Lest there be any confusion about what’s coming… Continue reading »
Archive for January 2011
For those of you who failed to mark it down on your calendars, please be advised that today is Vikram Pandit’s birthday (his 54th to be exact). Normally we’d tell you to drop what you’re doing and pick up something for him A-SAP but this year we’d advise you to go the no presents route. Not because Vickles is one of those faux modest jerks who says “no gifts, just your company” while not really meaning it but because we can say with absolute certainty that you will not top the gift to end all gifts Vikula is already poised to receive. Dick Parsons, if you’ll do the honors. Continue reading »
JPMorgan Profit Rises 47% (MarketWatch)
The bank said this morning its fourth-quarter profit rose 47% to $4.8 billion, or $1.12 a share, from $3.3 billion, or 74 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue increased to $26.1 billion, from $23.2 billion last year. Wall Street analysts expected net income of $1.00 a share on revenue of $24.2 billion, according to a survey by FactSet Research. Investment banking net income fell 21% to $1.5 billion.
SEC Probes Banks, Buyout Shops Over Dealings With Sovereign Funds (WSJ)
The SEC has sent letters of inquiry to banks such as Citigroup Inc. as well as private-equity firms including Blackstone Group LP, the people said. The letters are said to have been sent to as many as 10 firms in the past week, one person said.
Goldman Sachs Reveals Fresh Crisis Losses (FT)
Goldman Sachs has revealed details of about $5 billion in investment losses suffered during the crisis for the first time this week, in a move that will deepen the debate over companies’ financial disclosures. The figures, issued as part of internal reforms aimed at silencing Goldman’s critics, show that the bank suffered $13.5 billion in losses from “investing and lending” with its own funds in 2008.
Facebook Founder’s Ex-Friends Won’t Stop Suing Him (Bloomberg)
This just in.
Banks Pitch Themselves for AIG Deal (WSJ)
The proposed offering sizes ranged from $20 billion to as much as $40 billion, and some bankers said they were confident of selling a large amount of shares in the $30-$40 range, or higher, the people said. The AIG offering, which has been touted as the “Re-IPO” of the insurer, could be the largest in U.S. history if it exceeds the $23.1 billion sale by General Motors Co. last November. Attendees to Thursday’s meetings included JPMorgan Chief Executive James Dimon, BofA CEO Brian Moynihan, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, Barclays Capital Co-Chief Executive Jerry del Missier and Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn. Other banks that sent representatives to the “bake-off” included UBS AG, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo and Citigroup.
Fanuc to Build Robot Factory, Count on `Cranes With Brains’ to Fuel Growth (Bloomberg)
The use of thousands of robots in its own factories — the company’s newest tool plant can run mostly unattended for 700 hours each month — is one of the reasons for Fanuc’s profitability, Inaba said.
Fox Shoots Man (Reuters)
A wounded fox shot its would be killer in Belarus by pulling the trigger on the hunter’s gun as the pair scuffled after the man tried to finish the animal off with the butt of the rifle, media said Thursday. The unnamed hunter, who had approached the fox after wounding it from a distance, was in hospital with a leg wound, while the fox made its escape, media said, citing prosecutors from the Grodno region. “The animal fiercely resisted and in the struggle accidentally pulled the trigger with its paw,” one prosecutor was quoted as saying. Continue reading »
Inspector General: Government’s Decision To Bailout Citigroup In ’08 Based Less On “Facts” Than “Feeling Like They Were Going To Soil Themselves”
By Bess Levin
“While there was consensus that Citigroup was too systemically significant to be allowed to fail, that consensus appeared to be based as much on gut instinct and fear of the unknown as on objective criteria,” according to a report today from Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. “The conclusion of the various government actors that Citigroup had to be saved was strikingly ad hoc.” [Bloomberg]
Not only have they “completely restructured their balance sheets,” and have increased earnings of “about a 20 percent rate per year” to look forward to but that business with the foreclosure stuff? “Those are legal problems, not financial problems.” Bové’s only regret is that Ken Lewis isn’t here to see this. Continue reading »
While Global Head of Interest Rate, Credit and Currency Trading, Jack DiMaio, has chosen to “leave the Firm and return to the buy side.” [Dealbook]
John Paulson To Formally Thank Alan Greenspan For Being The Best Federal Reserve Chairman Of All Time
By Bess Levin
He’s does it all the time around the office but never in public, in front of other people.
To: NYU Stern Community
Subject: Interview with Dr. Allan Greenspan, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, by John A. Paulson, President of Paulson & Co. Inc
Come Out And Watch A Bunch Of Financial Services Hacks Get Voluntarily Punched In The Face
By Bess Levin
Next Wednesday night is the annual Corporate Challenge Boxing tournament, and beyond the fact that the event is for charity, $45 (or $1,400 for a ring-side table) seems like a pretty reasonable fee to be at least mildly amused at the sight of your “colleagues” taking to the ring. The participants hail from Morgan Stanley, Barclays Capital, RBC, and Chimera Securities, among other firms, have give themselves nicknames like “Plastic Paddy,” “The Huntington Hammer,” “Dragon Fist” and “Mister Softee,” and have prior boxing experience as diverse as “several tournaments” to “My friend once punched me in the face on a weekend in Prauge.” Let’s meet them now. Continue reading »
“My guess is that at this juncture we are close to peak leverage,” said Stephen Weiss, co-founder of Short Hills Capital who also worked for S.A.C. Capital at one time. “It’s a function of investors in hedge funds being more comfortable with risk at this juncture. This is evident in the ability of hedge funds to raise additional assets. Additionally, everyone wants to make more money and the quickest way to do that is through leverage.” [CNBC]
Bloomberg Would Like To Remind Wall Street That It Gets Paid Way More Than It Should Compared To More Noble Professions
By Bess LevinAs we’ve discussed at length, bonus expectations this year are not very good, should you be employed by a bank. Even those at hedge funds and private equity firms, where numbers aren’t expected to be nearly as bad, will likely have something to complain about, given that that’s just what people do when it comes to bonuses (rail against whoever came up with the figure and know in your heart you deserve more). A week or so ahead of numbers being officially communicated, Bloomberg has whipped up a chart comparing the pay of traders and M&A bankers to those of some totally randomly selected professions (brain surgeons, cancer researchers, aerospace engineers, 4-star generals with thirty-four years experience) where employees make less and told the former group to “take solace” in the disparity. It almost seems as though some sort of message is being sent! Continue reading »
