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Kass: 20 Questions I Ask Myself

Doug Kass

On Hedge Funds

1. What will the hedge fund industry look like two years from now; as capital is re-circulated, who will be the winners and losers?

2. Can the quant funds sustain their successes, or will they, too, in the fullness of time, lose their edge, deliver reduced investment returns or blow up?

3. What large trading entities or hedge funds blew up and were forced to bail out of their commodity positions aggressively this week?

4. In the face of the market's decline and large fund losses, how many frauds will be uncovered in the hedge fund industry in the coming months?

5. What was former SEC commissioner and now activist hedge fund manager Richard Breeden thinking when he acquired a 25% interest in Zale (ZLC Quote)?

6. What other corporate activists with concentrated investment positions have been "Lamperted" and are mow in trouble with their portfolios?

7. In just how much trouble are the largest private equity firms?

8. Is Cerberus in jeopardy; if so, will the government bail them out, too?

On Media

9. How can Fox Business Network survive?

On Autos

10. Do the automobile chief executives really believe that they have properly managed their companies, and do they feel the public has any confidence in their projections?

On Markets

11. What sector will lead the market out of its doldrums when a sustained rally occurs?

12. With hedge fund sitting on their hands with loads of cash, individuals having already redeemed significant amounts from mutual funds and corporate insiders buying (not selling), who is left to sell/panic?

13. Have the markets been negatively impacted and have investors been turned off by the procession of congressional hearings over the past four months, which have uncovered the naiveté and lack of economic knowledge of our legislators, the incoherence and ad hoc nature of our Treasury/Fed officials and the disingenuous attitudes of some of the former leading business executives in the brokerage and financials fields?

14. When will the credit markets really thaw?

15. Will defaults in emerging markets be the next crisis?

On Regulations

16. Will the new SEC Commissioner's first deeds be to re-instate the uptick rule and to amend the mark-to-market rules?

On Financials

17. How long will Bob Rubin remain at Citigroup (C Quote)?

18. Are the rumors of a merger between Morgan Stanley (MS Quote) and Goldman Sachs (GS Quote) accurate?

19. What will be the first major brokerage firm to jettison its research department?

On Surprises

20. Will my surprises list for 2009 be a surprise?

Doug Kass is the author of The Edge, a blog on RealMoney Silver that features real-time shorting opportunities on the market.

Know What You Own: At the time of publication, Doug Kass was short Zale, which operates in the jewelry stores industry, and some of the other stocks in its field include Tiffany (TIF Quote), Blue Nile (NILE Quote) and Signet Jewelers (SIG Quote). For more on the value of knowing what you own, visit TheStreet.com's Investing A-to-Z section.