So, some things happened this weekend and it’s all really crazy and wow I can’t even get into it I’m shaking so hard even hearing it second hand. I’m just going to let the victim speak for himself. Promise me you’ll brace yourselves, okay? It’s that bad. Continue reading »
Archive for July 2010
Names were taken and asses were kicked or had some other stuff done to them last month. Continue reading »
I also give out "incomplete information" to clients on certain deals.
In announcing the SEC’s settlement with Goldman Sachs last week, Division of Enforcement director Robert Khuzami said that the $550 million settlement should serve as a “stark lesson” to the bank and the rest of Wall Street. And while it’s rare for a settlement with the Commission to include an admission of having fucked up, Goldman’s conceded it’d “made a mistake,” and one that Lloyd Blankfein and Co “regret.” Having said that, finance professor Charles Geisst is keenly aware that this charade is a total crock and that by forcing LB and Gary Cohn to hand over whatever cash they had in their wallets on Thursday, the SEC is ensuring the bank will probably do it again, having learned nothing. Continue reading »
[via BI]
Meanwhile, Erin Burnett catches up on Minesweeper.
When Bernie Madoff confessed to his $50 billion Ponzi scheme, he didn’t just ruin his own life– he took his wife Ruth’s down with him. Though she has never faced charges and will never go to jail for it, Ruth Madoff has paid dearly for her husband’s decision to run a pretty sizable scam and then go public with it. As his fake returns financed the couple’s Manhattan penthouse, Montauk home, yacht and every other spot Ruth might go to max and relax and forget about all this, those were seized by the government, as was more spending money than she would’ve cared to part with. I don’t want to go too much into it, as the wound is not yet healed, so I’ll just remind you this woman was only given something like $2.5 million to get by. But worse than straddling the poverty line has been the blow to Ruth Madoff’s reputation. The woman can’t buy cheese without people mentioning that, her colorist won’t speak to her let alone give her that buttery blonde that needs to be maintained every 6 weeks, and even Ivan Boesky’s ex, who knows from the taint associated with banging white collar criminals, has been told to stay away. Basically, the woman is a leper. But she’s hoping that perhaps after hearing what she’s been up to, you’ll change your tune on ole Ruth Madoff. Continue reading »
Obama’s Bull Market Intact as Midterm Gridlock Signals Gains (Bloomberg)
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has surged 48 percent on average starting in the second year of each U.S. presidential term, measured from its lowest level through the high the next year, according to data going back to 1928 compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with trough-to-peak gains of 38 percent in other years. “I envision a rally from before the midterm elections,” said Kenneth Fisher. “Markets love gridlock. What the market wants to see is no change: less legislation that engages in changes in taxes, spending, regulation or property rights.”
The Men Who Ended Goldman’s War (NYT)
Some people close to Mr. Khuzami and Mr. Reisner joke that they are like Tweedledee and Tweedledum. When Mr. Khuzami travels, Mr. Reisner runs many of the enforcement unit’s daily operations.
Ireland’s Credit Rating Cut on Weak Growth, Banks (Reuters)
“Today’s downgrade is primarily driven by the Irish government’s gradual but significant loss of financial strength, as reflected by its deteriorating debt affordability,” Dietmar Hornung, a Moody’s vice president and lead analyst for Ireland, said in a statement.
EU Says Stress Test Results To Be Bank-By-Bank (WSJ)
Greece’s finance minister said Monday that the country’s major banks are likely to pass the stress tests. “The Greek banks now have before them the famous stress tests,” Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said in a speech. “I am certain the banks will pass those stress tests.”
Bankers Concerned Over Stress Tests (FT)
Board members at four of the continent’s biggest banks – in the UK, France and Germany – said on condition of anonymity that they had grave reservations about the way in which the exercise had been conducted and were worried the markets would misinterpret the outcome.
British financier Anthony Ward behind £658m cocoa trade (Telegraph)
Anthony Ward, 50, bought 241,000 tons of cocoa beans and now owns enough to manufacture 5.3 billion quarter-pound chocolate bars. Mr Ward, who is worth around £36 million, holds so much of the market he could force manufacturers to raise the price of Britain’s favourite chocolate bars. The transaction, the largest single cocoa trade in 14 years, was carried out last Friday by Armajaro Holdings, a hedge fund co-founded by Mr Ward. Continue reading »
$$$ John Paulson’s Reversal Of Fortune [Fortune]
$$$ Charlie Gasparino: Lloyd Blankfein’s Days Are Numbered [HuffPo]
$$$ North Haledon, a northern New Jersey suburb where the median family income is 162 percent of the U.S. average, had its debt rating cut amid concerns that the state’s new 2 percent property-tax cap will strain borough finances. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the town of 9,000 residents one level to A1 from Aa3, and assigned a negative outlook. “I have zero respect for Moody’s,” the community’s auditor, Chuck Ferraioli, said in a phone interview from his office in Pompton Lakes. “We’re paying our debts and we always will. Moody’s is so out of touch.” [Bloomberg] Continue reading »
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