Speaking of flying, the money manager/swindler discusses the time he faked his own death, and the events leading up to it (apparently he got home for dinner and his wife had only set out four plates and that’s when he knew “it was all over” because “the fifth plate was always mine”).
Archive for March 2010
Alan Greenspan Would Say That “Certain Aspects” Of His Monetary Policy “Probably” Had Some Effect On The Crisis
By Bess LevinEarlier: Greenspan: No Regrets
First off, I would like to congratulate everyone who’s recently signed up to have a chopper take you to and from work for the extremely reasonable fee of $200 a day. According to Liberty Helicopters, which begins weekday service next month, there’s been a huge interest in the service, which is heartening.
Liberty has already been approached by 150 potential clients after about a month of advertising, Patrick Day, a pilot and vice president of charter marketing, said in an interview in the cabin of a twin-engine Dauphin at the carrier’s base in Linden, New Jersey. The interest may reflect how far Wall Street has bounced back, said Robert Grotell, an independent transportation consultant in Port Jefferson, New York.
“When an economy turns sour, corporate air transportation seems to be one of the first things that’s affected, and it’s usually one of the last things to come back,” Grotell said in a telephone interview. Corporate clients are responsible for about one-third of helicopter traffic in the New York area, which slid as much as 30 percent in 2009 from a year earlier, he said. “Maybe the economic turnaround is well under way,” Grotell said.
$$$ UBS Paring Ranks at U.S. Brokerage [WSJ]
$$$ Meet the High-Ranking SEC Tranny Porn Fetishist [Gawker]
$$$ GE CFO: Great Hire, Deutsche Bank [TSC]
$$$ Blogging For Bankers [CNN Money]
As previously mentioned, HBO has purchased the rights to Andrew Ross Sorkin’s Too Big To Fail. John Mack has stated that his part should go to Bobby DeNiro and that of Lloyd Blankfein to Danny DeVito. Today the HuffPo has offered its picks for the other spots and while we’re in strong agreement with some (Stephen Colbert as carpet-lover John Thain, Lucille Bluth doing Nancy Pelosi), in others we beg to differ (there should be an open casting call for child actors to play Tim Geithner). Also, they don’t have any suggestions for Vikram Pandit or Jimmy Cayne. The former is a toughie, the latter Gary Busey, no questions asked (he’s got the blonde hair, huge teeth, love of drugs and looks good in a pair of Zubaz). And finally, no one’s figured out where we can find a place for Drew Carey, who’s apparently been lobbying hard for a role, as has Gary Coleman. Let’s do the producers a solid and take two today to finish this thing off right. You’re not doing anything anyway (except for watching this.)
Apparently it’s March Madness day on Dealbreaker and while I know basically nothing of the sport I do know these things to be true: Continue reading »
Trailblazer
Kids, we live in a crazy time. What’s up is down, what’s down is up. Nothing is predictable and you never know what’s gonna happen. Take this groundbreaking piece of news: Mark Coury, a forward on the Cornell basketball team and finance major will be interning at Goldman Sachs this summer. Even crazier, despite being a college athlete, Coury demonstrates remarkable comparative analysis skills and a basic understanding of numbers.
Coury, a finance major, is good with numbers. So he knows that 12th-seeded Cornell (29-4), the first Ivy League team to reach the regional semifinals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament since the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, faces a daunting task against the Wildcats.
But the shocks don’t end with Mark. Apparently, and I know this going to sound crazy, other people from this Ivy League school have gone down this road less traveled. Continue reading »
According to Bloomberg, yes. As in the case of Moore Capital’s alleged little insider trader, Julian Rifat, who found the “look but don’t touch” rule too difficult to abide.
Rifat was an execution trader in the London office of Moore, a New York-based firm that oversees $15 billion. His job was to get the best prices for portfolio managers without telegraphing the firm’s buying and selling to rivals. He was taken into custody on his 41st birthday.
“By definition an execution trader sits near the money; he can smell the money, but he can’t touch the money,” said Jason Kennedy, chief executive officer of London-based executive- search firm Kennedy Associates.
For any managers hoping to avoid embarrassing headlines and nationally televised perp walks, a suggestion. At the end of each day, allow these guys to strip naked and roll around in the room where you keep the cash. Let them dive, Scrooge-McDuck style into the ball pit of gold coins. Let them rub it where the sun don’t shine. Let them tap that ass. Only when you remove the forbidden fruit aspect of it all will you be able to trust these guys.
In marginally related news, here’s some random info about Rifat. Haven’t yet figured out how it can explain his motivation but surely one of you can figure it out. Continue reading »
Though hard at work studying for the Level III, the thespian took two to make some recommendations. This first one is free, but moving forward you’ll have to subscribe to LaBeouf’s weekly newsletter if you want to keep these valuable insights in your life.
LaBeouf in the April issue of GQ talked up the stock of an oil and natural gas exploration company that has yet to produce any of either. “IOC’s momentum is major, and it will surprise to the upside,” LaBeouf said in a text message to the GQ article’s author, Adam Sachs, using the trader lingo he apparently picked up while prepping for the film. The 23-year-old star of the “Transformers” franchise was referring to InterOil, a Canadian firm with the New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol IOC that says it’s searching for natural gas and oil in Papua New Guinea.
Credit Suisse Boosts CEO’s Pay (WSJ)
19.2 million Swiss francs ($17.9 million) in cash and stock for Brady Dougan.
SEC Probes Hedge Fund Bets (WSJ)
Appaloosa Management has been scrutinized by the Securities and Exchange Commission over trades it made around the time Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to acquire Wachovia Corp. in 2008, according to people familiar with the matter. Regulators also have questioned trades by Carlson Capital, in connection with four secondary stock offerings between late 2007 and mid-2009, according to a person familiar with the matter.
FSA Swoop Hauled In Government Adviser (FT)
The Deutsche Bank executive arrested on Tuesday in connection with an insider dealing investigation was one of a team of bankers advising the government on managing its stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. The Deutsche unit, which is being led by Anshu Jain, co-head of the German bank’s investment banking operations, comprises more than a dozen bankers looking at strategic options for the part-nationalised lenders, according to people familiar with the set-up. The executive, Martyn Dodgson, who was recently promoted to be a managing director at Deutsche, was part of the government advisory team.
Jon Corzine’s New Package (Footnoted)
Just for signing on with MF Global, Corzine’s getting not only a $1.5 million signing bonus within the next month, but also an option for 2.5 million shares that vests if he makes it through March 31 next year. The option’s strike price will be set April 7, but at Tuesday’s close it would have been worth $18.3 million. His base salary can’t fall below the initial $1.5 million, but it can be increased — and once it is, it can’t fall again.
CEOS Defy Obama With More Cash Instead of Pay-for-Performance (Bloomberg)
“To the extent there is more emphasis on cash than stock, that’s unfortunate,” said Kenneth Feinberg, the U.S. special master on executive compensation, who was appointed by Obama in June 2009. “We’re pushing the other way.”
Behind Consumer Agency Idea, A Fiery Advocate (NYT)
“Dang gummit, somebody has got to stand up on behalf of middle-class families!” Elizabeth Warren exclaimed in a recent interview in her office here. Continue reading »
