Archive for September 2011

Write-Offs: 09.30.11

$$$ New York Fed reveals Twist schedule (FT)

$$$ Buffett Says Tax Rich Money Shufflers to Ease Burden on American Families (Bloomberg)

$$$ Deal Would Unite S&P With DJIA (WSJ)

$$$ Wall Street Decathlon Gives Executives Their Own Athletic Competition (Bloomberg)

$$$ Kodak Hires Lawyers, Weighs Bankruptcy Filing (DealBook)

$$$ Lenders left Tarp too soon, says audit (FT)

$$$ “Here is one thing that can help you. Tomorrow, wear a polo and khakis.” (Reddit)
Read more »

Click Here

I am far enough behind on CFA studying that I have not yet learned how to do a DCF (is that on Level I?), but I’m pretty sure that even at Level IV you might have trouble modeling this acquisition: Read more »

“Bring me my purse, Chris.” Read more »

You might think that an agency that missed the Madoff fraud for years even after being told about it would have some sympathy for people who are, not bad guys necessarily, just a little sloppy on the whole looking-out-for-investors front. But you would be wrong:

Securities and Exchange Commission officials are trying to make it easier on themselves to hold more individuals responsible for wrongdoing during the financial crisis.

The good news, though, is that the way they’re going to make life easier for them is by reducing the stakes, pursuing negligence cases where they only have to show that someone acted “without reasonable care, even if there was no intent to harm investors.” The tradeoff for the SEC is:
Read more »

And then? BofA will be snapping necks and cashing checks. Read more »

On October 13, Judge Richard Holwell will pass down a sentence for convicted insider trader, Raj Rajaratnam. If the prosecution has its way, the Galleon Group founder will go away for twenty-four years. Obviously, the defense would prefer a little less time and in August, following Raj’s brother’s unsuccessful appeal for people to send character letters to the judge asking for lenience, turned to Plan B: breaking the news that Raj is suffering from a disease the likes of which you can’t even imagine, noting in a court filing that he will die from “unique constellation of ailments ravaging his body” if given anything even approaching twenty years. This, clearly, was well-played. Read more »

“The protesters are protesting against people who make $40-50,000 a year and are struggling to make ends meet. That’s the bottom line,” Bloomberg said, presumably meaning service workers on Wall Street, adding that “we all” share blame for taking on too much risk, not just the financial industry…Asked if there’s an “end-game” for the protesters and if they will be allowed to stay in Zuccotti Park, which is privately owned but open to the public, Bloomberg said, “We’ll see. [VV]

But, of course, only on Fridays and Saturdays:
Read more »

Opening Bell: 09.30.11

Obama’s Buffett Rule Backed By 63% Of Investors (Bloomberg)
The call for the rich to pay found backing among financial professionals in the quarterly Global Poll of 1,031 investors, analysts and traders who are Bloomberg subscribers. “Higher tax payments could help to avoid or delay potential social disturbances and in addition create some kind of a general solidarity,” says Henry Littig, chief executive officer of Henry Littig Global Investments AG in Cologne, Germany, a poll respondent. In the U.S., support for the idea was lower, with more than half opposing it, although four in 10 supported it. “The U.S. does not have a tax rate problem — we have a spending and entitlement problem,” said poll respondent Jay Wright, managing director of Samco Capital Markets in San Antonio, Texas. “And if we do not address it quickly we are going to be Greece.”

Wall Street Is Bearish On Perry (WSJ)
Hedge-fund manger Leon Cooperman said he is “negative” on Mr. Perry because he thinks the Texan is too conservative on social issues. “I’m a great believer in separation of church and state,” Mr. Cooperman said. “Any guy that has a meeting to pray for rain—that’s a guy I’m not voting for.” Others said Mr. Perry’s style is just as much a concern for Wall Street donors. “It’s the Texas bravado that rubs Wall Street the wrong way,” said Nathan Gonzales of the Rothenberg Political Report.

Morgan Stanley Seen As Risky As Italian Banks (Bloomberg)
“The CDS spreads are making investors and creditors nervous” about Morgan Stanley, said Brad Hintz, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York who rates the company’s stock “outperform,” in an e-mail. The price of Morgan Stanley credit-default swaps has continued to climb even though the firm’s shares have risen this week. The stock jumped 93 cents, or 6.6 percent, to $15.09 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday, the fourth- biggest gainer in the 81-member S&P 500 Financials Index. Shares are down 45 percent since the start of the year.

Fed’s Twist Might Prompt Bigger Turn (WSJ)
As the Federal Reserve Bank of New York prepares to release on Friday new details about the central bank’s rate-lowering program, some bond-market strategists have done their own back-of-the-envelope assessment already. Their conclusion: Operation Twist could in some ways do as much—or more—for the bond market than its predecessor, known as QE2. The program also could prove to be a boost for stocks.

Guilty Plea On Tap In Tainted Yogurt Case (TSG)
As detailed in an Albuquerque Police Department report, the female victim, 29, told cops that she was shopping with her daughter at the Sunflower Farmers Market on January 25 when a “pushy” Garcia approached her offering the yogurt sample. After ingesting the yogurt, the woman immediately thought the sample tasted “gross and disgusting.” And, as police reported, she “said it tasted like ‘semen.’” In a handwritten statement, the woman recalled, “I spit it out on the floor many times cuz I was upset.” She also recalled that a supermarket manager told her the sample “was a Greek yoghurt. People love it [because] has lot of protein on it.” Read more »

Write-Offs: 09.29.11

$$$ BofA to Charge $5 Monthly Fee for Debit-Card Usage (WSJ)

$$$ JPMorgan’s Dimon’s agressive style may hurt bank cause (Reuters)

$$$ UBS May Struggle to Regain Top Wealth Manager Slot After $2.3 Billion Loss (Bloomberg)

$$$ Ben Bernanke, ‘Money-Printing’ Would Be Out at Fed: Perry (CNBC)

$$$ There’s a fake Jamie Dimon bathroom on the Lower East Side (DealBook, also ArtInfo)
Read more »

Click Here

Posted on the trading floor: Read more »