• 14 Jul 2009 at 11:40 AM

Justice Department Loves A Good CDS Conspiracy Theory

By Greg Michaels

The never-ending story known as the persecution of the CDS market has taken a truly incredible turn. After a lifetime’s worth of bitching and moaning from Washington about the opacity of the market, the Justice Department has decided to take aim at one of the few sources of CDS pricing data, Markit, for its diabolical role in the credit crisis. The conspiracy theory contends that Markit’s major shareholders (JPM, BAC, RBS, and GS) may have benefited from unfair access to price information through the portal. Of all the things to focus the witch hunt on, trying to determine whether or not single name traders at some of the largest players in the CDS market squeezed an extra half bp out of a counterparty who used only Markit quotes for their credit derivatives business is an interesting choice.
Credit Swaps Investigated by U.S. Justice Department [Bloomberg]

Comments (22)

  1. 1
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 11:51 AM

    BLANUS
    LANUSB
    ANUSBL
    NUSBLA
    USBLAN
    SBLANU

  2. 2
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 11:56 AM

    Greg,
    Mommy is out of lube. Would you be a dear and pick some up on your way home from work. Thanks shnookums!
    Mom

  3. 3
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 11:59 AM

    Glad they don’t feel that way about ICE.
    ~Oil Trader

  4. 4
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 12:02 PM

    “people that annoy you”
    GRE_S

  5. 5
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 12:04 PM

    Greg – You do some odd favors for your mother. Is everything ok?
    Abuse Counselor

  6. 6
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 12:08 PM

    I think we should string the CDS desks up by their collective balls. This is all their fault.
    Well, them and the short sellers.
    Oh, and the speculators too.
    Um, and, I guess, can’t forget about the evil hedge funds.
    And then there’s those Goldman bastards. It goes without saying that they’re behind everything.
    And the mortgage brokers. Fuckers.
    Hank Paulson had something to do with it too. Can’t leave him out.
    [But other than the Roads, the aqueduct, the schools, the rule of law, prosperity, etc., what have The Romans ever done for us?]

  7. 7
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 12:15 PM

    I suppose it’s a good thing we don’t have Dealbreaker doing regulation for us. If you seriously think that getting advance information, even on something as apparently minor as CDS marks, isn’t valuable and doesn’t give a distinct advantage over other market participants, you wouldn’t last long at a regulator–or at a prop desk, for that matter.

  8. 8
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 12:17 PM

    @7

  9. 9
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 12:32 PM

    Three words, Greg: anus reduction surgery

  10. 10
    Posted by merkin capital partners | July 14, 2009 at 12:33 PM

    alien, cnbc. could also be sandra oh.

  11. 11
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 12:37 PM

    @merkin
    wow, didn’t even need the sunglasses to spot her.
    -R. Piper.

  12. 12
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 12:41 PM

    Michaels, you are beginning to suck again, I’m going to reinstate my previous policy of emailing Bess everyday until you get fired.
    More Mad Max.
    D-Rat

  13. 13
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 12:44 PM

    Greggums,
    Would you also be a dear and pick me up a 12 pack of Magnums for me. I am having some guests over tonight.
    Thnx,
    Mom

  14. 14
    Posted by american bandersnatch | July 14, 2009 at 12:45 PM

    @6 – Peace in our time?

  15. 15
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 12:52 PM

    Any comments not related to Greg’s you-know-what will be deleted with total impunity. Comments from his mom are OK.
    -DB Staff

  16. 16
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 12:54 PM

    Greg,
    why has Bess been able to post 6 times to your 2 so far today? Are you lazy on top of being inept? Why don’t you start coming in a little earlier? Also, spend an hour a day trying to find some good pics to post. It will take the pressure off of your sub-standard writing.

  17. 17
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 12:56 PM

    @16 – Obviously it is because he is always running errands for his mother, picking up lube and condoms and such. Leave him alone.

  18. 18
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 1:03 PM

    @6 Wait till Biggus Dickus hears of this!

  19. 19
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 1:08 PM

    Was Greg in the biz?

  20. 20
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 1:17 PM

    Damnit, Greggers. I asked for more pictures! Your little block of verbal diarrhea is not very inviting to eyes.
    Picture ideas:
    - Maxine Waters goes with EVERYTHING
    - C Gas punishing his lats
    - A side-by-side comparison of Big Momma with a high collar and low cut neck vs Mandy Drury with the same
    - The Prince on one of his steeds
    You get the idea. Don’t let this happen again.

  21. 21
    Posted by guest | July 14, 2009 at 1:19 PM

    @19 I know his mom was in business last night.

  22. 22
    Posted by judas | April 18, 2011 at 2:05 AM

    im ashamed of all of you, so much pathetic blathering because you all have no meaningful purpose in your lives. Get a grip you losers, you really think that sequestering the earths wealth to yourselves is going to mean anything at all.. once you are dead without having achieved anything of importance? its a waste of my time though because none of you have the potential to even find a purpose in life let alone carry it out

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