email: tips@dealbreaker.com
text: (646) 820-4847
call: (212) 334-1871
all tips are anonymous
$$$ Warren Buffett And Bill Gates’ $600 Billion Challenge [Fortune]
$$$ BP, Transocean Oil Spill Washes On To Citadel, Highbridge, SAC Capital, et al’s shores. [AR]
$$$ Wall Street’s Do-Good Summer [NYO]
$$$ Eliot Spitzer: Stop Playing Defense [Slate]
$$$ BP’s Hayward to Get ‘Sliced and Diced‘ by Congress [AP]
$$$ Goldman Cuts DreamWorks Citing Ogre-Saturation [WSJ]
Not an amazing get out of jail free card but I’d say definitely a pretty decent one, which was that Antoinette Hodgson had a dream. A dream to franchise a Dunkin Donuts. (As for the gambling spree, that very well could’ve been part of her investment strategy, you have no idea.)
Hodgson, 58, of Montclair, N.J., “spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas,” according to a complaint charging her with conspiracy and wire fraud. “Antoinette Hodgson allegedly has already proved she’s a lousy gambler by losing the investor’s money in the casinos,” said George Venizelos, acting head of the FBI’s New York office. “She has now gambled with her future and faces serious charges for a plot of her own making.” In addition to blowing some of her illegal proceeds at the gaming tables, Hodgson allegedly spent $700,000 on a Dunkin’ Donuts franchise in Arizona and gave away tens of thousands of dollars to her family and friends.
NJ Woman Gambled Away Ponzi Scheme Proceeds [NYP via Daily Intel]
Who's got 2 thumbs, a jolly elfin visage, and can honestly say he loves ya baby?
They may have thrown a banker out on her rockin’ ass for being too damn hot but you know what? Citi has a heart. Whereas other firms will not hesitate to foreclose on people who aren’t even in default and then go the extra mile by stealing the homeowner’s beloved pet, the House of Vikram has decided to show some compassion. They’re pumping the brakes on foreclosing on people in areas close to the little slip up by BP, which you must admit was big of them.
A very wise financier—Jim Cramer-endorsed, in fact—once made an appeal. That his flock would give private flying a chance. You see, prior to becoming the greatest mind on Wall Street, he was a pro ballplayer, and enjoyed the luxury of sailing the skies sans unwashed masses rubbing up against him. After he retired, he was forced to endure the commercial flights in which he actually had to coexist in the same airspace as these people. He decided then and there that travel by private jet was the only way to go. Once he did it, he loved it and swore he’d never go back to flying a commercial tube. He warned people to not get all huffy and think “big time baseball player, enjoying his private plane,” to take a breather, and to realize he was only trying to help. A private plane is expensive, but it may be worth your while. At least, it’s an option that you may want to consider, he said. You ought to just give it a try. And if taking a private jet, is not your thing. Well, that’s OK. Today this wise financier’s brother from another mother makes a similar plea. Continue reading »
On Friday we noted that Simmons and Company had upgraded BP to a buy, making the fact that its namesake, Matt Simmons, had been going around talking about nukes and BP not lasting through the summer slightly awkward. Also a tad uncomfortable was the fact that the company wrote its investors telling them to “disavow” any words that come out of Matt Simmons’ mouth. Well guess what, former pals? Simmons doesn’t need you– he doesn’t need any of you! Which is why he announced today he’s taking his insights and leaving, with a resignation effective June 30 (lotta stuff to clean out of the office, couldn’t be done in one day).
Before John Mack famously fired his gal-pal Zoe Cruz from Morgan Stanley a few years back, the two were best of friends. Peas in a pod. Bosom buddies. You get the idea. So it came as a bit of a shock when he decided to do the chivalrous thing by canning her because (choose one) a. (In some people’s estimation) she was to blame for the company losing a few billion dollars b. A lot of people disliked her and told Mack they would leave if he made Cruz CEO c. Mack had to blame either himself or Cruz for some losses and he chose her. d. She was, you know, a girl, and the boys didn’t like that. No one would have blamed her for proceeding to spend her days sticking pins in a Mack voodoo doll and/or keying his car. And while it’s entirely possible she did both those things right after getting the boot and prior to forming her own hedge fund, Voras Capital Management, at this point she’s apparently over it, and would actually like to give Mack, who she only refers to as “that prick” among friends and only before adding “I’m messing, of course”, a hand. Deal Journal reports:
Cruz recently gave a keynote address at a banquet at the Stanford School of Business. In October, she started her own hedge fund, Voras Capital Management, and says it was good to get the “shove” from her “comfort zone.”
From the mailbag of awesomeness:
Very early unsubstantiated rumor going around that Brian Hunter– who is still at Peak Ridge– has completely blown up again, this time on bear spreads.
