Archive - 2009
February 5th
Another Apollo Name Goes Under, This Time Chapter 22
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/05/2009 15:48 -0500
Prominent Fifth Avenue Jeweler Fortunoff, which last time we checked gave free $199 diamond earnings to anyone who would even enter the store, filed for bankruptcy protection. The company (which is in dire need of updating its investor relations site) was acquired in an acquisition gone horribly wrong in March 2008 for $110 million.
Paulson Angry After Finally Losing Money, Goes Activist
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/05/2009 14:49 -0500
Hell hath no fury like the only hedge fund manager who is making money scorned. In a shocking turn of events for Paulson's M&A arbitrage fund (i.e.
Paulson Angry After Finally Losing Money, Goes Activist
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/05/2009 14:49 -0500
Hell hath no fury like the only hedge fund manager who is making money scorned. In a shocking turn of events for Paulson's M&A arbitrage fund (i.e.
Paulson Angry After Finally Losing Money, Goes Activist
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/05/2009 14:49 -0500
Hell hath no fury like the only hedge fund manager who is making money scorned. In a shocking turn of events for Paulson's M&A arbitrage fund (i.e.
January Same Store Sales
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/05/2009 13:41 -0500We will provide a summary once all retailers are done reporting numbers but feast on Saks Fifth Avenue's -23.7% year over year drop in sales.
Jobless Claims Worse Even Than Worst Case
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/05/2009 13:30 -0500Actual: 626k, Survey: 580k, top end of estimate 620k.
and scene
Early Feb 5 Headlines
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/05/2009 12:58 -0500- Second-biggest reinsurer Swiss Re asks for $2.6 billion from Warren to keep rating (Bloomberg)
- Russia in Asia - we wrote about this, but WSJ thinks it is serious enough to bear repeating (WSJ)
- Not Ken Lewis' fault? Blame Bernanke - U.S.
Late Wednesday Headlines
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/05/2009 03:32 -0500Brief headlines here as we go thru the Madoff list and try to determine if Kim Kardashian is now trustfundless:
Full Madoff Client List Released, Published Here
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/05/2009 02:43 -0500Late Wednesday, Manhattan Bankruptcy Court released the full list of Madoff "clients" who have lost money with the ponz. List can be downloaded here. The list, prepared by AlixPartners, has 162 pages of 84 single-space lines identifying all the victims. We won't disclose any names for privacy reasons (which is probably counter intuitive as this list is public domain now), but readers will be surprised by some curious revelations.
Overview of Recent Secondary Market Bond Repurchases
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/05/2009 01:15 -0500In the past 2 months, while many investors were concerned that the bottom is falling out of the market, CFOs were busy buying back debt in the secondary market. Note that this is not buying back debt in formal registered exchanges, which due to prevailing distressed levels, would have been classified as distressed exchanges which usually are branded as events of defaults by rating agencies. So instead companies decided to buyback existing debt at substantial discounts, netting not only no rating agency attention but a potential upgrade down the line.
Overview of Recent Secondary Market Bond Repurchases
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/05/2009 01:15 -0500In the past 2 months, while many investors were concerned that the bottom is falling out of the market, CFOs were busy buying back debt in the secondary market. Note that this is not buying back debt in formal registered exchanges, which due to prevailing distressed levels, would have been classified as distressed exchanges which usually are branded as events of defaults by rating agencies. So instead companies decided to buyback existing debt at substantial discounts, netting not only no rating agency attention but a potential upgrade down the line.
February 4th
Moody's Prepares to Downgrade Most Homebuilders
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/04/2009 22:24 -0500In the current amusing race between S&P and Moody's over who can downgrade more companies in a shorter amount of time, S&P easily has the lead. However, Moody's just slapped S&P right back, Judge Peck style, by putting most homebuilders on downgrade review which usually precedes a full downgrade within 2 to 4 weeks.
Visa Reports, Beats, Thanks Foreigners For "Charging It"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/04/2009 21:33 -0500
Visa reports Q1 revenue of $1.7 billion and Q1 EPS of $599 million or $0.78 per share, compared to street consensus of $0.66/share.
Visa Reports, Beats, Thanks Foreigners For "Charging It"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/04/2009 21:33 -0500
Visa reports Q1 revenue of $1.7 billion and Q1 EPS of $599 million or $0.78 per share, compared to street consensus of $0.66/share.
Bank Of America Claims It Did Not Engage in Superbowl Carnival
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/04/2009 20:56 -0500
Bank of Countrywide Lynch came out with a surprising release earlier in which it defended itself from media allegations that it had spent $10 million of TARP money on a 5 day Super Bowl carnival and that senior management was in fact not at the 20 yard line (cheering the
