March 2009
5 posts
Backlash →
I suspect that anyone who can leave banks with TARP money will head out the door as fast as possible, leaving the scrubs/bench warmers to manage our institutions.
It looks like american and french youths share a similarly morbid sense of humor. The WSJ ran an article this weekend detailing an immensely popular french website - viedemerde.fr. If you don’t have access to the wsj and aren’t fluent in french, this probably won’t help you out much … F My Life is the american counterpart to vie de merde. These two sites specialize in...
The Porn Bailout
Larry Flynt and Joe Francis, equipped with an army of lobbyists, are heading to DC to claim their portion of Obama’s bailout funds. Seems logical enough … they want $5 billion to prevent any future financial upheaval. Just think about what the porn industry could do with $5 billion … that’s scary. Or worse yet, think about all those poor struggling actors and actresses who...
February 2009
16 posts
Why not have it all?
Why settle for 40% of Citi when you can have it all? The first $45 billion is looking like a good investment … at least its not as bad as AIG.
Too much of a bad thing . . .
is a good thing? Too much debt on the books of poor credit quality businesses and individuals is one of the main reasons for our current economic black hole. So, here is how we get out of the recession, its easy … just lend more money to the lowest quality of the low quality home buyers. Makes sense right?
The government can go find those individuals who purchased homes they couldn’t...
Greed is good
Except if you’re John Thain. Then, of course, you’re greed has resulted in a publicity nightmare that only Oprah could fix. Apparently requesting a $40 million bonus and paying a $1.2 million redecorating fee is so early 2000s. You will just have to settle for $500,000. (Unless of course John Thain hired you, then you probably received a $50 million guaranteed contract through 2056 -...
Business is Booming . . .
for life coaches. Just got fired? Is the roof caving in? Does your family hate you? Are you kids embarrassed to be around you? If you answered yes to these questions, then you obviously need a life coach.
It seems like the most pathetic businesses are going gangbusters in the downturn … life coaches, McDonalds, Dollar General, Walmart, rollerblades (this may or may not be true), etc. If...
January 2009
3 posts
Almost
I almost came back to life … then, out of nowhere, the deal pipeline started overflowing. Companies want to do high yield deals, businesses want to do debt-for-debt exchanges, CEOs want to step away from the bankruptcy ledge, and so on. All these deals are dramatically different from those of 12 months ago (and obviously have no relation to those of 24 months ago). Companies are only going...
Back to life
After writing a few posts, i figured it was time for a sabbatical … after all, i earned it … well, now im back from the vacation and ready to start writing again. First order of business - business plan update.
I started working rather diligently on the b-plan. It was coming together. I was starting to see the business taking shape. However, one day i woke up and realized - who is...
October 2008
7 posts
Business Plan
What does it take to build a business? Who really knows? I have a business plan in my head now. Its a really good business. I’ve tossed it around, written a brief business description, etc. Nothing special. Thats all easy.
I always thought that thinking of the idea was the hard part. Wrong. Implementing the idea is the hard part. Finding the combination of motivation and time is the hard...
Mr. Dimon
I met Jamie Dimon this weekend. Guess what he was doing? No, he wasn’t buying another bank or working to solve the next near meltdown. He was tailgating, drinking a Busch Light and loving it … kind of. He probably hated the fact that hoards of students were approaching him to ask ill conceived questions about the financial markets -
“Mr. Dimon, nice to meet you. I am Johnny...
US, not so bad?
The US markets have dropped approximately 25% excluding monday’s ghost rally. That only means it has outperformed nearly every single major foreign stock exchange, including Germany’s XETRADAX (down 28%) China’s Shanghai exchange (down 30%), Japan’s NIKK225 (down 37%), Brazil’s BOVESPA (down 41%) and Russia RTSI (down 61%).
Would you ever have thought, despite all...
Worst week ever
I have been without television or internet for the past few days and i still know that this has been the worst week ever in the stock market. Personally, i am getting aboslutely killed. I own stock in great businesses and they are just being destroyed. (If only Sarah Palin was our President, the stock market would defin-oodly-opdy pick right on back up.)
However, when times like these arise, i...
My Friend
While watching the debate John McCain said “my friend” exactly 875,045 times. That is a bit ridiculous. Why would he say this so many times? I can only imagine that someone, who is apparently an expert political analyst, told John - “Call everyone your friend, people will stop thinking you are a frumpy old man.” Well … sorry, John McCain still has more than his fair...
Superlative
I don’t think there are enough superlatives to describe the current economic and political environment. The Dow has dropped approximately 13% this week and has reached lows not seen since the early 2000s. The Fed is utilizing extraordinary powers not seen since the Great Depression. And so on … This is an absolutely amazing time to be in business.
I know that downturns are hard but...
One day . . .
there will be books written about the events that have unfolded over the past week. WB woke up monday to an extraordinarily low bid from Citi; by friday , Wells Fargo had swooped in with a $15.1 billion rescue package. Now the two banks are tied in a legal battle for the beleaguered Charlotte, NC bank.
Who knows what is going to happen in the end, but it has nonetheless been an amazing week. It...
Making the headlines
The financial turmoil is finally taking its tole on my firm. We are being acquired. I have seen this happen on tv, papers, magazines, etc. But it is a totally different animal when its your firm.
When i first heard the news, i thought i had it bad. I could be jobless come January and could potentially lose my offer to a PE firm for July 2009. (Anyone know how to file for unemployment?) However,...
September 2008
6 posts
NYT
It is somewhat unbelievable how little the average american and the majority of the media understand about the current economic situation. This morning i was reading the NY Times (which is absurdly overpriced at $5); almost everyone economy-related article was filled with phrases like - “the US government acted again this weekend to save Wall Street at the expense of the taxpayer” or...
Sky . . . falling?
I went to the closing dinner on Wednesday, play golf for three days, then went to the beach for the weekend. I come back to the real world on Sunday to the news that Merrill and Lehman were gone. Ridiculous. Im officially done sleeping on the markets. I clearly dont have the ability the predict or anticipate market moves - my stock portfolio will serve as evidence to that. (I strongly feel all my...
Closing Dinner Update
We had a last minute cancellation. The associate from the Sponsor was too busy to make it to the east coast. (This seems somewhat bizarre considering capital markets are currently nonexistent.) Since he was flying from LA, we booked him for both Wednesday and Thursday nights. (Hint - this is the perfect opportunity for me to get out of the office and craft a 2 day work week / 5 day vacation...
Closing Dinners . . .
are a huge pain in the ass. I have been planning an event at Pinehurst for the past month. Bankers are such premadannos … everyone wants a driver to the course (rental cars wont cut it); rooms with hot towels; breakfast with chewy bacon; an extra seat on the plane (so they dont have to sit next to anyone); and on … The only people who are moderately rational are the CEO and CFO of the...
Doomsday
Recruiting season is starting to gear up for summer ‘09 analysts … This weekend i found out that my firm is only seeking 80 new hires (down from 190 or so last year). To make matters worse for undergards, about 44 summer analyst have received offers. If you do that math … things aren’t looking good.
Therefore, the standard fallback banking jobs are not going to be...