Opening Bell: 01.05.10
Bernanke Should Start Exit Now If He Thinks Recovery Is Strong, Roach Says (Bloomberg)
"There is never an easy time to do it," Roach said on Bloomberg Television today. "The longer they wait, the greater the chance they sow the seeds for the next bubble. So I'm in favor of an early exit strategy."
Investors sue Credit Suisse for $24B (NYP)
Resort property owners L.J. Gibson and Beau Blixseth are demanding that the bank and real estate group Cushman & Wakefield fork over a whopping $24 billion to make up for the money they lost on Ginn Sur Mer Resort in the Bahamas, the Tamarack Resort in Idaho, the Lake Las Vegas resort in Nevada and the Yellowstone Club in Montana.
BofA CEO Disagrees With Bank Break - Up Calls (Reuters)
Brian Moynihan said "the financial industry needs to embrace a looming regulatory overhaul instead of fighting it, but added that breaking up the biggest U.S. banks would be a mistake."
Moore Hires Brevan Howard Founding Partner Blochet as Manager (Bloomberg)
Blochet will start at Moore in a couple weeks. Also: "He completed the Marathon des Sables, a six-day, 151-mile (243 kilometer) foot race across the Sahara desert, in 2006. Competitors cover the equivalent of five and a half marathons over six days in temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 Celsius), with packs for food and sleeping gear on their backs. The race, which raises money for charities, was described as "The Toughest Footrace on Earth" in the 2007 book "Seven Days in the Sahara" by an event competitor. Blochet finished the race 157th out of 800 participants, according to Marathon des Sables' Web site.
Morgan Stanley Shuffles Leadership (WSJ)
Morgan Stanley has named Jonathan Pruzan and Eric Bischof coheads of its financial institutions group.
NY SEC Head Gives Perspective on Hedge Fund Exams (HedgeFund.net)
"We have planned a number of significant sweeps of investment advisors," George Canellos, the N.Y. SEC Regional Director tells HedgeFund.net. "In the last few months -- really in the last year or two -- we have tried to orient our program, especially the investment management program, more toward cause- and risk-based exams."
Continental CEO: Don't Pay Me Unless We're Profitable
Taking a page from the John Mack playabook.