Deal Makers Peering Into the Unknown

The investors, chief executives and economists at DealBook’s inaugural conference on Wednesday spoke candidly about their concerns in an uncertain environment. They warned of risks, like the fiscal impasse in Washington and the debt crisis in Europe, and identified opportunities. There was even a reference to Justin Bieber, when Paul Krugman admitted he had never heard the pop star’s music.

Jamie Dimon, the head of JPMorgan Chase, said his bank’s big trading loss this year “caused a little turmoil,” prompting a shake-up in the executive ranks. On his own plans, Mr. Dimon said he was “not suited” to be the next Treasury secretary. Lloyd C. Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, who had previously said his wife read the newspaper for him, is reading the papers himself now, he said. Mr. Blankfein added that there was a “close to 100 percent” probability that the next leader of Goldman would be someone now working at the firm.

There was plenty of bank-and-forth on investment strategies. Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates was bullish on emerging markets, saying the squeeze on their currencies was largely over. Stephen A. Schwarzman said the Blackstone Group was moving into high-yielding bank debt with floating interest rates, while David M. Rubenstein of the Carlyle Group said New York City apartments above the 60th floor were selling at bubble prices. When asked about insider trading, Mr. Schwarzman offered a personal anecdote about Dennis Levine, the banker at the center of the 1980s scandals, who, Mr. Schwarzman said, was stealing his deals while they were colleagues at Lehman Brothers.

GUILTY PLEA FOR ‘TIGER CUB’ FUND  |  The insider trading charges continue to pile up. On Wednesday, Bill Hwang, a protégé of the hedge fund manager Julian Robertson, entered a guilty plea of wire fraud on behalf of his fund, Tiger Asia, DealBook’s Peter Lattman reports. Federal prosecutors, who did not charge Mr. Hwang himself, said the trading scheme generated about $17 million in illegal profits.

Mr. Hwang and his head trader, Ray Park, also settled a parallel lawsuit brought against them by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Lattman writes: “Mr. Hwang and his fund will pay $44 million in fines, and he agreed to a five-year ban from the securities industry. Mr. Park agreed to a three-year ban.” The case is part of the government’s broader crackdown on insider trading, and it is a black eye for Mr. Robertson, who has mentored a group of protégés known as Tiger cubs. At its peak, Tiger Asia managed more than $5 billion.

SAC Capital Advisors is beginning to feel the effects of the government’s investigation, as six of its former employees have been linked to insider trading. Some SAC investors “have begun to contemplate thinking about perhaps withdrawing money” from the hedge fund, Jesse Eisinger writes in his column, The Trade. “Congratulations. What took them so long?”

Investors pressure hedge fund managers to generate returns but “seem to demonstrate little interest in whether the person is ethical and trustworthy. Shouldn’t their threshold be a wee bit higher?” Mr. Eisinger writes. “Many institutional investors have so perfected the art of looking the other way that they make bystanders on a New York City subway platform look like models of social responsibility.” The head of SAC, Steven A. Cohen, has been called the Michael Jordan of investing. But, Mr. Eisinger says, “what if he is the Lance Armstrong?”

SOLARCITY’S TEPID RECEPTION  |  Investors are less than thrilled with SolarCity, a company that installs solar panels for homeowners. After a delay, the company priced its initial public offering well below its earlier estimates, selling 11.5 million shares at $8 apiece and raising about $92 million. The expectation had been to price shares at $13 and $15 each to raise as much as $151 million.

SolarCity is the first clean tech company to stage an I.P.O. in some time, and its performance will be closely watched for signs about the prospects of the industry. Its stock is expected to begin trading on Thursday. In an Op-Ed essay in The New York Times, David Crane, president of the energy company NRG, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. write that “the economics makes sense” to bring solar power to more customers. “All we need is the political will.”

ON THE AGENDA  |  The House Financial Services Committee conducts a hearing at 9 a.m. on the effect of the Volcker Rule on markets and businesses. Data on retail sales for November is out at 8:30 a.m. The Producer Price Index for November is also out at 8:30 a.m. Joe Echeverria, chief executive of Deloitte, is on Bloomberg TV at 3:20 p.m. Adobe Systems reports results after the market closes.

FINANCIERS SALUTE THE BOSS  |  Wall Street bigwigs showed up at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday for the 12-12-12 benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Sandy. The program was a marathon of rock legends like Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Jon Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney. In attendance: Gary Cohn of Goldman Sachs and the hedge fund managers William A. Ackman and Whitney Tilson, according to DealBook’s Michael J. de la Merced. Lloyd C. Blankfein was also there, according to Bloomberg News. David Gura of Marketplace snapped a picture of the Goldman Sachs chief.