• 23 Sep 2009 at 8:00 AM

Opening Bell: 09.23.09

berniemadoffpartyhat.jpgLehman Alums Eye Fund Launch (NYP)
Get in on this while you still can: ” A little over a year after Lehman’s demise, former top trader Alex Kirk is said to be joining with the former second-in-command, Bart McDade, to launch a fund called River Birch Capital. While details are scarce, sources said Kirk, a 25-year Lehman veteran, has been working the phones for months, with an eye toward getting the investment fund off the ground. River Birch could aim to purchase distressed assets and other fixed-income debt, including high-yield securities — areas in which Kirk has expertise. One source said some of the billions in mortgages and other esoteric securities still owned by the defunct Lehman might be on the radar.”
UKFI Sacks Headhunter Over RBS Appointment (NYT)
Apparently the group that oversees the UK government’s stakes in bailed-out banks was not cool with employing Johnny Cameron, RBS’s former head of investment banking (and “a close ally of tainted RBS boss Fred Goodwin”), as an adviser.
Review Says No Net Loss For Some In Madoff Scheme (AP)
Half Big B’s clients lost nothing due to unwittingly well-timed withdrawals of more money than they originally invested.
US, Accused Bear Managers Fight Over Evidence (Reuters)
A lawyer for Rich Tannin believes the “allegation” that her client erased an incriminating Gmail account is “an eleventh-hour smear.”
Hedge Funds Keep Watch On Washington (BW)
One client who runs a $4 billion hedge fund in San Francisco that employs 25 researchers recently told consulting firm GLG that while he never expected Washington to become “the financial capital of the world, now that it is, I have to understand.”
Harvard, NYU Law Students Left Hanging as Firms Slash Offers (Bloomberg)
It could be worse– you could’ve gone to law school and now been sitting by the phone waiting for a call that will never come while a sad trombone blows in the background.

Comments (24)

  1. Posted by guest | September 23, 2009 at 8:11 AM

    is he sporting wood in that pic?

  2. Posted by guest | September 23, 2009 at 8:12 AM

    regal/him/that pic

  3. Posted by guest | September 23, 2009 at 8:12 AM

    the “tainted” fred goodwin? what did I ever do to deserve that?
    -FG

  4. Posted by guest | September 23, 2009 at 8:20 AM

    @1
    Yes, but not much
    SW

  5. Posted by guest | September 23, 2009 at 8:29 AM

    Sigh…another Opening Bell by Greg.
    Will the torture never end?

  6. Posted by guest | September 23, 2009 at 8:35 AM

    “shrinking demand for legal services”
    How is that even possible in the US?

  7. Posted by InfiniteGuest | September 23, 2009 at 8:54 AM

    “Esoteric.” That’s good, I’ll have to remember that.

  8. Posted by guest | September 23, 2009 at 8:59 AM

    @5 you’re a tool.

  9. Posted by Tax Chick | September 23, 2009 at 9:09 AM

    It could be worse – you could have gotten hired years ago and now be out of a job now with student loans and a mortgage. Law students are the biggest bunch of whiney douchebags. Frickin’ spoiled twats.

  10. Posted by guest | September 23, 2009 at 9:24 AM

    It could be worse. A woman could cut off your penis while you’re sleeping and toss it out the window of a moving car.

  11. Posted by NakedShort | September 23, 2009 at 9:27 AM

    It could be worse you could work for your Mother in Law.

  12. Posted by Tax Chick | September 23, 2009 at 9:27 AM

    @10
    That would be way worse. But I suspect that there are far fewer who fall into that camp than the former.

  13. Posted by guest | September 23, 2009 at 9:29 AM

    $160K base across the board (even in cheap cities like Charlotte and Houston) for Biglaw first-year associates is way too high. No wonder firms are cutting back.

  14. Posted by Tax Chick | September 23, 2009 at 9:37 AM

    @Naked – especially if your mother-in-law was toothy-Ruthie.

  15. Posted by Becky Boot Fan | September 23, 2009 at 9:43 AM

    if ever there was a sensy pic…that’s it.

  16. Posted by guest | September 23, 2009 at 9:52 AM

    @Tax Chick – Very well put!

  17. Posted by Phobos | September 23, 2009 at 10:17 AM

    i am my mother in law.

  18. Posted by guest | September 23, 2009 at 10:22 AM

    “Harvard, NYU Law Students Left Hanging” has such a nice ring to it.

  19. Posted by guest | September 23, 2009 at 10:25 AM

    CFA or MBA?

  20. Posted by NAS Keflavik boi | September 23, 2009 at 10:27 AM

    Law blows syphilitic goats. It is a miserable profession. The “winners” are almost invariably aged-before-their-time workaholics; the losers are worse than pathetic, earning less than garbagemen while carrying gargantuan student loan balances.
    And yet each year the ABA accredits another half-dozen shitbag law schools and suckers with their dumbass B.A.’s line up to jump in.
    Fucktards.

  21. Posted by american bandersnatch | September 23, 2009 at 10:42 AM

    Weclome back NASKB. Where have you been?

  22. Posted by NAS Keflavik boi | September 23, 2009 at 11:05 AM

    Hiya, AB -
    Well was out a good chunk of August, sincethen been busy, so haven’t been checking in much.
    Have I missed much?

  23. Posted by guest | September 23, 2009 at 11:15 AM

    cioffi – 3 ferrari’s and building a condo in SARASOTA?

  24. Posted by guest | September 23, 2009 at 12:14 PM

    NASKB – as a lawyer I can say no one’s ever been more accurate than you. I feel like you must be an ex-lawyer since it’s so dead on. Kudos.

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