http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/wallstreet/ en-us Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:27:26 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415005/posts Lehman Brothers Still Hiring, Giving Bonuses Collapsed investment bank Lehman Brothers is still hiring and can still hand out bonus checks this year, a bankruptcy court in New York said. A judge has given administrators permission to spend $50 million in bonus pay for 230 traders who are reconciling Lehman Brothers accounts as the company unwinds a $10 billion portfolio, The Financial Times reported Tuesday. In addition, Lehman Brothers, which collapsed at the height of the financial crisis a year ago, is hiring in Europe, seeking staff that can help it dismantle its accounts. "We've made our strategy and reasoning... Advanced Trading http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415005/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:27:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410380/posts MONTREAL - If the Chinese stock market is still an indicator of global investor appetite for risk, as analysts viewed it a few months ago, then that appetite has lately diminished. Perhaps they are finally absorbing some of the revelations about statistical manipulations. They may also be reacting to more recent revelations warning of bank fraud in China. In one case, the Royal Bank of Scotland is reportedly investigating suspected fraud in its China unit. Client losses could be worth up to US$3 million, the Financial Times has reported, citing local media. Whatever the reason, neither Chinese nor global stock... Asia Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410380/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:51:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409324/posts Hey, President Obama, Here's An Easy Way To Get Banks To Lend! Henry BlodgetDec. 16, 2009, 11:17 AM The whole premise of the Wall Street bailout was to keep banks alive so they could keep lending money to us. Remember that? It seemed like a such a nice idea at the time: Banks are now not only not lending money to us, they're not bothering to attend meetings with the President in which he is begging them to lend money to us (because who wants to waste time going to Washington to be lectured by a bureaucrat when you can... The Business Insider http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409324/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:58:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408871/posts Barack Obama’s steady decline in the polls this week may mean the American people are tired of the president’s divisive campaign rhetoric after nearly a year into his administration. The Rasmussen Report’s daily tracking poll shows 53 percent of Americans disapprove of his performance in office. With an economy shaking, unemployment rising, and two wars draining our nation’s human and financial resources, Mr. Obama prefers to use the divisive language of the campaign trail in hopes of gaining public and political support for economic policies rather than to provide the leadership his supporters sorely hoped he possessed. He demonstrated this... Townhall http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408871/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:14:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407838/posts I trust my banker more than I trust my president. And after Imam Obama’s photo op with the Wall Street types yesterday, it’s not even close. I side with the capitalists. Obama the Arrogant is no friend of mine. And for a guy with the lowest first-year popularity rating in the history of the presidency, he’s pretty generous with that self-assigned “solid B-plus” grade he claimed in the Oprah interview. Now that’s hard-hitting journalism -- Oprah Winfrey asking Barack Obama how much he loves himself. Turns out, he loves himself quite a bit. And it turns out we have to... boblonsberry.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407838/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:28:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407802/posts In public, President Obama is on a tear against Wall Street. In private, not so much Over the weekend, Obama attacked fat-cat investment bankers, telling "60 Minutes" he didn't become president to aid and abet Wall Street -- which, only a year after the financial meltdown and taxpayer bailout, is now scheduled to hand out tens of billions of dollars in bonuses to its bankers and traders. But the president's meeting yesterday with the CEOs of the largest banks was nearly a lovefest, I'm told by attendees. Yes, White House spinmeisters advertised the gathering as a chance for Obama to... NY Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407802/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:59:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406961/posts Obama Administration Can't Decide Whether The Recession Is Over, But It Wants Banks To Lever Up Joe WeisenthalDec. 13, 2009, 2:39 PM Politico recognizes inconsistency emanating out of the Obama administration based on comments from today's Sunday morning yak-fests. Two of President Obama’s top economic advisers disagreed Sunday about whether the recession had ended. Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council, flatly said that it had. "Today, everybody agrees that the recession is over, and the question is what the pace of the expansion is going to be," Summers said on ABC's "This Week." But Christina Romer, who heads... The Business Insider http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406961/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:57:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2406901/posts In the financial regulatory overhaul bill that passed the House December 11, insufficeint regulation of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives 'renders impotent' the enhanced resolution powers aimed at making sure large financial institutions are not too big to fail, according to economist Robert Johnson Mind Over Market http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2406901/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:50:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406657/posts "A wonderful, free, light consciousness" born of the utter absence of any understanding of "the necessity, meaning, or importance of other people." Obviously, Ayn Rand was most favorably impressed with Mr. Hickman. He was, at least at that stage of Rand's life, her kind of man. So the question is, who exactly was he? William Edward Hickman was one of the most famous men in America in 1928. But he came by his fame in a way that perhaps should have given pause to Ayn Rand before she decided that he was a "real man" worthy of enshrinement in her... Naked Capitalism link to Michael Prescott http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406657/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:59:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406207/posts The president has packed his economic team with Wall Street insiders intent on turning the bailout into an all-out giveaway Barack Obama ran for president as a man of the people, standing up to Wall Street as the global economy melted down in that fateful fall of 2008. He pushed a tax plan to soak the rich, ripped NAFTA for hurting the middle class and tore into John McCain for supporting a bankruptcy bill that sided with wealthy bankers "at the expense of hardworking Americans." Obama may not have run to the left of Samuel Gompers or Cesar Chavez, but... Rolling Stone http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406207/posts#comment Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:23:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2405724/posts WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House passed the most ambitious restructuring of federal financial regulations since the New Deal on Friday, aiming to head off any replay of last year's Wall Street failures that plunged the nation deep into recession. The sprawling legislation would give the government new powers to break up companies that threaten the economy, create a new agency to oversee consumer banking transactions and shine a light into shadow financial markets that have escaped the oversight of regulators. The vote was a party-line 223-202. No Republicans voted for the bill; 27 Democrats voted against it. AP via finance.yahoo.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2405724/posts#comment Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:07:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404745/posts Obama's Big Wall Street Sellout The president has packed his economic team with Wall Street insiders intent on turning the bailout into an all-out giveaway Barack Obama ran for president as a man of the people, standing up to Wall Street as the global economy melted down in that fateful fall of 2008. He pushed a tax plan to soak the rich, ripped NAFTA for hurting the middle class and tore into John McCain for supporting a bankruptcy bill that sided with wealthy bankers "at the expense of hardworking Americans." Obama may not have run to the left of Samuel... Rolling Stone http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404745/posts#comment Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:39:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404324/posts In a London preview of Wall Street's bonus nightmare, more than 1,000 investment bankers have quit Royal Bank of Scotland to work at rivals due to curbs on their paychecks, according to people familiar with the situation. Wall Street banks fear top talent would flee en masse for greener pastures if Uncle Sam's pay czar, Ken Feinberg, and Congress try to put more ceilings on bonuses and pay at financial firms. In the UK, the rules are modeled after US actions to curb pay at firms bailed out by the government.RBS will soon be about 84-percent owned by the British... NY Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404324/posts#comment Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:44:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404062/posts Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric’s chief executive, said on Wednesday his generation of business leaders had succumbed to “meanness and greed” that had harmed the US economy and increased the gap between the rich and the poor. Mr Immelt’s attack on his fellow corporate chiefs – made in a speech at the West Point military academy – is one of the strongest criticisms by a top executive of the compensation and business practices that prevailed before the financial crisis. “We are at the end of a difficult generation of business leadership ... tough-mindedness, a good trait, was replaced by meanness and... Financial Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404062/posts#comment Wed, 9 Dec 2009 22:35:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403764/posts Ex-Fed chief Paul Volcker's 'telling' words on derivatives industry Paul Volcker, the chairman of President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, stunned a business conference in Sussex yesterday, saying there is "little evidence innovation in financial markets has had a visible effect on the productivities of the economy".   By Louise Armitstead Published: 9:41PM GMT 08 Dec 2009 The former US Federal Reserve chairman told an audience that included some of the world's most senior financiers that their industry's "single most important" contribution in the last 25 years has been automatic telling machines, which he said had at least proved "useful".... Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403764/posts#comment Wed, 9 Dec 2009 16:17:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403095/posts Wall Street Falls On Recovery Uncertainty On 2:38 pm EST, Tuesday December 8, 2009 By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Tuesday after a disappointing outlook from 3M Co and weak domestic sales at McDonald's Corp fanned worries that sluggish consumer spending threatened the economic recovery. Equities also faced pressure from a stronger U.S. dollar as investors sought more safe-haven assets amid worries about Dubai's unresolved debt problems and Fitch Ratings' downgrade of Greece's bond rating. Diversified manufacturer 3M (NYSE:MMM - News) fell 1.2 percent to $76.98 after it gave a 2009 outlook that fell short of... Yahoo News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403095/posts#comment Tue, 8 Dec 2009 19:55:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402194/posts <p>Sweeping regulations to tame Wall Street and protect consumers in dealings with lenders are on the verge of passing the House but their fate is hardly sealed.</p> <p>Crucial pieces are still flashpoints, fiercely opposed by various sectors of the financial services industry and likely to be fought on the House floor and beyond.</p> Associated Press Taiwan News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402194/posts#comment Mon, 7 Dec 2009 18:55:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2295392/posts The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it's everywhere. The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. In fact, the history of the recent financial crisis, which doubles as a history of the rapid decline and fall of the suddenly swindled dry American empire, reads like a Who's Who of Goldman Sachs graduates. Rolling Stone http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2295392/posts#comment Sat, 18 Jul 2009 09:03:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2289094/posts In Rolling Stone Issue 1082-83, Matt Taibbi takes on "the Wall Street Bubble Mafia" --investment bank Goldman Sachs. The piece has generated controversy, with Goldman Sachs firing back that Taibbi's piece is "an hysterical compilation of conspiracy theories" and a spokesman adding, "We reject the assertion that we are inflators of bubbles and profiteers in busts, and we are painfully conscious of the importance in being a force for good. " Taibbi shot back: "Goldman has its alumni pushing its views from the pulpit of the U.S. Treasury, the NYSE, the World Bank, and numerous other important posts; it also... Rollingstone.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2289094/posts#comment Thu, 9 Jul 2009 19:41:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2397476/posts THE experts are very confident that Friday's report on the employment market for November will show the least number of job losses in quite a while, perhaps as few as 114,000. I hope that's true. But I don't think it will be. As you know, these monthly job figures are very important to traders on Wall Street who can make money when the financial markets are confronted with surprises. And with all that's going on in the world -- Dubai's problems, America's economic crisis and the US stock market's seeming indifference to both -- a bad report Friday will just... NY Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2397476/posts#comment Tue, 1 Dec 2009 11:09:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391797/posts As millions of Americans struggle to hold on to their homes, Wall Street has found a way to make money from the mortgage mess. Investment funds are buying billions of dollars’ worth of home loans, discounted from the loans’ original value. Then, in what might seem an act of charity, the funds are helping homeowners by reducing the size of the loans. But as part of these deals, the mortgages are being refinanced through lenders that work with government agencies like the Federal Housing Administration. This enables the funds to pocket sizable profits by reselling new, government-insured loans to other... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391797/posts#comment Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:41:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2390167/posts Glum trader who missed most of the upside is now convinced the market will only go down for the rest of the year. The Dow is down over a hundred points today and it's making professional traders nervous. We spoke to a friend this morning at a large prop trading desk inside an investment bank and we’ve never heard him so bleak. He says that all the equity traders on his desk think the market will do nothing but go down for the rest of the year. “We’re all waiting for the market to crack. And it looks today like... The Business Insider http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2390167/posts#comment Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:22:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2390054/posts Wall Street tax must be international: Pelosi Thu Nov 19, 2009 12:44pm EST By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Any tax imposed on financial transactions would have to take effect internationally to prevent Wall Street jobs and related business moving overseas, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday. "It would have to be an international rule, not just a U.S. rule," Pelosi said at a news conference. "We couldn't do it alone, we'd have to do it as an international initiative." The top Democrat's comments seemed to spell longer odds for the Wall Street tax, which some Democrats in... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2390054/posts#comment Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:28:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389523/posts (snip) "We participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret," said Goldman Sachs’ Lloyd Blankfein. "We apologize." Blankfein had told a British newspaper the other day that Goldman was doing “God’s work”. That caused a firestorm online. (snip) ABC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389523/posts#comment Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:39:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2388240/posts According to Thomas Bouchard, a US psychologist famous for his research on twins raised apart,[1] even scientists with good reason to believe that the majority are wrong can be silenced. The reason is... CMI http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2388240/posts#comment Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:03:18 GMT