As you may have heard, UBS has been going through a bit of a rough patch. Despite posting an annual profit (of 7.2 billion Swiss francs) for the first time since 2006, things just haven’t been the same since the crisis, and some are suggesting it never will be, writing that the bank “doesn’t have a chance” getting back to pre-crisis levels because “too much damage has been done.” Not helping things is the fact that there’s been very high turnover in the last couple months, which may have something to do with the fact that people have a need to get paid. Continue reading »
Archive for April 2011
Short Of Paying People Well/Period, Is There Anything UBS Can Do To Make People Want To Work There?
By Bess Levin
What’s this joyous news you hear? The next Fashion Meets Finance is taking place May 5. Continue reading »
To The Untrained Eye, Donald Trump Might Appear To Be Good With Money, But Wall Street Insiders Are On To Him
By Bess LevinEarlier this evening, I had the opportunity to get the unvarnished thoughts of a former Deutsche Bank employee familiar with Trump from this $640-million deal gone awry on the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago. Trump was sued to collect on a $40-million personal guarantee that was part of the deal. Suffice it to say, the banker held a dim view of the Donald. “[The Chicago deal] was pretty minor given all the other things going on at the time. Real estate developers do default from time to time,” he said. “But this guy has been doing it for 20 years, failing. Remember the Trump Shuttle? That’s why he’ll never run. His finances just won’t hold up to scrutiny. It’s pretty well known in financial circles that this guy is a deadbeat.” [The Atlantic]
It shall be called the PIMCO Total Return Exchange-Traded Fund. Continue reading »
They may not have made much money, and in fact comp was down, but almost all of whatever came in they gave back, unlike the cheap pricks at Banco Santander. Continue reading »
Back in January we mentioned that on the success of his Exceptional Value Fund, not to mention topping Bloomberg‘s list for Top Emerging Market Fund and being the recipient of the first annual Michael Vick Career Resurrection Award of Excellence, Ping Jiang was launching a new vehicle called the Ping Emerging Markets Macro Fund, “targeting a lower vol and focussing on short term trading.” Here’s how the PEMM Fund is doing so far. Continue reading »
The Galleon founder demonstrated “in his own words” why he’s guilty of insider trading, Assistant US Attorney Reed Brodsky said in the government’s closing statement this morning. Continue reading »
Feds Using Behavioral Profiling To Uncover White Collar Crime, À La Serial Killer Investigations
By Bess LevinMatthew Goldstein reports: Continue reading »
Unlike the current administration, Busey says, Donald Trump cares about the deficit and will turn our reckless spending around. Not only did The Buse endorse The Don, but he’s announced he’ll campaign for him as well, having already come up with a acronym/slogan/Buseyism: T(aking) R(edirection), U(nderstanding) M(assive) P(ower). Continue reading »
US Weighs Summer Sale Of GM Stock (WSJ)
To break even, the U.S. Treasury would need to sell its remaining stake—about 500 million shares—at $53 apiece. GM closed off 27 cents a share at $29.97 in 4 p.m. trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange, hitting a new low since its $33-a-share November initial public offering. “Planning for the sale of our remaining GM stock is still at an early stage, and the IPO lock-up does not expire until late May,” a Treasury spokesperson said. “At that point, we will consider all of our options, based on our twin goals of protecting taxpayers’ interests and exiting as soon as practicable.”
Obama administration officials tried to keep S&P rating at ‘stable’ (WP)
Treasury officials told S&P analysts that they were underestimating the ability of politicians in Washington to fashion a compromise to curb deficits, a Treasury official said. They argued a change in ratings was not needed at this time because the debt was manageable and the administration had a viable plan in the works, the official said.
IMF’s Blanchard Says US Lacks Deficit Plan (Reuters)
“There are reasons to be worried. The United States lacks a credible plan, for the medium term, to reduce its budget deficit,” Blanchard said.
Justice Department Seeks Data In Nasdaq-NYSE Anti-Trust Review (Bloomberg)
Antitrust review is emerging as a key test in the battle for the 219-year-old market, which Nasdaq OMX Chief Executive Officer Robert Greifeld tried to snatch away from Deutsche Boerse with an $11.3 billion offer on April 1. Giving Nasdaq control would create a monopoly in listings, a prospect that may create undue risk the takeover will be blocked, according to NYSE CEO Duncan Niederauer.
Congress Mulls Budget Deal Forcing More Taxes, Spending Cuts (Bloomberg)
Proposals being circulated among the bipartisan “Gang of Six” Senate negotiators, and about 20 other lawmakers in both chambers, would set deficit-cutting targets, according to people familiar with the plan. They would impose automatic, across-the- board spending reductions and higher taxes if Congress failed to meet the goals.
Freshman Republican’s bind: Vote convictions or help economy by rising debt limit? (WaPo)
“I desperately want to vote ‘no,’ ” Rep. David Schweikert said at the town hall. “I also desperately don’t want [the economy] to crash.”
Bank of America Merrill Lynch to Exit Private Equity Business (CNBC)
The unit, BAML Capital, has not been particularly active in recent months, having made its last investment in the fall of 2010. Bank of America, under pressure to conserve capital, has apparently decided it could no longer provide capital to the unit, which has roughly 35 professionals. A Bank of America spokesperson said BAML Capital is being spun off, and will be run by the current management team. The team will continue to manage the $5 billion in assets owned by BofA. Those assets will remain on the bank’s books, with expecations they will be monetized.
London Skyscraper Boom Ends as City Goes ‘From Vanity to Sanity’ (Bloomberg)
“The age of bling is over,” said Shuttleworth, who led the team at Norman Foster’s firm that designed the seven-year- old tower in the City of London financial district. He said it would never get off the ground today. “Money now drives everything, so if you can build something for half the price, you will,” he said. Continue reading »
$$$ Meredith Whitney To Goldman: What’s The Endgame? [CNBC]
$$$ Nasdaq, ICE Sweeten Bid For NYSE [WSJ] Continue reading »
