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msnbc.com – He is hardly your average movie investor. He cultivates his privacy, and he heads a $13 billion hedge fund that, unlike those run by Carl Icahn and others, rarely mounts a proxy fight. But while most Hollywood bankers have turned off the money spigot, billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Associates appears to be stepping up its investments.
Last year the firm lent money to film investor Ryan Kavanaugh, who is providing financing for as much as 75% of Universal Studio’s films through 2011. In recent days movie moguls have been buzzing that the hedge fund could be eyeing a play for the debt-hobbled MGM studio by buying up a small piece of the iconic film company’s nearly $4 billion in debt.
MSNBC – Hedge funds are being offered a sweet deal to help the Obama administration rescue the U.S. banking system: A low-risk opportunity to scoop up soured bank assets that could one day make them a killing.
But the deal could make for an uneasy partnership.
The government also wants to closely police hedge funds, some of which have been accused of placing irresponsible bets that helped trigger the financial crisis. Such regulatory overhaul could reshape an industry known for secrecy and little oversight.
MSNBC – On the streets of Antigua, Texas billionaire Allen Stanford is a controversial figure. Some embrace him while others deride him as a modern-day colonialist.
But nearly all say they fear a U.S. investigation into the tycoon’s financial empire and Antigua-based offshore bank could damage the Caribbean island where Stanford is a household name, its biggest private employer and powerful business force.
"He’s providing jobs. He’s good for the economy. If he’s in trouble, that’s bad for us all," said George Green, manager of Cool Down Cafe, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant on a narrow street in St. John, the island’s capital.
Green’s comment was echoed across the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda on Monday as news spread of a deepening probe into Stanford’s $50 billion Houston-based investment operation, Stanford Group Co, and its Antigua-based affiliate, Stanford International Bank.
MSNBC – Nonprofits that are struggling because their donors lost money with Bernard Madoff are getting a bailout — but not from the government. Richer foundations are stepping in to help.
Human Rights Watch, The Center for Constitutional Rights and others are already slated to receive more than $1 million in help from philanthropies and donors who share their interests.
