Main News

 

THE STRIKING PRICE DAILY  By STEVEN M. SEARS
Merrill Woes Suggest Trouble for U.S. Economy
A larger-than-expected write-down by Merrill Lynch has options traders buying puts across the financial services sector.
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB119317405079968867.html?mod=djemBF

 

today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=fundsFundsNews&storyID=2007-10-24T141647Z_01_WEN... - 12 hours ago - Mellon's slice of HF advice
Tue, 23 Oct 2007, 10:30
Institutional Investor
A new study by The Bank of New York Mellon and Oxford Metrica suggests it's time to break with tradition as far as the way hedge funds are classified. In its report Rethinking Performance In The Hedge Fund Industry, its research suggests that using "cluster analysis" - namely, grouping hedge funds based not on strategy style but on performance - is a better way to group funds.

 

 

CNNMoney.com - USABetween 31 December 2004 and 30 June 2007 , AuM increased from approximately US$4.1 billion in funds of hedge funds and managed accounts to approximately ...

CAPITAL, By David Wessel
A year from now, writes David Wessel, it will be clear what caused the recession of 2007-08: The triple whammy of falling housing prices, rising oil prices and the growing cautiousness of lenders and borrowers.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/capital?mod=djemtct

Mortgage Meltdown
Wall Street Journal - USA
The main problem, financial and increasingly political, is that millions of subprime mortgage loans will have their rates "reset" in the coming months. ...
See all stories on this topic

 

Economic Report: When will housing hit bottom?
By Rex Nutting MarketWatch
10/24/2007 4:12:00 PM

 

Saints are the goal for secretive hedge fund
Evening Standard Wed, 24 Oct 2007 0:44 AM PDT
The mystery bidder for Southampton Football Club can be named today as Mayfair hedge fund Sisu Capital. If the deal goes ahead, Southampton, currently mid-table in the Championship would become the first British football club to fall under the control of a hedge fund.

 

Hedge Fund Masters Reveal Their Secrets in New Book
PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance Wed, 24 Oct 2007 5:30 AM PDT
Once considered cowboys on the margins of the markets, hedge fund managers now oversee $1.7 trillion and influence even mainstream trading. They keep their moves secret and their profiles low as the workings of their immensely profitable circle remain mostly a mystery to those outside of it.

 

Structured Finance
145 Ratings On 97 U.S. Synthetic CDOs Cut, One On Watch Neg; $3.68 Bil. In Issuance Affected
We lowered ratings on 145 tranches from 97 U.S. synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) transactions. Additionally, we placed one tranche rating on CreditWatch with negative implications because the rating on its underlying reference obligation was placed on CreditWatch with negative implications on Oct. 22, 2007. We lowered the ratings following a review of the rated synthetic CDO transactions that reference residential mortgage-backed securities and have experienced negative rating actions recently.
To learn more, click or copy and paste the URL below:
http://standardandpoors.rsys1.net/servlet/cc5?kHiQYTRTQUVsLgHxhilpuHQJhuV2VT

 

SIV Defaults - How to Lose Three A's In Three Days
Date Published: 22 Oct 2007, 22:01

 

Distressed CPDOs: We're Doomed!
Date Published: 04 Sep 2007, 22:47

 

Turk forces attacked rebels in N.Iraq: army sources
October 24, 2007 06:01 AM ET
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes and ground troops attacked
Kurdish rebel positions just inside northern Iraq between Sunday
and Tuesday evening, military sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
http://links.reuters.com/r/EN8ZS/ZZP8B/GCMI8/6ZFS7/PVMRB/YT/t

 

Dominance of Hedge Funds on Display in Third Quarter
BY JULIE SATOW - Staff Reporter of the Sun
The recent chaos in the credit markets and attempts on Capitol Hill to raise taxes have failed to put a damper on the lucrative hedge fund industry. In fact, investors have allocated a record-breaking $164 billion so far this year to the industry,...

 

REELING  CANTOR  DEBT BIG  LEAVES
 By RODDY BOYD
A key Cantor Fitzgerald executive has departed as the firm copes with sharp losses from this summer's crash of the mortgage- and asset-backed securities markets.  Irving Goldman, a Cantor partner and the firm's debt capital markets chief...
full story: http://www.nypost.com/seven/10242007/business/reeling__cantor__debt_big__lea.htm

Do you have illiquid securities in your portfoilio?
Tue, 23 Oct 2007, 17:53
HedgeWeek
Managers with illiquid or hard-to-value fixed income securities in their portfolios can now use independent evaluations from Standard & Poor's Securities Evaluations (SPSE), a wholly owned subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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Yield Curve Corner

 

Roots of credit crisis laid at Fed's door
MarketWatch - USA
At the time Bernanke was preparing to succeed Greenspan, Schlesinger predicted his biggest challenge would be the aftermath of Greenspan's laissez-faire ...
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/CaliforniaFire.gif  (CHECK THESE OUT)

 

NICARAGUA: Of Forests, Floods, Fatalities and Famine
Inter Press Service (subscription) - Rome,Italy
... and now the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is warning of famine. Hurricane Felix ploughed into the country's northern Atlantic region on Sept. ...
See all stories on this topic

 

The hot season
Wildfires are sweeping across Southern California
Full article

 

Three main (tangible & psychological) topics at play as we close out October and enter November...

Full Story...

 

Heavy Rain Floods Parts of New Orleans
The Associated Press -
Denise Banks said there was no warning — no sound, no shaking, just hard rain — before a possible tornado smashed a tree into her living room at Newbern, ...
See all stories on this topic

 

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Iranian Situation

 

Iran, U.S.: Iraq Talks and Iranian Frictions
 http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=297301

 

Iran: Looking to China for New Fighter Jets?
 http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=297297

 

Iran: Resignations, Rumors and Major Policy Debates
 http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=297290

 

Iran "perhaps single greatest" security risk to US: Rice
AFP via Yahoo! News Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:08 AM PDT
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice singled out Iran Wednesday as "perhaps the single greatest challenge" to US security but stressed that diplomacy was the preferred way to end its nuclear drive.

 

 

PBS Frontline: 'Showdown With Iran'
Washington Post Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:06 AM PDT
Frontline producer Greg Barker will be online Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 11 a.m. ET to discuss his film, "Showdown With Iran," about the battle between the U.S. and Iran for power and influence in the Middle East, the threat posed by an Iranian nuclear program, and how U.S. efforts to install democracy in Iraq have strengthened Iran's position.

IRAN:  Former Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani resigned his post in order to participate in the upcoming parliamentary election campaign, Iranian parliament member Mohammad Taqi Rahbar told Fars News Agency.

 

Who’s the boss in Iran?
The tea-leaves of an Iranian resignation
Full article

 

My way
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tightens his grip on Iran
Full article

 

IRAN, EU, ITALY:  Iran's nuclear negotiators and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will hold separate meetings with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi over Tehran's nuclear program. An EU-Iranian meeting on the same subject took place Oct. 23 and included newly appointed top Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili. Both sides said these talks were constructive, adding that more talks likely will be held by the end of November.

 

1137 GMT -- IRAN -- Two leading members of the Iranian parliament said Oct. 24 they have heard that Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki presented his resignation to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad late Oct. 23, the ISNA news agency reported. Ahmadinejad dismissed the reports later in the day, saying, "Mr. Mottaki does his everyday work very energetically, and today he was present in the Cabinet session from the start to the end," the official news agency IRNA reported.

 

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Opalesque’s Corner

 

- Opalesque Exclusive: HedgeFundsWorld awards for best LatAm hedge funds, newcomer, service providers
- Thames River to launch L/S Property fund, Thames River hopes to raise up to GBP100 mil through C share issue, BlackRock plans new hedge funds focused on real estate and agriculture, Horton Point to launch quantitative multi-strategy fund
- Absolute Capital`s Absolute Germany Fund lifts suspension of NAV calculation
- Update: Och-Ziff posts net inflows of $1.2bn ahead of floatation
- Survey: Wealthy investors expect shift to alternatives, Funds of funds avoid excessive focus on strategy allocation, intensify search for talented managers, Are 130/30 funds such a bright idea?
- HFR's 3rd Quarter Industry Results: Investors allocate over $45 bil to hedge funds in Q3 despite volatility, 2007 YTD flows surpass record for FY 2006
- State Street Investor Confidence Index falls from 88.7 to 82.6 in October
- Standard & Poor's releases Enhanced Global Fixed Income Research, delivering one stop source for credit market and economic insights
- Jim Rogers shifts assets out of dollar to buy yuan, `I am that pessimistic`, Canadian HF manager finds better opportunities in small-cap stocks in Canada than the U.S., predicts `ugly` Q4 for Canadian retailers
- Rhinebridge not forced into fire sale of $2bn of assets after stopping repayments of its commercial paper, SIV defaults may prompt others to sell off, Will rescuers arrive in time? SIVs need to find investors for $100 billion in debt coming due in the next 6 to 9 months
- Paulson supports new bills aim to help delinquent borrowers,  Merrill Lynch to report $2.5bn added loss in fixed-income unit, The Basel committee believes Basel II would have alleviated credit crunch
- G10 ministers welcome efforts to improve hedge fund practices, MFA coordinates latest version of HF codes
- Comment: Taleb on the pseudo-science hurting markets, `reminiscent of medieval medicine`
- People: J.L. Gould is new MD at Citi Alternative Investments, BlackRock hires 8 from Scottish Widows in Europe, Thames River hires fund manager for new fund launch
- Commodities: ETF Securities launches multicurrency ETCs, Commodities continue to have a low correlation with equities, A shortage in cargo ship space could push up commodity ETFs
- Pensions: Barings wins more than GBP500 mil from UK pension funds
- NFA announces effective date for increased minimum net capital requirements for Forex Dealer Members, Nomads leave Aim after regulation changes, Indonesian bourses aim to lure new funds with revamp
- Update: US probe into Bear Stearns` China deal
- Legal News: Firm`s partner indicted in illegal short-selling scheme,  Feds not buying admitted Bayou co-conspirator Marquez` woes, Update: Law firm Sidley must stay in Lake Shore case
- London hands back finance-hub status to New York, Cantillon Europe`s 2006 revenues drop 20% to GBP30 mil as rivals registered substantial increases
- UBS buys French asset manager CCR
- Setting trends in Spain: Omega domiciles some of the group`s hedge funds in the UK and Ireland
- Investors urged to pay more attention to `misunderstood` Europe
- India investment curbs may moderate unwanted side effects of an unprecedented inflow of capital, India should end offshore derivatives, Templeton`s Mobius says,  Conference`s report, India regulator softens shock
- China fund flows turn negative, EM equity funds ease but still solid, investors still pull away from developed market funds, Comment: Chinese investors` cosy bubble keeps foreigners at bay
- Pimco says it is `not the time to buy' Japanese corporate bonds
- HNW investors in the UAE shun traditional strategy, HF investments expected to go up by 9% in next 3 years, DFSA enters into Memorandum of Understanding with U.S. Banking Supervisors
- Survey: South Africa`s HF industry is burgeoning
- Tech Update: Merlin Securities is now on Bloomberg Execution Management System, adding value for hedge fund clients, Reuters launches .x Quote and trade reporting service
- Events: 4th Annual hedge fund accounting and administration Forum, 3-4 December, NYC, 100 Women in Hedge Funds launched Hong Kong chapter
- Activist News: Zale fails upscale bid, Citadel, SAC, Breeden think company is capable of generating good cash flow, New York HF Ramius pushes Akron company A. Schulman Inc. to sell itself
- News Briefs: Buyout firms to help fund alternative minimum tax fix, UBS shutters two U.K. equity funds, citing poor performance, Merlin Securities receives top award, S&P may cut Australian, N.Z. mortgage bond ratings,  Chinese demand fuels iron ore price
- And Finallly. $1 million painting found in rubbish
- Logon: http://www.opalesque.com/main.php?act=archive

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Misc. Items of Interest

 

Slideshow: The Latest and Greatest Innovations in Entertainment Technology | by April Joyner
The new wave of technology has the big names in
entertainment cozying up to the new kids on the block.
Look for significant shakeups in the music and
television industries and small steps toward less
conservative approaches infilm and radio. Plus, Web 2.0
finally clicks with Internet titans, and companies
catch the gaming bug.
http://trax.fastcompany.com/k/w/mailman/fasttake/20071024/enttech

 

London Hands Back Finance-Hub Status to New York
Bloomberg - Wednesday October 24, 09:51 BST

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Funnies, Facts, Quotes, etc….

 

recidivism ih-SID-uh-viz-uhm, noun:

A tendency to lapse into a previous condition or pattern of behavior; especially, a falling back or relapse into prior criminal habits.

 

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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:

 

The Fifth Discipline
by Peter M. Senge
Copyright © 1990 by Peter M. Senge.
Published by arrangement with Currency Books/Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.
www.randomhouse.com , 2006

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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.