TheDeal.com weighs in with an interesting look at how private equity bigwig Leon Black and Apollo Management have been faring through this credit downturn. Certainly, Black's strategy of focusing on smaller deals, under $4 billion, seems to have paid off. It has generated some envious returns. A $10.1 billion fund raised two years ago, for example, generated an internal rate of return of 42 percent. Against the odds, Apollo has managed two exits recently and is eyeing at least one IPO. That's the good news. The bad news is that it has some really worrisome portfolio companies, like retailers Linens N' Things and Claire's Stores. Harrah's, a rare large deal (with TPG), also seems to be struggling a bit. The Huntsman disaster, of course, has still not played itself out. The issue is whether management can steer the company through this rough patch and get back on track. It could use a push from the economy. But this is where its talent shines.  

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