Today's Headlines

Today’s Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Affiliated Managers Group(AMG) dropped as much as 6.9% after Bloomberg News reported the largest hedge fund run by the company’s AQR Capital Management fell almost 15% in the first six weeks of this year.
- The global sugar glut in the 2008-2009 season will be more than twice as big as previously estimated because higher prices will encourage more production in Brazil, Societe Kingsman SA said.
- Copper stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange rose for the first time this month. Supplies jumped 4.6% from yesterday. Moreover, inventories tallied by the Shanghai Futures Exchange surged 45% this week.
- Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard W. Fisher said that the US will probably see slower economic growth rather than a deeper downturn.
- New York Times(NYT) fell for a second day on the NYSE after a Goldman Sachs Group(GS) analyst said that asset sales advocated by hedge funds may not be financially practical.
- Europe Services Growth Accelerated More Than Forecast.

Wall Street Journal:
- In a move aimed at preventing future freezes in credit markets, US and foreign bank regulators are jointly developing a set of best practices to improve the way banks deal with cash-flow problems.
- Debate on ‘Net Neutrality’ Misses Technology Shift.
- China’s Pearl River Delta – the southern coastal area that in the past two decades has become the world’s factory floor for low-end goods – is losing thousands of factories.

NY Times:
- Hillary Clinton’s campaign spending report, which detailed expenses such as $100,000 for party platters in Iowa and $5 million on political consultants in January, appeared to her supporters and donors as a road map of her political and management failings.

FINalternatives:
- 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 NY fundraiser aimed specifically at hedge fund professionals.

Boston Globe:
- For the first time in almost a decade, office rents in downtown Boston have moved about the eye-popping $100-a-square-foot mark as demand tightens.

TampaBayOnline:
- Despite What Critics Say, Fed Is Doing Right Thing To Help Economy.

USA Today:
- No time to relax: States want new retirees’ experience. The wave of baby boomers hitting retirement age threatens to create such a void in the workforce that states are crafting policies and programs to keep older Americans working and volunteering.

NY Post:
- A deal between Chicago giant CME Group(CME) and The New York Mercantile Exchange(NMX) to create a $40 billion futures trading powerhouse could be formally announced by early March.

AP:
- The US government approved the first “virtual” fence along the US and Mexican border in Arizona, a 28-mile stretch lined with radar and surveillance cameras build to stop people crossing into the country illegally.

Milliyet:
- Turkey’s politicians and army decided to renew diplomatic contacts with the northern Iraqi administration.

Daily Telegraph:
- The UK’s Financial Services Authority may allow small investors to put money into hedge funds.

Interfax:
- Russia may use force if the European Union recognizes Kosovo or NATO exceeds its mandate in the territory, Russia’s ambassador to the military alliance said

Sidney Morning Herald:
- Loophole allows hedge funds to manipulate stock in secret.