Opening Bell: 07.30.09
Senate Probes Banks For Meltdown Fraud (WSJ)
Among others, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank have been subpoenaed to see if bankers "had private doubts about whether mortgage-related securities they were putting together were as financially sound as their public pronouncements suggested." What do we think the answer is to that one, gang?
Tax Evaders Flock To IRS To Confess Their Sins (WSJ)
Tim Geithner, you are not alone! "Last week we had 400 [applicants] -- four times as many as in all of last year," said IRS spokesman Frank Keith.
UBS and US Government Disagree On Progress Of Case (NYT)
Speaking of not paying taxes: A lawyer for UBS told Judge Alan S. Gold of United States District Court in Miami during a conference call that the Swiss are nearing a settlement out of court; a lawyer for the Justice Department asked, watchu talking about Willis, and said he wants to go ahead with a scheduled minitrial on Monday.
Citigroup 'Moving Extremely Fast' on Asset Sales (Bloomberg)
"Our costs are down by about 25 percent, our assets are down by close to 25 percent, our risk is down more than that and so we continue to turn the company around," Pandit said. "We are moving our asses on fixing this thing like you wouldn't believe."
Goldman Sachs Hatred Might Cost You Your Bonus (Bloomberg)
Apparently all the bitching about 85 Broad got Barney Frank to crack some skulls?
Congress Aims For More Accountable Corporate Boards (Reuters)
"There are far too many cases recently where boards of directors, not just regulators, were asleep at the wheel, or even complicit in practices that caused great harm to our economy," Schumer said at the hearing, before running out to wage war on texting while driving.
Judging High Frequency Trading (Reuters)
"Is HFT a good thing or a bad thing, from a liquidity perspective?"
And You Thought The Days Of Golden Parachutes Were Over (NYDN)
Incoming MTA chairman Jay Walder could get a $850,000 golden parachute if he quickly gets ousted from his post.
Central Park Tree Tragedy (NYP)
A Google engineer is in a coma after a branch snapped and hit him on the head yesterday.