Second Opinion

Did You Know: There are two ways to go bankrupt: "Gradually, and then suddenly." (The Deal) April Bloom: So, is private equity fundraising on its way back from the dead? Dealscape thinks so. (Dealscape) Plenty of talk: On New York Times's article about Geithner's close relationships with Wall Streeters. (NY Times) Itchy? Private Equity is Itchy? The month-long equities rally has you all IPO crazy already? (FT) Deal Profile: Deal Journal Has posted a deal profile, via DealLogic, about the biggest deal of the day, KKR's play for Kirin Brewery. Can we think of any more words to add to the end of "Deal"? (Deal Journal)

Torn: Tim Geithner's baptism of fire.(Economist) Cough Cough: Is the UK once again the economic sick man? (FT) Move It: Activist shareholders are encouraging companies (11 of them, to be exact) to move to North Dakota. (Footnoted) Your Fired--But Stay In Touch: More companies are creating Web sites where ex-employees can share leads and remain within reach. (BusinessWeek)

FYI: All has been quiet on the PE secondary front for a few weeks until today, with news of SecondMarket (literally a secondary market not unlike NYPPEX). It's perfect timing, as our coverage will be back in full force tomorrow: I'll be at the Private Equity Secondaries conference. Maybe I'll hear evidence that that market is actually alive again, post-year-end-results. Chooch Producer Stands By Quality Of Movie: Deal Journal interviews Tami Powers, one of the producers of the most unlikely star of this kickback scandal. We also learn the movie went straight to DVD, she never met Rattner, and she "really liked" the movie. (Deal Journal) Scary Stuff: Thanks to Epicurean Dealmaker and Clusterstock, we have a better understanding of the problems with banks repaying TARP money early. In fact, we have a better idea of how this screws taxpayers. (Epicurean Dealmaker) Infrastructure Madness: "As deplorable as our bridges may be, they're better than they were a generation ago." (Slate)

EuroFresh: The rotten tomato company went bankrupt finally last week, and Dealzone has an interesting take on the company's downfall: Did the crackdown in illegal workers cost Apollo $76.5 million? (Dealzone) Obviously the News Of The Day for Private Equity: The Journal's take on the placement agent ban. (WSJ) Just In Case They Make A Madoff Movie: The Daily Beast has laid out a potential cast. (Daily Beast) Not Just Pre-MBA Associates Going Back to School: It's also Wall Street's leaders, going back to teach. Despite the "hard work for little pay," Cityfile calls getting summers off a tie.

Monday, Monday: Merger Mondays are back! Maybe! Yesterday was arguably the best day for M&A this year. (Dealzone) Google Me: Thanks to Google profiles, you can now have more control over what comes up when someone Googles you. Good news for job hunters. (Mashable) New Fund On The Block: August Capital is backing StumbleUpon's founders in their deal to buy back the company from eBay with its new "balanced-stage" fund. (Dealscape) Don't Blame Leverage: More regulators would have made the financial crisis worse. (Clusterstock)

Totally OK With This: Obama Administration's answer to "Chooch-gate." (CNN) Daniel Gross Asks: What's with all of this "green shoots" talk and does it mean anything? (Slate) Slighted: Financial journalists were given the short stick in Pulitzer-land, after spending a year covering the biggest story of many of their careers. (Clusterstock) Felix Salmon has a few theories as to why. (Reuters) Changing The Way We Raise Funds: As a result of this NY Kickback Scandal mess, Carlyle Group is ditching placement agents for future fundraising efforts. (FT) Sounds like a familiar idea... (peHUB) Leak Is A Hoax: Did a fake leak really cause the stock drop today? (Market Movers)

Data Overload: Prequin has released its Q1 private equity report. I'll take a deeper dive into the 30-page report later, but you can view the entire thing here. (Prequin) Buyer and a Seller: A look at eBay's deal history reveals that "the corporate bosses at eBay's Silicon Valley headquarters must have their investment bankers on speed dial." (Dealbook) Still Dreaming of '06: Dominick DeChiara, who heads the private equity group at Nixon Peabody LLP, tells Suzanne Stevens that from lower prices, to financing outs, to more flexible material adverse change clauses, sellers need to adjust expectations in what remains a buyers market. (Dealscape) Drama: So, the liquidators (Hilco and Gordon Bros.) won the auction for Polaroid (with more than 30 bidders). Patriarch Partners' Lynn Tilton is not happy about it, saying the judge has overruled her bid because "she wasn't liked." (I'm not happy about it because I don't want Polaroid products to go away!) She went on CNBC to say she'll file a temporary restraining order (video posted below). Meanwhile, I'm not sure what to make of this but Dealbreaker unearthed some Christmas cards Tilton sent around to her clients in the 80s (Somewhat Unsafe For Work). High Profile Week: We get two IPOs and a Goldman follow-on and everyone's a bull. In its weekly scorecard, Thomson Reuters released some datapoints on public offerings from this week. (Thomson Reuters)

After All The Excitement for PE Investing in Education: Venture Intelligence put out a very extensive study about investment in Indian education companies. You can download it here. Business Standard covered it here. Looking at Defaults: "Moody's therefore downgraded a higher percentage of the companies it covers in the first quarter of 2009 than it does in a typical year." (Felix Salmon) Unemployed? You could work as one of Bloomberg's "45-year-old interns." (Cityfile) Umemployed MBA Grad? Here are some ideas. (BusinessWeek)

For Sale: Allen Stanford's face, on a souvenir tile. (Reuters) Speaking of Fraud: What's going on with Danny Pang, former exec at Private Equity Management Group? Fake insurance policies? Fake MBAs? Even a Ponzi scheme? (WSJ) Aha! Skype's IPO is set for 2010-not because the company is waiting for the markets to return (though that doesn't hurt), but because it is settle a legal skirmish with its founders. (NY Times) Columnist: Charlie Gasparino writes that recovery is not coming anytime soon. The era of high profits is over. (Daily Beast) On Bankruptcies: Here's some more analysis on Q1 from Financial News. (WSJ)

Time To Change It Up: Peter Rip outlines what VCs can learn from PE. "The venture capital game has changed, yet many VCs are still using an old, outdated playbook." (BusinessWeek) We've Been Saying This: Now BreakingViews is. PE needs better governance. LPs, assert yourselves. (Breaking Views) Why Can't You Do Deals? ‘Poison Puts' might be holding you back. Fancy word for change-of-control clauses. (WSJ) Further Coverage: More on how the poison put is affecting Amylin Pharmaceuticals. (BusinessWeek) Ha: Mayor Bloomberg actually said the words, "People that go out and murder people don't read The Wall Street Journal." Cityfile made a nice little endorsement to go with the comment. (Cityfile)