Bloomberg – Hedge funds posted their first back- to-back gain in eight months in January, rebounding from record losses in 2008 as North American managers benefited from betting stocks would fall, an industry report showed.

The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index, which tracks more than 2,000 funds worldwide, gained 0.5 percent last month, extending the 0.8 percent advance in December, according to preliminary data compiled by Eurekahedge Pte. Last time the index rose for two months in a row was in April and May 2008. The January advance contrasts with the 8.9 percent slide by the MSCI World Index of stocks in developed markets.

Read Complete Article

Tags: american managers, eight-months, hedge-fund-index, last time, msci-world-index, record losses, stocks

Street.Com – The NABE survey of 105 forecasters was taken Dec. 17 through Jan. 8. In the survey, 52% said they expected gross domestic product to fall by more than 1% this year. GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced within the U.S. and is the best barometer of the country’s economic fitness. The last time GDP fell for a full year was in 1991, a tiny 0.2% dip. The economy shrank by 1.9% in 1982, when the country was suffering through a severe recession.

Forecasters have grown more pessimistic about the outlook. In the October survey, no forecaster thought GDP would fall by more than 1%.

Read Complete Article

Tags: barometer, economy, fitness, forecaster, forecasters, gdp, gross domestic product, last time, recession