac rating still on review for downgrade, Wilbur Ross to put up to $1bln into Ambac, MBIA`s rival,  Credit crisis throws AIG into `uncharted waters` after $5.3bln loss, The man who shorted subprime (video), Comment: Light hedge fund oversight works, regulatory framework was not designed to protect hedge funds from finding trouble or even failing
- Morgan Stanley to buy Robeco`s fixed-income unit
- Paper: The globalization of U.S. business investment
- People: Mid-Atlantic hedge fund association elects two new board members from Brooks Capital Group and Stevens Capital Management
- Commodities: MF investors still worry, trader who lost big on futures is gone, but stock falls again, Silver buying spree pushing prices to record highs, Metals outlook bullish for investors with faith in emerging markets, Wheat market rally showing warning signs (interview)
- Green Investing: Environmental officials warn some investments in alternative energy may be doomed to failure
- Exchanges: Tokyo Stock Exchange may engage in carbon trading
- Institutions: North American college funding under pressure, likely to invest more in alternatives, Pennsylvania pension fund outperforms major markets due to hedge funds profits, Foundations shift investing strategy to alternatives to weather bad economy, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. to allocate 10% to alternatives, Spanish pension scheme to (also) commit 10% to alternatives
- Legal: Phil Goldstein to sue SEC over advertising ban, Northern Rock shareholders SRM and RAB prepare legal action
- SocGen Update: BNP Paribas pushes for SocGen deal
- Europe: AIMA urges UK government to reconsider planned non-domiciled measures, survey reveals majority of UK hedge fund managers would be affected, UK MPs accuse regulators of being `deficient`, banks of ignoring warnings about risky lending, Launch of retail UK FoHFs fails to excite, a look at French, Italian and Spanish`s retail markets, Global Financial Services Centre Index 2008: London leads New York, Dublin`s International Financial Services Centre moves up to 13th ranking
- Asia: Opalesque Exclusive: Clifford Chance says foreign investors need to be more cautious when investing in Japanese companies, Japan`s insurers to boost hedge-fund exposure, Fortis Investments outlines ambitions following acquisition of ABN Amro Asia, China`s foreign exchange regulators to tighten supervision, smashes over 30 underground banks
- Operations: Isle of Man: Proposed new licensing policy for specialist hedge fund operations
- Activist News: NY Times: Harbinger, Firebrand formally propose slate of directors
- News Briefs: US commercial real estate derivatives special interest group formed
- ...And finally: Bizarre holidays in March
- Logon: http://www.opalesque.com/main.php?act=archive

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Misc. Items of Interest

 

Warren Buffett Answers Your Emails on Squawk Box: Transcript (Part 7)
CNBC - Englewood Cliffs,NJ,USA
And CDO squared--I figured out, on a CDO squared you had to read 750000 pages to understand the instruments that were underneath it. BUFFETT: Yeah. ...

 

SPAC Attacks The financial world's biggest names want loot for their buyout funds—but they may be tossing away some investors' rights. Read More

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Funnies, Facts, Quotes, etc….

 

recherche uh-sher-SHAY, adjective:

1. Uncommon; exotic; rare.
2. Exquisite; choice.
3. Excessively refined; affected.
4. Pretentious; overblown.

 

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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.