Here’s the transcript of the Google Investor conference call that took place on 5/31/06:
Archive for May, 2006
“Bet I know where her bonus went”: Investment bankers from a support staffer’s point of view
On May - 31 - 2006
Ever wondered what the support staff thinks of you investment bankers? (Do you care?) We found a post from "Kev", a 37 year old guy who works at a UK investment banking firm in its desktop publishing group. (He’s also writing his first novel, "The Devil’s Personal Assistant", which is the main focus of his blog.) You probably know someone just like him, who rescues you when your powerpoint presentation has somehow gotten all screwed up, or who makes it looks all spiffy. In any case, he talks about the banter in his group and makes observations about how people, most specifically women, are treated within the bank in a post called "Boobs and Banking"….
Investment bankers and powerpoint presentations….
On May - 31 - 2006
Here’s another post from Kev, at "The Devil’s Personal Assistant" blog. He describes the creative process investment bankers go through in developing their ever so important powerpoint presentations….
Memo to Daniel Gross: You can get Dow 36,000 cheaper on Ebay
On May - 31 - 2006
Slate columnist Daniel Gross said that he’d eat the first chapter of "Dow 36,000" if President Bush could convince someone respected on Wall Street to take over as treasury secretary. Now Gross has to eat those words, literally, with Goldman’s Henry Paulson’s acceptance of the position. He commented on Slate that "At least it’ll be a cheap meal. Dow 36,000 is going used on Amazon.com for as little as four cents a copy". Actually, including shipping and handling, you can do better on Ebay. Check out bargainbookstores on Ebay which has the same 4 cent price with only $3.25 S/H; The same seller also lists on Amazon where S/H is $3.49. Just thought we’d help save you a few pennies more. 
Sebonack, Hamptons newest golf club: Financially handicapped need not apply
On May - 31 - 2006
The highest membership fee for a golf club in the Hamptons used to be $575k, and even at that price, there’s a waiting list. The Jack Nichlaus / Tom Doak designed Sebonack Golf Club, which opened for limited play last weekend in Southampton, breaks that record with a $650k membership fee. And that doesn’t included the $12k annual dues or tips for caddies….
Patrick Byrne hoping to celebrate Street lawsuits
On May - 31 - 2006
Wall Street firms are understandably upset over Utah’s new law designed to crack down on short sellers. Overstock.com’s subpoena celebrating CEO, who lobbied hard for the bill, has some words for the brokers, and is hopeful for yet another celebration-worthy event: "Tell them I said that while they’re at it, please sue me personally. [Overstock attorney John] O’Quinn and I are salivating at the thought of crawling through their stock loan operations with flashlights and bolt-cutters"….
Tags: Overstock, Patrick Byrne
Reminders of Henry Paulson will linger with every Goldman banker….
On May - 31 - 2006
All they need to do is stick their hands in their wallets and pull out a crisp new hundred spot. Of course, one of the features of Henry Paulson’s new job is that he gets his John Hancock on all the new bills that are printed up. We took the liberty of mocking up a hundred dollar bill with it’s new signature.
Tags: Goldman Sachs, Henry Paulson
Sandy Weill — a giver and a taker
On May - 31 - 2006
Page Six Endquote: "I’M not moving to Florida and playing golf. I’m going to stick around and give till it hurts. Then my wife and I are going to live off our children" – Sandy Weill, the philanthropic retired chairman of Citibank, at the launch of Contribute magazine.
Tags: Sandy Weill
Uncategorized
Activist hedge fund manager Dan Loeb wins Massey board seat
On May - 31 - 2006
Dan Loeb, who runs $4 billion hedge fund Third Point Partners, has won at least one seat on Massey Energy’s board of directors after a several months campaign, according to the company. Loeb ran a slate of two directors and disagrees with the company, claiming that he’s won two seats. Third Point owns 5.9% of Massey’s stock….
Massey says Third Point wins seat on board – Reuters
Bayou Management: Imploded hedge fund wants funds back
On May - 31 - 2006
Bayou Management, the spectacularly collapsed hedge fund that cost investors millions after the discovery of massive fraud, has filed Chapter 11. To add insult to injury, the court appointed receiver has filed suit against some of the fund’s investors, including UT Medical Gfroup’s pension plan and 25 others, seeking to get back millions of dollars that were paid out of ficticious profits, alleging that they were fraudulent conveyances….
Tags: Bayou, Hedge funds, Lawsuit, Legal, Sam Israel
Articles Wall Street Folly found interesting – 5/31/06
On May - 31 - 2006
- How Bush Landed a Wall Street Titan for Treasury ["We landed a whale"]
- Bush’s Nominee From Wall Street; Goldman Sachs Chairman Paulson Is Noted for His Adept Handling of Crises
- Goldman Is Expected To Tap Blankfein as Leader
- The Coming Rush Out of Hedge Funds? Don’t Hold Your Breath Waiting for It
- Bankers bet on India riches despite skinny fees
- Rich fees lure Lehman back to Canada
- TPG enters China’s frothy venture capital market
- HSBC to hire 1,000 more in China
- Vonage Moves to Reassure Nervous Investors
Ya gotta love the web…Lloyd Blankfein’s 1983 engagement announcement
On May - 30 - 2006
We were just doing a bit of surfing to get some info on Lloyd Blankfein, the presumptive next Goldman Sachs leader. Something popped up that we thought was funny, and made us appreciate (and fear!) just how much information is floating around out there on the web. Here’s Lloyd Blankfein’s engagement announcement from….1983!
Kenneth Cole’s brother loses war against UBS
On May - 30 - 2006
Designer Kenneth Cole’s younger brother Evan, formerly employed at UBS as a broker, lost his fight with the firm. He had claimed that they wrongfully fired him so that they could grab his $50 million worth of client accounts, and smeared his name in the process….
True story of homeless man turned millionaire trader will soon be on the silver screen
On May - 30 - 2006
Coming soon to a theater near you: Will Smith is starring in the true life story of former homeless man Chris Gardner, who turned it all around and became a millionaire stockbroker heading his own 15 employee Chicago firm. "The Pursuit of Happyness" (the typo is intentional) will be released in December 2006….
Henry, Henry, he’s our man…if he can’t do it…no one can…
On May - 30 - 2006
Well it’s true. Henry Paulson is George Bush’s choice as the next treasury secretary. The press is saying that he’ll sail through congress with easy approval, as politicians normally openly hostile to President Bush have quickly endorsed the choice, like Senator Chuck Schumer. Why Paulson would leave such a cushy job at the top of the investment banking food chain chain to work for a lame duck president is anyone’s guess. But it’s a coup for Mr. Bush.
Articles Wall Street Folly found interesting – 5/30/06
On May - 30 - 2006
- Offshore tax risk to hedge fund managers
- Leverage Loot [Investment banking firms jockeying to get a piece of the private equity IPO pie]
- Plenty of Investment Ideas — Unhedged [conference draws Bill Miller, Joel Greenblatt, Sam Zell, etc]
- Hollywood Wants No Part in SEC Plan
- Barclays may go to FSA over rumours
- India’s distressed debt market ready for take off
CNBC says White House to announce Paulson choice at 9:15
On May - 30 - 2006
Wow. Sounds like it is a done deal. CNBC is now reporting that President Bush is going to make the announcement that Henry Paulson is his treasury choice at 9:15.
So with Paulson presumably out of the way, does Goldman go back to participating in hostile deals that he had warned his bankers against doing some weeks ago?
Tags: Goldman Sachs, Henry Paulson
Paulson to be treasury secretary?
On May - 30 - 2006
CNBC is reporting that Goldman’s Henry Paulson is going to be the next treasury secretary. They base this on comments on the wires. Dow Jones Newswires said the following at 7:33, which just preceeded CNBC’s report:
Bush To Pick Paulson for Treasury Secretary (no link)
President Bush is leaning toward Henry M. Paulson, chairman and chief executive of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), to succeed Treasury Secretary John Snow, a senior White House official said….
Paulson had been mentioned several times as a possible Treasury secretary but was said by people close to him to be uninterested in the job.
Sounded like a done deal from what we heard on CNBC, but the body of the short DJ note sounds less so and more like trial balloon language.
We’d be surprised if Hank made the move, but stranger things have happened.
Tags: Goldman Sachs, Henry Paulson
Jamie Dimon: “This is not a rock star business and I am not a rock star”
On May - 29 - 2006
Despite being labeled a "rock star", "brash", "brilliant", and "the most closely watched man on Wall Street" by several writers in major publications, Chase CEO Jamie Dimon doesn’t know what all the fuss is about. "I don’t like it. I don’t think it’s true" he says of the ‘rock star’ thing In a recent interview. In addition to commenting on how the press makes too big a deal about him, he talks about cost cutting at the bank, closing corporate gyms, and more….
Barbeques for BSD’s
On May - 29 - 2006
Regardless of where you spent your Memorial Day — at your place in the Hamptons or at your estate in the burbs, many kicked off their holiday by barbecuing on high end grills worthy of the biggest of the big swinging dicks….
We have the Hamptons, India has Alibagh
On May - 29 - 2006
While scores investment bankers, traders, hedge fund types, etc. headed out to the Hamptons to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend that kicks off the summer Hampton’s festivities, their conterparts on the other side of the world were also beach bound — to Alibagh Beach….
May performance for many hedge funds has sucked
On May - 29 - 2006
Lehman’s Dick Fuld drumming up business in China
On May - 29 - 2006
Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld met with Chinese Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan on Monday, discussing investment in China….
Zeng also met with GE’s CEO Jeff Immelt, where they marked the 100th anniversary of GE doing business in China…
- Wall Street Firms May Sue Utah
- Gradient says Overstock criticism was ‘free speech’
Articles Wall Street Folly found interesting – 5/29/06
On May - 29 - 2006
- Why Google makes everyone else nervous
- Companies advised to heed hedge fund demands
- At 60, Fidelity’s smiling again
- Start-ups turning to hedge funds – Shift is challenge to venture capital
