LTCM `is making money again'

LONG-TERM Capital Management, the hedge fund at the centre of a $3.75bn bail-out in September, is starting to make money again, according to Wall Street insiders. The fund, founded by former Salomon Brothers star trader John Meriwether, has been profitable since the start of November after being down 5 per cent the previous month. Sources close to the fund say that while "nobody is declaring victory, the situation has stabilised."

The fund, which is now controlled by a consortium of 14 banks, including top Wall Street houses Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch as well Britain's Barclays Bank, has benefited from the recovery in the corporate bond markets that followed the cut in US interest rates last month.