You may have read reports that we’ve hired a second editor. Indeed we have! His name is Matt, he’s a former Goldman employee and he starts Monday, when he’ll make a formal introduction to you all.
Archive for July 2011
If the May employment report was “alarmingly weak,” as I described it a month ago, then the June release is an unmitigated disaster. Every facet of the data is sharply worse than anticipated…And yet, while I was quite concerned about the economy after the May release, I am less worried today. Perhaps I have lost my marbles, but I look at this report and simply conclude that it is not to be taken at face value.– Stephen Stanley, Pierpont Securities [Real Time Economics]
Here’s one tip from a recent paper. Continue reading »
Generally speaking, when people gather around to play a parlor game of guessing who will replace whom on Wall Street, they a) are discussing Chief Executive Officers and b) choosing one of several names for their pick of successor. Not today. Because today we speak of David Viniar, Goldman Sachs’ Chief Financial Officer since 1999. According to Bloomberg, DV “may not be replaceable,” period. Logic dictates that that should be the end of the discussion. In the event Viniar decides not to work for Goldman in perpetuity, however, contingency plans must be made. As such, a few names of potential successors have been thrown out (Controller and Chief Accounting Officer Sarah Smith, Treasurer Elizabeth “Liz” Beshel) and while they sound like okay candidates, are simply not enough. Because in this particular case, we need an army to replace one man.
The longest-serving chief financial officer of any major Wall Street firm may find his multiple roles distributed among two or even three deputies when he eventually steps down, according to two people with knowledge of the firm’s internal deliberations…Some executives at the firm are skeptical that any single successor would be as adept as Viniar in handling all those functions, the people familiar with the situation said.
Has the gravity of the situation not yet penetrated? Then let us lay some truth on your ass. Continue reading »
If You’ve Got A Boiler Room Fantasy, This Money Management Firm’s Got An Opportunity For You
By Bess Levin
“Jamie Dimon is a fabulous banker, and probably writes the best annual report in America,” Warren Buffett said in an interview. “I grab his report when it comes in and my friends do, too.” [Bloomberg TV]
Jobs Picture Gets Even Worse as Rate Swells to 9.2% (CNBC)
U.S. employment growth ground to a halt in June, with employers hiring the fewest number of workers in nine months, dampening hopes the economy was on the cusp of regaining momentum after stumbling in recent months. Nonfarm payrolls rose only 18,000, the weakest reading since September, the Labor Department said on Friday, well below economists’ expectations for a 90,000 rise. Many economists raised their forecasts on Thursday after a stronger-than-expected reading on U.S. private hiring from payrolls processor ADP, and they expected gains of anywhere between 125,000 and 175,000. The unemployment rate climbed to 9.2 percent, the highest since December, from 9.1 percent in May.
Taboo eases on talk of Greek euro zone exit (Reuters)
Dismissed as foolish fantasy a year ago, the prospect of Greece leaving the euro zone has become a topic worthy of serious discussion among experts handling the crisis in recent weeks.
Fitch Cuts Minnesota From Triple-A (WSJ)
Fitch downgraded Minnesota’s bond rating one notch Thursday, taking away its triple-A rating, as the state finishes its first week of government shutdown over how to balance its budget. Until now, the shutdown has had little effect on Minnesota’s reputation in the municipal-bond market. The state’s 10-year debt trades in secondary markets at a yield around 2.8%, 0.04 percentage point above a scale of triple-A-rated states’ debt, said Dan Berger, senior market strategist at Thomson Reuters Municipal Market Data.
Phil’s farmville (NYP)
In a desperate move to save his $2.9 billion telecom investment, the urbane and very urban hedge-fund tycoon Phil Falcone is seeking to befriend rural America. Falcone’s high-speed telecom venture, LightSquared, yesterday announced a new outreach project called the Empower Rural America Initiative, made up of a group of former federal lawmakers to “work with small cities and rural communities to ensure the deployment of this new satellite and broadband service.”
Carlyle Is Said to Be in Talks With Energy Buyout Shop (DealBook)
The private equity giant Carlyle Group is in talks to acquire Energy Capital Partners, a buyout shop focused on investments in power plants and gas pipelines, according to two people briefed on the talks. Carlyle’s potential acquisition of Energy Capital underscores the relentless drive by the firm to gather more assets and broaden its product line as it gears up for an initial public offering.
Countrywide Wages Tranche Warfare on Investors (Bloomberg)
Investors who sued over $351 billion in downgraded Countrywide Financial Corp. mortgage-backed securities after the 2007 subprime market collapse may have to settle for less than 1 percent of what they initially sought.
A Smoking June for Hedge Funds (WSJ)
In an otherwise bleak month for many investments, tobacco bonds were star performers, rising an average of 10%. Some jumped more than 60%. But many municipal-bond funds missed out on the gains. They had been forced to sell the bonds months earlier, often at a big loss, after a credit-rating downgrade made them noninvestment grade. Instead, the big beneficiaries were hedge funds that scooped up the bonds at pennies on the dollar.
Hedge-Fund Consultant Who Refused FBI Wire Says He Expects His Own Arrest (Bloomberg)
“Am I a target? Yeah, absolutely,” John Kinnucan said in a telephone interview. “There’s a saying that the government indicts who they investigate, so I have always assumed that I was a target.” Continue reading »
$$$ Data Point to Growth in Jobs in June (NYT)
$$$ Obama, lawmakers still far apart on debt (Reuters)
$$$ California credit outlook revised to stable: S&P (Reuters)
$$$ Senate Panel Backs S. Korea Trade Pact (Bloomberg)
$$$ CFTC Expands Its Power to Pursue Fraud, Manipulation (WSJ)
$$$ Hedge Fund Managers Turn Bearish on U.S. Stocks (MarketBeat)
$$$ Deleveraging: You ain’t seen nothing yet (The Economist) Continue reading »
Charlie Gasparino does pull-ups in East River Park Continue reading »
Last June, Auburn resident Ikenna Njoku purchased his first home, a very exciting event in his life. As a first time buyer, he also qualified for a rebate on his tax return, which he was also pretty pleased about, especially since he planned to use the money to pay off his car, a silver Infinity I-30, a vehicle Njoku says he “loved,” past tense, because the car was towed and sold after he made the terrible mistake of trying to cash his rebate check at a Chase branch, which resulted in not only the loss of his ride but a weekend in prison. Continue reading »
