Bear Stearns was under tremendous pressure on the weekend of June 17. Two hedge funds managed by the company were near collapse.

What did Richard Marin, chief of the asset management unit that oversees the funds, do? He went to the movies. Then he blogged about the film, Mr. Brooks. (Marin gave it a thumbs down.)

“I had been working 24-7 on this thing. Taking a small amount of time to clear my head seemed reasonable,” he told the New York Times.

Does the Securities and Exchange Commission favor business over investors?

Absolutely not, says chairman Chairman Christopher Cox, a former free-market Republican congressman.

David Beckham and wife, Victoria - former Spice Girl Posh Spice, move to ZIP code 90210 this week, as Beckham joins the Galaxy.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Beckham will be able to party as hard in California as he has in Europe. With endorsement deals with Adidas, PepsiCo and Gillette, the world’s richest soccer star made an estimated $33 million last year. His new contract could be worth as much as $250 million in salary and endorsements.

The Beckham home in Beverly Hills, dubbed Beckingham Palace West, is a $22-million, 13,000-square-foot mansion near friends Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

Paris Hilton may be on her way to becoming the Kevin Bacon of her generation.

How is the celebrity jailbird related to private hedge fund baron Stephen A. Schwarzman?

Through Hilton hotels, of course. Schwarzman’s company, Blackstone Group announced yesterday that it would buy the hotel chain for $18.5 billion plus debt. Blackstone already owns LaQuinta Inns and LXR Luxury Resorts.

As the Times notes today, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire gives him an array of tools to advance his interests.

Starting with one newspaper in Australia, he has built and acquired a vast network of newspapers, broadcast companies and web sites.
Murdoch has shown increasing sophistication in getting his way regardless of the political climate. News Corp. employs a battery of lobbyists, including the very connected Anthony Podesta.

To the surprise of some, Murdoch’s sizeable political donations in the U.S. favor Republicans only slightly. The Times reports that Republicans received 56 percent of the $4.76 million contributed since 1997 by the Murdoch family and related PACs.

The biggest beneficiaries of Blackstone Group’s public company debut last week were co-founders Stephen Schwarzman and Pete Peterson.

Schwarzman’s 24-percent stake in the investment firm is worth $7.7 billion and he could earn $677 million from the IPO, according to The New York Times. Peterson, who retains 4 percent ownership of the firm, earned $1.88 billion from the offering.

All is not what it seems on the island.

The survivors of the crash of Ocean Flight 815 have untold connections that viewers of the hit ABC show Lost glimpse in strobe-like flashbacks.

The astute viewer (addict would be more appropriate) knows more than the characters. Jack and Claire, for example, have no idea that they’re step-siblings. Nor has Jack learned that Shannon’s father was in a car accident with Sarah, Jack’s future wife. Jack, the physician on duty, chose to save Sarah but not Shannon’s father.