Hedging Political Risk

The title of the post is what I hope the hedgies donating to the DNC are doing, but - alas I fear this is largely not true. There are a whole lot of BSDs walking around with no balls these days. Indeed, many young bankers and hedgies I've met are Democrats - brainwashed into guilt for being successful from their days in undergrad, and eager to do anything - including giving the pants off their ass (the shirt is already being ripped off by current bonus taxes) to feel good about themselves. Anything, but rationally think through the policies fronted by Democratic candidates and the DNC and - if they disagree with them (and if they don't, why are they in the business of "ripping off" Grandma Millie?) - take a stand for what they believe in.

clipped from www.finalternatives.com Over the past three election cycles, hedge fund managers and their colleagues have become some of the most important donors to Democrats and Democratic candidates. Of the more than $3 million in hedge fund cash given to presidential candidates last year, 75% went to Democrats. Party leadership is hoping to leverage this newfound strength with a New York fundraiser aimed specifically at hedge fund professionals. Even after last year’s aborted attempt by Democratic congressional leaders to more than double the tax rate paid by some in the alternative investment industry, hedge fund money continues to pour in “When people with high incomes, or who benefit from particularly low capital gains rates, support Democrats, it’s because they care about the posture of the United States abroad. They care about an utter lack of fiscal discipline. In other words, there is a set of issues that people care about that becomes more important than their marginal tax rate.”

Hillary thinks all hedgies are slackers like her Daughter

Not content with merely biting the hand that feeds, HillDog wants to amputate an arm and a leg from her surprisingly large following of financiers. Today she called out Wall Street bankers and hedgies as living a life of bespoke leisure, collecting fat fifty million paychecks and barely paying a pence in taxes (so why did my bonus, which accounts for 80% of my pay get taxed at 42% then?). Of course this is what Chameleon Clinton is preaching to the dirt-poor delegates of Ohio, and quite different from what she said while raising millions in her "native" New York.
Incidentally, how the fuck is that little ho (I mean that literally, not derogatory) Chelsea still on the payroll of Avenue Capital? First she dissed her employer's health care and now her mom is calling them all shysters and charlatans. Oh and before the campaign kicked into high gear Chelsea was slaving away at Starbucks. Actually - if Hillary is basing the hedgie lifestyle on her daughter's actions you can almost hardly blame her. Oh wait, but that's where all that experience should have come in...

clipped from blogs.abcnews.com Sen. Hillary Clinton took a swipe at her daughter's profession today at an economic roundtable discussion at a restaurant in Parma, Ohio, suggesting wealthy investment bankers and hedge fund managers on Wall Street aren't doing real 'work.' "We also have to reward work more," Clinton told a small group of Ohio residents today. "and by that, I mean, I have people in New York working on Wall Street as investment managers, as hedge fund executives. Under the tax code, they can pay a lower percentage of their income in taxes on $50 million dollars, than a teacher, or a nurse, or a truck driver in Parma pays on $50,000. That's very discouraging to people." The line about investment fund and hedge fund managers has been introduced into Clinton's talking points as she campaigns across the economically struggling state of Ohio.

Hova Called the Crash

Jay-Z called the crash way back in the summer on his duo with Rhianna, Umbrella, and urged his audience to start saving… if only they listened then maybe they wouldn't have to rely on the government and banks to bail their asses out. Incidentally I should have listened to HOV as well and added some more sector shorts, but I'm just not a Rhianna fan.

No clouds in my stones
Let it rain, I hydroplane into fame
Coming down with the Dow Jones
When the clouds come we gone
We roc-a-fella
We fly higher than weather in G5's or better
You know me, in anticipation for precipitation
Stacks chips for the rainy day

Maybe now that's he no longer CEO of the Def Jam he can start a hedge fund... After all Jigga was a commodities trader before he ever became a rap superstar (and showed his FX smarts by flashin Euros in his video for Roc Boys - as the greenback was tumbling quicker than Fiddy's career).
The coke prices up and down like it's Wall Street homes,
But this is worse than the Dow Jones your brains are now blown.