I feel like there is a huge misconception about the timeline of M&A transactions and the functions carried out by affiliated parties during the process. Therefore, I would like to assume the following scenario in order to illustrate the entire process: A private equity funds (“the seller”) seeks to exit an investment in one of its portfolio companies.

First, an investment bank is hired to screen potential buyers. After identifying potential buyers, the investment bank will distribute a short teaser about the portfolio company’s performance and outlook to all potential buyers. A confidentiality agreement (CA) or non- disclosure agreement (NDA) will be enclosed to the teaser , regulating the level of disclosure in order to prevent leakage.

Vacation rental giant HomeAway.com is getting ready to go public this summer in an IPO valued at an estimated $300 million. The company has selected Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs to manage the offering. The offering is a further sign the IPO market may be coming back from the dead.

Lofty valuation aside (it's hard to imagine the multiple they're commanding when they only charge property owners $300 a year for their service, but I'll withhold judgment until I see the S-1), this is a very cool company. Those of you who've been reading my stuff for a while know that I'm huge into travel, and these guys are a big part of my global strategy. Some of you may even remember my recommending them back in October of 2009. In that particular case it was Vacation Rentals By Owner, but that's just another one of their sites. In fact, I'm using HomeAway this weekend for a little getaway to Bruges.

I had to stop and think about this one for a few minutes. Eric Dash wrote this piece for Dealbook outlining how partners at Goldman Sachs (among other banks) have been hedging the non-cash portions of their bonuses since 2007. On the surface, it looks like an attempt to circumvent the "safeguards" put in place to keep top bankers focused on the long-term health of the bank and not just taking huge risks to juice a year-end bonus.

Basically what's going on is that top bankers whose bonuses include a hefty portion of illiquid stock are buying puts on their own bank's stock to offset the risk of their bonus stock dropping before they can sell it. Smart, right? But think about the implications for a moment. If you have a bunch of stock you can't sell for two or three years, but you've effectively hedged it with downside protection, do you really care if the company's stock drops?

Who's ready to watch Lloyd Blankfein pinky swear that Goldman Sachs will do no evil? That's what's in store for investment bank CEOs if the Financial Stability Oversight Council has their way. In a proposal released this week, the FSOC is floating the notion that bank CEOs should have to publicly personally guarantee their firm's compliance with securities regulations and swear their allegiance to the Volcker Rule.

mod (Andy) note: "Blast from the past - Best of Eddie" - This one is originally from January 2011. If there's an old post from Eddie you'd like to see up again shoot me a message.

Do you have an investment banking obsession? Especially those of you still in college, do you spend every waking moment angling for a job in investment banking? Does the networking utility of those with whom you interact play a part in whether or not you'll become friends? Do you have a Chinese mother?

Okay, that last question may seem a little off the wall for those who haven't read the commentary in this weekend's Journal. But David Weidner at Bloomberg took it a step further and analyzed the drive to achieve on Wall Street, a drive top investment bankers possess almost to the exclusion of every other social skill. He gives the examples of Lloyd Blankfein, Jamie Dimon, and Henry Kravis - mostly dour guys focused on only one thing: money.

This is something I've been meaning to bring up for several weeks now, but other topics kept taking precedence. Jerome Kerviel, the disgraced SocGen trader who was recently sentenced to two years in prison and a €5 billion fine, granted an interview with Der Spiegel which is required reading for all traders or anyone who wants to become a trader.

I know I've made a lot of jokes at Kerviel's expense, but what happened to this kid is no laughing matter. In a rushed attempt to hide managerial incompetence or worse, and to reassure investors that it was an isolated incident, Societé Generale deliberately threw Kerviel under the bus with a vengeance we haven't seen since Kidder Peabody's hatchet job on Joe Jett.

In a move even the Hunt brothers would doff their caps to, HSBC and JP Morgan Chase stand accused of colluding to artificially depress the price of silver through massive short positions in COMEX silver futures and options. The alleged activity is said to have taken place between June 2008, when JPM inherited Bear Stearns's short position in silver, until the position was unwound in March of this year. Perhaps not coincidentally, silver has risen almost 80% since February.

The scheme was brought to light by an ex-Goldman Sachs employee in London whose friends at JPM told him what was going on. Evidently the JPM traders readily admitted to him that they were manipulating the market. At one point in August 2008, JPM and HSBC controlled "over 85% of the commercial net short positions in COMEX silver futures contracts and 25% of all open interest short positions." Wow.

Yesterday's New York Times ran a piece on the Wall Street slowdown that is getting a lot of attention. The less than rosy picture painted by the article addressed the elephant in the room for many investment banks - deal flow has dropped off significantly and the death of prop trading is going to hammer the bottom line. Bank analyst Meredith Whitney thinks it might be the trend going forward.

EXTRA, EXTRA!!!! Investor confidence gone! Investment Banks and Hedge Fungs lunch on the little guy! SEC has'em all for dessert! You pay, if you play!

Read all about it!!! .

Ok...well, maybe I'm in too much of a post Gatsby mind set today, but CNBC populism always brings a grin to my face. The kind you got as a kid when an adult caught you imitating the mentally challenged. Guilty, but not really sorry.

The point is debate worthy, however. I have spent a great deal of time talking to and arguing with people about the state of the economy and our wholesale financial future going forward. Opinions have rarely been reserved or rational, so I'm looking to hear some cool headed suggestions from you guys.

Christmas might come early to Wall Street this year . WIth higher taxes in 2011 and beyond a distinct possibility, Wall Street banks are looking to do right by employees and pay out their bonuses before the anticipated IRS onslaught.

So what is the general future of banker bonuses? It's easy to say that this is a one time thing, but with the feds continuing to breathe down Wall Street's back like a lames on necks in tight elevators, is it time to rethink the bonus structure? Self regulation has always been less painful than federal intervention.

This might come as a shock to some of you, but the people who work at Goldman Sachs are pretty happy about it. Glassdoor.com released an industry-wide report card on Friday, and not only did Goldman Sachs rank #2 in overall employee satisfaction (behind Susquehanna International Group), but CEO Lloyd Blankfein received a 97% approval rating. Among the BB's, Citi was at the bottom in employee satisfaction, and one industry insider described it to TheStreet.com as a boiler room. Ouch.

The SEC is under investigation by their own Inspector General, H. David Kotz, to determine whether the timing of the filing of the fraud case against Goldman Sachs, it's subsequent announcement, and/or the case's recent settlement were in any way motivated politically or by agency leaks to the New York Times and other media outlets. The SEC has denied any political motivation in the filing of the case, but it certainly was awfully convenient timing.

Partly at issue is the timing of the New York Times piece announcing the case. The SEC announced the case at 10:35 a.m. on April 16, and the Times had a full blown piece written and posted on the announcement a mere four minutes later. Hmmmm....