Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital is one of the dreamiest guys in the hedge-fund world. He's smart, brave, conscientious, and, okay, maybe a little bit arrogant. But like a lot of his peers, 2008 was not a dream year, and now Ackman has been humbled. A fund he started two years ago that bet on Target's real-estate holdings took a 90 percent nosedive this year, a “dreadful performance,” Ackman acknowledged in his letter to shareholders. But rather than barring investors from taking back what few shekels of their cash remain in the fund, Ackman is allowing redemptions, and he's keeping on with the fund. He's betting, and maybe some of his investors are, too, that there's nowhere to go from here but up. [NYT]