Second Opinion

Someone's Hiring: CFO.com has a listing for a pre-MBA Analyst at a Venture Capital/Private Equity. (CFO) Ouch: OMERs released its year-end results and, as said by a blog called Pension Pulse, "took a drubbing in private equity." The blog reports that "private equity returns were down a 13.7% in 2008 - a whopping 27.2% below the PE benchmark return of +13.5%." It Happened: The Internet has officially topped print as a source of news in the US. (Reportr.net) Apparently: Ya'll are "flocking" to SecondMarket, the consignment shop for PE and hedge fund secondary sales. (FT)

Awkward Conversations: Remember the most expensive house in the world? "A Russian billionaire is desperately trying to claw back his £39million deposit after a deal to buy the most expensive house in the world fell through," The Daily Mail reports. Yikes. The Rest Of the World: People outside the econoblogosphere, even high school students have issues with the stimulus plan. Here's what a few of them think. (East Valley Tribune) You Asked: You get it. Caroline Baum responds to criticism that it's easy to tear down the stimulus package without offering a solution. Here are five steps. (Bloomberg) Get Smart: How to make your own shoe phone. (Engadget) CNBC: W.L . Ross discusses what the stimulus plan will do for the markets. (CNBC)

Portly Johns: Can overweight people help the economy? Writes Slate, "We're gaining weight and taking up more space. And that means the entire industry of things designed to fit, hold, transport, and dispose of us has to upsize. Starting with toilets." (Human Nature) Uh-Oh: Facebook has been honored or cursed (depending on how you see it) with the cover of Fortune magazine. Valleywag explains why it's the latter. (Valleywag) More: On the VC is dead argument from Mark to Market. "People speaking out against VC are only shooting themselves in the foot, not to mention missing the bigger picture at hand." (Mark to Market) Movin On (And Now Hiring): Meredith Whitney, the "Dollar Dominatrix," is leaving Oppenheimer to start her own firm. (CNBC)

Dow to Vows: They have a lotta time on their hands at the Big Money, apparently. They've figured out that the NY Times Wedding sections is a "handy economic indicator." Cute (The Big Money) Smash-A-Madoff: You can buy a Smash-Me Bernie toy, featuring Madoff in a devil's suit, for just $99.95 at Minimemodelworks.com. (Dealscape) So That's Why: "The economic crisis prompts an outbreak of politeness in business." According to the Economist, "Manners maketh the businessman." The Bank CEOs: Do indeed need a little lesson in PR. (Slate)

Feb 12: It was a tough day for Law firms--lots of layoffs, as Law Blog explains. (Law Blog) Doom and Glee: Bankruptcy professionals have feelings, too. (Dealzone) Did you guys send gifts? It's Steve Schwarzman's birthday! (Cityfile) Maybe THAT's why they're counter-cyclical: TV stations have loosened their standards on ads from alcohol companies and strip clubs due to the recession. (LA Times) A Good IPO is a Fast IPO. (Deal Journal) Jon Stewart: On the bailout (hulu)

Secondaries: Not just for private equity. There's a secondary hedge fund market, and its called Hedgebay. (Clusterstock) Just to note, there is a *sort of* similar equivalent to that for PE funds. They are private bulletin board systems called “qualified matching systems.” (You can revisit our post on that here.) ‘Bout Time: KKR has hired its first female managing director. (Deal Journal) Speaking of: The Glass Hammer has an interesting piece on the "Kid Ceiling" for mothers in the business world. (Glass Hammer) Rebuttals: Georges van Hoegarden of The Venture Company responds to Dan's article, Radically Reinventing Venture Capital, with his own ideas on the topic. (The Venture Company) It's Your Fault: The American Consumer is one of 25 people Time blames for the Financial Crisis. Seems kinda like Time's whole "You" as its person of the year. (Time)

Valentine's Day: It's comin' up. Make your own powedery-heart-candy messages with the Acme heart generator, or read some of Business Pundit's Bailout Hearts. Sadness: The Deal Toy industry is getting hurt by the dearth of M&A. (WSJ) Be On MTV: The cable channel is recruiting laid-off Wall Streeters for a reality show that's supposed to be The Real World meets Wall Street. (Seven analysts picked to live in a house... yeesh.) Anyways, Maria Woehr of The Deal has the details of MTV's ads. (Dealscape) Updates: Yesterday we discussed Stephen Fowler, a VC that's gained internet fame for his horrifically rude performance on the reality TV show Wife Swap. Well, it doesn't end there. Now his wife has apologized for him and tried to retract it... but the Internet doesn't forget. Also, can I add that Stephen Fowler is now the number one search query on Google? (Valleywag) Grill Out: Heidi Moore offers up an excellent marathon liveblog of the House Financial Services Committee questioning today. (Deal Journal)

Bank CEO Q&A: Andrew Ross Sorkin has a list of questions to ask bailed-out bank CEOs, and Felix Salmon attempts to answer them. (Market Movers) Jettison: Carlyle is unloading one of its private jets. Oh, it's the one clad in "gaudy gold plating," Cityfile reports. Jerks: Stephen Fowler, a GP at Fulcrum Fund, a VC firm, appeared on Wife Swap last week, "confirming every stereotype one might have about (San Francisco's) precious, spoiled environmentalists," says Valleywag. He was so horrific he had to issue a public apology (after suing a web site that published his home address and finding a site named stephenfowlersucks.com). (Valleywag) Everybody Loves Lists: 15 Companies that might not survive 2009. PE-backed companies on the list include Claire's Stores (Apollo), Chrysler (Cerberus), Realogy (Apollo), Station Casinos, (Colony Capital), Loehmann's (Crescent Capital Investments) and Sbarro, (MidOcean Partners). (US News & World Report)

Some Pointers: Tips for entering the private equity job market from Private Equity Blogger. Alan Patricof: "VC Investing Not Dead, Just Different" for Dealbook. Deal Journal: Attends, reviews the Jefferies Group annual restructuring party, in a piece called A Wall Street Party That Isn't Depressing. Saturday Night Live: Pelosi and Reid on the Stimulus Package. (Wall Street Folly) Lists: Britain's top 100 private equity-backed companies. (Alt Assets)

Scumbag Billionaire: Image to the left via Naked Capitalism. Bailed-Out Companies: They might not be able to take their corporate jets, but they can take out massive ads in newspapers in an attempt to win back some love from the American public. (Dealzone) Layoffs: Harvard is cutting 20% of its investment management staff. (Reuters) The Blog Stigma: Excellent post by Felix Salmon on acceptance of blogs as credible news sources, and the NYPD's insistence that websites cannot receive press credentials. Self-serving of him, and me, to post this, I recognize. (Market Movers) Is This Surprising? TARP is underwater. Down by about 30% to be exact. (CNN)