After an extended absence, hedge fund manager and trader extraordinaire Cash McDash is BACK... and today he reveals his true identity (along with some other very exciting news). Don't miss it!

Those of you who have been reading for a while will remember my old pal Cash McDash.

(For those who don't recognize the name, it's the pseudonym for a hedge fund manager friend of mine - a fellow trader I've known for nearly a decade.)

It's been a while since Cash made an appearance in these pages, so I'm excited to have him back. In fact, today is even better because Cash is going to "take off the mask"... that is to say, he's going to reveal his true identity for the first time (along with some exciting news).

And by the way, I know the fact that Cash McDash actually has a real name might come as a shock to some of you. (I've had more than one colleague ask me if Cash is a fictional character.)

I can assure you, he's no caffeine-fueled hallucination. The VIP Inner Circle members who attended our San Francisco conference a few months ago can attest to this too, as they had the chance to meet the man in person.

So without further ado, here we go...

JL: Say hey, long time no chat! How long has it been anyway? About a million years?

CASH: Feels that way doesn't it, what with all the craziness since we last talked.

JL: So what's been going on in your life? Care to enlighten the legions of readers who missed the trader stylings of ol' Cash McDash?

CASH: What's going on, hmm... you mean from a professional standpoint or a personal standpoint? Or is that a backdoor way for you to check up on my mental health?

JL: All the above I suppose. Though I don't really have much call to question your mental health. That would be like the pot calling the kettle black.

CASH: True. Well as you know, even with all the insanity of markets these past few months, the McDash household recently had an even more momentous event.

JL: Having to do with your trip to the hospital at the end of October.

CASH: Yep. Mrs. McDash and I checked into the hospital on October 24th (thankfully one of the calmer days the market has seen as of late). By the 26th, we were driving home with two little pink car-seats in the back.

JL: TWINS! On behalf of the whole Taipan community... Congratulations!

CASH: Thanks! Mom and babies are doing really well... although the 3 A.M. feedings can be a bit rough. But we're adjusting and certainly enjoying the family time.

JL: Speaking of family time, that's a natural lead-in to the other question... What's going on in your professional life?

CASH: Ah yes, the rough-and-tumble hedge fund world. Well, as the proud father of two beautiful new baby girls I can tell you... I've gained a new appreciation for the joys and quirks of a home office.

JL: Does that mean you're mellowing out then?

CASH: Mellow? Me? Oh heck no! I'm still just as excited as ever about the markets. I still love being in the turret day after day, digging up dirt on stocks that deserve the daylights shorted out of ‘em... and of course finding those diamonds in the rough set to soar for huge gains.

JL: So you're the same old Cash, but...

CASH: But I'm ready to take a slightly different angle now. Rather than breaking my back for ultra-wealthy clients and thrashing it out in the dog-eat-dog hedge fund world each day, I want to take a new tack. I want to research and write about the investing and trading ideas I'm truly passionate about, without being distracted by the zillion-and-one extra headaches that make a hedgie's life such a grind.

JL: So our resident hedge fund manager is now a retired hedge fund manager?

CASH: In a manner of speaking, yeah. But that doesn't mean I'll be wearing plaid pants and white shoes out on the golf course --

JL: Not there's anything wrong with that.

CASH: Umm, right. As I was saying... rather than full on "retiring" from my eight year role with a $100 million dollar shop, I look forward to putting the paperwork and road shows and client distractions aside now and just digging into markets more deeply than ever.

JL: Right on. I'm really looking forward to having you as a part of the Taipan team - and especially doing our back and forth in Taipan Daily on a more regular basis again.

CASH: Me too. I think it will be fun doing more of that macro / micro thing, where you're "macro man" and I'm "micro man." Since your forte is top down and mine is bottom up, our views really mesh well together.

JL: No doubt. That's practically just an extension of what we're always chatting about behind the scenes anyway... me laying out the big picture elements and market scenarios, and you filling in the rich detail work with all the industries and individual companies you know like the back of your hand.

CASH: Yep. And then of course there's the trading - I could never give up the trading.

JL: Indeed. Now that you've got the time to do more writing for Taipan, tell us a little bit about what's in store there.

CASH: Well as you know, it's all based on the bedrock foundation of my eight years in the hedge fund world. The area of market coverage I was responsible for - and the area that I still love - is companies less than five years old.

JL: "Companies less than five years old"... that's a pretty interesting distinction.

CASH: It really is. My universe is what you might call "new growth" - everything from IPOs and secondary issues to highly liquid companies that have been around a few years but are still full of vim and vigor. This distinction lets me follow all kinds of interesting new companies, investing and trading in them over the full extent of the "life cycle" - from the big IPO debut, to the 12 to 18 month run-up for 300% to 500% gains, and then to the "shooting star" period where the high flyers flame out like comets and come crashing back to earth.

JL: It's almost like you're a wildlife biologist, putting radio tags on these newborn companies and then following them through their most rapid stages of growth.

CASH: Hmm. I never thought of it that way, but sure, why not.

JL: And a key thing is you can go long and short these high flyers at various points in the cycle.

CASH: Oh absolutely. You recall all those old war stories about triple-digit gains I booked going long on a name, then turning and killing it again as a short on the way back down.

JL: Indeed I do. And you've made some very respectable bucks for readers with a few of your specific trade calls right here in Taipan Daily (not to mention the joint work we do in IPO Confidential). I particularly remember e-mails from grateful readers who made a killing on names like VMWare and Chipotle.

CASH: Those were some pretty good plays. And there will be plenty more too. I look forward to having both an investing and trading service so we can split out the longer-term ideas with the potential to provide excellent investment returns, and the high octane stuff that can deliver big gains in a matter of days to weeks.

JL: Now yer talkin' - that's the Cash McDash I know so well.

CASH:: Except I guess you'll have to stop calling me Cash McDash huh? We're supposed to "take off the mask" today right?

JL: You're right! Duh. I almost forgot. It just got so easy after doing it this long - and now that I think about it, I almost never type out your real name in real life. When we talk over instant messenger, I just use your initials, ZDS. And when we talk on the phone I just call you "man" or "bro" or "dude" or "knucklehead"...

CASH:: Ha ha, true. So are you gonna do the reveal, or should I?

JL: I guess I'll do it. Imaginary drum roll, and.... Hello world, meet my old friend Zach Scheidt. To be more specific, Zachary D. Scheidt, retired hedge fund manager and trader extraordinaire. That's the man and that's the name. Speaking of which, for those of you wondering - his last name rhymes with "smite."

CASH: ZACH: "Smite?" Why the heck did you pick an oddball word like "smite?" You could have said my last name rhymes with white... or fight... or bright...

JL: Or blight or plight or height - I know. I just figured that choice would yank your chain a little.

ZACH: Well it's good to know some things haven't changed I guess.

JL: Indeed not. I look forward to a lot more back and forth between us - and to trading these markets six ways to Sunday in the months ahead. We're going to ramp Taipan Daily up to a whole new level and make a truckload of money in 2009... I can just feel it!

ZACH: That makes two of us!

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