Main News

 

US subprime losses set to mount
Financial Times - London,England,UK
By Stacy-Marie Ishmael and Saskia Scholtes in New York Losses in the US subprime mortgage market are set to escalate as falling housing prices prevent ...
See all stories on this topic

 

Economist says US subprime mortgage crisis has limited impact on China
International Herald Tribune - France
AP HONG KONG: The impact of US subprime mortgage crisis on China is limited thanks to the country's strong economic growth, a well-known economist said ...
See all stories on this topic

 

Treasury names members of hedge-fund study groups
Market Watch Tue, 25 Sep 2007 8:19 AM PDT
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The chief investment officer of the California Public Employees Retirement System and the chief executive of hedge fund Eton Park Capital Management will chair committees tasked by the Treasury Department to come up with guidelines for hedge fund managers and investors, the Treasury said Tuesday.

 

LESS EDGY, MORE HEDGE-Y
Source: The New York Post
THE Meatpacking Dis trict has snazzy hotels, designer boutiques, glam restaurants, even a few surviving meat wholesalers - and soon, it will have its own hedge fund.

Paul Tudor Jones' iconic Tudor Investment Corp. is setting up shop at 401 W. 14th St., where landlord Taconic Investment is building a terraced penthouse atop the Ninth Avenue corner building.  More... <http://www.hedgefund-index.com/newstoday.asp>

 

Moody's alters its subprime rating model -- [at FT Investor]
By Saskia Scholtes MarketWatch
9/24/2007 9:10:24 PM

 

Money Market Funds Intensify Their Focus On Safety And Liquidity
The turmoil in the credit markets is touching even money market funds, traditionally considered among the safest investments, and many fund managers are implementing changes to focus more on safety and liquidity. In the currently challenging and uncertain environment, yield is taking a back seat for now. We continue to monitor the situation, as well as the creditworthiness of money market funds, as part of our principal stability fund rating process for money market funds.
To learn more, click or copy and paste the URL below:
(subscription required)
http://standardandpoors.rsys1.net/servlet/cc5?kHiQWADUQUVsLgHxhilpuHQJhuV2VSU

 

Goldman Sachs Leads The Way As Four Big U.S. Brokerages Defy Market Expectations
The third-quarter performances of the four large U.S. broker-dealers reporting earnings last week (Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley) defied market expectations. For the most part, it reflected their increasing resiliency to adverse market environments, the latest of which was fraught with asset write-downs and liquidity fears. Goldman (AA-/Stable/A-1+) reported third-quarter net revenues of $12.3 billion and net income of $2.8 billion, a 79% year-on-year increase, and showed why it, in particular, is uniquely positioned to thrive in volatile markets.
To learn more, click or copy and paste the URL below:
(subscription required)
http://standardandpoors.rsys1.net/servlet/cc5?kHiQWADUQUVsLgHxhilpuHQJhuV2VSW

 

Houses of Pain Where is the bottom of the housing slump? A report today from the biggest homebuilder in the nation, Lennar, suggests that the market will soon be testing new lows. Read More

 

S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index Falls 3.9% in July (Update1) ... according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index. The index declined in January for the ...
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aqOuSeaFXx3Y&refer=home - 15 hours ago - Similar pages - Note this

 

RBC ordered to produce Norshield documents
GlobeandMail.com, Canada - Tuesday September 25, 09:29 BST

 

Hedge funds must address critics' concerns -- [at FT.com]
By Paul Marshall FT.com
9/24/2007 12:00:33 PM

Former chief offloads 10 million Absolute Capital shares
Florian Homm, the co-founder of Absolute Capital Management who sensationally quit last week, has offloaded 10 million shares in the embattled hedge fund at a bargain basement price of only 32.5p a share.  (The Times)
http://mail2.efnmail.co.uk/r/316674/MTk4MTI1OjE1MTY4/

 

The sudden withdrawal of liquidity, coupled with a possible sustained slowdown in new CDO issuance, likely means further impairment among CDO asset managers well into next year.

Full Story...

 

_________________________________________________________________________

Yield Curve Corner

 

Ben Bernanke's Speech on Education and Economic Competitiveness
CNBC - Englewood Cliffs,NJ,USA
... policies that lead to broad investments in education and training can help reduce inequality while expanding economic opportunity (Bernanke, 2007). ...
See all stories on this topic

 

Fed must weigh inflation against recession
Financial Times - London,England,UK
To critics it is now the "Bernanke put" – the belief that, as under Alan Greenspan, the US Federal Reserve will always ride to the rescue of Wall Street. ...
See all stories on this topic

 

_________________________________________________________________________

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/FSHSalaska268_MO.jpg

_________________________________________________________________________

Iranian Situation

 

Geopolitical Diary: Setting the U.S. Stage for Iranian Talks

 

 

House votes for tighter Iran energy sanctions
Reuters via Yahoo! News Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:40 AM PDT
Legislation mandating sanctions on foreign energy companies doing business with Iran was passed on Tuesday by the House of Representatives, which approved removing the president's power to waive the penalties as previous administrations have done.

 

Iraq-Iran border chaos over detainee dispute
AFP via Yahoo! News Tue, 25 Sep 2007 8:48 AM PDT
Iran's sudden closure of its border with northern Iraq caused trucking chaos at the frontier on Tuesday, as experts warned of severe economic fallout and traders scrambled for goods.

 

U. DA MAN! BOSS HITS IRAN PREZ WITH THE OL&#39; COLLEGE FRY
 By CHUCK BENNETT, MATTHEWNESTEL, SAMUEL GOLDSMITH  and JANA WINTER
Columbia University&#39;s president yesterday blasted Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as "a petty and cruel dictator" - before the demented despot railed about 9/11 conspiracies, openly challenged the Holocaust, and bizarrely stated, "In Iran, we...

full story: http://www.nypost.com/seven/09252007/news/regionalnews/u__da_man__boss_hits_iran_prez.htm
--

 

_________________________________________________________________________

Opalesque’s Corner

 

- Florian Homm sells ten million shares in the fund he quit last week for only £3.25 million; Absolute Capital says CIO Andreas Rialas buys 10 mln shares in co; Homm down £36.5m on AbCap share sale; From hero to zero
- Centrecourt Asset Management in the winning team; Pamplona`s second fund holds first closing on ?1.3bn; Tudor moving offices to NY`s meatpacking district; Man Group says assets under management $68 bln
- Boston asset manager goes alternative
- Comment: Lean time seen for hedge funds; Hedge funds are playing catch-up; Rocky times for the hedgies not necessarily bad; Why hedge funds have to address the critics` concerns
- Big PE firms, hedge funds eye real estate; Sovereign funds eye property
- Models don`t kill people - greed and laziness do; Quant funds: they are back; Research: What happened to the quants in August 2007?
- Survivorship bias in hedge fund indexes
- Fortress` subprime unit Nationstar halts U.S. loans, HSBC`s Decision One Mortgage shuts down; Swings in mortgage, home builders` stocks as investors short and long
- Leveraged market stagnation continues despite Fed rate cut, low demand for high-yield securities from hedge funds; Treasury `fails` pass the turmoil`s test
- IMF: Global markets face protracted adjustment; RBA is more optimistic
- Banks reduce backlog of unsold debt to $370 billion; Comment: Bear Stearns could be a rare error for superstar trader; Just how the subprime market collapse impacted the Wall Street bank`s Q3 numbers
- The Federal Reserve has driven most stock market bears into hibernation, ` brewing financial crisis` says Balesta; Comment: Is the Fed flushing out the `excess credit` demons?  Fed knew about possible credit problems years ago
- Kroll: Four out of five companies worldwide affected by corporate fraud
- Exchanges: Nasdaq and Dubai plot alliance with LSE; NYMEX to launch 24 new crude oil swap futures contracts on NYMEX ClearPort®
- Commodities: Investor Jim Rogers sees skyrocketing prices for commodities; Wheat farmers signal price drop with increased sowing; Gold equities, share prices and returns: What do the fund managers think?
- Pensions: Pension funds help smooth bumpy credit market, provide liquidity support; San Diego pension funds` performance levels exceed expectations despite Amaranth; Calpers severs links with Iran; AA retirement plan opts for alternative assets
- People: Stuart MacDonald joins multi-manager boutique Gems Advisors; Citadel appoints Peter Little as CEO; Ben Alibrandi joins asset management consultant relations team in the US
- Danske seeks biotech manager
- Northern Rock down amid dividend, break-up worries; Northern Rock`s natural home not with hedge funds; Shorting is to blame, says top shareholder RAB; Goldman to advise Treasury on Northern Rock; House builder Barratt` shares down, US hedge fund may have been shorting UK housing sector
- Interview: Subprime debacle hits Deutschland; ING has 28.7 bln euros of Alt-A mortgage exposure
- BNP Paribas in new Italian acquisition, intends to increases its fund of hedge fund assets
- Other Voices: Russia`s new government is excellent news
- EDHEC and AXA create chair in institutional investment; SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins and FSA CEO Hector Sants to discuss hedge fund regulation and risks with industry professionals at the EDHEC Alternative Investment Days
- IMA publishes investment fund statistics for August 2007; Hedge funds demystified: Applied Learning opens institutional level training to finance professionals for the first time
- Saudi rate on hold
- Investment opportunities in under-valued Korean firms; South Korea nears developed-market status; What can stop Asia AUM growth? `Rien`
- Quellos Group opens Hong Kong office
- Hedge funds active in currency arbitrage in India
- Hedge fund AUM in Japan down 17% this year, trend may continue
- Macquarie makes a splash with infrastructure deals$
- Legal News: Morgan Stanley sued over `snowball notes`; RBC ordered to produce Norshield documents
- Tech Update: EDGAR(R)Online to demonstrate its I-Metrix XBRL Data with Renaissance Capital at Blue Ribbon hedge fund conference; Stock exchanges face IT challenge to prove `best execution` under Mifid; Zealous ATS 'ZATS' To facilitate trading of rule 144a securities creating a centralized electronic marketplace; Glitnir signs up to SuperDerivatives
- Activist News: How Cerberus hedged auto bets; Dana gets offer from Appaloosa; Erinaceous in emergency talks with lenders, Pursa wants management out; Second Curve reports 5 pct IndyMac Bancorp stake
- News Briefs: Raising capital through new trading platforms to reach institutional investors is getting popular; ISS is top contender to win proxy adviser owned by troubled Xinhua Finance; Buyouts to shrink, returns too; RateFinancials criticizes listed Chinese companies` disclosure; Book Review - An American Hedge Fund by Timothy Sykes;  Trichet hits back at Sarkozy`s attacks on ECB
- And Finally. hedge fund desperate after being forced to change name, any idea?
- Logon: http://www.opalesque.com/main.php?act=archive

 

_________________________________________________________________________

Misc. Items of Interest

 

RiskMetrics Group Plans IPO
Forbes - NY,USA
AP 09.19.07, 4:53 PM ET RiskMetrics Group Inc., a provider of risk management and corporate governance products and services, filed Wednesday for an initial ...
See all stories on this topic

 

_____________________________________________________________________

Funnies, Facts, Quotes, etc….

 

noisome NOY-sum, adjective:

1. Noxious; harmful; unwholesome.
2. Offensive to the smell or other senses; disgusting.

1970:  Hostilities came to an end during Black September, the brief but violent civil war between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Jordan.

1962:  Sonny Liston became world heavyweight boxing champion with a first-round knockout of Floyd Patterson in Chicago.

1799:  André Masséna, French nobleman and general under Napoleon, defeated Russian forces in the Second Battle of Zürich.

1777:  Philadelphia, then the American capital, was occupied by British forces during the American Revolution.

1066:  Tostig, earl of Northumbria, and Harald III, king of Norway, were killed in an attempt to depose Tostig's brother, King Harold II of England.

_________________________________________________________________________

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:

 

_________________________________________________________________________

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

_________________________________________________________________________

Regulatory Info

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________

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.