Archive for March, 2010

“The NY Fed has a curious research piece out, looking at areas of Upstate New York that were “insulated” from housing price volatility.”
Go to Source

“American International Group’s much-ballyhooed sale of its Asian unit AIA to the UK’s Prudential is hitting a snag as investors in the British financial-services giant balk at the price.”
Go to Source

“Unlike Fox News, whose lies about WMD in Iraq led to the deaths of over a million people, we have no interest in promoting violence”
Go to Source

“Ratings agency is looking into anomalies into how banks around the world account for their defined-benefit pension plans.”
Go to Source

Ireland’s banks need $43 billion in new capital after “appalling” lending decisions left the country’s financial system on the brink of collapse.

Go to Source

“I was pleasantly surprised by the CFTC meeting in Washington DC on March 25th, it was much better than I expected. I think the CFTC is likely to do something to help stop the excessive and concentrated short position in silver at the COMEX, and there are many reasons why, as I detail below.”
Go to Source

“California, New York and other states are showing many of the same signs of debt overload that recently took Greece to the brink — budgets that will not balance, accounting that masks debt, the use of derivatives to plug holes, and armies of retired public workers who are counting on benefits that are proving harder and harder to pay. And states are responding in sometimes desperate ways, raising concerns that they, too, could face a debt crisis.”
Go to Source

“As disclosed, Ireland has instituted a “Bad Bank” concept to acquire 1,200 loans, or €81 billion worth, at a 47% discount. Sounds about right. Of course, the US financial system still carries most of its loans at about par: you see we have a printer and they don’t, so we can do whatever we want.”
Go to Source

Hedge Funds Lobbying

Hedge Fund Trade Group Spent $1.1 Mil Lobbying in Q4

An important factor in how hedge funds are treated in the financial reform debate is the lobbying efforts by representatives of the hedge fund industry.  The Managed Funds Association, a hedge fund trade group, spent more than $1 million in Q4 of 2009 lobbying on behalf of hedge funds.  It’s unclear whether these efforts will produce any real results in the regulation battle.

A trade group representing hedge funds spent nearly $1.1 million in the fourth quarter lobbying federal officials on proposed financial regulations, including a measure that would require hedge funds to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The $1.08 million that the Managed Funds Association spent on lobbying in the latest quarter was about double the $520,000 it spent in the period a year earlier. The group’s lobbying total for the latest quarter also tops the $910,000 it spent the previous quarter.

According to a Jan. 20 filing with the House clerk’s office, the Managed Funds Association also lobbied in last year’s fourth quarter on a proposal to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency and on proposals for tighter regulation of trading financial derivatives, including credit default swaps.

Source

Related to: Hedge Funds Lobbying

• Hedge Fund Tracker Tool
• Fund Marketing and Sales Advice
• Top Hedge Fund Managers
• Free Online Hedge Fund Videos
• Careers & Employment Guide
• Hedge Fund Holdings & Securities Analysis
• Hedge Fund Terminology
• Geographical Guides
• Hedge Fund Startup Tools

Tags: Hedge fund lobbying, hedge funds lobbyists, hedge funds trade group, hedge funds lobbying, hedge fund investment lobbying, washington, regulation

Go to Source

Hedge Funds Pound Currency

Hedge Funds Make Gains From Fall of British Pound

Hedge funds who were able to foresee the fall in the pound’s value have made sizable gains.  Three of Europe’s biggest hedge funds have reportedly earned “hundreds of millions” off the British currency’s decline.  The hedge funds that successfully bet against the pound include: BlueCrest Capital Management, Winton Capital, and the Man Group. 

Three of the U.K.’s biggest hedge funds have posted huge profits on the British currency’s pain.

BlueCrest Capital Management, the Man Group and Winton Capital have earned “hundreds of millions of pounds” on the downturn of said pound Sterling, the Daily Mail reports. The pound is down to less than US$1.50, US$0.20 lower than it was over the summer.

According to Harry Adams of foreign exchange broker Schneider, currency investors are betting on further falls for the pound. He said that were Britain to lose its triple-A credit rating, the currency could fall to just US$1.20 in a “disaster for sterling,” Adams told the Mail.  Source

Related to: Hedge Funds Pound Currency

• Hedge Fund Tracker Tool
• Fund Marketing and Sales Advice
• Top Hedge Fund Managers
• Free Online Hedge Fund Videos
• Careers & Employment Guide
• Hedge Fund Holdings & Securities Analysis
• Hedge Fund Terminology
• Geographical Guides
• Hedge Fund Startup Tools

Tags: Hedge Funds Pound Currency, Hedge Funds Currency Trading, Hedge Funds British Pound, Hedge Funds Currency Trades 2010, Hedge Funds Euro, Hedge Funds Pound Value

Go to Source