Main News

 

'Hedge fund collapse is on the way' -- [at FT.com]

By Steve Johnson FT.com

 

Subprime Until 2009?
Standard & Poor's says housing has yet to hit bottom. Read More

 

 EU raises 'serious doubts' about Thomson Reuters merger
The European Commission says that the proposed £8.9 billion takeover of Reuters by Thomson raises "serious doubts" about fair competition in the financial information business.

 

Hedge-Fund Manager Wace Sees Stock-Price `Explosion' (Update1)
Bloomberg.com Tue, 09 Oct 2007 12:40 PM PDT
Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Ian Wace, co-founder of the $17 billion hedge-fund manager Marshall Wace LLP, expects an ``absolute explosion'' in share prices globally as company profits increase.

 

Confusion leads hedge fund to reveal its shorting of Northern Rock
Times Online Sunday Tue, 09 Oct 2007 3:09 PM PDT
Europe’s second-largest hedge fund yesterday mistakenly exposed its large-scale shorting of shares in Northern Rock, the troubled bank, after a mis-communication with the Takeover Panel.

 

SEI Private Banking Holds Asset Management Symposium for Bank ...
CNNMoney.com - USA
The Symposium was an opportunity for bank wealth managers to discuss asset management theory, behavioral finance, goals-based investing, portable alpha, ...
See all stories on this topic

 

Vanguard's 'quants' caught off-guard -- [at FT.com]
By Deborah Brewster in New York FT.com
10/8/2007 4:50:10 PM

 

Liquidity Disruption Has Biggest Impact On 'B' Category Rated European Corporates
We do not believe the current disruption in the global capital markets reflects a general weakening of operating fundamentals among corporates. Rather, we believe it reflects a broad reassessment by investors of credit risk, and uncertainty over risk and risk allocation associated with certain asset classes. The tight liquidity situation has resulted in heightened refinancing risk and signals a more cautious approach by investors and reduced availability of financing, particularly in the commercial paper markets and the high-yield loan and bond markets.
http://standardandpoors.rsys1.net/servlet/cc5?kHiQWDSCQTVsLgHxhilpuHQJhuV2VSU

 

Millionaires turn to psychologists
October 09, 2007 08:37 AM ET
BOSTON (Reuters) - The surge in the number of millionaires in
the world is spawning a fast-growing industry -- wealth psychology.
http://links.reuters.com/r/X7E3V/QGXKN/2NTCS/95J0N/PVRK1/N9/t?a1=nl_usbusinessearly

 

Private-Equity Tax Increase Now Unlikely
Executives and lobbyists tell the Washington Post that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently let private-equity firms know the proposed tax hike for the industry, one the firms have spent millions of dollars to defeat, won't make it through the Senate this year. "Reid's assurance all but ends the year's highest-profile battle over a major tax increase," the Post says. "Democratic lawmakers, including some presidential candidates, had been pushing to more than double the tax rate on the massive earnings of private-equity managers, who the Democrats say have been chronically undertaxed." But Mr. Reid has implied the Senate just doesn't have time for it in a jammed legislative schedule, the Post adds. Britain's private-equity groups aren't so lucky. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling today plans to announce big increases in the tax bills of private-equity bosses there, the Guardian reports.

India steps back from brink of nuclear row
October 09, 2007 04:43 AM ET
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The India government and its communist
allies stepped back from the brink on Tuesday, agreeing to meet
again this month to resolve a row over a nuclear deal with the
United States that threatens to spark a snap election.
http://links.reuters.com/r/I1C4N/U0ID0/4PB2R/LJG5U/3EOZI/GX/t?a1=nl_usmorningdigest

 

NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com)—Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. announced last week that it was combining its mortgage origination lending businesses, Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage and Encore Credit, into a single unit under the name Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corp. ......

 

Survey—Op risk capital
This month’s OR&C Intelligence survey looks at how firms are using op risk economic capital.
More on Surveys ...

 

Hedge fund manager to head to prison over kidnap plot
Norwalk Advocate Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:47 AM PDT
STAMFORD -- A former New Canaan hedge fund manager will serve 2 1/2 years in prison for recruiting strangers to rape and kidnap his ex-mistress.

 

Climate Funds Get Hotter
Source: The Wall Street Journal Online
A surge in investor appetite for environmentally friendly investment funds is leading investment banks to create special indexes and structured products related to the industry. More... <http://www.hedgefund-index.com/newstoday.asp>

 

Portrait of a Fallen Hedge Fund Manager
New York Times - United States
Victor Niederhoffer, the well known hedge fund manager who lost his entire $130 million portfolio in the Thai stock market crash of 1997, has found himself ...
See all stories on this topic

 

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Yield Curve Corner

 

A united Federal Reserve was increasingly confident last month that inflation no longer posed a significant threat, which along with an "extremely weak" housing sector paved the way for its aggressive interest-rate reduction of a half-percentage point to 4.75%, according to the minutes of its Sept. 18 meeting. Yet officials were mum on the timing, or even the direction, of future policy moves.
For more information, see: http://wsj.com/article/SB119195038986253519.html?mod=djemalert

 

Fed's Flip-Flop Helps Republicans
CBS News - New York,NY,USA
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke assured lawmakers he'd work to curb the mortgage mess; home loan rates inch higher; and investors take a time out. ...
See all stories on this topic

 

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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/VSHKarymsky282_MO.jpg

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Iranian Situation

 

Iran: UN nuclear team arrives
AP via Yahoo! News Tue, 09 Oct 2007 8:04 AM PDT
A high-ranking delegation from the U.N. nuclear agency began talks with Iran Tuesday on the country's disputed nuclear program, state media reported.

 

IRAN:  Iran inaugurated a new air base located near the Afghan border, The Associated Press reported, citing Iranian state television. Iranian air force commander Brig. Gen. Ahmad Mighani said the base will allow Iran to respond "swiftly and strongly" to any attack against the country.

 

IRAN:  A bomb exploded in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, wounding shop workers but killing no one, Iranian news agency Fars reported.

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Opalesque’s Corner

 

- Mid-Atlantic Hedge Fund Association hosts `Follow the Money: What&#39;s new and why in hedge fund asset flows` program October 18 Philadelphia,  Connecticut Hedge Fund Association event at NYSE: The Return of Volatility and the Credit Crisis
- New proposals to allow individual U.S. investors to hedge funds
- Hennessee hedge fund index advanced +2.26% in September (+10.16% YTD),  Eurekahedge index gains 3.6% in September as hedge funds bounce back, HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index up 2.98%,  9.14% YTD, Fund of Funds Composite up 2.41%, 8.45% YTD
- Japan hedge funds: Two-year losing streak is a bad sign, is September the turnaround (+1.88%)?
- Opalesque Exclusive: Chimay fund up 1.92% in September, 18.41% YTD, no down month this year
- Opalesque Exclusive: A case for funds of funds of hedge funds (3F): 3 levels of fees but also 3 levels of added-value, why structure is viable
- Update: Mr Niederhoffer`s wild ride: Up, down, up, down
- Matrix launches new closed end asset based lending fund
- New Research: Do Hedge Fund Managers Misreport Returns?  Professors say managers play valuation games, up to 10% of observations `distorted`, implications for investors and regulators
- Pennsylvania scheme allocates $1.8bn to alternatives, including debt and loan funds
- EDHEC study defends hedge funds in subprime lending crisis and highlights regulation risk,  Basel bank regulators launch crisis review.  French finance minister calls for standardisation of securitisations, EU to draw up radical proposals to improve market transparency
- Discolo: Hedge funds were prepared for credit crisis
- Credit crisis helps CDS market to keep on growing, popular hedging instrument
- Deutsche Bank: Collateralised loan obligations rebound to pre-crisis levels, Distressed debt market dries up - and drought may last
- Climate funds get hotter, investors` appetite spurs growth, relief from volatility,  Water ETFs: A rising tide
- ABP and PGGM invest in windmills and biomass
- Foreign Exchange Trading: New trading platforms reshape Forex, exchange-like structures to emerge?,  Demand intensifies - but diamond futures market is still some way off
- Share suspension sparks rumours of reverse take-over of Turquoise, Carnegie probe could delay OMX agreement, Borse Dubai will respond to any Qatar offer for OMX
- FSA Chairman faces grilling from MPs on Northern
- India`s SENSEX hits record 18,000, FII invest $6.2bln in five weeks (vs. $7.2bln for all of 2006), P/E stretched but `not at bubble levels`
- Morgan Stanley to launch India wealth push, BNP Paribas grows Asia onshore private banking, Julius Baer says Asia private banking grows `north of 30%`
- Asian trustees don`t trust alternatives yet, Watson survey shows still wary of investments, governance issues and monitoring workload
- HSBC Investments hires Wayne Shum for new unit focused on sovereign wealth funds
- Activist News: Shareholders divided over RBS`s big ABN gamble, `imperialist tendencies`, Royal Bank pays `big price`, takes control at ABN, Remember how it all started?
- News Briefs: N.Y. State Teachers CIO Philip to retire, EDHEC sets up research chair in asset-liability management with BNP support, Thomson Financial in data distribution deal with Paladyne Systems, Japanese refiners paying for Iranian crude oil with yen, not dollars
- ...And finally: A hope for millions: Futuristic car makes reversing obsolete, talks to driver: `Are you sleeping?`
- Logon: http://www.opalesque.com/main.php?act=archive

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Misc. Items of Interest

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Funnies, Facts, Quotes, etc….

 

physiognomy iz-ee-OG-nuh-mee; -ON-uh-mee, noun:

1. The art of discovering temperament and other characteristic qualities of the mind from the outward appearance, especially by the features of the face.
2. The face or facial features, especially when regarded as indicating character.
3. The general appearance or aspect of a thing.

 

2001:  The United Service Organizations (USO) appointed entertainer Wayne Newton as its official celebrity front man, replacing Bob Hope, who had served in that capacity since the early 1950s.

1997:  Italian playwright Dario Fo was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

1990:  David H. Souter was sworn in as a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice.

1982:  Anna Freud, psychoanalyst, author, and daughter of Sigmund Freud, died in London.

1888:  Built between 1848 and 1884 and dedicated in 1885, the Washington Monument—a marble-faced granite obelisk that honours the first U.S. president, George Washington—opened to the public in Washington, D.C.

1635:  Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony, and, as a result, he later founded the colony of Rhode Island.

1514:  Mary Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII of England, became the third wife of King Louis XII of France.

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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.