Second Opinion

David the Raging Bull: More on David Rubenstein's speech at yesterday's PEA conference. "Private equity is back," said Rubenstein. (WaPo) Wall Street is Back, but Main Street isn't. A Little Advice: Investing is as much an exercise in controlling emotions as harnessing the intellect. (Morningstar) Videos: Warren Buffet's take on the recession. No bounce, but no deterioration either. (Paul Kedrosky) Buyers Beware: Buyers of the TPG-backed IPO of Myers Group in Australia "should be extremely wary", said Stuart Wilson, chief executive officer of the Australian Shareholders' Association, which has 8,000 members. (Bloomberg) Toning it Down for the Team: The Private Equiteer comments on the importance of internal negotiations, saying, "In deals and in life, you often benefit much more from not getting your way." (PE)

Deal Professor: Dealbook's excellent deals analyst, Steven Davidoff, has published an excerpt from this book: "Gods at War: Shotgun Takeovers, Government by Deal and the Private Equity Implosion." (Dealbook) PE turns Gunslingers: Private-equity firms probably would like to forget the biggest leveraged buyouts from the boom. But buying the debt behind those deals has worked out a little better. (Heard on the Street) The Future of Ratings Agencies: Activist hedge fund investor William Ackman said on Monday that credit rating agencies should face more liability for their actions. "They won't be as profitable, but they'll be a lot more careful," Ackman. (Reuters) Better Burgers: Recent dealmaking indicates middle-market private equity firms are hungry for burger chains. (Dealscape) The Lehman Diaspora: Where Some of Lehman's Top Deal Makers Went (Deal Journal)

The Recession is Over! Says Ben Bernanke. (Bloomberg) Celebrate. Support the fizzling champagne industry (WSJ). Scott Sperling Isn't Worried: In addressing the issue of about $430 billion of leveraged loans coming due between 2012 and 2014, Sperling says that a rebound in bond and equity markets and M&A should help borrowers refinance much of that debt. (The Deal) Congrats: Felix Salmon has played a party in Dick Fuld's "smouldering resentment." (Reuters) Good News for Startups: Tech M&A is back. (GigaOm)

CalPERS Approval: CalPERS has endorsed the ILPA's principles aimed at improving fairness and transparency in the private-equity industry. (Dow Jones) To Shrink or Not To Shrink: One's fund, that is. Only a few have reduced already-closed funds, almost a year after we started calling for it. Will more go the route of the smaller fund? (FT) Did Lehman Die Because Warren Buffett Doesn't Know How to Check His Voicemail? Might not be as ridiculous as it sounds. Bloomberg reports that Buffett was asked to back Lehman Brothers, but he didn't get the information he wanted and learned that he wasn't able to check a voicemail on the subject because he doesn't know how... (Clusterstock) BusinessWeek Not A Great Business: BusinessWeek lost more than $43 million last year.... A buyer would also have to assume much of the $31.9 million in debt. (Dealbook) But it plans to reduce headcount by 20%. (Reuters) Stupid Fees: Breaking down the fees Bain Capital will get on the Dollarama IPO. (The Globe and Mail)

More Best Practices: PE Law Review on the new Limited Partners Association best practices. "What comes up for scrutiny and criticism are provisions relating to carried interests, claw back liabilities and management fees." (Private Equity Law Review) Reflecting on a "Surreal Period:" Musings on the past decade from David Rubenstein, Scott Sperling, and others. (Dealscape) Random: Apparently Nomura is using Facebook to find former Lehman workers in order to recruit them. (Global Security Mag) Punny: Hedge Funds' Low-Arb Diet Is at an End. Get it? Anyways, merger arb is a good place to play these days for lack of competition. (WSJ) Huntsman: From Stalked to Stalking Horse. In a year since the Apollo/Hexion debacle, Huntsman has transformed itself. (Deal Journal)

Needs More Lehmans! Jim Rogers, Chairman of Rogers Holding, writes that "Letting Lehman fail was perhaps the only thing governments have done right during this whole drama." (FT) And the Rebuttal: Letting Lehman fail was a mistake. (The Big Picture) That's Ballsy: After Wells Fargo seized $12-million foreclosed-upon beach house formerly owned by victims of Madoff, a top bank executive from the firm was seen spending weekends and hosting parties there. Bold. (LA Times) Bad Stats: How the heck can we run a modern economy when college grads have falling real wages? The answer is, we can't. (Business Week) In The Running: Bloomberg to enter the print publishing world? The company is apparently bidding for BusinessWeek (WSJ)

Not Everyone is Evil: We're not expecting any way-past-the-point of ironic Banker of the Year awards this year, but Breakingviews has a look at Some Good Names in a Year Gone Bad. (Breakingviews) Foolish? You be the Judge: The effects of the financial crisis promised to boost activity on the private equity secondary market in 2009. (Prequin) Listicles: 10 Bubbles in The Making. Here, I'll save you ten clicks. China, Gold, Green, Federal Reserve, Trash Stocks, Education, Subprime 2.0, Life Insurance Securitization, Commericial Real Estate and Emerging Markets. (Business Insider) Lehman Towers: The BBC's dramatization of the final days of Lehman Brothers is pretty painful. (FT Alphaville, Dealbook)

Private equity bust-ups: As the private equity industry has come off, so have the gloves. (FT) Hershey's Bargaining Chip With Cadbury: Twenty-one years ago, Hershey bought Cadbury's U.S. chocolate business, including factories and the exclusive rights to make and sell well-known brands such as Cadbury and York Peppermint Patty. (Deal Journal) A weekend at Bernie's in the Hamptons: At least two dozen prospective buyers spent the long Labor Day weekend at Bernie's in Montauk, at the tip of New York's Long Island, where they perused the oceanfront house. (The Deal) One Year Down, One to Go: "I always knew that business school was more than just an opportunity to change careers and develop networks, but what has surprised me is the amount of non-business education that comes with it." (BW)

Lehmanniversary: Should Lehman Brothers have been saved? (WSJ) Was TARP wrong and is capitalism evil? (Reuters) Exclusive Interview with Dick Fuld, who says he's been "dumped on" for the failure of Lehman Brothers, but says he doesn't want to speak out in his own defense because "the facts are out there." (Reuters) Also, Dick Fuld is into giving hugs. (Reuters) Everyone Is Excited: Merger mania may not be quite in full swing, but the pace of deal-making is showing signs of coming back to life after nearly a year. (Dealbook) More IPO Mania: An interview with the "Mr. Private Equity" of Asia, Pacific Equity Partners managing director Tim Sims, according to sister publication Asian Venture Capital Journal. (The Age)

Happy Labor Day Weekend! Behind KKR's Ugly Real Estate Bet: "As part of its restructuring, Warren Buffett is doing a dance on Capmark's grave." (DealJournal) Private Equity Waits Out the Feds: More problem banks and less FDIC money mean tough takeover rules could eventually be loosened. (BusinessWeek) Speaking of KKR: The firm was poised to earn a return on the sale of Sun Microsystems to Oracle, but anti-trust concerns have made that less likely. But Deal Journal believes Europe will not block the deal. (DJ) The Gates Are Down: Well, the bad news for Cerberus continues. The firm has apparently barred investors in two new hedge funds from withdrawing money for three years. (FT)