- Now on YouTube, an Outcry Against BofA’s Lewis – DealBook Blog – NYTimes.com
“Ahead of Bank of America’s annual meeting on Wednesday, the activist filmmaker Robert Greenwald is helping lead the charge to fire Kenneth D. Lewis, the bank’s embattled chief executive.”
- E*Trade pressured to raise capital; reports loss – Reuters
E*Trade Financial Corp, a U.S. retail brokerage, said it is facing regulatory pressure to boost capital as it posted its seventh straight quarterly loss, and its shares fell 25 percent in after-hours trade.
- FT.com – Germany’s woes spark talk of Weimar
“There will be social unrest – even in Germany – I’m sure about that,” says “Peter”, face partly concealed by a baseball cap and wrap-around sunglasses and sporting a Hugo Chávez T-Shirt. “It’s important that the people organise themselves. We must take this fight to the streets.”
- Warren Buffett Still Unlikely To Lose Money On His Puts
“With Berkshire shares well off their highs and the ratings agencies all having taken it down from AAA, Buffett and his sidekick Charlie Munger might actually face some hostile questions, rather than the philosophical/religious/personal/amusing ones they often get.”
- Calpers Is Voting Against Lewis and BofA Board – DealBook Blog – NYTimes.com
Lewis is toast. He can’t last. The question is whether the Board can last either.
- WaMu Sues JPMorgan for $4 Billion in Deposits – DealBook Blog – NYTimes.com
This has been an issue for quite some time. John Hempton claims that WaMu was not bankrupt at all.
- BBC NEWS – Lithuania’s economy shrinks 12%
The Baltics are clearly in a depression. Latvia is thew worst. Lithuania is pretty bad and Estonia is decoupling somewhat.
- Deutsche Bank Posts $1.6 Billion Profit – DealBook Blog – NYTimes.com
“But Deutsche Bank shares, which have gained 49 percent this year, fell 6 percent in early Frankfurt trading. The bank has a market value of about 25 billion euros ($33 billion).”
- S.E.C. Is Investigating 150 Hedge Funds – DealBook Blog – NYTimes.com
The SEC was obviously asleep at the wheel because the frauds are coming out of the woodwork left and right. It is truly breathtaking.
- Northern Trust to Sell Shares to Repay Funds – DealBook Blog – NYTimes.com
I happen to think Northern Trust was unfairly maligned for its golf tournament. It is a well-run institution. Now it plans to sell $1.25 billion in stock and bonds to pay the taxpayer back.
- BBC NEWS – Dubai property prices ‘fall 41%’
This is for the first three months of 2009 alone. Amazing.
- What John Thain Could Have Learned from Ken Lewis – Deal Journal – WSJ
John Thain learns another lesson in the high stakes game of bank executive politics