Main News

 

Ten years after the LTCM disaster the industry is making the same mistakes
It is 10 years since Long-Term Capital Management - the US-based hedge fund led by John Meriwether, which employed some of the most brilliant minds in the financial world - hit rocky ground and threatened to trigger a financial crisis of epic proportions.
http://mail2.efnmail.co.uk/r/373954/MTk4MTI1OjE3NzEy/

 

Governance flaws a ‘red flag’ for short selling
Financial Times Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:57 AM PDT
Companies that do not comply with high standards of good governance are ripe for short-selling, one of the most successful hedge fund investors in Asia has warned.

 

New Crisis Threatens Healthy Banks
Increasing struggles by consumers and businesses to make payments on a variety of loans, not just mortgages, are setting off a new wave of trouble in the financial sector that is battering even institutions that had steered clear of the subprime-home-loan debacle.
(By David Cho, The Washington Post)

 

GAIM Delegates Say Distressed, Global Macro Likely to Dominate
By: Martin de Sa'Pinto, Senior Financial Correspondent
Posted: 06/20/2008 3:13:01 PM ET
http://www.hedgeworld.com/news/read_news.cgi?section=peop&story=peop3520.html

 

London Diversified in global macro loss
UK hedge fund manager London Diversified Fund Management has made a loss of 17% on its global macro fund this year, bucking a positive trend in the strategy.
http://mail2.efnmail.co.uk/r/373938/MTk4MTI1OjE3NzEy/

 

Introduction: A Bouquet of Opportunity Masked a Reek of Risk
New regulations might prevent a recurrence but so would diligent decision-making.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1995.cfm

 

Bye, Bubble?The Price of Oil May Be Peaking The price of oil may be peaking in the current range of $130 to $140 a barrel. Here's where you want to be when the bubble bursts. (Video)
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB121400286913193263.html?mod=djemWR

 

Saudi Arabia is gathering oil producers and consumers together for a summit aimed at finding solutions to historically high prices. Saudi leaders are believed to be concerned that the past year's near-doubling of oil prices will lead to a permanent cut in demand as efficiency measures take hold. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/lvBkrwlGvNcReqCibSfXcRTS?format=standard ClipSyndicate/Bloomberg (19 Jun.) , CNNMoney.com (19 Jun.)

 

Psychologists probe decision-makers
Asset management companies and investment consultants are more closely examining how the psychological profile of fund managers affects their performance. Behavioural theorists have looked at the impact of psychology on the markets for decades, but market observers are now investigating how the personalities of individual fund managers can affect how they make decisions.
http://mail2.efnmail.co.uk/r/373950/MTk4MTI1OjE3NzEy/

 

Sun shines on sovereign wealth funds
Kiribati, a group of tropical islands in the Pacific including Christmas and Millennium Island, may expect a higher than average number of visitors from the asset management industry this summer. The reason, as well as lots of sunshine, is the opportunity to research one of the world's smallest and oldest sovereign wealth funds.
http://mail2.efnmail.co.uk/r/373947/MTk4MTI1OjE3NzEy/

 

INVESTING THE GULF'S OIL PROFITS WINDFALL
"The coming
oil windfall in the Gulf."
http://e.mckinseyquarterly.com/W0RT0196856C132CE4E192B5B8C230

 

The climate for hedge funds in the GCC
CPI Financial - Dubai,United Arab Emirates
The turmoil in global financial markets since last year has set an intriguing backdrop for examination of hedge funds in the Middle East region. ...
See all stories on this topic

 

Hedge fund fugitive’s girlfriend arrested
Financial Times Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:25 AM PDT
US authorities on Thursday arrested Debra Ryan, the girlfriend of missing hedge fund manager Samuel Israel, and charged her with aiding and abetting his failure to surrender to serve a 20-year prison sentence for defrauding investors in his hedge fund out of more than $400m.

 

Hedge Funds Are Starting to Get “Voted Off the Island” by Christopher Holt

 

Hedge Funds Are Starting to Get “Voted Off the Island” by Christopher Holt

 

Hedge Funds Are Starting to Get “Voted Off the Island” by Christopher Holt

 

So Is Capitalism Working, Or Not? by Larry MacDonald

 

Hedge Funds Unhappy With Brokers' Efforts To Raise Capital by Research Recap

 

An All-ETF Hedge Fund? You've Got to Be Kidding by Index Universe

 

Carl Icahn, Angry Blogger!
As promised (several times) Carl Icahn is finally blogging, via "The Icahn Report". And boy, is he blogging! There is a lot of copy up there right now -- and because we're bloggers ourselves, we haven't had time to absorb it all. But we are picking up a couple themes just by scanning the posts' titles: "Corporate Democracy Is A Myth" "About CEOs -- Anti-Darwinian Metaphor -- Survival of the Unfittest" "Absurdity Of Corporate Board Elections" "Absurdity Of The Staggered Board" "Absurdity Of The Poison Pill"

 

More Big Write-Downs Loom for Citigroup, Executive Says
New York Times - United States
Mr. Crittenden did say that Citi’s second-quarter write-downs on structured debt products known as collateralized debt obligations, or CDO’s, would be lower ...

 

By MARK DeCAMBRE

Fortress Investment Group is considering adding another $1 billion to the war chest it's amassed to take advantage of the pain being felt on Wall Street. The US' first publicly-traded hedge fund is aiming to raise the extra cash on top of...full story

 

Absolute Capital shares plummet after shareholders approve Argo demerger
Absolute Capital Management, the London-listed hedge fund manager that has been under a shadow since the dramatic walk-out last September of co-founder Florian Homm and the subsequent discovery that the firm's equity fund portfolios contained substantial levels of illiquid and hard to value micro-stocks, has experienced a fresh plunge in its share price.

 

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Yield Curve Corner

 

Can the Fed Answer All the Alarms?
New York Times - United States
By BEN STEIN I GOT a queasy feeling a few weeks ago when I read about a talk that Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, gave at Harvard, ...

 

Bernanke's Market Week
Wall Street Journal - USA
Earlier this month, Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled a turn in Fed policy to include a focus on maintaining a "stable" dollar. ...

 

Bernanke Rethinks PrioritiesOil-bet hedging for strange times.
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB121400274318593223.html?mod=djemWR

 

Jim Rogers: Helicopter Ben Bernanke 'Insane'
NewsMax.com - West Palm Beach,FL,USA
"What’s Bernanke going to do, get in his helicopter and fly around the country repossessing cars and houses? This is insane. ...

Did Bernanke Go Too Far, or Did He Not Go Far Enough?
The prompt action was spurred by Bernanke's research on the Depression. History's judgement?
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1986.cfm

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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:

 

Midwest floods near crest, levees at risk
June 20, 2008 02:37 AM ET
HANNIBAL, Missouri (Reuters) - Volunteers worked on Friday to
fortify levees strained by the worst Midwest flooding in 15
years as the swollen Mississippi River moved toward an expected
weekend crest after causing huge losses.
http://links.reuters.com/r/NG7YL/UVSJW/ABC41/W66W8/9HYU5/YT/t

 

Entire Texas-to-Atlantic zone closing in on one of the Hottest June months in a generation.... {Dallas tallies 15 straight days breaking 95°F; Richmond & Raleigh tally 13 & 14 straight days breaking 90°F}

Full Story...

 

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Iranian Situation and Other Man Made Disasters

Iran dismiss Kuwait to top group
AFP via Yahoo! News Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:45 AM PDT
Iran on Sunday eased past Kuwait with a convincing 2-0 victory to top their World Cup group and create some momentum for the rest of their qualifying campaign.

 

 

 

 

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Opalesque’s Corner

 

- Editor's Note
- Opalesque Exclusive: GAIM Monaco day 3 - Goldman Sachs` lessons learned, Prof Altman on the credit crisis
- Opalesque Exclusive: Iain Hamilton moves three Infiniti funds into Hedge Fund Capital Management AG
- Hedge fund launches and liquidations continue to slow in Q1 2008, number of liquidations up 20% over Q1 2007
- Fund launches: UK hedge fund Equinox considers launch of PE fund to tap Russian infrastructure splurge, Nissay launches series of green funds
- Closures: New York based Manhasset Capital liquidates hedge funds, closes shop
- Performance: UK hedge fund Queen`s Walk reports Q1 loss on ABS
- Indices: Nordic hedge fund index NHX up 1.55% in May, 0.74% YTD
- Credit Crunch Update: Pimco`s Gross sees long-term value in big banks` debt, Citigroup CEO predicts more writedowns and losses, Lehman CEO Fuld faces growing pressure to sell, Barclays may get $926m investment from Japan`s Sumitomo Mitsui
- Risk Management: Speech: Erik Sirri on oversight of risk management at investment banks, OTC deputy director Polakoff says risk management at US investment banks poor
- Insurers: Ackman bets against insurer FSA, Moody`s downgrades Ambac and MBIA
- People: Opalesque Exclusive: Mehmet Dalman joins Toscafund as Vice Chairman and Partner, Dr. Guido Bolliger now Co-CIO at Olympia Capital Management, UK hedge fund Ermitage adds pension fund specialist John Rushen as director, 3A Alternative Investments hires Claire Locher as SVP
- Prime Brokers: Pershing Prime Services teams up with BNY Mellon to provide prime, custodial, accounting and administration services, Prime brokers set their sights overseas
- Regulatory: Treasury Secretary Paulson calls for giving Fed more powers quickly, AIMA warns FSA over `flawed` rights issue rules, FSA rejects `American imperialism` in London oil market
- Bear Stearns fraud case: Ex-Bear Stearns fund managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin arrested and indicted for fraud, Bear Stearns fund prosecutors reveal `lot of evidence` of fraud. Cioffi`s attorney says no crime committed
- Other Legal News: Morgan Stanley rogue trader loses $120m, 400 charged as U.S. cracks down on mortgage fraud, Samuel Israel`s girlfriend arrested, charged with helping hedge fund manager flee, Comment: Is Chapter 15 now a closed book for hedge funds?, Shareholder suit filed against Lehman over subprime hit, Judge approves settlement in Seth Tobias case, Ex-UBS banker pleads guilty to tax evasion scheme, UBS in legal challenge against Deutsche Bank, UK buyout firm over debt sale
- Commodities: Comment: Loose monetary policy, not speculators, pushing up commodity prices, Pension fund executive Quinn to testify at commodities hearing
- Institutions: Credit crisis should convince pension funds of the advantages of L/S strategies, according to BNY`s Jonathan Little
- Tech Update: Low-touch electronic trading in Europe to generate EUR2.1bln ($3.2bln) by 2010, according to TABB Group report, SuperDerivatives introduces new version of company`s FX trading platform
- Europe: Update: Skandia picks managers for alternatives FoF
- Asia: India shelves derivatives launch due to credit crisis, ChinaAMC and Harvest to open Hong Kong offices
- News Briefs: Carl Icahn`s blog goes live, RTS Index Futures is the fastest growing derivative contract worldwide
- ... And Finally: American Airlines flight delayed after skunk contamination
- Logon: http://www.opalesque.com/index.php?act=archive

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Misc. Items of Interest

 

Allianz head combines logic and creativity
Chief executive had to unite European strategy, writes William HutchingsWhere does Elizabeth Corley find the time and energy to write bestselling novels while fulfilling her duties as chief executive of one of Europe's largest asset management companies?
http://mail2.efnmail.co.uk/r/373949/MTk4MTI1OjE3NzEy/

 

Business chiefs urge carbon curbs *
A coalition of 99 companies hands a climate action plan to G8 leaders, asking for emission targets and global carbon trading.
Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/sci/tech/7464517.stm

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Funnies, Facts, Quotes, etc….

 

malediction mal-uh-DIK-shun, noun:

A curse or execration.

 

choler KOLL-ur; KOLE-ur, noun:

Irritation of the passions; anger; wrath.

 

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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.