If you think that the past 12 months have had any impact on the "2/20" hedge fund pricing model, please say hi to the Easter Bunny for me.

According to Bloomberg News, reductions from the 2% fee based on assets under management and 20% of investment gains aren't coming anytime soon. Further, the hedge fund community will only trade money for other advantages -- such as longer lockup periods and high minimum commitments (e.g., of at least $100 million).

And, it's worse if the fund is a top performer. After all, why change if you're making money? It seems that there's nothing quite like results for shutting up limited partners.

Analyst upgrades:

• Friedman Billings upgraded Synovus (NYSE: SNV) to Market Perform from Underperform on valuation following the recent weakness. BASF (OTC: BASFY) and Akzo Nobel (OTC: AKZOY) were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS on valuation and believes cash flows can cover the company's dividend.
• JP Morgan upgraded H.B. Fuller (NYSE: FUL) to Overweight from Neutral citing benefits from lower raw material costs.
• CA, Inc (NASDAQ: CA) was added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
• Goldman removed Boeing (NYSE: BA) from the Conviction Sell List.
• WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc.

• Oppenheimer downgraded Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA) to Perform from Outperform following the company's Q3 results as they believe a recovery of revenue from ZT Online will take longer than expected.
• Friedman Billings cut Walter Industries (NYSE: WLT) to Market Perform from Outperform as they believe the decline in steel demand will pressure met coal prices. The company's target was lowered to $30 from $53.
• Citigroup downgraded shares of Atlas Pipeline (NYSE: AHD) Holdings to Sell from Hold as they believe the company could potentially be in violation of its debt covenants as early as Q1. The company's target was lowered to $4 from $31.
• Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) was removed from Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
• Dover (NYSE: DOV) and Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR) were downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that after years of rapid grows, many hedge funds are shutting their doors or merging with others, as expansion has dramatically slowed. As a result, the industry is being dominated mostly by big firms, such as Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE: OZM), D.E. Shaw & Co., and Paulson and Co.
• Shares of Ctrip.com International Ltd (NASDAQ: CTRP), China's major Internet travel booker with about 58% of the country's online travel business, have dropped about 30% in the last six weeks alone creating a possible buying opportunity, according to the Wall Street Journal's "Heard in Asia". Travel in China is expected to grow solidly in the long-term and Ctrip.com said it expects revenue to grow 30% for the three months ending June 30 from a year earlier.
• In a move that could potentially usher in a new phase in the credit crunch, the Financial Times reported that The Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) is said to be close to finalizing a plan to restructure a $7B investment vehicle formerly run by Cheyne Capital, a London-based hedge fund.

• The Washington Post reported the proposed merger between XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: XMSR) and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc (NASDAQ: SIRI) was under fire yesterday by senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who said the deal does not provide enough opportunities for minority-owned programming.

For hedge funder operator Och-Ziff (NYSE: OZM), it's been a wild ride since its IPO in November, mostly downhill. The company's stock price has gone from $32.80 to $20.02.

But this week things have been improving. Och-Ziff announced a fairly good earnings report. For example, the firm posted distributable earnings of $505.5 million, or $1.27 per share. What's more, assets under management spiked 48% to $33.4 billion.

Yes, with such amounts, it doesn't take too much work to generate juicy fee income. And Och-Ziff has produced consistent returns. Keep in mind that the firm has an opportunistic approach to investing, which includes exotic strategies and broad global reach.

And yes, the firm thinks that the recent market turbulence is presenting some good investment options. Och-Ziff said it plans to devote 10% of its $20 billion OZ Master Fund to the beaten-down credit market -- including even residential mortgages.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Last Wednesday, the mega hedge fund Och-Ziff went public. But investors were jittery and the stock has already dropped 12.5% since its debut.

Well, it may drop even more -- that is, according to a piece in Barron's [a paid service]. In fact, the author, Andrew Bary, calls the company's investment performance an example of "mediocrity."

The current market value of Och-Ziff is about $10.8 billion, which means it is trading at about 18 times earnings. So, on its face, this seems reasonable, right?

Well, you need to make some adjustments. First of all, there is the favorable tax treatment (which may undergo some changes in Congress).

Next, Och-Ziff relies primarily on hefty fees for its investment performance. But, what if the firm has a down year? It could be a big hit to the bottom line.

Just imagine if hedge fund giant Och-Ziff (NYSE: OZM) went public earlier this year. It certainly would have been a stellar performer. Unfortunately, the public offering came Wednesday with the stock falling 4.2% to $30.65.

Ironically, Och-Ziff seems well-positioned for the volatile markets. Since 1994, the CEO of the firm, Daniel Och, has built a global franchise that spans the markets in the US, Asia and Europe. What's more, he has taken a multi-strategy approach, which involves merger arb, convertible arb, equity restructuring, distressed credit investments and so on.

More importantly, Och-Ziff is a big believer in strong risk management. In fact, this was a key for the firm's strong performance in 2001-2002.

As a result, Och-Ziff has picked up a large amount of assets (the current amount is about $30 billion). In fact, the mega sovereign fund, Dubai International Capital, agreed to invest $1.15 billion in the firm.

With the awful performances of the IPOs of Blackstone (NYSE: BX) and Fortress (NYSE: FIG), it was no surprise that Wall Street was lukewarm on Och-Ziff. Taking the long view on things, however, the growth prospects look promising as major investors seek out diversified alternative asset managers.

The lead underwriters on the Och-Ziff deal include Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH).

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Within a week or so, the hedge fund Och-Ziff should have its IPO. But the firm is already raising lots of dough.

That is, Och-Ziff has announced that Dubai International Capital LLC has invested $1.26 billion in the firm. This amounts to a stake of 9.9% and a price per share of $33.

Keep in mind that the current price range on the offering is $30-$33.

With the Middle East bulging with dollars, it's no surprise that we are seeing reinvestment back into the US. After all, Carlyle recently snagged $1.35 billion from Abu Dhabi.

And, of course, Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) snagged $3 billion from the Chinese government (which also has tons of cash).