Main News

 

How TARP Could Play Out For U.S. Financial Institutions<http://now.eloqua.com/e/er.aspx?s=795&lid=7892&elq=C0BE31CE342741C89035FEA687CAAF96>

 

U.S. Weekly Financial Notes: Yielding Nothing<http://now.eloqua.com/e/er.aspx?s=795&lid=7883&elq=C0BE31CE342741C89035FEA687CAAF96>

 

One step toward assessing prices for illiquid mortgage assets and securities under the federal bailout plan would be to have banks and insurers contribute their current "marks" -- or valuations -- to a transparent database.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122270642748086163.html?mod=djemheard

 

HEARD ON THE STREET, by Gregory Zuckerman from The Wall Street Journal.

Many hedge-fund managers won't get paid much this year and will have trouble retaining key employees because few funds have made positive returns.

 

Hopes that Europe's banks might avoid the dramatic deterioration faced by the U.S. sector have evaporated. Government-led rescues beckoned for Dutch-Belgian banking group Fortis and British mortgage lender Bradford &amp; Bingley.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122263383882483623.html?mod=djemheard

 

Hedge Funds Brace For Withdrawals
The financial crisis that rocked the world is putting pressure on the $1.9 trillion hedge-fund industry.

 

The biggest performance dispersion among hedge funds and funds of funds in six years has set the stage for what some predict will be a six-month-long bloodbath.

 

Hedge Funds of Funds

In a year of seemingly endless bad news for hedge funds, many hedge fund-of-funds managers, especially institutionally focused firms, actually thrived.

Charts and data Table: Largest hedge fund-of-funds managers

Where Will Treasury Find Its Model?
Conde Nast Portfolio - New York,NY,USA
The big question, of course, is how on earth one goes about valuing unique and hard-to-understand MBSs, CDOs, CDOs of CDSs, CDO-squareds, and other such ...

 

Hedge Funds Wash Out of High-Stakes Game
Barron's - USA
Not even hedge funds, the swashbuckling risk-takers of the equity and bond markets. Certain short sales, a key hedging strategy, are banned for now. ...

 

Credit Crunch to Blunt M&A Despite Bank Rescues
By: Reuters
Posted: 09/29/2008 1:39:19 PM ET
http://www.hedgeworld.com/news/premium/read_news.cgi?section=peop&story=peop3604.html

 

Man Group Funds Hit by Market Turbulence
By: Reuters
Posted: 09/29/2008 12:55:43 PM ET
http://www.hedgeworld.com/news/read_news.cgi?section=dail&story=dail15290.html

 

Private equity firms to buy Lehman's Neuberger

Bain Capital Partners and Hellman & Friedman agreed to acquire the 69-year-old Neuberger along with other parts of Lehman's investment management division. 

 

Forecasts for banks remain pessimistic
Sep 29 2008 04:02
Sector will still be suffering from the credit crunch at the end of the year as it continues to scramble for cash to shore up balance sheets Read more »

Russian banks wary of foreign withdrawal
Sep 28 2008 19:44
The Russian stock market will be prone to volatile swings until a domestic institutional investment industry is created, says one of the country's top bankers Read more »

Hedge Funds: Only the Strongest Will Survive by Market Folly

 

Clarium Capital Shifts to Equities by Market Folly

 

VIX: How The Past May Help Us Understand Our Present by Toro

 

Hedge Fund Performance Fees Not As Simple As You Think by Christopher Holt

 

Tricky little devil, that Michael Lauer by Greg Newton

 

Sentiment Overview: Cash is King by Babak

 

Bailout Should Be A Windfall For Taxpayers - Barron's by SA Editor Judy Weil

 

The Commodities Hedge Fund Flap by Greg Newton

 

Hedge Fund Tracking: Caxton Associates (Bruce Kovner) by Market Folly

 

SEC Triggers Prison Construction Boom by Greg Newton

 

Will 'Hedge Fund Replication' Benefit From Short-Selling Bans? by Christopher Holt

 

Pimco Offers Gov’t Help With Bailout
Pacific Investment Management Co. manager William Gross has pledged to help the U.S. Treasury manage the proposed $700 billion rescue plan for free.

 

 

Robert Arvanitis of Risk Finance Advisers is a Wall Street veteran who has managed to avoid some of the more spectacular disasters in recent financial history. An actuary by training and a member of PRMIA, he learned the reinsurance business from Hank Greenberg at AIG. Seeing the need to broaden the industry model, he moved into investment banking. At Merrill Lynch he was managing director of Global New Derivatives, responsible for the very first "catastrophe" bond, among other innovations. Robert took the money off the table just in time, leaving MER before the dot.com bust. He now has the leisure to pursue the cross-sector arbs between insurance and banking, as we discuss below.

Full Story...

 

The upheaval from the U.S. financial crisis is like a tectonic shift on a scale not seen in financial systems around the world, IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky said. He said the IMF now estimated total losses for the global financial system of $1.3 trillion from the financial crisis that erupted in the United States in August last year.

Full Story...

 

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Yield Curve Corner

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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/TRCjangmimekkhala273_GJ.jpg

A rare hurricane spins past Maine and hits Canada
a minute ago It threatened to be the first hurricane in 17 years to make landfall in Maine. Instead, Kyle delivered little more than a glancing blow equivalent to that of a classic nor'easter. ...

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Iranian Situation and Other Man Made Disasters

 

Six powers to 'move forward' on steps against Iran: Rice
AFP via Yahoo! News Mon, 29 Sep 2008 7:55 AM PDT
The six powers trying to scale back Iran's nuclear ambitions will "move forward" with further measures against Iran over its nuclear defiance, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said here Monday.

 

Iran boasts $129B in foreign assets
UPI Mon, 29 Sep 2008 9:45 AM PDT
TEHRAN, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Amid threats of further sanctions, Iranian officials Monday said foreign assets held by the Central Bank of Iran soared to $129 billion based on oil markets.

 

Sep 26, 2007 ... TIME Managing Editor Richard Stengel finds Iran's President courteous and collected at a private event in New York.

 

 

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Opalesque’s Corner

 

- Opalesque Exclusive: Review of hedge fund launches, closures, trends, regulatory and legal events - week 39
- Fund launches - Browndorf PEM launches longevity hedge fund, Blackpool Capital launched multi-strat FoF
- Closures - MKM to liquidate $1.5bln flagship fund after Lehman collapse
- Opalesque Exclusive:  Carbon hedge fund bounces back in August, +22.24% YTD
- Performance - Integrated A. M. announces IMFC Global Diversified Fund won 2008 Canadian Hedge Fund Award, returned 36 % year ending July 2008, Man Group sees slide in fees
- Opalesque Exclusive: Cofunds adds Castlestone Management`s agriculture and commodity funds, Skandia adds Aliquot Commodity Fund to Royal Skandia fund range
- Strategies - Shorting ban will force hedge funds to change strategies, Derivative provides way around shorting ban, Directors dealings database proves valuable
- Hedge funds in Crisis - Private investors not rushing out of FoHFs, brokers say, Hedge funds face record redemptions, Spate of hurried sales could unleash vicious circle within hedge fund industry, Only the strongest will survive, Long-term disadvantages of short-selling ban may outweigh the benefits, Hedge funds grudgingly to reveal US short positions, Short-selling is down but not out as industry fights back
- Short Selling Regulations - Russia lifts short selling ban, Shorts remain legal in Hong Kong, HK pledges tough action if short selling abused, Short-sales curb affects ETFs
- Rescue Plan Update - Breakthrough agreement on US bail-out, The $700bln question: Which firm will manage the bailout money?, Lending market woes threaten M&A deals
- Credit Crunch Update - Asian stocks fall for fifth day on concerns US rescue plan may not work, Goldman to buy up to $50bln in assets from US banks, Goldman Sachs rejects NY Times story on AIG exposure, Update: AIG looks to sell 15 to 20 units, Wells Fargo moves in on Wachovia, Private equity looms large amid investment bank demise, according to PEI report, Islamic banks profit from credit crunch
- Fortis Update - Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg governments threw $16.3bln lifeline to Fortis last night, CEO: `No chance` of Fortis going bankrupt, Fortis bailout raises questions for RBS
- Lehman Update - Harbinger wants to probe Lehman cash transfers before bankruptcy, PwC: Lehman won`t return prime broker assets for `weeks`, Barclays Capital entices Lehman talent
- CFA investor survey: Fair value should not be suspended, bailout plan will help US economy
- Institutions - British BT Pension Scheme expected to raise hedge allocation, Hermes to rejig hedge fund arm, makes new hires, Update: two UK pension funds suspend stock lending after attacks on shorting, Grant Thornton: Institutions` shift to performance fee arrangement is based on lower fee incentive
- Opalesque Exclusive: Former Blue Sand MD Jill Meleski takes the lead on Citi Prime Financial US Capital Introduction team
- Regulatory - SEC ends program to oversee investment banks, NY attorney-general Cuomo launches investigation into CDS trades, SEC failed to oversee Bear Stearns, says SEC`s inspector-general
- Other voices: Why sign up to the Hedge Funds Standards Board or President`s Working Group Best Practice Standards?
- Legal - Joe Biden`s sons owe SimmonsCooper $1m in hedge fund deal, Judge asks indicted ex-Credit Suisse broker to return $2m
- Europe - Thousands of City jobs yet to go, CBI says, Germany`s Hypo in urgent talks with watchdog, Hypo Real Estate Group has secured major new funding facility, European Parliament`s watered-down rules for hedge funds `a first step`, European central banks cut their sales of gold, Russia: 32 billion dollars in search of a manager for new sovereign wealth fund
- Australasia - Macquarie to sell margin lending business, Australia shares down 2.0%, New Zealand falls into first recession in 10 years
- Commodities - Read Opalesque`s free daily commodities publication, the Opalesque Commodities Briefings, Mining start-up industry will be damaged if investors in RAB Capital`s HF reject restructuring proposal
- Environmental Investing - Ospraie, Shaw to build wind farm off Rhode Island
- Opalesque Exclusive:  Alpha Dialogue Advisors consultancy firm dissolves partnership and shutters doors
- U.S. Banker ranks the 25 most powerful women in banking
- Events - State of the Market reception and symposium hosted by Youth, I.N.C. and FBR Capital Markets on Monday, October 6th, NYC
- Activist News - Centaurus Capital sells stake in Atos, Hedge funds Barington and Clinton push plan for change at Dillard`s
- News Briefs - Lazard, Lazard Asset Management complete merger, Aviva consolidates asset management operations into new group, Baltic Dry index slides, Goldman Sachs AM strengthens its Asian business, Overseas capital floods into Latin America
- ...And finally - On a different planet? Hospital tells grandfather, 71, that he`s pregnant
- Logon: http://www.opalesque.com/index.php?act=archive

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Misc. Items of Interest

 

By JAMES COVERT

New York's affordable-housing developments could become the next victims of the credit crisis, according to some real estate sources. As the mortgage crisis escalates, at least 580 buildings containing 40,000 units have "one or more factors...full story

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Funnies, Facts, Quotes, etc….

 

verbiage VUR-bee-ij, noun:

1. An overabundance of words; wordiness.
2. Manner or style of expression; diction.

 

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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.