Sweet Irony

A piece in the New York Times by Andrew Ross Sorkin today castigates CEOs for not doing more M&A deals in the current, volatile stock market.  Sorkin notes that many deals fail and that those that are successful are often at the beginning of a "deal" cycle.  Deals that are done in "follow the leader" markets are most likely to not be successful. His conclusion?  CEOs should do more deals now, when the market is unsettled and M&A volume is down.  This from the paper that in the past has routinely lambasted deal makers.  While I am on this tack one should note that after the paper's many attacks on the dangers of hedge funds last year it is the main line investment banks and brokerage houses (and often their internal hedge funds) that have disgraced themselves in the sub-prime loan mess.  The main line banks have inadequate risk controls on a process that separated incentives from long term quality; the private hedge funds have, as a group, done somewhat better.