Rubicon Capital: August 2006

a consolidation

This week has calmed down a bit and we are back to our consolidating ways according to the indices. Fugitives, corruption and scandal continue to rear their ugly heads and the financial juggernaut rolls on. Enjoy those summer weekends, they are soon to begin their hibernation once again.

Happy Friday.

DJIA 11,284.05

NASDAQ 2,140.29

SP500 1,295.09

come together

The nasdaq sports two up days and is back at the top of its downward trending trading range…can it break loose of the downtrend or is it just setting up to retreat to lower lows? Looks like bonuses on the streets will be on average 15% higher than last year with equity traders and I-bankers pulling in the lion share. Glad to see the street is making the money while the retail public is suffering with a flat market with no returns. Good irony. What’s the saying…the rich get richer. One topic that is being discussed is the continued convergence of hedge funds and private equity. The lines continue to blur as the two begin to move further in each other’s turf. Also, equity strategies are waning? That’s the report from an independent consulting group. Not sure if that’s exactly the case if one considers that most equity strategies employ various derivative products to enhance alpha and/or hedge their portfolios. Question: Ever discover something that one may think is too good to be true but in reality is better than one’s wildest expectations, yet on the other hand isn’t exactly what it seems? Maybe a paradox? And finally, alternative asset leaders donate to the dems 2 to 1 compared to their donations for republicans.

a glass of water please...

terror in the skies, oil is going up, repercussions are being felt in the airline stocks, oil and gas stocks, transportation stocks, ID and security stocks and other sectors. Many opportunities to be had both on the long and short sides due to this major event.

Happy weekend.

DJIA 11,088.03

NASDAQ 2,057.71

SP500 1,266.74

be careful what you wish for

So the SEC let the deadline pass on filing their appeal to the decision that the SEC did not have the authority to regulate the hedge fund industry. Initially, back in early summer when the SEC lost their case, most managers were ecstatic about the prospect of going back to the good ole’ days of no oversight. However, even though defeated, Chairman Cox has said that he will be pushing into motion a set of new rules that will apply to hedge funds even though they cannot oversee said funds. One such potential rule will be to raise the minimum net worth of the investor from $1M to $1.5M or even $2M. Question: what is the difference in the level of ‘savviness’ between an investor with $1M and an investor with $1.5M. Is the person with the $1.5M going to have the little bit of extra know-how to safely navigate the shark-infested seas? Congress just can’t let this dog lie either. If the SEC can’t regulate, everyone is now pushing hard for the Department of the Treasury’s tough-guy agency, the IRS, to be the department chosen to patrol the limited partnerships and their management companies. Some are implying that the examination conducted by the IRS could be much tougher and more thorough than anything the SEC could have managed, including looking at the backgrounds of investors and the origin of the investors’ funds. Stay tuned, this one is far from over…

a wild one upcoming

pipelines are breaking, the fed is pausing, the IRS may be regulating the hedge fund industry, martha is settling with the SEC, rockstars are buying financial rags, and then there's the whole Jeff Epstein disaster beginning to unravel. It's going to be a wild week...

busy

Well, lack of posting over the past few weeks is due to being extremely busy with all types of things. We promise to do better. Welcome to the first reader of this blog who hails from Alaska. The cluster map feature on this blog is interesting, people from all over the world have inadvertently stumbled upon this site and not sure if they have returned or not...but interesting none the less.

Not much action in the market. *the indices at least...

Word on the street is that volatility is up but when you look at many invidual stocks and several indices, the markets and individual stocks seem to be treading water. There are still movers and shakers to be found, just harder to find.

Found a great video on another finance-related site. At first glance, it looks like a very creative group of students/employees, but actually it's a viral guerilla marketing campaign from a large alcoholic beverage producer, still funny though and a great way to get the name of the product out there to the masses.

This goes out to my friends back east....you know who you are.... MV holla' back....straight outta Cape Cod we're keepin' it real.