Fortress posts surprise loss

I'll tell you who this *wasn't* a surprise to...

The latest earnings cap a wild rise for Fortress. The company captured headlines in 2007 when it became the first hedge fund to go public. Priced at $18.50 a share, Fortress shares popped as high as $35 a share before closing on their first day at $31. Unfortunately for early investors, Fortress shares have since slid, hitting an all-time low of $10.14 in March.

Other hedge funds haven't fared much better, despite predictions that Fortress' debut would trigger an onslaught of publicly traded hedge funds. Shares in Och-Ziff (OZM) have lost about 33% of their value since the fund's IPO last November. Blackstone (BX) shares have fallen about 42% since the firm's IPO in June 2007.