Silver (Lake) Lining?

The scalding pain of Monday's liquid(ity) brutality is fresh in the mind. Sure, Buffett is there to remind us that it is actually possible to buy (and not just "hold" since short-sellers are still shackled to each other in a rough and rusty embrace), but even that isnt particularly reassuring considering given Congress' propensity to talk a lot about anything and nothing. So what is there to look forward to? Value buyers to creep out from the woodwork and snatch lucrative deals at such a pace that the bubble is re-inflated and expands to the point of vacuum decay? Well, many value investors have taken such a drubbing that it is hard to contemplate circumstances that might stave off doom.

Isn't private equity supposed to be lurking around somewhere out there in the darkness?

In 2007, U.S. PE firms raised over $310 billion, a record at the time. By the third quarter of that year, they had amassed just over $200 billion for their coffers. And 2008? Dow Jones is reporting $222.6 billion through Q3 2008. Well, that's probably all from before the credit crunch. Certainly, the last quarter would have been a brutal one for fund raising, even if you yelled "distressed" until blue, or whispered "special situations" until pale. Right? Wrong. In fact, the Q2 2008 figures lagged 2007.

Private equity fund raising posts an 11% year on year growth through Q3 2008. With growth like that PE is on track to fund the entire bailout plan in something like 3.5 years.


U.S. Private Equity Firms Raise $222.6 Billion in First Nine Months of 2008, on Pace to Break 2007 Record

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