There are just about three hours left before we slam shut the nominations window in the Bond Biz Hotties Contest. So while we’re still accepting nominations, you’d better get them in quick. Time is running out!
So far we’ve got some strong contenders for the male category and almost none for the females. That’s just plain sexist. Surely you people aren’t saying that there are no attractive women working in fixed income? Doesn’t “bond girl” imply hotness?
So get on it, folks. Send your entries in to tips (at) dealbreaker (dot) com.
In case you missed it, here are the rules.
Archive for September 2006
Sometimes we don’t even recognize America. What kind of country is this if you can’t get drunk while waiting to go to jail for what might very well amount to a life sentence?
Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling was arrested and accused of public intoxication in Dallas earlier this month, but he will not go to jail early for violating the terms of his $5 million bond.
According to a Dallas Police Department report, Skilling was arrested about 1:45 a.m. on Sept. 9, in the 3600 block of McKinney Avenue.
Skilling was not drinking when he was arrested and did not resist arrest, according to the police document, obtained by the Houston Chronicle and first reported on Chron.com.
The guy is being sentenced next month. Shouldn’t this guy have the right to be drunk till then?
Skilling arrested in Dallas on Sept. 9 [Houston Chronicle]
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Hewlett-Packard
Just Because You Are Paranoid Doesn’t Mean Hewlett-Packard Is Not Spying On You
By John Carney
Time was, business reporters had to worry about their information being stolen by insider-trading types. Now those days seem almost quaint. The Hewlett-Packard “place a mole in the newsroom” plot has Gary Weiss reflecting on his own security measures from years gone by.
Years ago, while working on a sensitive story at Business Week, I actually hid my notes and other source materials so that they not be found by any intrusive cleaning women.
Afterwards I thought I was being a little silly, not to mention paranoid.
Not any more. The New York Times reported today that good old Hewlett-Packard (definitely not in the running for any “friend of the First Amendment” awards) was thinking of doing just that.
We’re starting to wonder if this kind of ultra-paranoid, intelligence gathering activity is confined to Hewlett-Packard or if it’s more widespread. Are corporations regularly spying on journalists and board members?
Seems far-fetched. But the whole thing seems far-fetched, so we’re not writing it off entirely. Maybe this thing is actually a widespread but hushed up practice in Silicon Valley. Is spying the next backdating?
The Advantages of Paranoia [Gary-Weiss.com]
Outgoing Hewlett-Packard chairwoman Patricia Dunn has agreed to go before the Congressional panel looking into the scandal. This should be the show to watch next week, barring anymore developing world coups or major financial meltdowns.
As new revelations about Hewlett-Packard Co.’s director spying scandal cascade, Chairwoman Patricia Dunn and the company’s general counsel have agreed to testify next week before a House panel investigating the affair.
With federal and California prosecutors conducting criminal investigations of HP’s use of deceptive tactics to find a boardroom leaker, some experts say the executives’ testimony to Congress could be fraught with legal peril.
On the other hand, the risks of invoking their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination — as a parade of corporate executives have done on Capitol Hill in recent years — could be even greater, according to others.
So we’re going to compile a list of questions for Patty. Once we’ve assembled them, we plan to email the questions to various members of Congress. What would you ask Patty? Leave you questions in the comments or email us at tips (at) dealbreaker (dot) com. (Subject line: WWYAP)
HP executives testify for Congress [Associated Press in Business Week]
ESTRAGON: Nothing to be done.
VLADIMIR: (advancing with short, stiff strides, legs wide apart). I’m beginning to come round to that opinion. All my life I’ve tried to put it from me, saying Vladimir, be reasonable, you haven’t yet tried everything. And I resumed the struggle. (He broods, musing on the struggle. Turning to Estragon.) So there you are again. The A380 is delayed again.
The inability of Airbus to deliver its super jumbo jet is becoming just plain weird. To put it more philosophically, the Airbus A 380 is in a constant state of Becoming but it never seems to arrive at Being.
Airbus SA, maker of the yet-to-be-delivered A380 super jumbo passenger jet, is about to announce another production delay, a report said Wednesday.
French newspaper Les Echos said that Airbus would announce, perhaps this week, a new A380 delivery delay.
Airbus will reveal that it will only be able to deliver four of the nine A380s it has promised for next year, the BBC reported.
The A380, which cost $14 billion to develop, is the world’s largest passenger airliner with a seating capacity of more than 800.
Airbus expects another A380 delay [UPI in the Washington Times]
Crime/Fraud/Legal/Investigations/Inquiries:
Former HSBC chairman advising Bill Ford, Jr. [legal]
SEC investigating options at Electronic Arts [backdating]
ImClone set for leadership battle [legal]
Rebellion at the LA Times [legal]
Investigators sought meeting with H-P chiefs [legal]
H-P’s Patricia Dunn receives leadership award [surreal]
California sues automakers for warm weather [legal]
Judge proposes 27-month term in front-running case [legal]
Google defies Belgian court [legal]
Skilling gets drunk, gets arrested [legal]
M&A: [? = not yet closed, problems with the deal, lingering questions, etc.]
Lots of speculation about deals for Facebook and YouTube
Citigroup may take control of Amaranth
Merck + Serono
Yahoo + Facebook:?
Hospira + Mayne Pharma
Lehman Brothers buys a minority stake in BATS Trading.
For Sale/ LBOs/ Going Private/ Auctions/ Offerings:
YouTube has $1.5B pricetag [For sale?]
Hilton sells five hotels [Sold]
Money Raising:
SoonR nabs $6M [$]
People & Moves:
Former Citigroup chief named AIG boss [CEO]
Bear Stearns names Bruce Lisman and Steven Meyer as co-heads of global equities [Upgrade]
Miscellaneous:
Grumbling shareholders at sovereign get word from chief [MBAs]
Calif. sues over auto emissions (Detroit News)
There had already been talk that Bill Lockyer, the California Attorney General was the Spitzer of the west coast. Any doubt has now been put to rest. Lockyer, who is is currently in an election, looking to make a horizontal shift over to State Treasurer, announced a lawsuit against all the major automakers for selling products that contribute to global warming. How absurd. How… California. At least Spitzer, when pressed insists that he simply goes by the law on the books. Lockyer is just inventing law as he goes along. We wonder how it would go over politically if he sues every resident of California who drives a car.
HP CEO Allowed ‘Sting’ of Reporter (Washington Post)
If you ask us, there aren’t too many scandals worthy of a -gate suffix. It’s thrown about way too often. But Pretextinggate, as it’s been called a few times is certainly one of them, as the All The Presidents Men-like quality of the scandal spirals on a daily basis. For the first time, CEO Mark Hurd is said to have had involvement with the spying. Memos obtained by the Post suggest he approved the sting operation to determine the leaker, though it’s not clear that he knew of any of the investigation’s tactics at this time. If he did, or if he was kept apprised, then that will come out. And for the first time, now, this scandal has the potential to affect HP stock. The shareholders love Hurd, who is widely viewed as having rescued the company from the Carly-induced wilderness. If he goes, or is damaged, that’ll hit shareholder confidence.
Wal-Mart to Test Price Cuts on Range of Generic Drugs (NYT)
The latest argument employed by the anti-Wal-Mart crowd, as we’ve mentioned is that the company isn’t a monopolist, but a monopsonist. It’s a buyer, so large, the critics argue, that its ability to dictate pricing to its suppliers is akin to price controls in a communist country. First of all, it’s not. Second of all, why do these bleeding hearts care more about Wal-Mart suppliers than Wal-Mart customers? Now comes word that the company will make similar moves in the drug market, drastically lowering the price of generic drugs. This will cause some people’s head to explode, since the one bete noir that people hate more than Wal-Mart is the drug companies. And the high cost of drugs is one that people routinely harp on. So if Wal-Mart uses its considerable presence in the pharmacy business to squeeze drug sellers, what will people say?
Former Enron CEO Arrested in Dallas (AP)
Ken Lay was alive all this time, and they finally caught him! No. Once again, Jeff Skilling is in trouble for public intoxication. Last time it was in our fair city, the Upper West Side, if memory serves. This time it was in Dallas at 1:45. Fortunately for Skilling the arrest — made at 1:45 in a “swanky” neighborhood — won’t send him immediately to jail. But a judge did insist that he make more regular trips to an alcohol counselor. Why? Why not let him leave out his life in a drunken stupor if that’s what he desires? Surely that’s just adding insult to injury, if in the final few months before he’s to spend the rest of his life in prison, he has to meet with a counselor to discuss his drinking problem. “You know doc, I gotta be honest, I really want to get out of here quickly today, have some other shit I need to get taken care of”.
$$$THNX 4 THE ADD!!! MySpace Expands In China So That Murdoch May More Effectively Select Next Wife. [DealBook]
$$$Some of you will be breaking out the Kleenex to wipe away the tears and some you will be doing so for the purposes of clean up: B-School rankings are in. [WSJ via Wall $treet Folly]
$$$How To Ruin Your Relationship While In Banking (some people just don’t get that an “I Blow A Workaholic/Misogynistic/Coked-Out Banker and All I Have To Show For It Is This Lousy T-Shirt” is something for which one must make sacrifices, do they?) [Banker's Ball]
Why are there no good new sitcoms? Probably because no one in Hollywood is bright enough to hire Leveraged Sellout, who has written a treatment for a new sitcom about four friend’s living in Murray Hill. Two are investment bankers, one is a strategy consultant and the other a derivatives trader.
No summary will do the treatment justice. Better hop on over to Leveraged Sellout and “>read the whole thing. But here’s a taste below.
Oh, we guess we should give you a brief set up. Like they do when they show clips of movies on the late night talk shows. Here goes: two roommates, Steve and Gopal (the investment bankers), are preparing for a night of drinking at home. The problem is that Gopal was in charge of beverage provision and came home with Sparks. Chaos insues.
Steve stared at his roommate for 5 long seconds. The look on his face was one of utter disgust. He scrounged up a wad of phlegm and spit on the West Elm sofa.
“What! You douche!” he finally exploded. “I saw some chick wearing a Strand bag and mismatched checkered Converses drinking that crap the other day when I was lost downtown.”
“I can’t believe you brought that fucking h-hipster shit into this house!” he continued as he got up from the couch, enunciating each word and shaking his head, furious. He stumbled over the H-word as if it was physically draining for him to speak it.
He persisted, now just as disappointed as he was angry, “This is Murray Hill, man, not fucking Bushwick. This is a BANKER household! How hard is it for you to get some freakin Amstel?” he scolded.
Gopal rehid behind his hands. “What’s Bushwick?” he asked, apologetically.
Cue the effin’ laugh track.
Murray’s Hill – 1.01 Pilot – Banker Fight [Leveraged Sellout via Curbed]
Tim Carney latest column in the Washington Examiner points out that one of Alan Mulally’s greatest accomplishments at Boeing seems to have been squeezing a great deal of money from the marble pillars of our nation’s capital. Is this how Mulally will solve Ford’s troubles—through political entrepreneurship rather than effective business strategies?
Alan Mulally comes to Ford from Boeing, where he was CEO of the commercial aircraft division. The 61-year-old executive enters an ailing company that drastically needs a turnaround. The choice seems a bit odd on some scores. Mulally made and sold aircraft in an industry with exactly two participants — Boeing and Airbus — and in which he was selling to airlines, not consumers. A different skill set would seem to be in order for running a carmaker.
In his favor, Mulally presided over two key turnarounds at Boeing. A closer look at those turnarounds — and at Boeing’s modus operandi — raises suspicions that Ford might soon become another beggar at the federal trough of handouts.
Is Ford the new Boeing? [Washington Examiner]
[Note: Tim Carney, author of The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money, is the brother of DealBreaker's John Carney.]
It’s been…what…an hour-and-a-half since we wrote about the Amaranth debacle? We’re sorry for leaving you in the dark for so long when so much is happening. Here’s the second part of our Amaranth Roundup for today.
• You knew it wouldn’t be long before the white hat of Johnny Lawman appeared coming over the crest of the hills, right? Connecticut Attorney-General Richard Blumenthal has raised the specter of “alleged representations” by Amaranth. His office is in the process of gathering evidence. Everyone’s friggin’ Eliot Spitzer these days. [Globe & Mail]
• And, of course, Congress is looking to get into the action. Amaranth’s troubles may prompt lawmakers to renew the push to regulate hedge funds. [CnnMoney.com]
• A Goldman Sachs fund listed on the London Stock Exchange was in to Amaranth to the tune of $25 million, about 5% of the firm’s total office. [Reuters]
• 3M’s pension fund was in to Amaranth too. [Bloomberg]
• Moody’s says Amaranth’s loses will not risk the credit ratings of dealers who dealt with the hedge fund. [Reuters]
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You know what they say: You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your financial planner. Or something like that. One of the great things of being in charge of your money is choosing who (if anyone) will help you manage it. The choice isn’t always an easy one. How will you know that your planner is reputable and trustworthy?
These five red flags may be good indications of whether the financial planner sitting across from you is someone you should trust with your money. LearnVest Planning also provides an innovative 7-step program for your money where you work one-on-one with a financial planner. To see if this program is right for you, start with a free financial consultation.
1. She Isn’t Certified
“There are a lot of good planners out there who aren’t Certified Financial Panners™,” says Samantha Vient, CFP®, of LearnVest Planning Services. “However, CFPs® are required to adhere to the CFP® Board’s standards of professional conduct.We believe it’s always a good idea to work with someone who has the CFP® designation, which is issued after completing a CFP® Board-approved personal financial planning curriculum, passing a rigorous exam issued by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, meeting experience requirements and passing an ethics and background check.
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Sponsored Content
SoFi Answers the Call to Refinance Student Loans and Provides Unique Community Benefits
This is a guest post written by SoFi’s CEO, Mike Cagney.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Recently, there’s been a lot of talk amongst leaders in Washington about how to improve the painful process of repaying student loans. At SoFi, we feel your pain and work hard to offer more flexible, more affordable options for our borrowers. One idea that’s getting a lot of attention is increasing the options for refinancing debt after graduation. The only lender currently focused on refinancing private and federal student loans is SoFi.
We recognized early on that borrowers who have made timely payments on their loans, graduated from school, and have a job should be able to refinance their student loans at a lower interest rate. This may be why, after resuming lending by invitation, the media became increasingly interested in what we are doing.
In a recent article posted on MainStreet.com SoFi General Counsel Rob Lavet had this to say about SoFi’s ReFi products: Read more »
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