Mark Pittman, A Close Friend, Great Reporter, And The First Person To Sue The Fed And Win, Has Died
Mark Pittman, the Loeb Award-winning Bloomberg journalist, a personal friend, a legendary financial reporter and the first person to sue the Fed (in conjunction with Bloomberg News) and win, passed away on Wednesday. He was 52. Our thoughts are with his family. Bloomberg's brief on Mark's legacy. Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) --

Fed Balance Sheet At New Record After $11 Billion Weeekly Increase In MBS/Agency Debt
The Federal Reserve's balance sheet hit a new all time record of $2.2 Trillion in assets, after an $11 billion spike in MBS and Agency purchases week over week.  Securities held outright: $1,785 billion (an increase of $92 billion MoM, resulting from $2 billion in new Treasury purchases, which have tapered off at $776.5 billion, $79 billion increase in MBS and $12 billion in Agency Debt), or a $11 billion increase sequentially.  Net borrowings: $218 billion. Number for the November 25th week has not been updated.Float, liquidity swaps, Maiden Lane and other assets: $195 billion. The CPFF program was flat at $15.0 billi

Dubai Digits
Debt:United Arab Emirates (via Bank of America - Amortization figures only):Total Debt: $184 billionof which...Dubai:     $88 billionAbu Dhabi: $90 billionDubai:Due in:2010: $12.0 billion2011: $19.0 billion2012: $18.0 billion2013: $ 7.5 billion2014: $ 5.5 billionAbu Dhabi:Due in:2010: $ 8.5 billion2011: $14.7 billion2012: $10.0 billion2013: $12.4 billion2014: $ 9.4 billion

From The Man Behind The Paulson ABX Trade, Paolo Pellegrini, Comes The First Investor Letter And A 8
Unlike other funds, Pellegrini seems to enjoy blockbuster months: making 24% in December 2008 and 67% in January 2009, thanks to a "highly profitable strategy" of shorting "either Treasuries or the S&P but not both." Going short the S&P and long Treasuries at the beginning of 2009 explains the performance. For more on the Galleon neighbor (both have office space at 590 Madison), and Goldman PB client, read the letter below.    h/t LK

Daily Credit Summary: November 27 - DuSell; And Some Sovereign - Sen/Sub Observations
Commentary compliments of www.creditresearch.comSpreads (rather unsurprisingly) ended wider from Wednesday's close as HY broke above 700bps for the first time since Nov 7th and underperformed IG. Volumes were pretty decent for a holiday half-day and while we ended off the wides, having tracked stocks most of the day, the close was generally weak.Single-name breadth was very negative, at around 10-to-1, but indices underperformed intrinsics in all the major indices. IG saw its widest close since Nov 3rd as sovereign risk was up in pretty much all cases. Our discussion yesterday of SovX and this morning