Grübel’s Exit Leaves UBS in Lurch (WSJ)
The surprise resignation of Mr. Grübel deprives UBS of a veteran banker who had gone a long way in restoring the fortunes of a bank that was among the hardest hit by the financial crisis. Since his arrival at UBS in February 2009, he pulled the bank back from 19.7 billion Swiss francs ($21.8 billion) in 2008 losses. He also resolved a bruising tax-evasion scandal involving allegations by U.S. authorities that UBS bankers helped Americans evade taxes; UBS admitted wrongdoing as part of a sweeping settlement. And he stemmed the outflow of wealthy investors at UBS’s huge private bank. But Mr. Grübel had yet to completely stabilize a bank that has lurched from one crisis to another since 2007.

Trader Pay May Face Limits Under Volcker Rule (Bloomberg)
The rule, which aims to ban most proprietary trading by banks with federally insured deposits, would exempt trades related to market-making as long as the activity met at least seven standards, or principles. One principle would be that traders get paid from fees and the spread of the transactions rather than the appreciation or profit from their positions.

China Central Bank Sets Yuan Post At Record (WSJ)
Monday’s move by the PBOC is “a signal to the market that China will keep letting the yuan appreciate despite the risk aversion in the rest of the world,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, Hong Kong-based senior economist at Credit Agricole CIB. “As China continues to focus on fighting inflation, a stronger yuan is a quick way to bring down inflationary pressures,” he said.

Betting On Bernanke Returns 28% For Treasury (Bloomberg)
Treasuries due in 10 or more years have returned 28 percent in 2011, exceeding the 24.4 percent gain in all of 2008 during worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. Not since 1995, when the securities soared 30.7 percent, have investors done so well owning longer-dated U.S. government debt.

Cocaine To Blow Economy (NYP)
Here’s another sign of the stalled economy — New Yorkers are ditching their coke habits. Cocaine-related emergency-room admissions, overdoses and requests for rehab have declined since the economy started its 2008 decline, according to data obtained by The Post. “It is sort of on a slight but steady downward trend,” said Dr. Stephen Ross, director of NYU’s Langone Center of Excellence on Addiction. “I treat patients in private practice. Many cocaine addicts tell me stories they don’t have enough money to buy it anymore.” Continue reading »

US House passes spending bill as showdown looms (Reuters)
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives regrouped on Friday to approve a must-pass spending bill, but the prospect of a government shutdown loomed as Democrats said it would go nowhere in the Senate. Even in the face of rock-bottom approval ratings, the dispute suggested that lawmakers may not be able to bridge their differences to pass even the most essential legislation. Aid for victims of tornadoes, wildfires and other disasters could dry up by Monday if Congress does not replenish a dwindling relief fund. Funding for everything from national parks to law enforcement could expire in a week. By a largely party-line vote of 219 to 203, the Republican-controlled House in an after-midnight vote approved a bill that would keep the government running through Nov. 18 and provide $3.65 billion for disaster relief in one of the most extreme years for weather in U.S. history.

Moody’s Downgrades 8 Greek Banks (WSJ)
National Bank of Greece SA, EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA, Alpha Bank AE, Piraeus Bank SA, Agricultural Bank of Greece and Attica Bank SA were downgraded by Moody’s to Caa2 from B3. Emporiki Bank of Greece and General Bank of Greece were downgraded to B3 from B1. All of the banks’ debt ratings carry a negative outlook. “The government faces significant solvency challenges and historical experience shows that small sovereign debt restructurings have often been followed by larger sovereign defaults,” Moody’s warned.

BofA To Seek $800 Million In Deal To Sell Pizza Assets (Bloomberg)
BofA is in exclusive talks to sell its stake in the biggest U.S. Pizza Hut franchisee for more than $800 million, said two people with knowledge of the discussions.

Economic Signals Heighten Worries Of A Double-Dip (WSJ)
“The world is in a danger zone,” said World Bank President Robert Zoellick. His confidence in major economies avoiding another recession, he said, was “being eroded daily by the steady drip of difficult economic news.”

French, German Bank Credit Default Wagers Soar (Bloomberg)
Deutsche Bank was the most- traded company of 1,000 issuers tracked by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. in the week through Sept. 16, up from 12th the week before. Credit Agricole SA (ACA) climbed to seventh place from 43rd, while Societe Generale (GLE) SA soared to eighth from 58th. Banks hold more than half of the bonds issued by other lenders and are hedging that risk in the credit-swaps market. U.S. lenders Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Morgan Stanley (MS) also jumped into the top 10 most-traded companies, according to the DTCC, amid speculation the world’s largest economy is headed for another recession.

Report: Ex-labor chief’s 1-day rehire nets $158,000 city pension (MSNBC)
A retired Chicago labor leader secured a $158,000 public pension — roughly five times greater than what a typical retired public-service worker in the Windy City receives — after being rehired for just one day of active duty on the city payroll, local news reports said. According to The Chicago Tribune, Dennis Gannon stands to collect approximately $5 million in city pension funds during his lifetime. He now draws the pension while working for a hedge fund, the Tribune reported.

Prison In Bluffs Cat Sex Case (AP)
A Council Bluffs, Iowa, man who told police that he performed a sex act on a cat and then threw it out of a seventh-floor window has been given two years in prison. Thirty-year-old Gerardo Martinez was arrested after officers found the dead cat on a sidewalk outside a Council Bluffs apartment building on Aug. 3rd. Officers say Martinez was naked and told them he used methamphetamine and had engaged in sex with the cat. Continue reading »