Last week unusual movements in the stock markets—with some widely shorted stocks rising even as the broader markets plummeted—had many wondering if we were witnessing a repeat of the events of late July. This afternoon, Dane Hamilton of Reuters hands in his contribution to the rumor mill. “In addition, some traders say they have recently picked up signals that there may be a multibillion dollar market-neutral fund that is conducting an orderly liquidation, raising concerns that such an event may prompt others to do the same and hammer the market,” Hamilton writes.
The game of Who Dun It has already begun. AQR was an early favorite but other names are being bandied about as well. DE Shaw is another popular candidate.
DE Shaw's hard drive did not return requests for comments.
Hedge fund AQR denies big trading setbacks [Reuters]
Posted by Vuk, Nov 13, 2007 8:36AM
Could be Thales founded by Dr. Marek Fludzinski. Here's my reasoning:
He's blown-up several times before (at Shaw, Paloma, Swiss Banc, Rockport etc etc) running the same strategy which he simply dresses-up and then re-sells.
His second wife just dumped him, taking HALF of everything (like nobody saw that coming; she's a young,hot, rich bitch and he's a balding, middle aged physicist who still cheats on her.)
He pisses away vast sums of cash (he set the record for the most expensive house in Brooklyn !?!?!?!) and is probably close to broke.
and.........
If AQR, DE Shaw, and Goldman's quant shops are in trouble then Thales probably got destroyed. Maybe I'm wrong!