Dang - is that Pelosi with her eyes closed? I didn't know that was possible. What intense level of euphoria must be wafting over her to enable that?
And I had no clue that Dingy Harry could actually look happy. Amazing.
Posted on 10/08/2008 11:30:15 PM PDT by dennisw
In happier times, the bronzes in the window of WH Patterson’s gallery in London’s Mayfair would have been quickly snapped up. Their titles — Lioness Attacking, Lioness Stalking and Cheetah I and II — would have appealed to the hedge-fund managers who work in the area and fancy themselves as financial-market predators.
To them, the asking price of £10,000-plus would have been little more than small change; but those days have gone and the hunters are rapidly becoming the hunted.
A handful of managers in London and New York were forced last week to liquidate funds, including the flagship funds at MKM Longboat and Powe Capital, as investors demanded their money back. It is only the beginning.
Experts are predicting a 30% reduction in the hedge-fund industry — there are roughly 10,000 funds worldwide, and the industry is worth approximately $2 trillion. One broker said: “Small firms are bleeding. Assets are being sold off, investors are redeeming money and the managers are scuttling off to work somewhere else.”
The firestorm is expected to be quick and violent, and it has been brewing since the credit crunch began more than a year ago. It claimed a number of high-profile casualties such as Peloton this year. But events of the past three weeks, including the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers, which froze billions of dollars of hedge-fund trades, a ban on shorting stock, volatile markets and the evaporation of credit, have created a deadly climate.
Nick Roe, global head of equity finance at Citigroup, said: “There will be a proliferation of hedge funds at the small and mid-size winding down. The hedge-fund universe will be smaller in 2009.
(Excerpt) Read more at business.timesonline.co.uk ...
Dang - is that Pelosi with her eyes closed? I didn't know that was possible. What intense level of euphoria must be wafting over her to enable that?
And I had no clue that Dingy Harry could actually look happy. Amazing.
Barney Frank is always the class clown. Even after he helped ruin the United States by keeping Fannie Mae from being reformed.
When a $285,000 Patek-Philippe watch on E-bay doesn’t get a single bid, I know times are tough. Though it might’ve been the no free shipping even the cheap $40,000 models with free shipping weren’t getting any bids.
It’s rough out there folks!
Jaysus. J-random phone has the time to a Jaysosecond.
Yup. On E-Bay.
“Watch Specifics:
Manufacturer PATEK PHILIPPE
Model Name Celestial
Model / Ref # 5102 G
Condition New
Gender Mens
Category Contemporary
Movement Automatic
Case 18K White Gold
Case Dimensions 43mm wide X 10mm thick
Crystal Sapphire
Band Black Crocodile
Dial Blue
Bezel
Functions Hours, Minutes, Celestial
Additional Information Includes Box & Papers
Current Retail Price
Starting Bid Price USD $285,000 — OPENING PRICE !! “
If you hurry you can still get a bid in!
Put it up on consignment in a Swiss store. Mind boggling the prices wrist watches go for there.
Good News.
“A handful of managers in London and New York were forced last week to liquidate funds, including the flagship funds at MKM Longboat and Powe Capital, as investors demanded their money back. It is only the beginning.
Experts are predicting a 30% reduction in the hedge-fund industry — there are roughly 10,000 funds worldwide, and the industry is worth approximately $2 trillion. One broker said: “Small firms are bleeding. Assets are being sold off, investors are redeeming money and the managers are scuttling off to work somewhere else.”
The firestorm is expected to be quick and violent, and it has been brewing since the credit crunch began more than a year ago. It claimed a number of high-profile casualties such as Peloton this year. But events of the past three weeks, including the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers, which froze billions of dollars of hedge-fund trades, a ban on shorting stock, volatile markets and the evaporation of credit, have created a deadly climate.
Nick Roe, global head of equity finance at Citigroup, said: “There will be a proliferation of hedge funds at the small and mid-size winding down. The hedge-fund universe will be smaller
.....events of the past three weeks....collapse of Lehman Bros which froze $billions of hedge-fund trades, a ban on shorting, volatile markets and credit evaporation, have created a deadly climate......
LEHMAN'S $2.5B BONUS CACHE EYED BY CREDITOR By MARK DeCAMBRE
EXCERPT A $2.5 billion compensation package earmarked to pay out bonuses and severance to some 10,000 Lehman staffers may come under fire by its creditors. Barclays Capital firm promised to isolate the multibillion-dollar compensation pool and whether choice bonus payment deals were secured by an elite crew of Lehman executives - who would actually have earned significantly scaled-down bonuses if Lehman had managed to survive. Lehman former COO Bart McDade, and star bankers Eric Felder, Michael Gelband and Skip McGee and other top execs are expected to bag tens of millions in compensation over a two-year period. McDade is said to have negotiated Lehman's compensation package with Barclays President Bob Diamond, sources said. Lehman creditors have been sniffing around for details on the bloated pay packages. Last year, McDade is believed to have bagged a bonus of more than $20M, Gelband got about $24M, senior Lehman staffers scoring richer pay packages.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10092008/business/lehmans_2_5b_bonus_cache_eyed_by_credito_132836.htm
Good.
Capitalism works up and down.
Unless the lawyer politicians delay it for a short time.
A friend used to work in the same office building with a hedge fund seller and got to know him.
That hedge fund went belly up in the last year. The former Hedge Funder said that many more hedge funds were heading that way and had no real cash reserves to back up client withdrawals in October. He felt Paulson’s big emergency was to help those funds, and the help will be too late.
The hedge funds are in a real hole and that hole gets deeper each day. The former Hedger said that while this quarter will be bad, it will be even worse in January 2009.
The former hedger admitted that most of his clients were elite liberal trust fund babies or heirs. 99% of Americans couldn’t qualify under the disposable assets minimums.
We were with the Grandkids yesterday, and they don’t let PaPa watch Fox News or Business.
They are allowing me about an hour on the computer this morning before they kidnap me.
Apparently, the ban on Short Selling was rescinded. I read that on FR someplace, I think.
They should re-implementing the up-tick rule and “naked” short selling remains in place.
The BAN on “naked” short selling remains in place.
sorry
Why aren't Republicans screaming "socialism" These companies made billions of dollars over the last decade, CEOs made many millions in bonuses and dividends. Now they're losing money......based on their having made made judgements-----and they want taxpayers to bail out their bad investments.
Fuld's testimony before Congress was assinine----from Fuld's point of view he was screwed over by his fellow sharks. But Fuld deserves all the blame for not out-thinking these sharpies.
Fuld failed to line up his chess pieces in the high-stake financial games.........shoulda checkmated at the proper time. That's what he was paid half a billion to do.
All of these financial guys are Major Users. They play off each other---in sophisticated mind games to get a specific reaction. They then turnaround and use the other person for The End Game........ to enrich themselves. Very much in evidence when Fuld testified before Congress.
Same goes for hedgers.
Maybe we should nationalize hedge funds, too. /s
Oh please......the $285,000 Patek-Phillipe was (ugh) 18K White Gold.
Once Paulson and Neel Kashkari (asst to Paulson at Treasury and former crony at G/S) start handing out the bailout billions, they’ll be ordering Patek-Phillipes in platinum.
“All of these financial guys are Major Users. They play off each other-—in sophisticated mind games to get a specific reaction. They then turnaround and use the other person for The End Game........ to enrich themselves. Very much in evidence when Fuld testified before Congress.”
This is one reason why we cashed in almost all of our mutual funds over a year ago, taking tax penalties, and haven’t put another dime into them and never will.
I am fine with taking a risk on companies that I buy stock in. Of course there is a risk in investing in a company when that company may lose value or fail completely. So many variables have nothing to do with the real value of a company anymore though. With all the speculation built in now, It’s no longer just about shareholders giving companies the capital they need to do things like buy real products, expand real assets, etc.
It’s about playing with and manipulating the money to create these huge bubbles. Small investors like myself will never win at that game. I want no part of it ever again.
Yeah, white gold, that’s why I didn’t bid on it too.
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