Main News

 

Look on the bright side of the credit crisis
It was so much easier in the 1930s. At the height of the post-Wall Street crash banking crisis in 1933, President Franklin D Roosevelt ordered a four-day bank holiday and only allowed those institutions that were strong enough to reopen. While the prospect of an extended bank holiday this week may be attractive, about the strongest tool at the disposal of regulators and central bankers is to quietly talk up the market.
http://mail2.efnmail.co.uk/r/360692/MTk4MTI1OjE3MTk0/

 

Correlation adds to banks' exposure
Bank writedowns are edging towards $180bn (?116bn) but credit derivatives specialists are warning about unquantified risks that could add to their losses.
http://mail2.efnmail.co.uk/r/360610/MTk4MTI1OjE3MTk0/

 

Japan: Fukuda's -- and Tokyo's -- Economic Problem. May 5, 2008 | 1556 GMT. Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda

 

Checking for Storm Damage: How Innovations Have Fared
Wall Street Journal - USA
Some tap into small investors' urge to use the same hedge-fund techniques as the rich. Others -- target-date funds -- are designed to protect investors from ...

 

 

An accounting rule governing the use of market values for financial assets could force American Capital to bring its valuations down, possibly leading to write-downs.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120994863516866449.html?mod=djemheard

 

Green Investors Could See More Green
Investors allocating to green strategies tend to focus on clean technology, long-only theme-based investments such as water, and broader socially responsible investment strategies.Read more

 

Dillon Read head launches hedge fund
Financial News (subscription) - USA
... management platform closed by UBS following $150m (€97m) of losses a year ago, is returning to the securities industry with his own hedge fund. ...

Esse Plans to Raise $750 Million for Fund After Leaving Sempra
Source: Bloomberg
Todd Esse, a co-founder of Sempra Energy Trading, plans to raise as much as $750 million for a natural-gas hedge fund because of rising prices and investor interest in energy, a person familiar with the situation said. More... <http://www.hedgefund-index.com/newstoday.asp>

 

Beach Horizon Pulls Back in April
By: Michael S. Fischer, Senior Financial Correspondent
Posted: 05/02/2008 3:26:28 PM ET
http://www.hedgeworld.com/news/read_news.cgi?section=mfad&story=mfad1231.html

 

Sprott Hedge Fund IPO May Signal Top of Canada Commodity Rally
Source: Bloomberg
Sprott Asset Management Inc.'s initial public offering this week will make a billionaire of the hedge fund company's founder, spurring speculation Canada's decade-old commodities boom is ending, investors say. More... <http://www.hedgefund-index.com/newstoday.asp>

 

EMERGING MARKETS WEEK-Gains consolidating after Brazil upgrade
Source: Guardian.co.uk
Investors are expected to fine tune their emerging markets portfolios this week following a sharp rally set off by the upgrade of Brazil's sovereign ratings to investment grade on Wednesday.
The week should start on a slow pace, with a bank holiday in London on Monday and few U.S. economic indicators in the pipeline. More... <http://www.hedgefund-index.com/newsemerging.asp>

 

SEC Obtains Asset Freeze, Halts Hedge Fund Fraud by Investment Adviser in San Diego
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Mon, 05 May 2008 9:39 AM PDT
Washington, D.C., May 5, 2008 — The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an asset freeze and other emergency action to stop a $30 million hedge fund fraud by a San Diego-area investment adviser, Plus Money, Inc.

 

Fund targets FTSE 100 volatility
Meteor Asset Management has launched a fund that provides exposure to volatility on the FTSE 100 index, but offers protection against a monthly loss of more than 10%. Investors in the Protected Equity Fund collect a premium that varies according to the risk. Structured Products (02 May.)

 

UK hedge fund manager GLG Partners has told investors in its emerging markets fund it will not be penalised if it ...
eFinancial News Sun, 04 May 2008 9:13 PM PDT
UK hedge fund manager GLG Partners has told investors in its emerging markets fund it will not be penalised if it removes its money after Greg Coffey, the fund’s manager, has left.

 

Yahoo may see hedge fund heat after Microsoft bid
Reuters via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News Mon, 05 May 2008 12:23 PM PDT
Yahoo Inc, whose shares fell as much as 20 percent on Monday after Microsoft Corp dropped its $47.5 billion (24 billion pounds) bid for the Web company, is likely to face pressure and possibly a proxy battle from activist hedge funds looking to revive the deal.

 

March Mixed for CTAs
By: Jacob Bunge, Financial Correspondent
Posted: 05/05/2008 3:48:25 PM ET
http://www.hedgeworld.com/news/read_news.cgi?section=mfad&story=mfad1233.html

 

Citi Suffers Another HF Setback
By: Emma Trincal, Senior Financial Correspondent
Posted: 05/05/2008 3:42:18 PM ET
http://www.hedgeworld.com/news/read_news.cgi?section=peop&story=peop3457.html

 

Bear Stearns job cuts could exceed 10,000
Job cuts at Bear Stearns could exceed 10,000, according to bankers, as JP Morgan has begun writing to staff at the failed investment bank to inform them whether they have a new role or will be made redundant.
http://mail2.efnmail.co.uk/r/360682/MTk4MTI1OjE3MTk0/

 

 

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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/FSHShawaii126_N5.jpg

 

Myanmar death toll could top 10,000, foreign minister says

 

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Iranian Situation and Other Man Made Disasters

 

 

 

U.S. says Iran will get incentives "very quickly"
Reuters via Yahoo! News Mon, 05 May 2008 11:22 AM PDT
World powers very soon will present Iran with a revised package of incentives to give up its sensitive nuclear work, U.S. officials said on Monday, but expectations for a positive response are low.

 

Oil hits record over $120 on dollar, Nigeria, Iran
Reuters via Yahoo! News Mon, 05 May 2008 10:47 AM PDT
Oil jumped more than $3 to strike a record over $120 a barrel on Monday on the weaker dollar and supply concerns from OPEC members Nigeria and Iran.

 

U.S. and Iran Confront a Web
Of Irreconcilable Differences

By JOSEPH SCHUMAN
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE

There seems to be no simple approach the U.S. can take toward Iran, its points of contention with Washington ranging across so many important fields that however irreconcilable their differences, an eventual comprehensive set of talks may be inevitable.

One new round of negotiations, on the isolated issue of U.S.-Iranian cooperation in Iraq, was suspended today by the Iranians. Ambassadorial-level talks have taken place three times in the past year, but Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said additional negotiations were pointless while American forces continue to fight Shiite Muslim militias in Baghdad. "What we are witnessing is open and extensive bombing of the Iraqi nation, while the main goal of talks with the American side would have been security and peace in Iraq," Mr. Hosseini said, as quoted by the Associated Press. "It is a matter of doubt that the U.S. is pursuing a solution for the crisis, which was caused by them." To the Americans, of course, it's the other way around. U.S. and Iraqi forces have been fighting the Mahdi Army of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who is believed to be living in Iran these days, and U.S. military and civilian officials have repeatedly accused Iran of providing weapons and support to destructive militant groups in Iraq.

Citing the interrogations of four Shiite militia members captured in Iraq last year, an American official tells the New York Times that Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah militants have been training Iraqi fighters at a camp near Tehran, an arrangement aimed in part at providing such training in an unobtrusive way. The Iraqi government yesterday said it has "concrete evidence" that Iran is behind violence in Iraq, as the Washington Post reports. But the way that evidence was announced showed just how tough the U.S.-Iranian enmity is for the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who survives through the support of the U.S. but whose coalition also has close ties to Iran. First his spokesman backed away from accusations of Iranian meddling, saying a panel had been formed to investigate the matter, and then he told reporters that the proof did exist and the panel's job would be to submit it to Tehran, as the Los Angeles Times reports.

Iraq is just one front for the Iranians and the U.S. The L.A. Times cites Western and Israeli officials saying that Iranian client Hezbollah has rearmed in Lebanon and is now stronger there than before the Israeli-Lebanese conflict in the summer of 2006. The State Department's annual report on terrorism, released last week, said "Iran remained the most significant state sponsor of terrorism" and that terrorist operations abroad are a critically important element of its national-security strategy. Iranian leaders, it reiterated, "believe this capability helps safeguard the regime by deterring" U.S. or Israeli attacks, enhancing Tehran's influence in the Middle East and helping to drive the U.S. from the region.

And on the nuclear issue, the U.S. and its European partners, once again concluding the threat of U.N. sanctions won't be enough to cow Iran, last week proposed a new slate of incentives aimed at persuading Iran to give up the enrichment of uranium. But Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme spiritual and temporal leader, suggested yesterday that Iran won't give in, the N.Y. Times reports. "Have you not tested the Iranian nation?" he reportedly said in a speech, adding that economic sanctions won't affect Iranian policy. "We will forcefully continue on our path and will not allow the oppressors to step on our rights." Which gets to the heart of the matter.

A history of 1987-1988 U.S. military operations in the Persian Gulf, published last year by the U.S. Naval Institute Press and cited by Newsweek last week, argues that one of the basic lessons learned from the 20-year-old fight is that "even if outgunned, Iran will not back down from a fight." For example, Iranian guided-missile patrol boats surprised American intelligence officers by facing off against much bigger U.S. warships. Newsweek's Christopher Dickey points out that's an important fact to remember at a time when similar, recent confrontations have nearly erupted into fire fights and when the U.S. is deploying a second aircraft carrier to the gulf to serve, as Defense Secretary Robert Gates put it, "as a reminder." Addressing a tangential subject, the State Department report said terrorism "requires a comprehensive response" that takes into account "propaganda campaigns, grass roots support, and political and territorial ambitions," on top of traditional security efforts. With Iran, the U.S. -- and specifically the next presidential administration -- may find it easier to deal with all the conflicts as one big issue.

 

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Opalesque’s Corner

 

- Credit Hedge Funds: Opalesque Exclusive: Losses, launches and opportunities in credit hedge funds - fixed-income house Augustus is now buying corporate credit, Gamble of the week: credit-based hedge funds, Credit crunch will claim more hedge fund casualties - Commerzbank`s Mattoo
- Performance: Opalesque Exclusive: Och Ziff's unaudited returns from April show minor gains, CEO believes hedge fund industry at beginning of secular growth cycle, Opalesque Exclusive: Cape Town`s BlueBay offshore fund now up 4% YTD, Basso Capital faces losses in most strategies, Beach Horizon down 3.5% in April but up 23.8% YTD, How innovative funds have fared in the current climate - WSJ report
- JV: Trading house Mitsubishi to buy into U.S. hedge fund manager Aladdin Capital, Mitsubishi and Aladdin to set up Y500bln bonds fund and a hedge fund
- Fund launches: Merrill executive departs to launch emerging markets commodities fund, Marathon launches credit hedge fund
- Redemptions: Citigroup clients exit Old Lane fund, fund to be restructured, GLG lets investors exit E.M. fund following Coffey`s departure
- York Capital Management hit by FNX Mining algorithm `gone wild`
- Trends: Hedge funds and 130/30 strategies driving up market volatility, according to a report of the Security Traders Association
- IPOs: Sprott hedge fund IPO may signal top of Canada commodity rally
- Blank check companies: Window for new SPACs remains closed
- Commodities: Hedge funds now breaking into commodities ground, Investors reap fresh bounty from the sea
- Institutions: Fitch exec says institutional investors shift from middlemen / FoFs to individual managers (video), Alameda County to invest $590m in alternatives
- Credit Crunch Update: Barclays may raise GBP3bln according to Dresdner, Bear Stearns job cuts could exceed 10,000, JP Morgan could cut up to 1,500 jobs, UBS may cut 8,000 jobs after CHF12bln loss, Global central banks extend lifeline to credit markets, Wall Street firms and lenders face subprime scrutiny from federal prosecutors` task force, Comment: Economy may face prolonged pain, history suggests, Comment: Crisis recovery may lead to failure in applying financial reform
- People: Third Avenue Management announces new investment research analyst, Rothschild recruits two alternative asset management specialists to set up alternatives unit, BofA hires top Bear investment banker for West Coast operations, Top Barclays executive steps down
- Legal: Update: Hedge fund Pentwater joins litigation in Clear Channel deal, Bankruptcy law: Putting the cards on the table in Delaware court
- Europe: UK Association of Investment Companies (AIC) says hedge funds fastest growing sector,  Hedge funds call bottom on Britain`s bank shares
- Asia: India to sustain 10% growth `for many years`, says hedge fund manager
- Events: Where do we go from here? Industry leaders offer their perspectives at 100-Women-In-Hedge-Funds` event, CT, May13, Hedge Funds Care UK - 3rd Annual London benefit on 16th October 2008
- Activist News: Knight Vinke publishes performance figures for the first time, Toscafund increases Aberdeen Asset Management stake, CSX CEO urges employees to vote for company nominees,  Sports tycoon turns to hedge funds for Liverpool Football Club buyout plans
- News Briefs: Goldman buys stake in former employee`s brokerage, CFTC names members of the Energy Markets Advisory Committee, ING acquires CitiStreet for $900m
- ...And finally: British planners feared tea shortage after nuclear attack
- Logon: http://www.opalesque.com/index.php?act=archive

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Misc. Items of Interest

 

RI LANDSCAPE 2008: ASSET OWNERS

The RI Landscape 2008 Asset Owners survey, run jointly by Responsible Investor and IPE magazine, is one of the widest ever direct global surveys of institutional investors, attracting responses from 73 asset owners in Europe, North America and Asia.
REPORT: Download full report PDF here

 

Riskdata partners with hedge fund databases
Hedge Funds Review Magazine - London,England,UK
Riskdata, a provider of risk management solutions, has partnered with hedge fund databases including Hedge Fund Research, Eurekahedge, BarclayHedge and ...

 

Risk professionals in the capital markets saw their average total compensation increase by 7% in 2007 over 2006, with an 8% compound average growth rate (CAGR) since 2003. Increased bonuses continue to be the main driver, with 11% growth in cash bonus and 6% growth in non-cash bonus for 2007 over 2006. The highest growth rates in total compensation are for new risk managers (professionals with less than 6 years of experience) and less senior titles (Analyst, Associate, Senior Associate and Manager).

Full Story...

 

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Funnies, Facts, Quotes, etc….

 

fustian FUHS-chuhn, noun:

1. A kind of coarse twilled cotton or cotton and linen stuff, including corduroy, velveteen, etc.
2. An inflated style of writing or speech; pompous or pretentious language.
3. Made of fustian.
4. Pompous; ridiculously inflated; bombastic.

 

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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.