Posted July 1, 2008 
Comments(1) It’s a slow week but I plan to add at least one book review and one final stock watchlist before the long 4th of July weekend. But for today, in tribute of an upcoming game I have in the city - my dog Bob is playing poker!
Take a close look and you will see that I added my dog into the poker picture below!
Now, that’s what I call a good looking lab!
Posted April 22, 2008 Comments(5) Fresh off of listening to When Genius Failed and Liar’s Poker, those stories of quick and great fortunes from the 1980’s and 1990’s now seem like pocket change when compared to the hedge fund managers of today. Compensations have been dipping into the billion dollar range for the past few years but the latest round of wealth has never been so astonishing.
To put this into perspective, the top hedge fund manger last year earned 61,157 times more money than the average American family ($3.7 billion versus $60,500). He averaged $422,374 per hour, every hour for 365 consecutive days (more than $7,000 per minute).
Take a look, I have always been intrigued by these “masters of the universe” compensation packages: 2006: Hedge Funds - Richest of the Rich
Wall Street Winners Get Billion-Dollar Paydays
By JENNY ANDERSON, Published: April 16, 2008
Hedge fund managers, those masters of a secretive, sometimes volatile financial universe, are making money on a scale that once seemed unimaginable, even in Wall Street’s rarefied realms.
The richest hedge fund managers keep getting richer — fast. To make it into the top 25 of Alpha’s list, the industry standard for hedge fund pay, a manager needed to earn at least $360 million last year, more than 18 times the amount in 2002. The median American family, by contrast, earned $60,500 last year.
Institutional Investor
By Stephen Taub, Posted April 15, 2008
- Five of the managers on this year’s list each made more in 2007 than the $1.2 billion that JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay for the almost failed 85-year-old Bear Stearns Cos.
- When we published our inaugural list, in 2002, Soros led the way with $700 million, a showing that this year would have put him at No. 9. Back then it took $30 million to crack the top 25; this year, $360 million.
- The grand total earned by the top 25 in our 2003 ranking, almost $2.8 billion, was less than what any of the top three managers made this year and less than one fifth of what the top ten made altogether ($16.1 billion).
- Though we doubled the size of our list from 25 to 50 this year, longtime New York–based star managers Mark Kingdon of Kingdon Capital Management and Raj Rajaratnam of Galleon Group both miss the cut, despite each making about $200 million. This year’s minimum: $210 million.
Bringing home more than a billion in 2007: Five hedge fund managers rake it in
By Peter Cohan, Posted April 18, 2008
- John Paulson (Paulson & Co.) — 2007 earnings: $3.7 billion. Beginning in 2005, Paulson made huge bets on the decline in value of securities backed by subprime mortgages
- George Soros (Soros Fund Management) — 2007 earnings: $2.9 billion. Soros’ $17 billion flagship Quantum Endowment fund racked up a 31.7% return in 2007, its best annual showing since the high-tech implosion at the start of this decade. Soros’ $2.9 billion payday comes almost entirely from his personal stake in the fund (which he no longer manages). I don’t know how he made that 31.7% return.
- James Simons (Renaissance Technology) — 2007 earnings: $2.8 billion. Simons, a mathematician and former Defense Department code breaker, uses complex computer models to trade.
- Philip Falcone (Harbinger Capital Partners) — 2007 earnings: $1.7 billion. Like Paulson, Falcone placed a winning bet against the mortgage market. He pulled in returns of 117% after fees in 2007.
- Kenneth Griffin (Citadel Investment Corp.) — 2007 earnings: $1.5 billion. Griffin manages $20 billion and is a big information technology innovator that trades derivatives. equity securities. and listed options and buys distressed assets at a discount. For example, In late 2007 a Citadel-led group put $2.55 billion into struggling E*Trade Financial Corp., (NASDAQ: ETFC), the U.S.’s fourth-largest discount brokerage.
Posted April 7, 2008 Comments(7) I must say that the Caribbean beaches along the Yucatan peninsula are absolutely beautiful. The water is crystal clear with a blue – turquoise tone that I have never seen. I have been to Hawaii and to Caribbean islands but this water was more beautiful. I would still choose Hawaii over Mexico for a total breathtaking experience but the color of the water here ranks with the best of them.
We relaxed on the beaches, played volleyball, visited the Mayan ruins, shopped in the villages, enjoyed the local dancers, tasted the Mexican cuisine and enjoyed a few coronas (and cocktails). And best of all: swimming with the dolphins!
Enjoy the images. Regular posting will return this week. I see that GU and BX started to move while I was away. I bought and sold GU earlier in the year but will be looking for a possible position after I start to run screens again.
Posted March 28, 2008 Comments(7) I will be taking off the next two weeks as I travel to the the Riviera Maya.
My vacation has begun if you haven’t already noticed – sorry for the delay in getting this information out.
Please take the time to check out some of my most popular and informative blog articles from the past 12-15 months (below).
I also recommend that you select a book from my “best of” library and read it while I am away (scroll down on this page).
Regular posting will return on Monday, April 7, 2008
I will be reading Microtrends and The Art of War while relaxing on the beach.
A look back at some of high quality educational articles from 2007
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Top 20 chrisperruna.com Posts
Start with these books and then scroll down to view my Stock Market Library:
An Excellent Stock Market Gift List:
Learning about Stocks (Fundamental and Technical Principles):
System Development and Market Psychology:
Great All-around Reads:
All Others:
Posted March 20, 2008 Comments(8) I start by giving a hat tip to Don Harrold from DonHarrold.net for providing the in-depth research and video highlighting the Cramer BS! And that’s what it is, BullSh*t!
The second hat tip goes to Adam from Daily Options Report who uploaded the YouTube video to his site, where I first viewed it.
Watch the video and understand what TheStreet.com is doing here. I mean, all credibility goes out the door if this is true and the image is not altered.
How many other lousy, losing stock picks does TheStreet.com erase from their website without anyone noticing? Do they really go back and toss out poor stock picks without telling the public? They should lose ALL journalistic credibility and ALL equity research credibility (if they had any to begin with).
I am glad people like Don Harrold keep an eye on the big guys because so many sheep do watch these shows and trade based off of what they say.
The second beef I have is the fact that Jim Cramer claims he was talking about Bear Stearns, the bank, and not the stock (BSC). Maybe he was because he does refer to the “liquidity” based on the caller’s question but I still have reservations.
I am wondering why a stock chart was uploaded on the screen if he was talking about Bear Stearns the bank and not the stock; they post these charts on the screen with every other stock analyzed.
Why too, did Jim forget to say the words “common stock” during the initial telecast? Let me guess: because he was talking about the stock just as he has been calling it a buy since last summer (the start of the big crash). The follow-up video of Cramer stresses the words “common stock” but he forgot to iterate this during the initial telecast. He has to be clearer considering he is speaking to an audience that takes his words at face value.
Anyway, I am wondering why the mainstream media or even competitors such as the Fox Business Network (or whatever it is called – I don’t watch these channels) isn’t calling out TheStreet.com and/ or Cramer.
I try not to be a Cramer basher but he’s such an easy target when he does stuff like this and his company does something so despicable. I leave the day-to-day nit-picking and bashing for others but I have to jump in and make it clear when something is very wrong (and involves a public company). I mean, I almost worked for TheStreet.com and Jim Cramer (I made it several rounds deep in the interviewing process to become a part of their equity research team). Fortunately for me, they went with the business school lad instead of the architecture grad.
