Archive - Jan 2009

While John Thain will be enjoying his creme of the crap status of reviled interior decorators for some time, Dick Fuld is about to upstage him in the shady asset transfer category. Cityfile has broken the following bombshell: the Gorilla's $13 million home on Jupiter Island, which was held by both Mr and Mrs Dick, was recently transferred singly to Kathy. Dick sold his portion of the house on 265 S Beach Rd, Jupiter Island to his wife for the princely sum of $100.

While John Thain will be enjoying his creme of the crap status of reviled interior decorators for some time, Dick Fuld is about to upstage him in the shady asset transfer category. Cityfile has broken the following bombshell: the Gorilla's $13 million home on Jupiter Island, which was held by both Mr and Mrs Dick, was recently transferred singly to Kathy. Dick sold his portion of the house on 265 S Beach Rd, Jupiter Island to his wife for the princely sum of $100.

Freddie Mac, which is already owned by the U.S. government, has said it will ask the U.S. Treasury for another $35 billion. The company said its Q4 losses will drive its net worth below zero... again...

Freddie Mac, which is already owned by the U.S. government, has said it will ask the U.S. Treasury for another $35 billion. The company said its Q4 losses will drive its net worth below zero... again...

Paul Kedrosky points out something that will put a dent in many of the talking heads' arguments about housing picking up again in the beat down states. Seems Wells Fargo's 30 Year conforming mortgage is up something like 90+ bps from the several week ago trough of 4.7%. Can't be good. Especially knowing where 30 years Treasuries trade, and all the agency paper being bought by the Treasury with every dollar printed.

S&P expects the US corporate default rate to reach all-time high of 13.9% this year, a significant revision of its previous projection a 7.6% base-case and the consequence of “a substantial worsening of the economy and the financial environment.

In an amusing expose on the negative basis trade, Bloomberg has identified AllianceBernstein and TIAA-CREF as the winners in the trade where Deustche Bank and Citadel crashed and burned.

Former Drexelite and PE legend Leon Black has struck gold after panhandling in front of the headquarters of Calpers and The Teacher Retirement System of Texas for 16 months.

At last check, LUV was down 18%, or $1.75 to $8.06. Despite posting earnings that were a little better than expected yesterday, Calyon analyst Ray Neidl cut the stock to a Sell, with a $7 target. As we had previously noted, any airline which will forcefully deplane a hot chick for wearing a miniskirt deserves all the wrath of the market (that, and some other reasons as well).

Despite losing over 35% of its combined savings in the stock market, the general public had taken Wall Street's shenanigans in stride.

Qimonda, a unit of chipmaker Infineon, filed for bankruptcy today "after failing to secure sufficient financing following a slide in memory-chip prices this year." The company has 12,200 employees.

we don't disagree

Xerox (XRX) announced in its Q4 press release that its earnings for 2009 will likely be about $1/share, significantly below the consensus estimate of $1.13. We will keep a close watch on them to see if they merit a Death Watch badge in the coming months.

We usually make a lot of fun of Yahoo Finance for their sophisticated outlook on the economy. In this case they may have been on to something.

In a recent press release, insolvent trucking company Greatwide Logistics, announced that it was "sold" to an investor group consisting of DE Shaw and Centerbridge. While no cash changed hands, the two Hedge Funds have agreed to a debt for equity swap: the company's total debt would be reduced by 77% from $620 million to $140 million.