Traditional private equity is just people who use cash with varying degrees of leverage to buy businesses, such as venture capital. Venture capital is an essential part of a free market economy as it is required to provide innovation and growth. Without venture capital, an economy will quickly become a “rust belt” full of old bloated bureaucratic companies which are dying slow deaths.

Private equity may feel the brunt of rising interest rates but with Congress beating the regulatory drum, hedge funds may be pinched by both rising interest rates and greater (and needed) regulation.

You can also sell the warrants in the open market. I haven’t personally done this but I’d assume that you have to pay brokerage commissions to sell.

One of the stocks that I already own (MKP) is offering existing shareholders the rights to purchase more shares at roughly $1 less than the current trading price. Do the stocks tend to tumble at a new rights offering? It’s already tumbled once when the rights offering was announced, from about $12.50 down to $11.45 today.

This will be my first experience with a rights offering. I wonder if any of you listeners out there have any experience?

I belong to both Aeroplan and Air Miles. As a user of both, my opinion is that Aeroplan sucks, Air Miles rocks. AM has more sponsors that allow you to collect on a more regular basis, makes more sense when redeeming for flights (the further you go the more points it takes) and doesn’t have as tight restrictions. I also collect Royal Bank Avion points which in my opinion is also better than Aeroplan. Aeroplan and Air Canada in general is at the bottom of the heap for me – as far as choices go, it is my airline of “last resort”. I only take AC when I have no other choice and I’m stuck with them.