MotherRock Cries Uncle

Before joining the Nymex, Collins was a senior vice president at El Paso(EP Quote), where he oversaw the energy company's gas trading group.

Coale once was a highly regarded analyst on Wall Street. She urged investors to sell Enron's stock months before a massive accounting fraud led to the collapse of the energy company.

But Coale went on to make questionable calls as well. Perhaps sensing another Enron, she hung a sell recommendation -- and a $0 price target -- on Dynegy's (DYN Quote) stock in late 2002. But the shares, already below $1 at the time of Coale's downgrade, had bottomed out by that time. They soon began a climb back above $5, where they continue to hover today.

The prime brokers for MotherRock are ABN Amro(ABN Quote) and Goldman Sachs(GS Quote), according to the hedge fund's marketing literature. But a spokesman for the Dutch-based bank disputes the hedge fund's claim, saying ABN Amro served only as a clearing broker for MotherRock. Merrill Lynch(MER Quote) also is listed as one of MotherRock's bankers.

In the hedge fund's marketing literature, Collins and D'Agostino list several executives at the NYMEX as references. Collins also lists a managing director at ABN Amro as a reference.