The winner of the charity auction for a lunch with Warren Buffett, who bid under the screen name "fastisslow," was Yongping Duan, 45, a Chinese immigrant California investor and former owner of a consumer electronics company who is now president of something called the "Enlight Foundation," according to Bloomberg.

"Fast is slow, slow is fast" is one of those weird mantras you hear every now and again from managers and consultants that seems to mean something but really just doesn't.

Chance to Dine With Buffett Sells for $620,100 in EBay Bidding [Bloomberg via WallStreetFolly]

Probably not.

It is an open question whether the philanthropic and nonprofit institutions of today have truly mastered this alchemy. More and more money is donated to charity every year, yet America's schools continue to fail, poverty continues to rise, and our environment seems ever more precarious. We would like to think that our contributions make a difference - and large contributions make a large difference - but there is surprisingly little evidence that this is so.

Planespotting:
Rush Limbaugh gets caught carrying a bottle of Viagra coming home from a notorious sex tourism hotspot. Bess Levin blows a gasket on our Planespotting machines trying to track him down.

Photo Essay:
Jonesing for a fix of a classic Wall Street movie? This week you didn't wait around for the sequel to Wall Street-you witnessed the making of Boiler Room. But with dolls.

Warren Buffett: What do Bob Geldorf and Warren Buffet have in common?

Planespotting:
While the the Planespotting machine is still down, Rush Limbaugh and DealBreaker's Bess Levin patch things up.

Our favorite font of frivolous fun--The Beach at Curbed.Com --fanned the flames of fear this morning, reporting that all roads from New York City were leading to nowhere at all. Traffic on the LIE was a standstill. No one was going anywhere.

Don't panic! The roads have cleared up. At least for now. You still have time to make it out to the beach. But you'd better leave now.

Friday Drive Report: LIE Never Looked So Good [TheBeach]

The image above comes from our new favorite museum-The Fraud Museum. It will feature goodies such as Enron, WorldCom, and Adelphia stock certificates and the check pictured above signed by legendary inside trader Ivan Boesky. The museum has been put together by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

It will make its debut in Las Vegas. Of course.

The Fraud Museum [ACFE]

Once you look at these, you'll never look at another business or marketing brochure the same again. You don't realize you know all these but you do.

Harvard's counter-offensive against Oracle CEO Larry Ellison never made much sense. Ellison said he decided not to hand over the millions he had pledged to the University when president Larry Summers resigned amidst trouble with the faculty. Harvard protested that Ellison broke off talks over the gift months before Summers resigned. We speculated that maybe, just maybe Ellison had grown sick of the shabby way Summers was being treated, and didn't have to wait until the actual resignation to understand that his friend was in trouble there.

And it turns out we were so effin' right it hurts.

Ellison pledged the money to Harvard following a meeting with former University President Larry Summers, says Oracle Spokesman Bob Wynne. The two discussed Summers' theory of using an economic model to rate the quality of government health-care programs around the world. Ellison was intrigued and agreed on a handshake to donate the money. Later, Summers came under fire for comments made in January, 2005, suggesting that the lack of women in science and engineering is because of men's "intrinsic aptitude" for these jobs. In March of last year, Harvard's faculty passed a lack-of-confidence vote, and about a year later Summers said he'd resign.

While it's true that talks broke off before the resignation, Ellison started to rethink the donation as Summers' problems deepened, Wynne says. Now that Summers is out, he has officially rescinded the commitment. The University and other skeptics counter that not only University institutions but often its professors and staff stay in place regardless of who's president. Still, Ellison was concerned that with the biggest advocate for the program gone, it wouldn't have the same effect. "It was his brainchild and he was going to oversee it," Wynne says of Summers. "If the president of the university is going to sponsor your initiative and he's gone, how do you know your giving is going to be effective?" (Ellison would not comment directly for the story.)

Looks like billionaire businessmen care about who is managing the projects they invest in. Who knew?

The Rich Giveth, and They Taketh Away [Business Week]

It's a very, very silly day. Nearly everyone in your office has a weekend bag stored under their desk and keeps looking up at the clock every ten minutes. The phone isn't ringing. Emails have all but stalled out. Might as well watch this classic cartoon instructing would-be investors in how the stock market works.

Paul Kedrosky is fed up with listening to people parse the latest statement from the Fed. So he has designed a tool to generate random Fed statements. Everytime you click on Ben Bernanke's face it loads another absurd statement.

Instant Ben: A Fed Press Release Generator [Infectious Greed]

So it looks like the winner of the eBay charity auction was "fastisslow"--a mysterious bidder who spent most of the auction in the lead spot. The final bid was $620,100. Last year the winning bid was $351,100.

If you know anything about "fastisslow" drop an email to tips(at)dealbreaker(dot)com.

Stock option questions at Apple (Chicago Tribune)
When it rains it pours. Last year Apple could do no wrong, always beating estimates with higher and higher sales of its iPods. Even the scratchy faces on the Nano didn't seem to bother anyone. Let's take stock of the company's hits of late. First there's a growing drumbeat over concerns about Apple's finances, which are seen as opaque. And an increasing number of analysts are sounding warnings about slowing iPod sales, which had to happen eventually. That one's a matter of if, not when. Then there's the abandonment by the digital elite; Macs aren't cool and different enough anymore. They're no longer rebellious, so they're all switching to Linux. All this is not to mention those obnoxious Apple ads with the hipster and the geek; of course everyone identified with the geek, and wanted to punch the hipster in his face, which is a natural reaction. And finally there's this, a backdating scandal at 1 Infinite Loop (and by the way, if they ever do a movie on this, "A Backdating Scandal at 1 Infinite Loop" has to be the title). It may even go as high as Steve Jobs, which certainly won't square well with his reputation.

Ex-Governor and Executive Convicted of Bribery (NYT)
It looks like the Christian magic finally ran out for Richard Scrushy. In his trial for charges of fraud, the former Healthsouth CEO basically subpoenaed Jesus to get on the stand as a character witness. At the time of the trial Scrushy even started his own Christian radio show, which was another way of communicating to jurors the argument of "How could you put a Christian in jail?". But even Alabamians get tired of the crown of thorns act eventually, and after 11 days, he's been implicated in a bribery scandal alongside former governor Don Siegelman. He could face up to 20 years in jail.

A case for breaking up Iraq (Stumbling and Mumbling)
Paging Carl Icahn. The results of a new study imply that the breakup value of the country of Iraq would be higher than its existing market valuation. Three economists have quantified the negative impact on the economy that results from artificial borders that surround ethnic enemies, as opposed to the efficiency of several nation states. Obviously there are some questions ahead, like leadership and the tax implications of a Kurdistan spin-off, but it should be doable. Of course, after a few years of independent states, we can expect the banker reports suggesting that for competitive reasons, they should all consolidate on the basis of synergies and cost savings.

Gay, lesbian workers gradually gain benefits (San Francisco Chronicle)
According to a new report from the Human Rights Campaign, 253 of the Fortune 500 companies now extend benefits to domestic partners, and most have internal policies banning discrimination based on gender orientation. Compare this to the percentage of states that allow gay marriage, and it seems clear that corporate America dominates is far superior to the government as an avenue for equality. There's something about market forces that prompt companies to not want to lose 10% of their potential workforce out of prejudice.

$$$ Wall Street shirts. (Not the blue ones).

$$$ If a Nintendo Game Boy and an iPOD mated (you'd get this very, very beautiful piece of craftsmanship). [benheck.com]

$$$ Another scintillating tale from our favorite Gay Banker: Sunday Fun With a French Guy From Burgandy. [Things I Can't Tell Boyfriend Number 1]

$$$ How to Make Money From Your Blog: A How-to Guide. Shhh, don't disturb us while we're reading (and furiously taking notes). [Steve Pavlina]

$$$ The wait is over: "The Newbie's Guide to Detecting the NSA." Well finally. We were really getting antsy there.

...Advises Him to "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE," Provides Get Away Car, Gas Money and Snacks Just when you thought our relationship with Bill O'Reilly was out-the-door, done, finished, over, finito-there was an incident at a cocktail party last month, don't really want to get into it-Papa Bear goes and does something that just reels us right back in to that big, furry, pundit o' love embrace, hook, line and sinker. And you know what? There's no place we'd rather be; it feels like coming home. On Tuesday, we reported that Rush Limbaugh-our Rush Limbaugh-had been detained in a Palm Beach airport, coming back from the Dominican Republic, for having a bottle of Viagra prescribed to someone else in his carry-on bag. And, boy, were we upset. No, actually, we weren't upset-we were blood-boilingly livid.

Via Gawker, we found the blissfully delightful time-waster/productivity-killer that is the MyHeritage.com facial recognition site. The technology's a little screwy, but we have to admit, the resemblance between JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and erstwhile tennis star Steffi Graf is uncanny:

After the jump: John Mack, Rob Kindler, Eddie Lampert, Warren Buffett and our Jim Cramer Bobblehead Doll.

The lawfirm Wachtell, Lipton Rosen & Katz has long been on the forefront of helping corporate managers protect themselves from shareholders. They proudly claim to have invented the poison pill, that all-but-foolproof shield against hostile takeovers. Lately, the firm has been at the forefront of advising corporate America on how to protect themselves against activiest hedge fund managers.

So it comes as no surprise that the firm has issued a client memo lamenting the demise of the SEC rule requiring hedge fund managers to register as investment advisors. What is a bit surprising, is that none of Wachtell's lawyers have given campaign contributions to Congressman Barney Frank.

Come on, fellas. This guy is writing the new regulation you want so bad. Get your checks books out. This is America. You get what you pay for!

More on Wachtell's campaign against activist Hedge Funds from around the internet:
Why Public Companies Should Care About Hedge Fund Rules [DealBook]
Wachtell's Martin Lipton Pens Another "Attack of the Killer Hedge Funds" Memo [WSJ's LawBlog]
Wachtell Lipton on Shareholder Activists and M&A [WSJ's LawBlog]

The Deal analyzes how well the Texas Pacific Group did on their J.Crew investment. The verdict: pretty good.

Including unrealized gains, TPG is showing more than a 425% gain on the $125 million to $135 million it invested over nine years.

J. Crew shares fly off shelves [The Deal via Going Private]

Yesterday Herb Greenberg's MarketWatch.com blog revealed that the testimony of former Gradient Analytics employee Demetrios Anifantis had the fingerprints of Overstock all over it. Or, well, he revealed that the word Overstock pops up in the metadata that anyone could examine by opening the "properties" view of the Microsoft Word file.

So does this mean that Overstock, or someone at Overstock, wrote Anifantis' testimony? Maybe! But what really makes us sad about this is that it is all so unnecessary. Look people, next time you secretly compose testimony for your cronies-remember to erase the properties! Click on the "File" tab, scroll down to properties, and then clear those fields out! Nothing could be easier!

Now you can get back to your nefarious schemes!

More questions about a key witness [Herb Greenberg's Market Blog]

Last week a federal appeals told the SEC that it lacked authority to under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 to require the registration of hedge fund managers. Many thought the SEC would try to craft a new rule on hedge funds, better tailored to fit the law. Congressional Democrats think they have a better idea-let's just make a new law!

Top U.S. House of Representatives Democrats said on Wednesday they plan to introduce legislation to revive a government effort to regulate hedge funds that was blocked last week by a court.

Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank said he will unveil a bill on Thursday to give the Securities and Exchange Commission "clear authority to require registration and monitoring" of hedge fund advisers.

This is probably a really good idea. No, really. A hastily thrown together, partisan bill is exactly the right way to regulate the hedge fund industry!

US House Democrats drafting hedge fund legislation
[Reuters]

The Germans have mostly gotten a pass in the Airbus mess, avoiding the messy French meltdown that has some talking about toppling the government in Paris. But do the Germans deserve to get off so easily? An article in the International Herald Tribune suggestions maybe not.

The problem that has delayed the A380's entry into commercial service for more than a year falls into the highly annoying category. For reasons that have defied simple explanation, the wiring harness for each plane keeps showing up with serious defects that can leave them useless. Because many of the bundles are made in Hamburg and then shipped to Toulouse, France, accusations have flown between the French and German plants as to whose fault this is.

This morning, we wondered how BP was able to profit from a juvenile scheme to fix the price of propane. After all, you can't just buy up the market in hopes of pushing up the price without driving down the price during the selling phase, right? Well, it turns out that they didn't profit at all; in fact BP lost money.

This note lays out the figures (conspicuously, the CFTC never mentions the actual profits made in this fiasco, only the expected profits). BP had 5mm BBL's, and expected to sell 2mm BBL's in Feb, and roll only 3mm BBL's, but instead they only sold 0.7mm BBL's in Feb and rolled 4.6mm BBLs, where they made 25 cents on the stuff sold in Feb, and lost 6 cents on the propane rolled (unsold). If k*(0.25*2mm-0.06*3mm)=$20mm USD, k=0.47 (where k is some gross up to account for the units they are using), then if we replace 2 with 0.7, and 3 with 4.6 , they actually lost $4.7mm (probably a little more, because they bought an additional 0.3mm barrels at inflated Feb prices)! This is the classic squeeze problem: you can push a price up, but you can't sell at the peak price, or even close to it.

This is a case for self-regulation. I'm sure BP wouldn't do this strategy again after such a failure. Now regulators are just piling on because tapes show intent. I'm sure many traders push around equities, on a much smaller scale, with the same intent, and I'm sure it's just as successful.

Market "Corners" Are More Evil than Profitable [Mahalanobis]

Crime/Fraud/Legal/Investigations/Inquiries:
Foundry Networks and VeriSign to be investigated for "stock option backdating" [investigations]
Snohomish County Public Utility District does not have to pay $120 mm termination fees on a contract it broke with Enron [legal]
Senate Finance Committe votes to treat Nabors's Bermuda tax HQs as American [legal]
Louis Vuitton wins suit with Google to stop online ads of competitors/counterfeiters showing up in searches for the brand [legal]
Tenet Healthcare settles federal investigation of Medicare pricing, paying $725 mm and waiving add'l $175 mm in government payments [legal]
Viacom shareholders sue company for excessive compensation to the chair, Sumner Redstone, and other execs [legal]
IRS seeks $757+ mm in back taxes owed/$303 mm in penalties from Veritas Software, owned by Symatec; Symatec's filed petition [legal]
BP's Dennis Abbott pleads guilty to charges that he/others worked to manipulate price of propane flowing from Texas to PA and NY [crime]
Gary J. Aguirre tells Congress that sr. SEC officials stopped his investigation of possible insider trading by prominent hedge fund [legal]
New Euro. commission guidelines adopted yesterday will fine companies 10x current tarrifs for anti-competative practices [legal]
Fraud verdict appealed by M. Stanley [legal]

M&A: [? = not yet closed, problems with the deal, lingering questions, etc.]
Archstone-Smith + Deutsche WohnAnlage
Genworth Financial + AssetMark Investment Services
Green Bancorp + Redstone Bank
Empire Group Holdings + Equity Residential (Lexford Housing Division)
Goldman Sachs + (stake in India's) National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange
Watson Pharmaceuticals + Andrx
Sonus Networks + The Carphone Warehouse Group
Pipex + Cable & Wireless ?
De Vere Group + AHG Venice
EMC + RSA Security
EMI Group + Warner Music Group ? (who will take over whom?)

Money Raising:
Shutterfly to raise $92 mm in IPO LINK
Carlyle Group to raise Japanese buyout fund to $1.7 B LINK
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts looks for $15.5 in takeover fund LINK
Fairmont Raffles Holdings looks to raise $2.5 B via asset disposals LINK
Shimao Property Holdings $480 mm in IPO LINK
J.Crew Group's shares rise 28% in IPO, raise $376 million LINK
PartyGaming to raise as much as $906 mm via series of aquisitions LINK
Texas Pacific Group's investment increases more than 5x since initial equity outlay of $115-125 mm, based on $20/share of J.Crew LINK

For Sale
Some of News Corporation's local tv stations, use $ to buy back 18% stake in Liberty Media LINK
Anadarko Petroleum LINK

Personnel:
John E. Pepper Jr. named non-exec chair of Walt Disney Co. LINK
Noel Forgeard to remain co-chief exec @ EADS LINK
B o' A names Glen J. Romm market exec in Georgia LINK
HSBC's Anand Krishnamurthy and Hitendra Dave are made co-heads of the firm's global markets in India, taking over from Monish Tahilramani-- moving to head up Asia-Pacific regional trading in Hong Kong--, who's replacing Tarun Mahrotri. LINK

Miscellaneous:
Heinz tells shareholders to reject board candidates proposed by Nelson Peltz's Trian Group LINK
Phoenix Technologies under pressure to make changes by Ramius Capital Group LINK
Omniture and Replidyne receive disappointing offers in IPOs LINK
Wintegra halts IPO, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group delays share sale after failing to attract enough investors LINK
CanWest Global Communications to leave The Canadian Press next summer LINK
Severstal's Aleksei Mordashov may drop bid for Arcelor, accept $125 mm compensation LINK
Baugur and FL Group, with Kevin Stanford, $1.81 B investment vehicle called Unity, in plan to step up stake in UK retailing LINK
RSA Security in possible "strategic transaction" LINK
Did Overstock.com tell Demetrios Anifantis what to say to Senate Judiciary Committee? LINK

Hank Paulson's nomination as Treasury Secretary was confirmed by the Senate yesterday. Bloomberg fills us in on why his confirmation hearings were so 'effin boring.

The cautious approach in testimony to the Senate Finance Committee June 27 and in responses to written questions likely was planned to avoid disrupting markets before Paulson, 60, digests all his briefing material, said Sophia Drossos, a currency strategist at Morgan Stanley.

"He was probably bland by design,'' she said from New York. "Paulson was aiming to make it low key. At least we know we don't have a loose cannon.''

Snore.

Paulson Plays Safe on China, Taxes, Deficit on Road to Treasury [Bloomberg]

We're now in the final day of the Warren Buffet lunch auction. The winning bid is $502,400.00, from the mysterious bidder "fastisslow." The bidding was moving up in leaps and bounds earlier but hasn't moved for the last couple of days. The current highest bid is a mere $100 above the second place bid. Is the lunch auction really going to turn on a difference on $100?

Gary Weiss, author of Wall Street Versus America, has a bone to pick.

There are plenty of reasons to find fault with financial journalism. I criticize the media severely in my book for touting investment managers and being overly deferential to hedge funds, among other things. But this kind of snarky article seems only to prove that the folks at CJR Daily are having a hard time filling space.

They may want to experiment with a house ad next time.

The good news: he's not talking about us!

CJR Daily Does it Again [Gary-Weiss.Com]

It's been a while since we stopped by Bankers Ball and that's a shame. Today the double B brings us a great ten point guide to getting the most out of this summer if you are a summer associate or summer analyst. One of our favorites:

Don't eat meat? Vegetarians don't belong in finance. And if you want to say that you don't drink, you might as well say that you don't have sex.

And if you want to say that you don't have sex, well....what's that? I'm sorry. We stopped listening a little while ago.

Stayin' Alive: A Guide for the Summer Analyst or Associate [Bankersball]

BP unit accused of price-fixing plot (Houston Chronicle)
When Bill O'Reilly gets out of bed this morning, you can be sure that he'll hit his head on the ceiling from jumping up and down with excitement. Finally, vindication, they're all price fixers! Eh, not so fast Bill. Turns out, it's just some Houston-based energy traders who may or may not have cornered the propane market back in February of 2004. That's right, the propane market. So after all these investigations into price fixing and price gouging, etc. this is what we get. One month of propane price fixing. Actually, it's more like a couple of days, making this sound like the lamest price-fixing scheme ever. Basically, traders bought a bunch of propane, held onto it, and then sold it to desperate businesses who were short on propane near the end of the month. Seem weird that such a grade-school scheme actually works in the real world, but apparently it did.

SEC probe on Pequot was 'blocked' (Telegraph UK)
Doesn't the Pequot Capital story have the makings of a great Hollywood film? Picture it: The earnest SEC bureaucrat is mindlessly doing some paperwork, drinking a Diet Coke, when he notices that two numbers aren't matching when they should. Thinking it must just be a typo, he ignores it, only to discover a series of similar mistakes. He takes the issue to his superior, who looks darty and tells him not to worry about, that he'll look into it. Unconvinced that any action will follow, he starts taking home papers in his briefcase, launching a full-scale forensic accounting investigation from his living room. He drives himself crazy; what is he missing!? Aha, one month later, on virtually no sleep he puts together a conspiracy that encompasses Pequot Capital, John Mack and... the commissioner of the SEC!! Right about this time he gets a knock on the door, but he smartly goes out the back door, stuffing his papers into his briefcase, jumps in his car, and vows to shine the light on the corrupt (though more importantly unregulated!) world of hedge funds. He never wanted to be a hero -- the SEC gave him no choice.

Do not undervalue the impact of business education (Financial Times)
Hey, quit yer attacks on MBAs. No more jokes about powerpoints, powersuits and powerlunches, thank you very much. Glenn Hubbard, dean of the Columbia Business School (where among other thing they learn to rap), passionately defends the business school, claiming that by practicing the tenets of applied management, we've added another point to GDP growth on an annual basis over what economists thought possible. And if we're to lift the world out of poverty, it's going to be the business school gospel of management theory and respect for capital markets that will do the trick. Seriously, moving stuff.

Betting scam claims overshadow British victory (The Independent)
What do you think of when you think Wimbledon? White attire, perfectly maintained lawns, Tim Henman, Queen Elizabeth, Strawberries & cream and.... Insider Trading!? The manicured symbol of English refinement has been rocked by scandal this week, as the British bookmaker Betfair has blown the whistle on a suspiciously large bet placed in the first round. £300,000, 30 times more than what would be typical, was placed on a win by 259th ranked Richard Bloomfield, to beat higher ranked Carlos Berlocq. Bloomfield won in straight sets, triggering alarm bells that perhaps the fix was on. For his part, Berlocq claims his loss was due to an ankle injury. Adding to the suspicion bookmaking housed William Hill, also noted some suspicious betting, though not as dramatic. There's still no hard evidence, of course, but let the witch-hunt begin. Perhaps Gary Aguirre would like to come by and help?

A hedge fund run by Chris Hohn, the Brit who led the campaign that ousted the chairman of Deutsche Borse last year, was the UK most generous charitable donor last year.

Accounts just filed show the fund - The Children's Investment Fund (TCI) - gave £50.4m to its charitable arm in the year to 31 August, 2005.

The charity connected to the fund, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, works to alleviate child poverty in the developing world.

The hedge fund hands over up to 1% of its assets to the charity.

Bet you didn't think we could just tell you story without saying something mean about people who make huge donations to charitable foundations.

Hedge fund 'UK's biggest donor' [BBC]

The Wall Street Journal joins the (very small) chorus of voices willing to break free from the (very large and awfully loud) chorus of hosannas praising Warren Buffett.

In explaining his charitable motivations this week, Mr. Buffett also went out of his way to say that he is "not an enthusiast for dynastic wealth." This is fair enough, and is also one of Mr. Buffett's arguments for so vocally defending federal death tax rates of 50% or more. But we can't help but point out that Mr. Buffett's gift will itself be shielded from Uncle Sam because it is going to a foundation. So in practice he is in favor of death taxes only for those whose estates are too small to hide in foundation tax shelters.

We'd also note that the foundations he is donating to may well become "dynasties" in their own right. In addition to his Gates Foundation gift, Mr. Buffett also said he will give major donations well north of $1 billion each to separate foundations run by his three children and another in the name of his late wife. These gifts, too, will be shielded from taxation and will allow his heirs to wield power and influence long after the 75-year-old has gone to his just reward. With their tax-sheltered assets, modern foundations have no expiration date and have become hugely important players in policy debates, the culture and even politics.

Of course, we totally agree with Warren Buffett that love is the greatest advantage a parent can give a child. But a billion dollar foundation is probably a pretty close second.

Mr. Buffett's Gift [Wall Street Journal]

We're sure Harvard is a bit embarrassed that the shabby treatment it gave former university president Larry Summers may have cost it $100 million. But is bashing a would-be donor really the best reaction?

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has said he lost interest in a planned $100 million donation when Summers resigned in February after years of struggle with the Harvard faculty. Now Harvard is saying that Ellison's timing doesn't make sense. But Harvard's argument seems a little, uhm, suspect.

[More after the jump]

Hank Paulson gets the nod from the Senate Finance Committee.

The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday approved Henry Paulson's nomination to become treasury secretary and sent it to the full Senate for a vote that is likely to come fairly quickly.

The committee approval came after a nomination hearing on Tuesday where Paulson faced scant opposition as he voiced support for Bush administration tax cuts and promised to keep pushing China toward increased currency flexibility.

The full Senate can give its approval by a voice vote, and on Wednesday morning Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Paulson's nomination will be considered this week.

So it may be only a matter of days before Hank officially moves from being the number one guy at Goldman Sachs to being the guy who takes orders from George W. Bush.

Speaking of that Judiciary Committee hearing, this has to be the least persuasive argument for federal regulation we've ever heard.

The U.S. government needs to step in and regulate the $1.2 trillion hedge-fund industry or states will ``join forces'' and oversee the private investment pools, the attorney general of Connecticut told senators.

``Right now hedge funds are in a regulatory void,'' the attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, said today at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington. Federal ``inertia'' on hedge funds ``will invite state action.''

Next thing you know we'll have some sort of quirky federal system, with states making their own crazy rules. Who knows what will happen? Delaware might start making up it's own corporate law, New York could have an attorney general enforcing his own state's financial regulations.

That said, we totally loved Blumenthal in "LA Confidential."

States May Fill `Void' on Hedge-Fund Oversight, Blumenthal Says [Bloomberg]

Gary Weiss, author of the book Wall Street Versus America, has a good, quick reaction to today's Judiciary Committee hearing. The verdict? The Specter questioning of SEC whistleblower Aguirre was important. The Orrin Hatch bits, not so much.

Here's how Weiss puts it:

As expected, the Senate hearing today on hedge funds turned out to be a mixed bag: One part troubling description of a possible coverup at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and one part ritual short-bashing dog-and-pony show...

Earlier today Weiss pointed out that the fingerprints of Overstock.Com and its allies seem to be all over the "dog-and-pony show" side of today's hearings.

The Senate Hearing: A Mixed Bag [Gary-Weiss.Com]

[Editor's Note: Here at DealBreaker, we spend most of our time working to bring you news, making your DealBook shorter and insinuating that Warren Buffett is going to hell. But when we're not doing that, we like to revel in the joys of Wall Street pop culture. (Average daily schedule at DealBreaker: Get up, watch CNBC, revel, revel, tweak Buffett, revel, Shorter DealBook, revel, lunch, news, revel, revel, news, revel, bedtime.) Along those lines, we bring you a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of Boiler Room, re-enacted by inanimate objects. We considered hiring actors but ultimately decided that the range of physical and emotional expressiveness in Vin Diesel's seminal performance as "Chris Varick" could easily be replicated by a 12-inch high plastic "Ken" doll. DealBreaker Intern Bess Levin narrates...]

Starring:Ben Affleck

Giovanni Ribisi

and Vin Diesel

Noel Forgeard is still fighting to keep his post at troubled planemaker Airbus, Bloomberg reports.

Noel Forgeard co-chief executive of Airbus's parent, said he won't quit following delays in the delivery of A380 superjumbo jets and questions about his sale of shares, resisting pressure from the group's German shareholder.

Forgeard, 59, responding to questions in a closed-door session of the French parliament's finance and economic affairs committee, said there was "no question," of him resigning, according to Pierre Mehaignerie, the committee's co-head.

Insert joke about the Germans not seeing this much French refusal to surrender since the first world war here.

Head Forgeard Won't Quit, Resisting German Pressure [Bloomberg]

You probably felt pretty good about yourself after choosing to ignore that insider tip that could've made you some fast but illegal cash. And maybe you gave yourself a pat on the back for not risking your job by sleeping with an intern. But while you're smug and self-satisfied now, you're going to regret these decisions down the road:

Hedonists, rejoice! A couple of Columbia University researchers have found that in the long run, people tend to regret having missed out on opportunities for pleasure -- and they wish they hadn't been so diligent about working. What's more, our attitudes reverse over time. In the short run, we're proud of our ability to work hard and delay gratification. But years later, we regret that choice.

For example, in one of the Columbia experiments, subjects were asked recall two points in time -- one week ago, and five years ago. They were asked whether they were working or relaxing at that point in time, and whether they regretted it. When the point in time was a week ago, the workers were happy they were toiling, and the relaxers regretted their lassitude. When the point in time was five years ago, though, the opposite was true: People regretted being in the office, and wished they'd been slacking.

Study: In the long run, we regret virtue more than vice [Collission Detection]

Crime/Fraud/Legal/Investigations/Inquiries:
CAMC Engineering to be investigated by Chinese authorities for possible market-rigging [investigations]
EADS' co-chief executive Noel Forgeard appears before a closed session of French parliament's [legal]
China's National Audit Office uncovers $11 billion worth of fraud at Agricultural Bank of China [fraud]
Three Enron-involved British bankers to be extradited[crime]
Scotland's single-biggest fraud case results in jailing of banker for embezzling $38 million [fraud]
Morgan Stanley to pay $10 million settlement [legal]
Virgin store chain in France found guilty of piracy [crime]
Nokia sues two Chinese cell phone manufacturers for illegal product copying [legal]
Tactic used to crack down on KPMG corporate misconduct may have violated constitution [legal]
The Senate Judiciary Committee to examine hedge fund cases [inquiries]
Nonpunitive agreement between the Justice Department and the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation for tax-evasion befuddles shareholders [legal]

M&A: [? = not yet closed, problems with the deal, lingering questions, etc.]
EMI Group + Warner Music? Or: Warner Music + EMI Group?
Macquarie + Associated British Ports Goldman Sachs?
Rupert's News Corp + PCCW?
Severstal + Corus?
Univision + Grupo Televisa
China Life + 12 percent of Citic Securities
McClatchy + Knight Ridder
Comcast + thePlatform
Origin Energy + Contact Energy
Capital Bank C.E.O. Jim Beck and partner + Millennia Community Bank
Broadview Networks Holdings + ATX Communications
Apollo Management and Graham Partners + Berry Plastics
Magellan Health Services + Icore Healthcare
Bosch Group + Telex Communications
U.S. Concrete + Alberta Investments and Alliance Haulers

Money Raising:
Bank of China's IPOs total $84.6 billion--the nation's largest $$$$
J. Crew Group's IPO raises $376 million, at $20 a share $$$
Rosneft to raise $11.6 billion in IPOs $$$$
Mu Security raises an additional $10 million in second funding round $$

For Sale:
CVC's MotoGP

Earnings:
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Carlyle Group and Merrill Lynch Private Equity to collect a $1 billion dividend LINK

Personnel:
Munesh Khanna resigns as co-head of Enam Financial Consultants
Samuel Chen appointed J.P. Morgan's new senior financial analyst
Buffet will not step down as chairman/chief exec @ Berkshire Hathaway
Ron Pillar to head J.P. Morgan Chase's East Coast tech investment banking

Miscellaneous:
Reliance Industries to invest in retailing LINK
Paulson "treads carefully" on the Bush administration's economic agenda at confirmation hearing LINK
Elpida Memory's shares drop 11% LINK
77% of Asian hedge fund managers support more regulation by financial authorities LINK
Lawrence J. Ellison revokes $115 million donation to Harvard LINK
'Deutsche Bank is misleading investors,' says Eurotunnel LINK
'CFO Andrea Schwartz did not use company funds' Timewarner says LINK
Deutsche Borse's CEO to Euronext: We will not raise our bid LINK

The Senate Judiciary committee, chaired by Arlen Specter (pictured left) is set to meet today in hearings on hedge funds and independent analysts. The witness list includes Gary J. Aguirre, the former SEC investigator at the center of controversial charges of alleged insider trading at Pequot Capital management and of political interference with his investigation into those charges. Wall St. Folly has what looks to be the prepared statement of Aguirre. You can watch a live webcast of the hearing by clicking here.

11:30 Update: Gary Aguirre is on now, answering Senator Arlen Specter's questions. This is the moment to watch.

Charlie Rose nearly ran off with Warren Buffet's donation paper-work.

And Rose says the most excitement came when the session ended.

"We were all walking down. I was gonna say goodbye to them at the sidewalk," he told The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm Monday. "And Warren turns to me and says, 'I forget the documents!' I said, 'Where are they?' And he said, 'I left them in the studio.' So, I ran back to the studio and brought back the documents and Bill said, 'Check and make sure I (Rose) didn't change the beneficiary!'

The Charlie Rose Foundation, with assets of $30 billion, suddenly came into existence, Rose joked.

We guess this is what passes for exciting when you are in Warren Buffet's company.

Warren Buffett's Big Oops [CBS News]

So the J.Crew initial public offering priced at $20 a share. The 18.8 million offering, which represents about a 33 percent stake, should raise about $376 million and give the company an initial market capitalization of more than $1.1 billion.

We're told by a source that after Goldman Sachs closed the books Monday night there was consideration that the price might even get pushed up to $21 due to strong interest in the stock. The $20 share price is significantly higher than the $15 to $17 forecast earlier.

J. Crew prices IPO at $20, above forecast [Reuters]

Treasury chief-elect sports a youthful indiscretion (Times UK)
Oh boy is that headline misleading. We've become trained to know what the phrase 'youthful indiscretion' usually means, and the idea of Hank Paulson having one is some pretty good stuff. But his "I did something young and irresponsible back when I was young and irresponsible" moment wasn't anything like going to Mexico for coke and hookers. Instead, Paulson broke into a public pool after hours to practice swimming. He was arrested, booked, and fingerprinted only to see the charges dropped, as he admitted to see the Senate Committee. Still, it's good stuff in its way, and if we were to scribe the portrait of a Christian Scientist Treasury Secretary as a young man, we might even call it formative, if only for some literary flair. At the hearings, Paulson also stated that economic growth and spending cuts could help reduce the deficit; sounds like he's up for the job!

The unit bias (Marginal Revolution)
If there's one kind of column that is worthy of derision above all others, it's the "cheap stocks for under $10 (or $5)" piece (Natural habitat: thestreet.com). There's certainly a special hell for those promoting the idea that stocks with nominally low prices somehow classify as cheap. But these columns are likely to persist as long the individual retail investor is a) a sucker and b) subject to the unit bias. Basically, people are likely to see their consumption change based on the size of the units involved. For example, a bowl of free M&Ms with a teaspoon for serving will prompt less per/person eating than when a tablespoon is placed in the bowl. Generally, the larger the implied minimum quantity, the more people will eat. Now in stocks it's the other way around. Eating more