The Third Point manager has endorsed Wilson for Comptroller, who Loeb says is New York’s only hope against riots in the streets. Alternatively, if that’s what you want, DiNapoli’s your man.

Dear Friends,

I have chosen only one candidate to bring to your attention, that is Harry Wilson for Comptroller of NY State. He has recently tied incumbent Democratic candidate Thomas DiNapoli in the polls. For those of you who are Democrats, this is not a matter of party politics but literally one of whether we want New York the go the way of Greece and go bankrupt because, trust me, that is the course we are headed towards without sound fiscal leadership.

Harry has attracted support from Democrats, Republicans and our independent Mayor Bloomberg; Harry is endorsed by the New York Times AND the Wall Street Journal, the Daily News and the NY Post.

Daniel Heninger’s WSJ article lays it all out: “New York, like California and many other once-important states, is sitting on a public- pension debt bomb. If it blows, it will take great swaths of the productive American economy with it for years. Harry Wilson thinks he can defuse the New York bomb. If Harry Wilson can get the public-pension death spiral under control in New York—and he just might have the professional and intellectual tools to do it—it should be possible to reform pensions in any state. That matters. The United States needs a growth rate well above the 2%-something that the Obama years have allowed. That means the people in all 50 states have to be pulling on the oars. They won’t be able to do that if their productive energies are being siphoned into more and yet more taxes that will be demanded— indeed virtually mandated—to pay off these pension obligations. It’s Harry Wilson or the deluge.”

Harry and DiNapoli are neck at 44% and which is why it is vital for you and to vote and to please pass this onto anyone else who is registered to vote in New York.

Dan

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Chief Executive Officer/Sniffer

As the owner of a construction business, the housing market’s turn for the worst is 2008 spelled trouble for David Llwelleyn. After he was forced to close up shop, Llwelleyn found himself at a crossroads faced by many victims of the recession– take some soulless gig just because it was available and paid the bills or use the time to figure out what he really wanted to do with his life.

They say when one is trying to determine what that might be, the best thing is to do what you love– it won’t feel like a job, you’ll be able to put in many more hours than if it were just another slog to the finish and along the way, all the hard work might pay off. When Llwelleyn sat down to figure out which passion he conceivably turn into a career, he kept coming back to one thing– his love of crack. He picked himself up a business partner and it was off to the races.

The 49-year-old Scotsman didn’t go into the illegal drug trade. Instead, he entered the so-called “legal high” business—a burgeoning industry producing new psychoactive powders and pills that are marketed as “not for human consumption.” Mr. Llewellyn, a self-described former crack addict, started out making mephedrone, a stimulant also known as Meow Meow that was already popular with the European clubbing set. Once governments began banning it earlier this year, Mr. Llewellyn and a chemistry-savvy partner started selling something they dubbed Nopaine—a stimulant they concocted by tweaking the molecular structure of the attention-deficit drug Ritalin.

But is the knock-off stuff as good as the real deal? Nopaine “is every bit as good as cocaine,” Llewellyn assures. “You can freebase it. You can snort it like crack.” As for other questions potential investors might have about the business, Llewellyn has answers.

*Such as, is it REALLY legal? “Everything we sell is legal,” he says. “I don’t want to go to jail for 14 years.”

* Is regulation going to be a problem?

Llewellyn says he expects governments to catch wind of Nopaine soon and ban it. Anticipating the move, he says he’s got dozens of other products ready to go, including a drug similar to the horse anesthetic Ketamine and something else he claims to be “the closest thing to Ecstasy that ever existed.” By the time officials crack down, he says, “we are going to bring out something else.”

* And what are we charging for this kind of stuff?

The products sell for about €20 ($28) a gram, or €4,000 to €5,800 ($5,500 to $8,000) a kilo. By contrast, a gram of cocaine costs roughly €50 to €70 ($69 to $97) in Europe, according to the EMCDDA.

* How do you stay ahead of the game?

He and his chief chemist get ideas for new drugs by scanning scientific literature. They pay particularly close attention to new papers published by scholars known for researching mind-altering, psychoactive substances.

* Is it safe? Don’t want any lawsuits on our backs.

Llwelleyn boasts that his safety testing method is foolproof: He and several colleagues sit in a room and take a new product “almost to overdose levels” to see what happens. “We’ll all sit with a pen and a pad, some good music on, and one person who’s straight who’s watching everything,” he says.

In Quest For “Legal High,” Chemists Outfox The Law [WSJ]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Buddy Media, the Facebook page-management service for brands and businesses, said today it has raised $23 million in mezzanine financing as it attempts to keep up with booming growth and capture the attention of deep-pocketed institutional investors.

Buddy Media uses its Facebook management system, named The Buddy Media Platform, to help seven out of 10 of the world’s largest advertisers connect with their customers through a suite of tools that raises brand awareness via social networking.

The web-based marketing software is tweaked for each specific brand’s need in order to leverage Facebook’s 500 million current users, allowing companies to target consumers when they’re looking for particular products or services.

It does this by creating interactive features for brands such as virtual gifts, special offers like coupons, polls about brand awareness and even links to relevant YouTube videos.

The New York-based company said it will use the new money to triple its headcount to 300 in the next 18 months, as well as seed other marketing and growth initiatives.

That is much needed money for a firm that has been growing 15 percent month over month in 2010, netting new clients like Johnson & Johnson, Crate & Barrel, Ford Motor Company, Donna Karan, Armani Exchange and GNC just in the third quarter alone.

The Buddy Media Platform was already the Facebook management system for brands such as Delta, L’Oreal, Procter & Gamble, Starwood, Southwest Airlines, Unilever, Samsung, the National Hockey League and Anheuser-Busch.

Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) led the latest round in partnership with existing Buddy Media investors SoftBank Capital, Greycroft Partners and Bay Partners.

IVP has a history as a savvy institutional player in the tech space, having provided previous infusions to promising startups such as Netflix, Twitter and Zynga.

“In the same way major brands and agencies have invested in web-based software for sales or display advertising, they are now investing in marketing software for the largest two-way communications platform of all time: Facebook,” said Steve Harrick, general partner at IVP.

Founded in 2007, this latest funding will bring Buddy’s total financing to $33 million.

As part of today’s deal, Harrick will join the Buddy Media board of directors.

Tags: Social networks, Venture Capital

Companies: Anheuser-Busch, Armani Exchange, bay partners, Buddy Media, Crate & Barrel, Delta, Donna Karan, Ford Motor Company, GNC, Greycroft Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal, National Hockey League, Netflix, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, Softbank Capital, Southwest Airlines, Starwood, Twitter, Unilever, Zynga

People: steve harrick

Article courtesy of VentureBeat » deals

This is the second in a two-part series from CBS re: not “acting in a socially undesirable way runs a strong risk of branding you as undesirable.” This apparently includes wearing gold (instead of the more desirable silver) watches. Next up, the person sending these memos will pick one student at random, show up at his or her apartment, forcibly shampoo and condition their hair and pick out said student’s clothes prior to the next recruiting event.

To: ‘ibc-members@bettyblue.gsb.columbia.edu’
Cc: ibc-board@bettyblue.gsb.columbia.edu
Subject: [IBC] Personal hygiene

Dear 1st Year Members,

It has come to our attention (through complaints from IBC board representing firms they are going to full time) that some of you may not have followed personal hygiene basics during recruiting events. We understand that it is an incredibly intense recruiting period, and is very hard to find time for yourself, but this is a friendly reminder on some dress code and personal hygiene basics:

§ Brush your teeth regularly, or have a mint/mouth refreshers before going to recruiting events (avoid chewing gums)

§ Carry anti-perspirant with you if you are worried about sweating. Don’t wear too much cologne/perfume

§ Carry a sewing mini-toolkit, in case your suit hems need an emergency sewing

§ Professional haircuts

§ No backpacks with you

§ Men – no tacky cufflinks or watches (with no crazy patterns, silver is preferable to gold)

§ Women – wear (preferably skin colored) hosiery and always carry an extra pair in your bag

§ Women – if it rains, do not show up in rain boots, no matter how cute you think they are

And again, if you have ANY concerns, please do not hesitate to share with the IBC Board!

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

UBS, Credit Suisse Face Tough New Capital Rules (WSJ)
At the heart of the proposals, which apply only to UBS and Credit Suisse, are stiffer capital requirements backed by new and as-yet untested bank-issued securities, as well as organizational measures to maintain essential services in payment transactions, the deposit business and lending business in the event of a crisis. Credit Suisse said Monday it is confident it can meet the higher capital requirement by 2019, while UBS maintained it is well-positioned to meet the measures within the defined timeframe. Unlike Credit Suisse, UBS will be forced to halt dividend payments for several years, in favor of using profits to bolster its capital.

Meriwether hopes to make it third time lucky (FN)
Meriwether, the man who was at the helm of the best-known hedge fund meltdown in history – LTCM – has launched his third hedge fund venture, JM Advisors. Reports circulated last October that Meriwether was planning a comeback with a US-based outfit, but he has now gone ahead and launched two funds. Both follow a global macro hedge fund strategy, according to documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. One is targeting offshore investors and the other, US investors. The decision to use this strategy marks a departure for Meriwether. His two previous hedge fund management firms – LTCM and JWM Partners – followed relative value arbitrage, borrowing large sums to make money from small anomalies in the fixed-income markets.

Goldman Opens Wallets Early (WSJ)
The bank has taken the unusual step of granting about 100 partners based in London a midyear bonus in stock, said a person familiar with the matter. Partners in London have been frustrated by their compensation, which Goldman Sachs capped in 2009 at £1 million in response to the U.K. government’s demands, said the person. A number of them left the firm over the course of the past year, said this person.

Paulson And Bulls Bounce Back (WSJ)
Mr. Paulson, who racked up losses during the first eight months of the year and was criticized for an upbeat view on markets, enjoyed gains of about 12.5% in his biggest fund in September, according to an investor. The gains would have been even greater had Mr. Paulson not pared some positions earlier this summer, because of “uncertainty regarding the economic outlook,” he told his investors.

Abby Joseph Cohen: Stocks Still Look Good, But Growth Will Be Slow (CNBC)
“We think think the probability of a double-dip has done down significantly. You can never rule anything out,” she said. “I think we’ve all learned to be very humble as economic forecasters in recent years, but we think the deceleration is related to a few factors.”

Wall Street Sees World Economy Decoupling From US (Bloomberg)
Goldman Sachs predicts worldwide growth will slow 0.2 percentage point to 4.6 percent in 2011, even as expansion in the U.S. falls to 1.8 percent from 2.6 percent.

Impalement Artist Takes a Stab at the ‘Wheel of Death’ (WSJ)
In this stunt, assistant Melissa-Anne Ainley will not only be covered up, but also strapped to an upright wheel that spins. The Great Throwdini will then fling blade after blade around her unseen, rotating body. The wheel dare has been performed only a handful of times. “It is insanity,” says Carl Geddes, organizer of San Diego Chuckers, one of the longest-running knife-throwing competitions in the U.S.

AQR’s New Risk Parity Play (CNBC)
Cliff Asness says he wants you to call him a “fat geek.” Also, he’s starting a new mutual fund.

Illiterate clown triumphs in election (Reuters)
Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva, better known by his clown name Tiririca, received more than 1.3 million votes in Sao Paulo state in Brazil’s presidential and congressional elections. That was more than double the votes of the second-placed candidate in Brazil’s most populous state. Tiririca caught the attention of disillusioned voters by asking for their support with the humorous slogan: “It can’t get any worse” and a promise to do nothing more in Congress than report back to them on how politicians spend their time. “What does a congressman do? The truth is I don’t know, but vote for me and I’ll tell you,” the 45-year-old said in his campaign advertisements. The clown, whose stage name means “grumpy,” usually appears in public wearing a blond wig, a red hat and a garish outfit. He survived a last-minute attempt by public prosecutors to bar him from running because of evidence that he is illiterate.

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Stanford student Feross Aboukhadijeh, in a nod to the recent unveiling of Google Instant, has created a real-time search engine for YouTube videos — and it’s caught the attention of YouTube CEO Chad Hurley.

After spotting YouTube Instant, Hurley Tweeted over to Aboukhadijeh, saying he loved the idea and asking if he wanted a job.

Aboukhadijeh, who goes by the Twitter handle FreeTheFeross, sent a message back to find out if Hurley was serious about the offer — because, after all, this is the Internet. It looks like Hurley was, indeed, quite serious.

Aboukhadijeh announced the launch of YouTube Instant on Y Combinator’s Hacker News feed, a news aggregation site similar to Digg and Reddit. It behaves much the same way Google Instant does — as a viewer types in the video they are looking for, the engine guesses the video and begins playing it immediately.

YouTube, which was acquired by google four years ago for about $1.65 billion, might finally turn profitable this year according to some analyst predictions.

We’ve reached out for confirmation from YouTube and will update when we hear back.

Tags: automated search, autonomous search, Google Instant, real time search, YouTube Instant

Companies: YouTube

People: Chad Hurley, Feross Aboukhadijeh

Article courtesy of VentureBeat

Above is a desk statue being hocked to employees of various investment banks, along other crap like deal toys, frames for your certifications, bookends and so on and so forth. While the person who brought it to our attention was of the opinion it was “too dirty” for the office, I think he might be jumping to conclusion on that one. Thing is, we don’t know exactly what message the artist was trying to get across here. Really it could be anything. It could be could be that the bull is going down on the bear,* or who knows, maybe the bull just lost his contact. Maybe this was meant to be the visual representation of the old saying “You can get a good sense of market pessimism by sticking your head up a bears ass.” Hard to say, really, so if you’ve got an idea as to what’s going on one way or another, do weigh in.

*And so what if it is? Since when is inter-office love not appropriate for the workplace?

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

To the naked eye, it might seem like we already know so much about Anna Chapman, the only Russian spy arrested last week anyone cares about. Her employment history includes Barclays, Navigator Capital, and NetJets. She is “full of self-control.” She is “extremely professional and resourceful.” “Ambitious.” “Forward-thinking.” She may have made a mark out of Dr. Doom, and, quite possibly, Cookie Monster, too. But, of course, there’s one thing we’ve yet to get any intel on, which is how does this broad fuck? Luckily, there is an ex-husband to speak of, more than willing to offer some color on the matter.

Take it away, Alex Chapman. “Anya was great in bed and she knew exactly what to do. She was awesome. For the first few months we met for sex about five days a week. We loved it.”

Alright, interesting. And then what happened? “She also liked posing for pictures,” he said, producing the evidence. “I took one of her topless first thing in the morning.”

Really, pictures? That sounds like fun. What would say right before you snapped the pic? ‘Say cheese?’ Or something else? “I said to Anya ‘go on get them out!’ and I took the picture of her with only a bit of the duvet over her. She laughed about it.

Okay, enough beating around the bush. Was there any accoutrement involved? “We experimented with sex toys,” Alex Chapman said, producing a picture of Anna wielding a whip and another toy and wearing nipple clamps.

Wow, okay good stuff. Now tell us, did you ever have sex in public? Like say, on a plane?

During the first few months of their whirlwind romance, smitten Alex saw Anna in both London and Moscow. Alex told how he joined the Mile High Club with her during a BA flight back to Moscow in January 2002. He says: “When we were on the plane we came up with a plan to join the mile high club.” I went to the toilet first and told her to follow later and knock.

Didn’t think you were going to go into such detail, a simple ‘yes’ would’ve sufficed but now that you’ve got our attention, please, continue. Don’t skip any parts.

“Anya was wearing a denim dress so I hitched it up and we just went for it. It was fantastic because of the thrill of doing it on a plane. We were in the toilet for about 15 minutes and then one of the cabin crew knocked on the door. I said Anya had been sick and I was helping her.”

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Amid the cast of characters who made appearances and smiled for the cameras at MTV's Movie Awards last night, one, who's known for blending into the crowd suddenly wanted all the attention.  Where's Waldo somehow scored an invite to the hot ticket of the night and took the opportunity to shamelessly fame whore all over the red carpet. This time no one had any trouble finding Waldo; in fact, he found them.  Look at him horning in on celebs' photos, trying to steal the spotlight.

Some, like Whitney Port, were gracious about the whole thing and welcomed Waldo into their photo ops, while others like Miranda Cosgrove made feeble attempts at veiling their annoyance. And then there were those like Katy Perry who were simply oblivious to the stripe-donning character lurking in the background behind them. Smooth, Waldo…

Miranda Cosgrove, David Spade

Katy Perry

[All photos by Brian To for Classic Media]

Article courtesy of Los Angeles | Guest of a Guest – Los Angeles People, Places, Parties & Nightlife

Hey hey hey! Look what we have here– it’s a bunch of random Citi customers who apparently remember Debrahlee Lorenzana and have graciously offered to weigh in on the situation, offering quotes that, though they may not help her case against Citi, might certainly attract the attention of certain organizations who require their employees to be “distractingly hot,” not that that’s what Debs and the lawyer who made her do a photoshoot that showed her in work appropriate clothing such as the ensemble at left are angling for whatsoever! Here’s what the character witnesses had to say:

* “I would walk the extra few blocks just to go to this one to see her,” said publicist Matt Saulk, 36, who favored the Rockefeller Center branch where Lorenzana worked over one on W. 52nd St. “I would think Citibank would want employees like her – it brings in the customers.”

* “Male customers would often stare,” said Jessica Ramos, 29, who works in advertising. “It was rather funny, actually.”

* “She’s a pretty girl,” said investment banker Jack Russel, 45. “Maybe she was just making the other girls jealous.”

* Harold Mack, a paralegal, fondly recalled Lorenzana wearing “business-casual type things.” “Whew, she was a hot one,” said Mack, 26. “I’m sad she’s gone, but she did stick out. I know she distracted me whenever I came into the bank.”

Male Customers Were Eager To Catch A Glimpse [NYDN]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker