counterclockwise's Profile
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Entry: Should The Government Start Breaking Up Too Big To Fail Banks?
posted by counterclockwise
May 21, 2008 3:46PM
@2:25. Do you advocate eliminating the Federal Reserve as well?
Entry: The Transformation of The Wall Street Journal: Now With Less Wall Street
posted by counterclockwise
May 21, 2008 4:01PM
The 248 point drop in the Dow today somehow seems more interesting than the rest of the news ...
Entry: JP Morgan Bought My Bank And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt
posted by counterclockwise
May 21, 2008 8:33PM
Yeah, @6:50pm, I've wondered that, too. Well, sooner or later we'll get the word out of the Kremlin.
Entry: Is Progress For Women On Wall Street Hopeless?
posted by counterclockwise
May 22, 2008 9:59AM
I think MGR @ 5/21 5:03pm made some interesting and relevant points. I've been thinking about the many thoughtful replies on this thread, and they have influenced my thinking.
I think the tough housing situation for families, requiring many people with children to become commuters; the lack of options for child-care (we're basically relying on an underpaid immigrant workforce who may not have legal working papers to care for very young children, and for children who are sick, there are no alternatives at all); and the pyrimidical structure of financial firms and their concentration in New York City, have all contributed to make working through child-bearing years uniquely difficult for women in finance.
I heard far more goodwill towards working women than I expected to hear, which heartened me.
Obviously, there are negative attitudes to overcome, and very real practical difficulties. But there doesn't seem to be a carved in stone resistance to change. No more conclusions at this time. Still thinking it all over.
Thanks to the people who wrote thoughtful comments.
Entry: Opening Bell: 5.22.08
posted by counterclockwise
May 22, 2008 10:08AM
Liked the comment made by girl that the bacon tux would compliment her poached egg dress.
Entry: In Unrelated News, Charlie Gasparino Perfecting His Beer Can Crushing Skills In Midtown As We Speak
posted by counterclockwise
May 22, 2008 12:24PM
Every now and then, I appreciate the return of Mike's Hard Lemonade.
Entry: Layoffs '08: Bloodbath in JP Morgan's Structured Finance Group
posted by counterclockwise
May 22, 2008 12:35PM
Bear people who were taken by Morgan were told that there would be lay-offs at JP Morgan to accommodate their hiring. (Some were even told that there would be two JP Morgan lay-offs for every Bear brought in.) JP Morgan lay-offs are taking place now so that the Bear hires can be physically integrated into their new assignments. How's that for a great psychological set-up: survivor guilt among your Bear colleagues for being asked to go with JP Morgan job, sadness for the colleagues that will be out of work, and a tepid welcome at JP Morgan because you're the person that caused their beloved colleague to be out on the street.
Entry: Layoffs '08: Bloodbath in JP Morgan's Structured Finance Group
posted by counterclockwise
May 22, 2008 12:35PM
Bear people who were taken by Morgan were told that there would be lay-offs at JP Morgan to accommodate their hiring. (Some were even told that there would be two JP Morgan lay-offs for every Bear brought in.) JP Morgan lay-offs are taking place now so that the Bear hires can be physically integrated into their new assignments. How's that for a great psychological set-up: survivor guilt among your Bear colleagues for being asked to go with JP Morgan job, sadness for the colleagues that will be out of work, and a tepid welcome at JP Morgan because you're the person that caused their beloved colleague to be out on the street.
Entry: What Was Spitzer's "Dangerous" Kink?
posted by counterclockwise
May 22, 2008 12:37PM
hawk99 and big r, you're funny.
Entry: Opening Bell: 5.22.08
posted by counterclockwise
May 22, 2008 12:42PM
Mr. Pink - glad you are back complaining about slow market days.
Entry: Carl Icahn: Obama Would Be A Terrible President
posted by counterclockwise
May 22, 2008 12:59PM
These are difficult and dangerous times.
Neither candidate are schooled in economics.
McCain would be a tough world leader, but there was never a military effort that he didn't think should be fought to conclusion successful for the U.S., no matter what the cost. (He'll still argue that we could have won in Viet Nam.)
Obama is very light on foreign policy, but seems to have good will from friendly countries. The thought of an American president chatting with Amahdinejad and Hugo Chavez gives me the shivers. And then there are other man-eaters out there: Medvedev (backed by Putin) and our Arab "friends." Yes, Carter's performance as President is frequently on my mind.
I am honestly not sure of where my vote is going. I think when the campaigns start to get past the conventions, Obama will pick up more steam, and has a very powerful allure for the younger voters.
Turn-out will be everything.
Entry: Write-Offs: 05.22.08
posted by counterclockwise
May 22, 2008 7:56PM
I wonder if the lower court order about the currency is going to stand up through the appeals process.
Very costly for the U.S. However, many countries have adopted subtle changes to their currency that the allow the blind to understand the amount of the bill.
Entry: Housing Crash: Nothing To Get Upset About?
posted by counterclockwise
May 22, 2008 8:24PM
I've always thought that the repricing of housing to more affordable levels was the silver lining in this particular cloud. I was out of the housing market for a long time because I was the proud lease-holder of a rent-stabilized apartment. When that idyll ended, the reality bath was pretty cold.
As a bystander, I had wondered for years where ordinary people were getting the money to pay astronomical housing prices. Now I know. I think prices will fall further, because there is no shortage of people in deep financial trouble.
Btw, Donald Trump is apparently sponsoring "seminars" around the country on how to make your fortune from buying and selling foreclosed property.
Entry: Carl Icahn: Obama Would Be A Terrible President
posted by counterclockwise
May 22, 2008 9:12PM
Wow. A lot of comments. I'm still working but taking a break to check DB.
One commenter responded to an earlier post I made about McCain never foregoing an opportunity to engage in military action:
"McCain opposed leaving troops in Lebanon. He sponsored an amendment to cut off funding for mission to Somalia. He opposed sending the military to Haiti."
I'll have to check these facts out. Maybe I'm wrong, in which case I'll be glad, because McCain does have some qualities I admire. Thank you for the specificity of your response.
Btw, I don't get my history lessons from Hillary Clinton speeches. Honestly, I find it very difficult to listen to Hillary Clinton speeches. I think she's down for the count anyway in this Presidential race, and I'm really, really sick of hearing Paul Begala and Lanny Davis argue on CNN that she still has a chance. If anyone needs to be cut-off from a mic, it's those two.
Responding to some other stuff that was posted: I believe McCain got out of POW prison before the end of the Viet Nam war. I believe I actually heard McCain say that we never gave winning in Viet Nam a fair chance.
LBJ escalated the war effort right after the 1964 election and I don't believe we got out until the fall of Saigon, which I think happened in 1973, so not counting our advisory years under Kennedy, we gave it nine years. I have forgotten how much we spent, but we did lose more than 75,000 men and women. Given the additional facts that our opponent actually took over the country and our folks scrambled to escape by helicopter, I'd say we gave the Viet Nam war effort enough.
Cluzo, sorry to see the racist idiot was back online today.
Btw, don't agree with the theory that HIV was invented to exterminate blacks. It's just nonsense and ignores the scientific facts about the emergence of the virus.
Entry: JPMorgan: Viva* Los Layoffs
posted by counterclockwise
May 22, 2008 9:25PM
Nice lay-off stories. Bloomberg posted a while back about the 4K employees Dimon planned to lay-off at JP Morgan, so it's not really news.
Apparently things are reaching an end-point at Bear. Remember, May 29 is the Bear Stearns shareholder vote. Next week! DB should take down the poll about the vote; now that JP Morgan has 49+% of the stock, does anyone have a doubt about how the vote will go?
Dimon doesn't care if he's not considered a nice guy. He's been officially declared a giant among midgets!
"Losers at bear ... flushed away and forgotten." Not.
posted by counterclockwise
May 28, 2008 11:45AM
Many a strange thing has been happening recently in the unsupervised federal bureaucracies as the Bush Administration lurches to a close. I hope whoever gets elected to the Presidency has a good transition team to get the federal agency heads and federal Commissioners chosen and appointed, and the bureaucracy staffs brought up to proper staffing level with qualified people.
The Clinton Administration took forever to get this achieved, mainly because Bill had to vet appointments, Hillary had to vet appointments, and Al Gore, with his "reinventing government" initiative, had to vet appointments.
The failure of the FCC and the DOJ to get their act together on the XM/Sirius merger is just one example of the many delays created by inadequate leadership in the federal bureaucracies.
Entry: The Best Insider Trading Case Ever Closes
posted by counterclockwise
Jun 06, 2008 10:47AM
The original plotters, Plotkin and Pajcin, worked for Goldman Sachs as traders. They brought in Shpigelman, a mergers & acquisitions guy from Merrill Lynch. It all went downhill from there.
The names sound like they were dreamed up by Mel Brooks for a musical about crazy times on Wall Street.
Entry: Opening Bell: 6.6.08
posted by counterclockwise
Jun 06, 2008 10:54AM
There was some talk on CNBC that although numbers are seasonally adjusted for high school and college students entering the job market, students entered the market earlier than normal in May of this year, throwing off the usual adjustment.
Entry: The Chilling Effect Of The Bear Stearns Prosecution
posted by counterclockwise
Jun 24, 2008 11:02AM
Someone mention the perp walks? Watching the perp walks for Cioffi and Tannin has changed my mind forever about perp walks for people indicted for felonies that are not a threat to public safety. The only reason those perp walks were done was to parade the men in handcuffs in front of the cameras. If those indicted turn out to be innocent, there is nothing that can be done to undo the humiliation of that experience. It is punishment without due process of law. It also has a touch of Singapore-type justice that is incompatible with our values and our criminal justice system.
Entry: Is Progress For Women On Wall Street Hopeless?
posted by counterclockwise
May 21, 2008 10:53AM
I am one of the few that feel that the lack of women at the top is the result of subtle and not-so-subtle problems: (1) gender bias, including a hostile work environment (demeaning personal questions and jokes); and (2) the problem of child-bearing years occurring during a critical make-it-or-break period in a Wall Street career.
Comments on this site illustrate the prevalence of gender bias and the frequently hostile environment toward women.
The problem of child-bearing occurring during critical career years could be overcome by better child-care options; arrangements that wouldn't tax parents' natural and loving concern for their children. Money can't buy everything and individual unregulated child-care arrangements frequently have less than satisfactory outcomes. More flexible hours would help, too.
Women are more successful at moving toward the top in law and academia. Something must be working in these fields that isn't working on Wall Street.