* The China Dubai Fund was launched earlier this year, as a private equity platform that would invest Gulf region monies into Chinese companies. Only problem is that the Gulf is running dry.
* Could noncompete clauses be enforced against laid-off employees? Maybe in Massachusetts.
* GM employees blocked from buying GM shares. Surreal. Speaking of which: Someone yesterday suggested that the Big 3 automakers become employee-owned, thus giving them incentive to get their pension liabilities in line. Really not a bad idea.
* Morning call: U.S. futures point lower, banks bash European shares, Nikkei slips and Hong Kong rises.
* Microsoft’s Don Dodge has a report from yesterday’s New England Venture Capital Summit.
* Could synthetic CDOs actually save the banking system, rather than destroy it?
* Why CNN can’t cover the economic crisis.
* N.Y. Giants claim Lehman Brothers owes over $300 million related to financing costs for the new Meadowlands.
* A rare video interview with Jeremy Grantham.
* Wallstrip on Black Friday: