_Economy and Finance

Request For Comment: Standard & Poor's Proposed Criteria For Rating Bond Anticipation Notes (00:08:48 min) On Dec. 20, 2010, we published a request for comment concerning proposed revisions to our criteria for rating bond anticipation notes. The piece focuses on our proposed linkage between the long-term rating on the type of debt intended to retire the notes and the short-term rating on them. In this podcast, Standard & Poor's credit analyst Gabriel Petek discusses the scope of the proposed critieria, the public's responses, our framework for bond anticipation note analysis, and more.

Lyxor Asset Management Expands Operational Due Diligence Capabilities NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Lyxor Asset Management Inc. has hired Nicole Sivel, expanding its Operational Due Diligence capabilities. Ms. Sivel will assume a senior role within the Operational Due Diligence team, focusing on the review and evaluation of all operational aspects related to potential and existing hedge fund investments.

Business Insider 30 Bernanke Quotes That Are So Absurd You Won’t Know Whether To Laugh Or Cry Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse | Dec. 8, 2010, 11:05 AM Did you see Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on 60 Minutes the other night? Bernanke portrayed the Federal Reserve as the great protector of the U.S. economy, he claimed that unemployment would be 15 percent higher if the Federal Reserve had sat back and done nothing during the financial crisis and he even started laying the groundwork for a third round of quantitative easing.

KAZAKHSTAN Background Kazakhstan has the second largest oil reserves as well as the second largest oil production among the former Soviet republics after Russia . The country also has large reserves of natural gas and production of both oil and gas is steadily increasing. Full development of its major oilfields could make Kazakhstan one of the world's top 5 oil producers within the next decade. With production of 1.54 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2009, Kazakhstan is already a major producer, and continued development of its giant Tengiz, Karachaganak, and Kashagan fields is expected to at least double its current production by 2019. Kazakhstan's sector of the Caspian Sea is believed to hold several other major oil and natural gas deposits as yet unexploited.

PGGM Launches HF Platform 10-28-2010 | Source: emii.com PGGM is looking to invest directly in selected hedge funds to raise transparency and reduce costs, IPE reports. The €100 billion asset manager will invest through segregated managed accounts rather than pooled funds.

MarketView Office Market Frankfurt Q3 2010 In the first nine months of the year, office space take-up of 371,000 sq m was 25% higher than the figure reported for the same period last year; 35% of the take-up figure is accounted for by owner-occupiers. The positive take-up trend reflects the improving outline economic conditions in the city on the River Main. Author(s): several Source: CB Richard Ellis Published: 19.10.2010 http://www.immopro24.com/market-report/marketview-office-market-frankfurt_966.html

Alternative Investing: Fine Art - CNBC Investing In Fine Art Can Mean Pretty Profits By: Shelly K. Schwartz, Special to CNBC.com If you’d added a few paintings to your portfolio over the last few years, instead of all those bank stocks, your retirement nest egg might be looking a little different right now. Indeed, for the ten-years ended July 2010, the price index of all fine art work sold more than once worldwide has produced a nearly 11 percent annualized return, outperforming the Standard & Poor’s 500 index of large cap stocks and most other asset classes, including bonds and commodities—though gold was the clear frontrunner during those years, according to artprice.com in France, which tracks the market. ...