• 15 Sep 2008 at 6:10 PM

Write-Offs: 09.15.08

$$$ How ‘Legatus’ Brought Down Wall Street [Gawker]
$$$ Deals: Hope Amid the Wreckage
In our M&A roundup for the period ended Sept. 14, the Merrill-Lehman-Fannie-Freddie carnage is a backdrop for sharply higher strategic dealmaking totals. [CFO.com]
$$$ Felix Salmon capitulates. [Portfolio]
$$$ Lehman employee’s wedding goes on [The Deal]
$$$ Inside Lehman [Dealbook]

Comments (77)

  1. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 6:13 PM

    first post.
    HAHA@ LEH

  2. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 6:14 PM

    Whoa! Opening bell at 6:10 p.m.? Bess, you’ve obviously been up way too long!

  3. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 6:16 PM

    No FOMC rate move poll today? I guess you guys were a bit busy..

  4. Posted by Bess Levin | September 15, 2008 at 6:17 PM

    fuck, yes. my b. very tired here.

  5. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 6:18 PM

    @4 Thanks to all of you at DB for the awesome coverage of the past couple of days.

  6. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 6:21 PM

    Anybody still wondering about Point at LEH like someone last night? Not sure if anybody posted about it (too busy packing today to keep up w/comments) but last I heard (and this is thru the grapevine, not directly) is that they’re trying to see if anyone will pick it up with the indexes (duh) and that most of them have not packed up like what you’ve seen on TV.

  7. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 6:32 PM

    Too wrong, didn’t read.

  8. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 6:38 PM

    i go to db before wsj.com or bloomberg for info…unbelievable coverage

  9. Posted by AJ | September 15, 2008 at 6:39 PM

    Bess, you and Carney have done a great job. Go get some sleep!

  10. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 6:54 PM

    What 9 said. This weekend’s coverage was awesome.

  11. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 6:57 PM

    Yes- great coverage. Good work!
    Now get some sleep so you will have energy when BAC shareholders drop the deal and the sh#t hits the fan.

  12. Posted by Anal_yst | September 15, 2008 at 7:08 PM

    @ 11
    christ man lets chillax with that kinda talk for a while, while we try to repair our fragile mental, emotional (and financial) states…

  13. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 7:09 PM

    Who’s Next ?

  14. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 7:22 PM

    BESS & CARNEY – in the last 72 hours you two have absolutely distinguished this blog as one of the top 3 sites for breaking financial news.
    When people started to ask me “where the hell i was getting my information from i said dealbreaker. Not our anaylst’s (which are mostly shorts anyway) or my traders (whom are amazing) but carney and levin.
    Thank you!
    Go to sleep.
    See you tomorrow.

  15. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 7:35 PM

    Fitch has dropped AIG’s credit rating, and S&P is looking to follow suit -
    “Fitch Ratings cut its credit ratings on American International Group Inc. (AIG), saying the insurer’s financial flexibility and ability to raise cash is “extremely limited” because of recent declines in the stock price, widening credit spreads and difficult capital market conditions.
    Shares of AIG plunged 61% on Monday as investors awaited word of the company’s plan to raise capital. The stock rose 3.6% to $4.93 in after-hours trading. Its credit default swaps also weakened Monday afternoon, after an earlier tightening.
    Fitch lowered the insurance giant’s long-term insurer debt and senior unsecured debt ratings two notches. The rating agency also warned of possible further downgrades.”

  16. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 7:44 PM

    follow up to 15:
    Fitch Ratings downgrades AIG to ‘A’
    http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/fitch-ratings-downgrades-aig-a/story.aspx?guid={EE117033-1567-4C75-A764-C9EA6A2745FF}&dist=msr_2

  17. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 8:05 PM

    bess you’re such a lady.

  18. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 8:05 PM

    anyone here know Urbandigs? The blog about real estate in Manhattan? Run by an ex Wall St. guy?
    Well it’s not working. Account suspended. Freaky

  19. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 8:06 PM

    So how much more cap does fitch need to come up with, or was that what they were looking for 40 bil for?

  20. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 8:07 PM

    When I grow up I want to be like Bess!

  21. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 8:11 PM

    Tokoyo open down 2 1/2%. All the big banks opened limit down.

  22. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 8:16 PM

    CNBC just saying that big banks stating to pull collateral and business from AIG.
    Holy shit – dow 8000 here we come.

  23. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 8:19 PM

    I’m mostly cash and I still don’t like this one bit.

  24. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 8:33 PM

    Who are the assholes who sat around for 3 days now and decided, by sins of omission and commission, that AIG can afford to get downgraded?
    What the hell is passing for financial leadership in the U.S.?
    Terrific – Bear had to be saved, but to hell with AIG… Brilliant.

  25. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 8:38 PM

    AIG officially downgraded to A-
    shit show……..

  26. Posted by MuniShe | September 15, 2008 at 8:42 PM

    ha, did Fitch downgrade first? CNBC is not even mentioning them.

  27. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 8:45 PM

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=atzOPo2aWj2I&refer=home
    carney bring this link up. more media need to talk this.

  28. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 8:46 PM

    We need to stop the academic debate about the Fed creating moral hazard. The new hazard is cratered American financial market. Let’s face it, we’re looking at a shit storm rivaling the Depression…. Americans pay taxes, it’s our money, we need the stop gap.

  29. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 8:48 PM

    @11 totally right. It was like a 20%+ arb spread when I last looked.
    Wachovia is next. I’m actually surprised they are still around now. I attended their SP Christmas party in December 2006 with a friend (not in SP world) and this guy was preaching to me about how they have the best mortgage group in business and how subprime was the next great space, etc. How Ownit (ohh yeah, run that up in the google ratings) was just a freak event.
    WB is in way to deep…I bet they are already on the watch list. They were always second rate, and chased the second rate deals way too aggressively.
    IT IS ***NEVER*** TOO LATE TO SHORT WB. (FDIi stole this but like it a lot, respect to whoever coined)

  30. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 8:49 PM

    @ 22 that is NOT unreasonable. Back out the credit bubble and asset valuations ought to be around a more reasonable (inflation adjusted) projection from where things were before cash start being pumped through every orifice.
    About Japan: they were closed. THey’re just catching up. They’re followers, not leaders. All eyes are on you guys, here in the locomotive of capitalism.
    Dam, sometimes I’m such a drama queen.

  31. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 8:59 PM

    The only logic i can see in the BofA deal (asode from my conspiracy theory about the sham deal being floated to konock out shorts and save the market ) is that rules will be rewritten/interpreted so that BofA can exceed the % of deposits it can hold. The AIG news is disconcerting.
    Also you can bet that the moral hazard indignation is being amplified by the upcoming election.
    Looks like we’re going down faster than a hipster hooker listening to Warren Buffet talk about ornithology…[ah, the good old days--a week and a 1000 miles away].

  32. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:10 PM

    AIG is likely to go bankrupt within the next 48 hours. Check the CNN money section. They’ve been downgraded by Fitch

  33. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:14 PM

    @ 32 a bit behind there curve there, Cramer.

  34. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:17 PM

    The problem with AIG is that like LEH thier CEO is running his company into the ground.
    He walked away from private equity financing because he didn’t like the terms – are you fucking kidding me with this shit. Then he announces that the fed needs to give him a bridge loan without talking to the fed first. Then he tells the market that he figures he has until wednesday/thursday to get something done.
    Notwithstanding the CEO, letting AIG become the next LEH has consequences beyond which i can wrap my head around.
    The first condition for the fed to step in should be the removal of the AIG CEO

  35. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:19 PM

    @ 33 thanks for the laugh!!

  36. Posted by MuniShe | September 15, 2008 at 9:21 PM

    Moodys too now.

  37. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:22 PM

    Moody’s DOWNGRADE – CNBC

  38. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:23 PM

    @23 cash in what though? Money mkts? CDs, and I mean Certificates of Deposit, ha ha.

  39. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:23 PM

    MOODY JUST DOWNGRADED!
    Bye bye AIG!!

  40. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:24 PM

    22 where do you see that please?

  41. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:25 PM

    Holy shit, CNBC just said on-air that AIG would have to file BK by Wed unless they can take care of these capital/collateral issues.
    Jesus.

  42. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:26 PM

    CNBC – HOLY FUCK
    Moody’s now downgrades AIG
    According to CNBC – If they cannot raise the money they need tomorrow they will file for bankruptcy on WEDNESDAY!

  43. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:26 PM

    Who just heard Larry Kudlow say that the fed was going to give AIG “the old reach around”? Tell me I’m not hallucinating…

  44. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:28 PM

    Maria and Larry wasting air and air time pitching private equity.
    $75 billion is not a magnitude private equity can help with. Maybe if you had all of them…

  45. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:29 PM

    @ 43 i wish this whole day was one bad LSD trip.

  46. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:29 PM

    LEH shareholders! You’ll have friends on Wed!

  47. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:32 PM

    #43 – It was Steve L who said the “old reach around”… #44 you’re spot on with those two wind-bags… Faber and Steve L are the only people making sense on this show.

  48. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:32 PM

    @ 27 … that was an interesting read. certainly something to talk about and keep the conspiracy theorists yapping.

  49. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:34 PM

    is LEH still selling there broker/dealer? If so, whose the buyer?

  50. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:36 PM

    Moodys downgrades AIG!
    Saw that coming a while ago.
    The ratings agencies are now really doing their job aren’t they? It’s just like the beginning of the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98. The ratings agencies were like stunned mullets until a couple of corporations went into trouble and they began to run ahead of the curve and make downgrades pre-emptively to try to appear like they are doing their jobs and be relevant.
    Plenty more shit to come folks.
    I wonder if Merrill is gonna bring down BofA. I would not want to be the Corporate Integrations Officer at BofA now.

  51. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:36 PM

    Carlos Mendez just called in.
    Short version: We’re fucked.

  52. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:47 PM

    stunned mullets. that’s the whole problem right there.
    stunned mullets are the new sham-wow.

  53. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:50 PM

    Come on guys! Cheer up! According to the great Roubini, we’re now just at the 3rd innings or a 9-innings game. There’s 6 more to go!

  54. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:51 PM

    You people are absolute hysterics.

  55. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:57 PM

    @53 OK, I read what the Great Roubini had to say but where is the advice from him? Cash in the mattress? Gold? What? Mayo? Mullets? the fish or the haircut? I’m so confused.

  56. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 9:57 PM

    @53 roubini is full of shit and should be deported back to the freaking grape farm he came from.

  57. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 10:01 PM

    but what if he’s right?

  58. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 10:04 PM

    @55
    Read between the lines! He didn’t offer any solutions because there’s none!
    Shit happens and it cannot be stopped.

  59. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 10:05 PM

    he didn’t offer any solutions because he’s a freaking loud-mouthed academic.
    Kapiche?

  60. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 10:07 PM

    @56
    Don’t hate the player. Hate the game.

  61. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 10:10 PM

    59 – Roubini has already offered the business model solution and it was broker-dealers being subsumed into commercial banks, and that’s being done right before our eyes. And for his theory on bad debts, there is no solution to these bad credits, they just get flushed out.

  62. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 10:16 PM

    @60…not sure what that means, but the players are the game.
    granted I’ve only seen him once. But he really seemed to be enjoying his 15 minutes of fame and reminded us how right he is.
    He really seemed to be enjoying the flames.
    i sell people like that short.

  63. Posted by diablo | September 15, 2008 at 10:29 PM

    Will Bush nationalize AIG? For real…

  64. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 10:40 PM

    #63
    Uncle Sam does not have the money to nationalize AIG.
    Autoloans, personal loans, credit cards……………….they all need bailing out.
    Private Equity/LBO related securities and loans will be the next one to hit the fan. There are close to $300billion worth of bridge loans that need refinancing by the end of 2009.
    If you have cash, sit on it. Don’t be brave and think you can pick up a bargain.
    Time to go long on cotton, the Treasury will have to start printing money to pay for all these. The US dollar bills are printed on cotton, not paper.

  65. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 10:55 PM

    To LEH Bankers:
    Start banging the analysts; forget sexual harassment lawsuits
    Mercy fucks are in demand

  66. Posted by diablo | September 15, 2008 at 10:56 PM

    #64
    To paraphrase, and with apologies to Sidney Pollack (RIP):
    “They print money, don’t they?”
    I’m heavy, very heavy, on cash and short term treasuries. Now trying to figure out when to get out of treasuries.

  67. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 11:03 PM

    @66 Why aren’t you short MS instead?

  68. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 11:07 PM

    @66 for the love of pete, would someone tell me when long cash, is it safe to have it in money mkt accts or do i need to stuff the mattress?
    Yes the blk helicopters are coming for me, so just indulge me by answering this one. thanks.

  69. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 11:08 PM

    We need to move beyond Mayo. We need something with a more significant shelf life.
    I’m thinking about going long tuna, twinkies, and ramen. Will have to be synthetic because I couldn’t find an ETF.
    Also, handguns for protection.

  70. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 11:08 PM

    We need to move beyond Mayo. We need something with a more significant shelf life.
    I’m thinking about going long tuna, twinkies, and ramen. Will have to be synthetic because I couldn’t find an ETF.
    Also, handguns for protection.

  71. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 11:11 PM

    DB’s infrastructure needs work…they are skimping on IT to make paychecks…at least CapIQ is advertising now…gotta be $$$ in the pocket.

  72. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 11:14 PM

    #69 & 70
    Just go to your friendly local Korean grocery store.
    I am sure they have something for your cravings. But they only accept cash. They knocked back funny money from Dick Fuld numerous times.

  73. Posted by diablo | September 15, 2008 at 11:23 PM

    #68
    If I tell you I would have to kill you.

  74. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 11:32 PM

    @68
    Don’t stuff the mattress with cash: inflation is coming.
    Gold might be ok.

  75. Posted by guest | September 15, 2008 at 11:33 PM

    can someone tell me where the f*ck dick fuld is? someone needs to eat a bowl of beans, head over to the lehman building, and fart him out of the desk hes hiding under.

  76. Posted by guest | September 16, 2008 at 12:22 AM

    62 – Roubini was also on top of the Asian crisis, but back then you were in junior high at the time.

  77. Posted by guest | September 16, 2008 at 1:42 AM

    # 69 beans have long shelf life

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