Recently someone who fancies herself one of the founding mothers of the hedge fund industry offered her thoughts on what has recently befallen her industry. The upshot? It was someone else’s fault. Specifically, she said, that managers are taking advantage of investors by using gates and side pockets, and by
What are we going to do now? Before we answer that question, we have to answer another one: What the hell is going on? I’m sorry I haven’t written in a while, but the volatility, the gyrations, and the United States’ rapid descent into socialism has had me distracted. The
Over the past week, lots of people have called and emailed me to ask what’s causing the crisis in the markets. It’s simple: Arrogance. Arrogance is what has brought extremely powerful Wall Street firms to their knees, wiped out billions of dollars in assets, and lost thousands of people their
At recent events in Chicago and Philadelphia, participants in HedgeAnswers 2008 chose John McCain over Barak Obama for President. All participants voted in a mock election with the results overwhemingly going to the McCain-Palin ticket. Voters cast their ballots in secret and while not completely scientific, it was clearly done
It is a very interesting time to be working on Wall Street. History is being made almost daily and all of us are witnessing it first hand. Buckle up, the ride is about to get wild and it is not going to stop anytime soon. We are entering uncharted territory.
I know it’s a cliché, but I’m going to write it anyway: I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore. I really just don’t know what else to say about what’s going on with hedge fund performance this year. The third quarter of 2008 is quickly
Last week’s blog on how badly the mainstream press tends to cover hedge funds drew some intense commentary – both criticism and praise. One exchange completely illustrates for me what’s wrong with that the press that covers the hedge fund industry for at least one national financial daily newspaper. After
As all of you loyal readers know, I don’t think much of how the media covers hedge funds. It’s rare, if ever, that I think hedge fund stories are — to quote the Fox News slogan — fair and balanced. Sometimes, though, I’m pleasantly surprised to read a story by
Everyday it seems another hedge fund is going out of business or in trouble.The volatility of 2008 is taking its toll on many funds both large and small. It is very strange. New funds cannot seem to get off the ground and some well-known established funds are closing their doors.
I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so: Things are bad, and they may get worse before they get better. You don’t need to read this blog to learn that jobs are being lost, prices of everything from a carton of milk to a gallon
The blog is back. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, the blog is back. I have taken a little bit of a hiatus over the last few months because I have been sharpening my pencils, testing my rulers, fingering my keyboard and really working
Where is the outrage? Words aren’t able to describe the nonsense that is going on at some of the largest financial institutions in the world. Late last month, according to this article on Bloomberg News. The fine men and women on the board of directors of Citigroup, after digesting a
“What ever happened to Gary Cooper?” is a theme carried throughout The Sopranos – a question that Tony keeps asking as observes the men he is surrounded by. Lately, I have been asking myself a similar question as I survey the hedge fund landscape. I don’t know what happens after
It’s the first full trading week of the New Year and, ladies and gentlemen, it is time for you to do something in the market. Start making trades, start finding ideas and start making money for your investors and yourself. Over the last few weeks, I have been hearing a
They say that if you live long enough you’ll see everything. Well, I’m only 36 years old and frankly, my friends, I believe I’ve seen, or better yet, heard it all. Recently on the way to work I was listening to Boomer and Carton, the replacement players for this old-time
First of all I need to say I’m sorry for not writing for a few weeks. Business activities have just been a bit out of control. It is not that I have nothing to say; quite the contrary, it is that I have been speaking, attending, viewing and participating in
It’s almost impossible in the city these days not to get a free lunch, and breakfast and dinner, too. Come on, you say, you gotta be kidding. We all learned from the great Milton Freedman that you can’t get something for nothing. Well, when you’re in New York or another
Over the last week, the questions about how to get started in hedge funds have come from all over the world, Europe, the United States and even Peru! Most get right to the point and deal with picking service providers and the like. Still, it seems that the tone and
It is the worst of times in much of the hedge fund industry right now. Once again, hedge fund managers are being blamed for the evils that have caused economic havoc from Wall Street to Main Street. On a daily basis, the popular press is littered with articles about why
Over the last few weeks, unless you were stranded on a desert island, you couldn’t have missed the ocean of news about the hedge fund industry. It hasn’t been great; nor has it been pretty and, frankly, some of it has been a bit weird. Particularly weird is the continuing
The hedge fund industry has been battered by the popular press for the last few weeks. The meltdown of the sub-prime mortgage industry has been blamed on two things — lax credit standards and of course hedge funds. Many funds have taken it on the chin and losses are mounting
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the hedge fund industry is about to heat up. That’s right you heard it here first – the hedge fund industry is about to explode-in a positive way. “Explode” that is in the number of new funds that will launch in the marketplace. Therefore,
The seas are swelling and getting rough. Over the last few weeks we’ve heard quite a bit about hedge funds blowing up and performance tanking. Frankly, it does not seem to be letting up anytime soon. The news is quite bleak and I know that you are not turning to
Last week the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules that allow it to sue hedge fund managers for “misleading investors.” This is its response to last year’s court ruling throwing out a 2004 registration requirement. After reading about these new rules, I was reminded of a scene in The Untouchables
The dog days of summer have hit us. It’s not even August and over 95 degrees in New York City and it doesn’t look like the heat spell is going to break anytime soon. It is hot. The same cannot be said for the hedge fund industry results. As mid-year
Its only Wednesday and the hedge fund industry this week is going crazy. The news seems to have gone from bad to good as the stories of the Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. debacle and bailout are being replaced by the news of a deal for GLG Partners LP and
Game over! I’ve seen the future of the hedge fund conference and it was in Philadelphia and it is going to be in Chicago in July and San Francisco in August, because ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls the future of Hedge Fund Conferences are intimate, fun, get‑togethers where people
First it was the fees, than it was the registration, now it’s the regulation. What it really comes down to is bureaucracy creation. That’s what’s going on right now as Congress and the powers- that-be try taming the so-called beast that is the hedge fund industry. Even the presidential candidates
