(All the numbers are based on paper gains or losses, the firm cautioned).
The firm cautioned, however, that it had not yet secured the consent of its independent directors.
But the firm cautioned that the general environment for advisory businesses, including mergers and acquisitions, remained weak.
Shares in a British hedge fund manager, RAB Capital climbed over 7percentt Friday as broadly steady earnings indicated it's weathering weak markets relatively well, though the firm cautioned it's also facing a tough start to 2008.
Seeing how Lehman's collapse shocked the stock and credit markets, Robert Barbera, chief economist at ITG, an investment firm, cautioned that not bailing out the Big Three could prove short-sighted.
Donald P. Eisen, executive managing director of the New York area in the East Rutherford office of the Cushman & Wakefield, the commercial real estate services firm, cautioned: "The developers will have to get very lucky.
A steel analyst I have trusted for many years, Michelle Applebaum, the managing partner of Steel Market Intelligence, an equity research firm, cautioned me against leaping to conclusions, but added that if the decline in Chinese prices continued, "then, of course, it would be indicative that their rate of growth is slowing".
Margaret Gilliam, president of Gilliam & Company, an investment research firm, cautions that as Wal-Mart Supercenters make up a bigger part of the business, the company will look more like a supermarket chain, and investors "won't get the bang on the other side of the valley" when the recession ends.
However, the research firm cautioned that investors "will need a few quarters of patience for the story and valuation to unfold".
The research firm cautioned against the developing unanimity around Dow Chemical's upbeat prospects and an eagerness by analysts to top each other on peak views.
