mj's Profile
Entry: DealBreaker Afterdark: Bernanke Endorses Obama
posted by mj
Oct 21, 2008 10:37AM
@26 - agreed on op/ed pages. theres no such thing as an unbiased ed. board anymore, esp. when talking abt the ny times or the wsj whose editorials reflexivelly sprint to their respective side of any issue. The best you could right now are the l.a. times (slightly left of center) and the washington post (believe it or not, slightly right).
as for the headline, in this case whoever penned the editorial probably came up with it themselves to be tongue in cheek but it came off as hamhanded and manipulative. paul gigot, stephen moore, brian carney, or whoever wrote this is more upset that bernanke's statement was in line with statements by the democrats on the stump or john maynard keynes or maybe someone else i can't think of. the point is they didn't like it so they cried foul (not the first time). bernanke is entitled to his opinion and whether or not to give it if he feared doing so would compromise the fed's activities. but wsj isn't suggesting he do so for apolitical reasons. they'd prefer bernanke to shut up in this instance for explicitly political reasons, because his position coincideds with politicians the ed. board doesn't like. if the opposite were true, i'm sure they'd want to make sure the fed issued a follow-up release to make sure people heard the comments. the editorial is just another example of partisan hackery that has come to characterize the wsj ed. board under gigot.
Entry: Zoe Cruz: Back. In. The. Game.
posted by mj
Oct 22, 2008 11:57AM
Cruz turned down UBS b/c she's smart enough to realize that working for a bank means you're at the mercy of changing tastes. She was elevated by Purcell, leaping over one Vikram Pandit, but found herself at the mercy of Mack who hadn't been the one to position her as his successor despite having worked together for years before he left for CSFB.
As a result, even though it was Mack who pushed for the increased exposure to structured securities and Cruz's job to oversee it, he threw her under the bus when things went sour.
And @14, you mean cougar. And even though one is definitely hotter, I'd sooner open up a vein in each of my forearms and sit in a lemon juice bath to wait out the inevitable...
Entry: Waxman Witch Trials: The One We've Been Waiting For
posted by mj
Oct 23, 2008 10:32AM
@4 what's worse is that even though he says that now, Greenspan's argument 3-4 years ago was that if ppl gamble and lose, so what? The fact that they keep showing up and letting it ride til they throw snakeyes or doubling down on 19 means the system works, losses don't matter since ppl are willingly and knowingly putting the money up, and there should be gambling at Rick's.
Just like Captain Renault, at the end of the day someone will walk up to Greenspan and say "your winnings sir."
Entry: Who Would Mesh Best With Vikram Pandit?
posted by mj
Oct 28, 2008 3:12PM
@7 Vikram left when P-squared consolidated power and promoted loyal vp's Zoe Cruz and Steve Crawford to co-president leapfrogging Vik in the process. Also the biggest problem with these two getting together is the old Dean Witter and Smith Barney pieces of each company. It's a little complicated but they're retail so who gives a fuck, really?
Entry: You Say 'Cockamamie Spending Plan' Like It's A Bad Thing
posted by mj
Oct 30, 2008 3:35PM
@5 but Roger Ailes, who happens to still be Cavuto's boss, is a GOP mouthpiece. There was a politics chat on washingtonpost.com a little while ago and a question was asked about Shep Smith dressing down Joe the Plumber. One of the the analysts on the chat noted that Fox's bias has always sided with the GOP base when they've broken with individuals, first Bush and now McCain.
You could look at Cavuto's rant in the same context. In both instances, Fox is serving red meat to the party faithful as they consolidate themselves and begin to break from McCain much like they did when Bush's popularity began to sink. They're pushing back against the campaign that has taken to tossing them under the bus rhetorically and in principle now that they no longer see any benefit in remaining loyal to it.
In other words @4, the McCain campaign is probably less hurt by the criticism than they are by the implicit admission by Fox News/FBN that they believe McCain is going to lose.
With any luck, they're right.
Entry: Nassim Taleb's Got A Plan
posted by mj
Nov 06, 2008 1:29PM
Quants wud appreciate being locked away. Then they'd be protected from shrholders.
Entry: Just Asking
posted by mj
Nov 14, 2008 4:19PM
I'm with @9. Cummings is a respected and hardworking Congressman who shoots his mouth off sometimes. And he wasn't calling Kashkari a "chump." He was characterizing the behavior of firms that have taken $2 trillion worth of checks and not put the money into the system, potentially just pocketing it, and asking Kashkari how he (and Treasury) felt abt that.
CNBC is truncating the quote so they can feign outrgage. What he said was: "I'm just wondering how you feel about an AIG giving $503 million worth of bonuses on the one hand, and accepting $154 billion from hard-working taxpayers. What really bothers me is all these other people who are lining up. They say, well, is Kashkari a chump?"
Entry: Hedge Funds Are Private, Largely Unregulated Pools Of Capital....
posted by mj
Nov 20, 2008 12:33PM
Scholes once told a colleague of mine who at the time had 20yrs experience trading bonds that he [my colleague] wasn't smart enough to deal with him [Scholes]. Fuck him.
Entry: The New Treasury Secretary
posted by mj
Nov 21, 2008 3:52PM
I don't know if I can support the nomination of anyone who's clearly thinking abt grabbing boobs while testifying before Congress abt the bank failures and bailouts. (Had to be said. Can't believe it wasn't already.)
Entry: Spitzer Travel Agent/Trollop Handler Gets A Year
posted by mj
Nov 25, 2008 12:13PM
Trollop is a word that just isnt used enough.
@5, conjugal visits u mean?
@4, No
Entry: Spitzer Travel Agent/Trollop Handler Gets A Year
posted by mj
Nov 25, 2008 12:20PM
@14 - Conviction Sell
Entry: Broken?
posted by mj
Nov 26, 2008 11:48AM
@18 Yesterday's news caused buying in agy MBS. TBA's correspond to the 10yr, and ppl hedge that trade by bying the actual Note, the TYA, other futures contracts on the 10yr, and 10yr swaps (not CDS). The CDS are trading on the back of that. Whole lotta nuthin.
@23 CPB cash were trading as tight as any credit until their lackluster results and a Merrill downgrade.
Entry: CNBC: John Thain Will Not Receive Bonus This Year
posted by mj
Dec 08, 2008 4:34PM
I guess if you wanna put a price on not looking like the worlds biggest asshole, its more than $10million. Or how it goes in Thain's mind right now: "The fucking WSJ cost me $10million!"
Entry: Jamie Dimon: Banks Must Stop Enabling Junkie Whores, Prepare For Tough '09
posted by mj
Dec 11, 2008 2:41PM
Does Huckman know abt Jamie and Becky? And Erin seemed pretty collegial with him (not in a dirty way). I'm curious how many off the record chats (also not dirty) have they had since this mess started?
Entry: Who Is Trash Talking Jamie Dimon To Charlie Gasparino?
posted by mj
Jan 05, 2009 10:11AM
If Dimon is someone who runs an umbrella banks and is respected by his underlings, understands risk management and the balance sheet, holds departments accountable, and manages the business tightly so as to not let things get out of control, then wouldn't the jealous little shit talking to Chaz be someone who runs an umbrella bank but is none of those other things. Or maybe Vikram's motivation was simpler, like: "Jamie gets a feature interview with Erin Burnett in the Waldorf ,and here I get Gasparino telling me we have to go dutch on lunch at San Pietro! Motherfucker!"
Entry: Blind Item
posted by mj
Oct 20, 2008 4:30PM
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