Or so alleges country reporter Charlie Gasparino, in his new book (out tomorrow!), When Mooks Fail. According to CG, given that “both of these broads” had “a great pair of legs and an ass just begging for a pinch,” the comparisons were inevitable, but were nevertheless troubling to JT.
The upcoming second-quarter earnings–or, to be more precise, losses–were much higher than expected, around $5 billion. The size of the losses was in direct contradiction to just about everything Thain had said…[and] he saw his career flash before him: there would be comparisons to Alan Schwartz, Dick Fuld, and Erin Callan. He would lose the confidence of the markets, as Bear had done and as Lehman was doing. Like the other firms, Merrill had survived on the fact that it could continue to borrow money from banks and on other investors who believed they were lending money to a company that told the truth.
Thain was becoming unhinged; during a briefing in one of his finely decorated conference rooms that had been part of the $1.2 million office spending spree, people close to the firm said he completely lost his composure when an aide informed him about the size of the losses.
Normally in tense situations like these, when he felt himself losing control, Thain would take 5, strap on a onesie and work out his issues on the mat. Unfortunately, his suit was at the cleaners, and aides had mentioned to him recently that it freaked people out a bit when he would start shadow-boxing out of nowhere in a room full of colleagues.
Continue reading »
The arrests and the hundreds of millions of dollars in potential losses notwithstanding, is the alleged fraud at German fund of hedge funds firm just a simple case of lost in translation? Or an accounting snafu?
Cautioning against boldness, the firm’s auditor–a professor of finance and accounting at an august German institution of higher education–wants us to remember that “until now nothing has been proven.” After all, that country’s financial authorities and courts can’t even decide if the firm can even be regulated, let alone prosecuted.
Continue reading »
The country’s biggest bank needs a CEO, and given how well things have gone for Bank of America in recent years, some people think that some fresh blood is in order. The fresh blood, by contrast, seems to disagree.
The latest to withdraw his name from consideration for the worst job on Wall Street is Robert Kelly, who currently leads Bank of New York Mellon. Approached about moving back to his old Charlotte haunts to take the reins of old BofA, ex-Wachovia chief Bobby apparently couldn’t wait to tell the approachers to go find another sucker.
Mr. Kelly has shown no interest in the job, said a person familiar with his thinking.
Continue reading »
The federal deficit has ballooned by more than $1 trillion dollars this year. This does not make Tim Geithner very happy, but it also doesn’t worry him much, because spending more than we make is at best his third most-pressing priority. And don’t even get him started on taxes, because the tax-evader-in-chief is loathe to even use the word.
But fear not. The T.S. is ready to make some hard choices. Eventually. Maybe.
Continue reading »
The long hours, the fake returns– it all ate away at him pretty badly. Mostly it was the constant fear that today would be the day the rètards at the Securities and Exchange Commission would slip and fall on the boxes of files marked “This Shit Ain’t Legit” scattered pretty much all over the office or that someone, anyone, would ask a brain buster that would lead them to the conclusion that the whole thing was a scam, rather than asking Bernie for recommendations on his favorite place get wings (Hooters).
Despite what Mr. Madoff described as the chronic ineptitude of the S.E.C., he said in the interview that he was “worried every time” examiners showed up.
“That was the nightmare I lived with,” he said, and he told Mr. Kotz he had wanted it to end. “I wish they caught me six years ago, eight years ago.”
Lapses Helped Scheme, Madoff Told Investigators [NYT]
Earlier: Bernie Madoff Screwing SEC, Anyone That Tickles His Fancy, From Inside The Joint
Goldman Looks To Buy Fannie Tax Credits (WSJ)
Not so fast says Fannie’s keeper: “A sale would bring some needed financial respite to Fannie Mae. But the administration is leery about approving a deal that would help Goldman reduce its tax bill, given the animus held by many lawmakers toward big Wall Street firms in general and Goldman in particular. The Obama administration is looking at the deal with a critical eye and could block it. Goldman, meanwhile, is hopeful it could win approval this week.”
Pandit ‘Near Death’ Cash Hoard Signals Lower U.S. Bank Profits (Bloomberg)
Citigroup has almost doubled its cash to $244.2 billion in the year since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy, the biggest such stockpile of any U.S. bank.
Delaware Beats Switzerland As Most Secretive Financial Center (Reuters)
“While the U.S. has been jumping up and down and saying ‘Aha, bad, wicked Swiss banks,’ the U.S. is doing exactly the same things as far as non-resident bank account holders,” said Sarah Lewis, executive director of Tax Justice Network, based in the U.K.
Can Citigroup Carry Its Own Weight? (NYT)
Vikram Pandit says yes. And more of this talk: “Our distinctiveness is we connect the world better than anyone else,” he said, noting Citigroup’s global reach. “We have a great capability of building a business around that. And we are in the process of building a culture around that.”
Tyrus Fund Raises More Than $800 Million (FT)
Former Deephaven manager Tony Chedraoui’s shop launches today with more initial money raised than the expected $500 million (and is predicted to pick up another $300 million this month, ending the year with $1.4bn under management).
Former Fund Exec Charged With Insider Trades (DB)
Ronald Yee, who had been ValueAct Capital’s chief financial officer until June 2008, was named in a civil suit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, against seven people charged with trading on inside information in Acxiom.
RBS To Consider Further Asset Sales (FT)
Anything to get the Queen off their ass.
Score this one as a loss for the TARP Program: CIT Group, the ancient commercial lender bailed out late last year by the federal government and earlier this year by a group of hedge funds, has gone into bankruptcy protection.
CIT filed for bankruptcy yesterday. That’s great news for its creditors–including those hedge funds and equally-ancient corporate raider Carl Icahn, whose $1 billion will keep the firm going during its stay at Club Chapter 11. But for Tim Geithner and the Treasury Department? Less so.
Continue reading »
So the Federal Reserve is meeting tomorrow and Wednesday. They are likely to do nothing. The markets are likely to go nuts anyway.
Discuss.
