Wall Street Folly

Tags: Activists, Appaloosa, Bernie Madoff, Bonuses, Compensation, David Tepper, Hedge funds, John Mack, Morgan Stanley, Real Estate

Tags: Autos, Bailouts, Bonuses, Compensation, Galleon, George Soros, Greece, Insider Trading, Morgan Stanley, Raj Rajaratnam, recalls, Sovereign debt, Tax evasion, Toyota, UBS

Tags: Amazon, Autos, Barack Obama, Bonuses, Citigroup, Compensation, Davos, Goldman Sachs, Jim Gorman, Lloyd Blankfein, Morgan Stanley, Neil Barofsky, Politics, TARP, Toyota, U.S. Budget, Vikram Pandit

• Republican Brown Wins Massachusetts Seat in ‘Tsunami’ Election
• Bernanke Seeks to Defuse Criticism Over AIG With Call for Audit
• New York Fed Says AIG Phrase Marked for Deletion Was Inaccurate
• Pandit’s gambit
• Pandit Is Running Out of Time to Clean Up Citigroup
• Morgan Stanley Reports Full-Year and Fourth Quarter Result
• Bank of America Announces 2009 Net Income of $6.3 Billion
• Bank Of America 4Q Loss Narrows Amid Merrill Results Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: AIG, Bank of America, Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, Fed, Morgan Stanley, Obamacare, Revolving Door, Scott Brown, Sovereign wealth, Twitter

• Obama’s Bank Tax Seeks $90 Billion to Repay Bailout
• US Rep Frank: Determined To Look Into Wall Street Pay
• Geithner faces demand for AIG phone records
• Fed’s Dudley Defends AIG Bailout
• Top bankers forced on to the defensive
• Wall Street bankers on defensive in grilling over financial crisis
• Panel Rips Wall Street Titans
• Bank of America May Trim Cash Part of Bonuses to 15%
• Hedge funds seen losing staff to the SEC: survey Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: AIG, Bank of America, Banks, Barack Obama, Barney Frank, Bonuses, Compensations, Foreclosures, Hedge funds, Politics, Real Estate, SEC, Taxes, Tim Geithner

• Obama To Unveil Bank Fee Proposal Thursday – Official
• Wall Street labels levy plan ‘absurd’
• Financial crisis panel seeks bankers’ testimony
• ‘Tipper X’ Hangs Over Galleon
• Galleon founder slams wiretaps
• Citigroup Bonus May Trump Goldman’s
• SEC Vote May Show Scope of High-Frequency Trading Regulations Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Apple, Barack Obama, Bonuses, CIT, Compensation, Galleon, Google, Hedge funds, Insider Trading, John Thain, Politics, Raj Rajaratnam, SEC, Steve Jobs, Taxes

• Tepper Turns Panic to Profits With $6.5 Billion Hedge Fund Gain
• Morgan Stanley Shuffles Leadership
• Third Avenue co-chief investment officer steps down
• The Quickie Bankruptcy
• Suit Over Resorts Hits Credit Suisse
• Greece May Borrow Privately Through Banks This Month
• Plunging home prices pull Manhattan buyers back in
• Silicon Valley ‘Bloodbath’ Leaves Entire Office Buildings Empty Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Appaloosa, Bankruptcy, Credit Suisse, Dave Tepper, Hedge funds, Junk Bonds, Lawsuit, Marty Whitman, Morgan Stanley, Real Estate

• Morgan Stanley to Overhaul Pay Plan
• Bonus tax on banks shapes JPMorgan plans
• The Man Who Wired Silicon Valley
• BofA Merrill back on track with new blue-chip clients
• Biggs, Faber Predict Dollar Rally as S&P 500 Extends 67% Surge
• U.S. central bank pushes for new exit tool Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bank of America, Bonuses, Compensation, Galleon, Goldman Sachs, Hedge funds, IPOs, Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Raj Rajaratnam

• Senate Passes Legislation to Overhaul U.S. Health-Care System
• Master of risk who did God’s work for Goldman Sachs but won it little love
• Dimon, Blankfein, Mack Among First to Testify at Crisis Panel
• Senate Votes to Increase U.S. Debt Ceiling by $290 Billion
• Barclays’ Bob Diamond reveals £5m share disposal
• Morgan Stanley Appoints 212 New Managing Directors
• Grassley puts pressure on Treasury in tax dispute
• Buffett’s back, Billionaire looks to lock up GMAC’s ResCap Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alexis Glick, Bad Legislation, Barack Obama, Barclays, Bob Diamond, Citigroup, FBN, Goldman Sachs, Health Care, Jamie Dimon, John Mack, JP Morgan, Lloyd Blankfein, Morgan Stanley, National Debt, Politics, Warren Buffett

• Citigroup to Repay $20 Billion of Government Bailout
• Press Release: Citigroup, U.S. Government and Regulators Agree to TARP Repayment
• Dubai Gets $10B From Abu Dhabi; To Pay Nakheel Bond
• Merrill Alumnus to Lead a Unit of Morgan Stanley
• James Gorman’s Memo to Morgan Stanley Employees
• Pay Worries Slow BofA Search
• Paul Samuelson, Nobel Economics Laureate, Author, Dies at 94 Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bank of America, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, RIP, Sovereign wealth funds, TARP, Tiger Woods

• Barclays’ Diamond Criticizes Bonus Tax, Sees Regulator Missteps
• Feinberg Said to Lift $500,000 Salary Limit for AIG Executives
• Morgan Stanley Shuffles Executive Suite
• SEC probing high-frequency strategies, co-location
• Banks, U.S. Spar Over TARP Repayment
• Bank of America Executive Under Scrutiny
• Dubai World Met Six Creditors Yesterday on Debt, Banker Says
• Dubai’s Debt Problems May Swell, Morgan Stanley Says
• Debt Raters Avoid Overhaul After Crisis
• Galleon Insider-Trading Case Delayed for a Month Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: AIG, Barclays, Bob Diamond, Citigroup, Dubai, Galleon, Mark Cuban, Morgan Stanley, Pay czar, Raj Rajaratnam, SEC, Sovereign wealth funds, TARP, Wells Fargo

• Barclays’ Remarkable Bargain
• Pieces of Madoff Are on the Block
• Trustee Seeks Billions for Madoff Investors
• Morgan Stanley trading behind Goldman
• Lazard eyeing new leadership structure
• Fannie May Write Down $5.2 Billion in Tax Credits
• Wage Freeze Is Lifted for Some at J.P. Morgan Read the rest of this entry »

• Fannie Arrives at a Deal to Sell $2.6 Billion in Unused Tax Credits
• Citigroup Plans IPO For Primerica Life-Insurance Unit
• Uproar as Firms Get Swine-Flu Vaccine
• AIG Posts Net Income of $455 Million, Second Straight Profit
• Fannie’s Draws From Emergency Treasury Fund Reach $60 Billion Share Business Exchange
• Buffett’s ‘Wake-Up Call’ to Managers May Signal More Cost Cuts
• BofA’s Moynihan Said to Testify as House Sorts Merrill E-Mails
• BNY Mellon’s Kelly Says He Doesn’t Want Bank of America Post
• U.S. Property Investors Deem 2010 Worst Time to Sell Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: AIG, Bank of America, Citigroup, Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Real Estate, Warren Buffett

Briefing.com had the following comment on Morgan Stanley’s earnings:

08:17  MS Morgan Stanley misses by $0.88, beats on revs (27.13 ) Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Earnings, John Mack, Morgan Stanley

Nine firms that were forced to take TARP funds are finally tasting freedom after having bought back the preferred stocks they issued to Uncle Sam last fall.  Among them:  Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.  And many of the firms have also made plans to buy back the warrants related to the TARP: Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Goldman, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Politics, TARP

• With BlackRock’s Reach Set to Expand, CEO Defends Money Manager’s Stability
• Obama Sees 10% Unemployment Rate, Chides Wall Street Critics
• Obama backs repeal of tax on personal cellphones
• White House Reg Plan Would Create National Bank Supervisor
• California’s credit rating may get cut further
• Shareholder backlash at Barclays’ £380m payout to fund managers Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Barack Obama, Blackrock, Citigroup, Headline Roundup, Morgan Stanley, Myspace, Politics

SEC Proposes Money-Manager Rules After Madoff Fraud
- Bloomberg

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission moved to impose new rules on money managers to safeguard client holdings after Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme cost investors $65 billion. 

SEC commissioners voted 5-0 today on a proposal to subject about 9,600 investment advisers to annual surprise inspections by independent auditors. About 370 money managers with direct custody of client holdings would also face yearly compliance exams to ensure they have adequate procedures to protect assets. 

“We are taking this action in response to major investment scams such as Madoff,” SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said at a public meeting in Washington. “Our proposals would greatly enhance the independent checks on client assets.”…

Carlyle to Pay $20 Million to Resolve Cuomo Probe
- Bloomberg

Carlyle Group agreed to end “play for pay” tactics in its investment business and pay $20 million to resolve a pension fund probe by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. 

Under the agreement, Carlyle will adopt Cuomo’s code of conduct, which bans investment firms from using placement agents or other third parties to negotiate with public pension funds to obtain investments. To avoid pay-for-play schemes, investment firms will be prohibited under the code from doing business with a public pension fund for two years after the firm makes a campaign contribution to a public official who can influence the fund’s investment decisions….

Morgan Stanley fined over trader’s mispricing
- Financial Times

Morgan Stanley has been fined £1.4m ($2.1m) by the UK’s financial regulator after weak control of its credit derivatives desk allowed a rogue trader significantly to overprice his position for six months.

The Financial Services Authority on Wednesday penalised the bank for its failure to prevent the mispricing by Matthew Piper, then a trader in complex credit derivative products.

The problem came to light in May last year and Mr Piper was fired in September following an internal investigation. On Wednesday the regulator said it had banned him from the industry and fined him £105,000…..

Tags: Andrew Cuomo, Carlyle, Derivatives, Hedge funds, Morgan Stanley, Rogue Traders, SEC

The outrageous waste of taxpayer money displayed by this incident just makes us laugh hysterically, and not in a good way:

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Tags: John Mack, Morgan Stanley

Toxic TARP: This is why we would NEVER want to do business with Uncle Sam.  It's just plain scary…..

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Tags: Bank of America, Banks, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPM Chase, Morgan Stanley, Politics

All publicity is good publicity:  Ms. Newton has apparently been a  busy bee since her story appeared on Page Six yesterday.  She commented on our post where we noted the discrepancies between her blog and the Post story and thanked us for the coverage.  She’s of course, updated her blog.

Addendum: CNBC just aired a Natalie Morales report from The Today Show featuring Randi Newton / Ricks. Here it is:

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: g-string, Morgan Stanley, Randi Newton, Rick's, stripper, Wall Street

Earlier we noted a  NY Post story that talks about how many professional former six figure salaried women fired in the crash have turned to stipping.  One they cite is Randi Newton, 28.

But The Post story’s timeline and facts seem to be a bit off from another version.  From Ms. Newton’s account in her blog, she didn’t happen to wander into the strip club right after she was fired from Morgan Stanley; it doesn’t sound like she was fired from that gig  — she had another job with a marketing company from which she was laid off.  And the Miss America Organization scholarship recipient (and graduate of  U Nebraska at Omaha) was a waitress for a year before taking her clothes off (which she did after getting dumped by her boyfriend and having gotten drunk). And she’s since retired her g-string (although it sounds like she still works for Rick’s doing publicity).

Oh, and by the way, in addition to her blog she has a publicist and a book that’s coming out at the end of 2009….

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Morgan Stanley

It’s pretty bizarre to hear that working in a strip club women face less sexual harassment than they do on Wall Street, not to mention that the clubs are better run.  But that’s what former Morgan Stanley (no stranger to sexual harassment lawsuits) financial analyst Randi Newton, 28,  who was fired in the crash says.  She’s one of many professional women formerly making over six figures in their former jobs who have taken up working the pole since getting axed. You can find her three to four nights a week at Rick’s Cabaret in Murray Hill.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Discrimination, Morgan Stanley, Revolving Door

Tags: Barack Obama, CNBC, Goldman Sachs, John Mack, Lloyd Blankfein, Morgan Stanley, Politics

Of course Wall Street would be looking for ways around the new bonus restrictions imposed on TARP recipients.  One of those is to increase base pay, something that none of the banking firms really wants, because it increases fixed costs.  But Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, among others, are exploring this option to keep key employees from jumping ship to firms without restrictions.  According to the WSJ:

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bonuses, Citigroup, Compensation, Morgan Stanley