Monthly Archives: June 2007

Why Blackstone Won’t Skyrocket Today

The main reason that the offering is oversubscribed is, well, that it’s oversubscribed.
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How the Subprime ABX.HE Index Works

What it all adds up to is something which is not necessarily representative
of anything much at all. But it’s the best we’ve got, so it’s what people use.
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Posted in bonds and loans, housing | Comments Off on How the Subprime ABX.HE Index Works

Bear Stearns: The Satire Begins

That Euromoney award to Bear Stearns for Best
Risk Management
? It’s real.
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Posted in banking | Comments Off on Bear Stearns: The Satire Begins

Blackstone: The First of Many Private Equity IPOs

Take $170 million from taking Blackstone public, another $200 million or so from KKR, and a few hundred million more from Apollo and TPG and Carlyle and everybody else who’s looking to IPO – and soon you’re talking real money.
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Posted in banking, private equity, stocks | Comments Off on Blackstone: The First of Many Private Equity IPOs

Hedge Funds: It Is Who You Know, After All

Former CNBC anchor Ron
Insana
is set to make millions of dollars not on the grounds of any
particular strategic insights, but just because
of who he knows
.
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Posted in hedge funds | Comments Off on Hedge Funds: It Is Who You Know, After All

The Economist on Carbon Taxes vs Cap-and-Trade

The Economist, surprisingly, and disappointingly, has come out in
favor of carbon taxes
over a cap-and-trade regime.
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Posted in climate change | Comments Off on The Economist on Carbon Taxes vs Cap-and-Trade

Do Covenants Provide Real Creditor Protection?

Could it be that creditor protections are not ever and always a good idea, from the point of view of lenders?
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Posted in bonds and loans | Comments Off on Do Covenants Provide Real Creditor Protection?

Will the Prime Brokers Lose Money on the Bear Stearns Funds?

There’s a very scary tidbit hidden at the bottom of the NYT
coverage
of the Bear Stearns mortgage mess today:
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Posted in banking, bonds and loans, hedge funds | Comments Off on Will the Prime Brokers Lose Money on the Bear Stearns Funds?

Comparing Economies

New Amsterdam (a/k/a New York) is
indeed more similar to Old Amsterdam than it is to Amsterdam,
Missouri
(median household income: $29,821) or Amsterdam,
Ohio
(median household income: $24,583).
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Posted in cities, economics | Comments Off on Comparing Economies

Dow Jones Takes One Step Towards a Sale

Who knew? Apparently the board of Dow Jones is good for something after all:
the WSJ’s Sarah
Ellison
is reporting that they’re going to take over the negotiations with
Rupert Murdoch.
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Posted in Media | Comments Off on Dow Jones Takes One Step Towards a Sale

The Philanthropic and Societal Value of Corporations

The social value of Windows is surely not proportional to Microsoft’s monopolistic profits.
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Posted in development | Comments Off on The Philanthropic and Societal Value of Corporations

The 100-mpg Car

Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, has already awarded $1 million
in grants in the field of plug-in
electric cars
, and it’s now dangling
a $10 million carrot
, saying it wants to help develop a car which gets 100
miles to the gallon.
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Posted in climate change, technology | Comments Off on The 100-mpg Car

Bear Funds Being Liquidated: Who Wants to Buy?

It will take a brave and aggressive investor to enter this market today. On the other hand, there are lots of brave and aggressive investors out there.
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Posted in bonds and loans, hedge funds | Comments Off on Bear Funds Being Liquidated: Who Wants to Buy?

Selling Stadium Seats

There’s nothing new about the plan to finance Yankee Stadium by the sale of seats.
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Posted in economics | Comments Off on Selling Stadium Seats

The Newly-Normal Treasury Curve: Good News or Bad News?

If the yield curve is starting to look normal, the spread curve is likely to move back to a more normal shape too, sooner or later. I’d be much happier in Treasuries right now than in credit.
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Posted in bonds and loans | Comments Off on The Newly-Normal Treasury Curve: Good News or Bad News?

Why Bearish Forecasts are Meaningless

What I’d dearly love to see from some of these people is something they’ll
never provide: call it falsifiability, in a nod to Karl Popper.
Ask yourself if there’s any conceivable state of affairs which would prove these
people wrong. If the answer’s no, then frankly their warnings are pretty meaningless.
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Posted in bonds and loans | Comments Off on Why Bearish Forecasts are Meaningless

Is there a word for this?

It happens at Amazon, it happens at my local grocery store (sorry about the colour — it’s a cellphone pic), and it happens every day all over the world. But is there a name for it?

Posted in Econoblog, Not economics | Comments Off on Is there a word for this?

The Whole Foods Complaint: Weak

There is nothing compelling in the FTC complaint. The idea that Whole Foods and Wild Oats have a monopoly on pleasant shopping experiences and therefore should be banned from merging is laughable on its face.
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Posted in M&A, regulation | Comments Off on The Whole Foods Complaint: Weak

Signs of Caution in Private Equity?

The fact that some private-equity companies dropped out of the bidding for HD Supply should not be taken as a sign of weakness.
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Anecdote Inflation

What’s $10 million between friends anecdotes?
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Posted in bonds and loans, private equity | Comments Off on Anecdote Inflation

Arrogance + Insecurity = Success, Steve Jobs Edition

Underneath Jobs’s arrogance is always the ability to admit that he was wrong. And that is one key to his company’s recent success.
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Posted in technology | Comments Off on Arrogance + Insecurity = Success, Steve Jobs Edition

The A380: Not the World’s Most Convenient Private Jet

Some bright spark with more money than sense has just dropped $300 million
on an Airbus A380 superjumbo jet – for
his personal use
.
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Posted in consumption | Comments Off on The A380: Not the World’s Most Convenient Private Jet

Is Citigroup Too Big?

If a strong leader could communicate a simple and effective vision for the company, the calls for its breakup would soon cease.
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Posted in banking | Comments Off on Is Citigroup Too Big?

Steve Schwarzman Basks in the Limelight

Steve Schwarzman manages to find time in his schedule for being feted by the rich and famous.
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Posted in private equity | Comments Off on Steve Schwarzman Basks in the Limelight

Monday Links Do The Twist

Enough links to keep anybody happy for at least an hour.
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Posted in banking, cities, development, economics, Media, personal finance, remainders, technology | Comments Off on Monday Links Do The Twist