Wall Street Folly

• 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

• Citigroup Considers Changes at Phibro
• Key Lawmaker Received Countrywide Loans
• M Stanley to pay $950m for Tarp warrants
• Fannie Mae draws on U.S. support after $14.8 billion loss
• Mortgage Giants’ Revamp Disputed
• Nasdaq, BATS To Withdraw Flash Order Types
• RBS Says Results to Be Poor for Two Years After Unexpected Loss Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: AIG, Autos, Citigroup, Countrywide, Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac, Morgan Stanley, Nasdaq, NY Times, Obituaries, Politics, TARP

• Ex-Bear Stearns Manager Loses Bid to Dismiss insider trading charge
• Goldman Sachs VaR Reaches Record on Risks Led by Equity Trading
• SEC Upsets Some as It Tries to Sharpen Teeth
• CIT, Regulators Negotiate Details of Multipart Aid Package
• Sulzberger Says Times to Pare Debt With Sales; Slim Loan ‘High’ Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bear Stearns, CIT, Goldman Sachs, Hedge funds, Legal, NY Times, SEC

Fake New York Times Declares Iraq War Over! Here's Who Did It – Gawker

Tags: Humor, NY Times, Politics

S&P is warning that debt of the NY Times could be downgraded to junk level.  On Wednesday, the Times reported poor numbers, including an 82% decline in earnings on a 6% drop in revenues.  According to the WSJ:

"The CreditWatch listing reflects an
accelerating pace of total revenue decline and a rate of decline in EBITDA in
the first half of 2008 that indicates the company may have difficulty achieving
our expectations for the current rating," explained Standard & Poor’s
credit analyst Emile Courtney.

"This is notwithstanding our
understanding that The New York Times is attempting to lower its cost base by
more than $130 million in 2008."

New York Times May Face Junk Rating, S&P Warns – Wall Street Journal

Tags: NY Times, Ratings

We presume that he must have a prenup, but who knows?  In any case, we’re just wondering if the split (a separation at this point) might spill into the board room if it goes the divorce route or if it will be handled quietly in a civil manner.  You know how messy these little marital tiffs can get, especially when there are big bucks and blocks of stock involved, not to mention, a very long marriage (described below by the NY Observer as "emotionally cool")

ARTHUR Sulzberger Jr. is separated for
real. The chairman/CEO of the New York Times Co. was spotted yesterday morning
moving into the Phillips Club, a residential hotel on West 66th, where 2-bedroom
apartments start at $17,000 per month. Sulzberger – who announced his separation
from his wife of 33 years, Gail Gregg, on Saturday – was spotted unloading about
10 suitcases from a large SUV. Gregg remains in the marital abode on West 64th,
which was transferred into her name in March, when a Times spokeswoman lamely
explained to us it was for "estate-planning purposes."

"estate-planning purposes".  Pretty funny.

Solitary Man – Page Six NY Post

The New York Observer had more on the separation a couple of days ago….

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Divorce, NY Times