Friday, April 11, 2008

How many Nobel Laureates Does it Take to Make Change...And: End of the Universe Puts

No, not Al Gore. This is a different Nobelist
From Reuters:

Myron Scholes' hedge fund dives in March
Platinum Grove Asset Management, the $5.8 billion hedge fund group headed by financial luminary Myron Scholes, last month suffered its worst performance since inception amid turbulence in fixed income markets, the firm told investors this week.

Platinum Grove, which the Nobel Prize-winning Scholes founded in 2000 with other alumni from defunct hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM), suffered an 11.37 percent drop for its domestic fund and 10.72 percent for its offshore sister fund, according to a letter the fund sent to investors on April 7....MORE

Here are the headlines on his former partner from a couple weeks ago:

A Decade Later, John Meriwether Must Scramble Again

Founder of fallen hedge fund John Meriwether back in trouble

The Meriwether indicator

Meriwether hedge fund down 28 percent in 2008: report

See "Gaming the System: Are Hedge Fund Managers Talented, or Just Good at Fooling Investors? " from Knowledge@Wharton.

If you've followed this story:
Large Hadron Collider Sparks 'Doomsday' Lawsuit
Large Hadron Collider Won't Destroy Earth. Of Course Not

The markets responded;
From Long or Short Capital:

July 2008 LHC End of the Universe Puts
...That is why Long or Short is now offering LHC End of the Universe Puts. It’s a simple put option wherein the buyer retains the write to sell the Universe at a strike price of “Existing”. Based on our Black-Holes model used to value all “end of the world” options, the July 2008 vintage options are currently priced at $20....