All work and no play for BlackBerry men

Eric Newman, a 32-year-old money manager, was at Walt Disney World with his wife and three children when the news hit: credit markets were roiling, central banks were coming to the rescue, stocks were tumbling, and investors in his fund were fleeing.

So much for the holiday. Newman, a portfolio manager at TFS Capital, pulled out his BlackBerry and got to work.

"We had to make people confident that, yes, we're losing money, but we . . . have plenty of ability to ride this out," he says. "Investors hadn't seen anything like this in our fund. They were concerned, like: 'Okay, you guys are down 7, 8, 9 per cent. Is it going to turn into 80 per cent? Is this a meltdown?'"

Whether hedge fund managers, securities lawyers or regulators, those involved in the finance industry - in the wilderness of Alaska, airports in Europe, on the way to a Boston Red Sox game - have been heeding the sirens emanating from Wall Street. Chaos is striking in the dead of summer, when corporate news typically slows, dealmaking decelerates and empty seats dot trading desks.

"There's too much going on right now to not be at your post," says Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst for Jefferies & Co, who cancelled a family trip to Massachusetts last week as trading screens around the world flashed red. "I would say in general the level of employment for August on Wall Street is higher than normally would be the case."

Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, had been on a one-week holiday with his family in Alaska.

Cox, a devotee of technology who is encouraging investors to communicate online, followed his own advice. He turned on his BlackBerry and began to receive e-mails and mobile phone calls from colleagues.

Barry Barbash, who advises mutual funds, hedge funds and broker-dealers as partner and head of the asset management group at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in Washington, held off on his trip to Boston, then determined on Monday that he would go, but would rely on faxes and phones to keep him in the loop. Besides, his beloved Red Sox were playing at Fenway Park that night.

"I'm on vacation, but I don't feel like it. It's just been such a hectic period," says Barbash.

He adds: "I will tell you one thing: I won't take calls during a Red Sox game. You have to have priorities in life."