Opening Bell: 11.16.09
Bank of America Hits Pay Snag In CEO Hunt (WSJ)
The BAC board has identified another reason no one wants to take over for Ken Lewis (i addition to a lack of interest in running a hellhole) and it starts with a 'K' ends with a 'en Feinberg.'
UBS's Debt Trading May Be Key for Profit Revival (UBS)
"I'd like to see us put more risk on the table and actually trade a bit harder," said CFO John Cryan, 48. Wealth management clients, who have already withdrawn a net 182.9 billion francs over the 18 months through the end of September, may not halt redemptions until UBS returns to profitability, he added. "The turnaround will have to come from the investment bank," said Dirk Becker, a Frankfurt-based analyst at Kepler Capital Markets who rates UBS "reduce." "However, the biggest profits will come from the private bank. The problem is money outflows and there is no serious hope yet that they will stop."
Paulson Puts Money On Citi, Ditching Goldman (NYT)
Paulson & Co. acquired an additional 300 million shares of Citigroup during the third quarter, while selling its entire holding in rival Goldman Sachs.
Blankfein: Firm's wealth unit 'should be bigger' (IN)
He declined to discuss specific hiring goals but said in the interview that the firm "has to get into the high hundreds, before we can talk about thousands, of advisers."
Deutsche Bank Drowning in Vegas on Costliest Bank-Owned Casino (Bloomberg)
And they're literally underwater: "Any construction project of this size runs into problems," Fasulo said. "But to bump into an aquifer is just bad luck."
GM Reports $1.15 Billion Loss (WSJ)
An improvement over last year!