Category: Preliminary Analytics

• ‘Urgency’ Drives SEC Crackdown – Does this woman look like she has a shred of urgency? [WSJ]
• CIT delays report, could have to file for bankruptcy – Can someone please handle this? Thanks. [Reuters]
• BofA Judge Seeks More Data on SEC Bonus Deal – Judge Rakoff certainly doesn’t feel the urgency. [WSJ]
• AIG’s Liddy Heads Toward Retirement With ‘$1, a Few Bruises’ – And with any luck, won’t ever appear in front of a Congressional committee ever again. [Bloomberg]

• Paulson’s Calls to Goldman May Have Tested Ethics – “During the week of the A.I.G. bailout alone, Mr. Paulson and Mr. Blankfein spoke two dozen times, the calendars show, far more frequently than Mr. Paulson did with other Wall Street executives.” Paging Representative Waters. [DealBook]
• Textbooks Offered for iPod, iPhones – “A provider of subscription e-textbooks for college students is making its 7,000-plus titles accessible on Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPod Touch as interest heats up in the digital-textbook arena.” [WSJ]
• States End Up Losers in Gambling Pullback – Now, everyone loses! [WSJ]
• Expert: Madoff Victims May Wait 15 Yrs. For Full Payout – “…some non-wealthy clawback subjects paying $50 to $100 a month in an installment plan.” [New York Post]
• Even sex tough to sell in this recession – BAIL-OUT! BAIL-OUT! BAIL-OUT! [Greg Burns/Chicago Tribune]

• Obama likely in no rush to nod on Bernanke’s fate Apparently this is the one thing that doesn’t need addressed immediately. [Reuters]
• U.S. Payroll Losses Slow, Unemployment Rate Declines 247,000 lost, 9.4%. Is that green shoots? [Bloomberg]
• France targets bankers’ bonuses – Soon, pols are going to have to find something else to pander to the masses with. [BBC]
• AIG Posts $1.82 Billion Profit, First Since 2007 – You can just sign that over to the us, thankyouverymuch. – U.S. Taxpayer [Bloomberg]
• Willis Group Sued by Stanford’s Venezuelan Clients – Sure, why not? [DealBook]
• Judge Approves Lawyer Fees in Madoff Liquidation – In other news, Madoff victims are still pissed. [DealBook]

• Businesses Learn To Make Do With Fewer Workers – Sound familiar to anyone? [NPR]
• Judge raps $33m bank bonus fine – “A US judge has refused to approve a $33m (£19m) fine that Bank of America agreed to pay to settle charges that it misled investors about bonuses.” [BBC]
• SEC Asks to Self Fund to Allow for Better Enforcement – OH, that was the problem. [naked capitalsm]
• AIG Breakup Is Fee Bonanza – Bankers, lawyers, accountants. Everybody’s happy. Oh wait. Taxpayers. [WSJ]
• Madoff Victims Said to Start Getting Tax Refunds – Anger will only subside briefly. [DealBook]

• UBS CEO Expects Swiss Government to Sell Stake by Year-End – Does this mean that the Swiss are better at capitalism than the Americans? [WSJ]
• Geithner Vents at Regulators as Overhaul Stumbles – Sounds like someone needs a hug. Can anyone recommend a good shrink for T. Geith? [WSJ]
• Biggest Banks Come Up Short on List of Mortgage Modifications BofA. Citi. Meh. [Bloomberg]
• Bill Clinton Lands in North Korea, May Ease Tension – “Former President Bill Clinton arrived in North Korea on a surprise visit that may help defuse tension over the communist regime’s nuclear program and secure the release of two U.S. journalists sentenced in June to 12 years.” Arkansas moxie to the rescue. [Bloomberg]
• Sizzling summer for white shirts – So sayeth Charlie Tyrwhitt [BBC]
• Goldman Princes Told: Spend Like Paupers – Apparently, LB is concerned that pubic hangings may regain popularity. [New York Post]

• UBS not to pay fine in U.S. tax settlement: reports Chocolate solves everything. [Reuters]
• Jobless graduate sues her college Worth a shot, no? [BBC]
• Goldman Sachs’ reputation tarnished – Being referred to as a “vampire squid on the face of humanity” certainly couldn’t have helped. [FT.com]
• HSBC, Barclays profits hit by surge in bad debt [Reuters]
• Bank Spy Scandal Widens – “A detective at the center of the Deutsche Bank AG spying affair says the international banking giant’s effort to monitor its critics was more extensive than previously disclosed in that it involved a plan to target as many as 20 people, including a number of investors.” We’re thinking that a spy scandal is probably the last thing the banking industry needed. [WSJ]