March 24, 2008 11:49AM

Cayman Islands: Blue Water and Sunny Weather

By Alexis Glick

Hi everyone! It’s me! I’m writing this blog from the Cayman Islands. I’m on vacation with my family, and we’re having a blast! I’ve never been here before. The water is crystal blue and nice and warm. Today is a little overcast so we are on our way to take our oldest two sons on a ride on a submarine. The submarine goes down between 80-100 feet. We are so excited!!!

Did you know that 80% of the hedge fund industry is domiciled in the Cayman Islands? I hosted Forbes on Fox this past weekend and some of the Forbes folks told me that as much as $1.4 trillion dollars are in offshore accounts here. Pretty big money….wouldn’t you say?

When I think of the Cayman Islands, I can’t help but think of the John Grisham novels and movies. I think of intrigue, mystery and lawyers fighting lawyers. Speaking of intrigue and mystery, I heard about JPMorgan’s increased bid for Bear Stearns. Ten dollars…..pretty good for JPM, especially given the fact that the office building in Manhattan is valued at slightly more than $1 billion. Will this make Bear shareholders happy? What’s to stop bond holders from bidding this stock even higher? Might this deal be headed to $15 or $20? What does this say about the financials? Have they bottomed out?

Speaking of financials, did you see this mornings New York Time’s article about what the jobs losses in the financial industry could do to New York real estate? It’s a great article. The finance industry accounts for a third of all wages earned in the city and each Wall Street job supports three others. What will this mean for real estate in Manhattan when as many as 14,000 Bear employees are at risk of losing their jobs? Read it. It may give you some insight into the success and growth of the financial industry!

That’s it for now. Need to go back to being with the munchkins! I’ll be back on Monday, March 31. Have a great week