Is this the market eating itself? If so, brunch for Wall Streeters on Monday was MF Global, the former brokerage arm of Britain’s proud hedge fund colossus Man Group.
Rumours surrounding the firm, which bought the defunct Refco the year before last, were spurious at best - a “repo issue” and/or “class action suits related to the rogue wheat trader” were the stories reaching FT Alphaville.
But the damage to MF’s equity was real enough - shares down 75 per cent at one stage, helping to slice 12 per cent off the price of Man Group, despite the fact that the British firm demerged what was Man Financial last year.
Think about it - 75 per cent. A firm that was worth $3.6bn at the end of February, was worth $2bn on Friday and then $600m on Monday. Without any news…
