Second Opinion

Leveraged Loans are the New Bonds: lending is picking back up-deals are now less impossible and now merely complicated. (FT) On a Related Note: The Banks have reopened their checkbooks for M&A. (WSJ) The Coming Fight for Executive Talent: BusinessWeek on the inexorable rise of Asia will force the West into a battle for its managers (BW) W-Shaped What? Canadian private equity investors are preparing for a double dip. (Reuters)

Happy Thanksgiving! PE Battle Cry: Chief executives of private equity-backed companies should speak out to defend the industry against 'misguided' European Union regulation, according to the new head of the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. (FT) First Rule of Business: Don't Get Emotional. Unless you're an investment firm called Emotional Assets. (Felix Salmon) New Kind of Corporate Raiders: The FBI has raided the office of buyout shops in Indiana and Ohio after a news article questioned their business practices. (Dealbook) Horse Before Carriage? Twitter is eyeing more acquisitions! Oh, and also, it is eying revenues next year. (Reuters)

Attacks: Yikes, the SEIU has gone after Audax and Bain pretty hard following the Boston Globe's story on the ways Bain minted a profit on a failed company (American Pad & Paper). (SEIU) Listen Up: Peter Brooke goes on NPR to talk about private equity. (WBUR) Revivals: Golub Capital has revived its plans for an IPO. (LBO Wire) Black Friday Predictions: Boom? Bust? Paul Kedrosky has a handy little chart from Mint.com. (Infectious Greed) President With A Sense of Humor: (Or is he really just scared of Robots?) In a speech about his "Educate to Innovate" program, Obama said, "♫ As president, I believe that robotics can inspire young people to pursue science and engineering. And I also want to keep an eye on those robots in case they try anything." Brilliant. (Gizmodo)

PE Bloggers: There aren't many, so check out Olympus Partners' trailblazing tome. (Olympus Partners) So Why DID Goldman Get Paid by AIG? Goldman answers Gretchen Morgenson's questions via email. (NY Times) One Extreme To Another: Banks are destroying small businesses. (Private Equiteer) Jamie Dimon For Treasury Secretary: The man is being considered for the role. Deal Journal calls him The Contradictor in Chief? (DJ) How's This For Fear: It's one thing for your company to sell to a PE firm, but what about to sell to scientologists? (Dealbook) I'm Sorry Baby: Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein's big apology is being called a "savvy investment." (BusinessWeek)

Wacky Business School Traditions: Including pants-free pub crawls, Olympics, human castles, mustache competitions.... (BusinessWeek) Daily Dose of Snark: The Wall Street Journal Tackles the Important Stuff. (Cityfile) Rising Renminbi: Chinese private equity funds are emerging in big cities as China promulgates new regulations aimed at creating a homegrown private equity industry, one that Beijing hopes will strengthen the country's capital markets and fuel private sector growth in an economy overly dependent on government investment. (NY Times) Keep It Classy, Ohio: My home state charmingly blames the crappy ratings from S&P and Moody's for $457 of its losses on investments, and there's a lawsuit to boot. (NY Times) On the Unlikely Pairing Between Carlyle and the SEIU: "Lions and lambs have indeed laid down together, although we're not exactly sure who the lion is here." (PE Beat)

Diss: Man is Sam Zell ever a jerk. At a recent conference he dissed Wilbur Ross, saying, "all the new savants on commercial real estate (like) Wilbur Ross...I find their comments..are inversely related to our knowledge of the industry." (WSJ) Barbarians at the gateau? KKR wants a bite of Cadbury. (Dealscape) Old news: How many "PE IS BACK!!!!!" and "NO WAIT NO ITS NOT!!!!" stories does one year need? Apparently the past 238741273 were not enough, as CNN has caught wind of this crazy new trend. (CNN) Speaking of Old News: If you made it to Buyouts East last March, you will have heard Steve Young's funny, touching speech comparing private equity to his experience as a star quarterback, but if not, Dealscape has relayed the main points of it, recently given at one of their conferences. (Dealscape) Guy Hands: Drawing Japanese yen crisis comparisons. (FT)

Deal Scoop: Buyouts reports that Genstar Capital has purchased Atenda Healthcare Solutions. (Buyouts) PE is an HR Recycling Bin: Everyone gets a second chance in the world private equity. The latest fallen idol to consider making the move? John Thain. (Reuters) Down But Not Out: Reports of private equity's imminent demise are greatly exaggerated, according to Steve Kaplan of University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. (GenEngNews) Top Stocks of the Decade: At first glance it doesn't appear any of them have private equity fingerprints, but the number one stock of the decade just bought a PE-backed company from Sun Capital. (Crossing Wall St) Apologies: Lloyd Blankfein kinda apologizes for anything Goldman Sachs has done wrong. (Cityfile) No Surprise Here: The banks aren't doing holiday parties again this year. (The conspiracy theorist in me says ‘that's what they want us to think!') (Deal Journal)

Curious and Curiouser: Deal Professor uncovers some mysteries in the Bank of America-Merrill merger. (NY Times) And Speaking Of Crisis-Era Decisions: Felix Salmon now understands why AIG was bailed out. (Reuters) Crisis Karaoke? Lehman's collapse has literally loosened the tongues of Japanese bankers, an executive said on Tuesday. Bankers who could only communicate in Japanese are now rattling off e-mails and water cooler conversations in English, Nomura Chief Operating Officer Takeo Sumino said at the Reuters Global Finance Summit. (Dealzone) Payin' It Back: Some 15.4 million taxpayers could receive smaller (tax) refunds than they expected or owe taxes next year because they did not have enough money withheld from their paychecks as part of the Making Work Pay tax credit program, according to a report issued Monday. (WaPo) Introducing the Electrification Coalition: A group of businessmen urging the federal government to make a major investment in electric transportation. (Dealbook)

East Coast/WestCoast: Snoop Dogg rang the Opening Bell today. Then Maria Bartiromo asked him why he chose to get into business rather than crime. (Dealbreaker) More on The Buyout of America: An NPR interview on how private equity will cause the next great credit crisis. (NPR) The Dark Side of Incentives: They consistently backfire when efforts to boost bonuses override moral considerations. (BusinessWeek) In Case You Have an iPhone: And in case you invest, here are ten apps for you. (Business Insider) The Delevering Effect: Why KKR and BX want so many IPOs. (P&I) Apply Here: How to snag a job at Apollo, according to Apollo founder Marc Rowan. Hint: Have a degree from Wharton. (FINS)

Op-Eds: Jamie Dimon writes, "No bank should be too big too fail." (WaPo) Exit Signs: Looking closer at Castle Harlan's exit on United Malt Holdings via BusinessWeek. I'll save you the time if you only care about the return: They made 4.5x on a $90.5 million equity check with an 80% IRR. (BW) TPG's Troubles in Australia are seen as a one time situation. (Background: The Australian Tax Office was seeking to freeze the payment of TPG's proceeds on the IPO of Myers.) (Business Spectator) Up: Dollar General shares traded up on the first day. (AP) Fire Your Superstar CEOs: Paul Kedrosky unearths that "superstar" CEOs, the kind that award-winning CEOs underperform, spend more time on public and private activities outside their companies writing books or on boards, and are paid more. (Infectious Greed)