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• Are hedge funds cruisin' for a bruisin'?

  Posted Aug 18 2008, 06:57 PM by Matt Koppenheffer
  Filed under: Investment Banking, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Bros, CAPS, JPMorgan
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  We've seen a lot of wild things in the stock market over the past few years. Homebuilders have completely crashed and burned, banks and other financial companies are treading water at best, retail stocks have been punished, and the dollar has been in freefall. And all this while commodities from gold to wheat to oil have been skyrocketing.
  
  But it may get just a bit wilder now that whole scenario has been flipped on its head. Financials have had fitful rallies, the dollar is showing some definite life, and oil has been sliding. While this could lead to a number of different outcomes, on The Motley Fool's CAPS service CAPS blogger RVAspeculator thinks that this turn of events is delivering a sucker punch to some hedge funds and Wall Street trading desks.   Read More...

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• Surprising stocks top best of 2008 list

  Posted Jun 26 2008, 01:18 AM by Jon Markman
  Filed under: Investing, Merrill Lynch, Investment Banking, Motorola, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Bros, Valero, stocks, economy, Jon Markman
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  It’s easy to imagine that the 25 best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 Index this year are all oil and gas producers, and the 25 worst-performing stocks are all banks and brokers. Yet as we near the halfway mark in 2008, it turns out that there are quite a few surprises in the mix of best and worst.

  For instance, the No. 1 stock in the benchmark index this year isn’t an oil producer, but a coal miner, Massey Energy.  It’s up 155% so far, rising to $89 from $35 as coal prices have soared in the wake of booming demand in China and India. The No. 2 stock is actually a discount retailer, Big Lots. It’s up 100%, from $15 to $30, as investors speculate it will get a big share of tax-rebate money from low-income Americans.

  Most of the rest of the next best 15 gainers   Read More...

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