Archive - May 2009

• Time Warner approves spin off of AOL (AP)
• Initial claims drop, continuing claims rise for 17th "record" week (AP)
• Commerce department says soon to be downward adjusted durable goods order rose by 1.9% in April, after a [surprise, surprise] huge downward revision in March, from -0.8% to -2.1% (AP)
• Oil
  

The auto supplier firing squad just had its first casualty. Not surprising, and definitely not the last one. The bankruptcy was filed in Delaware. From the CEO:

The auto supplier firing squad just had its first casualty. Not surprising, and definitely not the last one. The bankruptcy was filed in Delaware. From the CEO:

• Tom Lauria seeks GM bondholders for new fight (Bloomberg)
• Chrysler asks bankruptcy judge to approve Fiat sale [and seal the farce] (Bloomberg and Reuters)
• Japan's PPT - Epic Fail: Japan to scrap $520 billion plan to prop up stock market [at least they are ope
  

Nothing too exciting today at One Bowling Green, just 10 hours of cross examinations of Tom Lasorda, former president and Vice Chairman of Chrysler, Alfredo Altavilla, chief executive of Fiat's powertrain business and, most notably, Robert Manzo of Capstone's Advisory Group, the de facto financial advisors for Ch

Nothing too exciting today at One Bowling Green, just 10 hours of cross examinations of Tom Lasorda, former president and Vice Chairman of Chrysler, Alfredo Altavilla, chief executive of Fiat's powertrain business and, most notably, Robert Manzo of Capstone's Advisory Group, the de facto financial advisors for Ch

Sheila Bair on Cramer today. Instead of pandering her flawed policies in front of a small (if any) cable audience, with such pearls as "insured depositors have nothing to worry about", maybe Ms. Bair can finally get back to Zero Hedge in its FOIA request attempting to obtain some/any information on just what is the compensation/fee structure for FDIC's advisor, and the real man behind the curtain, Perella Weinberg.

The Auto Task Force Car Czar formerly known as Steve Rattner has reported an overall net worth of between $188 million and $608 million. Obviously the former NYT reporter can relate to the UAW's loss of its healthcare benefits. Among his assets:

- Between $500,000 and $1 million in Goldman stock.
- Less than $1,001 apiece in Bear Stearns Cos., Citigroup Inc., and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

The Auto Task Force Car Czar formerly known as Steve Rattner has reported an overall net worth of between $188 million and $608 million. Obviously the former NYT reporter can relate to the UAW's loss of its healthcare benefits. Among his assets:

- Between $500,000 and $1 million in Goldman stock.
- Less than $1,001 apiece in Bear Stearns Cos., Citigroup Inc., and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

A stunner - Art Samberg is shutting down Pequot Capital, after alleged insider trading allegation disclosure has "cast a cloud over the firm and have become a source of personal distraction."

Full letter via Dealbreaker:

May 27, 2009

To Our Clients and Friends:

I am writing to you, our loyal clients and friends, to let you know that I have reached the painful conclusion that it is necessary to wind down Pequot's business.

The bond market has spoken, and it demands QE2 (the equity market is insane - it has no idea what it wants). The way treasuries and mortgages are trading, the situation threatens to very quickly spiral out of Bernanke's control (and then how will Wells and BofA pretend like they have some recurring cash generating power? On the non-recurring front, AIG has already been tapped dry.) The table below indicates that based on 2009 supply (not to mention outstanding notionals) the Fed will have to reach into its toolkit for some other (very drastic) measures.

The bond market has spoken, and it demands QE2 (the equity market is insane - it has no idea what it wants). The way treasuries and mortgages are trading, the situation threatens to very quickly spiral out of Bernanke's control (and then how will Wells and BofA pretend like they have some recurring cash generating power? On the non-recurring front, AIG has already been tapped dry.) The table below indicates that based on 2009 supply (not to mention outstanding notionals) the Fed will have to reach into its toolkit for some other (very drastic) measures.

Spreads were mixed in the US with IG worse, HVOL wider, ExHVOL weaker, XO stronger, and HY rallying (although all indices were well off their intraday tights and in fact closed at intraday wides).

First, it was the GM Term Loan B which benefited from hedge fund exuberance, taxpayer generosity, and the administration's soon to be nationalization, and hit 95 earlier today after trading in the 80s on Friday, and much cheaper over the past month, as the consensus has emerged that the administration will pay off the loan at par (a bit of a change from the fulcrum security treatment at Chrysler).

The treasury curve has just imploded, with the 10Y, a massive outlier (especially in a 2s10s30s curve), just hitting a record steepness. The 2s10s just broke the previous wide of 273 bps and at last check was trading at 275 bps. Stocks, as expected compliments of the mysterious Spoos (in)visible hand, still defying gravity.