Opening Bell: 06.14.10

US To Demand BP Rescue Fund (WSJ)
White House officials on Sunday said they wanted BP to put “substantial” funds into an escrow account to cover claims by Gulf Coast businesses and residents affected by the spill.

US banks set to lose swaps desks (FT)
Banks are likely to lose a key lobbying battle in the US over whether they will be forced to spin off their lucrative swaps desks, according to people familiar with financial reform negotiations in Congress. Blanche Lincoln, the Senate agriculture chairman, is the lead proponent of the plan, which would force banks to create a separately capitalised subsidiary to house the derivatives dealing operations. Although he declined to say whether he now supported it, Mr Volcker told the Financial Times that his earlier criticism was based on the belief that a stricter spin-off was in the works and it was now a “relevant question” whether damage would be done if swaps desks could be kept within a bank holding company. “I tend to think of the bank holding company as the relevant organisation,” he said. Mr Volcker added that it would be a mistake to ban banks from using swaps to hedge risk or from facilitating a customer who wants to hedge risk. “There was confusion about that – that’s the kind of thing I certainly would not do,” he said.

Wilbur Ross: Europe Troubles Are About To Start (CNBC)
“I think the political troubles in Europe are all just about to start because the governments have all pledged about budget deficits,” Ross said. “But now comes the hard part – will there be more strikes, riots, etc. So I’m not sure it will be easy over the next few weeks,” he added.

Data Show Banks’ Exposure (WSJ)
Data released Sunday by the Bank for International Settlements showed that banks based in the 16 countries that use the euro accounted for $1.58 trillion, or 62%, of all internationally active banks’ exposures to residents of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. That included $727 billion of exposure to Spain, $402 billion to Ireland, $244 billion to Portugal and $206 billion to Greece, with about half of the Greek exposure held by France. By far, France and Germany held the greatest exposure to the group, collectively carrying 61% of the total euro-area burden: $493 billion and $465 billion, respectively.

Buffett’s Lunch Auction Shows Enhanced Reputation (Bloomberg)
Bidding outpaced last year’s during the first days of the weeklong event and ended in a frenzy June 11 with 77 offers, according to EBay, with the winner shelling out $2.63 million.

Paulson Adds To SEC Officials To Firm’s Board (NYP)
In a letter to investors yesterday, Paulson announced he has added former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt and former SEC Commissioner Roel Campos as “independent directors” to the firm’s board of directors.

Goldman Envy Drove Big Boys to Blow Up Money Grid (Bloomberg)
Allegedly: The peril wasn’t that Goldman became “a great vampire squid,” as a Rolling Stone writer so delicately phrased it. The firm actually became something much more dangerous: a seductively successful Pied Piper, luring other banks down a path that led to destruction. Its profitability was the envy of its peers, McGee writes: Trying to match Goldman’s return on equity was the only way for rivals to pacify their restive shareholders and increase their personal wealth.

The Goldman Sachs ‘Ethics Waiver’ (FN)
Goldman Sachs, which publishes an ethics code on its website that emphasises its “integrity and honesty”, adds a rider that reads: “From time to time, the firm may waive certain provisions of this Code.”

Larry King Plans Move Back To New York (NYP)
This is happening: “Watch out, women of NYC: Larry King wants to move back from Los Angeles and could be a free agent. The Brooklyn-born lothario has told friends he wants to put the drama over his marriage to Shawn Southwick behind him and escape LA.”

U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan (NYT)
An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.

Accounts Of 500 UBS Clients Already Sent To US (Reuters)
These 500 clients had signed waivers allowing their accounts to be handed over to the U.S. taxman voluntarily, so it’s NBD.

Comments (38)

  1. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 9:21 AM

    starting work at 9:30 is the new killing it.

  2. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 9:24 AM

    @1 care to cue us in as to who is starting work at 9:30?

  3. Posted by guest | June 14, 2010 at 9:39 AM

    @1 Doing your mom while you start work at 9:30 is the new killing it.

    Grandpa.

  4. Posted by guest | June 14, 2010 at 9:51 AM

    UBS sucks.

  5. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 9:58 AM

    ……mmmmmm…..covert octogenarian sex….

  6. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 9:59 AM

    Needs moar Kauw-bell

  7. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 10:02 AM

    @5 – I think you mean covert octogenarian incest is the new killing it.

    The Gay Banker

  8. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 10:03 AM

    I have a fever, and the only cure for that fever is Kauw-bell.

  9. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 10:04 AM

    A waiver of the code of ethics is an 8-K triggering event. So companies avoid it if at all possible.

  10. Posted by Lucy van Pelt | June 14, 2010 at 10:05 AM

    Tits McGee?

  11. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 10:09 AM

    Shut the fuck up, anal_yst!

  12. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 10:11 AM

    @Anal_yst

    10,244

  13. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 10:51 AM

    That’s the best way to bald

  14. Posted by StillNotNasser | June 14, 2010 at 10:55 AM

    Being the Saudi Arabia of lithium is the new killing it.

  15. Posted by Kouwe | June 14, 2010 at 10:58 AM

    I am now on lithium. Thanks guys.

  16. Posted by american bandersnatch | June 14, 2010 at 10:59 AM

    New Jersey is the Saudi Arabia of cranberries.

  17. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 11:02 AM

    Cranberries are good for your urethra.

    -The More You Know

  18. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 11:11 AM

    @17 – If I fed a member of the bovine family some cranberries, would that mean we’d see a lot more Kouwe?

  19. Posted by guest | June 14, 2010 at 11:26 AM

    @17 How do you fit them up in there?
    - another former Lehman quant

  20. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 11:31 AM

    @16 and Blueberries

  21. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 11:34 AM

    mmmmm….urethra cranberry sex…….

  22. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 11:44 AM

    After Kouwe there is no one to write any articles?

  23. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 11:52 AM

    not posting any articles is the new killing it.

  24. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 11:56 AM

    Sponsored content is the new killing it…for bloggers.

  25. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 11:56 AM

    Dear @22, if you’re holding this letter you already know. The house has been boarded up. The doors. The windows. Kouwe. Everything. We’re at the Comfort Inn. Room 112.

    I love you. Frank

  26. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 11:59 AM

    Hahahahah, good stuff

  27. Posted by NakedShort | June 14, 2010 at 12:02 PM

    Did you know that the best Monday morning I’ve had in the last 5 years is the morning that I drank a can of Red Bull, ate the summer salad I made last night for an early lunch and listened to the soundtrack from “Chocolat” while waiting for a new post?

  28. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 12:06 PM

    Donde esta Bess?

  29. Posted by lobbyists | June 14, 2010 at 12:10 PM

    Alex Gibney talked about the recently released documentary film he wrote and directed, Casino Jack and the United States of Money. It tells the story of Jack Abramoff, who since November 2006, had been in prison after pleading guilty to three felonies with regard to his lobbying efforts for several Indian tribes. He also pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a member of Congress. Mr. Abramoff was released from prison June 8, 2010.

    http://tinyurl.com/28jhb47

  30. Posted by guest | June 14, 2010 at 12:10 PM

    @28 Maybe she’s constipated?

  31. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 12:15 PM

    @30 – Too much cheese?

  32. Posted by guest | June 14, 2010 at 12:17 PM

    Today in history:
    On this day in 1789, in Kentucky USA, Baptist preacher Elijah Craig invented bourbon.

  33. Posted by Zachery Kouwe | June 14, 2010 at 12:18 PM

    How shocking that none of you have anything better to do.

  34. Posted by american bandersnatch | June 14, 2010 at 12:20 PM

    @32 – Incorrect.

  35. Posted by MisterB | June 14, 2010 at 12:24 PM

    @33 We do have better things to do, we just like getting our financial news “paraphrased” and located in one spot. With your track record of delivering the information of others, I believe you should be the happiest man on earth feeding us the information we need, the only way you know how. Get hot

  36. Posted by guest | June 14, 2010 at 12:26 PM

    @34/AB I’m raising a glass nevertheless. Not that I need an excuse.
    -32

  37. Posted by Anonymous | June 14, 2010 at 1:53 PM

    @33 – You’re not the real Zach Kouwe, but I’m posting this anyway in the hope that he reads it.

    We might not have anything better to do, but neither do you – have fun with your career!

    PS. KEEP HOPE ALIVE

  38. Posted by guest | June 14, 2010 at 3:58 PM

Leave a comment

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