Opening Bell: 11.04.10

Fed Fires $600 Billion Stimulus Shot (WSJ)
Many outside the Fed, and some inside, see the move as a ‘Hail Mary’ pass by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. He embraced highly unconventional policies during the financial crisis to ward off a financial-system collapse. But a year and a half later, he confronts an economy hobbled by high unemployment, a gridlocked political system and the threat of a Japan-like period of deflation, or a debilitating fall in consumer prices.

Goldman’s Pay Pool Shrinks Fastest as Traders’ Fortunes Dwindle (Bloomberg)
“We are seeing compensation down from 2009 anywhere from 22 to 27 percent” for traders, said Michael Karp, chief executive officer of recruitment firm Options Group in New York. “

Wall Street Bonuses Will Be Up This Year (NYT)
Bonuses will be up this year, according to a study to be released on Thursday by a Wall Street compensation expert, Alan Johnson. The survey shows that overall compensation in financial services will rise 5 percent this year, with employees in some businesses like asset management getting increases of 15 percent. “I did not expect compensation would come back the way it has,” Mr. Johnson said. “I underestimated the industry’s resiliency.”

Bush Says the Worst Moment of His Presidency Involved Kanye West (Gawker)
Former President George W. Bush told Today anchor Matt Lauer that the “all-time low” of his presidency was when rapper Kanye West said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” on live television.

White House To Business: Can’t We Be Friends? (Reuters)
“The perception that the business community and the administration aren’t getting along is not productive for either side or for the economy and we see real opportunity for common ground on a number of policies,” said Austan Goolsbee, a longtime Obama aide who was recently promoted to become chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers…In the meantime, the president will also make a highly visible gesture toward corporate America when he sets off on a 10-day trip to Asia this week. On his first stop in Mumbai, he will address a U.S.-India business summit that will include a delegation of more than 200 U.S. chief executives — everyone from Boeing Co’s Jim McNerney and Honeywell International Inc’s David Cote to General Electric Co’s Jeffrey Immelt.

China Banking Adviser: US Dollar Printing Huge Risk to World (Reuters)
China must set up a firewall via currency policy and capital controls to cushion itself from external shocks, Xia Bin said in a commentary piece in the Financial News, a Chinese-language newspaper managed by the central bank. “As long as the world exercises no restraint in issuing global currencies such as the dollar — and this is not easy — then the occurrence of another crisis is inevitable, as quite a few wise Westerners lament,” he said.

NetJets Buys Marquis Jet (WSJ)
Financial details of the deal weren’t disclosed. Under the agreement, Marquis Jet is now a wholly owned subsidiary of NetJets.

Authorities discover 30 tons of marijuana, border tunnel (CNN)
U.S. authorities have discovered about 30 tons of marijuana that were part of a smuggling operation using a tunnel under the California-Mexico border, officials said Wednesday. The 600-yard tunnel — which features a rail system, lighting and ventilation — connects a warehouse in Tijuana with one in the Otay Mesa industrial area of San Diego.

KKR Attracting $2.5 Billion May Signal Buyout Fundraising Thaw (Bloomberg)
Investors have committed $700 million to a fund focused on China that has a target of $1 billion, KKR said yesterday on a conference call. It has won commitments for infrastructure pools, mezzanine lending and credit deals, and may pitch its first large buyout fund since 2006 early next year.

Morgan Stanley May Wait On Smith Barney (WSJ)
Morgan Stanley could use some wiggle room to help meet looming capital requirements. One option: delaying parts of the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney takeover from co-owner Citigroup, which would leave billions of dollars in the securities firm’s pocket.

Reprieve For Wall Street Is Expected To Be Limited (WSJ)
“The chances of significant changes to Dodd-Frank are very, very low,” said Brian Gardner, an analyst at investment-banking firm Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc., a unit of KBW Inc.

‘Superheroes’ arrested in parking garage fight (Greenwich Time)
The assailant was charged with third-degree assault for a fight Saturday night during which he wore a Captain America costume.

Comments (39)

  1. Posted by AmericanBandersnatch | November 4, 2010 at 11:18 AM

    “Wall Street Bonuses Will Be Up This Year”
    “Goldman’s pay pool shrinks”

    Nietszche was right.

  2. Posted by Guest | November 4, 2010 at 12:18 PM

    but, Bush doesn’t like Black People.

    -Guy who doesn’t need to examine his motives.

  3. Posted by Guest | November 4, 2010 at 12:20 PM

    it’s a battle of the MSM- my money’s with the WSJ (though neither of them know shit about bonuses).

  4. Posted by anon | November 4, 2010 at 12:21 PM

    the bits in the NYT article about spending were cringe-worthy.

  5. Posted by Gary Shef | November 4, 2010 at 12:36 PM

    What about Vladimir Guerrero?

  6. Posted by Guestorama | November 4, 2010 at 12:46 PM

    Captain America vs Spiderman?

    Sounds like the entertainment for the AQR holiday party started rehersing a little early.

  7. Posted by Anonymous | November 4, 2010 at 12:50 PM

    net jets buying marquis jets, talk about a bull market acquisition…warren buffett (that’s right, the boss) said “any right-minded capitalist who saw the Wright Brothers’ aircraft take to the skies at Kitty Hawk should have shot it down and saved investors a century of agony.” other than that, I have no concerns.

  8. Posted by Anon | November 4, 2010 at 1:01 PM

    i was thinking the guy in the CA costume was cliff. or one of his employees, doing his bidding.

  9. Posted by Guest | November 4, 2010 at 1:02 PM

    Oh so he “likes” his “slaves” now? Not like he thinks that they can do anything other than sports…

  10. Posted by Guest | November 4, 2010 at 1:03 PM

    But that’s false… One of his legacies should have been placing more african-americans & latinos in powerful executive branch positions than ever before.

  11. Posted by Anon | November 4, 2010 at 1:06 PM

    how about we focus on the actual funny part of the story which is that there are a few more things he could’ve cited as the low point of his presidency besides being dissed by kanye west.

  12. Posted by Seaman Bodine | November 4, 2010 at 1:11 PM

    I can’t believe you servin’ this up…man, I used to have to read this shit, but now I gots money, fuck dat.

  13. Posted by Anon | November 4, 2010 at 1:19 PM

    have you ever left a funny, non racist comment, ever? I don’t know what’s more offensive, your racism or utter lack of humor. (or utterly lame user name.)

  14. Posted by Guest | November 4, 2010 at 1:22 PM

    Look at the picture, the guy has only one chin.

  15. Posted by PasteSpecialFormats | November 4, 2010 at 1:23 PM

    Drug-trafficking tunnels are SO Weeds Season 5.

  16. Posted by Guest | November 4, 2010 at 1:23 PM

    Looks like somebody was expecting Prop 19 to pass. There go weed prices again.

  17. Posted by Anonymous | November 4, 2010 at 1:33 PM

    not sure he’s being racist, unless you’re calling randy moss racist…

    -guy who keeps up

  18. Posted by I liked the Ship Better | November 4, 2010 at 1:35 PM

    QE2 is a futile debt swap of high risk debt for low yield, little risk debt. Any predictions on how fast inflation will grow. I predict $20 dollars for a McDonalds hamburger in 2020.

  19. Posted by Killing It in Asset Management | November 4, 2010 at 1:46 PM

    Asset Management bonuses up 15%? All right! Now I can pull dow $11,500 instead of $10,000! Finally, even after taxes, I can afford one night of VIP treatment at Beamers!

    - Sr. Director, Alliance Bernstein

  20. Posted by John Stossel | November 4, 2010 at 1:50 PM

    Yo, you ain’t telling me nothing. That’s why I left that show.

  21. Posted by Dumbass Trader | November 4, 2010 at 1:53 PM

    When Trader Monthly starts up again you’ll know we’re back, baby!!

  22. Posted by Anonymous | November 4, 2010 at 1:58 PM

    Willkommen in Weimar…

  23. Posted by Homosaurus | November 4, 2010 at 2:01 PM

    I love the tampon add on the site! So appropriate for this demographic.

  24. Posted by NakedShort | November 4, 2010 at 2:02 PM

    What are you doing still here? I thought everyone left.

    -P. Kraus

  25. Posted by Seaman Bodine | November 4, 2010 at 2:03 PM

    shut the ef up, crack’uh

  26. Posted by Anonymous | November 4, 2010 at 2:19 PM

    Yip, yip. Thought the same thing myself.

  27. Posted by NakedShort | November 4, 2010 at 2:20 PM

    Thats odd I am getting adds about shitting with the door open, pussy, riverboat gambling trips, and how to make my own beef jerky.

  28. Posted by 5 week window of opportunity | November 4, 2010 at 2:28 PM

    I’d pay $20 for a McRib right now.

  29. Posted by D. Kneale | November 4, 2010 at 2:37 PM

    I’m getting ads about Greco-Roman wrestling, Bacardi Breezer, Bertolli Luca olive oil, and Lincoln Logs.

  30. Posted by PasteSpecialFormats | November 4, 2010 at 2:58 PM

    Columbia Executive MBA and Johnston & Murphy for me. Is that irony or the opposite of irony?

  31. Posted by Anonymous | November 4, 2010 at 3:28 PM

    Got Columbia MBA, Sears and something that’s being blocked by the company spam filter…

  32. Posted by ExtraOrdinaryPopularDelusions | November 4, 2010 at 4:08 PM

    All it takes to get to that next level is one day a week: Saturday. A day when, let’s face it, you might otherwise be shopping or going out to eat or catching up on DVR’ed television. Think of each Saturday as an investment in yourself, your career, or even your family.

  33. Posted by tits | November 4, 2010 at 4:51 PM

    only the dead know the end of war.

  34. Posted by trojan | November 4, 2010 at 4:59 PM

    tunnels are putting us hardworking sharks out of business

  35. Posted by Guest | November 4, 2010 at 5:04 PM

    That was deep.

  36. Posted by Guest | November 4, 2010 at 8:54 PM

    You’re wrong. There will be little inflation. The main point is that the US needs to screw countries that manipulate their currency to keep the dollar artificially high against their local currency. The US economy is bad right now because the rest of the world won’t allow it to export its way out of recession, which likely means a weaker dollar (though not necessarily particularly high inflation).

    That said, it’s in the Fed’s interest to scare you into thinking inflation will be high.

    Go read Tudor’s investment letter.

  37. Posted by Anonymous | November 4, 2010 at 9:54 PM

    So one day a week for two years gets you an MBA? Could you just go to class seven days a week and be done in three months?

  38. Posted by Anonymous | November 4, 2010 at 9:54 PM

    So one day a week for two years gets you an MBA? Could you just go to class seven days a week and be done in three months?

  39. Posted by Anonymous | November 4, 2010 at 9:54 PM

    So one day a week for two years gets you an MBA? Could you just go to class seven days a week and be done in three months?

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