30JUN08:
Oil to be USD200 by 30OCT08
USA Inflation to be 7.5% by 30OCT08 23APR08:
Next Rights Issue:
HBOS...yes
All & Lec ... 17APR08: Oil to be USD127 by 30SEP08
...16MAY08 losing my touch 27FEB08:
2 Banks go bust by 30JUN08
BS down, Lehman (a bit late I know) 20NOV07: Northern Crock to be sold for 15p
Nationalized 01NOV07: Oil to be USD103 EOM
...peaked too soon The Big Crash: 17OCT07
...well it's here 08OCT07:
SEC to fine Goldman for pricing issues
...still waiting 15JUN07: ML to buy-out BS
JPM got there first
Last night I had the pleasure of being entertained by a delightful Swedish analyst from BNP Paribas and in the excitement consumed too much Italian white wine. The restaurant, just off the Kings Road in Chelsea, was heaving with beautiful wealthy people who seemed oblivious to the credit crunch and the football on the big screens. The Germans did what they always do well and beat a better football team. The excuse given was that the Germans were taller.
My tall Swedish analyst and I discussed the macro and political state of the world and [Editor: Seriously, I have deleted the next two paragraphs. This is a family website and you are not "City Boy"]
Today it is revealed that the London Paper's anonymous columnist CityBoy was really an arrogant lowly nobody. Having just outed himself to publicise a new book, I can give you a world exclusive that Finbar Taggit is to be hired as his replacement.
Will I take the column? Now let me see ... no ...although I am happy to license out the name Finbar Taggit for a small fee to help pay for some Swedish lessons?
This time last year I bored you for months about Bear Stearns and predicted its demise. Well the shocking news is that litigation is the upshot of the boom. The two useless managers are looking at 25 years despite having at least a year to plan their "Sammy Israel" type escape.
So with my liver damage caused by having to entertain people in the name of my funds, I have decided to sue those funds for shortening my life and giving me too many hang overs.
Litigation is where we are.
The rest of the news made me cry.
And we use the word "boy" a lot today too.
FORCE OF CREDIT CRUNCH MADE PLAIN AS 170 HEDGE FUNDS CRASH IN THREE MONTHS
Hedge funds are continuing to feel the full force of the credit crunch, with 170 funds forced into liquidation during the first quarter, a Chicago research firm reported yesterday.
The bleak figures published by Hedge Fund Research (HFR) also showed that fewer funds were launched over the three-month period than at any time since 2000.
Publication of the report came as speculation was mounting that several London hedge funds are sitting on heavy losses after being caught on the wrong side of a sharp change in sentiment about future interest rates in the past fortnight.
Traders who have sold sterling heavily as part of a gamble that interest rates would fall have been hit by a swing in market sentiment amid widespread worries that the next move in interest rates from the Bank of England will be up.
Fintag says Sorry about the break. Just been to my fridge and poured myself a glass of Chablis ...
SUV sales may be falling off the cliff in the US, but in China, they are red hot. Sales of the large vehicles in China rose by 40% in the first four months of this year. That is twice the growth rate for the Chinese passenger car market.
Its no surprise why: The costs of petrol and diesel in China is as much as 40% cheaper than US levels (which are nearly half of European prices).
China, the second-biggest fuel consumer after the U.S, has been encouraging SUV purchases via subsidized fuel.
Fintag says I told you yesterday that London was sinking because of American made SUV's. What I didn't tell you is that they are being driven by the Chinese.
Federal authorities have arrested a suspect in the disappearance of Samuel Israel III, the fugitive former manager of the Bayou hedge fund who they say faked his suicide on the day he was to report to prison last week and is now believed to be on the run.
The suspect, Debra Ryan, the girlfriend of Mr. Israel, was charged on Thursday with aiding and abetting his flight and was taken into custody in White Plains. She was released later on $75,000 bail.
According to a wanted poster released by the United States Marshals Service on Thursday afternoon, the vehicle Mr. Israel is suspected of using as a getaway car was a white 2007 Coachmen Freelander.
It bears New York license plates EEN-5973, may have damage on its rear passenger side, and may be carrying a blue 2005 Yamaha scooter.
With pump prices holding above $4-a-gallon, there is no shortage of proposals from Capitol Hill about how to address speculation in oil markets.
The latest plan circulating in Congress would ban large institutional investors from trading commodities altogether. It's a radical idea that might sound appealing to motorists and small business owners, but experts say it would actually do little to lower prices and could have the opposite effect.
Fintag says Come on boys and girls - the only alpha us hedgies are making is from being long oil and now you want to deny us the ability to survive?
Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers took the first "perp walk" of the credit crisis, as the FBI paraded them in front of the world's media to face charges of misleading investors and insider dealing.
Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin were marched yesterday from the FBI's New York headquarters to appear before a judge in Brooklyn.
And prosecutors promised that these are just the most high profile arrests in their ongoing investigation of wrong-doing following the collapse of the mortgage markets. More than 400 people, mainly local brokers accused of foisting unsuitable mortgages on unsophisticated borrowers, have now been indicted, including 60 people on Wednesday alone.
Those unsuitable mortgages were packaged up and traded around the financial system and their collapse in value, when borrower defaults soared, has led to more than $400bn (£203bn) of losses. The collapse of the two funds run by Mr Cioffi and Mr Tannin, in July last year, was the first outward sign of the severity of the crisis. Lawyers for the two men said they would vigorously defend their innocence.
Fintag says I wonder if Goldman will sue Peloton for mispricing? There will be many a hedgie looking at why they didn't use an indepedent adminsitrator this morning.
So who administered Bear Stearns' hedge funds? Yes, it was Bear Stearns.
Maybe the boys should sue BearMeasurisk. This is what we found on their website exactly 12 months ago:
And of course it is an excuse to put up the picture of the Bear Stearns condoms:
$100M HFS SNUBBED BY INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS, PRIME BROKERS
So what does $100 million in initial assets get a rookie hedge fund manager these days? Not much, according to Dick Del Bello, senior partner at Conifer Securities.
Del Bello, who previously headed UBS' prime brokerage for the Americas, says the hedge fund industry is becoming more institutionalized and, as a result, investors are demanding sound infrastructure and transparency be in place before they commit to managers. And in light of the Bear Stearns fiasco, institutions are questioning the safety of their assets, and are dictating to their managers where they want their assets kept.
“If you were an institution in a hedge fund that was custodied at Bear, you would rightfully be very concerned,” said Del Bello. “That same thought process is going on today with Lehman Brothers just because they're in the news.”
Fintag says Why don't these people read fintag? I told you in January that the minimum is actually USD125m as per analysis carried out by Goldman Sachs.
financial times says " Hedge fund launches reach eight-year low "
HANK PAULSON SEEKS TO EXPAND FEDERAL RESERVE'S ROLE AFTER CREDIT CRISIS
US Treasury Secretary Henry "Hank" Paulson believes the Federal Reserve should have a greater role in the oversight of financial institutions in the wake of the global credit crisis.
Mr Paulson, the former Goldman Sachs chairman and chief executive, wants to speed up the Bush administration's move to address what he believes is the United States' "outdated" regulatory oversight structure of banks and other complex financial houses.
In a speech yesterday, Mr Paulson said the changes were needed given the collapse of Bear Stearns and the potential for other banks to fail, but stopped short of proposing expanding the central bank's powers.
"We should quickly consider how most appropriately to give the Fed the authority to access necessary information from highly complex financial institutions and the responsibility to intervene in order to protect the system, so they can carry out the role our nation has come to expect - stabilising the overall system when it is threatened," said Mr Paulson in Washington.
Fintag says When I drew this crap cartoon, I was joking:
Yep, that 'brash, suited FT-carrying idiot' has been outed. Writing this last couple of years for the londonpaper under cover of 'City Boy', he has now revealed his true identity. City Boy spent the last 8 or so years of his City career at Dresdner Kleinwort, where he was a top-rated research analyst.
City Boy
Name: Geraint Anderson
About Me: Writer, traveller, notorious time-waster, party animal, swordsman
Work Info: 1994-6: Secretary at Imperial College, security guard at Wimbledon and import/exporter of 'ethnic good' (e.g. market trader). Research analyst at four different banks (1996-2008). Now... a writer I suppose.
Fintag says Good grief. The man is a complete tosser who worked at a German bank! I have deleted his subscription from my newsletter. He has let the name of anonymous bloggers down. People must think I am the messenger boy at GLG.
bloomberg says " London `Cityboy' Says Greed, Arrogance Rife in Banks: Video "
After 138 days of silence, Carl C. Icahn has become a blogger.
And boy, does he have a lot on his mind.
Dubbed The Icahn Report, the site went live on Thursday with a bevy of posts from the activist investor (or one of his assistants). Topping the blog is a quote from Mr. Icahn itself, from 1988, pledging: “A lot of people die fighting tyranny. The least I can do is vote against it.”
Those who have followed the long and winding career of Mr. Icahn are familiar with his style, full of sharply worded declarations and sweeping proclamations. That voice is readily apparent on the blog. Here's a quote from his most recent missive, “Corporate Democracy Is a Myth:”
Cheyne Capital has begun buying asset-backed securities again after the “inferno” of the first quarter drove prices down to attractive levels, the $11bn UK-based hedge fund said as it unveiled further writedowns at Queen's Walk, its listed vehicle. Queen's Walk - among the listed funds hammered by the US subprime crisis last year - said it would moderate its share buyback programme to free up cash for investments. Queen's Walk shares have fallen from €10 at its launch in late 2005 to close down 5 cents at €4.75 on Thursday. The hedge fund ran the first SIV to stop paying debtors when the sector hit the buffers last summer. The SIV was restructured this week by its administrator and Goldman Sachs.
Fintag says Not sure what to say except my hangover has really kicked in now. And I cannot stop thinking about my companion of last night ... [Editor: I think you are the tosser now]
8 comments
anonymous said ...
Get over the Swedish thing already! It's just meat!
20 Jun 08 - 07:46 gmt
Top Cat said ...
Are you sure you're not writing a book and Fintag.com is just a lead up to its big release? I join you in your analysis of City Boy as a total tool.
20 Jun 08 - 08:19 gmt
Another Finbar said ...
Wow, you really are coming across as increasingly bitter. I'm about 50/50 on whether if I met you in the street I'd just push past with an air of contempt or punch you squarely on the jaw.
Are you Florian Homm?
20 Jun 08 - 09:48 gmt
Finbar said ...
@AnotherFinbar: You are right. Times are tough and my reporting is unbalanced. This will be corrected once I get the right drugs. I don't think you would want to hit me as I am ex boxer [Editor: Not true; you could blow him over]
20 Jun 08 - 10:12 gmt
Finbar said ...
@TopCat: the cat could be out of the bag; yes, I am writing a warts and all hedge fund bonkbuster based on many well known industry characters (you can guess which ones). @AnotherFinbar: I am better looking and fitter than Florian.
20 Jun 08 - 10:14 gmt
Top Cat said ...
Clearly not Florain Homm - not enough deriding of Ab Cap on this newsletter. Which makes me think - in addition to Curzon Street, perhaps we could have Absolutely Capulous - a story about boozing middle aged hippies?
20 Jun 08 - 10:28 gmt
anonymous said ...
Hi all,
I'm a STUDENT at an English University studying Economics. I am desperatley looking for work experience for this summer period at a fund management related firm. Whether it be for a week or 2 months, paid or unpaid, I would appriciate anything. Please guys, I'm getting rather desperate! many thanks...
20 Jun 08 - 13:08 gmt
anonymous said ...
Finbar will start Prime brokerage business soon. Just be patient...
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Hedge funds are continuing to feel the full force of the credit crunch, with 170 funds forced into liquidation during the first quarter, a Chicago research firm reported yesterday.
The bleak figures published by Hedge Fund Research (HFR) also showed that fewer funds were launched over the three-month period than at any time since 2000.
Publication of the report came as speculation was mounting that several London hedge funds are sitting on heavy losses after being caught on the wrong side of a sharp change in sentiment about future interest rates in the past fortnight.
Traders who have sold sterling heavily as part of a gamble that interest rates would fall have been hit by a swing in market sentiment amid widespread worries that the next move in interest rates from the Bank of England will be up.