How today’s economy is affecting Hedge Funds

We already know that our economy is going into a slowdown. The majority is due to the credit crisis and also the housing market, which also created a credit crunch. However this has affected a lot the Hedge Funds. A Hedge fund is a private investment taking huge risks and also very advanced investment strategies such as derivatives with the goal of generating high returns. But not everyone can invest in them. You need at least $1 million dollars to invest in a hedge fund. Also they are the only type of investment that it is unregulated since it is done very cachet portfolio managers.

Now a day, Hedge Funds are facing some difficult situations. Most of their clients want to get their money back since the economy is in a slowdown, housing market keeps declining, and the stock market is being very volatile. Keep in mind that a lot of the Hedge Funds’ investments were made in the mortgage market in which they have lost a lot of money and are projecting that it is not getting better. Now the Hedge Funds had to limit investors from taking their money or if they did they could only take a certain amount. If they sold all the assets to give money back to the investors, both the company and the investors are going to lose a good part of their initial investment. Also by doing this, fund managers protect their paychecks because in a freeze like this, they still collect their management fees.

Keep in mind that the hedged funds have been a victim of the credit crunch. So I believe that right now is not a very good idea to invest in a hedge fund unless you are economically capable and also have the advanced investments methods to do so.

Apple is thinking about getting into the corporate market

As we already know, Microsoft has been dominating the corporate market for years. Now, Steve Job wants to take the iPhone to another level. He wants it to compete with the BlackBerry, the device that has dominated the wireless e-mail market for years in the corporate world.

I believe that they are going to have a really hard time introducing the iPhone to the corporate market because since the beginning, Apple has aimed its products to consumers. First they would have to develop more software for the phone in order to make it work smoothly as the popular BlackBerry does. Then they would have to find a way to make the keyboard in the iPhone more comfortable to write e-mails. People find it sometimes uncomfortable and slow since most of the time you can only use one finger since it’s keyboard is based on a touch screen.

They even face a bigger challenge, which is that Apple needs to gain more corporate buyers. Corporations has not been very interested in the Apple products, so it is going to be very hard to make them change their mind. Also Apple might have to be a little more open with other partners in which they have not been in the past.

I believe that Apple definitely can do it because their technology has advanced incredibly. If it does, then most likely it will create an intense rivalry with the BlackBerry. But Apple has to remember that it is not going to be an easy task.