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The Hedge-Fund King Is Getting Nervous Inside billionaire Steven Cohens hidden world of massive trading and lavish art. Is the party over? At home with Van Gogh, Gauguin and a skating rink By SUSAN PULLIAM September 16, 2006; Page A1 STAMFORD, Conn. -- It was the kind of day that can give a hedge-fund tycoon nightmares. As stocks fell on the afternoon of June 12, the largest holdings of Steven Cohens more than $10 billion hedge fund were falling even harder. Mr. Cohen, whose trading acumen, monumental compensation and sprawling art-laden home had made him a trailblazing star of the hedge-fund boom, watched the carnage unfold on eight computer screens arrayed around his desk. From time to time, he leaned back and rubbed his face. Oh, boy, he said to himself. Latest in a Series • Shareholders Fight Back Against Private Buyouts1 8/18/06 • A Concern Amid the Hedge Fund Boom2 7/27/06 • Payday for Firms Is Never Far Away3 7/25/06 The 20,000-square-foot trading room at SAC Capital Advisors, chilled to 70 degrees to keep traders alert, was hushed. Mr. Cohen, who sits at its center, likes it that way. Phones blink rather than ring. Computer hard drives had been moved off the trading floor to eliminate hum. Rows of traders wearing SAC fleece jackets watched Mr. Cohen nervously, waiting for an order to sell shares. But Mr. Cohen wasnt budging. Less than an hour before the stock markets closed, Mr. Cohen, biting his nails, compared his sinking stocks to a plunging department-store elevator. There goes ladies lingerie, he said, to no one in particular. By days end, his firm had lost $150 million, or 1.5% of its assets -- one of its worst one-day showings ever. In years past, Mr. Cohen might have sold frantically as the market fell. He had achieved celebrity status in the hedge-fund world, overshadowing such influential managers as George Soros and Julian Robertson Jr., with a hair-trigger approach to trading that was extraordinarily profitable.