Cream kills: The Friendly's spiral

Friendly's has a lot of problems. But the biggest one is at the heart of its business.

Family restaurant chain Friendly's is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection next week, just three years after being acquired by private equity firm Sun Capital Partners for $216 million (including assumed debt).

There is a lot of blame to go around, including the sluggish economy, rise of fast-casual alternatives and the chain's inability MORE

When investors move in unison, hold on tight

Morgan Stanley is now as risky as Italian banks in the eyes of investors, and Japanese banks are now considered a safe haven. Are you ready for what happens when global investors move in lock step?

By Daryl G. Jones, Hedgeye

You have to give it to William Shakespeare, he had a way with words. "The readiness is all," he once wrote. When it comes to the daily global macro market grind, MORE

Peter Thiel and the definite future

By Alex Taussig, contributor

(I originally published this at my blog infinitetoventure.com. Go check it out!)

I attended a discussion with Peter Thiel yesterday at Harvard Business School. It was my second time hearing Peter speak in the last 12 months, and I find his brand of intellectual honesty quite refreshing in today's age of politicized, reinforced conformity. That doesn't mean I agree with everything he says, but you have to admire a guy who can MORE

KKR invested in Solyndra

Not all of Solyndra's private investors were Friends of Barack. 

When solar manufacturer Solyndra filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, I listed the private investors that were likely to lose their shirts. Most of the subsequent attention has focused on Argonaut Private Equity, the firm affiliated with Obama backer George Kaiser, while  firms like Madrone Partners and Rockport Capital Partners also have received some attention.

But one notable Solyndra investor has slipped MORE

Why falling gas prices aren't much to celebrate

Lower gas prices might feel great at the pump but they aren't the economic stimulus we were hoping for.

FORTUNE -- Much to the delight of U.S. consumers, prices at the gas pump have been steadily falling. Nationally, the average for a gallon of regular gasoline is $3.45, down from a high this year of $3.98 in mid-May, according to AAA.

But while households might save on gas, potentially leaving more money MORE

Tribeca Venture Partners emerges

Earlier this week I noticed a regulatory filing for Tribeca Venture Partners II, which looked to be targeting $100 million. I certainly had never heard of Tribeca Venture Partners I, but noticed that the firm's principals looked familiar.

One was Brian Hirsch, a partner with GSA Venture Partners (an early-stage firm that used to be affiliated with Greenhill & Co.). The other was Chip Meakem, a New York-based partner with Boston's MORE

Pre-Marketing: Hedge fund chess

* Fraud? FBI investigates Solyndra's accounting

* Larry Chiang: How VCs have adopted Moneyball

* Good at chess? A hedge fund may want to hire you

* Matt Levine: Why Frank Quattrone didn't want that Autonomy pitchbook published

* Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, London falls early, European shares sag and the Nikkei retreats.

* Connie Loizos: Chicago sticks by Groupon

* Linda Stern: Upstart banks want your checking account

* Related: Bank of America plans monthly debit MORE

The next fake solar scandal

Obama critics think they've found another solar scandal. They're wrong. 

Matt Drudge seems to think he has found the next solar scandal to chip away at President Obama's poll numbers:

The link is to a blog post in The Weekly Standard, about a recent loan $737 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy to a solar energy company called SolarReserve. More specifically, the post insinuates that DoE approved the loan MORE

The Cosi court of public opinion

A fund manager has a message for Cosi shareholders: Fire the board and CEO and elect me. It just may work.

By Howard Penney, Hedgeye

Earlier this week Brad Blum, CEO of the Blum Growth Fund and 7% owner of the restaurant chain Cosi, announced that he is doing something unique in the public markets. He is using the court of public opinion and shareholder (activism) democracy to resurrect the company. This MORE

The 'other guy' talks CrunchFund

No venture firm has gotten more attention over the past month than CrunchFund, the seed-stage vehicle that precipitated Michael Arrington's departure from AOL (AOL). But Arrington is not alone in CrunchFund. His partner is Patrick Gallagher, Arrington's former college classmate who most recently was a principal with VantagePoint Venture Partners.

Below is a recent Bloomberg TV interview with Gallagher, in which he discusses the fund's purpose and what the AOL/TechCrunch debacle MORE