Briac

* The science of economic bubbles and busts. * Bain Capital on GOME: "It's certainly a hairy situation." * Bill Taylor decodes Steve Jobs: Trust the art, not the artist. * Morning Call: U.S. futures are flat, London rises early, European shares extend gains, the Nikkei slips 1% and Chinese shares keep gaining. * Back to the (recent) Future: "Material Adverse Change" is The Big Money's word of the week. * How the NY Times worked with Wikipedia to keep news of David Rhode's kidnapping a secret. * Daniel Indiviglio: Is Goldman Sachs the root of all evil? * Epicurian Dealmaker on the Harvard MBA oath. * J. David Foster: How drought fosters entrepreneurship (h/t Kedrosky).

* Worldwide Q2 M&A Review * When the leeches come for Jacko's money, they'll be knocking on Fortress Investment Group's door. * Bruce Bartlett: Why isn't the stimulus stimulating? * Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, London up early on crude, Europe gains on financials and commodities, the Nikkei rises 0.8% and Hong Kong shares keep rising. * Bob Borchers has stepped down as Apple's global head of product marketing for iPhone, in order to join a VC firm. * Felix Salmon rips "John Carney's bizarre crusade against the CRA." Lots of comments section activity on this, including from Carney.

* Delphi defends its dealings with Platinum Equity, as its lenders continue to howl. * A new lawsuit accuses Cerberus and Centerbridge Partners of hatching a “Machiavellian” plot to force Extended Stay into bankruptcy, which allegedly benefitted the two senior lenders at the expense of mezz debt holders. * Is economic optimism caused by economic optimism? * Morning Call: U.S. futures point higher, London lowers on commodities, European shares extend losses, the Nikkei climbs 2.2% on tech and Chinese shares rise to 1-year high. * Reminder: VCJ's conference for cleantech VCs is today in Palo Alto. * Matt Taibbi on Goldman Sachs: The Great American Bubble Machine. * Bruce Carter of ZymoGenetics: TB isn't going away, and pharma isn't ignoring it.

Private equity firms have a penchant for naming themselves after rocks, trees or... themselves. But a 1970s jazz-rock band? Pretty sure that's a new one. The firm is Blood, Sweat & Capital LLC, a Texas shop focused on the healthcare services space. "We met with a lot of healthcare executives when we were setting things up, and one of them mentioned that we should run a name contest through the Internet," says Pat Abele, a BS&T partner who has served as CEO for both New West Health Service and the Catholic Health Care Network. "There were probably a thousand different names submitted, and Blood Sweat & Capital really resonated with us. Maybe it's because of our ages, or maybe it's because we're putting lots and lots of sweat in along with our money."

* Mark Suster: How to cold call a venture capitalist. * Blackstone vs. Blackrock: How to tell them apart. * We spend way more on our moms than on our dads. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, London falls early, European shares drag, the Nikkei climbs and both China and Hong Kong post gains. * Jack Welch lends his name and cash to an online university being run by the guy who brought us Grand Canyon Education and Bridgepoint Education. The MBA program will be named after Welch. * The fund management sector is poised for a wave of mergers. Will private equity step up? * Maybe VCs have been doing it all wrong. Instead of waiting for the IPO window to reopen or for an opportunistic M&A exit, perhaps they should just sell their stakes on a private market exchange like SharesPost. After all, if Tesla can get an absurd $1 billion valuation...

* KKR is rethinking plans for its un-IPO, which would have seen the firm list in New York without actually offering up new shares. Instead, KKR may just buy out shareholders in its Amsterdam-listed affiliate, who currently are slated to be rolled up into the New York "offering." So much time and attention paid to this so far, and so little to show for it... * Henry Blodget: "Buried in Obama's financial reform plan is a requirement to make stockbrokers act in the best interests of their clients ("fiduciary responsibility"). This would replace the current conduct standard, which merely requires brokers not to stuff their clients accounts full of products they would be crazy to buy ("suitability")." * The debt commitment connundrum. * Morning Call: U.S. futures up despite RIM dissapointment, London edges higher, European stocks rise on banks and commodities, the Nikkei posts its worst week in three months and Hong Kong recoups some losses.

* Paul Kedrosky considers (and reconsiders) the venture capital's ability to pose systemic risk. * Just a week ago, it looked like Platinum Equity had Delphi Corp. all to itself (which sounds kind of like having eczema all to yourself). Then a judge opened up the process, and the bankrupt auto parts company's lenders are now considering a bid. * Morning Call: U.S. futures are mixed, London opens flat, Europe extends losing streak, the Nikkei loses 1.4% and both Hong Kong and Shanghai rise. * What kind of sharks are Bank of America sharks? * Kleiner Perkins backs another e-vehicle startup, and has brought T. Boone Pickens along for the ride. * Has the chip market turned the corner? Freescale's investors sure hope so... * All Twitter, all the time: Who's investing in Twitter startups? The NVCA begins Twittering at www.twitter.com/nvca. For a full list of VC tweetheads, go to www.venturemaven.com (thx @bfeld).

* James Pethokoukis: Bill Clinton for Fed chairman. * David Margolick: What did Madoff's sons know? * Paul Kedrosky: The case for California defaulting, even if it won't. * A group of E Ink shareholders may try to block the company's $215 million sale to Prime View International. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point higher, London slides, European stocks hit 3-week low, the Nikkei edges up and Hong Kong drops. * Goldman Sachs regrets that it "participated in market euphoria." * 3i Group's annual report says that senior executives will not receive bonuses or raises this year.

* Paul Volcker: Private equity and hedge funds don't need to be regulated like banks. * Larry Cheng of Fidelity Ventures writes about his original meeting with Facebook, back when it was an unknown startup called TheFacebook. Larry was with Battery Ventures at the time, but declines to throw his ex-bosses under the bus for passing on the investment (which perhaps could have kept the company in Boston). He's kinder than I would have been... * Morning Call: U.S. futures point flat to lower, London rises early, Europe flattens as financials weigh, the Nikkei has its worst day in over two months and Hong Kong shares pull back. * Dear John Thain on making financial networks useful. I agree with him in theory, but the end product could be so boring that no one except financial bloggers would watch. * Might Jack Connors and Steve Pagliuca team up in their efforts to acquire The Boston Globe? Beth Healy reports that it's possible, and it would make all the sense in the world. Both men view this mostly as a civic rescue, so why compete? Only caveat would be if they don't get along (and I have no idea, but will try to find out).

* Tim Geithner & Larry Summers: The case for financial regulatory reform. * U.S. regulators are drafting rules that would make it easier for PE firms to invest in banks. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, London falls early, European shares fall, the Nikkei slumps on chipmakers and Chinese shares are lifted by the Ping An deal. * Retail bankruptcies are expected to increase. * Marc Andreesen and Ben Horowitz raise $300 million for their debut VC fund. Somewhere, a disciplined LP cries. * Bill Frezza of Adams Capital Management: How the Chrysler creditor situation is affecting the NHL. * Heart-wrenching: A dying girl in Costa Rica finds a cure to her rare disease, made by Cambridge, Mass.-based Genzyme. But it may cost more than her country is willing to pay, and Genzyme won't budge on the $160k per year cost.