The New Glossary of Finance Terms Bonus: A form of extortion whereby employees of a company extract either shareholder or taxpayer money for their own pleasure regardless of the success or failure of said company. Derivatives: Trading vehicles created by over-educated finance professionals for whom speculating in stocks and bonds was not quite risky or volatile enough. Bulge…
Uncategorized
Say It Ain't So: The Madoffs Have a Financial Interest in P.J. Clarke's
Awwww Hell No! One of my favorite burger joints in the city is tainted with money from Ma Madoff and the Fake Trading Gang. From Bloomberg: Prosecutors are seeking the Madoff interest in the restaurant P.J. Clarke’s on the Hudson LLC. A woman who answered the phone at PJ Clarke’s declined to comment and wouldn’t…
Kidz Korner: Where Do Bonuses Come From?
Kidz Korner is a new feature here on The Reformed Broker where I explain complex financial issues to kids from the neighborhood in a simple, straightforward way. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Little Timmy Johnson: Gee Mister, I sure do hear a lot on TV about all these bonuses people are getting…am I going to get one? The Reformed…
One Year Later: The Fall of Bear Stearns
It was a day many on The Street will never forget and in many ways, we probably shouldn’t. The events of March 17th 2008 will forever be a reminder to me that no one is too big, wealthy, established or smart to fail. The night before, on March 16th, a Sunday, the details about…
This Just In: Cuomo Wants AIG Names by 4PM
Headlines from Reuters: March 16 (Reuters) – New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo issued a letter to American International Group Inc AIG Chief Executive Edward Liddy: * Cuomo threatens to subpoena American International Group Inc AIG over bonuses * Cuomo says has requested list of individuals who are to receive payments under retention plan, as…
Rage Against the Bonus Machine
Now we are being told that our officials are unable to curb $400 million in bonus payments to AIG because the payments are “contractually obligated” to be made. There’s a great scene in the movie Major League where Corbin Bernsen‘s character Roger Dorn complains to the GM of the team about his contract and what he’s…
AIG to Taxpayers: F@$% You
Attention AIG Executives: THE NATIONAL BACKLASH IS COMING. CASH THOSE BONUS CHECKS AT YOUR OWN PERIL. _____________________________________________________ The below is an actual first paragraph of an article in the NY Times business section this morning. Seriously, its actually real. The American International Group, which has received more than $170 billion in taxpayer bailout money from…
TGIF: What a Difference a Week Makes!
In the TGIF space last Friday, I posted a clip of R.E.M. doing “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It” as the Dow plunged below 6500 (seen here). This week, the Dow has ripped about 11% as of this writing and although nothing in the ecconomy has gotten better, a few days…
Forbes 400 List: Out of Date, But Still Interesting
The just-published 27th annual Forbes 400 list, a ranking of the wealthiest people in the world, does not disappoint. Buffett, Gates, Carlos Slim, the Ikea guy, Page and Brin, Ellison, Bloomberg, the Koch’s…all your faves are here again this year although the order of the top 25 has seen quite a bit of jostling and adjustment. One minor…
Layoffs on Sesame Street
From the San Francisco Chronicle: The crisis on Wall Street is plaguing Sesame Street. Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit producer of “Sesame Street” and other kids’ programs, is cutting 20 percent of its workforce because of the economic downturn. These are dark days indeed. This disastrous economy has reached the point where even MAKE-BELIEVE places are reporting…
