| QUARTERLY INVESTMENT REVIEW
NEW YORK -- In February, Fortress Investment Group, a manager of hedge funds and private equity, enjoyed a successful initial public offering. Now, Blackstone Group, a premier private-equity shop, is preparing to go public as well. And Wall Street is abuzz with promise of more to come. But are shares in these alternative investment firms a good deal for small investors? .
GOLD, SILVER FUTURES CLIMB
Gold rose, heading for the fifth straight weekly gain, as a decline in the U.S. dollar boosted the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative investment. Silver also rose. Gold generally moves in the opposite direction of the dollar, which traded at the lowest in two years against the euro on speculation that U.S. economic growth will slow this year. Before today, gold had climbed 16 percent in the past year, while the dollar had fallen 8.3 percent against the euro. -Bloomberg
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United Rentals to explore strategic alternatives; CEO to retire
April 10 (Reuters) - Equipment rental company United Rentals Inc. (URI.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said it will explore a range of strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company. The company also said Chief Executive Officer Wayland Hicks will retire effective June 4. Michael Kneeland, who is currently chief operating officer, will succeed Hicks as interim chief executive, it added. United Rentals has retained UBS Investment Bank and Credit Suisse to act as financial advisors in the process, it said in a statement. (Reporting by Rakesh Sharma in Bangalore) .
Municipal bonds are a reliable alternative to stocks
Stock market making you nervous? Then how about an alternative, a safer investment that beat stocks over the past five years -- and did it without all the scary ups and downs? I'm talking about dull, tax-free munis -- short for the municipal bonds sold by state and local governments to raise money for roads, schools, hospitals and other public projects. For many investors, munis should be especially appealing right now because they have recently become slightly more generous compared with their main competitor, U.S. Treasury bonds. That means munis should attract middle-class folks as well the wealthy. "Municipals are not just for millionaires," says Bob Auwaerter, head of Vanguard Group's enormous fixed-income operation. For the five years ended Dec.
Ptarmigan Capital Appoints Arvind K. Bajaj as Principal
Ptarmigan Capital, an alternative asset management firm focusing on real estate-related investments, including private equity real estate investments in India and opportunistic investments in the U.S. residential markets, today announced the appointment of Arvind K. Bajaj as a Principal of the firm. He will focus on Ptarmigan's global real estate products. The Firm has recently announced plans to invest in the residential and commercial real estate sector in southern India. Mr. Bajaj has over 20 years of experience building successful commercial real estate finance businesses globally. In 2004, Mr. Bajaj joined Credit Suisse as a Managing Director and head of European CMBS Distribution. In 2005, he was promoted to be head of both CMBS Origination and Distribution. Under his leadership, Credit Suisse's pan-European commercial real estate conduit lending program grew to originate in excess of US$10 billion of real estate facilities in just three years.
Citigroup's mulls U-turn on Old Lane
Chuck Prince, Citigroup chief executive, is considering a strategic U-turn with a plan to spend $600m on a one-year-old hedge fund manager founded by Vikram Pandit, a former Morgan Stanley executive. The plan under discussion would see Citigroup buy Old Lane, which manages about $4bn, and Mr Pandit become head of Citigroup Alternative Investments, according to people familiar with the talks. .
Playing With Steel
PRETORIA, South Africa (ResourceInvestor.com) -- Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have proven to be attractive investment vehicles offering a broader range of investors low cost access to alternative investment classes with the benefits of sector diversification. They also provide a convenient reference price index for a range of other derivative instruments. This has been particularly true in the precious metals markets as global economic and financial conditions are such that bullish conditions have prevailed. Financial intermediaries - broker-dealers, investment banks and exchanges - have been quick to capitalize on the trend and the use of ETFs is growing to include other commodities, both hard and soft. .
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