Geithner Seeks More Euro-Zone Measures (WSJ)
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called the bailout of Spain’s banking system “a good, concrete signal” of the euro-zone commitment to financial integration, but said the currency union must act quickly with more measures to quell its crisis. “This is a very challenging crisis for them still,” he said Wednesday in a discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations. “They recognize they’re going to have to do a bunch more to…restore a bit of calm and to convince people they’re going to do what’s necessary to make this work.”
Spanish Crisis Deepens (WSJ)
The financial crisis threatening the Spanish government deepened Thursday as Spain’s borrowing costs surpassed their euro-zone record, touching levels that previously forced other euro-zone countries to seek sovereign debt bailouts. The move followed yet another sovereign credit downgrade and coincided with fresh evidence Thursday of economic and financial stress as the decline of Spanish housing prices accelerated to a 12.6% annual rate in the first quarter and Spanish banks increased their reliance on European Central Bank funding.
Spain Credit Rating Slashed by Moody’s, Egan-Jones (Reuters)
Moody’s Investors Service cut its rating on Spanish government debt by three notches on Wednesday From A-3 to to Baa-3, saying the newly approved euro zone plan to help the country’s banks will increase the country’s debt burden. Moody’s, which said it could lower Spain’s rating further, also cited the Spanish government’s “very limited” access to international debt markets and the weakness of the country’s economy.
Greek Banks Under Pressure (WSJ)
In a sign of heightened nervousness within the country, depositors have been steadily increasing their withdrawals from Greek banks. The withdrawals, according to senior bankers in Athens, approach the level of deposit flight seen when government coalition talks collapsed after inconclusive elections on May 6, forcing the new vote.
“Why I’m Betting Big On Europe” (Fortune)
David Herro seems awfully relaxed for a man who has more than $1 billion invested in European banks. It’s a sunny morning in late May, and I’m sitting across from the boyish 51-year-old fund manager in his downtown Chicago office. He’s giving me his full attention, but I can’t stop glancing at the headlines blinking on the Bloomberg terminal behind him. The euro is about to hit a two-year low. Greece is on the brink of disaster. Spain’s real estate market is in shambles, and Italian sovereign debt is as fragile as stained glass. The global economy is roiling, and Herro is positively beatific. “Eventually they’re going to get these problems solved,” he says. “If you look at the economic history of the world, problems come and problems go. There are problems, and they do have to be dealt with. And our view is that all these problems are manageable.”
Large Institutions Discuss New Marketplace for Bonds (WSJ)
In recent weeks, senior traders at investment managers and big Wall Street banks have been discussing how the financial industry can set up a centralized electronic market that would let all participants trade bonds freely with one another, according to people involved in the talks.
BofA Beating JPMorgan As BNP Leads French Lenders Retreat (Bloomberg)
Bank of America overtook JPMorgan Chase as the biggest lender to the commodities industry in the first five months as French lenders led by BNP Paribas retreated amid the debt crisis. Commodity loans arranged by Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America totaled $14.71 billion, and New York-based JPMorgan’s $14.41 billion ranked it second, according to syndicated-loan data compiled by Bloomberg. Citigroup was the third biggest with $13.68 billion of financing, rising from fourth last year. BNP Paribas slipped to 17th from second.
Lazard elects former Citigroup chairman Richard Parsons to board (NYP)
Financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard Ltd. said Wednesday that it elected former Citigroup chairman Richard Parsons to its board, effective immediately. Parsons served as chairman of Citigroup Inc. from February 2009 until his retirement in April 2012. He had served as a director on its board since 1996. Before that, he was chairman and chief executive of the media and entertainment company Time Warner Inc.
Montreal teacher suspended with pay for showing students ‘Canadian Cannibal’ Luke Magnotta murder video (NYDN)
A Canadian teacher was fighting for his job after he was suspended for showing students a gory video allegedly showing Maple Leaf man-eater Luke Magnotta killing his Chinese lover. The Cavelier-De LaSalle High School 10th grade teacher appeared before a labor board on Wednesday to explain himself, and Montreal police were mulling whether to slap him with criminal charges, The Canadian Press reported. School officials said the teacher, who is in his 20s, polled students about whether they wanted to watch the grisly snuff video during class on June 4. The yays outweighed the nays, according to the Press. In the 11-minute video, Magnotta, a porn actor and sometime escort, allegedly tortured Jun Lin, 33 — beheading and dismembering his body, eating his flesh with a knife and fork and performing sex acts on the corpse.
I can't show videos of dismemberment and necrophilia to my students? I'm gonna have to plead ignorance on this thing, because if I had known that sort of thing was frowned upon…
– UBS Not Safe for School Quant
http://imagehaul.com/haul/9d4c29
Geithner: You know what the Greeks say about the Eurozone?
Obama: No.
Geithner: They say it has no memory. That's where I want to live the rest of my life. A warm place with no memory.
~ A guy who will be voting in November
Well I really felt safe and secure about Spain's debt levels and public finances, but now that Egan-Jones has cut its credit rating I'm just not sure anymore…
You know what they say, if the yays outweigh the nays…
-UBS Witch Hunting Quant
So I'm getting rowdy at WIP last night.. usual SoHo crowd of Euro-trash wanna-bes that look like a Barney's sales rack threw up on them, few models (read: broke and vacant brained NJ chicks in their fav BCBG dresses, prowling for a free gram and a Yankee), couple clueless decent looking interns from ACC schools. I'm dressed pretty conservative in khakis, Vineyard Vines button down and Bottega slip-ons. The next thing I know R&B crooner Drake is hitting Chris Brown with a bottle of Veuve. Really made me yearn for the distant innocence of summers on the Cape and a girlfriend who equate success to the value of her handbag. Sigh..
Marry me?
doesn't* equate
Can you please stop leaving these stupid godawful comments that you spent all night writing? You are not funny, interesting, or clever.
Seconded.
No one is interested in your crappy attempts at being a writer. Just so you know.
Spain gets slashed by Egan-Jones and no one complains. WTF???
Laxbro, stop embarrassing yourself (with this shit prose).
On David Herro's dating profile his likes include: whistling past the graveyard, playing ostrich and losing craploads of money
"Why I'm Betting Big on Europe", with introduction by Jon Corzine!
is someone jealous their retinas are on fire after working on pitch books all night?
"allegedly tortured Jun Lin" – isn't the entire thing on video?
Nope. That the best you can do?
Meet me at a motel off Rt 1 in Elizabeth?
- K-Mart Rack
http://www.myfoxny.com/story/18787449/report-chri…
Step off, bitch
unclear whether or not Jun Lin enjoyed it
Maeby
Maybe it's the torture that's alleged? Maybe he liked it?
On a long enough time line all problems have a life expectancy of zero.
Bastard beat me to it
Montreal Police can be a little slow. They're short-staffed since they are dealing with the "Free Tuition For All" rioters.
Thank god I have a head cold and didn't understand this.
Negative. I have no fucking clue what Bottega slip ons are.
"B of A Beating JPMorgan as BNP Leads French Lenders Retreat"
So the French are retreating again?
Matt? A chart would be helpful.
Just a temporary reorganization
Frederick von Paulus seems awfully relaxed for a man who has more than 1.2 million troops surrounded in the Stalingrad pocket. It’s a sunny morning in late January, and I’m sitting across from the boyish 51-year-old general in his downtown Stalingrad headquarters. He’s giving me his full attention, but I can’t stop glancing at the situation reports on the teletype behind him. Reserves are about to hit a two-year low. Greece is on the brink of disaster. The Reich’s economy is in shambles, and Italian will to fight is as fragile as stained glass. The Axis is roiling, and von Paulus is positively beatific. “Eventually they’re going to get these problems solved,” he says. “If you look at the military history of the world, problems come and problems go. There are problems, and they do have to be dealt with. And our view is that all these problems are manageable.”
I like this guy's gumption!
- N. Bonaparte
Joke Briefer– can you explain what this means to the readers north of 25?
Well at least we got the trains running on time! Hopefully that'll get ackman off our backs
Two untalented assclowns in a big sissy slap fight using their entourage as cover while throwing bottles. How is that unique? Or comment-worthy?
Sounds like you get that line a lot from your boss….
I was referring to the comment about a guy named Barney in SoHo drinking moderately priced champagne.
Bottega Veneta, Italian lux brand with signature woven pattern
Like Vans?
Meanwhile in Canada…
except heat death
I'd rather have a German Division in front of me than a French one behind.
Geithner's 2012 US Budget recomendations:
National Defense: a bunch
NASA: a bit
Net Interest: a ton
Social Security: a heap
Agriculture: a bushel and a peck
Veteran Administration: a whole lot
Education: an assload
General Gov't: a shit-ton
** All numbers are in '000 except where noted
"The main problem is that their team is behind right now. Their confidence is hurting because they have not been doing well, and to fix that, they have to start doing better. More than anything else, what they've got to is move the ball down the field and put some points on the board."
- Timmy G, ESPN Commentator
Stop abusing the Joke Briefer for such inane shit.
-fan of the Joke Briefer
A Lot of people drinking the hatearade today it looks like.
You should examine your motives
Herro? Goodbye.
Me and my bros chase shots of bourbon with haterade and high fives.
"A hammock of cake? A desk of cheez-its? Where are you getting these units of measurement from?"
"So true, the team with the most points on the board and the end usually wins the game"
J. Madden
$500 Vans that only FIT girls and East Village fags would ever recognize, basically.