$$$ SEC eyes new charges against Galleon’s Rajaratnam [Reuters]
$$$ Goldman Takes GEO Fund Off Life-Support [AR]
$$$ The 15 Hottest Billionaire WAGS [BB]
$$$ Roddy Boyd on America’s Nastiest CEO [TBM]
$$$ Icahn Wins in Bid for Las Vegas Resort [Dealbook]
Archive for January 2010
All we’ve heard so far is average overall comp of $200k for first year associates, with about 25% of their bonus going into the “long term incentive” jar. Apparently mostsome people are putting off deciding how they feel about this until hearing how things pan out and Goldman (though not this guy). (And of course you’ve got this guy, getting nada, which would hurt a lot more if he didn’t have Cher to get him through the pain.)
The man had a bad day. First there was the Kraft/Cadbury “bad” deal, on which he can’t even vote and makes him feel “poor.” Then the Obama bank tax proposal, which WB doesn’t like. And then the bankers who just can walk away, their pockets overflowing with money.
And now this.
Bank of America’s new CEO Brian Moynihan had his first earnings analyst conference call today and the question on everyone’s lips was, “who will be the new CFO?” Joe Price, the current CFO, will succeed Moynihan in his previous role as the head of consumer, small business and credit-card lending in February.
But Moynihan played coy, reportedly declined to give details, revealing only two clues:
The Fed is funny. Not Bernanke-funny but getting there. That whole controversy about them pushing AIG not to disclose some information, especially regarding its counterparties and how much money they got? Well, it wasn’t that they refused to make the appropriate disclosures, but rather that they were trying to be accurate, hence edited some data. Oh, and also, blame it on the lawyers.
Some have also suggested that the FRBNY pressured AIG not to make required disclosures about material elements of the Maiden Lane III transactions, including that the counterparties received par value. This is also incorrect. It appears that this assertion is based, at least in part, on a misreading of emails among lawyers for the FRBNY and AIG.
A few more numbers from the HoD. No word on how anyone is “feeling” about them at this time (if you’d like to get something off your chest, lay it on us):
IBD associates (highs w/o base):
1st year: high of 200, 20% stock w/ base of 110
Dick Bove’s weird love story with Citi is one that is complicated and needs a lot of nurturing. Although it will never reach the highs of the one he had with BofA (Ken Lewis was a “visionary and tactician” who “was torn from his post by politicians lacking any of Mr. Lewis’ skills and successes.”) our Rochdale analyst friend is still full of hope.
Bove said in a report today that Citi -which reported a $7.58 billion loss in the fourth quarter -needs to be destroyed before it can succeed. The firm will be able to “emerge from the rubble” once it sells what he delicately describes as its “remaining lagging operations”: commercial credit, The Associates, Primerica, the remainder of Smith Barney and large portions of its mortgage and other weakened consumer portfolios.
“This will complete the destruction and elimination of the old Citigroup.”
We knew that Warren Buffett wasn’t too happy with Kraft’s planned acquisition of Cadbury – he’s been firing shots for a while now – but today, he’s saying that he “feels poorer” because of it. The deal doesn’t need to be approved by shareholders, which is good news for the Kraft/Cadbury people, because Buffett told CNBC this morning that if he could, he’d “vote no.”
JPMorgan started announcing bonuses yesterday (though some were delayed ’til later today) and, according to one Dimonette, there are “lots of unhappy people.”
As a data point, I’m a 3rd year Associate (Sale and Trading) and total incentive award was $160k with 25% in stock. Salary bump to $140k. Heard numbers at Morgan were supposed to be much better.
Morgan Stanley reports Q4 profit of $413 million (Reuters)
Morgan reported a quarterly net income of 29 cents a share, compared with a loss of $10.5 billion or $11.35 a share in the year-earlier quarter. It set aside $3.8 billion for compensation expenses in the fourth quarter.
Bank Of America Posts Narrower Loss (WSJ)
BAC posted a loss of $194 million in the fourth quarter.
Wells Fargo swings to profit; charge-offs rise (MarketWatch)
The bank reported fourth-quarter net income of $2.82 billion, or 8 cents a share, compared with a loss of $2.73 billion, or 84 cents a share, in the fourth quarter of 2008.
CIT Names Director Peter J. Tobin Interim Chief Executive Officer (BW)
Still waiting on an answer from Mr. T.
Hedge Funds Hold Investors ‘Hostage’ After Decade’s Best Year (Bloomberg)
Some investors who asked for their money back in fall 2008 are not too happy: “We don’t object to the illiquidity,” Papastavrou said in an interview. “We object to how some managers are abusing the situation and holding investors’ money hostage to generate fees.”
John Paulson competing for cash with ‘emerging’ hedge funders (NYP)
Paulson is raising money! So are some other managers! One of whom used to work for him!
AIG Deal Holds Payback Hope (WSJ)
“[A deal with MetLife] could be that big first step so the government can show progress on AIG. Monetizing this is a key first step,” a person familiar with the matter said.
Jeff Zucker: You Gotta To Take Risks (CNBC)
