Second Opinion

Madoff Junkies: Behind the banks and asset managers which lost money, some names appear again and again. (Dealzone) Start Worrying: Infrastructure isn't taking off like it should, PE pros say. (Dealscape) Happy Mothers Day: And by the way, when it comes to investing, women feel it is much more important than men did to avoid incurring large losses, falling below a target rate of return and acting on incomplete information. (WSJ) Operational Shift: No surprise that this private equity survey reveals a shift to operational performance improvement for buyout firms. (Roland Berger)

Yikes Did Sun Microsystems violate bribery laws? (WSJ) It's Back! High yield debt is at a 2-year high this week. (Thomson Reuters) Illiquid: One investor's struggle with that whole ten-year lock-up period thing. (Seeking Alpha) Here's a Switch: An exec leaves PE for banking. Isn't that supposed to be the other way around? (Deal Journal) Bold Words: But not surprising that a Twitter backlash (a Twit-lash? Bad joke...) would happen soon enough. Dealscape writes that Twitter, like Skype, is overhyped.

Women CEOs: Ten women who should be big company CEOs. The list includes one PE pro, Jenny Ming of Advent International, who "would be on any headhunter's retail CEO list." (24/7 Wall Street) Here Come The China Vultures: "Encouraged by sinking stateside valuations, a delegation of up to 600 Chinese entrepreneurs will travel to North America in June on a state-organised "bottom fishing" tour, an organiser source said. The visitors, provincial governors and heads of large state-owned and private companies, will be trawling the market for distressed acquisition targets." (Mergermarket) Twittermania: Ok, so Connie already discussed the madness that is Twitterwatching these days. But here are two more to add to your reading list: -All you need to know to Twitter. -Political correspondent Jeff Greenfield apparently said: "I don't masturbate in public, and I don't Twitter." New Hiring Is Robust: "Who is hiring? Hospitals, colleges, discount stores, restaurants and municipal public works departments." (NY Times) Don't Get Excited: KKR's deal for Oriental Brewery is an exception, not the start of the return of big buyouts. (WSJ)

Hoorah! Junk bonds are coming back. (WSJ) Meanwhile the price of leveraged loans are rising. (WSJ) Steve Schwarzman expressed his happiness over this on Blackstone's call this morning. (They still probably aren't back to levels a lot of buyout guys bought them at, though...) Drama Time: "Picking over the carcasses of bankrupt companies is tempting for private equity firms, but the more traditional buyout shops are showing caution bidding on assets entangled in the courts, experts say." (Reuters) Not Scared Of Disney: Doesn't look like Providence Equity is going to take this opportunity to get out while the valuation is sky-high for Hulu, even though Disney has taken a larger stake. (PBN) No Longer The Master Of His Universe: At the Time Magazine's "Influential People" dinner, Steve Schwarzman was relegated from his front row seat to the very last row. Even worse, he was replaced by, as Cityfile said, "The nerdy co-founders of Twitter and a bunch of wonky Obama policy advisers." (NYP)

Bankruptcy Sleuths Find Cash in Trader Receipts for Lap Dancers: "I call it leverage gone wild," Grede says. (Bloomberg) Bondholders The New Activist Shareholders: The trouble with coercive debt exchanges. (Dealscape) CNBC=Cranky Nasty Business Correspondent: In which Rick Santelli tells Steve Liesman he "sounds like Richard Nixon." Drought: Dan mentioned this earlier today, but failed to highlight in the FT report the part that says the firm considered more than 140 LBO deals and agreed to zero. "Cautiously optimistic" anyone? (FT) Stranded at the Alter: With walk-away deals, what's the best way to deal? (Deal Professor) Bears: Nouriel Roubini's op-ed in the Journal today says we shouldn't believe the stress tests. (WSJ)

Q4: Yeah the fourth quarter produced a -16.32% return according to new data. (P&I) Summing It Up: Running the numbers on Cerberus' loss. It's certainly the biggest collapse but no one is calling it the most foolish or surprising. (Dealbook) It is? Why life is still good for business school students ... in Wisconsin. (Moneybox) Hooray! Clusterstock reports that the S&P 500 is now officially up for the year. Next to, of course, a photo of happy traders. (Clusterstock)

PE Distress: Instead of distressed PE, we're seeing firms like American Capital and Candover really struggle. (Reuters) Also: Heads up, American Capital's earnings call is next Tuesday after the market closes. Adapt To Thrive: The future of private equity. (McKinsey Quarterly) There's No End To Dumb Money: Just less of it. Daniel Gross writes that Chrysler symbolizes the end of dumb money. I'm not sure Chrysler symbolizes a lot for private equity, because, as Dan said this morning, it was a long shot to begin with. (Tech Ticker) Meanwhile: The Deal calls Cerberus' failed attempt to save Chrysler valiant but vain. (But only valiant if the firm had succeeded, I suspect). (The Deal)

Another Side of the Pay For Play Scandals: Six degrees of how "toxic waste" lands in teachers' retirement funds. (Talking Points Memo) No AriZona? Recent mentions of Patriarch Partners' Lynn Tilton in the press in her battle to win Polaroid have sparked new debates in her ownership of AriZona Iced Tea. Namely, does she own 2%, or does she not? (NY Post) Compensating: Moody's is being too negative. (Business Insider) NVCA: Recommendations for that IPO revival. (Boston Globe) When In Doubt, Spin It Out: "Their owners don't want them, but no other company seems ready to buy them for enough money to prevent further embarrassment to their parents' management." (Bits)

PPIP Not A Total Bust: More than 100 participants applied to get a piece of PPIP today. (Dealscape) Speaking of Twitter: Today we learned the site has a low 30% retention rate. (Reuters) Fred Wilson Crunches Numbers: The Venture Capital Math Problem (A VC) Adding to the Conversation: Mark Reibolt criticizes a Forbes piece, saying, "The venture capital landscape is evolving quickly, so the same old methods and mindsets don't apply." (Mark-To-Market)

Lotta India News Today: Apparently Henry Kravis was there chatting with some reporters. He said KKR would invest cautiously. (NY Times). Meanwhile, The Business Standard says PE firms in the country prefer to be minority shareholders. (Business Standard) Also, India's MBAs face a tough job market. (BW) Speaking of MBAs: Here's another one from the intrepid BusinessWeek reporters on "The MBA Support System." (BW) If that system doesn't help, try our Desperate Internship Rodeo. And Don't Worry: Because even those that have jobs are undergoing a fundamental shift in the way they get paid. Financial News outlines the Goldman bonus cuts. (FN) On That Note: Dealbook asks if Wall Street's pay is falling like a pet rock. (DB) Felix Salmon: When countries go to zero. (Reuters)