Remember Vincent McCrudden? He’s the guy who arrested last month after years spent threatening to murder, among others, Mary Schapiro, Richard Ketchum, Gary Gensler and various other SEC and CFTC officials (and previously had a section of his website asking people to help him “execute” the plan). In one email to a CFTC staffer he wrote, “You fucking corrupt piece of shit! I have let so many of you fucking corrupt mother fuckers off the hook for doing this to my life. You my friend are not getting away with this. I am going to do this my way no and you, you corrupt mother fucking piece of shit are the first on my list! laugh mother fucker…I am going to make you a test case!” In another, vivid imagery involving a midget was used. Anyway, Vince isn’t liking it in jail so much and yesterday his lawyer, Bruce Barket, filed a motion to get him out, using two ironclad arguments for why his client doesn’t pose a threat. Continue reading »
Archive for February 2011
Hint: think more lederhosen, less ritual sacrifice. Continue reading »
Last month T2 Partners’ fund declined 2.8 percent in January, with declines of 4.3% (net) in the last five months, which managing partners Whitney Tilson and Glenn Tongue noted “in isolation, isn’t a terrible number.” Having said that, “given that the S&P has surged 23.5% over the last five months, this has been, by far, our worst relative performance in history.” So, some thoughts are necessary.
On strengths vs weaknesses: “Over time we’ve been quite successful shorting fads, frauds, promotions, declining businesses, and bad balance sheets. Where we have had much less success, however, especially in recent months, is shorting good businesses that are growing rapidly, even when their valuations appear extreme. Such open-ended situations, regardless of valuation, are very dangerous, so going forward we will avoid them entirely unless we have a high degree of conviction about a specific, near-term catalyst.” Continue reading »
Deutsche Bank Profit Falls (WSJ)
reported a fourth-quarter net-profit drop of 54% to €601 million ($829.6 million), confirming preliminary figures given earlier this week when the bank said earnings would be below market expectations because of integration costs. The bank said it was still on track to meet its 2011 pretax profit target. The fourth-quarter profit compares to a €1.3 billion net profit a year earlier, when Deutsche Bank benefited from a one-time tax gain of €790 million. Analysts had expected €804 million in net profit for the latest quarter. Net revenue for the fourth quarter was €7.4 billion, up 35% from €5.5 billion a year earlier. Provisions for bad loans dropped 28% to €406 million.
Corzine Builds MF Global In Goldman’s Image (WSJ)
MF Global also plans to announce the hiring of a new trading chief, Munir Javeri, and chief risk officer, Michael Stockman, to help build up the company’s trading acumen. Mr. Corzine, who spent years on Goldman’s mighty bond-trading desk, is pushing MF Global to take the sort of measured yet profitable risks with its own capital for which Goldman is traditionally known. Mr. Corzine has told people close to him that he isn’t trying to clone Goldman. Instead, he wants to use MF Global’s traditional strength in commodities and natural resources as a base to form a diversified, midsize investment bank.
AIG chief says bailed-out firm does better in ‘red’ states (WaPo)
“All of the states where we’re a leader, where we’re the No. 1 insurer, are red states. All of the states where we’re at the bottom are blue states,” Benmosche said Tuesday at a conference in Washington. “Part of what we found out is that our model is about culture and it’s about the attitude in the public. And what we find is where there’s more of a tendency for people to be more liberal, more that the government is responsible for what happens to me.”
Kinder Morgan Proposes Largest IPO Since 2001 (Bloomberg)
Kinder Morgan Inc., the pipeline company taken private in 2007, is proposing to sell shares for as much as $29 in what would be the largest initial public offering in the oil and natural-gas sector in almost 10 years.
States Widen Currency Trade Probes (WSJ)
The states are looking into whether certain banks charged state pension funds the most expensive foreign-exchange price during the day when a trade took place, rather than the rate the bank paid—and when currencies were sold, paid them the lowest price for the day.
Ticketless Super Bowl Fans Lavish Attention on Cowboys Stadium (Bloomberg)
Thousands of fans and tourists are paying $40 apiece this week to explore the site where the game will be played, a 60 percent increase over the standard $25 tour price. About 1,400 people a day are taking the 90-minute excursions, which are sold out. Tour-goers get to test the view from seats in a luxury, glass-enclosed skybox above the 50-yard line where Cowboys owner Jerry Jones sits to watch the games. Then the groups descend to field level for a look at the locker rooms, and stop by one of the bars where the players pass through on their way to the sidelines.
Girl Finds Adult Message On Kids’ Candy (KCRA)
A 12-year-old girl says she found a naughty adult message on a piece of kids Valentine’s Day candy. “I thought it was kinda shocking,” said Ciara Bush, “I was reading them and I brought it to my mom after I saw it.” Her parents were stunned at what they saw. “Nice T—,” said her father Derrick Deanda, reading the message printed on the small piece of candy that referred to a woman’s chest. He said he was shocked when his daughter discovered the naughty message after she opened the bag of candy. Continue reading »
Guy Albert de Chimay, the hedge fund manager who appeared on the first season of Wall Street Warriors telling the world “Wall Street takes the brightest people and smashes them into the pavement on a regular basis” and “Wall Street guys have really made the Hamptons what it is,” pleaded guilty today to grand larceny in the first degree, a scheme to defraud in the first degree, securities fraud and forgery in the second degree. GdC had been accused of using clients’ funds to put towards his divorce bill and beach house, in addition to claiming that using alleged ties to the Chimay Brewery in Belgium as a pitch in reeling in new clients (GdC said he managed money for the royal family). Continue reading »
January performance. Continue reading »
Caption Contest Wednesday: Does Anna Chapman Have An Appointment With Two Doctors Of The Economy?
By Bess Levin“With Nassim Taleb in Moscow. Dr Black Swan and Dr Doom,” Dr Doom tweets, referring to himself in the third person. Continue reading »
Charlie Gasparino: PIMCO Less Than Thrilled With Meredith Whitney’s Muncipal Bond Analysis
By Bess Levin
Charlie Gasparino reports that in the wake of Meredith Whitney’s apocalypse prediction, “investors have sold their muni holdings in droves,” with PIMCO being hit “particularly hard.” Though he’s remained civil in public, the usually affable Bill Gross feels like he’s been kicked in the cojones and has supposedly “launched an all-out war to discredit Whitney’s research in an attempt to restore confidence in the $3 trillion municipal-bond market.” Continue reading »
Commute To Or From Connecticut Every Day? Now Would Be A Good Time To Put In That Request To Work Remotely
By Bess Levin
There'll be a lot fewer opportunities for this.
Are you a financial services hack who treks into the city every day from points further north or perhaps does the reverse commute to Southern Connecticut? As you may have heard, your life is about start sucking a whole lot more. Continue reading »
If it hasn’t already been forwarded your way. Continue reading »
You know what’s so fucking hot right now? Tea. You know how we know that? Because the Post has deemed it so. And you know how they know that? At least one person drinks it in mass quantities– legendary hedge fund manager Spencer Greenberg. Greenberg, you may recall, is the 27 year-old co-founder of Rebellion Research, a firm that uses “artificial intelligence” to invest and manages under $7 million. His passion for leaves is cited today as evidence that this stuff that’s been around for thousands of years is finally now a ‘thing.’ Greenberg, pictured here with his stash and described as resembling Jake Gyllenhaal, we’re told, “is not your average tea enthusiast.” Continue reading »
