Back in September, we reported that Dan Loeb had been sued by the moving company that helped the hedge fund tycoon and his wife settle into their $45 million apartment at 15 Central Park West. The Observer has a follow-up to the story and reports the suit has been settled. The prickly financier agreed to pay $82,500 to make the case go away—a bit less than the $98,699 the moving company was demanding—mostly because Loeb couldn't stand the idea of wasting any more of his precious time sitting in court. [NYO, previously]

Most people who show up at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade have to press up against thousands of other people to catch a glimpse of the spectacle; some have been known to turn up before sunrise to snag a choice spot. But some lucky folks got really lucky this year. Who, you ask? People like Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and hedge fund mogul Dan Loeb, that's who.

Hedge fund mogul Dan Loeb paid $45 million for one of the city's poshest apartments last year, a 10,000-square-foot penthouse at 15 Central Park West. His move-in, however, didn't go so smoothly, it seems. It's unclear what took place precisely, but the moving company that Loeb and his wife Margaret hired to help them settle in, Auer's Moving & Rigging, filed a lawsuit against the couple in Manhattan Supreme Court earlier this year claiming breach of contract. (Panorama on the Park LLC, which is also listed as a defendant, is the company Loeb set up to acquire the property.) The high-end moving company is demanding that Loeb cough up the $98,689.07 which it says it's owed. Last week, though, an attorney for the Loebs responded to the suit by filing a motion to dismiss. So what went wrong? Was the prickly hedge fund manager's grand piano damaged by a faulty crane? Did a burly mover accidentally step on Biggie, the couple's miniature pinscher? The legal papers don't indicate why Loeb decided to withhold payment—let's hope that Biggie wasn't harmed—but you can review the documents for yourself below.

"Investors say they are getting more promotional material from hedge funds than ever before, as funds seek to replenish assets withdrawn or lost because of negative performance during the financial crisis." Does this mean you may find Dan Loeb shoving a flyer under your door in the near future? Not necessarily. But you probably shouldn't rule it out either. [Reuters]

• The market is kicking off the week on a positive note. [CNN, WSJ]
• The investigation into Bernie Madoff's scheme is now focused on some of his biggest investors: Jeffry Picower, Stanley Chais, and Carl Shapiro. [WSJ]
• Bradley Ruderman, the founder of LA-based Ruderman Capital Partners, has been arrested and is charged with bilking investors out of $44 million. [DB]
• Steve Rattner is making waves again, although it has nothing to do with the unfolding pension fund scandal. It's his construction of a $15 million summer home on Martha's Vineyard that is now angering neighbors. [P6]

Hedge fund manager Dan Loeb hasn't had the easiest time as of late. Heavy losses forced him to dismiss a number of employees at the end of 2008 and the $5 billion he managed a year ago had dwindled to $1.8 billion last month. But Loeb is nothing if not crafty and he's since come up with a handful of way to cut costs and raise cash. He started renting out his jet on an hourly basis a few months ago, and he put an extra $5.5 million in his pocket when he sold off his carriage house in the West Village back in March. And now he's done it again.

It's a good thing hedge fund manager Dan Loeb sold off his carriage house a couple of months ago and is now renting out his jet on an hourly basis. Despite some peppiness on his part, these are clearly tough times for the notoriously temperamental hedge funder. According to his most recent letter to investors, Loeb's firm, Third Point, is currently managing just $1.8 billion, down from more than $5 billion a year ago. And he's been forced to cut staff, too, although the people he kicked to the curb were accountants, techies, and admins, so it's not like it's a big deal or anything. Of course, if he gets really desperate, there are other ways to cut the fat. He could vow to never give fameseeker Julia Allison another free trip on his plane, starters. See? Scaling back in a recession isn't that hard, after all. [Zero Hedge]

• Good news for billionaire(?) Dan Loeb: His hedge fund may have seen better days, but he's $5.5 million richer now that he's successfully sold his carriage house at 7 MacDougal Alley to art gallery director Gordon Veneklasen. It's a tad less than the $7 million he was looking for back in October, but he still has that $45 million condo at 15 CPW, so you don't have to worry about Dan just yet. [Cityfile]
• So much for that rental at 40 Mercer: The Post now says the newly-engaged Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone may have picked up a 4,500-square-foot spread in the Robert A.M. Stern-designed Superior Ink development for $13 million. [NYP]
• Bruce Wilcox, an exec at Cumberland Associates, has put the townhouse at 125 East 62nd Street he bought for $8.5 million in 2005 on the market for $9.45 million. [Cityfile, Sotheby's]

Here's comforting news for investors in Dan Loeb's hedge fund, especially those who may have been under the assumption the hedgie's been hard at work to make up for his disastrous performance in 2008: Loeb spent time at the World Economic Forum in Davos hanging out with fameseekers Julia Allison and Meghan Asha, and kindly flew the duo back to New York aboard his (rentable!) Gulfstream jet. We're sure his pleasant-sounding wife is positively delighted. [Gawker]

• Did Lindsay Lohan split up with Samantha Ronson? Is she now in "complete denial" about it? And what's going on with her and Sean Penn? All good questions! [P6]
• Graydon Carter's plan to win over neighborhood critics of the Waverly has been revealed: He gives them tables at the restaurant and puts their pictures in Vanity Fair and, sure enough, his foes magically turn into friends. [P6]
• On the View yesterday, Tom Cruise described the death of Jett Travolta as "horrific," but said that Scientology had absolutely nothing to do with it. You've been warned, people. [People]
• Remember Lisa Bonet? Well, she just had a baby girl who she named Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa. Yes, she stole the name you were planning to use. [NYDN]

Today may be Dan Loeb's 47th birthday, but the billionaire hedge fund manager didn't take the day off work to hang out at his mansion in East Hampton or tool around his $45 million apartment at 15 Central Park West. Did he turn up at the office today? Did the Loebs go on vacation? We have no clue, but we're pleased to report that despite the market losses he's sustained recently (and that little issue with his Gulfstream jet), he still has an "estate manager" on the payroll. Comforting news in these troubled times! We would recommend, however, that the Loebs consider upgrading the home answering machine at their Hamptons house. That thing sounds dreadful. [Cityfile voicemails]

This isn't an easy time for Dan Loeb. (The billionaire hedge funder was forced to start renting his Gulfstream jet by the hour recently.) But hopefully he'll get a chance to enjoy the big day: He turns 47 today. Others celebrating: Katie Holmes is turning 30. Brad Pitt is 45. Steven Spielberg is 62. Christina Aguilera is turning 28. PR guru/filmmaker Dan Klores is 59. Randi Weingarten is 51. Memorial Sloan-Kettering chief (and Nobel Prize winner) Harold Varmus is turning 69. Keith Richards is turning 65. Model agency owner Faith Kates is turning 51. Ray Liotta is 54. Former Miss USA Tara Conner is 23. And troublemaking rapper DMX is turning 38.

We've reported on a number of companies (Citigroup, Travelers, Bristol-Myers) that have been looking to unload their expensive corporate jets in recent weeks as the U.S. heads into a deep recession. Dan Loeb, the prickly hedge fund manager best known for castigating CEOs for their profligate spending, demonstrates another path to reducing costs in these challenging economic times: He's renting his plane out to other people. Yes, for $5,800 an hour, you can take 12 of your closest friends for a ride on Loeb's Gulfstream IV-SP, a fact you'll be reminded of every time you look out of the window since the "TP" stamped on the tail reflects the name of his hedge fund, Third Point. (You can contact Key Air if you're interesting in making a reservation.) After the jump, a few photos of the interior and the creamy leather seats where Loeb sits in front of his laptop and drafts those vicious letters of his.

♦ Hugh Jackman has reportedly gone into contract on a triplex apartment at 176 Perry Street for more than $25 million. The 11,032-square-foot spread, which was originally listed for $40 million and later dropped to $33 million in April, is owned by Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy. [NYO]
♦ Tech exec/art collector Roy Judelson and his wife Mary paid $10.5 mil. for a four-bedroom spread at 33 East 70th Street. Their new neighbors will include Joan Didion and Marina Rust Connor. [Cityfile]
♦ Now that he's settling in at 15 CPW, Dan Loeb has put his carriage house at 7 MacDougal Alley on the market for $7 million. The 4,000-square-foot home features a roof deck, media room, and wine cellar. [Curbed]

The Post has spotted a new real estate trend: apparently quite a few people have paid more than $45 million for apartments and townhouses recently. This "new stratosphere" includes Harry Macklowe ($60mm), J. Christopher Flowers ($53mm), Phil Falcone ($49mm), Dan Loeb ($45.8mm), Jon Tisch ($48mm) and Len Blavatnik, who paid $50 million to acquire a 15,000-square-foot townhouse from "Seagram's president Edgar Bronfman Jr." Bronfman hasn't served as the president of Seagram for about a decade now. But let this slip-up serve as a lesson to us all! If you take over your father's immensely valuable liquor empire and then sell off the pieces to fund your misguided investments in the music and film industries—and lose billions of your family's money in the process—you may be forced to downsize.

You didn't think Dan Loeb had a heart, did you? Not withstanding the hedge fund mogul's rep for writing vicious letters to CEOs and otherwise terrifying underperforming management teams, Loeb likes to give a couple of bucks to charity from time to time, too. At least he was good for $778,615 in 2006. Where did the money go? He gave 100K to the Jewish Enrichment Center and 75K to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. The public radio station WNYC wasn't as lucky: The billionaire gave the non-profit $100. The one-time ladies' man does, however, seem to have a bit more sympathy for young anorexic women: Loeb made out a check for $250 to the National Eating Disorder Association. The entirety of his charitable activities for 2006 after the jump.

• Despite incessant talk of the real estate bubble bursting, not only are resale prices at 15 Central Park West holding up, they're soaring. Dan Loeb's $45 million penthouse is looking like the bargain of the century! [NY Mag]

The founder of Third Point LLC, Dan Loeb is Wall Street's poison pen—a hedge fund manager whose letters to derelict corporate managers not only produce spectacular investment returns but also provide entertaining reading.