Killer Whale Owner Books Profit

The Blackstone Group (which owns Orlando, Florida-based Sea World, the site of a tragedy involving a Killer Whale named Tilly atop many headlines this morning) booked fourth-quarter 2009 profit of $329 million and full-year net income of $703 million, a huge jump versus the more than $1 billion in losses Blackstone incurred in 2008.

All of Blackstone's units (investment banking advisory, private equity, hedge funds and real estate) did well in the recent fourth quarter, pointing to a wider recovery across several financial services sectors.

The tragedy at Sea World and fallout from the incident aside, Blackstone CEO Stephen "Party Boy" Schwarzman said in an earnings release, "We believe the worst is behind us."