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Ken Lewis Is Gone
Not a bad move by the man about to be raided by the Fed, the AG, the SEC, the Tooth Fairy and who knows who else. In other news, the Chairman wins again.
From the WSJ.
Ken Lewis, his company faced with multiple government probes, will retire at the end of the year.
Mr. Lewis, who has been chief executive since 2001, was stripped of
his title as chairman in April after a shareholder resolution passed by
a razor-thin margin. Walter Massey was elected to replace him.
Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission and New York
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo are investigating the company. Lawmakers
have accused him of misleading investors about year-end bonuses paid to
employees at Merrill Lynch & Co. before Bank of America purchased
the teetering Wall Street company late last year.
It is said, cause he was doing so damn well:
"Bank of America is well positioned to meet the continuing challenges
of the economy and markets," Mr. Lewis said. "The Merrill Lynch and
Countrywide integrations are on track and returning value already. We
are in position to begin to repay the federal government's TARP
investments."
We wish Ken Lewis and his trial defense team all the best as they prepare for the biggest criminal and civil onslaught against his persona in history.
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he is a scapegoat.
exactamundo
How can BofA be considered solvent with the likes of Merrill Lynch and Countrywide sitting firmly in the rectum of the company?
Define solvent. The Fed defines solvency as what you don't know about the banks, because if you did.....Oh boy!
Define solvent. The Fed defines solvency as what you don't know about the banks, because if you did.....Oh boy!
Nowadays solvency is an accounting sleight of hand.
Remember (it has been awhile now) that BofA created the Red Oak Merger Corporation when they took over Countrywide, and moved all its toxic assets (and bad loans) over there. Then declared bankruptcy on Red Oak, thus once again PRIVATIZING the gain while SOCIALIZING the debt.
Also, BofA still owns a chunk (around a half) of BlackRock, the major asset management firm (Larry Fink of MBS fame) which has received all those no-bid fed contracts (from pal Geithner, both at NY Fed and then with Treasury) to manage those bailout funds.
Still, they are exposed to all those magical derivatives....
one down. . .
Lessee, according to latest OCC report, that leaves
the management of the following Derivative to
Credit Risks:
GS 921%
JPM 283%
C 209%
WFC 71%
Oh, and the Fed at the top of the list...
JubileeProsperity.com
Hope he squeals like a pig and brings as many people down with him. Otherwise, I wish him well...
Dead man walking heart attack risk.
aspirin O.D.?
I'll bet the retirement package is beautiful !! Hunker down and take the arrows. No snitchin'. Then cash the check before it bounces.
spot on!
I suspect all his legal fees will be paid by B of A.
Does this mean I get my job back there?
Umm... on the other hand....
I guess BERNANKE did succeed with his precictive threat!!!
"about to be raided by the Fed, the AG, the SEC"
Fed = Yeah right. They want everything out in the open.
SEC = Ineffectual, incompetent, dishonest, joke. Probably in on any double dealings too. No real danger there.
AG = Only hope and not so much if he has to concentrate on running for govenor. Gov run could be payoff to leave this alone.
I am pessimistic about this. Could be everyone wants him low profile so that we will forget about it.
I won't forget.
He is getting set up to the fall guy of 2009 & 2010. It will all be his fault. Biggest depositor institution in the country and he folds up like the fed was gonna take away his cookies. Lewis is too weak to run a bank like that.
And, you're right. I won't forget either.
My hope has always been that he would roll over on Paulson and Bernanke. I agree with the sentiment that, in a relative kind of way, Lewis is a victim. What the fuck do you do if the fed has a gun against your head?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irp8CNj9qBI&feature=related
If you had integrity, you resign immediately rather than cave in to Paulson's threats. Lewis destroyed himself and Bank of America with the Merrill deal.
Destroyed me too. I was trying to catch falling knives. My hands are still bandaged.
Bastard.
Even if he didn't he still subordinated the concept of corporate governance and shareholder value upon the altar of an enfeebled central bank fighting for its existence and continued relevance. If Lewis would have invoked MAC the fed would have been held powerless. Either through impotence or through unbridled federal intervention. Lewis gave up any standing he had by rolling over when he had the power. Fool. If he has any smarts at all he would be using every day to data mine his bank in preparation for what is coming his way. I bet he won't. Not only does he lack integrity, he lacks common sense.
If I were Lewis in that situation I would tell them; "Go ahead, pull the trigger". There was no way they could have. The gun wasn't loaded. If Lewis invoked the MAC and the BA board & its CEO were fired by the fed & treasury what would have been the reaction?
Ken Lewis is just weak at the point of decision and since he is, he going to be rolled for everything he can be. Even if he wisens up now it will be painful in the extreme and will devolve into a he said he said BS allowing the fed & treasury to put up smokescreens galore and to push the CRE, credit cared, option ARM & bank run potential all on him so they cn say; "See, we told you what would happen if this was mad public".
What a bunch of crap. Lewis had more juice that GS since he not only had a license, he had the most retail & commercial deposits in the country. And he folded.
BTW, Classic! My response...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_i5M6Jud88
Die in a car on the dealership parking lot?
Everyone had to take one for the team back then. Except GS and MS, only because they legally couldn't yet at the time. But notice where a ton of their stock was siphoned off to - on the cheap - when "they never really needed it (equity infusion)."
Lewis was no victim; you don't get to be picked as CEO of BAC without acknowledging that you answer to higher powers than the shareholders or board.
+1
It makes perfect sense, Miles. What better way for Goldman and the Fed to distract the public than to make Ken Lewis and Merrill/BofA the scapegoats?
Check. They might even be able to roll up the WF Golden West/Wachovia Pay Option ARM mess with it and get GS the BA depositor base for a cheaper price than JPM paid for WaMu then GS can get in on the reworked mortgage goldmine that JPM is working for all it's worth snaking 80%+ of all payment flow from the bond holders. Who knows, they might even manage to peel off C & BA credit card units and merge them. Classic!
If these folks really knew how to be scandalous we would be in even deeper trouble.
we share your pessimism.
Cuomo is not your knight in shining armor.
remember: he was HUD chairman during Clinton.
the story of the day that Obama (speak no evil) went upstate to meet the Guv (see no evil) and the AG (hear no evil) says all you need to know about Cuomo's real intentions.
it ain't got nothin to do with justice.
he's pulling strings with the zeitgeist.
we hope that Patterson will run on a legalize cannabis platform to okie-doke the wizard and force Cuomo to stick the zeitgeist pole up Lewis' bum.
we think Kenny Boy will squeal like southern boys always do.
otherwise, be prepared for more stale bread & flea circuses.
Obviously, Patterson hasn't "heard the word" to move on out from the big cheese yet. I wonder what he wants? It would seem Mr. Cuomo's disappointing power play will eventually be successful at the expense of a complete public vetting of the facts he was pursuing. Dammit,
I thought for a millisecond we were going to hear all about it. NOPE.
They are letting him stay until the end of the year? Anyone wanna make book on that one?
i actually ( not kidding ) feel bad for him; unlike the NYC fucktards he was old school banker; if anyone should be hanged from the gallows on Times Square; Hank Paulson and Mao Bernanke should ( + couple of 1000 more, but not Ken Lewis ) ....
So few understand, he was one of only a few gentile bankers.
In testimony he was the only one that told the truth and stated you don't go against the fed (who threatened to ruin him and replace the board). You all just don't get it, but Cheeky does. Important to focus on common denominators.
Let's see who replaces him...
agreed, i can already hear dick bove raising his target price.
i listened to dick bove on cnbc (yes, yuck) this morning, and as the discussion of mer/bac was tossed around and the fact that bac paid too much for the deal, this incredible shill kept on insisting that the bac shareholders were fine because of how up the market is now...i guess if someone is shot in the heart, and they fully recover, the shooter should not be prosecuted because the victim is fully recovered-- is this man paid exclusively for his position as shill for the fed cartel?
My money is on Sallie krawchek.. But what do I know.. I'm full o' cheese
No doubt a GS club member will take the helm, maybe Thain.
i don't think gentile has anything to do with it. it all goes to personal character and integrity - which has little do with what your religious preference is.
Religious preference has nothing to do with it, it's all about collusion and friends of the printing press. You must not know who runs "the show"
+13,000,000,000,000,000
Made some seriously bad moves (ML and not looking out for his shareholders). He should have done the right thing and told Paulson to pound sand. B of A was doing some shady shit too with CLO's, lost my family some money giving us fraudulent information (blame ourselves for not doing better dd BTW). So he definitely deserves go down. Didn't think the NY banking elite was going to allow some Mississippi kid to hold that much power for long anyway but he walked into their trap. But I agree, there are many that should have made the short list of free orange jumpsuits prior to him.
I was screaming at my BofA bankers asking them WTF was he thinking with the ML deal and how much he paid for them and so little time for DD.
So CB, don't feel bad for him, I followed that bank closer than any other and banked with them for many, many years. They suck too, just don't have as much insider power.
Dittos your comments Cheeky.
Lewis a good guy in a bad situation.
Awww shit, now their pumping estrogen through our computers.
The pity party for Captain Ken needs to end.
I've witnessed the fraud first hand at this bank under his leadership.
Cheeky been livin in Paris a little too long.
No, I strenuously disagree. Ken Lewis failed a Politics 101 when he let Paulson bully him around. Me thinks all he had to do was to call a press conference and announce that Paulson "suggested" to him that he and his BOD would be replaced if he didn't play ball. [Surely he should have been smart enough to tape a few of those bullying conversations? or call back and do so?]
Basic Axiom - No one in government likes the light shining in on the process or the truth. Government will move mountains to avoid negative publicity. Such a statement to the press would have turned the tables on Paulson, put him on the defensive and immunized the BofA BOD from retribution - Paulson couldn't act after being accused - shoot even the "4th Estate" could have figured that one out!
Gee, all Lewis needed to do was be honest and open, but instead he decided to play in the sewer and now the rats are going to eat him alive. Hope his arrogance, stupidity and political tone deafness are taught in business schools for decades!
The above would make complete sense if they weren't on the same team. Not a team you can quit playing ball for (resigning as bank CEO isn't quitting the team).
Well cheeky i'm sorry you feel bad for him. He's a freaking central banker. His motto is Always Be Manipulating. Apperently he's a bit of a sympathetic magician cause it's working on people. He spends how much money on a bathroom while being a part of a bank cartel that starves people in south africa to pay themselves more interest?
The reason these people are able to exist without any sympathy is because they know the things they do are so horrible that someday someway nobody will be able to show them ANY sympathy for fear of being an invite to have them in their damn lives. The whole control the world thing is just a mask for how deeply inadequate they are socially, morally, intellectually, ethically, emotionally. If people would stop sucking them up into the sympathy stream they wouldn't be so good at faking it.
We have lost a true American Icon......Right Ben, Tim, and Hank. We know that all of you will be there for Ken.
Since I work for ML/BofA, I guess there is no point in defending myself - before 2007, the only mortgage that was clear to me was my own.
Not one person, not on this website either (since it didn't exist), could even spell sub-prime before the Bear Sterns HF collapse in 2007.
I understand the venom with which people attack BofA, but most of us are just normal, hard working folks who try to make money with our clients, not off of them.
And I visit this site, quite often, looking for good information, but the insults grating.
So goes the anonymous comment culture.
Anonymous, most of us are angry because your firm BAC/ML in combination likely would have failed without the kindness of me, you and other taxpayers. The fact that you guys are still in existence angers tons of people who play by the rules and accept failure as possibility in their daily lives.
This is not about you and the work you do. You are likely a fine law abiding citizen. However the industry in which you work and the bank who is your employer are criminals. We can debate how criminal they are but we cannot debate their criminal acts.
Many people on this site would like to see justice served and unfortunately that would likely mean you wouldn't have a job and most of the finance ponzi industry would not be in existence.
This is not an ad hominem attack of you but certainly is one of your firm and industry.
We hope your firm and all the others have their day of reckoning.
Cheers,
Pigpen
PS. Don't fret I am a minor non speaking character from a cartoon.
pigpen really said this well. Thank you for your strong, quiet words. I bet this poster can hear you better than many here who might talk to him/her.
I teach at a university. Ponzi is a fractilian structure which is articulating itself at macro, meso, and micro levels. The US has been a giant pyramid scheme that has sucked the rest of the world into the deal. I don't think we started that way, but in 1913, it all changed.
I have awakened to the fact that what I do, what I love, is also embedded in the Ponzi structure. Every move I make, supports the Ponz. It has suffused my being, even as I resist (by teaching my students about it) and hate it. The US is in pain. We are a wild thrashing dysfunctional beast that is hurting everything in its wake.
We are all Ponz. Until the fundamental structure of what we are doing changes, it cannot be any other way.
But even in resistance, is the thesis of the Ponz itself. My very resistance supports the Ponz, because I still carry it out INSIDE the structure. I still replicate the fractilian Ponz.
It may need to collapse if we have any hope of making it.
MsCreant - we are all compromised in certain ways. I was a scumbag IB at a big bank bailed out via the backdoor by AIG.
I went to the school of Larry Summers and the old adage of your leader embodies the values of the institution. The institution is rotten to the core and Mr. Summers managed to mangle our endowment. Total scumbag - valueless
Also worked at a hedge fund which blew up last year. Now I am embarking upon a job working for an industry that is less criminal but again takes advanatage of regulatory capture and a monopoly position.
We are all part of the corrupt system of grift and ponzi. Hard to extricate ourselves from it. We are all status quo in some way no matter how much we rail against it. I am a hypocrite. At least I am an intellectually honest hypocrite.
Who knows.
Cheers,
Pigpen
And I spent my career developing and implementing rapid deployment military opplans and then went on to the DOJ. Perhaps you are a Miles Kendig under all that grime...
it must collapse....the usa ironically is the
great satan...the foul system embodied in
the fed is the engine which drives megalomaniacal
imperialism and war....
i say this as a former "conservative republican"
(although never in a million years liberal...)
the american people enabled this monster either
through ignorance or sloth while they allowed
themselves to be host to a demon represented
by the likes of rockefellers and rothschilds...
these are the forces of mammon which must be
destroyed lest they devour the host just as they
are destroying it now....
Things have a way of turning on minor moments forever relegating the minor and obscure to prominence.
Thanks
We won't have our day of reckoning. It is what it is.
What we should do is understand and recognize when we cross the lexicon of making an honest buck into greed - and there isn't a person anywhere without an agenda.
Your hoping that my company, and many others go the way of the do do is less motivated by revenge and more by being stung by the markets of 08-early 09. I am sure if you were short, you wouldn't given a rat's derriere.
Why weren't more people out? Greed? How many people lost an aggregate of billions with td ameritrade, Schwab and the like?
I run the risk of being wrong on a personal basis but if you are praying for a BofA day of reckoning, you are probably short the stock, or the sector.
"cross the lexicon"?????
i will have to remember that malapropism for
another day.....
i hate boa deeply and without qualification...
i hated that arrogant pig bank as a former
customer and i hate them as a taxpayer having
to bailout that crud infested swamp of financial
terrorism....
you may indeed be a normal honorable person but
the bank is a corporate entity with persons
being an incidental side note...
i would love to see that pos bank buried alive
"Not one person, not on this website either (since it didn't exist), could even spell sub-prime before the Bear Sterns HF collapse in 2007."
Dude, don't include me in your "we were all blind catagory" thats BS. I know alot of people who were aware of the crap loans they were making well before the SHTF. The ones who paid attention were the ones who got out of the markets before they crashed. You would have to be completly blind not to see what was happening when all the field workers started driving around in brand new cars.
I'm with taking bets here....the entire title industry saw this coming a mile away. i'm most confident that the federal and state regulators were very aware and scared as well.
I'll help back that book DH
Of course! Pure hindsight makes you sound like a genius on the internet.
I got folks out in September, but not completely and not because of the mortgage mess but because I felt like I was staring at a black hole. I had no clue what was going on. We all were hoping our checking accounts were still going to be around. And I still lost money for my clients and my net worth was devastated.
But I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me. And my client book is up by over 50% in new assets because of the incredible amount of referrals I am receiving.
My point in joining this discussion is to remind people that there were many people who play outside of the of bond trading desk (essentially where the toxic crap was accumulated) and don't understand the intricacies of derivatives and sub-prime squared and off balance sheet feces used to make a handful of idiots look like geniuses during the leverage induced frenzy of 03-07.
I read Zero Hedge several times per day and I will continue reading.
I just needed folks to realize there are many good people working for the firms you demonize - which is your right.
And I don't blame you.
What make us us here at ZH is that almost all of, in one way or another have been or are on the inside of it. There may be a bit of self admonishment, however, we also realize better than most that those that are most aware are those with direct knowledge and some sense of propriety. Please don't fall in to the blame game, we know we are human and have faults... We gave up the window dressing when we gave up our identities...
Ditto. The first time I saw the term "asset backed security" was on the annual prospectus for a government bond fund. I didn't know what it meant but I found out and got out of that fund. That first bread crumb led to another and another and I have been running from this debt disaster ever since. As I've said before I've been all cash for some time( not even T-bills after Dec2008, I couldn't sit down for a week after that auction). Now the income is almost nothing and I watch these crooks devalue my dollars everyday.
Trying to survive this disaster is how I came to ZH. You don't need a business degree to be able to tell sh!t from shinola. I don't buy any excuses from financial professionals; they knew what they were doing and they were profiting from it.
Please notice that I am not anonymous. I proudly use the name of the grandfather of all FED crooks.
yes - he was peddling self serving bullshit...
if he were any more full of crap he would
be mistaken for a sausage....
maybe it was ken signing in anonymously....
Absolute bullshit. Just because you are a moron do not assume everyone else is, too.
Many people knew what subprime was/is. Many also knew that subprime was only a small part of the problem. While clowns like you were running blind "doing your job", other people were writing letters, calling Congresspeople, calling the Fed and Treasury and trying to get someone/anyone to listen to what was going on and what the ramifications were.
Many people sold their real estate in 2005 (yea, early) and 2006. Okay, missed top tick. Many got out of all long equities, and even took a number of shorts. Yes, many people made money...but mainly because the only alternative remaining was to take advantage of the collective stupidity of you and most of the rest of society.
Incidentally, there were three types of people in the financial community during the build-up of this crisis:
1) The woefully ignorant, like you (Darwin says you deserve what you get)
2) The fearful and concerned who tried to stop it (selected out by Darwinian Socialism in the long run)
3) The mercenaries who knew it was a house of cards but didn't give a flying fuck (they won: survival of the fittest)
"We wish Ken Lewis and his trial defense team all the best as they prepare for the biggest criminal and civil onslaught against his persona in history."
exactly. he always has seemed naive to me regarding the forces aligning against him.
lions and wolves can spot the weakest and most vulnerable in the herd.
they'll go for the kill with mr. lewis.
imo he ought to have been more forthright re ben and paulson in his congressional testimony. he'll regret it later.
Poor Ken. Whenever I saw him on TV he appeared to be a soft spoken "nice guy". There are a lot of casualties from the craziness of the last year.
On the Merrill deal: He must have had a gun to his head from the feds or he was just plain blind. My guess is it was the gun. Paulson and Bernanke had him over some barrel. It will come out what that barrel was. Can't wait.
No doubt he had a gun to his head to complete the deal, but he should have never put himself in that position in the first place. He should have stayed home that weekend, let the chips fall, and come in later to clean up the pieces.
Same with CFC - he could have had them for free. No way that company would have survived, but he had to make sure he was first to the table.
That is where Dimon was so much smarter - he let the government come to him begging, so he could do the deals on his terms.
sorry? we feel sorry for the poor suckers who got foreclosed on by Butthole of Amerika after taking out a 2nd to pay for cancer treatments denied by their insurance companies for pre-existing conditions.
we don't feel sorry for Ken Lewis.
if he wishes for our sympathy, he can spill the beans.
drop the bomb on the hammer & the helicopter,
then he'll get our respect.
otherwise, capitalism's a biatch, especially when it's not really capitalism AND rigged in your favor.
Sing like a bird or get f$cked like a biatch.
There comes a time in every person's life when they face the choice between their own personal interests and doing the right thing.
Ken Lewis failed. He may be a nice guy and a loving husband and a good boss. But he failed. Let's call a spade a spade.
Bruce, I respect your opinions but a man can always choose to quit his job before doing something wrong. Some war criminals truly had guns to their heads but that fact did not absolve them of their guilt and it did not protect them in court. If KL kept his job and violated his duty to BAC shareholders and the general public he should be held accountable for that.
So now ZH has the resignation letter. It has this line:
I will simply say that this was my decision, and mine alone.
I think Ken Lewis is "taking one for the team". He can retire to the mountains and we will never know what happened.
There is more to this story then is now out there.
The game of musical chairs continues apace as the reshuffle continues, JPM, BofA......who next
Dimon made a big mistake letting Bill Winters go, BofA probably not.
BAC stock is up in the after hours - the machines and the MMO - Market Maintenance Organization like it.
BAC is going to rally tomorrow? Hell this isn't much of a surprise to anyone who has been following this fiasco.
We will say this again, very, very few people know what really went on, and who told who to do what, and when. Cheeky is correct. Ken got caught up in a mess. He is an "old school" banker. Ken's downfall and mistake was that, for a brief 2-3 month period during the crisis, he forgot to tell the truth to his stock/bond holders and market, and tell the idiots in government to "fuck off." This he will regret for the rest of his life.
Exactly. He's life would be at risk iether way.
then it's a lesson that he has to learn. but you know what, all he had to do was watch the Godfather trilogy and he could have saved thousands, maybe millions, many years of suffering.
if he really wants to turn regret into repentance, maybe he should learn from Jr. Gotti's "best friend" and turn from a goat into a rat. then maybe even some of the dogs will forgive him in the end.
Ken surely knows from which chapter of the Old Testament from which we speak.
AR, if you know 'something' and speak the truth, all Ken has to do to make it right is stand up and tell the truth. The whole truth. And nothing but the truth.
Otherwise, people have no other choice but to believe that he is aiding and abetting in covering up.
Yep. He has the opportunity to expose the truth in court.
In the end of this tenure with BofA, he should be recognized as a failure as a CEO.
Today, one can make the statement he failed as a person for protecting his and the board's interests over the shareholders he served. Invoking the MAC clause and living with the fallout would have been the right thing to do.
He can repair some of that damage by exposing the Bernanke and Paulson for what they are-- thugs that have egregiously abused their almost limitless powers.
In the end, though, I simply think that Ken Lewis is a coward. A very, very rich coward.
I would like to live off the interest of his Platinum exit package!!!
Jimmy Hoffa redux...
OH NO, THEY KILLED KENNY!!!!!
(YOU B@STARDS!)
ROFL! :)
The den of vipers and thieves takes out another good man. Maybe Ken will turn states evidence against them. We can only hope.
Why do these ultra wealthy idiots even bother fighting and taking a chance on losing their ill-gotten gains and/or being jailed? Why don't they just sail their yachts to the Caribbean and live a quiet life of luxury? Answer - because they are so arrogant they can't imagine anyone not obeying them.
He was an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill.
+1,000 for the Apocalypse Now wisdom. Lewis was out of his league. Now he's out.
Ken should stay away from non-commercial flights and used car back lots.
Ken will be replaced by Brian Moynihan. That is what we are being told. Brian is known inside bank as "the fixer." Brian was also deeply involved in the all the negotiations with the government (read between the lines). Liam McGee (now CEO at Hartford) and Brian did not get along (again, read between the lines). Franchise and brand remains intact and strong, while the depth of their executive team (top 20-30 members) moves the bank forward.
"Since I work for ML/BofA, I guess there is no point in defending myself - before 2007, the only mortgage that was clear to me was my own.
Not one person, not on this website either (since it didn't exist), could even spell sub-prime before the Bear Sterns HF collapse in 2007.
I understand the venom with which people attack BofA, but most of us are just normal, hard working folks who try to make money with our clients, not off of them.
And I visit this site, quite often, looking for good information, but the insults grating."
Sorry about any insults--most on the board blame the higher ups more than anytning who took big $ to gamble and lost other peoples money. Sorry if you were an unwitting part of that.
Anonymous I and many others knew about "sub-prime" long before 2007 and before I knew about this board. Due to various business dealings and contacts here in LA, I thought I knew there was going to be a massive blow up as far back as 2000-02 when I saw what had happened to the laws, what was happening to the regulatory agencies and to the US court system, and could just see it happening at the various banks and financial institutions.
This is not the first time around for these problems. Similar blow ups occured in the 1980's--I was involved in a case In re NMEC in which BofA took a $100 million dollar hit. A lot of $ at the time. Anyone can also read up on the keating 5 and how deregulation cost the US tax payors another $400 to $600 billion when the S&L's went down.
Now it seems to me the higher authorities are desperately trying to deal with disasters--and desparate people sometimes tell desperate stories.
I'm not sure people should trust or feel sorry for old Ken. He got arrogant and greedy. His stories are factually inconstant: Consistent only that they all seem to come out trying to make him look good.
Plenty of gentiles in the banking business but certain folk play the evil jew card whenever a gentile messes up. To be polite, Lewis at least messed up-- If you believe his side of the story. Warren Buffet trusts Paulson and Lewis's tale doesn't make a lot of sense. Why would Paulson do it?
The lying in the deal papers is endemic to these deals, to the lawyers, the bankers and all the players. Seems to me Wall Street is selling trust and should start cleaning up its act starting with the big boys who benefit the most.
WTF does this have to do with Jews?
ANYONE involved with running the train off the track needs to go and have their bonuses clawed back. Then we need to pursue the criminals.
I heard if he's found guilty and sentence to jail, Kenny Boys Bar and Grill opens another franchise in the Caribbean.
I look at those people,the likes of him,Paulson,and others,during their testimony in congress,and have nothing but discontent for money. Stutering,sweating, with loss of words,they look like nothing but insects. While I am sure during their carriers,they have been portrayed at certain times as larger than life figures by MSM. Just like Michael Milken back in the eighties,after being on a front cover of Times,only to end up in prison a couple of years later. While I can't deny that most people like to have a lot of money,and I am one of them, but at the same time to be in front of congress in a shameful manner and touted as a thief,I will difinetly prefer to be underground beore that.
Len Kewish aka Ken Lewis will be moved into witness protection.
Jan. 1 Ken Lewis will be found drinking Johnny Walker Blue and smoking a Cuban on the beach of a non extradition treaty country. Well maybe not a beach, maybe by the fire in a nice 10,000 sq ft cabin.
Hope he gets some vacation in as a free man while he can.
In other green shoot news, Chrysler Financial, the erstwhile captive arm of Chrysler Motors, just laid off 12% of their employees, today. This was classified as restructuring, even when the company is not funding any retail, lease or wholesale lines of business. GMAC is funding all Chrysler vehicles as per Treasury's instructions. The company has no funding source, is liquidating its portfolio and shutting down its business. Yet, the Cerberus installed management defines this as restructuring as if there is a tomorrow for all the remaining employees.
He will be suicided before he can tell all.
ehh, mark him to zero...
He should change his name to Lewis Ken
W. Eel Skin
Victim of Paulson's Wake. He built a real big bank/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/breakingthebank/interviews/lewis.html
Just as expected.
Kenny is being put out to pasture with a very hefty "and undisclosed" Platinum Parachute in return for one thing - SILENCE.
He will no doubt have to give full attention to his defense on myriad civil and criminal charges - but, if he goes quietly on 12/31/2009, all will be forgiven.
In truth, he knew his days were numbered when he crossed swords with HP and TG - all that was left was waiting for the day when BB and Timmy decided he had outlived his usefulness and was ready to be pushed out.
He won't be missed.
KptLt. Laughing Swordfish
9er Unterseeboote Flotille
something smells with this story... Lewis finally got the gem he wanted (MER)- got someone else to pay for it (the gov't), got thru the crisis - and now he's going to transition to the next generation of management? come on.. Sounds to me like BAC is going to be raising some capital - perhaps a private placement of either stock or debt - and the buyer wanted Lewis o-u-t.
Was there ever any doubt that he was being set up as the "fall" guy?
The media at the behest of their political masters will turn this into the financial equivalent of the OJ trial (the congressional hearings served as the slow motion car chase).
This is a grand distraction that by the time it is all said and done the public will have lost interest while the real criminals sip cocktails on their 100m yachts.
Ken tried to bluff Hank and Ben with the MAC card to get Dimon-like terms. They saw it coming, called his bluff and he weakly folded. He is not that smart, and when confronted, pointed fingers at everyone from Thain to his corporate legal counsel. He played his cards poorly. I don't see calling his bluff as putting a gun to his head. I think Hank and Ben saw him as in over his head and feeble. He has, under the current microscope, proven them right. Some would call that "gentile".
Tyler, I am a trader and I am having trouble finding bullish setups. They were abudant even 2 weeks ago but now I just cannot come across with anything with a low risk reward ratio. Market is churning and it is very easy to be whipsawed either if you are long or short.
In this enviroment NVDA looked unusually strong this morning, being up on volume even though they were puking this market after the Chicago PMI. It looked like a perfect setup for a trade, which I took, even though I was trying hard to find a reason why was that strength happening. I looked at the semis I did not see any particular strength in the group so it was not group related, I looked at the news announcements and I could not find anything either. After the market closed I went for a quick work out and there on my Gym's TV screens I saw the reason explaining NVDA's strength . I read the Headline on the CNBC MAD MONEY SHOW: "CRAMER SAYS IT IS TIME TO START CHIPPING AWAY ON NVDA " CRAMER had a 10 minute pitch on the stock. I left the Gym right away, came back home and sold the stock after hours. I suspect that Crames's sales pitch is not strong enough reason to stay long on the stock for more than one day.
I know that you are looking into all types of manipulation in the market so I thought I would mention that to you. It is obvious to me that Cramer's cronnies were tipped off this morning about the Mad Money show reccomendation and they were buying this stock. They will be selling it tomorrow to the morons that are still buying Cramer's stock picks.
Truly
COSTAS
PS Keep up the good work.
My old moral reasoning professor Michael Sandel on NPR marketplace talking about morals and justice in the financial bailout and the anger and outrage.
He talks about quixotic ideas of civic duty and responsibility.
Such a quaint notion.
Cheers,
Pigpen
peace PP
Been at Merrill for two years and three CEO's later.... I am putting my money on that fact then next CEO is not a white male
Been at Merrill for two years and three CEO's later.... I am putting my money on that fact then next CEO is not a white male
He would do well to stay out of small, private airplanes.
Just sayin'.
Ken Lewis already saved the world once (sic).
He will have the amazing opportunity to save it again
if he can live to testify and prove it.
Fcuk that lyin piece of shit. That pussy couldn't stand up to those weasels Paulson and Bernaanke. Loser. Grow a pair of balls.
Maybe he could come clean here.
one can only hope that the wheels of justice grind exceedingly fine to squeeze out of lewis whatever pulp of truth he may know....truth which would take down sinister bernanke....
it's hard to reconcile a man becoming head of a monster organization like boa being as stupid as many describe him...
he certainly made a bad call on covering up about merril lynch - my best guess is that he thought he was being a team player during a crisis....he didn't realize he was playing with satan and beelzebub....
He'll be off to join Kenny Lay in the bahamas.
I read this article after your later post about ken lewis's goodbye...so glad you all are wishing him well. He got screwed every which way by paulson/bernake &co. I hope p/b&co know that he has already made a record of what happened in every single interview he had since last Sept, so, regardless of what the cartel thinks they can FORCE him to do.
Good luck Ken and very best wishes Ken!!!