- Senator opposes Fed chief Bernanke renomination
- Shhh! Wall Street is Spending Again
- UAE central bank sets up emergency facility for banks
- Crisis Puts Focus on Dubai’s Complex Relationship With Abu Dhabi
- Dubai Default Swaps Show No Distress on Bailout Bets
- U.A.E. Blocks Sunday Times Over Coverage of Dubai Debt Crisis
- London Times Back on U.A.E. Newsstands After Sunday Edition Pulled
- Bank of America Trims Salary for 2 Top Executives
- UBS threatens to move HQ from Switzerland: report
- U.S. Treasury to Push Lenders to Finish More Home Modifications
- RIP: Fred Joseph, Former Drexel Burnham CEO, Dies at 72
- RIP: Ari Kiev, a Psychiatrist, Dies at 75
- More Shoppers Hit Stores, but Spend Less Each
- ‘Twilight’ Sequel Is No. 1 Movie; Weekend Sets Record
Senator opposes Fed chief Bernanke renomination – Reuters
Senator Bernie Sanders said on Sunday he will not vote to reconfirm Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve, in a preview of the rough treatment Bernanke may get this week on Capitol Hill……
Shhh! Wall Street is Spending Again – Wall Street Journal
Conspicuous consumption is making a comeback on Wall Street. But no one wants to admit they’re doing it….
“What we’re seeing in the last four to eight weeks is a fairly substantial uptick” in demand for extravagant purchases as Wall Street employees grow more confident that the market’s steep rebound so far in 2009 will soon bring them fat bonuses, says David Arnold, senior vice president at Robb Report, a magazine targeted at the super-wealthy…..
UAE central bank sets up emergency facility for banks – Business Times
The United Arab Emirates’ central bank set up an emergency facility yesterday to support bank liquidity in the first policy response to Dubai’s debt woes that threatened to paralyse lending and derail economic recovery.
It said it ’stands behind’ local and foreign banks operating in the country…..
Crisis Puts Focus on Dubai’s Complex Relationship With Abu Dhabi – NY Times
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — It was the most subtle of gestures, but looking back, many in Dubai now see it as a sign of their salvation.
At the grand opening of the Dubai Air Show this month, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheik Muhammad bin Zayed al-Nahyan, placed his hand over the hand of Dubai’s ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. That was widely viewed among people here as a sign that Abu Dhabi, by far the largest and richest member-state of the United Arab Emirates federation, would take care of Dubai…..
Dubai Default Swaps Show No Distress on Bailout Bets - Bloomberg
Dubai’s debt risk, after jumping the most last week since January, is still below the level signaling a potential failure as investors expect the emirate will be rescued by oil-rich neighbor Abu Dhabi.
The cost to protect against Dubai reneging on obligations doubled last week after state company Dubai World, with $59 billion of liabilities, sought a “standstill” agreement from creditors. The amount investors demand to insure $10 million of Dubai debt fell today to $574,000 a year from $647,000, less than the price of $1 million, or 1,000 basis points, associated with borrowers considered distressed…..
London Times Back on U.A.E. Newsstands After Sunday Edition Pulled – Wall Street Journal
The Times of London was available on newsstands in the United Arab Emirates Monday after the paper’s Sunday edition was pulled over its portrayal of Dubai’s ruler sinking in a sea of debt, an executive said.
The paper was on sale Monday across the emirates, an executive at its local partner told Zawya Dow Jones…..
U.A.E. Blocks Sunday Times Over Coverage of Dubai Debt Crisis – Bloomberg
…..The News Corp.-owned newspaper was barred from sale and the Sunday Times is awaiting further instructions from the authorities, the office said in a statement.
The National Media Council, the U.A.E. body responsible for the media, declined to comment. The move came after the Sunday Times published a photo montage in today’s edition showing Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum sinking under a sea of debt…..
Bank of America Trims Salary for 2 Top Executives – Wall Street Journal
Bank of America Corp., the beneficiary of more than $45 billion in taxpayer support, has cut the 2009 salaries of two key executives after the U.S. Treasury’s pay czar reviewed the compensation of 13 of the Charlotte bank’s top executives.
Bank of America said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has cut the salaries of Chief Financial Officer Joe Price, along with it mortgage unit president Barbara Desoer, from $800,000 per year to $500,000….
UBS threatens to move HQ from Switzerland: report – Reuters
Swiss bank UBS (UBSN.VX) is threatening to move its headquarters out of Switzerland if the authorities impose too many new regulations in the wake of the global financial crisis, Swiss weekly paper Sonntag CH said.
Oswald Gruebel, chief executive of Switzerland’s biggest bank by assets, made the threat in a speech to businessmen last week, citing the possibility that the authorities would force major banks to reorganize as holding companies, the paper said on Sunday….
U.S. Treasury to Push Lenders to Finish More Home Modifications – Bloomberg
The U.S. Treasury Department will step up public pressure on lenders to finish modifying more home loans to troubled borrowers under a $75 billion campaign against the record tide of foreclosures.
More than 650,994 loan revisions had been started through the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program as of last month, from about 487,081 as of September, according to the Treasury. None of the trial modifications through October had been converted to permanent repayment plans, the Treasury data showed. That failure is getting the administration’s attention…..
Fred Joseph, Former Drexel Burnham CEO, Dies at 72 – Bloomberg
Fred Joseph, who ran junk-bond firm Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. as chief executive officer from its heyday in the 1980s to its collapse in 1990, has died. He was 72.
Joseph died Nov. 27 at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, said John Sorte, chief executive of Morgan Joseph & Co. in a statement. Joseph had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and had been working as a managing director up until four weeks ago at Morgan Joseph, which he co-founded in 2001……
Ari Kiev, a Psychiatrist, Dies at 75 – NY Times
Ari Kiev, a psychiatrist whose early work on depression and suicide prevention led to a career helping athletes and Wall Street traders achieve peak performance, died Nov. 18 in Manhattan. He was 75 and lived in Park Ridge, N.J.
The cause was complications of cancer, his son Marshall said…..
His work with athletes caught the attention of Steven A. Cohen, the founder of the hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors, who hired Dr. Kiev in the early 1990s to coach his traders and help them deal with the stress and uncertainties of financial markets…..
More Shoppers Hit Stores, but Spend Less Each – Wall Street Journal
Many more shoppers turned out for the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season over Thanksgiving weekend than a year ago, but they spent less each and favored lower-priced items.
That’s a mixed bag for the beleaguered retail industry, which hopes that tight inventory combined with targeted bargains will ring up better results than last year’s gloomy holiday season…..
‘Twilight’ Sequel Is No. 1 Movie; Weekend Sets Record – Bloomberg
“The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” the vampire love story based on the best-selling novels, was the top movie at U.S. and Canadian theaters for a second weekend.
“New Moon,” from Summit Entertainment LLC, earned $42.5 million. Receipts for the five-day Thanksgiving holiday period set a record $278 million, researcher Hollywood.com Box Office said today in an e-mailed statement. The previous record was $244.4 million, set in 2000……
Tags: Bank of America, Ben Bernanke, Bonuses, Compensation, Conspicuous consumption, Dubai, Fed, Obituaries, retailers, Sovereign wealth funds, Wealth
