Wall Street Folly

• SEC questions Wall Street firms on use of repurchase agreements
• Ex-I.B.M Executive Pleads Guilty to Fraud in Galleon Trading Case
• Some TARP Beneficiaries Continue to Stumble
• BofA pushes on with corporate growth plans
• Moody’s, S&P Win Dismissal of Investors’ Fraud, Negligence Suit
• Lehman Says Unsecured Claims May Fall to $260 Billion in Review
• New iPhone Could End AT&T’s U.S. Monopoly Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Apple, AT&T, Bank of America, Bankruptcy, Galleon, Insider Trading, iPhone, Lehman Brothers, Moody's, Raj Rajaratnam, rating agencies, S&P, SEC, TARP

• UBS’s U.S. Brokerage Unit Said to Fire Almost 200 Workers
• Lehman Examiner’s Report Misleading, Lawyers Say
• Bernanke says Fed is receptive to selling security holdings
• Greek aid plan wins backing
• Euro Rises From 10-Month Low as Trichet Welcomes Greek Solution
• JPMorgan, Lehman, UBS Named as Conspirators in Muni Bid-Rigging
• Ex-Cazenove, UBS Workers Said to Face Charges in Trading Probe Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bankruptcy, Barclays, Cazenove, Euro, Greece, JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Municipal Bonds, Newspapers, Radioshack, Revolving Door, Sovereign debt, UBS

• Fuld faces Lehman repo quizzing
• Goldman executives benefit from fund investments
• Does Icahn Still Make Them Tremble?
• Cries of ‘Hey, That’s My Jet!’ Don’t Deter High-End Repo Men Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Activists, Bankruptcy, Carl Icahn, Dick Fuld, Goldman Sachs, Hedge funds, Lehman Brothers, Repo Men, Wealth, Yachts

• Greenspan Concedes That the Fed Failed to Gauge the Bubble
• Rival warned regulators over Lehman
• JPMorgan also used accounting gimmick
• SEC welcomes Lehman report as ‘helpful’
• Lehman estate fight with Barclays escalates
• Speculators seen increasing Greek borrowing costs
• CFTC Gensler: Determined To Reform OTC Market
• Trichet backs tougher CDS regulation
• Palm Narrows Loss, but Phone Sales Drop Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Accounting games, Alan Greenspan, Bankruptcy, CDS, Fed, Greece, Hedge funds, JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Palm, SEC, Sovereign debt

• Lehman Whistle-Blower’s Fate: Fired
• Lehman Might Put All Bankruptcy Creditors in Same Payment Pool
• Former chief of Park Avenue Bank charged with TARP fraud
• Hedge Funds May Get $222 Billion Inflows in 2010, Survey Says
• Ex-Merrill Trader Is Banned for Mismarking Positions Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bankruptcy, fraud, Hedge funds, Indictments, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, whistle blowers

Tags: Apple, Autos, Bankruptcy, Ben Bernanke, Bernie Madoff, Fed, GM, GMAC, Goldman Sachs, Greece, Politics, Sovereign debt, Spain, Steve Jobs, U.S.. Treasury

Tags: AIG, Alvarez & Marsal, Bankruptcy, Bears, Fees, Lehman Brothers, Marc Faber, Tim Geithner, U.S. Treasury; Bailout

Tags: Bankruptcy, Bernie Madoff, DE Shaw, Distressed, Hedge funds, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, SEC

• Turnout Is Key in Massachusetts Battle
• Credit Suisse Cuts Bonus Pool to Spread Costs From U.K. Taxes
• Wall Street May Seek to Sway Congress by Hiring Top Lawyer
• US investment banks divided over levy
• Citigroup Reports 2009 Full Year Managed Revenues(1) of $91.1 Billion and Expenses of $47.8 Billion
• AIG Tries to Defuse Bonus Pay Showdown
• Berkshire Nears Smaller Baby Bs
• Buffett Cuts Berkshire Stake Below 25% on Rail Deal, Charity Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: AIG, Bankruptcy, Barack Obama, Berkshire Hathaway, Bonuses, Citigroup, Compensation, Credit Suisse, Mergers, Politics, Taxes, UK, Warren Buffett

• 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

• Whitney Says Goldman Sachs Lost ‘Tremendous’ Talent
• Small Businesses Turn to Goldman
• New Link Seen in Galleon Insider-Trading Case
• Geithner: ‘The credit crunch is not over’
• A Hedge-Fund King Comes Under Siege
• Lehman Brothers Creditors File $824 Billion in Claims
• Thain self be true
• Morgan Stanley’s Mack Welcomes Regulation by Fed Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Autos, Bank of America, Bankruptcy, Chrysler, Citadel, Credit Crunch, Fed, Galleon, Gold, Goldman Sachs, Hedge funds, John Thain, JP Morgan, Ken Griffin, Lehman Brothers, Meredith Whitney, Merrill Lynch, Politics, Raj Rajratnam, Revolving Door, Tim Geithner

Bloomberg TV interviewed the always candid Sam Zell earlier today.   We still think he’s one of the smartest guys in the room, Tribune clinker purchase nothwithstanding:

On looking back at the purchase of the Tribune company:

DEIRDRE BOLTON (Bloomberg): Can we ask you if you regret this decision? Is this the worst business decision you ever made?

SAM ZELL: It’s certainly the most amount of money I’ve ever lost in a single deal. But the answer is -

BOLTON: So if you could turn back time….

ZELL: If you could. It’s like maybe I should have married somebody else.

Note: embedding has been disabled, you have to watch it at Youtube

Tags: Activists, Bankruptcy, Sam Zell, Tribune

• Wall St. Giants Giving Little to Obama Party Fund-Raiser
• Bank of America Was Told U.S. Aid May Help Shares, E-Mail Shows
• Bear Manager Tannin Allegedly Said He Was Putting Money in Fund
• Lehman Fees for European Insolvency Work Climb to $363 Million
• Icahn Floats $6 Billion CIT Rescue
• Einhorn Says U.S. Should Make JPMorgan, Wells Shrink
• Einhorn shorts US ’short-term thinking’ Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bankruptcy, Barack Obama, Bear Stearns, Bruce Wasserstein, Carl Icahn, CIT, David Einhorn, Greenlight Capital, Hedge funds, Lehman Brothers, NY Times, Political Contributions, Politics, Ron Blagojevich

• SEC, CFTC May Sharpen Rules on Market Manipulation
• Schumer seeks SEC funding reform
• No Pity For Citi
• Governor Paterson says bonuses paid to Wall Street financial executives were good for state
• Buffett’s Berkshire Cuts Moody’s Stake Second Time in 2 Months
• S&P Parent McGraw-Hill, Moody’s Tumble on Lawsuit
• Deutsche Bank Chief Says Lenders Learned From Crisis
• Gold May Advance on Higher Prices, Weaker Dollar, Survey Shows
• Gold may touch $1,200 by end December – official Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Apple, Bankruptcy, Bonuses, CFTC, Citigroup, Compensation, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Gold, Moody's, New York, Politics, S&P, SEC, Warren Buffett

• Obama to Reappoint Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke
• Regulators to Examine Goldman’s Trade Tips
• Ex-Merrill executive sues BofA over departure
• McCann files lawsuit against BofA
• Giuliani, Seeing Opening, Mulls a Governor Bid
• BofA Denies Misleading Its Investors on Bonuses
• Appellate court keeps Stanford behind bars
• Sarkozy Will Urge BNP, SocGen to Curb Bonus Payouts for Bankers
• FDIC to Ease Entry for Private-Equity Firms Buying Failed Banks
• Citadel Files Lehman Claim to Recover $470.5 Million Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Allen Stanford, Apple, Bank of America, Bankruptcy, Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, Bonuses, California, Citadel, Compensation, FDIC, Fed, Goldman Sachs, lawsuits, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Noncompetes, Private equity, Revolving Door, Steve Jobs, Yahoo

• House Panel Passes Bill to Set Rules on Executive Compensation
• How Firms Wooed a U.S. Agency With Billions to Invest
• Microsoft, Yahoo! Change Search Landscape
• Phibro mum after White House slams reported $100 million payday
• Oil Speculation Limits Weighed
• Stanford Receiver Seeks Clawback of $925 Million Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Allen Stanford, Apple, Autos, Bank of America, Bankruptcy, Casinos, Citigroup, Compensation, GM, Google, Microsoft, Oil, Politics, Yahoo

• Dodd Says U.S. Shouldn’t Rule Out Helping CIT Avoid Bankruptcy
• Traders Profit With Computers Set at High Speed
• JPMorgan Said to Increase Some Banker Salaries Starting in 2010
• Buffett’s Goldman Stake Pays Richly
• Jersey Mayors Stung in Graft Probe
• Citigroup asks Fannie Mae director to join board Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Amaranth, Amazon, Bankruptcy, CIT, Citigroup, Crime, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Legal, Microsoft, Politics, Warren Buffett

Is Jamie Dimon looking to cherry pick CIT’s profitable factoring unit?  There’s speculation that JP Morgan may get involved.: Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bankruptcy, CIT, JP Morgan, retailers

• Budget Blow for Health Plan
• Bank of America Profit Drops Less Than Expected on Fee Income
• Citigroup Reports Second Quarter Net Income of $4.3 Billion, $0.49 Diluted EPS
• AIG Swaps May Take Decades to Expire Leaving a ‘Toxic Pool’
• Lawmakers Blast Paulson For His Response to Crisis Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: AIG, Autos, Bank of America, Bankruptcy, CIT, Citigroup, Delphi, GE, Google, Healthcare, Henry Paulson, NYC, unemployment

• CIT Calls Bailout Unlikely, Fueling Speculation of Bankruptcy
• CIT woes don’t bode well for holiday
• Bayou’s Israel Gets Longer Sentence
• Eleven Accused of Insider Trading by SEC
• Madoff Accountant Waives Indictment, May Plead Guilty Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bankruptcy, Bayou, Bernie Madoff, CIT, fraudster, Hedge funds, Insider Trading, prison, Sam Israel, SEC

This is WAY too funny.  Jon Stewart gets two lampoons in for the price of one on last night’s ‘The Daily Show’.  He looks at Lenny Dykstra’s rise and fall, from his days as a brainless foul mouthed jock (what the hell was he chewing?….classy!) to financial guru living the high life in his multi-million dollar estate to bankrupt delusional.  And then Stewart ties it up with a big bow mocking his old buddy Jim Cramer who’s shown ridiculously and earnestly praising Dykstra on his show as “A guy who is applying the same skills to money that he applied to sports.  It’s brilliant!”….”Not only is he sophisticated but he is one of the great ones in this business”.

Don’t miss this one.  It’s pretty hilarious.

Yesterday’s Daily Show ‘must see tv’

Tags: Bankruptcy, delusionals, financial gurus, Jim Cramer, Lenny Dykstra, Sports, Videos

• Geithner sees signs of US and global recovery
• Coalition to attack plan for Fed powers
• Small Business Faces Big Bite
• California Credit Rating Lowered Again as Budget Talks Progress
• U.S. Tightens Its Derivatives Vise
• Bank of America Said to Court Former Merrill Bankers Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Autos, Bank of America, Bankruptcy, California, Chrysler, CMBS, Derivatives, Fed, GM, Intel, JP Morgan, Politics, TARP, Taxes, Tim Geithner, U.S. Treasury

• Credit Swaps Investigated by U.S. Justice Department
• Congress Mulls Trading Curbs for Its Own
• SEC’s Schapiro Eyes Credit-Rating Firms
• NY Probe May Have Stalled Rattner
• Fortress Clashes on Both Sides of Talks Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bankruptcy, Blackrock, CDS, Fortress, Politics, SEC

The Ex-Met star turned entrepreneur filed Chapter 11, listing assets less than a paltry $50K and liabilities of between $10 – $50 million. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bankruptcy, Lenny Dykstra, Schadenfreude, Sports, TMZ

• White House Ponders Bernanke’s Future
• Cyber Blitz Hits U.S., Korea
• Exit Package for Wagoner in Works
• GM Will Exit Bankruptcy With $48 Billion in Debt
• Buffett eBay Auction Was Won by Canadian Firm
• Lehman Pays Its Bankruptcy Advisers $262.6 Million for 9 Months Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Autos, Bankruptcy, Ben Bernanke, Ebay, Fed, GM, Lehhman Brothers, Real Estate, Rupert Murdoch, SEC, Subprime, Twitter, Warren Buffett