He added that he’s just messing, “of course,” but seriously, think about it. Dare to dream. We can do this. And then together, we will dance.

Germans should consider the following thought experiment: withdrawal from the euro. The restored Deutschemark would soar, the euro would plummet. The rest of Europe would become competitive and could grow its way out of its difficulties but Germany would find out how painful it can be to have an overvalued currency. Its trade balance would turn negative, and there would be widespread unemployment. Banks would suffer severe losses on exchange rates and require large injections of public funds. But the government would find it politically more acceptable to rescue German banks than Greece or Spain. And there would be other compensations; German pensioners could retire to Spain and live like kings, helping Spanish real estate to recover.

Germany Must Reflect On The Unthinkable [FT]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Bring it, little man.

“You know George [Soros] is someone we all have aspired to match his brilliance but I have to tell you, you have to remember something there, the richest people on the planet become socialist. Socialism is a great thing for George. I want to bring George down. I want George’s reputation. George is now embracing socialism. What is socialism? Socialism is when you build a moat around the castle. I’m spending all of my time trying to decide where I’m going to live because of taxes are so high in the country and less of my time trying to figure out how to surpass Soros and his reputation.” [Bloomberg]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

As previously mentioned, I did a little interview with CNBC’s Trish Regan. We discussed, among other things, her time at DE Shaw and whether or noat Charlie Gasparino and Dennis Kneale are necrophiliacs.

What do you think of the financial reform bill?
I think considering the effect that the banks had on the entire system that it’s understandable people are truly outraged but I do worry that the politicians might take it too far. There’s been talk it might be watered down, though, so that’s a good thing.

You were Miss New Hampshire. Do you feel that any subsequent Miss New Hampshires have lived up to your standards?
I haven’t kept up with the pageant! I don’t know anyone who’s won so I really can’t say.

Was being a beauty queen good training for financial journalism?
Well I learned how to do my make-up which can come in pretty handy but other than that I don’t think there’s a huge connection.

As a former Goldman Sachs employee, do you think all the heat they’ve taken has been warranted? Do you want to rub Lloyd’s gleaming pate and tell him it’s all going to be okay?
I think Goldman is like the Yankees. They’ve been incredibly successful so it’s easy to take shots at them. People love to hate.

After Goldman, you did a stint at DE Shaw. A friend of mine was told by a rather intense representative of the firm that they only hire “geniuses”—are you a genius? The logic follows
[Laughs] Well I’ve never been tested so I couldn’t say. When I was there the culture was very much about being super smart. And you got to wear jeans to work—jeans with hole in them!

What’s next for you professionally? RenTec?
I definitely want to say in news and financial journalism. I love CNBC and I do a lot of other work for other brands within the company, like the Today Show and Nightly News. And I’m doing another documentary.

Part II to Pot?
Yes! This one’s not in California, it’s all over. I was just in Portugal, and we were out in Denver, which is really the emerging market of marijuana.

Have you been forced to partake a lot for research purposes?
You know I’ve actually never smoked pot in my life.
Ever think about changing that?
Probably not, I feel like I’ve made it this long without doing it. I’ve also never eaten ketchup. Maybe I’ll just have one crazy night where I do all the things I’ve never done.

David Shaw, Steve Cohen, George Soros: Who would you want to babysit your kids? Who would you want to father you kids (if Mr. Ben was out of the picture)? Who would you want to pay 2&20 (or 3&50)?
That’s a tough one. I think I’d go with David to baby-sit. For managing my money? Probably have to go with David—
You can’t do that, you picked him as the babysitter.
But he’s so good!
But nothing– these are the rules. You can only use one name per category. You know Steve’s not too shabby with money, why not take him?
Yeah but David’s a genius, remember?
Well actually I didn’t say that someone on his payroll did but okay, then put Steve on babysitting. I’m sure he’d do a good job. Great airplane noises while feeding them.
Okay Steve as babysitter—though he probably wouldn’t be a match for Larry’s skills—and David investing.
And the final category?
I’m very, very happy with my husband.
Don’t doubt that at all. But in our imaginary scenario, he’s out of the picture and you need a donor.
Really, no, very happy with husband.
Pretend I’m putting a gun to your head.
Can’t answer this question—impossible.
Fine– but I just want you to know that George Soros does have feelings.

Alright, let’s move on. I noticed that you didn’t graduate from college until 2000, after finishing high in ’91. What went on in those gap years?
I took some time off to pursue a career as an opera singer.
Why’d you give that up?
I didn’t love it enough. It was something that I wanted to do when I was 14.
What’s your favorite opera?
La Traviata.
Do you sing in the shower?
I have sung in the shower but I don’t anymore because one time our neighbor came over and asked us if we could “turn the volume down on the stereo.”
Wow. The cheek of some people.

Are your daughters going to call Larry Kudlow “Uncle Larry”?
Definitely. He hasn’t babysat yet but he promises and I’m going to be taking him up on that soon.

Pick for the World Cup?
USA, definitely.

The Dealbreaker readers came up with some questions for you. I’m just going to run down the list. Question number 1: How does it feel to be classified as a MILF?
What’s a MILF
It’s…it’s an acronym…it stands for Mother I’d Like to…synonym for word which means to have relations with. It’s a compliment.
Oh, then it feels good.

Question number 2: How do you feel you measured up next to Mandy and her assets?
I think I held my own.

Question number 3: If you had to: Charlie Gasparino or Dennis Kneale? Killing yourself is not an acceptable answer.
I think I would have to kill myself. Or be on life-support.
And then? Who would it be?
You think it would still be appealing for them?
Dennis Kneale and Charlie Gasparino? Yes, one of them would definitely still go for it, if not both.

Question number 4: Just so we can be fair, in that same vein, if you had to get down and dirty with one of the anchorettes on CNBC, whom would you choose?
See this question is just as hard as the last but for the opposite reason. I’m not into women but if I were it would be really difficult. We have a lot of beautiful ladies at CNBC.

Question number 5: Don’t know if you’ve kept up with this story, but a woman named Debrahlee Lorenzana recently claimed she was fired from Citi for being “too hot.” If you have kept up, give us your perspective — is she too hot?
She certainly looks very hot. Though obviously that shouldn’t have had an effect on her job.

Amanda Drury has said she’s coming with us on a field trip to Beamer’s, an establishment in Stamford, CT – are you in?
If Mandy goes I’ll go.

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

It was the height of 1992 European currency crisis.

Like today, the Euro zone’s politicians, especially the Germans, were standing pat refusing to prop up the value of the pound. Currency traders had already forced the devaluation of the Italian lira and Stan Druckenmiller, the chief PM of George Soros’ Quantum Fund, already had a $1.5 billion bet against the pound. But, he was ready to go further, based mostly on unofficial comments from Helmut Schlesinger, the president of the German Bundesbank, who indicated that a devaluation of the pound was in the offing.

Druckenmiller was thinking about slowly adding to his position. But Soros said “go for the jugular.”

From More Money Than God, Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite. Sebastian Mallaby’s new book about the history of hedge funds:

Druckenmiller could see that Soros was right: Indeed, this was the man’s genius. Druckenmiller had done the analysis, understood the politics, and seen the trigger for the trade; but Soros was the one who sensed that this was the moment to go nuclear. When you knew you were right, there was no such thing as betting too much. You piled on as hard as possible.

For the rest of that Tuesday, Druckenmiller and Soros sold sterling to anyone prepared to buy from them. Normally they left it to their traders to execute orders, but this time they got on the phones themselves, searching for banks that would agree to take the other side of their orders. Under the rules of the exchange-rate mechanism, the Bank of England was obliged to accept offers to sell sterling, but this requirement only held during the trading day in London. With the Bank of England closed for business, it was a scramble to find buyers, particularly once word got around that Soros and Druckenmiller were selling crazily.

We all know what happened after that.

Go for the Jugular [Atlantic Monthly]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Alibaba.com this morning disclosed that investor George Soros last year bought a stake in the company and is now one of the three largest holders of its public shares. The news drove up Alibaba shares as much as 11% in Hong Kong trading, before closing up 5.3% on the session, [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

Yesterday we discussed Gryphon Financial, and its status as the latest firm to be shut down in the SEC’s quest to ruin a good time. To recap, Grphyon is scam of a financial firm which swindled less than $20 million from investors and, in the process, told the best lies ever, which included: the fact that its office is in Staten Island, and not on Wall Street, props from George Soros, who it was claimed said, “Alone, the Gryphon Financial are incredible, together they are unstoppable,” alleged huge-ass returns (Gryphon said that investments were “up 1,324 percent in total compounding returns in the last 16 years,” when in fact they only formed in 2005), and press from the FT, which supposedly wrote “This secret group has identified as the latest hedge fund to exploit the weakening sub prime markets – pounding stocks down to nothing and making billions along the way, one hedge fund run by this group had been rammed to see returns of over 1000% in 2007.”

Waxing nostalgic on Grphy’s just now, we see that days before Mary Schapiro busted that shit up, the firm’s fictional ten-man team of Wharton and Harvard grads had mentioned Goldman’s woes in its daily newsletter, pearls of wisdom we’ll never get to read because some people are trying desperately to prove they don’t just sit around looking at trannies all day.

What is Offshore Banking: Banking in the Golden Sun

Have you ever been somewhere tropical? Majority of you just answered me, yes! Well imagine if you will, placing your money into a bank while you were in the tropics. I do not doubt that you are more or less visualizing the luxurious beach rather than a stuffy old bank. To simply state, offshore banking is operating a bank account on the outskirts of an investor’s particular jurisdiction of residence. With the current news circulating the market about the Goldman Sachs fraud, would you rather trust your ever so famous and close to home Goldman Sachs or an offshore bank? Since, I am not in favor of being swindled my odds are leaning toward the offshore banking. Not to say there is not risk involved. However, there are risk management methods investors can employ with offshore banking. Do you want to get a handle on these advantages? You are in luck; Gryphon Daily’s Douglas Alessio is providing readers with the report, “What is Offshore Banking? -Why and How to Build an Offshore Nest Egg.” The report will educate you on how to productively start your offshore banking account.

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker