Archive for October 2nd, 2009

  • 02 Oct 2009 at 11:32 AM

Stimulus Program Batting 1.000 So Far

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Joe Biden.jpgThe $787 billion stimulus program has met 100% of its goals so far- according to Joe Biden. After eclipsing the benchmarks the VP set forth in June, the stimulus juggernaut has been given a new series of hurdles to jump over by the end of Q4.

The new goals include funding for battery manufacturing plants that can power 400,000 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles; starting 34 more construction and modernization projects at veterans hospitals and medical centers; beginning improvements in 105 more national parks; lending and leveraging $5 billion to more than 12,000 small businesses; and providing loans and funding to finance, build, or renovate more than 100,000 housing units.

While you can debate the degree of difficulty in meeting some of these standards, whether it was the stimulus or just divine intervention, based on Biden’s comments this morning,there may be a reason to be genuinely hopeful about the standards the current administration is setting.

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    • 02 Oct 2009 at 11:30 AM

    How Should Ken Lewis Help Clear John Thain’s Name?

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    Ken-Lewis-and-John-Thain-001.jpgThe Post makes two bold claims this morning. The first is that John Thain feels vindicated by Ken Lewis’s resignation (which we buy, and would probably say is an understatement) but simultaneously “harbors no ill-will toward Lewis” (really? because that doesn’t jibe with the account we have of Thain smearing on red lipstick and running his finger over KL’s name, which is at the top of his “To Kill List,” nightly since January).
    The second, more pressing one, is that Thain supposedly has it in his head that Lewis is going to help him “rehabilitate” his image on Wall Street. Buying this alleged dream of JT’s would of course require proof that Thain came up with the idea towards the end of a night of very heavy drinking, telling a friend “Hey! You know what I should do? I should get that guy who had the genius idea to buy the asbestos company I was running, who probably has a worse reputation than this guy [points to self] at this point, to vouch for me…what’s his name again, Ben?” before falling off his bar stool, but no matter. It’s out there, and it’s probably going to catch KL by surprise.

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    • 02 Oct 2009 at 10:45 AM

    Outrage At BarCap

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    Screen shot 2009-10-02 at 10.52.13 AM.pngJust who does Bob Diamond think he is, some overheated junior rainmakers at BarCap would like to know? Salaries for IB first years are apparently being upped to 70k while S&T employees (3 months counts) are remaining at 60k, a “snub” (obviously not my words) they are “none too happy about.” What are they going to do about it?

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    • 02 Oct 2009 at 9:44 AM

    Former Citadel High Frequency Head Terrified Of Porn, Not Prosecutors

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    High frequency trading.jpgHeads of high frequency trading desks have a lot of top secret, propriety information on their mini super-computers at work. Statistical arbitrage models sit there as the potential door to lightening quick profits. But when Mikhail Malyshev, the former head of Citadel’s high-frequency trading group, started dropping napalm on his hard drive before taking off for his new firm, Teza Trading, it wasn’t to destroy any evidence of stolen files. No, Malyshev was trying to prevent people from making a far more terrifying discovery about another high frequency pursuit of his.

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      • 02 Oct 2009 at 8:15 AM

      Opening Bell: 10.02.09

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      kenlewis.jpgBofA Board Weighs ‘Short-Term’ CEO (WSJ)
      One gets the impression they’re slightly miffed with Ken Lewis: “We don’t want to go through what Citi went through,” one director told a person close to him. That is a reference to two months in late 2007 when Citigroup Inc. was rudderless following the departure of CEO Charles Prince. “If we had more” notice of Mr. Lewis’s departure, “we could have started work on it,” this person said he was told by the Bank of America director.
      Fed Draws Court’s Eyes In Lehman Bankruptcy (WSJ)
      A court-appointed examiner is taking a looksee at whether or not the Federal Reserve “improperly cut in front of other creditors owed money in the $613 billion bankruptcy case,” records show.
      Cuomo Given Campaign Cash by Pension-Probe Figure, Returned It (Bloomberg)
      “Was this contribution given back in good faith when they felt it would be the appropriate and honest course of action to take?” said Bennett Gershman, a former prosecutor who is a legal-ethics expert at New York-based Pace University School of Law. “Or were they doing it at a time when they felt it would be extremely embarrassing and raise questions about the office and the investigation?”
      Despite Resignation, Lewis Still Faces Legal And Political Woes (NYT)
      If he thought he was just going to be able to head back to the mountains and grow another beard, he thought wrong.
      SAC Bets On Former Employee’s Fund (FINalternatives)
      SAC is backing the US Absolute Alpha, a new fund managed by former employee Mike Corcell at London-based RWC Partners.
      The Credit Crunch Continues (WSJ)
      An essay by Meredith Whitney. (She begins with her qualifications: “Anyone counting on a meaningful economic recovery will be greatly disappointed. How do I know? I follow credit, and credit is contracting.”)
      Letterman Reveals Sextortion Plot (NYP)
      Who among us hasn’t been the victim of a $2 million shakedown after an office affair gone wrong?