SuperCash Hardcover - 2006 - 1st Edition

From the jacket flap

Hedge funds, and their strategies, have gained significant recognition for their flexible and aggressive nature towards the markets. But as hedge funds have become more mainstream, the strategies associated with them--such as merger arbitrage, fixed income arbitrage, and convertible arbitrage--have become less capable of generating the returns you'd expect for the risk taken.

To deal with this situation, hedge funds and other savvy investors have found new ways to make it in today's dynamic financial environment. Actively lending money to companies and individuals that banks won't or can't touch; finding arbitrage situations that larger mutual funds are unable to dip into because of size or regulatory constraints; and putting dollars into companies where activism may extract more value from investments are only a few of the ways hedge funds and sophisticated investors are turning cash into supercash in today's tough markets.

Now, in SuperCa$h: The New Hedge Fund Capitalism, hedge fund manager James Altucher examines the many new types of investments that have been developed over the past few years by top hedge funds and investors around the world. Through detailed examples and up-to-the-minute advice, Altucher reveals how you can take advantage of these investments and offers a dozen strategies that can be used to supersize your returns. Some of the topics discussed include:

• How the PIPE (private investments in public equities) mechanism can provide consistent returns in both bull and bear markets
• A new crop of IPOs--SPAC (the specialty acquisitions corporation), Dutch Auctions, and reverse mergers
• Understanding and implementing a closed-end fund arbitrage strategy
• Shortselling methods that have withstood the test of time
• Art as an alternative asset class that is rela tively uncorrelated to the global markets
• And much more

Along the way, Altucher also talks about what to watch out for when investing directly in a hedge fund and offers candid advice for those thinking about starting their own hedge fund.

Turning cash into supercash is not just a style of investing, but a way of life. Striving to maximize the value of your dollars requires nonstop research, patience, courage, and fortitude. Going down the supercash path may be challenging, but the rewards are well worth it.