quote:

Our mutual fund is......registered with the SEC.

I have a feeling that distinction won't exist for very long. I think the Obama administration has the public support to pass through more regulation of the hedge fund industry, mostly limiting the amount of leverage a fund could utilize (which I feel would be entirely unnecessary). I could also see regulations requiring hedge funds to cover some of their positions (ironically enough, actually "hedging" their bets). If that's the case, it will take a long time for equities to recover.

quote:

Originally posted by jerZ07002 I have a feeling that distinction won't exist for very long. I think the Obama administration has the public support to pass through more regulation of the hedge fund industry, mostly limiting the amount of leverage a fund could utilize (which I feel would be entirely unnecessary). I could also see regulations requiring hedge funds to cover some of their positions (ironically enough, actually "hedging" their bets). If that's the case, it will take a long time for equities to recover.

The problem is a lot of these people simply don't understand how the markets work. It's kind of ironic that after Chris Cox implemented the short-sale ban the 2nd time last September he was later quoted in the Washington Post as saying that his biggest regret/mistake as chairman of the SEC was banning short-sales. The shorts get way too much blame in this whole fiasco. Funny how the SEC is slow to point the finger at the actual companies that invested in piles of shit. The shorts are certainly less to blame than those who allowed the derivatives market to balloon to $90T or however much it is, and who can use a notional amount of money--say $25M--to cause wild movements in the prices of common equity. Shorts are faaar outnumbered in the market by plain vanilla longs.

In any event, you are probably right about greater transparency and regulation of hedge funds--somewhat sad since many of the hedge funds that get such a bad wrap were the very ones who for years warned about the very problems that allowed them to make billions due to the majority's unwillingness to listen to reason while they were drunk on kool-aid.

/rant

on the leverage issue--it's certainly going to be a problem for a lot of people, but I support some sort of action that will limit the amount of debt that an entity can take on. Our hedge fund uses a maximum of 2:1 leverage while our mutual fund uses no leverage at all (in fact, through a large part of 2008 we were probably about 35-40% in cash, as crappy as cash is).

quote:

Originally posted by Shakka The problem is a lot of these people simply don't understand how the markets work. It's kind of ironic that after Chris Cox implemented the short-sale ban the 2nd time last September he was later quoted in the Washington Post as saying that his biggest regret/mistake as chairman of the SEC was banning short-sales. The shorts get way too much blame in this whole fiasco. Funny how the SEC is slow to point the finger at the actual companies that invested in piles of shit. The shorts are certainly less to blame than those who allowed the derivatives market to balloon to $90T or however much it is, and who can use a notional amount of money--say $25M--to cause wild movements in the prices of common equity. Shorts are faaar outnumbered in the market by plain vanilla longs.

agreed

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Originally posted by Shakka on the leverage issue--it's certainly going to be a problem for a lot of people, but I support some sort of action that will limit the amount of debt that an entity can take on. Our hedge fund uses a maximum of 2:1 leverage while our mutual fund uses no leverage at all (in fact, through a large part of 2008 we were probably about 35-40% in cash, as crappy as cash is).

I don't support a legal limit on leverage for private firms (that's the responsibility of the lender and the CFO), but I would support tighter thin cap limitations (for tax purposes).

Does anyone know which ETFs have the most liquid shares for Euro and oil based funds? before doing research, i thought i would ask.

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Originally posted by jerZ07002 Does anyone know which ETFs have the most liquid shares for Euro and oil based funds? before doing research, i thought i would ask.

FXE for the Euro. I'm sure it's not the most liquid, but it is plenty liquid.

On oil, did you want to distinguish between U.S. plays vs. int'l plays? XLE is the whole energy complex. USO is a name that some have recommended on this topic in the past, but I have read recently that the fund has grown so large that they are unable to roll over their futures and the fund is woefully underperforming--I wouldn't go after that one.

I would personally llike to thank Bernanke for the liquidity infusion.

Party like it's 2009! (just make sure to skip town before the bill comes due)

quote:

Originally posted by Shakka FXE for the Euro. I'm sure it's not the most liquid, but it is plenty liquid. On oil, did you want to distinguish between U.S. plays vs. int'l plays? XLE is the whole energy complex. USO is a name that some have recommended on this topic in the past, but I have read recently that the fund has grown so large that they are unable to roll over their futures and the fund is woefully underperforming--I wouldn't go after that one.

thanks.

I don't want any international plays. I just want a fund I can sell at any time and also that moves as closely as possible with the underlying commodity.

Man, my wamu stock flew today...

Both prefered and common up 43% on the bank news and wamu filing suit against the FDIC!

I'v been loving this 1 week rally. Since Friday, I'm up 10% on X. Yea, it's short-term, and I'm long-term, but I can't help feeling good about it. But I don't discount the fact I could lose all gains in one day. Doesn't bother me though.

As I type this, X is at $23.90..You're welcome for the tip krypt

Take some more advice and sell now before it plummets back to $19. Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered. The market is overbought here.