After a good first half, Citadel is getting so close to its high-water mark that Ken Griffin is starting to reminisce about the good old days when he used to earn performance fees. That in turn reminds him of what else he was up to back in those care-free pre-crash times, like sinking $2.5 billion into an online brokerage saddled with a disastrous mortgage lending operation in November 2007.
And so today he decided to catch up with E*Trade Financial, where he’s the largest shareholder after leading a rescue in 2007. But what started as a nice note to the CEO quickly turned ugly.
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That’s right gang, we’re all going to be aunts and uncles in 4-5 months, ’cause Becky Quick’s having a baby. Continue reading »
It’s been noted that the government’s key edge in winning the Raj Rajaratnam case may be the use of wiretaps, with the prosecution saying in its opening statement yesterday that jurors would hear taped conversations (phone calls and otherwise) that will prove the Galleon founder guilty of insider trading. Earlier this afternoon, the first tapes, which captured a phone call between Rajaratnam, who was on his cell phone and Anil Kumar, the McKinsey consultant who chose to cooperate with the government, plus a call between Raj and a former Galleon employee (and cooperating witness) named Adam Smith. In addition to hearing Kumar say “they’ve shaken hands” and telling Mr. Rajaratnam “you can go ahead and buy” we also finally get an answer to the two burning questions on so many people’s minds- 1) What does Raj Rajaratnam’s laugh sound like?
a) a low guttural laugh
b) a chuckle
c) reminiscent of Cousin Balki
d) what you imagine the moans elicited from a dying cat would be like
e) a high-pitched giggle
f) punctuated by snorting
g) so hard he starts wheezing
h) like this
i) other
and 2) is he a fan of scatological humor? yes/no/maybe. Continue reading »
As previously mentioned, I did a little interview with CNBC’s Trish Regan. We discussed, among other things, her time at DE Shaw and whether or not Charlie Gasparino and Dennis Kneale are necrophiliacs. Continue reading »
So, okay. A new E*Trade commercial has that day-trading baby two-timing a couple of girl babies. The one who is supposed to be his girlfriend (weird?) wants to know where he was last night, and doesn’t buy that he got busy “diversifying [his] portfolio.” She suggests he was banging “that milk-a-holic Lindsay.” Said milk-a-holic, who sort of has red hair, then pops on the screen all indignantly. And Lindsay Lohan is claiming this is supposed to be her, and wants the spots pulled and $100 million.
Lohan’s lawyer, Stephanie Ovadia, said the actress has the same single-name recognition as Oprah or Madonna. “Many celebrities are known by one name only, and E-Trade is using that knowledge to profit,” Ovadia said. “They used the name Lindsay,” Ovadia said. “They’re using her name as a parody of her life. Why didn’t they use the name Susan? This is a subliminal message. Everybody’s talking about it and saying it’s Lindsay Lohan.” Ovadia wants an injunction to force the spot off the air, and the Lindsay camp wants every last copy of the commercial.
On the one hand, sounds like someone’s being a little paranoid. On the other? Yeah, it’s definitely supposed to be her. And she does need the money. Continue reading »
Regan had her twins early this morning. They’re two girls, named Elizabeth and Alexandra (the father is Barclays employee James A. Ben). Trish is expected to return to The Call in late January, and in the meantime, it’s possible, if you play your cards right, that Amanda Drury and her twins will come stateside to fill in.
Earlier: The Next Generation Of CNBC
