Main News

 

CFTC Says Price Increases Not the Fault of Oil Speculators
By: Michael S. Fischer, Senior Financial Correspondent
Posted: 07/23/2008 5:18:03 PM ET
http://www.hedgeworld.com/news/read_news.cgi?section=mfad&story=mfad1356.html

 

Basel Committee Seeks to Address Risk Evaluation Deficiencies
By: Martin de Sa'Pinto, Senior Financial Correspondent
Posted: 07/23/2008 2:38:00 PM ET
http://www.hedgeworld.com/news/read_news.cgi?section=dail&story=dail15153.html

 

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision yesterday issued for public comment Guidelines for Computing Capital for Incremental Risk in the Trading Book as well as Proposed Revisions to the Basel II Market Risk Framework.

Full Story...

 

Finding value in the CPDO With a credit rating of AAA, and a coupon of Libor plus 200bp, the CPDO was initially hailed as the "holy grail" of credit investing. Unfortunately, the market volatility of the past 18 months has shown that its AAA rating was not deserved. In this article we show that despite this, there is some merit in the CPDO mechanism which means that it could regain popularity in the credit market, albeit in a more conservative form. More...

 

GLOBAL - Demands for disclosure from sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) will fail as long as other players in the market reject calls for transparency, according to State Street Global Advisers (SSGA).

 

Diane Vazza discusses recent trends in corporate default activity.
Watch Now<http://event.standardandpoors.com/?elqPURLPage=151>

 

Credit crunch halts European market for high-yield bonds
The last sale of high-yield bonds in Europe was conducted one year ago by InterGen, a U.S.-owned power company. Since then, the credit crunch has prevented such deals. Around the world, a few deals of high-yield debt were completed, but Citigroup analysts said the market has dropped 60%. Complete suspension of the European market has become more worrisome for firms that rely on it. Financial Times (23 Jul.)

 

Investors sue CIBC for downplaying exposure to US subprime mortgages
AFP -
And when CIBC later disclosed write downs of 3.379 billion dollars related to its subprime mortgage investments in late 2007 and early 2008, its share price ...

 

GE, Abu Dhabi Form $8B Mideast Fund
General Electric Co. and Mubadala Development Co. formed an $8 billion venture to invest in emerging markets in the Middle East and Africa.

 

Tuesday , 22 Jul 2008
A poll of 42 commodities strategists sees many base metals prices lower this year and next on increased output and inventories.

 

 

Paragon In Buyout Talks With Blackstone
Struggling mortgage lender Paragon is in talks with Blackstone about a potential takeover.

 

Russia, U.S.: Lavrov, Rice Discuss Abkhaz Conflict
July 23, 2008 1512 GMT
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov  and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met July 23...
http://www.stratfor.com/sitrep/russia_u_s_lavrov_rice_discuss_abkhaz_conflict

 

A shortage of strong internal candidates for critical positions will
force European banks to overhaul their talent-management efforts in
order to stay competitive and ensure strong growth.
http://e.mckinseyquarterly.com/W0RT0185A82B032CE4E192B302C330

 

Challenges in quantitative equity management F. J. Fabozzi, S. M. Focardi, and C. Jonas. In April, Fabozzi, Focardi, and Jonas published the results of a survey of trends in quantitative equity management. The survey participants are 31 asset managers. 15 are US-based, and 16 are located in Europe. They manage $2.194 trillion in equities. Two types of investment processes are distinguished. First, the fundamental, or judgmental, investment process, which is based on human decisions. Second, the quantitative, or automated, investment process, in which decisions are computer-driven. More...

 

US property growth rate slows further
Jul 22 2008 20:08
US commercial property prices grew at their slowest annual pace since 2002 in April, according to the Standard & Poor's GRA commercial real estate index Read more »

 

NFA President Dan Roth urges Congress to assess risks before enacting legislation to alter U.S. futures market

 

10 Notes on the Current Market Fracas by David Merkel

 

Will Asian Financials Be Affected By US Bank Woes? by Enzio von Pfeil

 

RBC Analyst: 300 Banks Could Fail [Housing Tracker] by SA Editor Judy Weil

 

“Tackling inflation

As global growth slows, central banks are acting to curb inflation and stave off recession. The key tools for doing this are the official interest rates central banks set for overnight lending to commercial banks. Our interactive feature tracks the interest rate decisions by the Bank of England, Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan and the inflation rates in their economies.”

 

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Yield Curve Corner

 

Bernanke Reasserts Dominance Over Wall Street
Wall Street Journal Blogs - New York,NY,USA
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has reasserted his dominance as by far the most market-moving Fed official, a study released Tuesday showed, ...

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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/TRCdolly205_G12.jpg

 

U.S.: Hurricane Dolly Up To Category 2

July 23, 2008 1516 GMT

Hurricane Dolly has strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane, with 100 mph winds off the coast of...

 

Hurricane Dolly Makes Landfall In S. Texas
Hurricane Dolly brings heavy rain and wind to Texas and Mexico. 
MORE DETAILS: <http://www.wnbc.com/tu/5zx5DHhGs.html>

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Iranian Situation and Other Man Made Disasters

 

 

 

Obama Says a Nuclear-Armed Iran Poses Grave Threat
Bloomberg via Yahoo! News Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:04 PM PDT
July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said that as president he would protect Israel's security and would ``take no options off the table'' to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

 

Iran weightlifting legend pulls out of Olympics
AFP via Yahoo! News Wed, 23 Jul 2008 9:55 AM PDT
Iran double Olympic gold medallist Hossein Rezazadeh on Wednesday pulled out of the 2008 Games because he was not in good enough shape to defend his title, a weightlifting official said.

 

 

 

 

 

Commercially bred bees spread disease to wild bees
July 22, 2008 08:03 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Disease spread to wild bees from commercially
bred bees used for pollination in agriculture greenhouses may
be playing a role in the mysterious decline in North American
bee populations, researchers said on Tuesday.
http://links.reuters.com/r/KT2XP/995UF/0R1OQ/QL4QY/M49PU/YT/t

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Opalesque’s Corner

 

- Opalesque Exclusive: UCITS III, the European travelling funds - part 2 - Instruments used (except for shorting), Argos are launching another UCITS III alternative equity funds later this month, Challenges and opportunities in the European investment market, AFG `confident` UCITS will include passport
- Opalesque Exclusive: Canada`s new funds part 7 - Newly launched Beechwood`s catalyst approach to value investing
- Fund Launch: John Paulson plans fund to provide capital to financial firms by December
- Performance: Nedgroup niche FoF outperforms peers (up 3.04% since Feb. launch), attracts investments, Castlestone`s Porcupine Global Macro Plus has strong first half (9.5%), Man AHL strategy could double in size, Wong says
- Survey: Hedge fund chiefs look to global macro funds in difficult market
- AbCap Update: Absolute Capital faces 500m Euros in redemptions as lock-ups removed in November, AbCap closes Mallorca office in bid to stabilise group, reports loss of Eur32.9m
- BlackRock amends agreements with Merrill, now easier for Merrill to start or buy hedge funds
- Threadneedle in for the long haul: Gasparro sees opportunities in Europe, pushes for hedge fund distribution in U.S.
- Nat Rothschild`s Atticus one of investments in last set of RIT Capital accounts
- Institutions: Two fund of hedge funds win Newsquest mandates, UK Home Shopping pension scheme makes GBP40m hedge fund order, Irish pension reserve fund makes over Eur17m by lending shares to short sellers
- People: Hall Capital Partners appoints investment industry veteran Phil Oelze as Head of Investor Relations, Former Midas managers McGrath and Brann resurface at Crosby, New Star fund manager Ravi Anand to leave to do his own thing, Citi hires 3 senior prime finance roles, new heads of finance sales, product development and client technology
- Opalesque Exclusive:  An in depth discussion of private placement memorandums - the tax and accounting perspectives
- Legal: Hedge fund sues RBS for Eur250m withdrawal, claims $35m penalty fee, Well-known lawyer Sullivan joins ex-Bear manager`s defense, MFA files response to opinion of CSX vs. TCI case with brief to US Court of Appeals for clarity on rules relating to total return swaps, Cuomo readies UBS civil suit, could file charges against other entities in coming weeks
- Hank Paulson eyes sickly hedge funds for additional regulation in cases of insolvency, Anti-shorting crusaders not happy with small concession
- Fannie and Freddie Update: Fannie, Freddie plan could cost government $25bln, CBO says, Regulators check Fannie, Freddie books, Shorting of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac dropped 90%, with a 70% decline at the other firms targeted
- Credit Crunch Update: Bush on Economy: `Wall Street got drunk`, Banks post losses, stocks rally, Wachovia and Washington Mutual lead with combined quarterly losses of over $11bln, HSBC Private Bank ditches broking service and clients, Swiss Banks seen dented by credit crunch, Julius Baer scraps chief executive position, reports first half results, Bond insurers face further downgrade, shares in Dexia and Assured Guaranty fall sharply
- European family office market ripe for growth, collective wealth at $3.3tln - Celent report
- Middle East: ING IM Dubai builds investment team
- Asia: Trump Jr. plans $1bln Indian real estate fund, Tokyo bourse halts futures, options trading on technical glitch, US to back India in securing nuclear deal, US-India nuclear deal will spur hedge funds towards subcontinent, Asia-Pacific region`s economies continue to grow at around 10%, fuel SWFs` coffers, attract PE
- LatAm: Latin America managers go defensive as inflation bites
- SWFs: Opalesque Exclusive: State Street assesses the impact of Sovereign Wealth Funds, questions transparency requests, Attacked for political investing, could sovereign wealth funds actually be the most important future trend in Environmental/Social/Governance finance
- Environmental Investing: Pickens urges Congress to replace oil with wind, Soaring gas prices drive U.S. scooter sales skyward
- Commodities: Interagency Task Force on Commodity Markets releases interim report on crude oil, Oil prices fall below $131 a barrel in Asia, Highlander Fund Management: commodity bubble is not deflating, Fund managers are wrong on inflation, best commodity days behind us, says Comgest star Strauss, Troubles worsen for big energy trader SemGroup as hedge funds seize public subsidiary and Moody`s cuts debt rating
- Energy Regulation: Coalition launches campaign to lobby against unnecessary regulations in commodity markets, Oil speculation bill clears U.S. Senate hurdle, Oil bill pits Wall Street vs. airlines, An energy Sarbox
- Eurex Clearing plans to build European central counterparty platform for clearing services in OTC derivatives, Overseas Clearing Corporation launches new hedge fund software solution, NexorFund
- Activist News: NYC HF Seneca urges TransAlta to consider options
- News Briefs: Report shows Bernanke biggest Fed market mover, Northern Trust wins $1bln asset servicing mandate from Auda Hedge LLC, TPG mulls bid for UK`s Paragon, General Electric and Abu Dhabi investment company form venture, Macquarie soars on CEO reassurance, CBA eyes ABN Amro`s Australian and New Zealand unit as NAB walks
- ...And finally: Two Miami-Dade police officers were arrested for operating a cocaine ring in Miami's Liberty City. Also suspected of driving on sidewalks, random attacks, grand theft auto
- Logon: http://www.opalesque.com/index.php?act=archive

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Misc. Items of Interest

 

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Funnies, Facts, Quotes, etc….

 

vituperation y-too-puh-RAY-shuhn, -tyoo-, noun:

1. The act or an instance of speaking abusively to or about.
2. Sustained and severely abusive language.

 

 

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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.