Write-Offs: 12.04.12
$$$U.S. Banks See Strong Profit [WSJ]
$$$U.S. court says Argentina does not need to make $250 mln deposit [Reuters]
$$$Former Goldman Director Gupta to Stay Free Pending His Appeal [DealBook]
$$$Banks book record profits off Fannie and Freddie [Term Sheet, related]
$$$High Rollers Are Still Big Losers 18 Months After Online Poker's "Black Friday" [BuzzFeed, also MR: "Even if some of these sites were fraudulent, one wonders if the players would not have better off without government 'protection.'"]
$$$ "The online brokerage of Bank of America Merrill Lynch rolled out something it is calling Face Retirement. ... Here’s how it works: It’s a website that takes your current image, using a web cam, and makes you old and decrepit — the kind of person who will need some cash socked away." [Deal Journal]
$$$"Prosecutors said there is no such thing as a $500 million Federal Reserve note" [UPI]
$$$ The CME is looking for an executive director for equity index products [DBCC]
$$$ Corporate bond "turnover has not collapsed 80 percent in the same way as dealer inventory, and in fact daily volumes are on a par with where they were in 2007." [Bond Vigilantes]
$$$CME Deliverable ‘Swap Futures’ See Comfortable Debut [MarketBeat]
$$$ The "gentleman groper" is a lawyer, not a banker [ATL, earlier]
$$$ "Can a dog be trained to drive a car? New Zealand's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals proved it could be done." [CBS, video!!!]