BofA 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?
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- Use the Bloomberg command
NH BLG_DEALBREAKER <GO>
to access Dealbreaker
Iy youse wanna speak a da italian do it like a dis’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhuOicPFZY
-cg
I’ve never been the victim of a sex shakedown. where do i sign up?
-e. spitz
i’m just a gigolo
and everywhere i go…
kl
Is this the Dollar Dom’s play at BofA CEO?
@4 sure it is
She’s like Palin.
Good morning. Unemployment worse than expected.
did it say bofa was looking for another short ceo? you see what they did there? short people now have somebody to love…oh, wait. nothing to see here, move along shorty!
@6 tell ‘em to quit takin’ ‘er jobs
Get a job Roundeye, show a ritter disciprine.
-Mrs. Watanabe
Mary Jo White seems a good choice. Interesting strategy painting the actual head of the company as the fall guy.
@8 dik er derrrr
@6 – why is this surprising? don’t let barry and friends kid you into thinking we’re past the 7th inning stretch…remember jobs are a lagging indicator, cash for clunkers only proved that americans still have a penchant for spending money they don’t have. hunker down folks, guns and butter.
@Cluzo dont you think in light of everyone in the US being leveraged to the eye balls with debt employment is a leading indicator?
If these folks cant get jobs were looking at a whole new wave of bank issues and we know how that worked out for us last fall.
If you don’t like it…you can git out.
I’ve had sex with co-workers. I wasn’t married at the time; am I in trouble?
NS is right. Consumers still have massive deleveraging to do and mortgage servicers have been putting off many inevitable foreclosures. At least with foreclosures there is some recovery, but with credit card defaults…..
Trig
@naked – I’ve met the american consumer…we’re in trouble. they don’t understand the concept of de-leveraging or liquidity. for better or worse, the resolve (to use one of dubya’s words) of unwashed masses has not been broken (slightly dented maybe). watch sentiment…if the *prospects* for getting a job improve, people will start spending again.
@16 foreclosures are often more costly than they’re worth.
@19
Your so smart. Most servicers are legally bound by trusts either REMICs or REITs that own the mortgages to foreclose in the case of non-payment unless a mod is viable, which often times it’s not, and the homeowner doesn’t want it because they don’t feel they’ll ever be able to get equity in the home again.
@Cluzo What money are these rètards going to spend?
They are tapped out buddy. Home equity negative, credit card limits slashed, the ones that do have jobs can wave bye bye to any meaningful wage growth considering their lucky to be employed; but the huge boat they bought from their cash out refi in 2005 really ties the driveway together.
@16…In states like FL,CA,AZ,NV where homes are down 50% and the people walk, what does the bank recover? We are talking large numbers here. Was $500k at the peak, now $250k and the owner had a pick a payment plan.
It looks to me though that once the owner gets 90 days behind the bank sells the paper to the government. I hope the government isn’t paying face value.
@20, Uh-huh. And how’s that working for you?
-19
@21…roughly 5% aren’t paying mortgage or rent for a period of 12 months (average repo time) or so. If they have a job most are too stupid to save that money so they consume goods & services.
WTF? Alarmist discussions on the economy on DB?
Even during the clusterf*ck that was last year I didn’t detect such pessimism. Chin up, people. We are almost there!
@24 That is an excellent point. I am in the camp that nothing spells robust economic recovery like the “12 month or so not paying rent or mortgage carry trade”.
@23
Just fine if you bought senior pieces in those securitizations for 30 cents on the dollar. Some poor sucker who bought the mezz takes a 100% writedown and you get all the liquidation proceeds. Many current senior bondholders could care less if foreclosure happens because they bought at such massive discounts that getting any principal back now is a massive gain. In some trusts, the faster the foreclosures the better for the senior bondholders.
I just curry sharted all over your premise.
@naked – we may be talking around each other here. my original point was that jobs aren’t coming back any time soon (go back to your point that the consumer is tapped out). without spending their will be no hiring. “animal spirits” will lead to a vicious cycle that will only be stopped by a change in sentiment lead by the bobble heads on tv touting their green shoots while barry and friends keep the money printing presses on full throttle…
Do you think that pesky collie who posts here is planning a plot on Meep-Meep?
can·ni·bal (kn-bl) n. A person who eats the flesh of other humans.
ghoul (gl) n. An evil spirit believed to plunder graves and feed on corpses.
“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.
How long does it take to find a CEO? Jeez, they’ve got 3 months. Judging by the talent of the guys who run the place, it shouldn’t be that hard to find a comparable guy.