Fort Worth Business Press – The rescue of the American financial system proposed by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is, in all but name, a gigantic hedge fund. The government would lend vast sums to private investors to enable them to buy loss-ridden assets at discounts from banks with the prospect of making sizable profits. If that’s not a hedge fund, what would be? The hope is that the $14 trillion U.S. banking system would expand lending if it could get rid of many of the lousy securities and loans already on its books.

Almost everyone thinks a healthier banking system is necessary for a sustained economic recovery. Can the Geithner plan work?

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Tags: assets, banking system, banks, business press, economic recovery, loans, private investors, sizable profits, sums, timothy geithner, treasury-secretary, trillion

Seeking Alpha – The one group of investors that’s been vilified more than any other by the business press and government officials alike in 2008? Hedge fund managers.

After years of rapid growth in terms of both assets and numbers of funds in operation, the hedge fund industry has taken a PR black eye this year. Media reports would have you believe that the industry is about to collapse in size, see its revenue drop dramatically through fee reductions and become heavily regulated to protect unsuspecting investors from another Bernie Madoff scam.

Hedge funds certainly make an easy target. They’ve had a bad year, along with every other retail and institutional investor. But the industry is about to grow dramatically over the next five years. This coming year will mark the beginning of the next wave of this industry’s growth.

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Tags: assets, bernie madoff, black eye, business press, easy target, fee reductions, government officials, hedge-fund-managers, institutional investor, next five years, next wave, rapid growth, seeking alpha, unsuspecting investors