Archive - Apr 2009

There was a time on Wall Street when insider trading was rampant, when sellside analysts would pump stocks under the guidance of their superiors only to have their corporate finance colleagues do an equity offer shortly after, when the amount of money a bank's corporate clients paid would determine its rating, and when analysts said in internal emails a company is worthless, only to issue reports claiming the company was the next sliced bread. Then things changed for the better briefly, when Spitzer came on the stage.

There was a time on Wall Street when insider trading was rampant, when sellside analysts would pump stocks under the guidance of their superiors only to have their corporate finance colleagues do an equity offer shortly after, when the amount of money a bank's corporate clients paid would determine its rating, and when analysts said in internal emails a company is worthless, only to issue reports claiming the company was the next sliced bread. Then things changed for the better briefly, when Spitzer came on the stage.

There was a time on Wall Street when insider trading was rampant, when sellside analysts would pump stocks under the guidance of their superiors only to have their corporate finance colleagues do an equity offer shortly after, when the amount of money a bank's corporate clients paid would determine its rating, and when analysts said in internal emails a company is worthless, only to issue reports claiming the company was the next sliced bread. Then things changed for the better briefly, when Spitzer came on the stage.

This past week was very interesting as FX took a cue from the US equities rally and the markets started looking for yield again, further exacerbated as people are starting to question Japan's fundamentals. As we have commented extensively on the weakness of the yen (here and here), we won't rehash but in short, there are not many signs of life coming out of Tokyo.

This past week was very interesting as FX took a cue from the US equities rally and the markets started looking for yield again, further exacerbated as people are starting to question Japan's fundamentals. As we have commented extensively on the weakness of the yen (here and here), we won't rehash but in short, there are not many signs of life coming out of Tokyo.

The market runs unabated... fundamentals have long ceased to matter, and technicals and momentum have taken over... all is based on the printing presses in Geithner's basement stuffing those duffel bags with brand new, sequential dollar bills...

The market runs unabated... fundamentals have long ceased to matter, and technicals and momentum have taken over... all is based on the printing presses in Geithner's basement stuffing those duffel bags with brand new, sequential dollar bills...

The market runs unabated... fundamentals have long ceased to matter, and technicals and momentum have taken over... all is based on the printing presses in Geithner's basement stuffing those duffel bags with brand new, sequential dollar bills...

Larry Summers, who was not only Tim Geithner's predecessor as the 71st Secretary of the Treasury (from 1999 to 2001), but also the 27th President of Harvard University, and is currently the top White House economic advisor and serves as a director of the National Economic Council, apparently has a fond place in his heart and bank account for his most recent employer, $30 billion rocket scientist infested hedge fund D. E. Shaw (nothing like signing an NDA before conducting interviews).

Larry Summers, who was not only Tim Geithner's predecessor as the 71st Secretary of the Treasury (from 1999 to 2001), but also the 27th President of Harvard University, and is currently the top White House economic advisor and serves as a director of the National Economic Council, apparently has a fond place in his heart and bank account for his most recent employer, $30 billion rocket scientist infested hedge fund D. E. Shaw (nothing like signing an NDA before conducting interviews).

"The last shall be first."Ah, to be a Russia focused hedge fund (for once). Enjoy it while you can. In the meantime, the big boys are doing ok, with no major surprises in either direction.

The jobless rate differential between people with less than a high school education (13.3%) and college grads (4.3%) hits a 17 year high. This is pretty bad news for working class people who are really affected by marginal changes in mortgage rates and credit availability.

FINalternatives reports that in a startling development, billionaire Tom Hicks, founder of HM Capital (f/k/a Hicks Muse Tate), and subsequently left the private equity firm in 2006, has defaulted on $525 million of loans. According to FINalts "Hicks Sports Group, which owns baseball’s Texas Rangers and hockey’s Dallas Stars, failed to make its interest payment on $525 million in syndicated bank loans on Monday. The group is now in talks with its lenders about a forbearance."

John Williams, who runs the great Shadow Government Statistics site, presents the true numbers behind today's "seriously flawed BLS payroll reporting." The upside bias coming out of the BLS is almost scandalous: one wonders how much "push from above" there is to concoct these numbers.

John Williams, who runs the great Shadow Government Statistics site, presents the true numbers behind today's "seriously flawed BLS payroll reporting." The upside bias coming out of the BLS is almost scandalous: one wonders how much "push from above" there is to concoct these numbers.