by Felix Salmon <http://seekingalpha.com/author/felix-salmon?source=i_email>

 

Looking Back: The Subprime Meltdown Explained By The NYT... In 2002
The Consumerist - New York,NY,USA
With that in mind we poked around the NYT archive and found a great article on the subprime mortgage market and predatory lending from 2002. ...
See all stories on this topic

 

When A ‘Hedging Program' is Not A Hedge Fund
Hedgeworld (subscription) - New York,NY,USA
What is tangentially odd about this situation is that as the story spreads, it has come to be described in some quarters as a hedge fund-related story, ...

 

Hedge Funds May Beat Stock Market Returns in 2007, FT Reports
Bloomberg - USA
31 (Bloomberg) -- The hedge fund industry remains on course to beat stock market returns in 2007, the Financial Times said, citing data from Chicago-based ...

 

Predictions for Hedge Funds
Wall Street Journal - USA
Not long ago, hedge funds were reserved for a few wealthy investors and even fewer pioneering managers. Now 7500 funds have nearly $2 trillion under ...

 

A China Bubble of His Own?
Barron's - USA
By BILL ALPERT CHINA SHARES WERE VERY GOOD for hedge funds in 2007. One beneficiary was the JLF Offshore Fund, managed by Jeff Feinberg in Del Mar, Calif. ...

 

Resolutions for Assessing Risk <http://seekingalpha.com/article/58679-resolutions-for-assessing-risk?source=i_email>
by Vinny Catalano <http://seekingalpha.com/author/vinny-catalano?source=i_email>

Possible Improbables <http://seekingalpha.com/article/58749-possible-improbables?source=i_email>
by Barry Ritholtz <http://seekingalpha.com/author/barry-ritholtz?source=i_email>

 

Merrill Still Shopping
Forbes - NY,USA
"CDO" is a common term for collateralized debt obligation, an investment-grade security backed by a pool of bonds, loans and other assets. ...

 

Defaults on insured mortgages at record high
December 31, 2007 11:37 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Defaults on privately insured mortgages
rose 34.7 percent in November to the highest level on record,
reflecting the inability of a growing number of homeowners to
keep current on their loan payments.
http://links.reuters.com/r/GPOMR/AQSB2/MMDR2/EYE3L/1E7A4/YT/t

 

Al Qaeda in 2008: The Struggle for Relevance
December 19, 2007 1814 GMT
There are two battlegrounds in the war against jihadism: the physical and the ideological. As we head into 2008, however, there are signs that the ideological war is not going so well for the jihadists.
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/al_qaeda_2008_struggle_relevance

 

Turkmenistan: A Pivotal Year
http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/turkmenistan_pivotal_year

 

THE year 2007, to borrow a phrase from that famous book, might best be described as both the best of times - and worst.  For the first half of the year, the dominant theme was deals, and lots of them.  Blackstone&#39;s Steve Schwarzman was king, and...
full story: http://www.nypost.com/seven/12312007/business/boom_and_bust_590479.htm

 

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>

 

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Yield Curve Corner

 

The Future of Business
New York Magazine - NY, USA
Bernanke, recognizing that he did nothing to regulate the mortgage mess in 2006 and then did not cut rates fast enough in ’07, resigns. ...

 

THE TOP 10 NATIONAL STORIES
Chicago Tribune - United States
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke faced his first full year in office, promising more transparency in decision-making than his predecessor, ...

 

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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/TRCmelanie365_GJ.jpg

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Iranian Situation and Other Man Made Disasters

 

 

Iran's clerics decline in power
UPI Mon, 31 Dec 2007 11:44 AM PST
The fervor nearly three decades after the Islamic Revolution in Iran is dwindling as the once influential clerics falter in the face of secular politics.

 

Rare American in Iran recalls her 50 years there
International Herald Tribune Mon, 31 Dec 2007 5:22 AM PST
Virginia-born Louise Firouz made Iran her home half a century ago. Now 75, she runs a stud farm in the remote northeast and has watched the turbulent transformation of her adopted country from U.S. ally to arch-foe

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Opalesque’s Corner

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Misc. Items of Interest

 

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Funnies, Facts, Quotes, etc….

 

Zeitgeist TSYT-guyst; ZYT-guyst, noun:

[Often capitalized] The spirit of the time; the general intellectual and moral state or temper characteristic of any period of time.

 

"Holy smoke" in nunnery tops 2007 weird news
December 30, 2007 05:50 PM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - From a Greek nunnery turned into a marijuana
farm by two men posing as gardeners to a South African man with
a gunshot wound told by a doctor to "walk the pain off," the
world was full of weird news in 2007.
http://links.reuters.com/r/MBZD1/GNPOM/QXQPM/LRNT5/GBRSE/YT/t

 

OUT & IN FOR 2008
 By The New York Post Pulse Staff
OUT: Plastic IN: Canvas OUT: Nicole Kidman IN: Tilda Swinton OUT: Judd Apatow IN: Jason Reitman OUT: Tribeca Film Festival IN: Chinatown Film Festival OUT: Working IN: Striking OUT: Bums pushing you under the train IN: YouTube train stomping OUT...
full story: http://www.nypost.com/seven/01012008/entertainment/out__in_for_2008_636344.htm

 

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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.