Wall Street Folly

This should make his put upon neighbors (including Matt Lauer) very happy: Today's NY Post "exclusive" on Bernie Madoff tells us that he's possibly gonna have to vacate his 133 E. 64th St penthouse.  That's if the trustee handling his case has anything to say about it.  The trustee has apparently asked brokers to value the apartment in contemplation of putting the place up for sale (The above Sean Delonas cartoon was on Page Six of this morning's Post referring to yesterday's story about Park Avenue prisoner Bernie) :

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Per CNBC: She's dubbing the "Bad Bank" part of the good bank / bad bank idea being floated the

"Bank Asset Repository Fund", or BARF for short.  Catchy name.  LOL

Tags: CNBC, Meredith Whitney

The WSJ is reporting that Morgan Stanley may be looking to lay off another 5% or so of its employees and Goldman also may be considering more job cuts:

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Tags: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Revolving Door

• U.S. Eyes Two-Part Bailout for Banks
• President Decries 'Shameful' Bonuses For Wall St. CEOs
• Few Ways to Recover Bonuses to Bankers
• Cuomo May Seek Return of $4 Billion in Early Merrill Bonuses
• Big Bucks For SEC Boss
• 'Naked' Swaps Targeted
• GE given chance to justify its triple A rating
• Ford sees no large-scale aid for former parts unit
• Amazon.com Tops Profit, Sales Estimates; Shares Surge
• Juniper’s Sales Fall Short; Japan Revenue Questioned
• NEC Will Cut More Than 20,000 Workers, Forecasts Loss
• Hitachi Forecasts 700 Billion Yen Loss, May Slash 7,000 Jobs
• Kodak May Need to Sell Assets, Trim Dividend to Preserve Cash
• Roche goes hostile, cuts Genentech bid to $42 bln

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Those naughty folks at Blackstone got caught with their pants down.  Apparently a senior executive at the firm subscribed to the online version of the Financial Times, but shared the password with many at the firm.   That caused an abnormally large number of stories for one itty bitty subscriber to be accessed — thousands per day all the way back to 2002.   The FT caught on and sued the firm for copyright infringement and violation of the computer fraud and abuse act.  Cityfile has the lawsuit.

The list of victims that Bernie Madoff screwed continues to grow, and now includes some very prominent former Merrill Lynch execs, including former CEOs Dan Tully and David Komansky, as well as former investment banking chief Barry Friedberg:

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Tags: Bernie Madoff, Legal, Merrill Lynch

JPMorgan Exited Madoff-Linked Funds Last Fall Stash of Bernie Madoff papers found tucked away in Queens warehouse Bernie Madoff action figure flashes bling Painting the Scene of Madoff's Operation Madoff's car deal leaves associate on the hook for $58K Madoff ‘Red Flags’ Could Have Been Raised by Software

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Tags: Bernie Madoff, JPM Chase, Legal

Poor, poor Bernie: The NY Post is reporting disturbing sounds coming out of Bernie Madoff's $7 million Park Avenue co-op where he's holed up: the sounds of whining.  It's not enough that the megathief is out on bail, much to the chagrin of those whose lives he's ruined, but Bernie is said to be lamenting his home captivity.  "I'm a prisoner in my own house!" Madoff supposedly said.  "I can't go anywhere! I'm stuck here all day!"

Cue the violins.

Madoff: I'm Weakened At Bernies – NY Post

Tags: Bernie Madoff, Legal

After riding to the rescue of failing financial firms Bear Stearns and WaMu last year, Jamie Dimon says he's probably done for now with new deals. Speaking at Davos he said:

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Tags: Jamie Dimon, JPM Chase

Page Six is giving Citigroup's new Chairman, Dick Parsons, a big pat on the back for not taking one of the corporate jets to his meeting with President Obama and other business heads in D.C. yesterday.  He reportedly took Amtrak instead.

Rides the Rails – NY Post Page Six

Tags: Citigroup, Politics, Private jets

Apparently former Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill is giving up more of those perks he got when he left the company in 2006.

And Brokers at Smith Barney will also be giving up some perks: Citi is putting the kibosh on private equity conferences and spa getaways that served as rewards for its biggest producers.

Tags: Citigroup, Sandy Weill

• Chinese Premier Blames Recession on U.S. Actions Beijing Rethinks Some of Its American Investments
• U.S. House Passes Obama’s $819 Billion Stimulus Plan
• Credit Unions Get U.S. Rescue
• BofA Backs CEO Lewis; Tension High
• Merrill Bonus Case Widens as Deal Struggles
• Ford Burns Through $5.5 Billion in Cash, Taps Revolving Loan
• Boeing Plans to Cut 10,000 Jobs as Demand Weakens
• Starbucks to Cut 6,700 Jobs After Earnings Fall 69%
• Citrix, Jabil Cut 3,500 Jobs Combined as Technology Sales Wane
• Time Warner to Cut 10% of AOL Jobs, Halt 2009 Raises
• Kodak to Cut Up to 4,500 Jobs, Restructure, Has Loss
• Qualcomm takes large charge, cuts '09 rev target
• Nintendo Slashes Forecasts, Showing Wii Isn’t ‘Recession-Proof’

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• Greenlight’s Einhorn Follows Grandfather’s Advice, Buys Gold
• Clarium’s Thiel Says Pound to Weaken, Dollar to Gain
• Distressed Debt Is the Place to Be
• Vulture funds spot prime UK pickings

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Tags: Clarium Capital, Distressed, Gold, Greenlight Capital, Hedge funds, Peter Thiel

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Tags: Citigroup, Private jets

According to Page SIx, it may have had to do with the public relations guy that they now both share.  Thain recently hired Ken Sunshine to help him repair his now kind of tattered reputation.  And it seems that Maria is also represented by him….

Turns out she and Thain both pay public relations guru Ken Sunshine to represent them, and he apparently helped set up the exclusive. "It's a huge conflict of interest. It's incredible she didn't disclose this over the air, but she thinks she's above it all," one broadcast insider told Page Six. "And she was really kissing Thain's ass during the interview."

Tags: Bank of America, CNBC, John Thain, Maria Bartiromo

But then again, so did Morgan Stanley's former boss Phil Purcell.  And so did Citigroup's Chuck Prince and a host of other now fallen CEOs. But boards of directors seem to quickly sway with the prevailing winds of public opinion, so if Lewis does still have the Bank of America board behind him (and there's a board meeting today), we wonder how long that lasts if there are more bad headlines.

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Tags: Bank of America, John Thain, Ken Lewis, Merrill Lynch

Pity the poor put upon young, fashionable, upwardly mobile women who have landed rich — or those they thought would soon be rich — Wall Streeters as boyfriends or husbands, only to find that their meal tickets were now on budgets and maybe even unemployed.  There's a new place for them to bitch, whine and compare notes — Dating A Banker Anonymous. Members of DABA actually meet (see the above picture from the Times), and there's also a blog where they dish.  The NY Times did a piece on some of the women:

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Tags: Banking Culture, Credit Crunch, Dating, Eye Candy

• Stimulus Bill Near $900 Billion
• As Economy Falters, Doubts on Obama Plan Mount
• Thain called to testify on Merrill bonuses
• Geithner’s Yuan Call Rejected as ‘Horrible Advice’
• Gloom Deepens Among Executives, Economists at Davos
• In Echoes Of Madoff, Ponzi Cases Proliferate
• RBS rebuffed investor calls
• Cosmo Ponzi Scheme Took in $370 Million, U.S. Says
• Yahoo expects rough 1Q, slow start for new CEO
• Yahoo chief open to search deal with Microsoft
• SAP to Cut More Than 3,000 Jobs Amid Global Slump
• Sun Earnings Top Analysts’ Estimates After Job Cuts
• Verizon hit as customers delay purchases
• Target to Cut 9% of Headquarters Jobs, Shut Distribution Center

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CNBC reported that missing Scoop Management fund manager Art Nadel has surredered.

Did Thain really say that?  According to the NY Post, yes he did, while breaking bread, possibly reluctantly, last week with BlackRock Chairman Larry Fink at San Pietro.

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Tags: Blackrock, John Thain, Merrill Lynch

With the approval of their parental units (or so they say), two Palm Beach teens, fleeced out of their trust fund riches by Bernie Madoff, plastered the Ponzi scammer's home with toilet paper.  They called the Palm Beach Post after the deed was done.  No charges were pressed, so the kids won't be prosecuted for their mischief.

This isn't the first time Madoff's Palm Beach home has been vandalized.  Late last month pranksters Madoff with a statue, and it was ultimately abandoned near the Palm Beach Country Club with an attached note:  "Bernie the Swindler, Lesson: Return stolen property to rightful owners. Sighed by — The Educators"
Bernie Home TP'd by teens – NY Post

Tags: Bernie Madoff, Legal

Grounded: Well that sure didn't take long.  As we noted yesterday, the NY Post focused a bright light on Citigroup's latest purchase — a $50 million luxury Dassault corporate jet.  Not exactly the brightest move by a company completely dependent on taxpayer life support.  We wondered how long it would take for the loud cries to come out of Washington.  And as it turned out, it took no time flat.  Now a tone deaf and shamed Citi has tucked its tail firmly between its legs and is doing an about face.  They won't be taking delivery of the Dassault 7X in question after all.   

Here are some of the comments that came of Washington yesterday after the Citi jet news erupted:

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Tags: Citigroup, Politics, Private jets

• Geithner Confirmed as Treasury Secretary
• Fannie to Tap U.S. for as Much as $16 Billion in Aid
• Why Banks Will Lend Billions for Pfizer Deal
• NY financier arrested in purported $400 million scam
• BOJ Focusing on Easing Corporate Borrowing Costs, Minutes Show
• Wave of layoffs in U.S., Europe show severity of the recession
• Nomura May Sell Units, Raise Cash After Record Loss
• Blagojevich Takes His Case to TV
• Chrysler Hosts Fiat Chief Executive, Details Restructuring Plan
• DuPont Has $629 Million Loss as Global Demand Drops
• Corning to cut 3,500 jobs

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The Financial Times reports that Paulson & Co's John Paulson has scored with a short in the Royal Bank of Scotland over the past four months, to the tune of £270m.  He's said to have covered his position on Friday…..

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Tags: Hedge funds, Paulson & Co

We suspect that there will be more than a few raised eyebrows (and voices) flying in D.C.:  The NY Post writes that even though Citigroup is on taxpayer life support, and is selling 2 of its corporate jets, it's nonetheless still taking delivery on a hot new $50 million Dassault Falcon 7X that was ordered two years ago, one of only 9 in the U.S.  And in getting the story, a Citigroup spokesman (the head of their CitiFlight Inc subsidiary) sounded kind of pissy to the Post reporter.  Go figure.

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Tags: Citigroup, Politics, Private jets