Entry: Bear Stearns Lawsuits Already Getting Filed

posted by NotNasser

Mar 18, 2008 7:22PM

Any believers in the efficient capital markets hypothesis in the house?

I wonder, because if there's any truth to ECMH at all, even a little bit, then the value of Bear Stearns at the close of bidness Friday night was somewhere in the vicinity of $30.

There seem to be, logically speaking, only three choices here:

1. Bear lost 93 percent of its value on Saturday?

2. The ECMH is way off? or

3. JPM is attempting a heist.

My guess? subject to correction, is that (3) is the most likely.

Entry: Is Bear Stearns The New Enron?
The Answer Is Yes But Not For The Reasons Many Think

posted by NotNasser

Mar 17, 2008 1:36PM

The comparison between Enron and Bear itself suggests another comparison -- between Dynegy and JPMorgan.

Remember? In the fall of 2001 Enron thought it could avoid bankruptcy by selling itself at what seemed like a fire-sale price to its cross-town rival.

That deal began unravelling as soon as the ink dried. Perhaps sooner.

Hmmmmm.

Entry: Opening Bell: 3.12.08

posted by NotNasser

Mar 12, 2008 10:19AM

"And if you're getting in now, then you might be getting some kind of dual-class discount."

You might buy the discounted stock precisely for the purpose of engaging in some corporate-structure arb. In other words, you might buy it hoping that the dual structure will be abandoned and, voila!, you'll have a full-value stock, which you can sell at its undiscounted worth.

Even a minority voice on a board can be important, especially if they're willing to be obstructionist in pursuit of their agenda -- like Parnell in London.

Entry: How to Think About I-Bank CEOs, Dumb-Money Arabs and Their Sitcom Counterparts

posted by NotNasser

Mar 06, 2008 8:40PM

But how do we compare contemporary Wall Streeters to the banking savvy of, say, Mr. Drysdale and Jane Hathaway of The Beverly Hillbillies?

Entry: This One Goes Out To Everyone Getting The Boot At Goldman Today

posted by NotNasser

Mar 05, 2008 11:22AM

3:43, good answer.

Entry: Why Do Rogue Traders Always Lose Money?

posted by NotNasser

Feb 28, 2008 4:48PM

Zees is such nonsense. I am to talk like Maurice Chevalier to explain it tu you, yes?

A loss of $140 million is no rogue trader to zee French. Mais non. It is, how you say, bag of shells?

When billions you can say, zen maybe we will call you a rogue and attack ze Bastille together.

Entry: Opening Bell: 2.26.08

posted by NotNasser

Feb 26, 2008 9:18AM

They plan to "work up the latter"?

You should really read this stuff after you write it and before you post it. That's called "proofing."

Either prosecutors plan to work up a ladder or they plan to work up a lather. They already seem to have accomplished the latter.

Entry: Movie Night!

posted by NotNasser

Mar 27, 2008 2:08PM

hey, dead horse, you stole that gag from me. Psychically. Somehow.

Or we were both ripped off by the same girl/dude.

Entry: Not Enough Cock, Coke or Money: The Few Things That Didn't Suck about CNBC's Seth Tobias Special

posted by NotNasser

Apr 02, 2008 11:19AM

Give them a friggin' break. They did a creditable job. Of course, they weren't aiming at an audience who was already up-to-date on this, so they had to start from scartch.

This, in turn, meant that much of the hour was spent on material that, to Bess at al, was familiar. Too bad.

I was happy that they were skeptical about the blood-relatives' claims (hence the title "for the love of money" which seems to be the only reason for the homocide accusations) and, of course, Billy-Boy's attention addiction.

Entry: Opening Bell: 4.4.08

posted by NotNasser

Apr 04, 2008 9:03AM

"And come to think of it anytime one side gets a really good deal the other side has necessarily gotten screwed."

Ain't necessarily so. Suppose a farmer sells his land at a price that allows him a comfortable retirement. He hasn't gotten screwed -- he has gotten what he thought the land was worth, for the purpose he required.

The buyer might be a petroleum geologist, and might have gotten a really good deal because he knew something the farmer didn't about what was beneath the land.

Exploitation? No. Capitalism.

Entry: A Cup of Tea Without Milk, or Sugar, or Tea

posted by NotNasser

Apr 04, 2008 10:11AM

Classic Python. Can't get enough. Thanks.

Entry: Fish Boy Makes A "Comeback"

posted by NotNasser

Apr 12, 2008 11:05AM

Brilliant move, Brian, hiring all those lawyers to assert copyright interests to a marketing brochure.

The lawyers' fees, court costs, time spent on that fight ... all gained you ... a chance for a meaningless "consultancy" gig down the road.

And the beaver is a noble beast.

Entry: Crack Bankruptcy Team: A Special (And Especially Long) DealBreaker Report

posted by NotNasser

Apr 17, 2008 3:02PM

EP, if this teevee project of yours makes any headway, puhleeeez hire me as a writer for Crack Bankruptcy Team.

Opportunities for so much fun, so little work, are rare indeed.

Entry: Opening Bell: 4.23.08

posted by NotNasser

Apr 24, 2008 12:01AM

"So good to see the SEC standing up to a congressional demand, denying requests for certain documents on Bear. We're ready to chip in for the SEC legal defense fund just for once."

Cox' response was very concise. Only two words.

"Oversight, schmoeversight."

Entry: Take That You Fraudulent Brits!

posted by NotNasser

May 01, 2008 5:32PM

NYFR? will the proper pronunciation be "nerf"?

Let's see if we can throw the nerf around?

Well, at least nerf won't break anything.

Its difficult to homer off a nerf.

-------

Actually, I think that works.

Entry: Take That You Fraudulent Brits!

posted by NotNasser

May 02, 2008 12:23AM

No. Are the folks who invented the "FCUK" logo dyslexic?

I do think "nerf" would be a cooler pronunciation than, say, "knifer".

Maybe they should call it the New York Rate of Funds, to make "nerf" inevitable.

Entry: Take That You Fraudulent Brits!

posted by NotNasser

May 02, 2008 11:17AM

You honestly don't see the difference? Nobody actually calls it "FUCK" when you say it, it is still FCUK.

---

I "honestly" don't see your point. I "honestly" knew perfectly well that the pronunciation "nyrf"/nerf for "nyfr" was a bit of a stretch, but I "honestly" also found and find it amusing.

You, it seems, don't. The problem isn't dyslexia, but humorlessness.

Entry: Opening Bell: 5.5.08

posted by NotNasser

May 05, 2008 12:59PM

It looks like the big drop at the start of the day for Yahoo was just jitters.

The price has been edging back up since. It will end down for the day of course, but at this moment (about 1 in the east) I'm thinking it might make it to $26.

Entry: Citi Never Sleeps: The Ad Campaign

posted by NotNasser

May 07, 2008 4:48PM

So what do you people have against Frank Sinatra, otherwise and appropriately known as the Chairman of the Board.

Didn't Frank used to talk about the City that never sleeps?

He meant Hoboken?