As the media whirlwind over the latest Ponzmaster becomes more and more acute, the disclosures about his past keep mounting to a point where what Madoff has done in comparison will likely soon seem tame.

In a Bloomberg TV telephonic interview, Christopher Whalen, managing director of Institutional Risk Analytics, discusses the possibility that Citi may file for bankruptcy, which according to him is "inevitable". Our advice to Vikram regardless of what he does - don't hire Lazard if you need a DIP.

Is anyone else tired of hearing Larry Kudlow's claims that the "Ted Spread is down" (which we assume is the new way of saying a spread is tighter, or alternatively the CNBC grammer nazis could be on strike, as evidenced by such pearls from Trish Regan as "Retail consumer spending changing for the good") will be the reason for the next American golden age?

Message from Steve Schwarzman

Issued: January 13, 2009

I am both saddened and outraged to have to tell you that the SEC has brought a civil complaint today against Ramesh Chakrapani in our Corporate Advisory Services Group, charging him with passing on inside information three years ago about a pending transaction on which he worked as a 30 year old vice president.

The Wall Street Journal reports that HeidelbergCement, whose CDS jumped by about 300 bps since when we wrote about the brewing troubles at the German cement maker, may be bailed out by Goldman Sachs and TPG who are allegedly considering buying