Gang, something serious happened. One of our favorite hedge fund managers is in trouble and needs help. Phil Falcone has been put in a horrible position, that I hope no one else ever finds him/herself. It’s a pretty well-known fact that the Harbinger founder is a huge hockey fan. The Minnesotan grew up skating, played as an undergrad at Harvard and pro in Europe for a year before being sidelined with a leg injury. He’s owned a forty percent stake in the Minnesota Wild for some time and recently acquired the Dubuque Fighting Saints. Falcone’s love of ice never posed an issue on the work at his hedge fund– until now. And it’s bad. Here’s the rub: Continue reading »
Archive for September 2010
Bob Moffat Gets Half A Year To Become Hardened, Jaded, Vow To Never Open His Heart, Pants To An Analyst Again
By Bess Levin
The former IBM exec, who had no idea Danielle Chiesi was just “playing” him when he passed her inside info during the course of a relationship that apparently meant a lot more to him than her, which he has twice cried in public over, has been sentenced to six months in prison.
The actor said so as he was pretending to trade today at BCG Partners (for their annual charity day), when he also announced he’ll be playing the role of Tim Geithner in HBO’s Too Big Too Fail, which has got to have made the Treasury Secretary’s day and break the heart of every child actor hoping for the part. Continue reading »
Recently, Mike Mayo has gotten into a bit of public with Citigroup. To recap, a few weeks back, the analyst started telling clients and whoever else will listen that the bank is inflating its profits and needs to a write down $50 billion of deferred-tax assets. For the offense, Citi apparently froze Mayo out, denying him any and all access to Vikram Pandit. This, being the worst thing you can do to a person, made Mayo hit harder, musing that maybe we can’t trust Citi at all. Somewhere along the way Charlie Gasparino got wind of all this and made it public, meaning Citi had to be all, “Mike Mayo? LOVVVVE him. There’s no freeze out, Vik’s just been really busy finalizing his fantasy football team, is all.” Citi has graciously extended an offer for Mayo to come over on October 1, which he’s accepted, at which time they probably think a little face time and sweet talking from Uncle Vik will be all that’s necessary to get Michael to upgrade Citi to “fucking awesome” in his book. According to Charlie Gasparino, that may not be the case. Mayo’s next note will more likely be along the lines of “we are about two quarters from consigning this dump to the scrap heap of corporate history.” Continue reading »
Dick Bové, who takes what he refers to as “extreme positions,” in his Florida home office. [NYT]
This fall, in a basement at Goldman Sachs, around 100 men and women will be inducted into an exclusive society. Membership will mean they’ll make metric ass-tons of money. They’ll get “investment opportunities not offered to other employees” (first dibs on client front-running, etc). They’ll be able to put in requests for “fashionable tables at New York restaurants” and hookers who are fine with the wearing of a Scream mask while being done from behind. They’ll be partners at Goldman Sachs. To commemorate this event, and for the practical purpose of tagging them so their status at the firm can be quickly verified with one quick drop of trou, these newly-made partners will have their nether regions dipped in a vat of gold, which will harden while Lloyd Blankfein gives a speech about how to carry oneself differently once they reach the upper echelons of GS (literally, as those things will drag if you’re not careful).
At the same time, another group of Goldman employees will be put on a bus and taken upstate. “Where are we going,” someone will ask. “Is this some sort of field-trip,” the dimmer ones will wonder excitedly. It’ll be in a warehouse in Buffalo, where no one can hear them scream that the head of HR will come out of the shadows, wearing an executioner’s mask and swinging massive clippers. The slowest of the bunch will still think they’re in for a treat, this setting being reminiscent of the partner’s retreat in ’03. The rest will know.
As many as 60 Goldman executives could be stripped of their partnerships this year to make way for new blood, people with firsthand knowledge of the process say. Inside the firm, the process is known as “de-partnering.”
Banks Get New Restraints On Capital (WSJ)
The committee punted other big issues. Officials agreed they needed new requirements to force banks to have access to ample liquidity, the funding that banks use to finance their daily operations. But they couldn’t reach consensus on the impact these rules might have on financial markets. So they agreed to delay new rules in this area until at least 2015, with other rules set to kick in three years later, and pledged to revisit the issue.
Bob Diamond: The Case For The Defence (Telegraph)
Diamond talks about his history with Barclays since joining in 1996. He talks about the banking commission which will consider whether the UK’s universal banks – joined together in investment and retail operations, such as Barclays – should be split apart. He talks of Basel III and the headwinds of new regulation, and the need to create a better balance at Barclays between the profits made by its investment and retail arms. He talks about pay and the need for caution, about casino banks and the “disappointment” he feels at the level of some of the debate. And when Diamond says “disappointment”, you know he means a whole lot more. As he speaks, a bird thuds straight into his glass-fronted office at North Colonnade, Canary Wharf. “Boy, that’s gotta hurt,” Diamond says.
Deutsche Bank to Raise $12.5 Billion for Postbank, Regulation (Bloomberg)
The bank plans to raise at least 9.8 billion euros ($12.5 billion) in its biggest-ever share sale to take over Deutsche Postbank AG and meet stricter capital rules. Deutsche Bank expects to offer between 24 euros and 25 euros a share in cash to Postbank investors to increase its 29.95 percent stake, the bank said yesterday. Postbank dropped as much as 7.5 percent to 25 euros in Frankfurt trading after Josef Ackermann, Deutsche Bank’s chief executive officer, told reporters in Frankfurt he doesn’t plan to improve the offer.
Deutsche Bank CEO: Basel III ‘Very Demanding’ (Reuters)
Ackermann told reporters in Frankfurt he was pleased the new rules could be phased in over several years and added they were “overall very good“.
Geithner Urges Action On Economy (WSJ)
“If the government does nothing going forward, then the impact of policy in Washington will shift from supporting economic growth to hurting economic growth,” Mr. Geithner said during an interview with The Wall Street Journal in his U.S. Treasury office, citing the example of countries who “shift too quickly to premature restraint” after a crisis, including the U.S. in the 1930s.
Greece moves to reassure investors (FT)
Greece will launch a charm offensive in Europe this week to reassure investors the country is on track with crucial economic reforms to prevent a damaging government bond default that could trigger a deeper crisis in the eurozone. George Papaconstantinou, finance minister, will lead a delegation including European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund officials to meet investors in London, Paris and Frankfurt. It will be Greece’s first roadshow since last December. That trip came a few weeks before spreads on its bonds hit record levels as investor confidence collapsed, and Athens tried in vain to persuade China, several Gulf states and India to buy Greek debt. Continue reading »
$$$ JPMorgan, UBS said to test iPhone for corporate email. [Bloomberg]
$$$ Deutsche Bank’s Deft Timing [WSJ]
$$$ More Reasons To Kill The Old [FT Alphaville]
$$$ GM to Pay New CEO Akerson $1.7 Million Cash a Year [Bloomberg]
Meanwhile, Carly Simon, one of his victims in the Ponzi Scheme, tells the Observer, I want him to pay us back, but I don’t want him to suffer beyond that” and his wife, former Scores dancer Diane Passage is seeking backers for her pay per view TV pole dancing competition. [NYO]
Economy Got Billionaires Feeling A Little Down
By Bess LevinFor 25 years, legendary Wall Street strategist Byron Wien, now with The Blackstone Group, has held summer meetings with high net worth individuals to get their outlook on the global economy and investing. This year’s group, totaling fifty individuals and including more than 10 billionaires, was decidedly pessimistic on the U.S. economy, investment opportunities and the Obama administration. “They saw the United States in a long-term slow growth environment with the near-term risk of recession quite real,” said Wien, in a commentary to Blackstone clients. “The Obama administration was viewed as hostile to business and that discouraged both hiring and investment. Companies and entrepreneurs were reluctant to add workers because they didn’t know what their healthcare costs or taxes were going to be.” So what are the billionaires buying if this environment continues? Wien said “vacant office building,” “farmland” and “Africa” were some of the ideas thrown out. [CNBC]
Tags: Africa-- all of it, Blackstone, Byron Wien, commentary, sad face emoticon