[vodpod id=Groupvideo.2483668&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] X I saw a piece in the Journal today that blew my mind. After everything we’ve been through since the fall of 2007, retail stockbrokers have begun to leave their turrets in big numbers this spring: From the Wall Street Journal via Barry Ritholtz: In April, more than 2,800 people registered as brokers…
Wall Street Journal
Hot Links: Charlie, AOL, J Crew, MLB, Schumer & Biden
Hot Links for Weekend Reading Let’s start off with The Daily Beast’s Charlie Gasparino‘s take on the BofA/ Ken Lewis/ John Thain showdown. Thain went off on his former boss but Charlie stayed neutral: “Watching these guys go at it is kind of like watching old World War II footage of battles between Germans and…
Welcome To El Centro, CA – The Unemployment Capital of America
The Wall Street Journal dug into the just-released stats from the Labor Department, including March unemployment figures for 310 metropolitan areas. From WSJ: El Centro, Calif., is again at the top of the list, as unemployment there hit a jaw-dropping 25% in March. Where and what is El Centro, California? Its the county seat for…
Why 10% Of Us Are Unemployed, Exhibit A
Hey Kids, I’m an ardent patriot and as American as apple pie, or the apple-flavored pie they serve at McDonalds. That said, I came across the below video, not exactly flattering to Americans in general, and thought I’d pass it on. For my friends who don’t feel like reading the Wall Street Journal, here’s a…
A Day in the Life: Hank Greenberg
A Day in the Life of Maurice “Hank” Greenberg 7:00 am: Wake up. CD alarm clock plays “It’s All Over Now” by The Rolling Stones. 7:05 am: Mutters “wasn’t my fault” on the way into the shower. 7:30 am: Breakfast, includes 2 egg whites, one half grapefruit, one heaping bowl of Gorilla Munch cereal (from…
Chinese Warren Buffett: Berkshire Hatha-Wei Ponzi Frozen
This is by far my favorite of all the ridiculous Ponzi’s (oh, so many to choose from!) From WSJ: A federal judge agreed to freeze the assets of a man accused of running a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme targeting Chinese-Americans, primarily near Dallas. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Weizhen Tang, who describes himself as the…
Ken Lewis: Even More Myths About Banks
Kenny Lewis, Chief Executive Undertaker at Bank of America, took the opportunity to write an op-ed piece in today’s WSJ. Some of the bank myths he aimed to dispel: The banks aren’t lending, The banks are insolvent, The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) hasn’t worked, Taxpayers have given the banks billions and won’t get…
Madoff Newsflash: Bongiorno, Annette!
Oh boy. Here come the accomplices. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that after interviewing assistants at Bernard L Madoff Securities, investigators have learned that Annette Bongiorno, a 40 year-plus employee of the Ponzi King, had ordered up fake trade confirmations and historical price research on the stocks they pretended to have traded. Anyone still…
Goldman Sachs is a Charity Case, Too.
This is a very big story and will probably piss off taxpayers like nothing else has thus far. The Wall Street Journal has the list of all the companies that were essentially made whole by the AIG bailout. Basically, these are the firms that were counter-parties in transactions with AIG, the hedge fund that happens…
