Thursday's Headlines: Hedge Funds are Healthy and Small Guys are Making Ground

While hedge fund headlines may have seemed dire, "the industry as a whole has seen capital levels rebound from the lows of a few years ago," writes DealBook. While big-name funds have shuttered, smaller funds have benefited from an inflow of funds. Case-in-point: Vector Commodity Management, run by ex-Goldman trader Gilbert Saiz, is said to have gained 8.2 percent in February on its $258 million, beating much bigger rivals.

Other News

U.S. Libor probe now includes BofA, Citi, and UBS. [WSJ]

Equity derivatives exchange operator CBOE will offer options on a crude oil ETF. [Bloomberg]

BofA named India's billionaire chairman of Reliance Industries to its board as it grows its overseas operations. [BusinessWeek]

KKR seeks capital sources for its new buyout fund. [Reuters]

BlackRock is launching wrap programs for both large broker-dealers and independent advisers. [Investment News]

FDIC's tab paid to 165 failed banks nears $9 billion. [WSJ]

Four Houston banks miss their quarterly TARP payments, joining 138 other institutions. [Houston Business Journal]

Minkow to plead guilty in Lennar insider-trading case. [WSJ]

The Federal Reserve will grant banks including JPMorgan Chase and Capital One permission to pay higher dividends which will benefit CEOs. [NYTimes]

Brokerages going app crazy. [Bloomberg]