Write-Offs: 12.02.11

Author:: Dealbreaker
Updated:: Jan 14, 2019
Original:: Dec 2, 2011

$$$ White men get paid more on Wall Street [DealBook]

$$$Merkel vows to build fiscal union [FT]

$$$ "If I understand the news coming out of Europe correctly, the new head of the European Central Bank is offering a simple deal: If fiscal policy becomes hawkish, monetary policy will be dovish.” [Greg Mankiw]

$$$ SEC staffers call for an investigation of the guy investigating SEC staffers for not investigating fraud [Reuters, earlier]

$$$A pimp who asked to be treated as an expert witness in the ways of prostitution was convicted of robbery and assault charges but cleared of raping a woman who worked for him. ... McCord testified that he was certified as a member of the "quiet society of pimps" and he was simply disciplining one of the women according to a “code of conduct.” [NYP]

$$$ "Just one in four managers beat the major stock indexes this year" [CNBC]

$$$ FCC rejection of AT&T/T-Mobile deal is "central planning at its most repugnant" [TOTM]

$$$ If you're looking for Jon Corzine next Thursday, try the House Agriculture Committee [WSJ]

$$$ The GMAT is getting harder, still nothing on the CFA [FINS]

$$$For the holidays, get the Wall Streeter and/or Occupy Wall Streeter in your life a signed, numbered Geoffrey Raymond print, just like the one we have at Dealbreaker HQ (ours is the Lenny Dykstra). $250 a pop, with discounts for sets and guaranteed holiday delivery. Details here; contact him directly at gvraymond@gmail.com.

$$$ Ireland calls vote on European fiscal pact [FT] $$$ Ray Dalio’s Pure Alpha hedge fund made $13.8 billion for its investors last year, while John Paulson lost clients almost $10 billion after an unsuccessful wager that the U.S. economy would recover, according to a report by LCH Investments NV [Bloomberg] $$$ Apple joins the $500bn club [FT] $$$ Hot Item: Pre-IPO Facebook Shares [WSJ] $$$ Too many high frequency traders use the same part of the second [Grumpy Economist] $$$ No one will sell Becky Quick a minivan [Fortune] $$$ A global asset manager is looking for a portfolio manager; compensation is "astronomical" [DBCC]

$$$ Europe Considers a Spanish Bank Rescue [Bloomberg] $$$ S&P says U.S. to avoid "fiscal cliff", risks remain [Reuters] $$$ "The fact is that if UBS ended up losing anywhere close to $350 million on Facebook stock, it has no business being in the equity capital markets at all." [Felix Salmon] $$$ Groupon is Now Giving Groupons ... for Groupon [NYO] $$$ Who cheats more, bankers or politicians? Disappointingly, bankers, according to a survey conducted in bars [Wonkblog] $$$ John Carney takes the pulse of Wall Streeters "waiting for a fourth martini at a once-fashionable midtown bar," "at a tavern along a cobble-stoned street in the financial district," "[a]t Stone Rose in the Time Warner center" and "having a drink with a colleague at Emmett O’Lunney’s" [NetNet] $$$ Are you a credit risk specialist? Any interest in analyzing credit risk for the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation in Dulles, VA? [DBCC] $$$ Citi Won't Request Stock Buyback This Year [WSJ] $$$ Gupta ‘Highly Likely’ to Take the Stand, Lawyer Says [WSJ Law Blog] $$$ After reading a passage about the prospect of Goldman buying a bank, Mr. Naftalis asked the chief executive if he had read the portion correctly. “Yes,” replied a smiling Mr. Blankfein, who glanced from the jury to the judge. “You read it well.” Judge Jed Rakoff, prone to making jokes during trial himself, belted out a laugh, and the courtroom followed. [DealBook] $$$ This year’s Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is expected to be even more heated than usual now that ESPN, which televises the July 4 competition, has pushed the start time later to accommodate the sports network’s first-ever coverage of Wimbledon. ... Major League Eating president George Shea said he expects the later 3 p.m. start time to also drive up ratings for the glutton-fest, which attracted 1.9 million live viewers last year. But he admits the mid-afternoon heat “should make it much more difficult” for the dog devourers to break Joey Chestnut’s 2009 world record of 68 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. “Heat causes the buns to crisp up more and the dogs to expand, making a run at the record nearly impossible,” said professional eater and perennial Nathan’s contestant Jason “Crazy Legs” Conti. [NYP] $$$ Vampire High Priest Loses Religious Civil Rights Case [ATL]

$$$ J.C. Penney Ousts Ron Johnson, Rehires Myron Ullman [WSJ] $$$ Capital markets: Is Citi the new golden child of Wall Street? [Euromoney] $$$ White Confirmed as SEC Chairman [WSJ] $$$ A.I.G. Seeks to Bar Greenberg From Suing U.S. on Its Behalf [DealBook] $$$ David Stockman's dystopia [Fortune] $$$ Wrestling’s Private Equity Champion [DealBook] $$$ Google Glass Already Being Banned from Strip Clubs [BetaBeat] $$$ The Fine Line Between Political Intelligence and Insider Trading [DealBook] $$$ Hedge Funds Wagering on Fannie Reincarnation [Bloomberg] $$$ As Deadline Looms, Few Companies Sign Up to Trade Swaps [WSJ] $$$ Costs of derivatives clearing stack up for buy-side [Reuters] $$$ Volcker: Central banks are too aggressive [CNN] $$$ Market Crash Likelihood Goes Up If Stocks Continue to Rally: Marc Faber [CNBC] $$$ Science proves women like men with bigger penises [NBC]

Obama wants to double Wall Street regulators' budgets; Gundlach calls market trends 'relentless and powerful'; Scottish charity seeks home for dog-sized rabbit; and more.