Gawker – Last week the Observer, Tom Wolfe said the truly rich would be protected from the Wall Street meltdown because all the smart guys had long since decamped for hedge funds, leaving investment banks staffed by "real second-raters." This weekend in the Times, the author of Bonfire of the Vanities clarified that statement by adding that elite hedge funders may still be ruined, just not until September 30, that is to say tomorrow. In other words, these strapping Masters of the Universe are so ingenious they staved off the sad fate of i-bankers for all of maybe 14 extra days:

Their hedge funds have blown up here and there, but unlike the investment banks, they are still very much in business. They have hurriedly pulled themselves into defensive positions inside their shells, like turtles. Their Armageddon, if any, will not come for two more days, which is to say, Tuesday, Sept. 30.

Read Complete Article

Tags: fund-of-fund, journalism, mortgage-lenders, nickname, porsche-dealers, vegetable-oil

CNBC – Remember Superman the movie, where Lex Luther takes away the super hero’s powers with a Kryptonite necklace? Well we’re here again. Only this time it is the financial equivalent of the man of steel – the hedge fund manager that has met their own version of the power-draining substance.

Barely a day passes it seems without one of these masters of the universe crashing to earth with swinging losses in their fund, or non-survivable business issues.

RAB Capital star, Philip Richards, has stepped down from his role as CEO of the business in the wake of a profit warning and a plunging share price. Mr Richards has already taken some flak taking a large position in ailing UK bank Northern Rock before it was nationalized. Now he goes back to focusing on the group’s special situations fund. So at least he keeps the day job, but this is an embarrassing development for the company.

Read Complete Article

Tags: absolute-return, board-of-directors, capital-group, glg-fund, market-investment, porsche-dealers, trillion