Morgan Stanley Tops Estimates (MarketWatch)
MS reported income of $1.8 billion, or $1.03 per diluted share, from continuing operations applicable to Morgan Stanley for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010, compared with a loss of $17 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, for the same period a year ago. Net revenues were $9.1 billion for the current quarter, compared with $2.9 billion a year ago.
Wells Fargo Posts $2.5 Billion Profit (CNN Money)
First-quarter net income of $2.5 billion, or 45 cents per share, for the first three months of 2010. That’s down from net income of $3.05 billion, or 56 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2009. Analysts had forecast earnings of 42 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters.
Paulson Confronts Goldman Fallout (WSJ)
Paulson held a conference call with about 100 investors late Monday and sent a letter to investors Tuesday night saying that in 2007 his firm wasn’t seen as an experienced mortgage investor, and that “many of the most sophisticated investors in the world” were “more than willing to bet against us.”
Government Has Testimony From Former Paulson Official That Contradicts Its Case (CNBC)
Steve Liesman: “In an interview with Paolo Pellegrini, a government official asked him about a meeting with ACA CDO manager Laura Schwartz, who he told Paulson and Co was interested in taking a short position in Abacus. The SEC does not mention this information in its complaint.”
SEC Weighs Rules On ‘Masking’ Bank Debt (WSJ)
Ms. Schapiro said the commission is gathering detailed information from large banks, “so that we don’t just have them dress up the balance sheet for quarter end and then have dramatic increases during the course of the quarter.” She added: “We are considering whether…we need new rules to prevent sort of the masking of debt or liquidity at quarter end, as we saw Lehman do with the Repo 105 transaction.”
Largest Hedge Fund Political Donations Go to Democrats (ABC)
With $94,100 in contributions over the past year, Jim Simons is the single largest political donor among hedge fund managers. Simons gave almost all of that total to Democrats, including Senators Harry Reid, Chris Dodd, and Charles Schumer. Eric Mindich gave $89,600, all to Democrats, including Reid, Dodd and Kirsten Gillibrand. Steve Cohen gave $68,400, all but $4,800 of which went to Republicans, including Eric Cantor and John Ensign. Cliff Asness donated $71,600 to Republicans, including $30,400 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Asness gave Dodd $490.
Woman gets Chinese accent after bad migraine: reports (SMH)
A British woman has suddenly started speaking with a Chinese accent after suffering a severe migraine, she said in comments quoted by British media on Tuesday. Sarah Colwill believes she has foreign accent syndrome, which has caused her distinctive West Country drawl to be replaced with a Chinese twang, even though she has never even visited the country.
Deutsche Trader Lippman Steps Down (NYT)
Greg announced in late February that he planned to leave the bank for a hedge fund founded by Fred Brettschneider, Deutsche Bank’s former head of global markets.
Goldman Sachs Says SEC Case Hinges on Actions of One Employee (Bloomberg)
“It’s all going to be a factual dispute about what he remembers and what the other folks remember on the other side,” Greg Palm, Goldman Sachs’s co-general counsel, said in a call with reporters yesterday, without naming Tourre. “If we had evidence that someone here was trying to mislead someone, that’s not something we’d condone at all and we’d be the first one to take action.”
Lagarde: Goldman Case Warrants Full French Probe (Reuters)
May not be as pleasant as it sounds.
Rattner Has Key Role In New Bloomberg Firm (NYT)
Rattner, according to the three people, has told friends that he is “working with the mayor,” and he has repeatedly appeared at the 78th Street office that houses the Bloomberg Family Foundation and the mayor’s new investment office. A spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg, Stu Loeser, declined to comment on the details of Mr. Rattner’s work with Mr. Bloomberg, but said, “He is a friend whose advice the mayor has and continues to rely on.”
Mmmmmmm….French Probe……Mmmmmmmm…….
Morgan Stanley’s revenue is pretty underwhelming
Mark Haines is trying to best Andy Rooney for being the grumpiest old man alive.
I miss the days when opening bell was posted at 8:00 sharp
@4 your handle says it all.
What’s this about Morgan Stanley topping?
@2 nothing like a 17% tax rate to make the bottom line perk up. as for underwhelming, not if you’re in i-banking, comp more than doubled…models and bottles are back (hope you negotiated your hamptons’ house deal already)!
I guess Morgan delayed the writedown of their great AC Casino idea. $2.7 Billion pretty much wipes everything out and then some. I guess they hope for more revenue second quarter to bury that mess.
@8: We are currently engineering a Repo 105^2 which should ease any concerns about bad real estate assets.
- Skilling’s spawn
@4, you are a dork. There, I said it.
chang yang tchink yink chink chink chink chink fucking chink. Fuck them.
About this British woman started to speak with a Chinese accent after suffering a migraine.
Well , maybe we have finally foung the reason why Hillary “Doublewide Pantsuits” Clinton would frequently started talking like a Southern African American when she campaigned in black churches.
@ 12 – a pandering, phony politician? get out of town!
@12…shouldn’t you be in class?
@12/13:
Hillary is a NY Yankee fan. She has always been a NY Yankee fan.
- Winston Smith
Wots wrong if ya tilk with an iccint? In this dye and ayge, its good to have something that differenshytes us from each othuh.
~A Reader in Austrailiar
Pfluger – never once have I thought a comment of yours to be entertaining no insightful. keep it to one comment per day and maybe you can provide some value-add.
@17:
Thank you for your suggestion. I will pass it on to the Comment Review Committee and inform you of their decision.
Ditto @17. Please just stop.
What’s the over/under on how long “Opening Bell” will be top story today?
~ACA Risk Manager
@20 just for that comment I’m adding an hour.
We must have @20 beaten with a pillowcase full of batteries.
So when the British woman texts, is it ‘ROR’ now? Just askin…
@18 Surely you mean the ComRevSec of MiniTrue.
-Eric Blair
@23 – LOFR!
-S. Corwirr
@17,
We have reviewed your suggestion and have reached a decision. We have decided that you should suck it you pedant.
~CRC
@23 = lacist
@20 Fuck you, you’ve ruined my life. I now have to, just have to jump from the library.
-Retired NYU Student
Foreign accent migraine syndrome is endemic in the Dealbreaker commentariat. Surprised no one noticed this yet.
Why you make fun of my accent. I no build you shitty walls now.
I, for one, agree with all of the anti-Pfluger comments. The ones where he imitates CG make my skin crawl. Get a new act dude.
Well, ACA, Paulson, Goldman, & IKB all knew that the criminal turd Paulson (and Goldman) were betting against the CDO investment.
Problem is…Nobody disclosed that to the investors, and the criminal, ponzi-enterprise Goldman was still actively marketing the CDO to their clients.
They did nothing wrong, you say? One would think that kind of information might be germaine to an investor’s decision. But I guess not. No foul anywhere.
The investors lost a $Billion and the turd Paulson made a $Billion. C’est la Vie. No fraud. No lies. No case.
With no fraud, Caveat Emptor still applies, of course. It’s the dumb investors’ own fault, you see. Greed and all, you know.
They got what they deserved. Didn’t they?
The Guy from Delaware
# 11
You are suffering from type 5 (worst) mental retardation.
Did you forget to take you psychiatric drugs!Do you need refill?Change your Depends now!