England’s Exchange Rate At All Time Low Against Yen (WSJ)
The principle concern here is the stability of the British system, which as we saw with the RBS numbers might not be in the best of situations. Britain has poured a little more than £500B into their system according to Brown, which is a substantial sum when you consider their population is roughly one sixth of the United States.
In related news, Barclays might be facing nationalization as their shares have fallen 62% over the last month of trading.
“Barclays said Jan. 16 its pretax profit will be well ahead of the average analyst estimate of 5.3 billion pounds. The bank said in October it had a net credit-market writedown of 2.1 billion pounds and opted out of the U.K.’s 50 billion-pound plan to recapitalize banks. Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc forecast a 2008 loss of 28 billion pounds on Jan. 19 as the government said it would increase its stake to 70 percent.”
Crisis May Force Geithner’s Approval (Reuters)
There are ongoing discussions as to whether or not the nominee’s slip in paying taxes is reason enough to disqualify him from the position, which at the moment appears to be nothing more than a giant waste of oxygen.
PIMCO Walks Away From GM (Bloomberg)
In a move that reaffirms “investor first” Bill Gross has announced that his firm is walking away from the GM deal because, as they put it:
“We have the interests of our clients more at heart than the interests of particular corporations or even the government.”
Who says capitalism is dead?
SEC reviews disclosure of Apple CEO health issues (Reuters)
U.S. regulators are making sure investors were not misled down the path of hormone imbalance.
Bank of New York quarterly net income falls 88% (Market Watch)
Fourth-quarter net income came in at $61 million, down 88% from the year-earlier period when the custodial bank and asset management company made $520 million. Sayeth chairman Robert P. Kelly: “We believe that the actual incurred loss will ultimately be materially lower based on current assumptions. We should have the opportunity to earn back a substantial portion of the write-downs over the remaining lives of the securities.”
The Art Of Losing Your Mind (FINAlternatives)
The police in missing hedge fund manager Arthur Nadel’s hometown have given up their search for him, saying “he doesn’t want to be found.”"
how long until the bank preferred stocks blow up?
how long until people realize that Dick Fuld is actually a hero?
“the nominee’s slip in paying taxes”. I like that. Madoff’s slip in the accuracy of his financial reports.
The Art of Losing Your Mind:
“The subject wrote that as a result of his management of other people’s money that there are those that would like to kill him, but that he will do it himself,” the report said…
NOT
COOL…
@3 He made the mistake of listening to his accountant. Apparently half the US employees of int’l orgs similarly screwed up.
@5 – you are so wrong
@5 – please identify any accountant anywhere in the United States who will tell you that a) you don’t have to pay self employment tax; b) after being audited and told to pay for ’04 and ’05, you don’t have to worry about ’02 and ’03.
I find it hard to believe that on orientation day at an outfit like IMF, world bank, etc they DON’T have some wideclops saying “you know, Mr. G, we don’t take any payroll taxes out of your pay — you’ll be responsible for paying them yourself”. I also find it hard to believe that Timmay G looked at his pay stubs and never once said “hmm – no taxes withheld – wtf?”
The guy is supposed to be confirmed to be treasury sec’y – and thus the head of the IRS, the tax enforcement and collection arm of the US government. You CANNOT have a guy who totally blew off paying his payroll taxes in that position. It is unthinkable in that is eats away at any credibility he has. It is also demoralizing to the rank and file at the agency.
And all this nonsense about “his skills being essential” — oh BS. As DeGaulle always like to say “the graveyards are full of ‘indispensble’ men”
Find someone else.
Shove that load of shit back up your ass, 5. He is a confirmed tax cheat. Ratty little bastard pocketed the gross ups and then refused to rectify his mistake when an audit brought it to light.
Why do we want him regardless? Paulson bash in full effect, and cheating Timmy was on board for that entire ride. More of same? Short that shit, I am long Hope and Change.
@all
he’s a fucking candy-ass limousine liberal, in this defining moment
“We believe that the actual incurred loss will ultimately be materially lower based on current assumptions. We should have the opportunity to earn back a substantial portion of the write-downs over the remaining lives of the securities.”
Seriously, do any of these bank executives believe their own crap?
Copying and pasting is more fun than DCFs:
@6 The pinkos at the WSJ write: In 2006, “the IRS said as many as half of affected employees were out of compliance with tax rules in one way or another.”
@7 “It’s possible some of Mr. Geithner’s problems stemmed from bad advice. In 2004, an accountant advised Mr. Geithner in writing that he did not owe employment taxes. An accountant who reviewed Mr. Geithner’s 2001 tax return also didn’t inform Mr. Geithner he owed taxes, according to an Obama aide familiar with the situation.” Although I agree with you on b).
@9 I will, but only if you help. I like your sass.
I feel safe the SEC is investigating apple health disclosures yet didn’t spend 5 minutes investigating Madoff even after some quant dropped a dime. Jobs will now suffer a public protology while Madoff gets his dome polished on the UES.