emails

The Amazon employee handbook is apparently just a box set of "The Hunger Games" trilogy.

This is why we can't have nice things.

Join us on a trip down memory lane.

Nice try though.

If Tommy "I will run you over in the street" Belesis ever beats those fraud charges, the first thing he does is contact the writer of this letter to sign up for a 2-week intensive course that involves shadowing the master around campus (there is much to learn). The rest of you: take notes.

We* don't really find it particularly amusing amusing or post-worthy that a Jefferies employee accidentally or misguidedly put Jamie Dimon on an email about a working group list but judging by the number of people who've sent it to us, this is the height of banking humor, so here you go:

Clients were informed of the turn of events today in a rather terse email that may or may not have concluded, "So that's all, don't let the door hit you on the way out." John W. Henry & Co., a trading firm controlled by the principal owner of baseball's Boston Red Sox, told clients it will stop managing their money amid dwindling assets and slumping returns. "This is to notify you that JWH has determined to cease managing client assets effective December 31, 2012," Amy B. Hanson, a marketing manager of the firm, wrote in an email to clients on Friday. "We will not be providing performance information going forward." John W. Henry said it will continue to do some trading for its own account. The firm, which managed more than $2.5 billion in 2006, today oversees less than $100 million, Mr. Henry said in an email. John W. Henry to Stop Managing Client Money [WSJ]

From: [redacted] To: BarCap TMT Group Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 12:21 PM All, At last night's event, we were disappointed by the poor representation of senior bankers. We truly appreciate Pat, David and Ranjot for showing up and expressing support and gratitude. However, the fact that only three of 21 senior bankers decided to show up speaks to a fundamental flaw in the culture of our group.

As some of you may recall, a month after Lehman Brothers went under, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released an interesting email Dick Fuld had sent to LEH vice-chairman Thomas Russo on Saturday, April 12, 2008, circa midnight. Dick had just come back from a dinner with Hank Paulson and was so excited to relay the details he couldn't wait 'til the next day to get in touch with Russo, who he apparently viewed as his "teacher." Fuld said his key "takeaways" were that the government loved Lehman, that Paulson wanted to "kill the bad hedge funds" (like those diabolical shorts Fuld knew were to blame for his problems), and that while the then Treasury Secretary appeared to have a "worried view" of Merrill Lynch, Dick got the sense that Paulson thought Lehman was in terrific shape. Per the bankruptcy documents put online last week, here's how the rest of the conversation between Fuld and his Sensei went.

As previously mentioned, if one were inclined to relive the fall of Lehman Brothers, one could do so via the bankruptcy documents that were recently made available online. There you'll find, among other things, countless examples of what has been said so many times since September 15, 2008, which is that it's amazing how delusional the people at the very top were, vis-à-vis the firm's solvency/what people thought of it/everything. Also worth marveling at? The fact that Lehman lasted as long as it did with what appear to be barely literate troglodytes running the place. [The following dialogue is re: CITIC considering an investment in a US bank and the suggestion that it is more interested in Bear Stearns.]

Late last week, investigative reporter Charlie Gasparino came out with a bombshell story: after reading former employee Greg Smith's allegation that he'd seen and heard colleagues refer to clients as "muppets," the British term for stupid people, the firm launched an investigation into the claim (e.g. searched emails for said word). On Friday, Gasparino breathlessly reported that while  Goldman did find some muppet mentions, they referred to the Jason Segal film and were not malicious in their intent (quoth CG: "GS found no evidence of malicious muppet talk in emails).  While a lesser journalist would have been content to take the source at his or her word, Charles Gasparino is no such journalist. He get kept digging on this one and now, amazingly, has more to add: "People close to Goldman tell FOX Business 98% of the email muppet use referred to the movie. Sources at Goldman also say the malicious muppet use in emails involves name calling among colleagues; apparently at Goldman they call each other muppet. Sources say the firm find no evidence so far to substantiate Smith’s claims that people were talking about clients.” Gasparino on Muppet Movie Referrals in Goldman Emails [FBN]