Mistress Misery
Article :
Morning Call: November 19
In an economy like this one, everyone down the chain hurts. It’s not just those working in finance, but all who support them as well. One would think that extra liaisons on the side would be less vulnerable given the need for a one-off release after a long day on the desk. Think again.
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Centaurus Trader: ‘I Never Expected This Of Paulson’
Article :
November 2008
One big winner of the U.S. government bailout “gold rush" speaks out against it – even as he bags a $1.25 million payday on its passage.
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UBS: First Indictment Hits
Article :
November 2008
First up is the Swiss bank’s head of global wealth management, but don’t expect it to end there. The Department of Justice is also referring to senior unnamed UBS executives as alleged “unindicted co-conspirators,” a term we find more than a little foreboding. Read on for additional remarks from the indictment, not to mention said indictee’s lawyer.
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On Being Tarred, Feathered
Article :
November 2008
As red-letter events go, Europe’s biggest bank (HSBC) setting aside $4.3 billion in rainy-day money for bad U.S. loans and the biggest engine to the world’s growth (China) whipping out a $586 billion stimulus package designed to back ``fast and heavy-handed investment'' in housing and infrastructure and a ``relatively loose'' monetary policy are pretty major, we’d say. But we also posit that having five of the most renowned and wealthiest investment managers summoned for an old-fashioned roasting (reportedly unprecedented for the roughly $1.8 trillion hedge-fund industry) on Capitol Hill might also be impressive. Of course, we won’t know for sure, however, until Thursday.
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TRADER MONTHLY COVER STORY: After the Fall
Article :
November 2008
With all due respect to 1929 and 1987, the weeks between mid-September and mid-October 2008 could well go down as the most frighteningly turbulent period ever endured by the financial world. Not since the Great Depression had the securities industry endured such chaos at once, or with such severity. The cascading crisis of confidence transfixed the nation, affected the course of the presidential election, forced the interventionist hand of governments around the world and blasted away at the financial ¬industry's foundations, erasing trillions of dollars of wealth. Here, Trader Monthly sifts through the wreckage of a Wall Street blown to hell.
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One-Bagger
Article :
November/December 2008
Hedge against the loss of your clubs with this travel bag from Tumi.
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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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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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After the Fall
Article :
November/December 2008
Sifting through the wreckage of a Wall Street blown to hell.
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On The Kremlin, Oligarchs And Druthers-Getting
Article :
October 2008
There are few things we like better than stories about Russian oligarchs. Especially when – and this may not be the nicest thing to say, but we are going to go there – when the guy looks exactly like a Russian oligarch. If we must tear our attention away from the $25 billion Hungarian bailout (and we must!) then our oligarchs better satisfy. This guy does that and then some.
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Fed May Slash Benchmark Interest Rate To 1%
Article :
October 2008
Stocks are leaping again today as the market scuttlebutt madly signals a move by the U.S. Federal Reserve this afternoon to cut the benchmark interest rate by half a point. The bottom line? Inflation is no longer half as worrying as the specter of a crippling recession that threatens to put the Great Depression to shame. Or so sayeth the latest rabble of talking heads. But considering the Fed has already chopped the rate down from 5.25% over the past 13 months and flooded the financial system with $1 trillion in lending programs, is it likely this last trim will do the trick? You tell us.
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Hot News, Gossip and Industry Dish
Article :
November/December 2008
All the latest news, gossip and industry dish: Henry Paulson on zero shut-eye, the Goldman "shameful-pleasure" trade, mustaches for charity and more.
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Is Making Partner at Goldman a Big Deal Anymore?
Article :
October 2008
It used to be the most prized endgame on Wall Street: the
invitation into one of the most exclusive, talented partnerships in the world. But with derogatory nicknames popping up like "GS Bank" and "Buffett Capital," is it really worth it to drink all that Kool-Aid anymore?
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Temporary Wealth Recovery, but With Fewer Perks
Article :
October 2008
One up, two down. The market rallied Monday, but Street services
are suffering and saving is now apparently bad for the economy.
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Gather Round...Time for the Daily 3 O'Clock Fight
Article :
October 2008
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Merrill: Write-Offs, Layoffs, Clean-Ups
Article :
October 2008
Last night, a Merrill banker told us a massive round of layoffs would begin today and likely persist into next week, as the company reported a steep third-quarter loss and another $9.5 billion of write-downs. As the bank prepares to be swallowed up by Bank of America, here’s the slash n’ burn it’s giving its balance sheet – who knows, you might find something worth buying.
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Exchanging Jabs For a Good Cause
Article :
October 2008
A former trader and some financial industry heavyweights fight to help kids at Chicago's Mercy Home.
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China: Not A Happy Customer
Article :
October 2008
When you are a Chinese sovereign wealth fund that’s already made a series of bad investments in Western entities, we imagine it’s not the greatest thing when you wake up to find more than $5 billion frozen in your piece-of-rot U.S. money market fund account.
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Humdinger Of A Harbinger?
Article :
October 2008
After failing to win changes to shareholder rules at Cleveland-Cliffs last week (this, after getting caught in Lehman’s slamming door) Phil Falcone’s $14 billion Harbinger Capital has seen better days. Still, making AND losing $5 billion in a year is certainly better than just the latter, no? Here’s where the former Harvard hockey player stands in his latest slate of returns.
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Buffett Beats Gates – Again
Article :
October 2008
With the rich becoming poor and the poor becoming poorer, it’s been a wild and woolly ride for those at Forbes trying to pull together the 400 Richest Americans list. For awhile there, it seemed as if Buffy the bank slayer might slip off his high perch. But instead, these are the high-fliers who got grounded.
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Trading Edge: Controlling Interest
Article :
October 2008
The path to financial glory and independence is paved with small, deliberate, incremental steps. Like these.
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Right On – Or Overly Maudlin?
Article :
October 2008
As The New York Times releases one of its tear-jerker, look-back-over-the-shoulder-in-wistful-wistfulness oeuvres to Wall Street (replete with a walk down memory lane with the namesake of Harry’s) we wonder if it isn’t a tad green to believe we won’t soon end up right back where we started – say, in another decade or so. A good read, in any case.
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This Week in Wall Street History October 5 - 11
Posting :
This Week in Wall Street History
:
10/05/2008
The iconic robin's egg blue box went where the money is as high-end jeweler Tiffany & Company debuted a stunning 11,000 square foot retail store at 37 Wall Street, this week on October 10, 2007.
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Nothing’s Shocking
Article :
October 2008
As Wells Fargo snatches Wachovia from Citigroup’s grasp (for an impressive $15.1 billion) Mr. World’s Richest Man Warren Buffett forces Goldman Sachs’s top four executives, including Lloyd Blankfein himself, to skip to his loo by locking up 90% of their bank stock. What next? John Thain gets primed as successor to the bank that just swallowed his own company, Merrill Lynch – the planet’s largest brokerage firm? As is suggested here, the answer could very well be yes.
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Hedge Funds Keep The Money?
Article :
October 2008
Your rundown of the hedge funds on both sides of the Atlantic caught in the slamming door of the credit crunch – and what it’s doing to their businesses.
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US Screwed Either Way?
Article :
September 2008
Why the U.S. may be facing its longest recession in a quarter century no matter what action Congress takes (or does not take) on Paulson's $700 billion plan to save the disintegrating pillars of Wall Street.
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Trader Triple Squeeze
Article :
September 2008
Three days after the trader phenomenon known as “Quadruple Witching Friday,” in which four sets of options expire simultaneously, a “triple squeeze” hit the Street Monday. Stocks down, dollar down, oil up 25 points. An obvious new formula has arisen, transition from capitalism to socialism creates massive volatility. At least there are no bread lines just yet…
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The Arctic Cold War Looming
Posting :
George Bell
:
09/17/2008
It's estimated that 20% of the world's natural resources are sitting under the arctic sea. But could it cause a world war?
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Flavor Of The Month: Socialized Capitalism
Article :
September 2008
Don’t you wish you knew how to invest like the U.S.? Our taxpayer-funded portfolio is looking good! Lined up now are the multibillion-dollar bets on Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and, the jewel in the fire-sale crown, AIG. Yes, we nailed a 79.9% stake in exchange for $85 billion. That’s sick. How do we get in on the ground floor of all this stuff? The Fed must know somebody. And here we were thinking that we should be investing in concerns with successful management. Clearly, our bad. Wonder if Paulson and Bernanke watch Cramer?
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Bountiful Pickens
Article :
September 2008
Views from the top, courtesy of earth's biggest oil bull on life, liberty and the pursuit of energy independence.
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Ooooh! Total Burn!
Article :
September 2008
If you want to gloom-and-doom the plight of hedge funds these days, we humbly suggest you need a little more juice than just caterwauling about how the average hedge fund has lost more than 4% this year. 4%?! That almost sounds like a compliment. If that makes 2008 the worst year ever, then bring it on, pikers! Here, the harshest criticism the media managed to muster today – which, thankfully, isn’t saying much.
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Is There Really a Cure for Today's Market?
Article :
September 2008
Many experts and talking heads get on their soap boxes each day and
opine about what needs to happen to fix this broken market. Some argue that oil is the answer - if the price of oil declines, the market will rebound. Some pin the market's fate to strengthening a weak dollar or stabilizing a rocky housing market.
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Hedgie Harbinger
Article :
September 2008
As worries runneth over about the hedge-fund woes now roiling global markets, fund managers themselves are revealing their own next great fear: their investors.
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And Now, For The Most Influential Man In The World...
Article :
September 2008
Obviously, he doesn’t have a lot of hair (as is the hallowed preserve of the ‘most influentials’) but he’s got wealth, vision and the inscrutable ‘x factor’ – whatever that is.
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Temasek Upping Merrill Stake
Article :
August 2008
After taking a bath on their first stake, and receiving a reset payment, Singapore-backed Temasek is upping its stake in Merrill Lynch. Despite what Warren Buffett said last week, i.e. sovereign wealth funds are buying what is being sold to them, Temasek believes John Thain and company will right this ship. Kool-Aid be damned!
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This Week In Wall Street History August 24 - 30
Posting :
This Week in Wall Street History
:
08/24/2008
Known for his folksy charm, frugality, prized annual shareholder's letter, and immense wealth, the "Oracle Of Omaha" Warren Buffet celebrates his birthday, this week on August 30th.
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Quoth Of Noth: Scary Words From Ex-IMF Chief
Article :
August 2008
Via Reuters: “I think the financial crisis is at the halfway point, perhaps. I would even go further to say the worst is to come...We’re not just going to see midsized banks go under in the next few months, we’re going to see a whopper, we’re going to see a big one, one of the big investment banks or big banks…” (Uh, wasn’t Bear supposed to be the big one?...??)
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Controlling Interest
Article :
September 2008
The path to financial glory and independence is paved with small, deliberate, incremental steps.
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Buffett Bio Countdown: 48 Days
Article :
August 2008
Get ready to pee all over yourself: the greatest story ever told will be out Sept. 29. And not to overfroth, but we’re already putting the finishing touches on the red velvet pillow and surrounding red velvet ropes in the offices of Trader Monthly where our copy of the book will lie.
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Bountiful Pickens
Article :
September 2008
Earth's biggest oil bull on life, liberty and the pursuit of energy independence.
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UBS: A Little Experiment?
Article :
August 2008
Science has proven that splitting the right and left hemispheres of the brain in seizure patients doesn’t really much change their behavior – but then again, that’s not really the same thing as a bank dividing its investment banking and wealth-management divisions…Is it?
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UBS: Call That Says It All?
Article :
August 2008
According to a tattler today, on May 19, shortly after 52 UBS employees had just left to join Goldman-backed wealth manager Vestra, Richard Wayne-Wynne, an investment director, telephoned a client, identified as “George,” to inform him of the mass resignations. What transpired during that call was more than a little revealing.
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Goldman-Backed Wealth Manager Slammed
Article :
August 2008
UBS, which accused Vestra Wealth – a new wealth manager allied with Goldman Sachs, David Scott, Vestra's founder, and four departing UBS fund managers – of orchestrating a “smash and grab raid” on its British business, finally had its day in court. So was this a case of lawful competition, or just an illicit gang-up? Here’s what the judge had to say.
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Friday Levity: ‘Sometimes I Like A Girl With A Horse’
Article :
August 2008
Maybe the best line ever in a movie from 1997, this quip from Kevin Smith’s “Chasing Amy” is certainly not something Barclays is prepared to relate to. Especially now that the once-stuffy British Masters Invitational, which gladly accepted the bank’s money as a sponsor, has decided to let two of its biggest female stars pose in, er, uncompromisingly compromising positions as a way of publicizing this weekend’s event. Click here for the full story, with weird picture.
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Billionaire Junior
Article :
July 2008
Just as his father plastered the family name all over New York City and Palm Beach real estate, making billions in the process, Donald Trump Jr. hopes to do the same in Mumbai.
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How To Annoy Others With Your Yacht
Article :
July 2008
Yeah, we went there. Why enjoy your gazillions in peace, when you can enjoy your gazillions – and piss people off?
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How To Annoy Others With Your Yacht
Article :
July 2008
Yeah, we went there. Why enjoy your gazillions in peace, when you can have so much more fun than that?
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The Allure Of Diamonds
Article :
July 2008
Forget Marilyn Monroe... A few reasons why diamonds are now a fund’s best friend.
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The Iron Unkind
Article :
July 2008
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