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With your coffee this morning, we have Apple buys Chomp, Apollo is near a $7 bln deal for El Paso's oil & gas exploration unit and the challenge of wooing Generation C.
Top App: FarmVille is still the most popular Facebook app but guess what comes in second? Shocker: Cisco plunges after forecast falls short of estimates. Twitter Isn't a Social Network: Who are all these Tweeple, from Brian Solis. Free Speech or Not: Amazon removes pedophile how-to-guide book No FB: Google isn't building a Facebook rival. Also, Google fires engineer that leaked memo about 10% pay raise. No Deal: Symantec is not up for sale and the company hasn't hired bankers...yet.
Getting an iPhone Cheap: China's demand for gadgets cause phone's to make very long trips. An M&A lawsuit: Potash sues BHP Billiton, from FT Alphaville. Snitching: A New York law firm has set up a website for whistleblowers. Dropping Wealth: Ireland posts a surprising drop in GDP in second quarter. More Debt: KKR, following Blackstone, prices $500 million of notes. Giving Money: Zuckerberg donates $100 million to Newark schools on the eve that . Having It Their Way: Once 3G finishes buying Burger King, they may face a $3 billion tab to fix stores. Stop the Presses: Twitter opens temp office in New York. Coffee Increase: Starbucks is jacking up the prices of drinks that are "labor-intensive or large-sized." More on Zuckerberg: The Facebook founder is now richer than Apple's Steve Jobs. Bankruptcy: Blockbuster files for Chapter 11. Angelgate: Bin 38 Super Angel Menu
* The U.S. government has invested more in Algae Biofuel Research than Foursquare has raised. * Simeon Simeonov: Angel investing by the numbers. * Alastair Goldfisher: A non-jealous review of "The Facebook Effect." * Joanna Glasner: What the Tesla IPO means for VC Exits. * NAFH, a blind pool, inks a bank deal while PE firms stall * PE returns are up but lag the public markets * Jim Garvey of SV Life Sciences sits for a Q&A. * AT&T could lose 1 million customers next year once Verizon begins selling the iPhone * IPO filings have hit their highest level since 2007 with PE firms accounting for 50% * Men are less engaged in their work than women until they hit their retirement years and then they become interested.
* Brad Feld: Venture capital as a produce supplier * Clay Shirkey: Does the Internet make you smarter? * The New York Times fights back against Foursquare and Yelp * Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, London falls early, European shares retreat and the Nikkei loses nearly 4%. * How pension funds exploit credit default swaps * Today in carried interest: James Robinson says populist blather is approaching high-water mark (remember Jim, I was blathering at the low-water mark) and the Economix blog weighs in. * 10 states with the highest % of residents who work for the government (much more red than blue...) * On Thursday, a Stifel Nicolaus analyst said that American Capital was risking bankruptcy. On Friday, it looked like his note may have changed the company's fortunes.
Hacking America: Wired Profiles Andrew Breitbart. (Wired) Police are the New Tax Collectors: Virginia hands out almost 7000 traffic tickets in one weekend to raise money for the government. (Economic Collapse via Clusterstock) Regret Nothing? John Kay says it's a bit disarming that Warren Buffet and George Soros are the only financiers to take personal responsibility for the financial collapse and bad performance numbers, rather than blaming it on "unprecedented" things like a "perfect storm." (FT) Need Those Soft Skills: If there is anyone in finance right now who feels the pain of lacking "soft skills," its Harry Markopolis. (FINS)
Breaking Up: Are VCs no longer brothers in arms? Palm Reading: Enthusiasm around the palm phone hasn't exactly translated into sales. (Reuters) That's a step down... Would Jon Corzine, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and former New Jersey governor, really join CNBC? (HuffPo) Taking on the B-School Boys Club: Interest in business programs is growing at women's colleges. (BusinessWeek) How Tos: The art of the meet-and-greet. Tapping the "hidden job market" through informational interviews in the world of finance (FINS)
UK Government Affairs: The Government Needs to Learn the Lessons of Private Equity, Fast. (Touchstone Blog) Editorial: The New York Times isn't too keen on new NY Comptroller John Liu's decision to bring back placement agents this quickly. (NY Times) Financial iPad: Howard Lindzon is a bull about the possibilities of technology in the financial industry. (Howard Lindzon) The Worlds Most Addictive Sounds: As explained by Martin Lindstrom. More than half of them are branded (Intel, MTV, McDonald's...), but none can top a baby giggle! (Fast Company) A Growth Business: Feeding the world is a growth industry, according to Economist, and that is feeding fertilizer M&A. (Economist)
* Steve Rattner supports Ben Bernanke so much, he penned him a love letter in the Washington Post. * Ten brands that will disappear in 2010. * New Firm Alert: NorthBridge Capital Partners, formed to do MBOs. (Remember those?) * To counter that, ten web trends to watch in 2010. * Looks like some bankers are using holiday parties to blow off steam. * More than 51% of PE investments in India this year went into the power sector. *Can "Nice Girls" Negotiate? Whitney Johnson of Harvard Business Publishing isn't so sure. * "The plutocrats, is seems, are going to win." On the return of disgustingly excessive pay.
* Has it really come to this? A groom has not updated his Facebook status at the alter (to "married" of course). * Lauren Silva Laughlin suggests that Carlyle Group is drunk on Booz Allen debt. * Blackstone Group cares about the students. Or their money, at least. The firm is building the tallest tower in London's financial district and it's a dorm. * Is Bloomberg Engaging in Bernanke Boosterism? *Ouch, November hurt. The U.S. employment report for the month should show a loss of 130,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate edging up to 10.3%. * Hedgie Phil Duff had a three-decade hot streak, and could have stopped there, but didn't. * I just made an investment, what do I do now? * John Denver, Bernie Madoff & Me, the musical.
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