Opening Bell: 07.19.12
Morgan Stanley Misses Estimates As Trading Revenue Plunges (Bloomberg)
Morgan Stanley reported a 50 percent drop in earnings that was bigger than analysts estimated as revenue from trading stocks and bonds declined the most among Wall Street banks. Second-quarter profit was $591 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with $1.19 billion, or a loss of 38 cents, a year earlier, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Excluding accounting adjustments tied to the firm’s own credit spreads, profit was 16 cents a share, below the 29- cent average estimate of 20 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Feeding Frenzy Seen If Wall Street Sues Itself Over Libor (Bloomberg)
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are among financial firms that may bring lawsuits against their biggest rivals as regulators on three continents examine whether other banks manipulated Libor, said Bradley Hintz, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Even if Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley forgo claims on their own behalf, they oversee money-market funds that may be required to pursue restitution for injured clients, he said.
Big Banks Prepare Another Round Of Cuts (WSJ)
Bank of America and Credit Suisse announced plans Wednesday for new cost cuts following hefty belt-tightening at both institutions last year. Citigroup is on pace to cut an added 2% of securities and banking jobs this year, or about 350 people, after announcing 900 job cuts at the unit last year, said people familiar with the situation. Goldman Sachs said this week that it aims to save $500 million this year on top of $1.4 billion of reductions since last spring, in large part by keeping younger, cheaper workers at the expense of older, costlier ones.
KKR To Launch Two Funds For Individual Investors (WSJ)
On Thursday morning, KKR filed registration documents to introduce two funds, each investing in various types of debt, a fitting focus for a firm that has relied on junk bonds for many of its most lucrative leveraged buyouts.
For Morgan Stanley's Chief, Brokerage Bet Comes to Fore (WSJ)
"I wake up every day delighted that we did" the deal with Citigroup, Mr. Gorman said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "I certainly haven't lost any conviction."
A Sleepy German Town Is Owed Trillions (TCSM)
The sleepy hamlet of Mittenwalde in eastern Germany could become one of the richest towns in the world if Berlin were to repay it an outstanding debt that dates back to 1562. A certificate of debt, found in a regional archive, attests that Mittenwalde lent Berlin 400 guilders on May 28 1562, to be repaid with six percent interest per year. According to Radio Berlin Brandenburg, the debt would amount to 11,200 guilders today, which is roughly equivalent to 112 million euros ($136.79 million). Adjusting for compound interest and inflation, the total debt now lies in the trillions, by RBB's estimates. Town historian Vera Schmidt found the centuries-old debt slip in the archive, where it had been filed in 1963. Though the seal is missing from the document, Schmidt told Reuters that she was certain the slip was still valid.
Blackstone Swings to Loss as Performance Fees Drop (WSJ)
Total revenue fell 52% to $627.2 million as performance fees slumped 80% to $135.4 million. Management and advisory fees edged down 2% to $488 million. Analysts expected $605 million in total revenue...Blackstone is preparing to unload its portfolio of U.S. office buildings, which analysts have valued as high as $22 billion. The exit could come as early as next year and signals that Blackstone, one of the property sector's most active buyers, is moving into a selling phase as top office markets recover.
Peregrine's Struggle to Stay Airborne (WSJ)
When the end came for Russell Wasendorf Sr.'s futures brokerage last week, it was quick. But interviews with current and former employees, regulators and others close to the situation, point to increasing signs of strain in Peregrine Financial Group Inc. and Mr. Wasendorf, its founder and chief executive, in the months leading up to the firm's collapse. The company cut back on perks, cut salaries and defaulted on the terms of state loans used to build its $18 million headquarters in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Mr. Wasendorf's behavior became at times erratic, and he got rid of the luxury box he had leased at Chicago's Soldier Field since 2003.
Portland's airport stripper John Brennan convinces judge nudity was protest against TSA (OL)
...a Multnomah County judge Wednesday acquitted 50-year-old John E. Brennan of an indecent exposure charge after he stripped naked at Portland International Airport. Brennan's friends packed into the courtroom and erupted in applause and cheers upon hearing the verdict. As they filed into the hallway, they heartily embraced a smiling Brennan. One friend stuck a sticky note on Brennan's chest. It read: "Sir Godiva" -- a reference to the legend of a noblewoman who rode naked on a horse through the streets of England to protest oppressive taxation. Brennan famously shed all his clothes April 17 at an airport security checkpoint. It was 5:30 p.m. and gawkers didn't hesitate to take smart phone photos and offer them up to the media as Brennan stood for about five minutes before police arrived. During a two-hour trial, Brennan testified that he undressed because he was fed up with what he sees as invasive Transportation Security Administration procedures -- including body scans and pat downs. Prosecutors charged Brennan with violating a city ordinance that forbids people from exposing their genitalia in public and in the presence of the opposite sex. The judge sided with the defense, which cited a 1985 Oregon Court of Appeals ruling stating that nudity laws don't apply in cases of protest. "It is the speech itself that the state is seeking to punish, and that it cannot do," Circuit Judge David Rees said.