peHUB First Read

Some links to kick off your Friday:

* Q&A with Ziff Davis CEO Jason Young, whose PE-backed company opted for Chapter 11 over an out-of-court settlement with creditors.

* Which bank sent Carlyle a default notice? That isn’t a rhetorical question — we really want to know.

* Paul Kedrosky compiles some live quotes of high-profile sovereign wealth fund investments. U.S. legislators may be looking to hammer SWFs, but the markets seem to have beat them to the punch.

* Jim Cramer won’t be getting any holiday cards from Fortress Group (FIG) chief executive Wes Edens. On a recent episode of Mad Money, he called Edens “the death of capital,” “the enemy” of shareholders and other such bon monts. Here’s the transcript.

* I haven’t yet written much about my Buyouts East interview of Carl Icahn, but others have. Go here and here.

* Google and Microsoft are said to be circling Digg — but at far less than the company was looking for late last year. That decrease could become the Web 2.0 M&A trend of 2008.

* Are you a private equity firm looking to make an Australian media investment? Lachlan Murdoch wants you.