In a pinch, Steve Cohen has made himself a few zip-up fleece jackets with only a travel sewing kit and some Silly Putty at his disposal. Alone in the woods and miles from home, Ray Dalio has been known to fashion slingshots out of the remains of wildebeests. Having blown through all his 100-count packs already and not wanting to catch anything, George Soros has constructed condoms out of strips of bacon; old tea bags; and British pounds. According to Dealbook, however, today they must all bow down to the master. John Paulson, the billionaire hedge fund manager, will be forever known on Wall Street as the man who made nearly billions shorting subprime mortgages. But on Monday night at the United States Open men’s singles final, DealBook witnessed Mr. Paulson do something that, while not nearly as remunerative, was almost as impressive: He turned his necktie into an ascot...As the match wore on into the night, the temperatures dropped into the 50s and spectators grappled with how to stay warm. But Mr. Paulson, unable to avail himself of the U.S.T.A.-issued blanket and possibly reluctant to spend money on a Polo fleece, chose a different approach. Early in the fifth set, Mr. Paulson removed his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. He then wrapped the tie around his neck and transformed it into an ascot, providing additional warmth for the duration of the match. Wall Street Sits Courtside For A Marathon Match [Dealbook]

[caption id="attachment_73871" align="alignleft" width="234" caption="Y'all can kiss this ear to ear grin good-bye"][/caption] In the spring of 2010, almost exactly two years ago to date, the New York Times reported that some of Vikram Pandit's top lieutenants had noticed "a new bounce in his step" and "a smile on his face," with one executive speculating that the Citi CEO's cheer could be attributed to the fact that he was starting to "see the day when he will earn more than $1 a year" within reach. On January 18, 2011, that day came. After essentially not receiving a salary since 2008, when he pledged to abstain from getting paid until Citi turned a profit, the board of directors approved "an increase in the annual rate of base salary for Vikram from $1 per year to $1,750,000 per year, effective immediately." It felt good. Really good. Know what doesn't? This crap. Citigroup investors rejected the bank’s executive pay plan, a first among the six largest U.S. lenders, amid criticism it lets Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit collect millions of dollars in rewards too easily. About 45 percent of the votes favored the plan, which Citigroup had argued would help attract and retain top talent, according to a preliminary tally at the New York-based firm’s annual meeting in Dallas today. While the vote isn’t binding, outgoing Chairman Richard Parsons said changes will be made. Citigroup Shareholders Reject Management’s Compensation Plan [Bloomberg]

Don Browstein is a former philosophy professor, the founder of Structured Portfolio Management (named the best performing hedge fund in 2010, after returning 49.5 percent and 134.6 percent in 2009), a guy who supposedly once told a trader "The only way you can leave this firm is in a body bag" while brandishing a baseball bat, and the person tenants will have to answer to if next month's rent is one day late. Don Brownstein’s Structured Portfolio Management LLC plans to start a fund to buy and rent out homes. The firm, based in Stamford, Connecticut, may introduce the fund to investors within weeks, Brownstein said in a letter to clients dated June 12, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News. He didn’t say how much capital has been raised or targeted. “There will be a significant transformation in the way in which single family homes are owned and occupied in the United States,” Brownstein said in the letter. The strategy is to acquire homes through distressed sales and rent them out profitably, perhaps to the former owner, then “sometime in the not distant future, sell the houses and reap a profit from a recovery in prices.” Brownstein Plans Funds To Buy, Rent Out Homes [Bloomberg Brief]

Alan Howard needs to be alone right now.

Scratch that. It was a triflin' $11.62 billion. They can't even scrape together the money for the 'g'.