January 2007
18 posts
1 tag
"Implicit" Hedge Fund Regulation: Moving in the...
Today’s article in the Financial Times chronicling concerns over hedge fund collateral has only reinforced a theme that I’ve pounded on for the past six months: HEDGE FUNDS ARE ALREADY REGULATED. Why this realization is only now coming to the fore in mainstream media and, potentially, in our regulatory bodies is beyond me, but thankfully it seems to be here. Now this is an issue worth...
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Wallstrip Post #2: Me on Wallstrip!
Yes, it’s true. The lovely Lindsay and the entire Wallstrip gang came into Monitor110 and checked us out. I speak about Monitor110, our pending launch, search technology and my blogging at Information Arbitrage. I gotta tell you, it was a lot of fun. But after seeing myself on the small silver screen I am now clear as to why some are on TV/video and others are not. Let’s just say...
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Wallstrip Post #1: Jack-in-the-Box Rocks!
As some of you know, I’ve been a regular contributor to Wallstrip since its inception. I think Howard Lindzon, Jeff Marks, Adam Eland and yes, the fetching Lindsay Campbell, have done an absolutely phenomenal job bringing both intelligence and humor to investing. But I have to say that they have really outdone themselves this time with their show on JBX - Jack-in-the-Box. For those of you...
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"Intentional Programming?" How About "Intentional...
I really enjoyed Jason Pontin’s article in today’s New York Times concerning Charles Simonyi’s venture, Intentional Programming. I certainly knew of Mr. Simonyi’s exploits as a programmer, both at Xerox PARC and later at Microsoft, but knew little of his current focus. A focus which I happen to think is both tremendously brilliant and sorely needed - that of making...
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Banking vs. Trading - Breaking into Wall Street
I get a decent amount of email from readers who ask my opinion on various issues (poor, misguided souls), and one recent note hit on a theme that has been the source of many inquiries over the past six months - “Where should I start - banking or trading?” Some of the text from this catalytic email is as follows: I’ve read your blogs on how to succeed on Wall St. and also S&T...
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Power to the People: China and the Internet
While social commentary in China, either via public demonstrations or offline media, is still heavily controlled by the Communist Party, there is one place where it is alive and well: on the Chinese bulletin boards. And it is a force best given its due by those who are the target of its ire, as the power of the Chinese Internet community to shape offline public opinion is, well, quite...
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Proxy Voting and Economic Ownership: Getting the...
Paul Atkins, a commissioner at the SEC, is in a snit over the potential influence of hedge funds in the wake of proxy voting reform. This was chronicled in an article in today’s Financial Times: Short-termist activist hedge funds could gain undue influence on companies’ boards as a result of expected new rules allowing shareholders to vote on company directors, Paul Atkins, a...
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Sell-Side Analysts and Option Expenses: Is There...
I’ve commented quite a bit lately on the topic of sell-side research, its plight and its problems. Unfortunately, many of the problems it faces it brings upon itself, as highlighted in Herb Greenberg’s interesting piece in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal titled “How Expensing for Options Throws Analysts Off Course.” Before I dig right in, I’d like to tell you...
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SAC Rips It In 2006: I Told You So!
Remember in mid-September, when Stevie Cohen was the subject of a big story in the Wall Street Journal in which he was practically pessimistic about the likelihood of putting up big returns given the increasingly crowded and competitive environment? I posted on this two days later, in which I basically said: this is a load of crap. Steve and his team at SAC are a bunch of forward-looking rock...
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Valuing Apple Inc: Pricing the "Jobs Put Option"
Overview Today’s article in Bloomberg got me thinking about how investors are dealing with the uncertainty surrounding Steve Jobs, namely the possibility of his removal in the wake of the options backdating scandal. However, I think this mis-characterizes the true underlying fear investors have (and which is the real risk facing the stock): the negative impact on Apple’s share price...
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Institutional Investors and Research: A Landscape...
On Friday I was speaking with a writer, Tiernan Ray, about harnessing the power of the Internet for investment research, among other issues. As he and I were talking I found myself having pretty well-defined views on the topic, e.g., the expanding use, power and impact of the Internet on investment research and its ramifications for traditional sell-side and independent research products. Tiernan...
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Investment Returns from the Long Tail and the...
A particular statistic has been burning a hole in my head since I first read it in Alan Abelson’s Barron’s column this weekend - according to Rich Bernstein, Chief Investment Strategist at Merrill Lynch, the best of 40 trading strategies tracked by the firm’s quants in 2006 was to buy the 50 S&P 500 stocks least covered by the sell-side analyst community. Huh? The return...
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Who Says Hedge Funds Aren't Regulated?
So it came across Bloomberg this morning that the SEC (US), the New York Fed and the FSA (UK) are doing an investigation into the margin requirements of the leading hedge fund prime brokerage units: Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) — U.S. and European regulators, turning a spotlight on one of Wall Street’s most profitable businesses, are conducting a joint probe into whether banks and securities...
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The Wall Street Series Part III: Ten of the Keys...
Let me first say: feel free to disagree and please, please feel free to table constructive suggestions based upon your own unique experiences. I am a data point of one, but at least one whose balding pate and 40-something age is indicative of nearly two decades of experiences on the Street from which to draw. There are so many elements to a successful Wall Street career that it is impossible to...
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The Wall Street Series Part II: Investment Banking...
Answer - NO. It’s Us versus Them. It always has been and it always will be, given the structure of the Street and the chemical differences among the species in question. And the issue is, in fact, much more textured than Banking vs. Sales & Trading - what about Sales vs. Trading? This conflict is older than time itself, and sometimes even more electrifying that Banking vs. S&T. Ah,...
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Hedge Fund Hotels: Is the Model Broken?
Overview Jenny Anderson’s story in today’s New York Times has caused a bit of stir. So UBS is now being scrutinized by the State of Massachusetts for commission practices in their hedge fund hotel, yet another angle on the “soft dollar” debate that has been raging for the past decade. From my perspective the analysis is fairly simple: if UBS and others running these...
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The Wall Street Series Part I: Deutsche vs. Citi -...
What is the Wall Street Series? As we enter a new year, I’ve done some reflecting on what I’ve written since becoming a blogger. A lot of stuff about a pretty wide range of topics. That said, I noticed a conspicuous gap in an area that I know a bit about and about which I feel quite passionately: Wall Street. I spent 17 years there, after all, and on both sides of the...
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Happy 2007 From Me to You
Colleagues, Past and Present, Fellow Bloggers and Friends, Old and New, Best wishes to you and your families for a Happy and Healthy 2007. It promises to be a very fun and exciting year. Thanks for your friendship, support, comraderie and insights during 2006, and I look forward to your continued participation in the online and offline dialogue in 2007 and beyond. If you’d like to connect,...