• 01 Sep 2010 at 9:10 AM

Opening Bell: 09.01.10

Fuld Says U.S. Used `Flawed Information’ in Denying Lehman Aid (Bloomberg)
“Other firms were hurt by their plummeting stock prices,” Fuld, 64, said in prepared remarks submitted to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission for a hearing in Washington today. “Lehman was the only firm that was mandated by government regulators to file for bankruptcy. The government was then forced to intervene to protect those other firms and the entire financial system.”

CEO’s Who Fired More, Earned More In ’09 (CNBC)
The CEOs of the 50 U.S. companies that laid off the most workers between November 2008 and April 2010 were paid $12 million on average in 2009, or 42 percent more than the average across the Standard & Poor’s 500, according to a study by the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington think tank.

Man Walks Out of a Bar, Loses $1.4 Million Portrait by Corot, Lawsuit Says
(Bloomberg)
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot’s 1857-58 “Portrait of a Girl” is missing, according to a lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court. And the last man with possession can’t recall where it is after a night of heavy drinking, the suit says. After inspecting the painting, Waterman, the dealer, asked to examine it further with ultraviolet black light, often used for authentication, the suit said. That evening Doyle carried the painting to the midtown bistro Rue 57, where he met Haggerty. Doyle told Haggerty to deliver the artwork to Waterman at the Upper East Side Mark Hotel. From here, the suit says, we rely on security cameras and an investigation by the owners: At 11 p.m., Haggerty leaves the painting at the front desk and enters a hotel bar, followed by Waterman. At 11:30, the two exit the bar and retrieve the painting and put it on a bench. They talk. Waterman leaves. At 11:34, Haggerty returns the painting to the front desk and re- enters the bar. At 12:50 a.m., Haggerty exits the bar and collects the painting from the front desk. He “tumbles out the front door, colliding with the doorman as he is exiting the hotel,” the suit says. At 2:30 a.m., a security camera at Haggerty’s apartment building shows him arriving — without the Corot. “The next morning, Haggerty informed Doyle that he did not have the painting, and could not recall its whereabouts citing that he had too much to drink the previous evening,” the suit says.

FDIC Finds 829 Banks At Risk (WSJ)
The FDIC said 829 of the nation’s roughly 7,800 banks were on its “problem list” at the end of June, up from 775 at the end of the first three months of the year. Already 118 banks have failed this year, well ahead of the pace set last year when 140 were seized by regulators.

China’s First Officially Registered Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
E Fund Management Co., China’s second-largest asset management company, plans to start the nation’s first officially registered hedge fund after the securities regulator eased rules in July. E Fund will be able to raise money from high-net-worth individuals in separate managed accounts and use the same investment strategies as hedge funds in what the money manager with about 200 billion yuan ($29 billion) in assets says will be the first institutional hedge-fund product in China.

SEC drops probe into Moody’s (FT)
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday warned credit rating agencies that it now had the authority to bring fraud cases over conduct outside the US that has “foresee­able effects” in the country. The US regulator signalled its determination to enforce new rules requiring agencies to have proper internal controls over how investment products are rated. The shot across the bows of the industry came as the SEC dropped a potential fraud action against Moody’s Investors Service, citing “uncertainty” over whether it had jurisdiction to pursue the action in the US.

Funds of Funds Face Bleak Future (Reuters)
Firms with $1-2 billion or less look particularly vulnerable as they try to meet higher due diligence costs since Madoff, with institutional investors expecting much more. “I think there will be a risk of closures amongst smaller groups — they are always the most vulnerable,” said another industry executive who asked not to be named.

In Japan, Real Men Go To A Hotel With Their Virtual Girlfriends (WSJ)
Since the marriage rate among Japan’s shrinking population is falling and with many of the country’s remaining lovebirds heading for Hawaii or Australia’s Gold Coast, Atami had to do something. It is trying to attract single men—and their handheld devices. In the first month of the city’s promotional campaign launched July 10, more than 1,500 male fans of the Japanese dating-simulation game LovePlus+ have flocked to Atami for a romantic date with their videogame character girlfriends. The men are real. The girls are cartoon characters on a screen. The trips are actual, can be expensive and aim to re-create the virtual weekend outing featured in the game, a product of Konami Corp. played on Nintendo Co.’s DS videogame system.

Comments (40)

  1. Posted by Guest | September 1, 2010 at 1:19 PM

    Why so early?

  2. Posted by Anonymous | September 1, 2010 at 1:21 PM

    I call first dibs on Nene.

  3. Posted by Guest | September 1, 2010 at 1:23 PM

    in Soviet Russia, games dates— ah screw it the Japanese are way to messed up.

  4. Posted by 6th Floor | September 1, 2010 at 1:27 PM

    My director is away in meetings today, so my goal is to do absolutely nothing for the remainder of the day…Bess you’d better post some interesting stuff today

  5. Posted by InfiniteGuest | September 1, 2010 at 1:30 PM

    WSJ = smut factory

  6. Posted by Guest | September 1, 2010 at 1:32 PM

    Does anyone know where Joe Kernan is?

  7. Posted by NakedShort | September 1, 2010 at 1:42 PM

    Bend over and Ill show you

  8. Posted by Hamilton | September 1, 2010 at 1:54 PM

    “Alas, the boom ends this month, when the imaginary characters have to go back to school.”

    Giggidy Giggidy goo!

    - Quagmire

  9. Posted by Anonymous | September 1, 2010 at 2:07 PM

    You know, I thought I saw a 19th century Neo-Classical French portait being sold by a homeless guy. This totally explains it.

  10. Posted by Anonymous | September 1, 2010 at 2:11 PM

    And I thought the people addicted to Halo were bad.

  11. Posted by Ryu | September 1, 2010 at 2:11 PM

    Going to a hotel to have hot sex with your PDA is the new being killed by it.

  12. Posted by ViralPhobicGuy | September 1, 2010 at 2:16 PM

    On the right panel – Going Viral – “Vagina Trees” – Very likely to have huge chips on them, I would think,

  13. Posted by AmericanBandersnatch | September 1, 2010 at 2:21 PM

    You date a cartoon character? I think that’s about the worst thing I’ve ever heard.

    How marvelous.

  14. Posted by nomnomnom | September 1, 2010 at 2:22 PM

    these japanese are such perverts – why can’t they just JO&C while thinking of barney frank like the rest of us?

  15. Posted by Anonymous | September 1, 2010 at 2:22 PM

    Yes massa. Anything else I can do for you today?

  16. Posted by Mickey Mouse | September 1, 2010 at 2:24 PM

    whats wrong with that?

  17. Posted by nomnomnom | September 1, 2010 at 2:25 PM

    - Mickey Mouse

  18. Posted by Mitch Cumstein | September 1, 2010 at 2:35 PM

    I’d probably give Jessica Rabbit a go.

  19. Posted by HipsterFaceSmash | September 1, 2010 at 2:37 PM

    Bessar, that is racist. Check yer motives, and then eat an onion!

  20. Posted by black ghost | September 1, 2010 at 2:39 PM

    enough of fuld and his crap.time to disappear…

  21. Posted by Guest | September 1, 2010 at 2:53 PM

    Dear Mr. Waterman,

    I’m Tom’s associate. Meet me at Minetta Tavern at 11pm. Look for the guy wearing Rec-Specs, a turquoise bolo tie, cutoff Utah Jazz-themed Zubaz and yellow Crocs with a Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot in one hand and a Pomegranate Fusion Smirnoff Ice in the other. That’ll be me.

    Regards,
    James Haggerty

    P.S., Don’t forget your black light.

  22. Posted by Guest | September 1, 2010 at 2:53 PM

    Dear Mr. Waterman,

    I’m Tom’s associate. Meet me at Minetta Tavern at 11pm. Look for the guy wearing Rec-Specs, a turquoise bolo tie, cutoff Utah Jazz-themed Zubaz and yellow Crocs with a Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot in one hand and a Pomegranate Fusion Smirnoff Ice in the other. That’ll be me.

    Regards,
    James Haggerty

    P.S., Don’t forget your black light.

  23. Posted by Doh | September 1, 2010 at 2:53 PM

    the woman in the Ipad for $124.80 ad above is also featured in the “shocking” expose on acai berry, no?

  24. Posted by NakedShort | September 1, 2010 at 2:57 PM

    Betty, Judy, Josie and those hot Pussycats. They make me horny, Saturday morny. Girls of cartoons won’t leave me in ruins. I want to be Betty’s Barney. Hey Jane, get me off this crazy thing…called love.

  25. Posted by Big Cat | September 1, 2010 at 2:59 PM

    Hmm my iPad ad is only 23.74. You’re gettng a raw deal.

    But more importantly,

    http://www.google.com/images?q=melissa%20theuriau&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1440&bih=783.

    You’re welcome.

  26. Posted by Matt Taibbi | September 1, 2010 at 3:02 PM

    Breaking news: The Japanese are a little strange.

  27. Posted by AmericanBandersnatch | September 1, 2010 at 3:06 PM

    I was just thinking about that yesterday with the picture of Rose Michaels with the axe

  28. Posted by guest | September 1, 2010 at 3:07 PM
  29. Posted by NakedShort | September 1, 2010 at 3:13 PM

    great flick

  30. Posted by ExtraOrdinaryPopularDelusions | September 1, 2010 at 3:41 PM

    This is very possibly the most tame and normal of Japanese fetishes.

    No joke.

  31. Posted by Lewis Winthorpe III | September 1, 2010 at 3:59 PM

    Man, and I thought my quoting Jawbreaker earlier this week was bad.

  32. Posted by Anonymous | September 1, 2010 at 4:23 PM

    no HB req it looks like

  33. Posted by Anonymous | September 1, 2010 at 4:59 PM

    You know those videogames that let you take/upload your own picture? I’ve been doing the ‘Japanese’ thing with Bessie’s picture for years.

  34. Posted by Anonymous | September 1, 2010 at 5:01 PM

    WTF. I posted as ‘guest’ not as ‘Anal_yst’.

  35. Posted by iYenta | September 1, 2010 at 5:06 PM

    Aren’t the Harvard guys doing the same thing about their dating woes as the Japanese?

  36. Posted by Guessed | September 1, 2010 at 5:10 PM

    Is that why Kenny G fired all those i-banking guys, for his bonus?

  37. Posted by Anonymous | September 1, 2010 at 5:22 PM

    You got that right.

  38. Posted by Gozer | September 1, 2010 at 6:22 PM

    I remember when I stole D Kneale’s Digimon “Lassie” outside Cheap Shots

  39. Posted by Blake S. | September 1, 2010 at 6:58 PM

    Boat on a Hill, Never going to Sea

  40. Posted by Abc | September 1, 2010 at 9:55 PM

    The things I learn from Dealbreaker comments.

    *sniff* *sniff*

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