Opening Bell: 11.12.09

snowday.jpgBalyasny Ex-Analyst Under Probe (WSJ)
A complaint was filed last week alleging that an unnamed individual, supposedly Mark Adams, provided material non-public info about EMC Corp, where he once worked, in 2008 and 2009 while he was at Balyasny Asset Management (Adams previously worked at SAC Capital from July 2005 to December 2007).
Bear Stearns Loss Echoes Long Line of U.S. Prosecution Defeats (Bloomberg)
Don’t worry, the Matthew Tannin/Ralph Cioffi case wasn’t the first time the Justice Department was made to look stupid: “The acquittals of two Bear Stearns Cos. hedge-fund managers in a test trial for prosecutions linked to the subprime crisis echo a long line of high-profile financial cases that blew up in the government’s face. The U.S. twice failed to jail ex-Credit Suisse banker Frank Quattrone for obstruction, in 2003 and 2004; HealthSouth Corp. founder Richard Scrushy eluded a fraud conviction in 2005; and many defendants walked free in the most notorious corporate fraud of the decade, the fall of Enron Corp. in 2001.”
Bill Gates Says Wall Street Pay Is Too High (Reuters)
But he also doesn’t like the government putting caps on salary, getting up in people’s business, etc: “I do worry that when the government owns an entity like AIG that you can greatly devalue that entity by having it essentially have to behave as though it part of the government,” Gates said. “It’s an unnatural situation when the government owns a lot of a private company. Unfortunately there is a view that that should exist for a long term. There’s some devaluation of what that asset would have been worth if it hadn’t had to go through that kind of management structure. It’s unavoidable,” he said.
Beijing’s Heaviest Snow in 54 Years Strands Thousands (Bloomberg)
The gov wanted a snow day and god damn it, they were going to get one: “The government induced snowfall in the capital on Nov. 10 by seeding clouds with silver iodide, the China Daily newspaper reported yesterday, citing an unidentified official at the Beijing Weather Modification Office.”
White House Aims To Cut Deficit With TARP Cash (WSJ)
They’re serious about fixing this thing: “The idea is still a matter of debate within the administration and it is unclear how much impact it would have on the nation’s mounting deficit levels. Still, the potential move illustrates how the Obama administration is trying to find any way it can to bring down the deficit, which is turning into a political as well as an economic liability.”



Ex-Head of Santander Arm Faces Madoff Charges
(FT)
Manuel Echeverría, the former head of Optimal, the Geneva-based hedge fund investment arm of Santander, has been charged with criminal mismanagement of client funds that were placed with the Ponzi Master.
Governments could take 7 years to exit bank stakes (Reuters)
Better than ten? Or never?

Comments (19)

  1. Posted by guest | November 12, 2009 at 7:47 AM

    I heart BillyG. At least the guy actually produces tangible products.

  2. Posted by guest | November 12, 2009 at 7:50 AM

    Stevie should start to invest in depends.
    Or maybe there’ll be another internal investigation that will show no wrong doing?
    Just sayin’

  3. Posted by guest | November 12, 2009 at 8:15 AM

    @2
    Depends are not sexy.
    -Ping J.

  4. Posted by guest | November 12, 2009 at 8:20 AM

    Random question: How much does a lead sell-side equity analyst at a good firm covering a relatively high profile sector make in total comp? I know this varies dramatically depending on the circumstances- just looking for averages.

  5. Posted by guest | November 12, 2009 at 8:22 AM

    is that Chinese weather story true?

  6. Posted by pfluger | November 12, 2009 at 8:37 AM

    Today, we are announcing a innovative new financing technique which will cut the fiscal 2011 deficit by $1 trillion.
    We will issue $ 1 trillion in treasury notes, which will raise this years deficit, but then will be used to lower next year’s.
    We will then trumpet the huge percentage decrease in the deficit just in time for the elections.
    -Rahmbo and TG

  7. Posted by guest | November 12, 2009 at 8:39 AM
  8. Posted by Braverman | November 12, 2009 at 8:42 AM

    @6
    Don’t even joke about shit like that. You know it’s been discussed.

  9. Posted by pfluger | November 12, 2009 at 8:49 AM

    @8 Who said I’m joking. We can expect machinations like this.

  10. Posted by pfluger | November 12, 2009 at 8:51 AM

    @8- However, TG and Rahmbo will not suffer the same fate as BM, despite the similarities in the respective ponzi schemes.

  11. Posted by guest | November 12, 2009 at 8:54 AM

    Cloud seeding is nothing more than snake oil. No major studies have ever proven that it would work at this size/scale. More smoke and mirrors.

  12. Posted by guest | November 12, 2009 at 8:57 AM

    You are all idiots.

  13. Posted by Joe Mac | November 12, 2009 at 8:58 AM

    @6- Cramer?
    How’s that CIT going?

  14. Posted by american bandersnatch | November 12, 2009 at 9:02 AM

    I love the smell of silver iodide in the morning. It smells like high GDP growth.

  15. Posted by guest | November 12, 2009 at 9:16 AM

    Nov. 12 — SAC reviewed its buying and selling of stocks cited in the Balyasny insider-trading cases and found nothing suspicious.
    http://www.cantcatchme.com/article-888888-review-2.do

  16. Posted by NotNasser | November 12, 2009 at 9:24 AM

    “Don’t worry, the Matthew Tannin/Ralph Cioffi case wasn’t the first time the Justice Department was made to look stupid.”
    Yes, but there is something new in this one. I would expect that in few if any of the other cases cited was the jury actually worried about VENUE — worried enough to ask the judge for additional instruction on the point.
    The prosecutors in Brooklyn want the sexy cases — they don’t want to concede all the fun to the guys in the Southern District. And this prosecution may have been lost due to that rivalry.

  17. Posted by pfluger | November 12, 2009 at 9:40 AM

    @12 = Czar Feinberg

  18. Posted by guest | November 12, 2009 at 9:44 AM

    Random answer.
    Lead analyst (ED or MD)
    1-2. Plenty of outliers.

  19. Posted by guest | November 12, 2009 at 11:34 AM

    I wish the fucking Chinese would seed the clouds over Manhattan and Connecticut with “smart financial acumen seeds”. If “dumb” was a grain of sand, Wall Street would look like the Sahara.

Leave a comment

You can log in with your account or comment as a guest below.