Remember the good old days? The latest financial sporting fad was predicting the imminent death of private equity. LIBOR meant something. Someone was going to make a killing in commodities, you'll see. Endowments were the BSD's to emulate on the buy side. Yeah, that's definitely over with this news:
The dean of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences has called for an immediate freeze on staff hiring and strongly encouraged department heads to consider canceling faculty searches.In an e-mail to department heads Monday, Michael Smith, dean of the largest Harvard faculty, outlined immediate steps in response to the worsening economic climate.
"Given our heavy reliance on endowment income, these losses will have a major and long-lasting impact - one that will require significant reductions in our annual expenses," Smith wrote.
[...]
Harvard's endowment before the economic crisis was $36.9 billion. It's unclear how far it has fallen, but Faust recently referenced a Moody's projection of a 30 percent decline in the value of college and university endowments this fiscal year.
Ouch.
Then again, -30% is the new "killing it" so, perhaps someone should give those guys a raise.
Harvard freezes staff hiring, scrutinizes faculty searches [The Boston Globe]
Posted by guest , Nov 26, 2008 10:44AM
Posted by guest, Nov 26, 2008 10:42AM
Local NewsReport: Warning of plot against transit system
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Eyewitness News WASHINGTON -- Federal authorities are warning law enforcement personnel of a possible terror plot against the New York City transit system during the holiday season.
An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press says the FBI has received a "plausible but unsubstantiated" report that al-Qaida terrorists in late September may have discussed attacking the subway system.
Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said the warning was issued as a routine matter, but added that there may be an increased police presence in New York and other large metropolitan areas.
The report indicates that al-Qaida terrorists "in late September may have discussed targeting transit systems in and around New York City. These discussions reportedly involved the use of suicide bombers or explosives placed on subway/passenger rail systems," according to the document.
"We have no specific details to confirm that this plot has developed beyond aspirational planning, but we are issuing this warning out of concern that such an attack could possibly be conducted during the forthcoming holiday season," states the warning, which is dated Tuesday.
While federal agencies regularly issue all sorts of advisory warnings, the language of this one is particularly blunt.
Intelligence and homeland security officials are working with local authorities to try to corroborate the information "and will continue to investigate every possible lead," the memo says.
Knocke, the DHS spokesman, said the warning was issued "out of an abundance of caution going into this holiday season."
No changes are being made to the nation's threat level, or for transit systems at this time, he said.
"However, transit passengers in larger metropolitan areas like New York may see an increased security presence in the coming days.
This includes uniformed and plain clothed behavior detection officers, federal air marshals, canine teams, and security inspectors," Knocke said.
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Posted by guest , Nov 26, 2008 10:44AM
wideclops saw this coming back in '06
Posted by guest , Nov 26, 2008 11:04AM
PE will rise from the ashes like a big bad ass Phoenix and in the next bull-run we will first buy iceland and then lever it up and use it as an acquistion vehicle to acquire nothing less than the whole fuckin world. All of your asses will belong to us and we will rename the continents Carlyle, Blackstone, KKR, etc.
The only problem we'll have is exiting all that shit, but that is where the extraterrestrials come in.
Read my lips. PEB
Posted by Finnegan , Nov 26, 2008 11:42AM
Not enough info, given that we don't know how all the major endowments, like Yale's, have performed.
Generally anyone who says "this" or "that" is dead, is talking off the tip of their imagination.
In this economic environment, no point can be proved.
Posted by guest , Nov 26, 2008 11:55AM
Sounds like enlightenment is slowly seeping into the administration's conscience on the banks of the Charles. It has taken a while.
http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2008/11/et-in-arcadia-ego.html
TED
Posted by guest , Nov 26, 2008 11:56AM
Something tells me, Finnegan, that your job does not involve making calls or decisions, but rather crunching data and getting beat up over calculation errors.