• 16 Jul 2010 at 9:30 AM

Opening Bell: 07.16.10

Bank of America’s profit slips, but tops estimates (MarketWatch)
The bank posted second-quarter net income of $3.12 billion, or 27 cents a share, down from $3.22 billion, or 33 cents a share, from the same period last year. That compares with analysts’ consensus estimate of 22 cents a share, based on estimates compiled by FactSet Research.

Citigroup Net Income Falls 38%, Beating Analysts’ Estimates (Bloomberg)
Second-quarter net income was $2.73 billion, down from $4.39 billion in the same period a year earlier, New York-based Citigroup said today in a statement. The per-share profit was 9 cents, exceeding the 5-cent average estimate of 18 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. “Citigroup, despite the turbulence in the markets, appears to have turned the corner and its plan is on track,” said James Ellman, a former Merrill Lynch & Co. bank-stock portfolio manager who is now president of San Francisco-based hedge fund Seacliff Capital.

Fabulous Fab to File Response to SEC (WSJ)
Fabrice Tourre, the only Goldman employee named as a defendant in the civil-fraud charges leveled against Goldman Sachs, is not close to settling his own case with the government, a person familiar with the matter said. The 31-year-old banker will file Monday a response to the SEC’s charges of misleading investors from his role in creating complex mortgage-linked investments, the person said. That response is expected to show that Tourre is willing to take the case to court in an effort to clear his name, the person said.

RBS May Seek More After $100 Million Goldman Payout (Reuters)
RBS said on Friday it would “carefully consider all of its options” after Goldman agreed on Thursday to pay it $100 million as part of a $550 million settlement of civil fraud charges over how it marketed the subprime mortgage product. German bank IKB, the other big loser on the transaction, will be paid $150 million under the settlement, recovering all of its loss.

Juncker:No catastrophes from stress tests seen (Reuters)
“I am not expecting any big catastrophes,” the chairman of euro zone finance ministers told Austrian newspaper Kurier. “But there cannot be any glossing over, the tests are based on reality,” he said in an interview.

Microsoft Co-Founder to Give Away Half of His Fortune to Philanthropy (NYT)
Paul Allen, who founded the Microsoft Corporation with Bill Gates, announced on Thursday that he planned to give more than half of his estimated $13.5 billion fortune to philanthropy.

Economists Express More Optimism Than General Public (WSJ)
The majority (64%) of the 55 economists polled—not all of whom answer every question—said that the economy would get better over the next 12 months and 9% said it would get worse; the rest said it would stay about the same. In contrast, the latest WSJ/NBC News poll found 33% of the general public expected the economy to improve and 23% think it will get worse.

Comments (24)

  1. Posted by Anonymous | July 16, 2010 at 9:53 AM

    Weather forecast: Humid, horny, with a 80% chance of sweaty Blankfein balls on BamBam’s chin.

    /Al Roker’s Stomach

  2. Posted by sladd | July 16, 2010 at 9:55 AM

    Fab should blame GS management, his supervisors, compliance etc. for allowing the offering to lack the proper disclosures in writing. Since GS is throwing him under the bus he should return the favor. Simply cite lack of supervision by GS and that he was acting as directed and relied upon GS’ compliance dept. to approve all documentation.

    Play the game Fab. As far as I can tell FINRA has not settled yet with GS – get this one to stick on GS and your trouble lessen.

  3. Posted by Anonymous | July 16, 2010 at 9:57 AM

    Fab is getting screwed. GS VPs can’t take a leak without permission from above. He was far from being The Decisionmaker on Abacus.

  4. Posted by Anonymous | July 16, 2010 at 9:59 AM

    Goldman Sachs is the fucking rake.

  5. Posted by guest | July 16, 2010 at 10:10 AM

    The whole building is about to collapse anytime now … Only potential survivor, the fabulous Fab … standing in the middle of all these complex, highly leveraged, exotic trades he created without necessarily understanding all of the implications of those monstruosities!!!

  6. Posted by guest | July 16, 2010 at 10:13 AM

    He looks so guilty in that pic.

  7. Posted by PermaGuest | July 16, 2010 at 10:13 AM

    When did Mr. Bean become a derivatives salesman?

  8. Posted by sladd | July 16, 2010 at 10:15 AM

    @7, very funny!

  9. Posted by ExtraordinaryPopularDelusions | July 16, 2010 at 10:16 AM

    looks more like Wallace & Gromit to me

    -guy who despises W&G but is aware of it

  10. Posted by Guest | July 16, 2010 at 10:23 AM

    The fact that IKB gets to recover 100% of the loss it took after going long subprime residential real estate in 2007 shows what a BS settlement this is.

    Goldman could have successfully handpicked the very best assets available, and they still would have taken a 30-40% haircut.

  11. Posted by PermaGuest | July 16, 2010 at 10:33 AM

    @10 The money for IKB is actually going to KfW, the German state development bank which assumed IKB’s liabilities/”assets”. Got to imagine that GS figured $100mm was worth it to maintain a good relationship w the Bundesrepublik govt.

  12. Posted by ExtraordinaryPopularDelusions | July 16, 2010 at 10:41 AM

    This earthquake is God’s punishment for Washington passing the financial bill and secularizing risk. Truly God’s work.

    -Lloyd Robertson

  13. Posted by plang1 | July 16, 2010 at 10:57 AM

    goldman will still have to face criminal charges and they will find going to jail is worse than handing over 550 million of stockholders money…

  14. Posted by Guest | July 16, 2010 at 10:58 AM

    @11 is KfW the German federal government or Rhineland-Pfalz (state) government?

  15. Posted by Anal_yst | July 16, 2010 at 10:58 AM

    @11 nails it, unfortunately.

  16. Posted by Anonymous | July 16, 2010 at 11:00 AM

    Bess, your inbox is a national treasure.

  17. Posted by Anonymous | July 16, 2010 at 11:04 AM

    @13 – no, they won’t. Despite your populist dreams of some sort of vicarious revenge.

  18. Posted by Anonymous | July 16, 2010 at 11:07 AM

    He looks LaBeoufy in that picture.

  19. Posted by PermaGuest | July 16, 2010 at 11:09 AM

    @14 It’s an agency of the German federal government– it’s the state infrastructure development bank.

  20. Posted by Anonymous | July 16, 2010 at 11:11 AM

    Maybe Jerome’s buddy Matt had something to do with this…
    -Guy who thinks frenchmen are the rake

  21. Posted by Anonymous | July 16, 2010 at 11:14 AM

    @13, You will have to move out of your mom’s basement and you will find out that homelessness is much worse than handing over your dignity to all those more sucessful than you who maligned you over the years.

  22. Posted by Anonymous | July 16, 2010 at 11:24 AM

    Still feeling Fabulous today, Fab?

  23. Posted by Anonymous | July 16, 2010 at 12:12 PM

    @7- Well done!

  24. Posted by everything on red | July 16, 2010 at 1:45 PM

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