The Journal reported late last evening that Lehman Brothers is negotiating a deal to sell large parts of itself to Barclays PLC, which had previously pulled out of talks regarding a sale on Sunday. The proposed plan would see Barclays taking on Lehman's core business of underwriting stocks and bonds, merger consulting and securities trading.
Emotionally disturbed assets, such as mortgage securities, would not be included in any purchase, but left behind in the holding company that was place under Chapter 11 bankruptcy today. It is expected that approximately 10,000 Lehman employees would be made Barclehs workers as part of a transaction that would include broker-dealer operations and all of it divisions.
As of around nearly midnight, several questions remained unanswered, including kind of a big one-- how much would Barclays pay? The Journal noted that "time is of the essence for Lehman, whose main assets -- its people -- are rapidly walking out its doors." While we don't doubt that a. there's a sense of urgency to get this shit done and b. Lehman employees are going to run out the door the second they get an offer, is there actually a sizable amount of people who are getting hired, like, tomorrow? And if so where? And if it has anything to do with performing maintenance on certain Zamboni machine in Stamford (cleaning the seat cushions, polishing it with a toothbrush, etc), can I come with?
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 12:53AM
seriously, anyone else having trouble falling asleep?
@bess give me a call
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 12:56AM
how much blow has bl done tonight..
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 12:56AM
bess/JC i love this site, especially this weekend, but could you rewrite this sentence, i cannot understand it:
"The Journal noted that "time is of the essence for Lehman, whose main assets -- its people -- are rapidly walking out its doors," and while we don't doubt that there's a sense of urgency here, and that Brohamsters are firing off resumes left and right, is there are actually a sizable amount of people who are getting hired, like, tomorrow?"
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 12:57AM
Thres. or Dres ?
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 12:57AM
I'm a Lehman employee and have been surprised by at least the numbers of phone calls I'm getting asking for a meeting and/or a resume. I'm a performer - but hardly a star.
Everyone I know at Lehman has at least a resume together, but the bankruptcy option was a real shocker. We'd all assumed until Sunday afternoon that some sort of buyout was inevitable, and then a period of uncertainty would follow with more clarity for some units based on the purchaser. Then a month or two before the actual pink slips etc.
So, yes, very few people are really jumping ship to my knowledge. We weren't getting bonuses anyway so we've all planned for a lean winter; a few days waiting for more clarity after this emotional roller-coaster have been almost welcome.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 1:00AM
Barclay's giving us the old cocktease again
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 1:01AM
At this point wouldn't any sale of assets have to be approved by the bankruptcy court and the creditors? Not that they'd necessarily object, but as always it would come down to the price.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 1:03AM
@5, my sentiments exactly. My phone's ringing off the hook, I've got a dozen linkedin invites and half as many on facebook, just from recruiters. Hell, on facebook, I even got a message from someone wanting to do a TV interview.
Hoping for the best...planning for the worst. Drinking along the way.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 1:05AM
BAC is strengthening at open. Min Bid is close and Min ask is +3%.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 1:06AM
thanks B! much better
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 1:07AM
Bess I kind of love you
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 1:10AM
I'll take you there Bess.
GCT at 658.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 1:15AM
I'm going to take @12 as a sign steve cohen reads dealbreaker.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 1:29AM
Bess Levin, like Citi, never sleeps.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 1:31AM
you can service my zamboni, bess
Posted by diablo , Sep 16, 2008 1:46AM
What movie has this phrase:
...the Air Force never sleeps.
If you have to Google it, you lose.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 1:52AM
@5 & 8. dont mean to rain on your parade and i know youre still in shock, but let me add a dose of reality. head hunters calling you doesnt mean jacksht unless you are in a bull market. you better work your networks. HARD.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 1:53AM
this is fascinating:
http://bankimplode.com/blog/2008/09/15/losing-lehman/
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 1:54AM
I'm in IT and I'll hopefully have 2-3 interviews lined up by later this week; and I'm a freeking cost center.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 2:06AM
What sleep?? Though this has been my norm for quite some time. I guess I'm a "trailblazer"
(lost my job last October ... and despite what people might think, it has not been fun having the past year off)
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 2:08AM
I like 17. Head hunters make cold calls all day in hopes of adding the pipeline. The third interview is like masturbating, it feels good and that's it. Until the money hits the account I'm afraid all you have is DIH. Dick in hand.
Good luck with the job search.
SPODE
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 2:11AM
@20
What's your typical day like?
What part of the country are you in?
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 2:15AM
@17 --- hope @5 and @8 listen to you. Phone calls mean nothing ... nor do interviews for that matter. The interview process can take 2-3 weeks (best case) and drag on 6-8 weeks. Care to know how many times positions have been put on hold or the firm has instituted a hiring freeze???
I highly doubt anyone from Lehman will be flocking to a new job in 2-3 days unless they were fully engaged in an interview process prior to this weekend.
People I know have been out of work for 6+ months and longer. There Are Very Few Jobs and try repackaging yourself outside of financial services ... you may as well be a recent college grad.
I truly feel for everyone at Lehman and am sharing this in the spirit of telling it like it is.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 2:19AM
@5 & @19,
Dudes, I'm so sorry to break the news to you that getting calls or requests for resumes doesn't mean jack-shit. I moved out to Wisc. after losing my job out in NYC last year and nothing has materialized. I, too, got calls from head hunters and calls - but get this right it's just pity calls. Not only that, I had numerous meetings and first, and a couple second round interviews.
So yes, I'm thrilled you've got calls for resumes and interviews lined up. But you'll remember my post a few months down the line when nothing materializes. Then you'll look back and think whatever happened to all those sweet hearts who called you for interviews, resumes and informational meetings? Did you get a job? Did it lead to a placement? A transfer? Zilt. Be like me and move out west.
And let this also be a lesson to others - I lost my job when things were still not this bad - before BSC & LEH went under. Also keep in mind that the people on the other end of your calls - head hunters and the like are badly affected as well because nobody is hiring. So to give themselves an illusion of being busy they are going through the list of LEH employees and calling hundreds of them right now.
Sorry guys, job market is toast. Keep answering calls, polishing resumes, meeting recruiters. It'll keep you busy, ,as it will keep them busy.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 2:23AM
The WSJ makeover looks sweet! Good to see that Murdoch has put the dollars to good use. Totally professional and cool.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 2:27AM
In last night's article about lehman, I made the comment below. 24 hours later, you article is confirming the analysis. Comments were:
Guys: I think barclays will buy them. The logic behind it (including why chapter 11, and fed announcement to take equities as collateral) is given in the blog
http://financialtraders.blogspot.com
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 2:37AM
the WSK makeover is terrible...
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 2:38AM
the WSJ makeover is terrible...
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 2:44AM
@24: There's a good reason I'm asking this, but humor me for now - what did you do in NYC before moving out here to Wisconsin?
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 2:44AM
the WSJ makeover is terrible...
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 2:47AM
@22 --- NYC. Typical day varies depending on calls and interviews.
Spend a fair amount of time networking and researching stuff online. Job boards are useless and for the most part, so are company websites; it's like sending your resume into a black hole, so I try to route it through a contact when I can figure out what firm is hiring.
Have considered working part-time, but it cuts into interviewing availability. Would definitely consider doing some consulting that could lead to full time.
On a positive note, I make it to the gym almost daily and I'm on a first name basis with David Faber (just kidding)
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 3:10AM
i'm depressed
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 3:18AM
Why is it no one ever considers trading on this site? You have all these years of experience working for financial firms, nest eggs (hopefully), and none of you have the balls or the skills to trade on your own?
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 3:21AM
@33
Why trade with your own money when you can trade someone else's money and get paid to do it?
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 3:44AM
@33: LOL - you'd have to be crazy to try and make a living as a trader in a market that's dominated, corrupted and manipulated by sleazy outfits like LEH. There's way too much insider activity and control out there to make a living as a trader. Sure, some people do it, but they're the major exception to the rule. If you're going to gamble with your own money, you might as well try and start your own business rather than pissing it all away buying and selling shares of someone else's dream. This is the kind of environment where you need to invest in yourself...
I spent the majority of my career designing electronic trading systems and I've had a front row seat to watching thousands of people who thought they were good traders lose every cent they had. Good trader, bad trader, it doesn't matter - there's so much criminal manipulation in the markets that eventually you're going to get slaughtered. It's way better to invest in your own ideas - you can get rich slowly instead of getting poor quickly.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 4:15AM
35 - I call BS. You're a back office geek who has no idea what's legal or not or what a good trader is. If you do have any evidence for your allegations, think what a hero you'd be with a lawsuit or just as an informant to the new Spitzer. Given you're doing neither of these things, just waggling your dick around on a messageboard, I call BS.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 4:25AM
My rough expectation is that the financial services market is going to shrink quite a bit. The question is how the jobs are going to be squeezed out of it.
My rough guess as to people areas that will get cut across wall street:
- areas that are duplicated across firms (e.g. sales, hr)
- areas that no longer need to exist (structured XXXX, muni derivatives, subprime origination)
- areas where the pay level is out of all proportion to the skill level (jr banking, anyone hired this summer)
There still are jobs in IT (if you are really good), in quant (if you can program), and in areas that are still developing.
I'd also expect traditional asset managers to start picking up some people with sell-side skills; the buy-side has been way behind the hfs and sell-side in technology, automation, execution, etc., and there is still a lot of work to be done in this space.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 4:54AM
@36: Oh, I think we'll all be surprised at how many people go to jail in the coming years - the nice thing about this blowout is that there will be so much federal scrutiny of these firms' records once the dust settles.
You're right as far as not knowing what a good trader is - I've never really seen that many of them, that's for sure.
I did get a kick out of your disdain for BO people - hey, at least they have IT skills, so they stand a much better chance of finding a new job. They'll have the last laugh when Tyson opens that new chicken processing plant where LEH's building used to be. The traders will be out on the line using the compressed air hoses to blow the goop out of the chickens, while the IT guys will be lounging around in the air-conditioned data center...
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 5:04AM
@38 Tyson Chicken trades oil to hedge their exposure btw.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 5:20AM
#38
What makes you think these Wall Street sorts will go to jail??
Wall Street firms spend hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying politicians so Washington will protect their interests. Washington played a huge part getting us into this mess we're in now.
You think the repeal of Glass-Steagall happened because the Senate Banking Committee Chairman woke up and thought it was the right thing to do? Hell no!!! It happened after years of lobbying.
You think the low capital requirements the Wall Street firms enjoyed came because it really is good for the economy??!!
Your naivety makes me sick!
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 6:51AM
My bf works for Lehman in London and got hired by HBOS last night
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 7:16AM
There are jobs out there for programmers. But you do have to be good. Doesn't hurt to not expect/demand a lot of comp either.
Ratchet down your comp expectations. Take consulting or full time.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 7:28AM
I wont be hiring any Lehman IT staff and will be ditching any CVs that come across my desk. Like we need anymore incompetent Java and Perl butt clowns.
Go be below-average somewhere else, like UBS.
Now, if you've got some serious K, C++, Haskell, Ocaml or Python skills, let's talk!
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 7:39AM
43: Yes on most counts. Where do I send the resume?
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 8:03AM
I work at Lehman, and still do (technically, since haven't got the emp termination letter yet!). And I know that a lot of groups are actively shopping themselves. And a lot of firms do seem to be interested in poaching a whole group.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 8:20AM
wsj reports agreement likely in next several hours.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 8:31AM
off topic: but how in the hell do you get or even expect decent performance out of java and perl?
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 10:22AM
"designing electronic trading systems", so you don't actually program them then?
What skills are those, then?
Smykowski - "Well-well look. I already told you: I deal with the god damn customers so the engineers don't have to. I have people skills; I am good at dealing with people. Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?"
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 11:38AM
@48: LOL - I design and write them. At least I used to before deciding to quit working altogether.
Posted by guest , Sep 16, 2008 12:40PM
Thought I would add some humor to the table - just read a funny article on Weekly World News. Fuld forgot how to count!
http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/?p=2686