It would be a “moral disaster” if the United States were to default on its debts and become unable to pay its obligations, Jamie Dimon said at an appearance in Colorado Thursday evening. The U.S. is the financial linchpin of the world, and the economic effects of the U.S. defaulting could be “potentially catastrophic,” he said at a dinner for the University of Colorado Denver Business School. “It will dwarf Lehman,” Dimon said. [HP]
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According to Charlie Gasparino, who’s been tailing him.
Dick Fuld had been keeping a low profile even as he set up his own advisory firm with an office in midtown Manhattan. But sources with direct knowledge of Fuld’s business activities said things have been picking up steam in recent weeks. He has had at least one meeting with financial executives involving a private equity transaction, these people say, adding that Fuld appeared unconcerned about the multiple investigations into his actions during Lehman’s 2008 demise.
“It was bizarre,” said one person with direct knowledge of the matter. “He acted as if he has nothing to worry about.”
As Lehman Inquiry Drags On, Fuld’s Business Takes Off
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The DecorMyEyes proprietor and former Lehman Brothers employee has been arrested. Cyber-stalking, interstate threats, mail and wire fraud will make it difficult for him to continue in the industry. We should start helping him raise money for a fund ASAP. [CNBC, previously]
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$$$ Volcker: White House Not Anti-Business [FBN via HNM]
$$$ Geithner, GOP Trade Barbs Over The Economy [WSJ]
$$$ Obama’s kryptonite cuts to the very heart of the administration’s failings at a presidential economic town hall. [TDS]
$$$ NASDAQ Art [AnimalNY]
$$$ Diana Farrell on Larry Summers’ legacy and successor [Fortune]
$$$ A Lehman Brother’s Clutch And Other Financial Crisis Accessories [VF]
Article courtesy of Dealbreaker
$$$ Lehman Bankers Chase Film Dreams, Ivy Investors [Bloomberg]
$$$ The four people who pleaded guilty to impersonating law enforcement officials as part of a bizarre scheme to shake down several investors in a hedge fund that authorities say was a Ponzi scheme have avoided jailtime. [FINalternatives]
$$$ Roubini: Growth To Halt In Second Half, Payroll Tax Cut Needed [CNBC]
$$$ SEC Zeros In On Lehman [WSJ]
Article courtesy of Dealbreaker
$$$ Bernanke Defends Record On Lehman
[WSJ]
$$$ Obama’s Too Small Steps On The Economy [TDB]
$$$ Paolo Pelligrini: The US Continues To Dig Its Hole Deeper [BI]
$$$ Bedbugs Make Selves Home In Greenwich [GT]
$$$ Russian Girls Invade Hamptons In Hopes Of Becoming Trophy Wives [TDB]
Article courtesy of Dealbreaker
$$$ Bernanke Defends Record On Lehman
[WSJ]
$$$ Obama’s Too Small Steps On The Economy [TDB]
$$$ Paolo Pelligrini: The US Continues To Dig Its Hole Deeper [BI]
$$$ Bedbugs Make Selves Home In Greenwich [GT]
$$$ Russian Girls Invade Hamptons In Hopes Of Becoming Trophy Wives [TDB]
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2 Zombies To Tolerate For A While (NYT)
Andrew Ross Sorkin: “Representative Barney Frank was furious. The Massachusetts Democrat had been watching a morning news program that had me on, and soon afterward he was calling my cellphone to fume about that morning’s discussion. The topic? Why it has taken the government so long to address the fate of the zombie mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. His response was counterintuitive — and as unsatisfying as it may sound, he’s right. ‘There is no urgency,’ he told me. ”
Geithner: No Going Back for Fannie and Freddie (Reuters)
“We will not support returning Fannie and Freddie to the role they played before conservatorship, where they took market share from private competitors while enjoying the perception of government support,” Geithner said. “We will not support a return to the system where private gains are subsidized by taxpayer losses.”
Jain May Be Lost in Translation as Deutsche Bank Seeks Chief (Bloomberg)
After earning a Master of Finance degree in 1985, he started out as an analyst at Kidder Peabody & Co., before moving to Merrill Lynch three years later. These days Jain, trim and greying, projects the poise and confidence of a seasoned investment banker, and his speech, direct and precise, still carries a faint Indian accent. A cricket player and golfer, colleagues say he’s competitive in both work and sport, and relishes opportunities to prove his doubters wrong. He held a stake in the Mumbai Indians, a cricket team, until selling it last year. Failing to offer Jain the top job risks driving out the “best candidate” and disappointing analysts and investors, said Peter Thorne, a London-based analyst at Helvea Ltd. “If the German powers-that-be can’t see he’s the best man for the job, that’d be a sad day for Deutsche Bank and the German finance industry as a whole,” Thorne said. “I couldn’t conceive of anyone who wouldn’t want Jain to be CEO.”
Barclays Settles US Charges (WSJ)
The bank agreed to pay $298 million to settle charges by U.S. and New York prosecutors that the U.K. bank altered financial records for more than a decade to hide hundreds of millions of dollars in payments flowing into the U.S. from Cuba, Libya, Iran and other sanctioned countries.
Mindich’s Eton Park Leads Hedge Funds Joining Paulson Gold Bet (Bloomberg)
Eton Park bought 6.58 million shares of SPDR Gold Shares in the second quarter, according to a regulatory filing yesterday. The investment was valued at $800.3 million as of June 30, making it the hedge fund’s biggest holding.
JetBlue attendant Steven Slater parties hard (NYP)
The JetBlue flight attendant who cursed out a planeload of passengers before he slid down the chute enjoyed bottles of Budweiser and shouted, “Fly United!”
Carl Levin Hit In Face With Pie In Big Rapids (Detroit News)
In a statement, Levin said he wasn’t hurt in the pie-throwing incident and welcomes civil discourse with constituents.
SEC is zeroing in on Lehman’s top execs (NYP)
The SEC in recent weeks has been calling in former Lehman officials for a fresh round of interviews to discuss the period leading up to the historic collapse of the 158-year-old investment bank on Sept. 15, 2008. Investigators are coordinating sit-downs with former Lehman staffers and are setting up meetings between now and mid-September, said one source close to the Lehman probe.
SAC Capital Added to BP, Exxon Mobil Holdings in Second Quarter (Bloomberg)
The fund added 2.3 million shares of Exxon Mobil, more than doubling its stake to 3.64 million shares valued at $207.9 million and bought 2.93 million BP American depositary receipts, lifting its holding to about 2.94 million shares worth $84.4 million as of June 30.
Harvard Sells Off Its Investments In Israel (ML)
“This is pure economics and I don’t think it was because of the Arab boycott,” Dr. Gil Feiler, founder of Info-Prod Research (Middle East) Ltd and director of the Middle East Business and Economic Research Institute at Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya told The Media Line. “They didn’t eliminate their investments in Israeli stocks,” he claimed. “They still have tens of millions of dollars invested, and if you are going to boycott Israel you sell all your stocks.”
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As you may have heard, Wall Street is not, lets just call it, the most “popular” place these days. This is especially true if you’re currently in or running for office. Gotta give the people what they want and what the people want is, for example, you to very publicly and hurtfully break off your bro-mance with anyone in the upper echelons of the Street, no matter how charming, handsome, and sweet they may be. The fact that he was once a managing director at Lehman Brothers is naturally something that Republican Gubernatorial hopeful John Kasich’s opponents are throwing in his face but it wasn’t until recently that they uncovered a relationship that could ruin his chances. It’s not with a hooker and it’s doesn’t involve a source who identified Kasich servicing a hobo in the men’s room of the Port Authority, though it does involve a Dick.
“Fuld is an awesome guy,” Kasich told New York Observer for a September, 2001, story. “He is the kind of guy you want to go into battle with,” the article quoted Kasich as saying. “He is a great leader.”
After Lehman’s demise, Fuld quickly emerged as one of the chief villains of the financial crisis. He was even rumored to have been punched in the face while exercising in the Lehman gym around the time of the company’s bankruptcy. Kasich backed away a little from his association with Fuld during his Reuters interview, saying: “I called him a good leader because of what he did after 9-11.”
Kasich, though, was interviewed for the story before September 11 and the piece made no mention of the attacks, which destroyed Kasich’s New York office.
“Fuld had his thing to do and I had my thing to do,” Kasich added.
Shorting Wall Street On The Campaign Trail [Reuters]
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$$$ SEC Sues ICP Asset Management for Triaxx CDO Fraud [BW]
$$$ Lehman’s Fuld Asked Barclays Three Times to Buy Firm [Bloomberg]
$$$ Instant Inflation: Paging Sumner & Krugman [MoN]
$$$ Here’s a little FYI– if your boss has some awkward, massage/vibrator-based relations with a bunch of minors, and you try and sell that story, you’ll go to jail for the same amount of time. [MF]
$$$ ‘Wall Street’ For Sale [Daily Intel]
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