Last Friday, the Federal Reserve gave Goldman Sachs the greenlight to buy back the $5 billion of preferred stock Berkshire Hathaway bought when things got dicey in 2008. Though he knew the day was coming, Buffett was not looking forward to the news, as the terms of the investment were highly favorable for the Oracle of O, netting him more than $15 dollars a second. Over the weekend Buffett confirmed his displeasure and sent a message to Lloyd and Co that if they want their preferred shares back they’re gonna have to find him first, which will prove difficult, as he’s decided to take a page from from Osama bin Laden’s playbook. Continue reading »
Archive for March 2011
Warren “I’m going to be the Osama bin Laden of capitalism” Buffett Extends Challenge To Goldman Sachs
By Bess LevinFor those of you living in the past, this should prove exciting! Continue reading »
“We held very few [electronics makers such as Apple] in the past and we’re likely to hold very few in the future,” the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway said in Daegu, South Korea, today. Coca-Cola, based in Atlanta, is “very easy for me to come to a conclusion as to what it will look like economically in five or 10 years, and it’s not easy for me to come to a conclusion about Apple,” he said. “Even though Apple may have the most wonderful future in the world, I’m not capable of bringing any drink to that particular party and evaluating that future,” Buffett said.[Bloomberg]
$$$ Goldman Sachs Code Thief Gets 8 year, 1 Month In Jail [WSJ]
$$$ Does Anne Hathaway Drive Berkshire Hathaway’s Stock? [The Atlantic]
$$$ Global Intervention Slows Yen’s Rise [WSJ]
$$$ Harvard MBA Index Flashes ‘Sell’ Warning [NetNet]
$$$ Sushi Restaurants Drop Japanese Fish on Radiation Fears [Bloomberg] Continue reading »
Ellipses Suggest Charlie Gasparino Wants To Tell Us More About How Lloyd Blankein “Hates” His Job
By Bess LevinThe scare quotes also seem to tell a tale. Continue reading »
Better than losing things like your life, family, house, possessions, etc, though it’s unclear if the LPs have made it to the the ‘perspective’ stage just yet. Continue reading »
Some stats and a message about life from NakedShort: “Excluding today’s games, there are 2 people with fifteen wins, 24 with fourteen (including yours truly), 96 with thirteen, and 651 between three and twelve. For those of you that picked Louisville to win, I want to reach through the monitor and do this to you: Continue reading »
The Federal Reserve stuck it to Warren Buffett today when it gave Goldman Sachs the greenlight to buy back the $5 billion of preferred stock Berkshire Hathaway bought when things got tense in 2008. As Goldman and Wall Street were in a bit of a bind at the time, Buffett was able to demand a set-up that made him more than $15 a second, or 12 pigs in a blanket from Omaha Steaks. Goldman was and is extremely appreciative of the help but now that things have calmed down and the firm is back to making it rain ka-ching on each other’s faces and the terms of the investment (special dividend payments of 10% a year on the bank’s preferred stock, plus warrants to buy shares of Goldman at $115/share) are, how to put this in a way WB will understand, like having the twin Geico cavemen play tug of war with your testicles– nice/somewhat intriguing under extraordinary circumstances/unusual dry-spells but fairly uncomfortable and not a place you want to be after the first or second yank, Lloyd and Co are happy to put the experience behind them. Continue reading »
Ex-Goldman Board Member Who Called Raj Rajaratnam With Inside Information 23 Seconds After Getting It From Lloyd Puts The SEC On Notice
By Bess LevinRajat Gupta is offended by the suggestion he did anything wrong and here’s what he’s going to do about it. Continue reading »
Eliot Spitzer Wants You To Feel Comfortable Making Jokes About The Time He Got Caught Paying For Hookers
By Bess Levin
Former Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer was recently interviewed by Times magazine. On the topic of patronizing prostitutes, which led to his resignation from office, reporter Andrew Goldman asked Ness if he was ready to laugh about the whole thing. Spitzer said that while, personally, he’s not yet at the ha-ha stage, he totally gets that his hooker banging days are something other people often bust a gut over and he wants them to know it’s okay to do so in his presence. Continue reading »
