* Applied Extrusion Technologies presented before a standing-room only crowd of investors eager to hear the company's plans in light of Standard & Poor's downgrade of its senior unsecured notes to double-C last Monday.
* The credit derivatives market has become "the tail wagging the dog," according to one hedge fund manager. He said this is a concern for traditional cash investors because the synthetic market is a dirty market in that it is not subject to the same restrictions on transparency and disclosure as the traditional cash market.
* The Waldorf's Grand Ballroom could barely hold the lunchtime crowd who packed in to hear Carl Icahn. Hundreds of people were left without seats until the hotel staff frantically set up new tables along the perimeter of the room. Most of those left out in the cold were from the structured finance industry after a panel on collateralized debt obligations ran late and left attendees standing.
