Behind Goldman’s Bonus Bump
Article :
November 2008
Some might call it the biggest give-up ever. But a handful of savvier market observers are calling it one of the greatest PR stunts of all time. Here’s why.
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Newsflash: Guess Who Loves Oil?
Article :
November 2008
Really, haven’t we been saying this, like, forever? ?? The biggest threats to the world’s energy security: war, hurricanes, labor cataclysms and...pirates!
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Cohen, That Rascally Rascal
Article :
November 2008
Seems that the same day his contemporaries were getting raked over the coals on Capitol Hill, SAC Capital’s Stevie Cohen – who somehow ducked that bullet – was busy with plans of his own to expand his already, ah, expansive home in Greenwich, Conn. The subprime snafu notwithstanding, a peek at what he’s up to.
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Obama: To Heck With The Deficit
Article :
November 2008
Barack Obama’s plans are but the plans of a modest president-elect: he’d like to save the auto industry from itself, break America’s oil addiction, help homeowners hold onto their real estate and ramp up military operations in Afghanistan while also winding down missions in Iraq. Is that too much to ask? He also plans to end world hunger during his lunch break. Why traders across the pond are now kiddingly referring to his ascension as “the second coming of Jesus,” even as he warns Americans: ``we shouldn't worry about the deficit next year – or even the year after.”
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Friday Levity: Your Goofy Outgoing President
Article :
November 2008
Need we say more?
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New Star And The Case Of The ‘Unsettling Trading Environment’
Article :
November 2008
Why John Duffield’s New Star Asset Management Group is now paying a higher rate on its debt and plans to cut 20 million pounds of costs after assets under management fell 28%.
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It’s Official: Europe’s Economy In Recession
Article :
November 2008
With everyone throwing the R-word around for months, you almost forgot the recession actually hasn’t hit a lot of places yet. Today you can cross Europe (and Hong Kong) off that watch list. Interesting that the first recession in Europe since the introduction of the euro comes just as world leaders get ready to meet in Washington to prevent it. Right on time, as usual, guys. And you know who else was right on time? The 26 economists who said last July there was only a 35% chance of a recession in 2008. Clearly, we’ve been experiencing a real intellectual and tactical tour de force here. More on the raw data – plus, why we may not yet have reached our nadir.
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Quoth Of Noth: Paulson’s About-Face?
Article :
November 2008
``He's ended up really in kind of a hair-on-fire thing,'' says Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital. ``Particularly in his position, of somebody who was going to be a government official for a very short time and then ride off into the sunset, it's been very different from what he had in mind.'' And how. The latest on the latest.
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Your Key To The Fed’s Big, Bad Clearinghouse
Article :
November 2008
If the Federal Reserve is preparing to set itself up to be the lead regulator for clearing trades in the $33 trillion credit-default swap market (and according to the usual “people with knowledge of the proposal,” it is) will it also claim it’s going to do one thing and then do another, per the usual protocol? We now think that’s a reasonable question to ask.
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Tehran: Falling Oil Prices Totally Annoying, To Say The Least
Article :
November 2008
Just as oil-rich Iran was up and running (not to mention the rest of the energy world) of course this had to happen. With the crossing of crude futures below the $60 handle, big Middle East producers are now revising their spending plans, even as Asian investors yank their money from exploration projects. A rundown of what this could mean for the industry over the long-term – and exactly where oil needs to be to get the Big Oil machine to sputter to life again.
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New Home For Toxic Debt?
Article :
November 2008
You might call it radioactive, but we call it a great new material for – wait for it – elevator buttons! The true story of where the world’s most hideous waste is now heading that, we dare say, offers some fresh hope for all those still looking to place radioactive securities into loving homes (AIG, are you reading this)?
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Get Ready For A Very Special G20 Summit
Article :
November 2008
German investor confidence may be up, but everywhere else gloom and doom reign, with Russia’s ruble dropping by the most in a month and Australia now facing its first recession in two decades. So much for that whole “decoupling” thing. As World Bank president Robert Zoellick prepares to unveil his master plan to provide aid to developing nations in exchange for elephant tusks (just kidding about that last part) here’s why, as G20 summits go, the one this weekend is expected to be a real doozy.
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Sparx Loses Spark?
Article :
November 2008
Yet another crack in the Asian economy emerges, as the region’s largest hedge-fund manager (with $8.5 billion in assets) notches its steepest decline in almost a month in Tokyo trading after posting a first-half loss on redemptions and falling stock prices (funny that, falling stocks fueling falling stocks, eh?). But just how bad is it? On a scale of 1 to 10, we’d put it at about an eight, which is totally meaningless, as we are, after all numbers freaks. But it does have something to do with the fact that the fund is now slashing executive pay, freezing salaries and asking more than a dozen workers to take voluntary retirement.
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And That’s Just An Aperitif…
Article :
November 2008
What was the real deal with hedge funds’ performances in October? In addition to the average year-to-date decline building to 15.5% (not a typo) we are now hearing that some hedge fund luminaries like Peter Thiel, Jeffrey Gendell, John Burbank III – even Nobel-prize winner Myron Scholes – ran into tight spots. Their stories.
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Bonus Bilking
Article :
November 2008
After voluntarily agreeing to relinquish several million of Swiss francs last November, Peter Wuffli, the former chief executive of UBS, is now going the distance and giving up roughly $10 million of his bonus. His take?: “I thought it over long and thoroughly. For me, it’s a question of one’s personal position. High payments for departing top people in a company that’s gone seriously wrong cannot be justified.” But just what does that mean for the high-level traders at the bank in cases where funds fared none too well?
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Whale of a Trade!
Article :
November/December 2008
We scoured the Trader Monthly "archives" to unearth this 1851 issue -- and excerpted just a few of its many timeless insights
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The Trading Week: November 9 - 14
Posting :
All Things Forex
:
11/07/2008
With the U.S. Retail Sales and Consumer Sentiment scheduled for release in the week ahead, traders will focus on the main gauges of consumer spending and sentiment.
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Dollar Falls On Labor Report, Rate Cut Expex
Article :
November 2008
Traders yanked some of their bets on dollar gains, as the greenback dropped again against other major currencies in early trading and market observers braced for bad news on the job front – news that nonetheless, could see us through another rate cut. Forecasts from the battle front.
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What $47 Trillion Market? Oh...That $47 Trillion Market
Article :
November 2008
Apparently, the most comprehensive report on unregulated credit-default swaps didn't disclose bets in the section of the more than $47 trillion market that helped destroy American International Group Inc., once the world's largest insurer. Or at least according to Bloomberg, which today has unearthed the real deal.
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Post-Election Street Sentiment -- Thursday, November 6, 2008
Posting :
First Coverage
:
11/06/2008
Election results bring closure and renewed focus on reality. First Coverage examined the Sentiment on Wall Street during the first day of trading following Tuesday’s historic US presidential election.
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More Job Cuts At Goldman, Citigroup
Article :
November 2008
Confronted with a rapidly weakening economy and the likelihood of more losses, the banks have reportedly commenced in laying off workers as part of plans to cut more than 12,000 jobs. With nearly 150,000 jobs already slashed in banking and brokerage on a global scale, are we finally nearing rock bottom?
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WEB EXCLUSIVE: How To Lead In Unprecedented Times
Article :
November 2008
In a market racked by writedowns, bailouts, layoffs and no shortage of negativity, three top minds in restructuring share their thoughts on how to persevere.
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The Obama Effect and YOU
Posting :
Larry Levin
:
11/05/2008
The best thing about Election Day is not necessarily a new president. In my opinion, the best thing about Election Day is that those annoying, bickering, childish commercials that bombard our senses on a never-ending basis -- mercifully -- come to an end. Next comes the coronation of Barack Obama, as he takes the ruby-red slippers off of George Bush's feet, prompting him to shrivel up and goes away, a-la The Wizard of Oz.
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Traders Break For Swaps Of Italy, Spain – And Deutsche Bank
Article :
November 2008
In that order. After canceling out overlapping trades in the wilderness of roughly $33.6 trillion of transactions outstanding on governments, companies and asset-backed securities, it looks like the debt of Italy is the big winner among global traders, followed by the other two. And despite all the caterwauling about “lack of transparency” of late, the following report gives us hard data on exactly what kind of coin they’re wagering.
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Risk/Reward: Dare To Tread
Article :
November 2008
As a 23-year-old college kid in the Notting Hill section of London in the late 1980s, Peter Bartlett remembers sitting around his flat watching horrifying BBC news coverage of strife-torn African countries and thinking to himself, "I ought to go there…"
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Reason To Stay Up
Article :
November 2008
While we realize it’s past many a trader’s bedtime, 7 p.m. EST is when the first U.S. presidential election returns in highly decisive states such as Virginia start rolling in. All of which means you can pretty much figure out who has a hammer lock on the race before polishing off your last hot toddy of the evening. A cheat sheet on what (and where) to watch.
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Even The Winners Get Unlucky Sometimes
Article :
November 2008
(With apologies to Tom Petty...) There’s been a lot more bad news today, not the least of which involves Treasury mulling putting its $700 billion of mad money toward a no-holds-barred U.S. any-company buying spree, but we’ll try and spare you the eye-crossingly, mind-numbingly boring details. Right now, the hardest pill to swallow for us is learning that funds that have successfully managed to keep themselves out of hot water are, nonetheless, suffering for the sins of their lesser brethren. Hear the tale of Blue Mountain Capital Management, a $5.5 billion credit hedge fund that admits its investors are pulling out – but not because of anything it did wrong.
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Trick or Treat
Posting :
Larry Levin
:
11/03/2008
The Halloween market ended Friday and I believe it's safe to say investors received a trick rather than a treat in October. Although it had been far worse just last week, the Dow finished October -14%, while the S&P500 closed -16.9% and Nasdaq finished -17.7% lower.
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UBS: Getting Sick Of Hot Water
Article :
November 2008
Looking back, it probably wasn’t the best idea to tell ordinary investors that Lehman Brothers “100 percent principal protected notes” were just the thing for the threadbare retirement account or fixed-income portfolio. But, as always, hindsight is 20-20.
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Blame It On ‘Extraordinary Turbulence’
Article :
November 2008
Being one of those so-called master-of-the-universe-like titanic investment companies, what’s more embarrassing than having to cancel your IPO once? Yep, you got it: canceling it twice. And yet, this gigunda leveraged-buyout firm is doing just that.
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Industrial Sector ‘Completely Given Way’
Article :
November 2008
As gold stumbles toward a two-year low amid deflation risks, a record nosedive in commodities could indicate one of the longest recessions in the U.S. since 1981. Here’s why even Goldman Sachs, the bank that not long ago presaged a potential oil “superspike,” is busily revising its expectations.
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This Week in Wall Street History: November 2 - 8
Posting :
This Week in Wall Street History
:
11/02/2008
While government offices and the banks closed to the public, the NYSE decided to keep the floor open starting in 1984. And the floors have stayed open since.
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Calling the Real Estate Bottom?
Article :
October 2008
Tiger Cub Chris Shumway Purportedly Buying Home in Southampton for
$60 Million
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Not-So-Very Light Jet
Article :
November/December 2008
The Embraer Phenom 100 is the best of the new breed of affordable jets -- because it actually exists.
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TCI Giving Up on J-Power
Article :
October 2008
Chris Hohn and friends have thrown in the towel on their bruising
activist fight with the Japanese utility.
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The Trading Week: November 2 - 7
Posting :
All Things Forex
:
10/31/2008
The U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls and three interest rate announcements from the Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank of England, and the European Central Bank will kick-start the trading month ahead.
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High-Yielding Currencies Get Whacked
Article :
October 2008
As the broader market continues to digest news that the U.S. economy shrank in the third quarter by the most since 2001, here’s how traders juggling the dollar against equities are rebalancing their hedge ratios.
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Consumer Confidence: Worst Quarter In Three Decades?
Article :
October 2008
How pervasive layoffs, skyrocketing food and fuel costs and plunging property values have likely come together to end the longest period of expansion in spending on record, making the economy the No. 1 issue of next week's presidential election. Are we getting close to the bottom, or is it – as one economist says – “the first leg down toward much worse numbers''?
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Larry Williams: Down, Out, and Under
Article :
October 2008
In a court hearing in Sydney, Larry Williams, controversial futures trading figure and estranged father of Michelle Williams -- late actor Heath Ledger's ex-fianceé -- was denied his bid to come back to the United States while out on bail in Australia.
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Goldman's Sob Story
Article :
October 2008
Goldman Sachs named their new partners, but their bonus pool is a little shallow.
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Is This Man Running for Secretary of the Treasury?
Article :
October 2008
Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has been on CNBC a lot. Is he lobbying to his would-be choice for president, Barack Obama? Does he want to replace Hank Paulson?
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Threat Assessment 2009
Article :
November/December 2008
A veteran risk manager takes the long view on the troubled financial markets. And it's not all bad -- really.
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Reads: ‘Bear’ Trap
Article :
October 2008
Speaking of bearish, a look deep inside a storied firm’s collapse, and a tumultuous week that shook the Street.
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Feeling Bearish? Get In The Ring
Article :
October 2008
Some “financial warriors” can’t stop at just going to war from behind their desks. A thumbnail sketch on how New York and London’s white-collar boxing scenes have caught on among the hedge funds of Hong Kong (and yes, at firms you’ve actually heard of).
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Bonus Watch: More Riveting Than The Election?
Article :
October 2008
From regulators to lawmakers to ordinary citizens, everyone’s got an opinion these days about whether executives at top banks deserve extra pay after an excruciating year. But in the end, here’s why it won’t really matter what anybody thinks – except for them.
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Goldman Anoints New Partners
Article :
October 2008
While this is the smallest group since 2002 (at least, according to the following story) the number of freshly minted partners (see list after the jump) is by no means insignificant, given the severity of the credit crunch. Perhaps the bank’s shrinking bonus pool no longer guarantees the multimillion-dollar payouts of yesteryear, but, even so, we suspect it’s still good to be Goldman.
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There’s Nothing They Like Better Than A Good Probe
Article :
October 2008
As tiny Porsche nearly puts a hammer lock on the sprawling empire of Volkswagen by tapping into loads of sophisticated derivatives instruments, one securities regulator gets particularly antsy about whether market manipulation is at work. Here’s how the luxury carmaker made like a hedge fund – even at the expense of the hedge funds themselves.
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How Low Can They Go?
Article :
October 2008
Central banks the world over are expected to begin mimicking the Federal Reserve’s benchmark rate cut to 1% – the lowest level since 2003-2004 – and concomitant cuts by China and Norway. Already, U.K. Chancellor Alistair Darling is signaling the Bank of England might trim rates without impinging inflation targets, as the bank, he says, has “discretion” over the timing of how to meet these. But back in the U.S., Ben Bernanke is taking it one step further, suggesting he’s got the knife ready to pare rates to their lowest level, ever.
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Losing Lehman
Article :
November/December 2008
Whether you blame short sellers, toxic credit instruments, Hank Paulson or Dick Fuld, the loss of one of Wall Street's most prestigious firms was a painful episode few in the industry will ever forget. We take a look back at those final tragic days.
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Ackman Hits His Target
Article :
October 2008
Pershing Square chief wants to spin off a REIT of Target's
properties.
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