Remember when the producers of Diff’rent Strokes decided that Arnold wasn’t cute enough anymore so they brought on the quintessential red-headed stepchild, Sam, to ratchet up the adorable factor? Gary Coleman probably felt a lot like Crude Oil feels now that Gold has replaced it as the commodity speculators’ darling. Anyway, let’s take a look…
Morgan Stanley
Hot Links: No Balloon Boy Coverage Here
Stuff I’m Reading this Morning… The dollar is not weak where it counts – in China. (FloydNorris) The big BIG stock winners of 2009. (TheFly) Morgan Stanley: according to the Debt-Equity Clock it’s time to own stocks. (PragCap) Rolfe caught George Soros and Stephen Roach at The Economist conference, here are their thoughts: (Reuters) I…
Merrill Lynch, Apparently, Committed Suicide
Thanks to my pal The Epicurean Dealmaker‘s incredible Supermassive Black Hole post, I learned a great deal more about why some investment banks survived the credit meltdown and others didn’t. My key takeaway from this must-read piece is that Merrill Lynch had a Death Wish. See that crazy-ass blue line really going for it through…
Coming Soon To Institutional Sales/Trading: Discount Brokerage
You knew it was coming sooner or later. I guess it’s coming sooner. From TheStreet.com: Goldman Sachs (GS) and other big securities dealers made bundles of money last quarter because they faced fewer competitors, but now BlackRock(BLK) is hoping to change that. BlackRock, soon to be the world’s largest money manager, is working on a…
Hot Links: Don't Let Ballmer See Your iPhone, Boy
Stuff I’m Reading this Morning… China Strong, Dollar Weak. Stocks Likey. Keep walking, nothing new to see here. (Bloomberg) Mish says, “Yes, it is a Depression.” (GlobalEconTrendAnalysis) The Notorious B.I.G. sees a bullish reverse head and shoulders pattern in the chart of front-month gold prices. (Bespoke) Veteran Buffett-watcher Jeff Matthews on what the Oracle’s recent…
Breakfast Links: Post-Apocalyptic Disney
Stuff I’m Reading this Morning… JPMorgan almost bought Morgan Stanley at Paulson‘s request during the crisis. (DealBook) SIA: 2nd quarter chip sales up 17% sequentially, 4 months of gains in a row. (WSJ) Commercial RE loans blowing up faster than you thought. (Clusterstock) Nouriel Roubini goes bullish on commodities. (ResearchReloaded) A Swissman (is that a…
Repaying TARP for a Return to Gluttony
I challenge you to find an article about the major banks wishing to repay TARP that doesn’t blatantly cite compensation as the banks primary motivation. Here’s a taste from Dealbook (NYT): Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase have said for weeks that they want to repay their share of the $700 billion government bailout…
Where are we in the Banking Cycle?
The cross-currents that exist right now in the financials are astounding, both in their extremes and in the potential for multiple interpretations of risks/opportunities. Writing for RealMoney Silver this morning, Chris Atayan sums up where we are in the banking cycle perfectly: We are now solidly in the early stages of another financial services cycle. Financial markets…
Hot Links: Jenna Lee, Madoff Secretary, Chrysler & Morgan Stanley
Hot Links for Weekend Reading Who was the luckiest financial blogger of the week? My pal Stephen over at Wall Street Fighter visited with gorgeous and talented anchorwoman Jenna Lee of Fox Business for an interview, so you tell me! The investor class and all of institutional Wall Street was aghast at Obama‘s treatment of…
Market Recap: Bank Shorts Were Lunch Meat Today
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGMT99i00M4] The Reformed Broker, AKA Jackie Treehorn, here with today’s Market Recap… Plenty of traders put on bank stock shorts on the heels of last week’s positive pre-announcement from Wells Fargo (WFC). They didn’t like how the numbers were put together or thought the move was too much or both. Their money was confiscated today as…
