MJT

Peter Thiel's Hedge Fund Troubles

That is not what did him in at all; that Bloomberg reporter should be fired for doing such sloppy work. Clarium's losses in October were from equities, not bonds. The bond position was established later in the month, after the losses on equities had already been taken, and the bonds were not responsible for the losses. The 4.4x leverage is also erroneous - the leverage varies tremendously depending on what kinds of positions the fund has on at any given time; at a particular point in time it could be 4.4x if there are more lower-risk relative value bond positions, but when there are more volatile directional positions in commodities and stocks then the leverage is much lower than that.

Remarkably, "Big Money" managers surveyed this week by Barron's magazine are unrelentingly optimistic - with 50% saying they're bullish or very bullish about the stock market's prospects through the middle of next year.

It is my understanding that the survey was sent out a few weeks ago and responses reflect the time period when the govt was in the process of passing the $700bn bail-out, before global markets spiralled downwards in October. This was a large survey and it takes Barron's a while to compile it. The big money managers may have changed their view during that time.