Second Opinion

Looking for New BRIC Opportunities? Bollywood is eying private equity as banks go slow. (Business Standard) The Anatomy of a Bonus: Banker bonuses will look different this year. Here's a breakdown. (FINS) And while you're at it, here's some stats about bonuses. Year End Crap-Up: Now that it's the end of the decade, there's even more journalist reflecting, pontificating, analyzing, etc. (Note: peHUB is certainly not immune.) Here's Mean Street's Second Annual "Meanie" Awards. (WSJ) Step Away from the Blackberrys and Apples: What our increasingly cyber lives is doing to the actual world around us. Like, the outside of the world wide web. (Washington Post) Person O' The Year: Time named Ben Bernanke its person of the year. He happens to have a whopping 21% approval rating. (Business Insider)

In-Depth: One of the better PE resume advice columns I've seen. (Job Search Digest) Bold predictions: 24/7 Wall Street predicts twelve huge M&A deals for 2010. (24/7) Woe as me: AIG executives are suffering financially, its CEO said. As Dealbreaker put it, they're practically living in the streets! (WSJ) Doomed: Movie Gallery, which already restructured once, has hired a restructuring advisor again. No surprise, how can they compete when even Blockbuster is getting killed by Netflix? (Debtwire) Good Riddance: Amid all these rose-colored retrospectives on the decade, its nice to have a little cynicism in the mix. Time magazine lays out the Ten Worst Things About the Worst Decade Ever. (Time)

AOL Time Warner? What was the worst deal of the decade? (Deal Journal) Stupid Press Release of the Day: I thought this was spam, but nope, it's real. I've been invited to an event called "Sexy Power Brunch." I'm not even sure what that means but it just sounds bad. (Gem LLC) Hire More Women: On the hedge fund side, their returns surpass those of the menfolk. (Dealbook) Special treatment: Sovereign wealth funds want a bigger slide of the buyout pie. Mmmm pie. (Reuters)

Be Happy You're Not Blackstone Rich: That may lead you to getting blackmailed, as David Blitzer an MD with the firm learned. (WSJ) Well That's Over. Kinda. CIT is out of bankruptcy and trading on the public markets again, and excited traders are trading it up. (Money Game) Second Acts: Could Eliot Spitzer Run for Comptroller? I mean, seriously? By the way, click through to this story just to see that the Post has not disappointed in its choice of accompanying photo of the disgraced governor. (NY Post) Myths: Has the link between testosterone and aggressive trading been blown out of proportion? Hint: Yes. (Naked Capitalism)

Plan B: This is funny. "My desire to attend law school has nothing to do with the fact that I was recently fired from my job as an analyst at an investment bank." (McSweeney's) Private Equiteer: Private Equity returns are misleading Part II. (Seeking Alpha) More Extortion: Or whatever you'd like to call it. Riverstone's founder David Leuschen has paid $20 million to Andrew Cuomo in restitution over the pay-to-play case. Chooch really is the gift that keeps giving (and yes, I plan to continue to bring it up every chance I get.) (OAG) Debunks: Goldman Sachs bankers aren't really stocking up on guns. (Deal Journal) Vanity: Remember the guy with the license plate that read "2BG2FAIL"? Well he's changed it to "MNA GUY." (Clusterstock) You Shouldn't Have: The economic argument for never giving another gift. (Slate)

Ten Years of M&A: It is like walking through the tombstones on a battlefield. WSJ takes a comprehensive look at the past decade of dealmaking. (WSJ) Hmmm: Goldman's M&A fees are a lot higher than that of other firms. (WSJ) Searching For Alternatives! Good news-pension fund allocations to alternatives are increasing, despite what it seems like. (Reuters) PE is BACK! I write this phrase around thrice a week, it seems, so here's another pile-on. Private equity is back-with a vengeance-and doing things that were "unthinkable" six months ago. (Seeking Alpha) Target Time: PE Firms continue to salivate over Dubai World Assets. (Maktoob Business) Starting with the New York W Hotel in Union Square. (Dealbook)

/a>Beware of Social Media Snake Oil: Hordes of marketing "experts" are promoting the value of wikis, social networks, and blogs. Not that anyone needed to tell the world of finance that, they are lightyears away from using social media. (Businessweek)If You're Reticent to "Go Green" Perhaps this car will twist your arm. (Autoblog Green)Pride: Merrill execs have rejoiced in that they get to keep their beloved bull logo on their business cards, in a reversal of a prior Bank of America decision. (WSJ)MBAs Still Dig Finance: Despite the economic collapse, MNAs have "only slightly less ardor for the field of finance than last year." (Infectious Greed)

Job Opportunity: Wall Streeters, your dream job has arrived. Steven Land Clothing is looking for a few new faces to represent the brand, and it's decided to turn to the city's pool of unemployed Wall Streeters to fill the positions. (Cityfile) 5 tips to make people care about "your stupid little startup." (Matt Brezina) Read Up: Best books of 2009, according to the Economist. (Economist) Turnover: Analysts and lower level hires at Silver Lake and TA Associates might not want to get too comfortable. PE Database provides a picture of the lower level turnover at each of the firms. (PE Database) The recession is still with us: Yahoo cancels its Christmas party (and there will be no lapdancers either) (Clusterstock) Here's one way to spend your weekend: To mark the 40th anniversary of the Internet, DARPA wants to see how many of you can figure out how to use social networking to find 10 red balloons that DARPA has placed in obvious locations around the country. Colorblind contestants may have trouble, but good luck. (Network Challenge) Down the Rabbit Hole: and Inside Dick Fuld's bunker. (Daily Beast)

The Odd Story of A Self-Important Dad: AKA Skip McGee III, the former head of investment banking at Lehman Brothers. He's written a ridiculous letter to his kid's school and Dealbreaker got wind of it... (Dealbreaker) PE Salary Freeze! Roughly six in 10 private-equity firms have frozen salaries or are considering doing so in the future. (Deal Journal) Speaking of PE HR: Clusterstock has a take of the grueling process to get hired at a buyout firm. But frankly, as I read it, I had to agree with some of the commenters-the process seems pretty standard. If you can't describe and model an LBO, why are you applying to work at a buyout firm? (Clusterstock) PR Problem: Following the Goldman Sachs' take-down in Rolling Stone earlier this year, Vanity Fair has a new profile of the firm and its not necessarily flattering. (Vanity Fair) And: Deal Journal piles on, writing that the "PR hits keep coming." (DJ)

Which Way: Wall Street is looking for "direction." Investors are betting that the Dubai situation won't have a major impact on the U.S. (CNN) Meanwhile: Deal Journal wonders something similar... Asking, Will Dubai be the next Lehman Brothers? Answer: "May not" be, but could have "nasty surprises." (Deal Journal) And One Last Dubai World Note: Here's a list of the assets the conglomerate could be forced to sell. (Reuters) Back to Basics: Pension funds want buyout funds to go back to their roots! Besides, the private equity industry ended sometime last year anyways, they say. (P&I) Who Does Cap and Trade Hurt and Harm the Most? Do I smell targets? (dealReporter)