Obviously the gut goes with Citi or Bank of America, but no! So this is going to be a tough one. According to the Kraw, who spoke Wednesday night at the Manhattan’s Museum of American Finance, before she took her current gig at as head of wealth management at BAC, she was considering a position at another firm (which she wouldn’t name but described as “troubled”). She was thisclose to signing with them and, truth be told, would’ve never before considered answering to Charlotte. But a series of hints from the universe that included a fractured jaw gave SK a moment’s pause and ultimately drove her into the arms of this guy [motions to Ken Lewis passed out over a toilet seat].
The first was that she overslept the morning of the initial interview, and almost missed her flight. And she’d never overslept in her life! She didn’t have enough time to shower, or even take her PJs off (WTF?) before putting her pantsuit but whatever. SKraw does remember thinking to herself, “this doesn’t feel very good,” but NBD. Water off a duck’s back. The meeting went well, and she scored a follow-up, this time in New York. The next time, things started out more auspiciously.
This was a beautiful spring day. Wearing a new suit and new shoes, she recalled, “I couldn’t have been feeling more pleased with myself.”
So she’s walking, she’s walking, she’s checking out her reflection of the old Bear building, thinking to herself, “Huh, I wonder Jimmy Cayne is up to these days? How weird was it that time he tried to pinch my ass? And what a fine ass it is, amiright? Get a load of that thi–” and BOOM! Girlfriend’s heel gets caught in the crack of a sidewalk and she is down for the count. And I’m not talking a little scrape of the knees fall, I’m talking Sallie Krawcheck, missing a tooth.
Continue reading »
Like it or not, new bank regulations are almost sure to make their way into the system on both sides of the Atlantic. Those massive financial services supermarkets got carried away with how much risk they thought they could properly manage and now safeguards need to be put in place to avoid a repeat. The outrage at some of the UK’s corporate citizens has been fierce. The message is clear- banks should pay for their sins. In fact, the price tag for their sins could be as high as £2 billion to provide a better liquidity cushion. Time to celebrate a job well done. The banks will pay for their sins and innocent bystanders such as their customers will reap the benefits.
Continue reading »
You know who would be a great candidate to take over for Ken Lewis at Bank of America? Alan Schwartz. Yes, he does already have a job at Guggenheim Partners, and his nights and weekends are pretty filled trying to nail hedge funds to the wall for colluding to destroy Bear Stearns. And sure, he has his drawbacks, namely that he’s no Jimmy Cayne. But man, if we could get this guy? BAC would be set (in the event someone needs to go on CNBC and state with a straight face that the firm is awash with liquidty). The Boston Globe seriously reports:
Continue reading »
The AP reports that due an upswing in suicides in France, Labor Minister Xavier Darcos has ordered all companies with over 1,000 employees to develop “anti-stress plans” to deal with pressure in the workplace. Those who fail to to so? Will have their names placed on “a list of shame to be published on the Internet.”
Continue reading »
The TARP Oversight Group is a bit concerned about the degree of progress in Treasury’s mortgage modification program. While helping out 500,000 households isn’t something to be scoffed at, there’s a long way to go before hitting the administration’s target of 3 to 4 million. The report issued a word of caution and a plea to those in Treasury to rethink the program to pick up the pace.
“Rising unemployment, generally flat or even falling home prices and impending mortgage-rate resets threaten to cast millions more out of their homes,” the report said. “The panel urges Treasury to reconsider the scope, scalability and permanence of the programs designed to minimize the economic impact of foreclosures and consider whether new programs or program enhancements could be adopted.”
All true but we live in the US of A and we have the great equalizer to make problems like this go away.There is an easier, more American way to do this than going through a Treasury sponsored program. And some people are already taking advantage.
Continue reading »
Review Of Citi Draws Wary FDIC Response (WSJ)
FDIC officials are wondering just how rigorous the outside review of Citi and its management was, considering the report claimed everyone, including Vikram, was doing a bang-up job (Bair and Co were expecting to be told to burn the place to the ground and start over).
Occidental Petroleum Announces Acquisition of Phibro (Oxy)
The oil producer is getting the commodities unit (and Andrew Hall + his team) for $250 million.
Morgan Stanley Back In Black, But Goldman Dominates (Reuters)
Why can’t Lloyd Blankfein just let Mack have this one quarter? Oh, and never forget: “Goldman has to walk this fine line between paying their people too much and sending the wrong signal to government and taxpayers,” said Michael Hecht, an analyst with JMP Securities.
Zoe Cruz To Head New Hedge Fund (WSJ)
Voras Capital Management is expected to launch with at least $200 million and invest in a variety of distressed assets. The Cruz Missile has apparently been “talking to some former colleagues at Morgan Stanley and other people about joining her firm,” though it’s unclear if she’s offered John Mack or Vikram Pandit gigs at this time.
Larry Summers Rejects ‘New Normal’ of Slow U.S. Growth (Bloomberg)
“I would be very reluctant to accept the idea that the American economy no longer has the potential to grow rapidly,” Summers told a forum in New York yesterday.
In Surprise, Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize For Diplomacy (NYT)
So that’s nice for him.
Carl Icahn: The Market Is Acting Schizophrenic (CNBC)
“If you get a double-dip recession and they start coming down, it’s going to be a bit of a bloodbath,” Icahn said.
$$$ Life Lessons From Donald Trump [Daily Intel]
$$$ Gagosian Art Store Debuts, Displays Damien Hirst-Signed Memorabilia, Richard Prince Nurse Hat Chair [WSJ]
$$$ Movie Derivatives [BI]
$$$ Leaner Times at Harvard: No Cookies [NYT]
Jim Simons announced to employees today that he will retire from his role as CEO of Renaissance Technologies, a person familiar with firm has confirmed to Dealbreaker. Current co-presidents Peter Brown and Robert Mercer will be named co-CEO’s as of January 1, 2010 (Simons will remain non-executive chairman). Simons will remain the largest shareholder at the fund and will keep “sizable investments in RIEF and RIFF.”
Chris Dodd may be onto something. At some point, the gravy train has got to end. While his comments regarding too-big-to-fail were likely said with a financial product factory in mind, given who was saved over the past year and who wasn’t, it’s not just banks that should take notice.
I really would like to have the emphasis be that if you mess up, you’re done. We’re not going to provide that kind of perpetual guarantee that allows you to continue in existence. That ‘too-big-to-fail’ notion has to end,” he said.
Yes, Senator. You’re on the right track here. This sounds great, almost like the reemergence of that “anti-Jesus” economic system. But we need a test case to make sure you’re serious. Let’s see if we can find one.
Continue reading »
