Second Opinion

Wall Street's Rising Stars: Ten to watch in ‘10. (Barron's) Q&A: View from the top with Tony James. (FT) New Investors Topple Masters of the Universe: Asian sovereign wealth funds and venture capitalists, rather than big firms of the past, were the most active investors last year (Wealth Bulletin) Update: The Kleen Energy plant explosion has claimed five identified casualties. The company, backed by Energy Investors Fund, won Goldman Sachs a Deal of the Year award from Project Finance. (Courant.com) Watch Your Backs Guys: Four pensioners have appeared in a German court charged with kidnapping a financial adviser they blamed for making rotten US property investments. (BBC) Tired of Complaining Customers? Ban them! That's what Tim Horton's did! (CBC News)

"Insensitivity - It lets you sleep." The FT has 20 questions with Jon Moulton, formerly of Alchemy Partners, now with Better Capital. (FT) Super Bowl Special: If the private equity industry needed to fill out a football team, it would be in a good position to do so. (PE Beat) Prodding: The Federal Reserve and other financial regulators, which have faced strong pressure from the White House and Congress to stimulate lending to small businesses, prodded banks on Friday to ease such financing. (NY Times) Remember the Macquarie Group Employee Browsing Nude Photos in the Background of a Newscast? He gets to keep his job. (BusinessWeek) European Meltdown? We may be close to a "Lehman/Merrill/AIG kind of September weekend", but with no buyer of last resort, writes Minyanville.

TV for Job Hunters: If you're unemployed, or looking for a better job, you should consider watching a new series starting at 9 p.m. called "Job Hunt," on Channel 25. (Cityroom) Steak for Stock: Can't afford to eat at Smith & Wollensky? The restaurant is now accepting worthless stock in exchange for meals. (BI) Yikes: Does former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker know the difference between private equity firms and hedge funds? (Dealbook) Roubini's New Name: Dissatisfied with "Dr. Doom," Nouriel Roubini is on the prowl for a new nickname. CNBC and Dealbreaker have some suggestions. Ah yes, the "Sentiment Gauge": Sentiment in the private equity industry improved in the fourth quarter of 2009 as the global economy recovered, according to a survey by Deloitte & Touche. (Bloomberg)

Happy Groundhog Day! Or rather, not... Dual Track: IPOs become juicy targets for buyout groups (FT) Investigation: Is Peter Orszag's hair really a toupé? (Gawker) Citi Pig at the Bailout Trough: Some pro-Obama groups have really gone after Wall Streeters with their new ads. (HuffPo) Out of Dry Powder? This story argues that private equity firms are not going to do deals because they're out of money! That may be the case for the handful of firms who truly are out of capital and unable to raise ANY more, but actually buyout firms are more flush with cash than ever before, and the problem is that they don't have enough deals (either valuation-wise, or financing wise) to spend it on. I believe the slowdown in the pace of fundraising, is still lower than the slowdown in the pace of deals, not to mention, buyout firms came off a record fundraising year in 2007, and 2008 was only slightly slower ($260 billion in '08, compared with $64 billion in ‘09). (IDD, sub only) Porn at the SEC: More than two dozen employees of the SEC have been investigated over the past two years for viewing porn on their computers at work. (Cityfile)

Cleveland Rocks...? Riverside Co.'s Stewart Kohl in a Q&A in the Plain Dealer on Life in Cleveland, which reminds me of my favorite Youtube spoofs on life in Cleveland, which you may remember was featured in Michael Moore's movie about capitalism. (And I'm going to claim home-state immunity on Cleveland pot shots) (Plain Dealer via WSJ) Persistent Expectations: PE firms are still thinking there will be consolidation. I tend to still disagree... Behind the deal: How cutting prop desks hits M&A (Dealzone) Servicey: Two law firm white papers on PE for ya. (1) Emerging Market Private Equity: How To Find Light At The End Of The Tunnel. (2) Private Equity: Shaken, Not Broken Davos Won't Die: A roundup of what PE dealmakers said at Davos. (DailyFinance) Say What? Current and former C.I.A. agents are using their lie-detecting and interrogation techniques to help Wall Street make money. (Dealbook, also peHUB) Yep: M&A in 2010 won't be a boom (thankfully, I say) but it'll be bumpy. Deals will take longer. (BusinessWeek) Necessary Evil: Saying No Sucks. (Highway 12 Ventures)

Physical Toll: Hank Paulson's Valley of the Dolls Moment (Daily Intel) Tweet of the Day: "Rich Bressler of THL was refreshingly candid about perhaps paying too much for ClearChannel." (Twitter) More Davos: PE deals are picking up, says CD&R's Gogel. (BusinessWeek) The Challenges of Time for Start-Ups: In the world of start-ups, capital efficiency is a factor in determining how much entrepreneurs and investors realize on their invested time and capital. (Dealbook) Wow: It's a day of bold calls all around. First Bain and KKR executive an egregious dividend recap on HCA, then IDD names Goldman Sachs its bank of the year? Really? I mean, its possible that there were no other less reviled yet profitable candidates, though I can think of a few (JPMorgan perhaps? Deutche Bank? HDBC maybe? UBS?)... Maybe this tone-deaf choice had something to do with the fact that Blankfien actually agreed to do an interview with the publication... (IDD) World of Connections: A special report on social networking. (Economist via Abnormal Returns)

Whaa? PE Firms may actually benefit from the Wall Street restructuring plan. (FT Lex) Pot Calling Kettle Black? Public pension funds needing to boost their returns but frustrated with hedge funds and private-equity investments are turning to one of the oldest investment strategies-using leverage! (WSJ) Speaking of Pensions: Yesterday I outlined how NY State Common plans to support emerging manager funds without placement agents. From that same presentation, NY Post reports on the firm's "rationalization" of its exposure to mega-funds. (NY Post) Contradictions: The first Indian-American woman to run for Congress is a hedge fund lawyer, and she's a Democrat running with a pro-Wall Street mantra. (NY Times) Reports from Davos I: Felix Salmon is siding with the pessimists. (Reuters)

Still Needed: A Sheriff of Finance, according to George Soros. (NYT) Blu-Ray Shams: This is Just Ballsy. If you open up a $3,500 Lexicon Blu-Ray Player, you will find an entire $500 Oppo Blu-ray player inside, intact, with its original chassis. A manufacturer actually bought the $500 model, put it inside a bigger box, and sold it for $3500. WOW. (Wired) Hope They're Not Flocking to Journalism: College freshmen are abandoning business as a major. (Inside Higher Ed via Abnormal Returns) Unmitigated Gall: Most Irony-Impaired Wall Street Research Title. Ever. (The Big Picture) Take That Main Streeters: 'Main Street' Is An Idiotic Concept, Which Doesn't Exist Outside Of Disneyland (Clusterstock) Yikes: Rosetta Stone had a successful IPO (remember, they were backed by ABS Capital) but have recently stumbled. Here's how to avoid their fate. (Dealscape)

Man Growing Vikings Superbowl Beard Since 1974. That's gotta be one disappointed guy. Or maybe disappointed wife? However, judging by the photo, I actually expected it to be longer. (Post-Bulletin) The Vlocker Effect: The PEC tallies what effect Vlocker's new rules could have on private equity funds. (FT Alphaville) Should Your CEO Blog? Conventional Wisdom says no. New Blogger Types say yes. Which naturally means there's a third round contrarian somewhere. (Maybe your CEO Shouldn't Blog, New Comm Biz)) Speaking of CEOs: How hiring one can kill your startup. (VC Mike) Plainfield Asset Management: The fall of a hedge-fund wunderkind (Fortune) This Should Be a Given, given the whole risk/return profile thing and all, no? FT reports that returns on PE funds could beat stock performance. (FT)

Pulling the Plug: Goldman Sachs has moved to wind down its Global Equity Opportunities Fund - once the flagship of its prestigious set of in-house hedge funds. (FT) Interpretations: Bloomberg reports that the new banking rules may force the banks to sell their buyout units, WSJ concurs. (Bloomberg, WSJ) Dissenters: Tim Geithner does not like Obama's financial reform plan. (Dealbreaker) Rolfe Winkler: Warren Buffet has let the public down again. (Reuters) 100 Best Companies to Work For: Robert W. Baird & Co. has a "No asshole" rule. (Forbes) B-School Feuds: Apparently Wharton students plan an annual ski trip, and the Dean of Students isn't too happy about that. A student fired back a defense, and Wall Street Oasis has the email exchange. (WSO)