Write-Offs: 01.18.12
$$$Investors Are Facing Up to Reality of Greek Debt Default [CNBC]
$$$U.S., Banks Near 'Robo-Signing' Settlement [WSJ]
$$$BNY Mellon Settles Part of Foreign-Exchange Trade Suit With U.S. [Bloomberg]
$$$ Art history majors are 2.5x more likely than computer science majors be in the top 1% of Americans by income [NYT]
$$$“We call these bonds hybrid counterfeit instruments because there’s no such thing as a $500 million Treasury bond,” explains Gombar, who has chased global funny-money rings from the Secret Service’s Rome outpost since 1998. “It’s like counterfeiting a $3 bill, something that doesn’t exist.” [Bloomberg]
$$$Mark Wahlberg apologized for saying, about 9/11, ""If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn’t have went down like it did. There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, 'OK, we’re going to land somewhere safely, don’t worry.'" [NYP]
$$$ Hilarious contrarian rating agency Egan Jones downgraded Germany [CNBC]
$$$ Would you like to read a French philosopher blathering about rating agencies? Now you can. [HuffPo]
$$$U.S. charges man with stealing software from NY Fed [Reuters]
$$$U.S. Regulators to Defend Volcker Rule Ban on Proprietary Trades [Bloomberg]
$$$Right at the top of his campaign’s home page, Mr. Romney proclaims, “We have a moral responsibility not to spend more than we take in.” The United States’ debt is such a problem, it’s like an addiction: “The first step toward recovery is admitting we have a problem and refusing to allow any more irresponsible borrowing,” his site says. It’s almost as if Mr. Romney never worked in — what’s that other phrase for private equity? — oh yes, a leveraged buyout firm. [DealBook]
$$$Captain of Stricken Vessel Says He Fell Overboard in Passenger Panic [NYT]
