INVESTMENT

Private equity firm Apollo Management cut more than $1.9 billion of costs out of its portfolio companies after the financial crisis, according to a letter sent to its investors on Thursday.

Federal prosecutors in the Galleon Group case have sent a subpoena to a former employee of SAC Capital Advisors, a sign that the scope of the probe into the largest hedge fund insider trading case in history is expanding, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Private equity firm Blackstone is preparing to float theme park operator Merlin Entertainments next year, hoping to take advantage of buoyant equity markets, a source familiar with the situation said.

Federal prosecutors in the Galleon Group case have sent a subpoena to a former employee of Steven A. Cohen's SAC Capital Advisors, a sign that the scope of the problem into the largest hedge fund insider trading case in history is expanding, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Russell Read does not regret pushing Calpers, the biggest U.S. public pension fund, into investment frontiers that consultants avoid -- and he sees the public pension funds at a crossroads on what to do next.

Billionaire investor George Soros said U.S. taxpayers were entitled to resent bankers' bonuses because their profits were funded by government bailouts, according to an interview published in the Financial Times.

An informant in the Galleon Group insider trading scandal had a history of sending tips to the firm, according to a court document that surfaced on Friday.

Pay czar Kenneth Feinberg emphasized on Friday his ability to claw back pay at any company receiving a taxpayer bailout, but said such an extreme action will be rare and far between.

Las Vegas Sands Corp may struggle to secure up to $2 billion in financing for mothballed projects and dent already-lowered valuations for the planned Hong Kong initial public offering of its Macau operations, bankers and analysts said.

The U.S. futures regulator urged Congress to require thousands of non-major financial firms and funds to use clearinghouses to reduce the risk of another market collapse as part of its reform of the $450 trillion swaps market.

A U.S. lawmaker said on Friday he issued a subpoena to Countrywide Financial, now part of Bank of America Corp , as part of a probe into whether the lender gave favored terms to lawmakers and other VIPs.

Russell Read, the former chief investment officer of Calpers, the largest pension fund in the United States, knows his trees.

Ingersoll-Rand PLC , which makes heating and cooling systems for homes, businesses and transport, reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday despite challenges in its markets and gave a 2010 outlook above Wall Street estimates.

Intel Corp assured Clearwire Corp it is closely guarding its investment information on the wireless-broadband company after an insider-trading scandal surfaced last week, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Clearwire chief executive Bill Morrow.

After two years on the sidelines, a handful of retailers is getting ready to test the initial public markets again, emboldened by the stock market rally and a better consumer spending outlook.

A combination of investment risks threatens to obstruct an already stumbling U.N.-backed $6.5 billion market in clean energy projects in emerging nations, years before the scheme's first phase is due to end.

Stock futures rose slightly on Friday ahead of earnings from software giant Microsoft Corp and existing home sales data.

Stock futures rose slightly on Friday ahead of earnings from software giant Microsoft Corp and existing home sales data.

Fed's Political Shift?; Indy Booksellers Upset With Price War; Intel's Reassurances

Intel Corp assured Clearwire Corp it is closely guarding its investment information on the wireless-broadband company after an insider-trading scandal surfaced last week, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Clearwire chief executive Bill Morrow.

Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open for Wall Street on Friday, as investors awaited results from software giant Microsoft and data on home sales.