Erin Griffith

Here are some potential target ideas, rumored or official, to jumpstart your deal pipeline. Our sources are various news reports and the Buyouts “Seeking Buyers” list. Bigpoint GmbH, the German online gaming portal, is considering a sale, mergermarket reported. The company hired Montgomery & Co. has to help it explore strategic alternatives after receiving inbound interest in the company. The Washington Times is for sale by its owner, Unification Church. (AP) Royal Bank of Scotland continues to seek buyers for Hanco, its ATM business.

Fat Cat Homes: Yes, in a cheap but effective pageview grab, Business Insider has detailed the 15 most expensive homes owned by bankers in Manhattan. Let the populist rage begin! (BI) To skip to Steve Schwarzman's $30 million home, which includes 11 fireplaces, 37 rooms, 43 closets, a gym, sauna, steam room, pool room, screening room and servant's quarters, click here. There's also Steve Feinberg's Egyptian mansion. Hmm: Goldman Sachs clients are preparing to sever ties. (All except Blackstone...) (Independent) Continental and United Complete Each Other: The gushy conference call and press release from the "merger of equal" airlines was a little too Jerry Maguire for Deal Journal. (DJ) Also, the deal was prompted by jealousy? Email Battles: Wall Street Defender versus Wall Street Antagonist. Groundbreaking Research: Bullies still pick on fat kids. In other research news, there is still no cure for cancer. (U.S. News & World Report)

We spotted a very jovial David Rubenstein yukking it up near the front row of the White House Correspondents dinner this weekend. Carlyle Group is not a partisan firm so much as a Washington firm—the PE house has had Republican and Democrat heavyweights on its roster, ranging from George Bush, Sr., to Mack McLarty, who was President Clinton’s chief of staff and Arthur Levitt, Clinton’s SEC Chairman appointee. Plus, co-founder David Rubenstein himself was part of the Carter Administration. View him around 5:30 below. For the highlights from President Obama's Daily-Show-written jokes, go here.

It seems appropriate that the last monthly bankruptcy list I compile racks up a big fat zero. The closest thing we have is the possibility that Apollo Management’s Innkeepers USA, a real estate investment trust, might maybe possibility go bankrupt, according to the Wall Street Journal. Apollo acquired the company in 2007 for $1.5 billion; it is in the process of exploring “all possible” restructuring possibilities. And that’s the best we’ve got for April. When I began doing these almost two years ago, they were averaging 10 to 15 per month. If PE-backed bankruptcies continue to trend down (and, they can’t really go down much further from here), my successor will be spending much less time hunched over elaborate spreadsheets.

Here's a look at the last week's worth of scoops, data, and analysis from the peHUB team. Catch up on what you missed before it goes behind our paywall... All First Reads | All Second Opinions All You Have Is Your Word Mint's Founder on Blippy: I Don't Get It Don't Cross An Executive Recruiter Quadrangle Secures Big Return from Protection One Lise Buyer on Bad Banker Behavior, Anxious VCs, and Whether Twitter Could Go Public Tomorrow Jon Moulton's Private Equity Glossary Is Apollo PE's Only Go-Shopper? Bertram Capital Back In Market with Second Fund Tech Titans: Inside the Company That's Keeping Them Safe from Kidnappers, and Pie Throwers In Defense of Quitting a Startup Is Distressed Fundraising Still Red Hot? When Good Performance Is A Bad Thing HealthCare Ventures Raising Ninth Fund Apple/Siri Notes: Scoble "Is A Very Smart Guy"

Crying Wolf? A brief history of alarmist-and wrong-Wall Street predictions about the effect of new regulations. (Slate) I think I can I think I can: Valley VC's are, like, so done being down, according to this survey. (Dealbook) The Oracle Speaks: The economy is showing signs of improvement, according to Warren Buffett. (AP) Lucky Charms: They apparently actually matter. So, uh, forget about hard work or being in the right place at the right time. Just find that 30-year-old rabbit foot you carried around in high school. (WSJ) Where Have All the Bond Vigilantes Gone? Governments are borrowing more than ever, yet rates remain low (Businesweek)

It's been a rollercoaster of an April. Click through for a rundown of the past month's biggest successes, failures and tales of idiocy.

As usual, we have a week’s worth of ratings actions on the debt of LBO-backed companies from ratings agencies Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s. This week the agencies focused on Sagittarius Restaurants, Securus Technologies, American Tire Distributors and Integra Telecom. Company: Sagittarius Restaurants LLC Sponsor: Charlesbank Capital Partners Action: S&P said it lowered its corporate credit rating on the company to 'CC' from 'CCC'. Highlights: This action comes after the company disclosed that its subordinated lender agreed to reduce its claim substantially below face value. "We view this as tantamount to a default, given the current distressed financial condition of the company and since the investor is receiving less than the original promise of the original security," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Charles Pinson-Rose.

Private equity secondaries giant Lexington Partners has gained an extension on the fundraising period for its seventh fund. The firm received approval from LPs to continue fundraising beyond its target. Lexington had planned to hold a final close on the fund, which has a $5 billion target, by the end of Q1. But with just over $4.1 billion in commitments, Lexington asked investors for an extension.

Call of Duty: Former Military Personnel Find Work in Finance (FINS) TARP-less House: Hank Paulson is selling his D.C. house. (Deal Journal) When You're A Trader: How to respond to the question, "what do you do for a living?" (Kirk Report) Diss? Steve Jobs is over Flash. (Apple) Goldman Sachs! The Musical! (New Yorker)