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Monthly Archives: May 2007
Another Art Fund is Founded: How Long Until it Founders?
Chris Carlson has decided he’s had enough of prop trading,
and so he’s moving into the art world instead, setting up an art
hedge fund. Apparently it’s already "raised" £10 million,
although I suspect that a very large chunk of that belongs to one C. Carlson.
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Posted in art
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What is Ben Stein Smoking?
Poor Brad DeLong has been beating
himself up by reading Ben Stein again. I do have sympathy
with him: I was happily reading the newspaper myself yesterday, sipping on an
excellent cappuccino from Tarallucci
e Vino, when the Stein
column loomed up in front of me like some kind of car crash I couldn’t turn
away from.
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Posted in ben stein watch, economics
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The World Bank and Corruption
A lot of people seem to think that although Paul Wolfowitz must go, it’s a
pity that the Bank’s anti-corruption initiative might be weakened at the same
time. I think the opposite is true: that without Wolfowitz’s moralizing about
corruption, the Bank can actually be more effective on the issue.
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Posted in world bank
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Unions Cheer Private Equity Takeover of Chrysler
What’s with this new-found love affair between the auto unions and private
equity? The main auto unions in the US, Germany and Canada all can’t seem to
say enough good things about the $7.4 billion deal wherein Cerberus
is buying Chrysler.
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Posted in M&A, private equity
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Paulson hangs Wolfowitz out to dry
Hank Paulson isn’t
going to summit with G8 bigwigs. Kimmitt will go, and probably not say much.
But – and this is important – Paul Wolfowitz will
turn up. What can it all signify? I think Paulson may look at his no-show as
tantamount to hanging Wolfowitz out to dry.
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Posted in defenestrations
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Investment Professionals Stumped by “Portable Alpha”
A survey of
investment professionals at the 2006 National Strategic Investment Dialogue
came up with some depressing results: only 60% of them could define what "leverage"
is, and less than half could define "portable alpha".
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Posted in hedge funds
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Mystery Russian Billions Update
It’s obviously Mysterious Russian Billions day today. Not only do we have the
shady Oleg Deripaska paying $1.54
billion for a 15% stake in Magna, a Canadian auto supplier, but we also
have the even shadier Prana, whatever or whoever that might
be, paying $3.9
billion for a shabby 22-story building in Moscow and a few other assets
of dubious value.
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Posted in geopolitics
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When the Carbon Tax and Cap-and-Trade Kiss and Make Up
Progress against a challenge as vast as global warming will require us to use all the tools available to us: direct regulation (tougher fuel economy standards for cars, requirements on utilities to generate more of their electricity from renewable sources); economic carrots and sticks (a carbon tax that helps fund tax breaks for investment in greater energy efficiency and alternative energy sources); a cap-and-trade system that sets a hard limit on emissions; federal procurement that nurtures clean new technologies; and steps beyond all of these that we can’t yet imagine.
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Posted in climate change
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Event Risk and Fat Tails in Hedge Funds
All
About Alpha has made noble attempt to paint hedge funds as not particularly
risky, and "fat tails" as not particularly worrisome. But it misses
the main point, I think.
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Posted in hedge funds
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Wolfowitz: Deals No Longer On The Table
The Europeans are incredibly reluctant to force a board vote on Wolfowitz. They don’t want to anagonize their allies, the Americans, and they don’t want to damage the Bank more than it has been damaged already. But the intransigence being shown by both Wolfowitz and the Bush administration is forcing their hand.
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Posted in defenestrations, world bank
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New York Traffic Pricing, Not Very Bright Ideas Department
Congestion charges should be expensive.
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Posted in cities
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The Payday Loan Debate
There’s a short
but sweet debate over at Business Week today between two prominent econobloggers,
Nouriel Roubini and Tyler Cowen. The question
is whether the US government should place greater restrictions on car sellers,
pay-day lenders, and tax preparers who offer the working poor cash or credit
with high fees and interest rates. Roubini says yes, it should. Cowen says no,
it shouldn’t. Roubini is right.
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Posted in economics
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Rupert Murdoch Already Is a Global Statesman
Murdoch is already a global statesman, and he has
been one for decades. In fact, he has been the most powerful press baron in
the world for many years now. Owning the Journal would, at the margin, increase
his influence. But Rupert is not some déclassé billionaire with
more money than clout.
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Posted in Media, publishing
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Why Do People Care So Much About All-Time Highs?
What’s with this obsession with the high-point of the Nasdaq, back in 2000? The Wall Street Journal is polling economists, asking them when they think the Nasdaq is going to hit a new high – to which the only reasonable … Continue reading
Posted in stocks
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Beware Performance Chasers
Posted in stocks
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Today in Murdoch: Devilish Deals
Rupert awards Roger Ailes $7,666,666.
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Posted in Media
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JetBlue Ouster: Look at the Shares, Not the Storms
The main job of a CEO is to get the share price rising, and Neeleman managed
that only during 2003. Ever since then, the stock has been either falling or
moving sideways, and that’s more than sufficient reason for the board to replace
him with someone else.
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Posted in defenestrations, stocks
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Lord Browne Resigns From Goldman Sachs Board
Lord Browne has now resigned
from the board of Goldman Sachs. I can’t believe he did so willingly,
either – Goldman seems to be hanging him out to dry.
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Posted in defenestrations
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In Defense of Rupert Murdoch
Have Dow Jones journalists really been so beaten down by mismanagement and underinvestment that they can’t recognize an optimist when they see one?
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Posted in Media, publishing
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US Steps Up Wolfowitz Support
Wolfowitz is sure to go one way or another, so at this point the interests of the US are in making his departure as painless as possible, and maximizing US control over the choice of his successor. Unfortunately, the US seems to be acting in direct opposition to both of those interests right now.
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Posted in defenestrations, world bank
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Time For a Fed Statement Overhaul
In the wake of all the Kremlinology spurred by yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting, I’m wondering if it might not be time to revisit the manner in which the Fed releases its statements.
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Posted in fiscal and monetary policy
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Remainders
Bits and pieces from around the world.
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Bolivia Exits ICSID, Endangers Global Direct Investment
Bolivia’s leftist president, Evo Morales, has announced that his country is unilaterally
exiting ICSID. What’s more, other countries in his bloc, including Nicaragua
and Venezuela, are likely to follow suit. This is bad news not only for Telecom Italia, but also for any companies investing abroad.
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Posted in geopolitics
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Realistic Counterfeiting Numbers Emerge
I’ve been waiting over two years for this. Since the end of 2004, I’ve had a close interest in counterfeiting statistics, and eventually I wrote a long piece in June 2005 saying that all counterfeiting statistics are bullshit. Towards the … Continue reading
Posted in statistics
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No Hedge Fund Regulation from the EU
German finance minister Peer Steinbruck is quoted as saying that “the regulatory approach is the wrong one”.
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Posted in hedge funds
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