Second Opinion

Slow News Day: So yesterday there was an Economist story that mentioned Henry Kravis paid $22 million for this ugly chair. Of course, snark-tastic blogs Gawker and Dealbreaker picked up on it. Well, this info, which is apparently untrue, annoyed the folks at KKR enough to send out very prompt and categorical denials of such an instance. Even Kravis himself emailed Gawker. (So that's what I have to do to get in contact with him?) Capping off the zany gossip hijinks now known as "Chairgate" (thanks, Dealzone), we can rest in peace, as The Economist has issued a correction. I consider this entire trivial thing further proof that (A) there is seriously nothing going on in private equity these days and (B) PE pros will forever be sensitive about their post-Schwarzman Birthday lavishness. Whew. In Other News: Bankers are starting to think they'd be better off at a smaller, nimbler firms. (Dealbook) B-Schools and the Almighty Dollar: "A business school dean argues that students should be taught the societal value of business, not profit at any cost." Sounds nice in theory. (BusinessWeek) No Surprise Here: Michael Moore is looking for "Streeters" to have a "casual chat" with about Wall Street for his upcoming unnamed project. Wall Street Folly calls it a "Career Death Wish." (Wall Street Folly)

This Versus That: The financial sector meltdown has now surpassed that of the tech sector during the Internet bubble collapse, judging by stocks. (Marketbeat) Berkshire Hathaway: It's trading at a premium on Buffet's investing skills. But what's the probability of default? (Market Movers) CNBC In The News: Everyone has an opinion on it. NY Times asks if last week was CNBC's best or worst week ever. (NY Times) Speaking of that: The paper is no longer accepting comments on the story. Here are the editors' picks. Pitching Hacks: ScottDig reviews the venture capital pitching guide book, "Pitching Hacks." (Scottdig)

Jon Stewart Still Slamming CNBC: This time he has just one joke. He said to Letterman: "There are three 24-hour financial networks. All their slogans are like, ‘We know what's going on on Wall Street.' But then you turn it on during the crisis, and they're like, ‘We don't know what's going on.' It'd be like turning on The Weather Channel during a hurricane and they're just doing this: ‘Why am I wet?! What's happening to me? And it's windy!" What's going on? I'm scared!' How do you not know?" (Gawker) Want More? In other CNBC Vs. Stewart Cattiness, Dealbreaker has CNBC's hilariously immature unofficial response. (Even better, I'm pretty sure the headline is a Mean Girls reference.) (Dealbreaker) The Future of PE LPA Agreements? Pension funds are fighting for hedgies to lower their fees. Methinks PE will be next in their path, if it's not already happening. (WSJ) Get Jobs As Bankruptcy Lawyers: Corporate bankruptcies jumped 54% in 2008. (Reuters) Or Apply Here: One firm that's looking to add 100 fixed income employees. (Dealbook)

Controversy: Seems last night's Daily Show attack on financial journalists (watch it here) has sparked much debate in the blogosphere. Felix Salmon discusses it here, and I also quite like Dealscape's take, "On Financial Journalism and its Critics," viewable here: (Dealscape) Literally: The sky is falling at AIG, apparently. Photo of the day: (EV Grieve) Speaking of AIG: Our colleagues at Dealzone have outtakes of Congress's grilling of the insurance giant. (AIG) Watch And Learn: According to a new study, watching booze-soaked movies is directly correlated to viewers drinking more. (Reuters)

Ouch: Should Obama reconsider his bullishness? Mean Street calls him the Jeff Immelt of Presidents. (WSJ) Laid off? Worried You Will Be Soon? There are companies for that. Jet Blue, Archstone-Smith and Hyundai are allowing "take-back" clauses if you get laid off after purchasing their products (homes, flights, and cars, respectively). (Cityfile) Private Equity Needs Fixing: According to Bloomberg columnist Matthew Lynn. He goes so far as to suggest a bailout for the Masters of the Universe. John Morris of the Deal says, ‘not so fast,' and I can't help but agree. TALF TALK: Cerberus, Millennium Cpaital, Fortress, and even Blackstone, have expressed interest in TALF. (WSJ)

Girlie Men! Schwartzenegger's take on the economy? Naturally, he says, "Stop Whining!" (PCWorld) Systemic Risk: "In the United States, A.I.G. has more than 375 million policies with a face value of $19 trillion. If policyholders lost faith in A.I.G. and rushed to cash in their policies all at once, the entire insurance industry could falter." (Dealbook) Sign O' The Times: Canaccord Adams has cancelled its "Best Ideas Weekly Newsletter" due to a lack of good ideas. Or something to that effect. (Infectious Greed) Lists: Ten ways to ruin an interview. And no, they aren't "being late." The first five are especially are solid advice. (Yahoo Hotjobs)

Want to Prank Call Steve Schwarzman? You call would probably not "be appreciated." (Cityfile) Not A Good Sign: A Sun Capital board member of Furniture Brands has resigned. (STL Today) Thank You: Deal Journal translates some of the circular PR/Lawyer-speak on the AIG press release. (Deal Journal) I Can Has Intelligent Discourse: I really should have seen this coming. Brought to you by our friends at Big Money, the Internet joke Lolcatz has an economic equivalent called LolEconz. Love/hate away. (Big Money)

Just Don't Try Selling It In New York: Place this in the "why didn't I think of this?" file. Or perhaps under "totally dumb ideas." A guy is bottling and selling tap water from New York City. It's Called Tap'd NY. (LA Times) $24 Billion: That's the total tax increase your industry is going to get over the next nine years, in case you haven't tallied it up yet. (Bloomberg) But Don't Worry: Some PE firms are prepared to fight. (FT) As Seen On TV Wars: Talk about IP protection. The ubiquitous Snuggie is an imposter because its predecessors, the Slanket and the Freedom Blanket couldn't patent the damn thing! (I mean, how can you patent a backwards bathrobe?) (Ny Times) Top Lists: Here you are, the BusinessWeek list of the best undergrad business schools. (BusinessWeek)

Well Is It? In the vein of "Is it iced coffee weather?" we have "Is This The Bottom?" (Via Market Movers) Fallin: Recovery Rates for leveraged loans have been less than 25%. (WSJ) Same Dif: "As hedge funds come under increasing regulations, analysts believe the next industry to face tighter and stricter rules could be private equity," reports Business 24/7. Hate to break it to you but most regulators hardly know the difference! (Business 24/7) It's Like Crack: Investors in the so-called toxic fund won't do it without leverage, Wilbur Ross and Jeffrey Gundlach say. (Reuters)

Gift Horse: "Every family business should have a plan to sell," according to a book by Tom Deans, a guy who worked his way up at a family business. He believes gifting a business kills it. (Canadian Private Equity) [Ed. note: Apparently around 12 hours after I linked to the blog "Canadian Private Equity," the entire thing has been deleted! Strange. But never fear, Google cache never forgets. You can still read the post I linked to right here, just scroll down to the second post titled "Does Gifting a Family Business Destroy It?"] We're Aware: The FT "breaks" the stale news that mega-buyouts are having a tough time raising their funds and smaller funds, like Riverside, are now more attractive. Ironic, considering Riverside's own micro-cap fund has been placed on hold due to a lack of interest. (FT) Bob Marley Now Owned By Wall Street: Want the background of Hilco Consumer Capital's deal with the Bob Marley brand? Macleans has an in-depth piece on it this week. Making Lemonade: Madoff is helping private equity, according to Robert Tomei of Advanced Capital. "It will push investors away from hedge funds to private equity." (FT) Fine Lines: How is Pimco both a private investor and manager of government bailout programs? Is Bill Gross "too big?" (Fortune)