As you may have heard, UBS has been going through a bit of a rough patch. Despite posting an annual profit (of 7.2 billion Swiss francs) for the first time since 2006, things just haven’t been the same since the crisis, and some have suggested it never will be, claiming that the bank “doesn’t have a chance” getting back to pre-crisis levels because “too much damage has been done.” Not helping things is the fact that there’s been very high turnover in the last couple months, which may have something to do with the fact that people would like to get paid. What you may not have heard is that the investment bank? Is kicking ass, according to Chairman Oswald Gruebel who is kind of confused as to why the media has chosen to ignore the division’s “steady progress” but wants employees to know he, for one, has not.

UBS Chief Sends Memo to I-Bankers [NetNet via BI]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

House Speaker John Boehner’s appearance before Wall Street leaders tonight challenges him to provide reassurance that Congress will raise the U.S. debt limit without undercutting Republican demands for spending controls…”The stakes are high for Speaker Boehner,” Senator Chuck Schumer told reporters on a conference call today. He called on Boehner to provide “unwavering reassurance” to the credit markets that House Republicans won’t allow the U.S. to default on its obligations. “The markets do not want to hear more threats,” Schumer said. “The time for brinkmanship is over. There is a lot on the line.” [Bloomberg]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

“This is really asking for a second opinion.”

How A Charlotte Stripper Got Credit Suisse To Admit To Mortgage Fraud And That “Someone Should Go To Jail For This” [Zero Hedge via BI]
Related: SEC Subpoenas Credit Suisse Over Mortgages, MBIA Says [Bloomberg]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Reuters reports John Paulson’s Advantage Fund was down 1.24 percent for the quarter (-3.10 in March); the Advantage Plus Fund was down 1.74 percent (4.4 percent in March); and the Gold fund was down ‘a smidgen,’ losing 0.87 percent (-0.43 in March). Paulson Partners was up 3.86 percent for the quarter; Paulson Enhanced was up 6.94 percent; and the Credit Opportunities Fund was up 6.44 percent.

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Don’t freak out though, it’s not a big deal. Uncle D says this is nothing to worry about.

Jamie Dimon said some municipalities will need to renegotiate their debt and a hundred may not “make it.” “I wouldn’t panic about what I’m about to say,” Dimon, 55, said today at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event in Washington. “You’re going to see some municipalities not make it. I don’t think it’s going to shatter America, I just think it’s a part of the credit cycle.”

Meredith Whitney’s prediction was around 50 to a 100 defaults, though she seemed to be of the mind it was more of a MAYDAY! situation.

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

A number of new positions have recently come up at the former Morgan Stanley exec’s firm, (potentially) including that of CFO. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy Voras Capital Management is also in need of a couple of traders and a head of IR.

Several key employees have either left or plan to leave the firm, which has had trouble raising money from investors, The Post has learned. The New York firm is also shuttering its credit fund — one of just two Voras funds. “As credit has rallied over the last several years there was little appetite for long-term lockups in a credit fund, so Voras is closing its credit fund with a vast majority of the credit investors moving to the Voras Macro fund, which continues to grow and is performing with its peers,” a Voras spokesman told The Post.

The personnel changes “are associated with the closing of the credit fund,” he said. Ellen Brunsberg, who was tapped to run Voras’ credit fund out of London, jumped ship earlier this year. She was followed recently by David Markus, a corporate bond expert. Voras’ head of marketing and investor relations is no longer there, while CFO Richard Bani is on his way out the door, according to one source.

John Mack’s got time on his hand, perhaps he’ll want to put in a resume and get the band back together?

Cruz Missile A Dud [NYP]

Earlier: Some People Less Amped About Zoe Cruz’s New Hedge Fund Than Others

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Personal finance tool Credit Sesame announced today that it’s pulled in $6.15 million in a second round of funding to help consumers save money on their mortgage and loans by tracking all their finances in one place.

Credit Sesame uses an in-house loan analytics engine to help users instantly view their credit and debt in one place.

This lets users monitor and track often baffling financial information like their credit score, home value and debt-to-income ratio simultaneously.

Launched in public beta in November, Credit Sesame already manages nearly half a billion dollars in loans.

“U.S. households have accumulated more than $13 trillion of debt, and there is a tremendous potential for optimization and savings if every household could reevaluate their options with the right tools,” Adrian Nazari, CEO at Credit Sesame, told me. “We give people the tools they need to do better financially. They can leverage advanced analytics and market intelligence to create wealth through savings.”

The company’s primary competitors are similar personal finance managers Credit Karma, Quizzle and Mint.

Under the company’s system, users are first asked to register their portfolios using the same security technology and encryption methods that banks and financial institutions use.

Credit Sesame then automatically retrieves users’ relevant data like debt, credit, and mortgages so that they don’t have to enter their information manually.

Users can fiddle with Credit Sesame’s tools to set personal goal parameters, see and apply for a wide variety of loans that may fit their restructuring needs, and even view multiple scenarios for potential savings or loans based on changes to a their financial situation, such as a divorce or a job loss.

By using complex algorithms and portfolio “depth” testing, the site creates 5,000 scenarios with thousands of lending products to help each user find the three best pre-qualified solutions, potentially saving a user hundreds of dollars a month as they streamline their finances via the web.

Once registered, the site will continue delivering a free monthly credit score and instant alerts when more optimal savings opportunities become available.

The latest round of funding was led by Menlo Ventures, while the lead investor in Credit Sesame’s last round, Inventus Capital, also participated. The new infusion brings the startup’s funding to $7.35 million to date.

Companies: Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, inventus capital, Menlo Ventures, mint, quizzle

People: Adrian Nazari

Article courtesy of VentureBeat » deals

$$$ Galleon Prosecutors May Play Wiretaps at Trial [WSJ]

$$$ Madoff Prison Meeting Never Happened, Picard Says [Bloomberg]

$$$ Charlie Sheen offers Lindsay Lohan advice, telling her not to give in to ‘impulses [NYP]‘

$$$ SEC urged to revise whistleblower plan [WSJ]

$$$ SEC CFTC and IRS Make Case for Hundreds of Hires in 2012 [FINS]

$$$ Kyle Bass: Investing in Short Term Credit, with Small Equity Bets [Benzinga]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Angelo Mozilo Predicted US Housing Collapse As Fed Overlooked Risk (Bloomberg)
“Not only at Countrywide, but also with other lenders, there is a clear deterioration in the credit quality of loans being originated,” he wrote to company executives on Sept. 1, 2004. “The type of loans currently being originated combined with the unprecedented stretching of all aspects of credit standards could cause a bump in the road that could bring with it catastrophic consequences.”

Citigroup Ignored 2005 Bond Warning After Shedding `Handcuffs’ (Bloomberg)
Should they not have done that?

Small Trader Makes Big Waves (WSJ)
Thanks to the nature of futures trading, Daniel Shak’s $10 million hedge fund held gold contracts valued at more than $850 million, more than 10% of the main U.S. futures market, and the equivalent of South Africa’s annual gold production. But as gold prices started falling this year, the trade, which was a combination of being long and short gold contracts—bets that prices will both rise and fall—started going bad. Monday, he liquidated his position, and is returning money to clients. As a result, the number of gold contracts on CME Group Inc.’s Comex division plunged more than 81,000, to about 500,000, the biggest single reduction ever. While his trade didn’t account for all of the contracts, an average daily move is about 3,000 to 5,000 contracts.

Secret To Bank’s Big Comeback: A Rich Uncle Named Sam (WSJ)
Before BankUnited FSB collapsed in May 2009, employees lit candles and prayed that Florida’s biggest bank would survive the bad loans it made before the housing bubble burst. he miracle came in the form of Uncle Sam, or more precisely, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which sold the failed BankUnited to a group of Wall Street financiers led by a longtime New York banker. The FDIC agreed to reimburse as much as $10.5 billion in future loan losses—and gave the new owners $2.2 billion in cash. The buyers paid $945 million. Since then, BankUnited has become one of the most profitable, highly capitalized financial institutions in the U.S.

Facebook Overvalued In Global Poll Of Investors (Bloomberg)
Sixty-nine percent of investors say Facebook is overvalued after Goldman Sachs invested $450 million in a deal that put the company’s worth at $50 billion, according to the quarterly poll of 1,000 Bloomberg customers who are investors, traders or analysts. Only 10 percent of respondents say Facebook’s valuation is appropriate; 4 percent say it’s worth more.

Geithner: US Recover On Sustainable Path (Reuters)
“I think we are at a beginning, I still think at a very early stage of what’s gonna be a long period of exceptional growth in emerging markets around the world,” he said.

Report: Arizona fugitive planned suicide by bear (J&C)
A convicted killer who escaped from an Arizona prison said after his capture that he had planned to overdose on heroin at Yellowstone National Park and let bears eat him to end the fear and panic he was experiencing while on the lam. Tracy Province told Mohave County sheriff’s Detective Larry Matthews that he had wanted to go up on a mountain, shoot up a gram of heroin and “be bear food.” As he was preparing the drug, a voice told him not to go through with the plan, and he changed course in favor of trying to hitchhike to Indiana to see family.

Moynihan: BofA Doesn’t Need New Capital (CNBC)
“We have the capital to run our company … we have a clear path to follow the new rules and not have to raise capital,” he said.

Ford Posts Lower Profit (Reuters)
Excluding one-time items, Ford posted an operating profit of 30 cents per share for the fourth quarter, well below the 48 cents per share analysts had forecast on that basis.

Moody’s Says Time Running Out for U.S. as S&P Cuts Japan (Bloomberg)
The extension of tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush, the chance that Congress won’t reduce spending and the outcome of the November elections have increased Moody’s uncertainty over the willingness and ability of the U.S. to reduce its debt, the credit-ratings company said yesterday.

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

The Swiss are trying something new this year. It’s called four-figure bonuses if you’re lucky.

“FYI: bonuses in equity research were zero to 5k at Credit Suisse.”

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker