Submitted by Edward Harrison of Credit Writedowns. The video linked below is a must-see piece of journalistic skepticism. The duo at Bloomberg News are discussing the recent alleged theft of trading code by a former Goldman employee Sergey Aleynikov who moved to a hedge fund called Citadel Teza, a hedge fund now being sued by […]
Read more...Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. From Big Blue’s pension blues, we go to public sector pension blues. Bloomberg reports that New Jersey’s pension asset value dropped 19% last fiscal year: New Jersey’s pension assets fell 19 percent during the fiscal year that ended June 30, the board overseeing the funds said. The […]
Read more...JFK runway shut for crossing turtles, delaying flights for over an hour Telegraph (hat tip reader Barbara) Dieting Monkeys Offer Hope for Living Longer New York Times Humans may give swine flu to pigs in new twist to pandemic PhysOrg. Doesn’t this increase the odds of mutation? Let’s hope it is the inconsequential kind. Third […]
Read more...The Lehman demise refuses to go away. It has come out that the losses appear likely to be $130 billion on what was a roughly $660 billion balance sheet. That is an insanely high level. What has caught my attention from the get-go is that blame was very quickly pinned on the disorderly bankruptcy. While […]
Read more...China has had two failed bill auctions this week, due to fears the government, which has started to raise rates, will continue down that path to curb money supply growth. Yet with growth flagging (anything under 8% is inadequate to absorb new workers), choking off stimulus now does not seem well timed. From Bloomberg: China […]
Read more...Another day, another banking industry subsidy. From MarketWatch (hat tip reader Marshall): A panel that oversees a $700 billion bank bailout package said Friday that financial institutions buying out warrants they gave the government in exchange for capital injections are now buying back those stakes at well below their fair value. The Congressional Oversight Panel, […]
Read more...While recent news reports have tried to put a cheery face on the AIG bailout as asset sales are moving forward haltingly, the end game appears no better than it did some months ago, at least according to Citigroup. Note that the amount authorized for bailout is $180 billion,”only” $134 billion has been committed to […]
Read more...Submitted by Edward Harrison of Credit Writedowns. Yves had a very good post yesterday called “Why Big Capital Markets Players Are Unmanageable” on banks: the former i-banks and commercial banks. The biggest takeaway for me came from her statements regarding the level of responsibility that a junior level employee in an investment bank can have. […]
Read more...Submitted by Edward Harrison of Credit Writedowns. The Nationwide, the world’s largest building society, is now bringing back the dreaded 125% mortgage. While the lender claims these mortgages are a “niche product” designed for customers of Nationwide in negative equity, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is looking to ban this type of lending. From the […]
Read more...Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. The Independent reports that IBM is ready to close its UK final salary pension scheme: IBM has become the latest company planning to turn its back on final salary pension payouts. The computer systems group is consultung staff about proposals to close its UK scheme, which would […]
Read more...As you can see, the want of my own posts tonight is not due to a failure to look for material! Dolphin ‘superpod’ spotted off Wales BBC Monkeys show language recognition Science News Examiner Prince Charles: next generation faces ‘living hell’ unless climate change tackled Telegraph White House Ponders Bernanke’s Future Wall Street Journal. Looking […]
Read more...One of our pet peeves is that the powers that be are desperate to recreate status quo ante, as far as the financial crisis is concerned, when that is what created the mess in the first place. And the tinkering being done around the margins is not sufficient to remedy many of the shortcomings. Take […]
Read more...Submitted by Edward Harrison of Credit Writedowns. The Online Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes alchemy as “a power or process of transforming something common into something special” or “aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold.” Well, it seems Morgan Stanley is engaging in some financial alchemy because it is about to trade near-junk […]
Read more...‘Time to ditch climate policies’ BBC Is this really a great global recession? Rebel Economist. Looks at an unusual metric. Amplifying the Drumbeat on the “Overdraft Protection” Racket Columbia Journalism Review Meriwether Said to Shut JWM Hedge Fund After Losses Bloomberg. Whacked in a crisis yet again. Wonder if he was short vol this time […]
Read more...John Kay comes perilously close to nailing a key issue in his current Financial Times comment, “Our banks are beyond the control of mere mortal” in that he very clearly articulates the problem very well but then draws the wrong conclusion: At Oxford university, I often hear people say there is nothing wrong with the […]
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