• Federal prosecutors are investigating two ex-Credit Suisse brokers, Eric Butler and Julian Tzolov, over whether they lied to clients about their investments in auction rate securities. [WSJ]
  • Hedge funds' performance during the first half of 2008 was the worst in 18 years. [MarketWatch]
  • Discount retailer Steve & Barry's is expected to file for bankruptcy as early as today. [WSJ]
  • A scathing SEC report confirms what everyone has known forever: major securities ratings firms like Fitch, Moody's, and Standard & Poor's are hardly impartial. [NYT]
  • Abu Dhabi's sovereign investment fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, closed on its purchase of the Chrysler Building for a price believed to be around $800 million. [Bloomberg]
  • After repeated rebuffs, Martin Sorrell's London-based ad giant WPP is making a $2.1 billion hostile takover bid for British market research firm Taylor Nelson Sofres. [Bloomberg]
  • The schedule for Herb Allen's confab in Sun Valley. [NYT]