Gov. Quinn has announced spending cuts and a tax increase to fix the budget crisis, but has failed to mention immediate pension reform.

PE firms have refinanced portfolio companies at a crucial juncture using a combination of large banks and junk bonds. Mone poured into junk bond funds at a record pace in 2009, from general bond funds, pension funds and others.

Given all the contention with the Google vs. China war, there’s a lot to be lost: Google can lose an estimated $300 million to $600 million if it pulls out of the country, China’s image can be further tarnished on the human-rights front. At least one company will benefit tremendously from this conflict, and it is the search-engine giant in China: Baidu Inc.

Present-day and next-generation investment industry leaders debated future of funds at the Kellogg School of Management’s private equity and venture capital conference in Chicago, with the conversation returning to value creation.

With bank earnings season just passed, we now have a wealth of information to gauge the financial health of banks for the fourth-quarter of 2009. So pulling information from the income and cash-flow statements, we can see see how several bank holding companies in the Chicago area stack up. We’ll focus on JP Morgan Chase & Co., which is a New York-based megabank with a large Chicago presence; Lake Forest-based Wintrust Financial Corp.; Itasca-based First Midwest Banc Holdings Inc; and Melrose Park-based Midwest Banc Holdings Inc. (The reason Chase is thrown in the mix is to see how the smaller- and medium-sized bank holding companies compare.)

Andrew Ross Sorkin speaks to Chicago audience Feb. 9. Photo by Chris Guillen

It was Tuesday evening in Chicago, and though you may have watched him co-host CNBC’s Squawk Box from New York that same morning, there was Andrew Ross Sorkin giving a talk about Wall Street and his new book, “Too [...]

This book released Nov. 23, 2009 contains insights, lessons and surprising personal details from some of the pioneers of the private equity and venture capital worlds.

Click here to listen to Suzanne Bodlovic, once the only female futures trader in the Russell pit at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, describe her transition from floor-trading to electronic trading – and how she did it during some of the most wild economic conditions.

link to audio

BY GRAYDON GORDIAN – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Once upon a time it was considered nearly impossible to get the Securities and Exchange Commission to grant a new exchange license. Nowadays, it only takes a few months.

BY ALICE TRUONG – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Is money from Bank of America or Goldman Sachs Group Inc., likely to blur Sen. Christopher Dodd’s judgment as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee?