Each business day HedgeCo.Net keeps you informed with the top hedge fund industry news, opinion and insight from around the globe. From the latest hedge fund launches, to the impact of regulation, competition, and investor activism - we track the topics and people that make a difference to you.
Market Rap – In 2005, Patrick Byrne, the CEO of Overstock.com and future Deep Capture investigative reporter, began a public crusade against illegal naked short selling (hedge funds and brokers creating phantom stock to manipulate stock prices down). He said, over and over, that the crime was destroying public companies and had the potential to trigger a systemic meltdown of our financial markets.
Soon after, I began to investigate a network of short sellers, journalists, and miscreants. I concluded that many of the people in this network were connected to two famous criminals – “junk bond king” Michael Milken and his associate, Ivan Boesky. I also began taking a close look at the Mafia’s involvement in naked short selling.
Greenwich Time – Some hedge funds in the region are looking to sublease their office space as they downsize or shut down in the lagging economy.
John Goodkind, managing principal of Greenwich-based commercial real estate firm Newmark Knight Frank, said about 20 percent of Greenwich hedge funds are considering subleasing all or some of their office space to cut their expenses. He said he expected about half of them to do so in the next six to nine months.
"It’s the immediate wave of the future because the Greenwich hedge fund market is not immune from a meltdown," Goodkind said, adding that space is being offered at 20 percent to 30 percent less than the original lease. "Fairfield County, with Greenwich being the nexus, is in for a very difficult period of time for tenants that are subleasing space."
