Wall Street Folly

It's Official: We've moved! Our new home is www.wallstreetfolly.com

Please join us over at our new Wall Street Folly site.  We're still working out some kinks, but it's up and running! (Note, if for some reason you're not directed to that site, keep trying.  It gonna take a bit for the redirection of our wallstreetfolly.com url to be propogated through the system.)

Merrill will be in deep doodoo if they misled Congress on those bonuses; Stanford flips off the SEC and pleads the Fifth; 2 new Ponzi schemes; Will bank bondholders take a hit?

Merrill may have misled Congress on bonuses: Cuomo Stanford pleads the fifth amendment SEC Accuses California, Virginia Firms of Running Ponzi Scams Banks’ Bondholders May Be Next to Share Bailout Pain Lions Gate, Icahn End Talks on Investor’s Board Role

Hedge Fund 13F Chart Study update: Pershing Square Capital

 Here's the 13F Chart study for Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital updated for Q4 2008 (priced as of 3/3/09). 

Ackman's misses Target and pisses off investors ($TGT); No bonuses for Barclays' directors; Goldentree's dutch auction; Harvard endowment is endowed with 25% less staff; Hedge fund intelligence; Funds of funds troubles

• Ackman Tries to Mollify Target Fund Investors
• Barclays halts directors' bonuses as profits fall
• Going Dutch: Goldentree's Auction Option
• Management for Harvard Endowment to Cut 25% of Staff
• Hedge fund to set up intricate intelligence web
• Bleak times for the funds of hedge funds

Mile high with Dan Loeb: Gawker profiles the outspoken hedge fund manager after he ferries two femme bloggers home from Davos on his private jet

Outspoken Third Point leader Dan Loeb was profiled by Gawker, which seemed to have never heard of him before from reading their piece.  Seems that "widely hated surfer, yoga enthusiast, and hedge-fund manager" Dan flew a couple of lady bloggers home from Davos in his private jet.  One of them, Julia Allison, posted pix on her website although they were apparently subsequently removed according to a Gawker story update. (Did Dan ask that they be taken down?).  Gawker has a picture of Allison on the jet (at left) among others.  Other than his well publicized recent losses he's been relatively quiet recently --  the article is a fun read, a welcome walk down memory lane, recalling excerpts from some of the famous Dan Loeb rants / disses. They make us yearn for some new material from the dissmaster....

Excellent Vanity Fair piece: Might some private equity firms be on the financial brink? Carlyle? KKR?; More losing hedge funds going activist "to do something to justify their existence"?; Grabbing control of companies through distressed debt

13F Hedge Fund Chart Study: Third Point

Here are charts for the stocks in the just released 13F for Dan Loeb's Third Point.

Man, it's getting so depressing to look at the charts in all of these funds.

Charlie Rose: A conversation with Bill Ackman - "It's the single best time in my career that I've seen to invest"

Charlie Rose spoke to Pershing Square Capital's Bill Ackman on Nov 11 (last night).  It's a great interview -- he talks about the state of hedge funds, GM, credit default swaps, the rating agencies, the short selling ban, FNM/FRE, etc.

Bill Ackman: GM should do a prepackaged bankruptcy

Pershing Square Capital's Bill Ackman has his own thoughts about General Motors, which he naturally wasn't shy about sharing.  Let them do a prepack.  We agree.

Activists are hurting, including Carl Icahn, who's facing investor redemptions

With the current investment landscape openly hostile to activist investors with hedge funds pursuing that strategy battered and bruised  and taking major hits, one of the best known of the lot is facing redemptions from investors.  Carl Icahn has been putting more of his own money into his $6.6 billion funds -- $500 million since 6/30/08. External investors are said to be planning to withdraw 15% of the funds total assets by the end of the year.  According to SEC filings, the funds have around $2.9 billion in cash.  External investors had $4.3 billion in the funds as of 9/30, with Icahn and the publicly trading company in which he has a 91% interest own the other $2.3 billion.