Earlier this morning, Dick Bové sent out a slightly defensive note to clients, regarding an appearance by writer William Cohan on Bloomberg TV. Dick wrote: “Bloomberg TV did a segment in which it claims that I made statements about the [Goldman Sachs] SEC investigation and that author Bill Cohen states that ‘I am full of hot air.’ Further, Bloomberg and Cohan argue that Goldman ‘got to Bove’.” Richard went on to say that this “getting to” business was bull shit, as Goldman Sachs has not paid for his services “for years,” for reason lost on him (“the company is not a customer and for whatever reason it will not pay for my research”). We hadn’t seen the segment but we Dick seemed pretty miffed, perhaps justifiably, as the comments did seem moderately insulting. Apparently someone was feeling slightly sensitive this morning because while the words “Goldman got to Bové” did exit Bloomberg TV anchor Deirdre Bolton’s mouth (Cohan repeated them but made sure to use his hands to make it clear he was quoting DB), and for which he can be pissed, at no time during the program did anyone say anything about Bové being “full of hot air.”
The tapes are here for Dick to review when he’s feeling better and is ready to come out of his room. Continue reading »
Former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Lenny Dykstra pleaded not guilty Monday in a federal case where he’s accused of embezzling money from a bankruptcy estate. An out-of-sorts Dykstra appeared in a Los Angeles federal courtroom where he entered his plea while flanked by a new attorney, a deputy federal public defender. His previous lawyer, Mark Werksman, wouldn’t comment about why he no longer represented Dykstra, but noted a judge has declared the one-time baseball star indigent. Federal prosecutors contend Dykstra, 48, sold or destroyed more than $400,000 worth of items from an $18.5 million mansion without permission of a bankruptcy trustee. When U.S. Magistrate Judge John McDermott asked Dykstra if he understood the charges, the ex-big leaguer gave an incoherent response. “I don’t understand it, but I understand them,” said Dykstra, who appeared dazed. [AP]
Nate Thoma is 33 year-old with “scruffy beard” who lives in Queens and sometimes wears plaid shirts. He’s also a sometime day trader who has “about $500,000 in investments” and in fall 2008, saw his investment in Washington Mutual wiped out after regulators seized the bank. Thoma spent “weeks in front of his Scottrade account, trying to figure out how to recoup money he had lost” and after studying WaMu’s capital structure “saw an opportunity to make it back.” Continue reading »
Former Galleon employee Zvi Goffer, his Emanuel Goffer and Michael Kimelman, their partner at Incremental Capital, were found guilty this morning on “fraud and conspiracy to commit insider trading” charges. They each face 25 years in prison, meaning it’s going to be along time before another one of these: Continue reading »
Do you love cats? Do you love every kind of cat? Do you want a house full of them? Do you want a house full of so many that it’s starting to cost you a pretty penny but the idea of not having the cats to roll around with is too much to bear? Help is on the way. Continue reading »
As you may have heard, President Obama will be running for office again. In 2008, he had a whole bunch of support from Wall Street, including JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and a bunch of whole hedge fund managers. Things got slightly tense in the last few years and while some financiers vowed to never, ever trust Obama with their hearts again (not after what he did to them!), some remained loyal and others can be gotten to. Prior to announcing his reelection campaign, the President held a meeting at the White House, organized by the DNC and attended by bankers and hedge fund managers, with two goals. Goal number one: getting a few things straight and goal number two: seeing who can be counted on.
The event…kicked off an aggressive push by Mr. Obama to win back the allegiance of one of his most vital sources of campaign cash — in part by trying to convince Wall Street that his policies, far from undercutting the investor class, have helped bring banks and financial markets back to health…“The first goal was to get recognition that the administration has led the economy from an unimaginably difficult place to where we are today,” said Blair W. Effron, an investment banker closely involved in Mr. Obama’s fund-raising efforts. “Now the second goal is to turn that into support.”
A few weeks later, Obama’s campaign manager, Jim Messina, held meetings with Wall Street donors, including one held at the home of Avenue Capital founder (and Hillary turned Barack supporter) Marc Lasry. Next month, Obama will “dine with bankers, hedge fund executives and private equity investors at the Upper East Side restaurant Daniel.” Tasting menus won’t be enough to sway everyone, though, which is why the president has enlisted some wingmen to help him get the job done. Continue reading »
Bloomberg and Bill Cohan can suck it. Continue reading »
