Lunchtime Links: Hedge fund managers decide idleness is probably preferable to trading

We're slightly late with this, but in the absence of anything more exciting and with a long weekend in sight, we'd like to draw your attention to an article in the New York Observer which suggests hedge fund managers are giving up on trading because it's too much hassle.

Paolo Pellegrini, for example, who left John Paulson to set up his own fund, returned money to investors after a terrible year, claiming that "substantial additional work" would be required to achieve consistent profits.

The Observer identifies several catalysts for hedge fund managers' decision to do nothing: they make loads of money, then have a bad year and can't be bothered to meet with irritating investors; they get so big that it's no fun any more; or investors withdraw all their cash.

One former hedge fund manager is quoted (after achieving 870% returns in 2008) as saying: "Nearly everyone will be forgotten. Give up on leaving your mark. Throw the BlackBerry away and enjoy life." The time-consumingness of successful hedge fund managing may have something to do with the enjoyment urge: Greg Coffey is rumoured to work 20 hour days.

Vikram Pandit urges employees to get a little R&R. (Dealbreaker)

Offices are currently filled with despair and inertia as people start to return from their holidays, feeling sluggish. (Financial Times)

Felix Dennis: money is a vehicle to facilitate the writing of poetry and planting of trees. (Financial Times)

Rising commodity prices contribute to a 42% increase in first half net income at Glencore. (Financial Times)

Evolution is doing rather well. (Evening Standard)

BNP Paribas has hired a very senior equity derivatives strategist from Citigroup. (Bloomberg)

How much can the booming M&A make up for weak trading? Very little, it turns out. (Financial News)

Ex-Merrill Lynch operations chief now serving up scampi. (Observer)

Britons are most free to travel without a visa. (Economist)