Opening Bell: 06.24.09

Citigroup Has Plan To Fatten Salaries (NYT)
Pandit’s people can expect a raise in base pay by as much as 50 percent this year in order to– see if you can guess where this is going– offset smaller bonuses. Under this scenario, according to the Times, “most Citigroup employees will make as much money as they did in 2008, although some might earn more and others less,” so get excited for one of those three outcomes, though not so much the last.
Union Calls on Morgan to Reverse Raises for Top Earners (WSJ)
“We urge you to return base salaries to their previous levels and … reward executives for long-term value creation, not just showing up for work.”
Memphis Is Site Of Jobs’s Liver Transplant (WSJ)
Now that we’ve identified The Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute it’s up to one of you to create some sort of bus tour, which would probably be pretty popular. (“This is the cafeteria where Jobs’s jello was prepared and up ahead we’ll show you the room in which he got hooked up to a catheter. Not one of those used ones they’re always advertising on CNBC but the Rolls Royce of catheters. This is Steve Jobs we’re talking about, after all.”)

NYSE Loses Trades Fastest in a Year and Nasdaq Isn’t the Winner
(Bloomberg)
“…a record low 30.2 percent of May’s trades, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s down 2.8 points from February for the worst three months since June 2008. The beneficiary wasn’t Nasdaq OMX Group Inc., the Big Board’s main rival for 38 years. It was Direct Edge Holdings LLC and Bats Exchange Inc., which more than doubled their combined share since August to 22.8 percent.”
New York Times Considers Paid Access To Mobile News (Bloomberg)
Since someone, let’s call it the NYT, is desperate for cash anyway they can get it and Gretchen Morgenson’s trick turning days are over.
Allen Stanford detention hearing set for Thursday (Reuters)
Hopefully he’ll threaten to punch a reporter in the mouth outside the courthouse.
Margaret Brennan Jumps from CNBC to Bloomberg (TVNewser)
Insiders say she’s being named an anchor, which is nice.
JPMorgan Is On Top Of The World, RBS Not So Much (Reuters)
Rankings by British magazine The Banker somewhat suspect, given Bank of America and Citi’s spots at numbers two and three for “strongest.”

Comments (42)

  1. Posted by Investorcluzo | June 24, 2009 at 7:15 AM

    we have now reached the bubble phase in business news journalism…this too will end in tears.

  2. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 7:16 AM

    Is the NYT trying to see how fast it can possibly file for bankruptcy? Make people pay for what they can get elsewhere for free; sounds like something CEO wunderkind Bob Nardelli would try and pull.

  3. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 7:16 AM

    I love hot dog day at the 388 cafeteria.
    Citi should raise the the salary of whoever thought that up.

  4. Posted by wcburrs87 | June 24, 2009 at 7:58 AM

    This was NYT’s second plan – the first was to start selling advertising directly on hobos using their paper as blankets.

  5. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:05 AM

    I ate Stevie’s liver and washed it down
    with a glass of Chianti. I chased that
    down with a slice of Bagel-the-rat-dog
    and a McDonald’s vanilla milk shake.
    When’s lunch?

  6. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:07 AM

    margaret is the holy trinity of finance (brian hunter, maria bartiromo and ashley dupree) all at once – check the visual evidence
    http://blog.tcsportingclub.com/cnbc%E2%80%99s-margaret-brennan-produces-segment-on-ambergris-cay/

  7. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:11 AM

    @6
    Just another news Bimbo.

  8. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:16 AM

    Ah, the NYT is once again displaying the same kind of business acument that got them to this point. Why haven’t they learned that you only charge for something when people want it?

  9. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:17 AM

    @7 she’s way smarter than the other chicks on cnbc, not to mentioned hotter and not obnoxious.

  10. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:28 AM

    @7
    just another girl you’ll never get to do

  11. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:29 AM

    @3 the woman that makes the great wraps should get the salary bump before hot dog guy.

  12. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:33 AM

    @3,11 wow you guys guys display fair judgement and it sounds like you have a fascinating life, you guys should get a raise!

  13. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:33 AM

    @10 you cut me so bad. also, that’s the case for 99.9% of the people viewing cnbc, which you might have guessed is the point.
    -10

  14. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:34 AM

    11- not the one in the middle who looks at you like it’s your fault she works there and takes 45 mins to make a tuna sammie to get back at you?

  15. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:34 AM
  16. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:35 AM

    Brennan’s short appearances on CNBC were the only reason to watch that worthless channel

  17. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:36 AM

    @16 agreed, and she wasn’t as big a whore as the others

  18. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:37 AM

    “Fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame-grilled with the NEW BK SUPER SEVEN INCHER. Yearn for more after you taste the mind-blowing burger that comes with a single beef patty, topped with American cheese, crispy onions and the A1 Thick and Hearty Steak Sauce.”
    I can’t decide if I want a burger or a blow job. Damn you ad geniuses.

  19. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:40 AM

    @6 I bet that guy Steve wishes he took Maria on the flight to Ambergris instead of Margaret.

  20. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:48 AM

    that is one poorly written NYT article. my guess would be some prole or maybe greg michaels was responsible for that piece of crap…

  21. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 8:51 AM

    @ Eric Dash is a total hack, though not nearly as bad as Zachary Kouwe.

  22. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 9:01 AM

    @18
    both, at the same time.

  23. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 9:18 AM

    @10
    What’s your batting average? I guess in your world every woman that comes within 6ft of your crotch wants to strip off and have your babies.

  24. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 9:22 AM

    @23
    no although your mother, sister and girlfriend all were quite eager..

  25. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 9:24 AM

    It’s the middle of June and there hasn’t been one analyst bonus rumor?
    Does anyone remember when this site was actually read/commented on by people in banking? Although I guess it’s tough to draw an audience when everyone’s been “rationalized”
    C’mon Bess, lets hear some rumors. It’s June, this is all we have.

  26. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 9:24 AM

    Re: Batting averages…….like they used to say at Amaranth, “Those who know don’t say; those who say don’t know.”

  27. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 9:25 AM

    @23 I guess I was right. l8r

  28. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 9:25 AM

    @23– 10 has a valid point about not getting to worked up over some chick on TV. it’s not like she died (or is having a sex change). just because she was not as obnoxious as everyone else on CNBC does not mean she’s some kind of national treasure. not sayin’ i wouldn’t do her if she was asking for it.

  29. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 9:26 AM

    A UNION wants pay to be based on performance instead of just showing up for work? Hilarious! I sprayed my computer with coffee I was laughing so hard!!

  30. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 9:27 AM

    #27 was meant for tool @24

  31. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 9:29 AM

    @25 why don’t you throw out some numbers, big shot? tell us what first years in their mom’s basements are expecting to take home.

  32. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 9:29 AM

    its hard to take the NYT seriously.. the article reads like its out of national enquirer

  33. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 9:31 AM

    @30 – when you’re in a hole, stop digging

  34. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 9:33 AM

    @25 clearly YOU don’t work in banking. right now any talk– and there is not much at all– are highly speculative rumors with not much basis in reality. we’re not even done with Q2, moron. lose your shit over there being no number guessing after, say, labor day.

  35. Posted by Anal_yst | June 24, 2009 at 9:38 AM

    “Most Citi employees will make the same in 2009 as they did in 2008″
    Oh, so they’ll make the same as they did in 2007 then, you mean…

  36. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 9:49 AM

    @35
    So they will continue to make 65% of what the rest of the street makes.

  37. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 10:33 AM

    Am I the only one who thinks it’s hypocritical that a labor union is asking people to be paid for value creation and ‘not just showing up for work’?
    (and yes, I know it’s their pension fund)

  38. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 10:45 AM

    37 1) expectations are higher for people paid in the eight figure range 2) wondering what value you create at work. If you’re realistic, you’ll understand that you’re just a cog in the wheel, no different than the typical union laborer. So STFU.

  39. Posted by Investorcluzo | June 24, 2009 at 11:10 AM

    do we have confirmation that ms brennan left the mothership? her profile is still up on the cnbc site.
    http://www.cnbc.com/id/15838235

  40. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 11:10 AM

    @38
    maxine welcome to DB

  41. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 11:47 AM

    @38
    except that ‘cog in a wheel’ doesn’t get mandatory pensions, benefits and annual raises which ultimately take down the long-term viability of their companies (see US Auto and Airline industries)

  42. Posted by guest | June 24, 2009 at 12:20 PM

    41 1) You don’t have some sort of pension scheme, a medical plan and annual reviews that lead to raises and bonus? I do and am not in a union. Where do you work, a savings bank? 2) you’re a fool if you assign the blame for the destruction of GM and UAL to the workers rather than to management 3) you didn’t answer – what value are you creating at your firm? Is it any different really than a line worker at GM?

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