When trading in the U.S. resumes tomorrow the news most likely to carry the day will be Blackstone Group's (BX) latest proposed buyout of Hilton Hotels (HLT) for $26-billion and the Kohlberg Kravis, Roberts & Co.'s $1.25-billion IPO filing (another private-equity firm going public). Its kind of fitting that we see a meeting among families that helped to create two of the biggest bubbles in the early part of the 21st Century; one being Balckstone Group and the private-equity bubble and the other being the American heirs to the Hilton Hotels empire, Richard Howard Hilton and his wife Kathy, parents of pop icon bubble, Paris Hilton. But the most important news as it concerns the evolving, swirling undertow that is being downplayed by CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, et al. is news of another hedge fund experiencing convulsions. And once again, the genus of its problems stems from the crashing real estate bubble and the toxic mortgage paper that its backed by. Key Biscayne, Florida-based United Capital Asset Management, apparently has stopped allowing investor redemptions. On the heels of Bear Stearns' (BSC) imploding hedge funds, also due to mortgage-related losses, the four portfolios managed by 36-year-old, John Devaney has reportedly been "deluged" with requests to withdrawal funds from their portfolios. Devaney reportedly controls more than $500-million in assets among his four managed hedge funds. John Devaney, and his wife, Selene, have made news in recent years with their high-profile purchases of prime real estate in Colorado, Florida and the Bahamas. The couple paid $16.25 million for a home previously operating as a bed and breakfast in Aspen, Colorado just last year. The Wall Street Journal reveals that the couple also owns about 20 other homes in Florida and the Bahamas. Devaney also purchased a 142-foot yacht within the past two years and named it "Positive Carry." Its spreading, yet denial reigns.
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