Category: Preliminary Analytics

• PwC: Sour Economy Sparks Divestitures – “Each of the Big Four accounting firms have scrutinized the corporate divestiture market over the last three quarters and have come up with largely the same conclusions.” Anyone surprised by this? [CFO]
• Galleon Clients Abandon Ship – “Galleon’s chief operating officer, Rick Schutte, directed portfolio managers Monday to shed some positions in a “coordinated, orderly fashion,” according to a Galleon trader. The trader said he wasn’t told to sell everything but to begin raising some cash.” [WSJ]
• NYC Judge Tosses Suit Against Biden’s Son, Brother – The non-Joe Bidens had been sued for $10 mil by an investor who says he was double-crossed on a purchase of a hedge fund firm. [AP via NYT]
• Huron, others could get caught in Galleon Group problems – Raj held nearly 6% of Huron in mid-August according to the Trib. [CT]

• U.S. Said to Target Wave of Insider-Trading Cases After Galleon – “Investigators developed at least one informant in the ring, who began meeting in November 2007 with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to charging documents.” Feel free to speculate who’s next. The SEC is taking no prisoners apparently. [Bloomberg]
• Armageddon in Alabama Proves Parable for Local U.S. Governments – “One target of [citizens’] anger is Larry P. Langford, who was the county commission’s president in 2003 and 2004 and is now mayor of Birmingham. The 61-year-old Democrat goes on trial today, charged in a November 2008 federal indictment with taking cash, Rolex watches and designer clothes in exchange for helping to steer $7.1 million in fees to an Alabama investment banker as the county refinanced its sewer debt.” [Bloomberg]
• Family Squabbles in Hyatt IPO – Family squabbles may “disrupt our business” according to the latest SEC filings. Nothing like family spite to disrupt the expansion of the fortune. [WSJ]
• CME in informal talks to take over CBOE: report – “Informal talks” could really mean anything including that they had the chat over prime rib buffet and lap dances. [Reuters]
• For N.B.A. Owners, Background Checks Go Deep – “The [NBA’s] investigation [of Mikhail D. Prokhorov] is expected to tap into Russian police, military, diplomatic and intelligence sources, some from the former K.G.B., as well as his partners, competitors and customers.” [DealBook]

• SEC, CFTC Mull Joint Enforcement Squad: Sources – “U.S. securities and futures regulators are considering a joint enforcement squad to investigate and root out fraud in the markets, two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.” All together now: FRAUD SQUAD. [Reuters via NYT]
• Suspicions Arise After Balloon Boy Found Safe – We’re saturated by the coverage already. [NPR]
• Obama wins first financial reform victory in months – Derivatives are no match for a debatable Nobel Peace Prize recipient. [Reuters]
• Justice Agency Resists Music Merger – “The Ticketmaster-Live Nation deal is widely regarded as a bellwether of the department’s attitude toward such potential deals as Comcast Corp.’s proposal to take a majority stake in General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal. Like the proposed Ticketmaster-Live Nation alliance, a Comcast-NBC deal would represent ‘vertical integration,’ in which several links in the chain between producer and consumer are controlled by a single entity.” [WSJ]
• On the Calendar: What Every Auditor Should Know About Litigation – Jim Peterson will be at Baruch College on Dec. 2 for Corporate Integrity’s 4th Annual Audit Conference, “Ensuring Integrity.” Check it out. [Re: The Balance]

• Stanford lawyer complains over level of care in prison – Apparently its not too good, as Stan is looking a little gaunt these days, sayeth the FT. [FT]
• Elk Grove Village man accused of stealing millions from investors in Ponzi scheme – “Authorities said that between Jan. 1, 2007, and Oct. 9, 2008, Carney duped investors by creating the false impression that he had cutting-edge software designed for buying and selling securities. According to one investor, Carney claimed the program received market information three minutes before other traders.” [Chicago Tribune]
• Limbaugh Dropped From Bid to Buy Rams – You know who’s to blame dontcha? [NYT]
• An Apartment Complex Teeters – “The sprawling Manhattan apartment complex known as Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town — acquired for $5.4 billion in 2006 by a venture of Tishman Speyer Properties and a unit of BlackRock Inc. — is running out of cash. As of the end of September, it had $33.7 million left of the $400 million in interest reserves set up to service its debt, according to the people familiar with the matter. At its current burn rate of about $16 million per month, the reserve could be depleted before the end of the year, the people said.” [WSJ]
• Goldman Shows Strength While Citi Limps Along – Moving on to… [DealBook]
• Capital One credit card defaults rise in September – “Credit card defaults usually track unemployment, which rose to a 26-year high of 9.8 percent in September. The jobless rate is expected to peak at more than 10 percent by year-end.” [Reuters]

• Thanks to everyone that has participated in our survey so far. If you haven’t yet, you can expect Chuck at your cubicle at some point today. Unless you do it now by going here.
• Wall Street On Track To Award Record Pay – “Workers at 23 top investment banks, hedge funds, asset managers and stock and commodities exchanges can expect to earn even more than they did the peak year of 2007, according to an analysis of securities filings for the first half of 2009 and revenue estimates through year-end by The Wall Street Journal.” – Tooo long. [WSJ]
• Geithner Aides Reaped Millions Working for Banks, Hedge Funds – This is nice. It’s been for too long since we had some good wholesome populist outrage. [Bloomberg]
• Bernie Madoff Breaks His Prison Fight Cherry – Apparently someone said “Dow 3,000” and Bern just flipped. See also DB. [JDA]
• Bloomberg Wins Bidding For BusinessWeek – For $5 mil. Estimates were that it was worth $1 bil back in 2000. Ouch. [BW]

• Business Fends Off Tax Hit – “Lurking behind the tax debate was the administration’s need for new sources of revenue to fund its increased spending. Jason Furman, a White House economic adviser, made that point clear at the end of a session with a dozen or so lobbyists in March. Catherine Schultz, head of tax policy at the National Foreign Trade Council, who was at the meeting, says Mr. Furman basically told the group: ‘We need the money.'” – So, that’s a bit of a problem. [WSJ]
• CIT Says Chief Executive Peek to Resign, Effective Year End – The board knew something was up when Peek showed up to work yesterday with a Fu Manchu. [Bloomberg]
• Schwarzenegger Signs Bill Creating Harvey Milk Day – Good job Arnie but state employees still have to work and will now receive OT. IOU’s should work. [NPR]
• AIG to sell Taiwan insurance unit for $2.15 billion – “The sale of Nan Shan Life on Tuesday was another step in AIG’s effort to repay U.S. taxpayers after the government injected $80 billion into the company, but the insurer faces two more sales processes in Asia and others across the globe.” We lost count on what they’ve paid back but we’re guessing they owe somewhere in the nabe of a shitload. [Reuters]
• So Much Auditor Litigation Makes For Strange Bedfellows – Uncle Dangle has some interesting problems re: Merrill Lynch and BoA that they would prefer just went away. [RTA]

• Stanford wins ruling in battle over fraud case defence – Court ruled that Stan can use proceeds from a corporate insurance policy to pay for his defense. Can we get on with the circus trial now, please? [FT]
• A Case Pitting Spin Against Fraud – “How far can Wall Street firms go to put a positive spin on bad news?” Used car salesmen should probably pay attention. [WSJ]
• BofA urged to seek external chief executive – Big institutional investors want fresh blood and not the next KL. [FT]
• Citi fined amid tax crackdown – $600k for derivatives that were partly designed to avoid taxes is supposedly going to scare other banks into compliance. [FT]
• Iceland Shrinks 8% as Prices Increase 11% in Deepest Recession – “The stock market has lost 97 percent of its value, and more than 780 companies have buckled under the weight of foreign currency loans as the krona plunged.” So, that’s not good. [Bloomberg]
• Improving your credit vs paying down debt – Americans can’t win. [Felix Salmon/Reuters]

• GM Expected to Seal Hummer Sale – $150 mil. Totally worth it. [WSJ]
• Bernanke Ready to Tighten When Recovery Sufficient – Don’t rush the man, you impatient twerps. [Bloomberg]
• FDIC questions Citi management review: report – ‘Cause, you know, they almost destroyed the WHOLE WORLD. [Reuters]
• 34 Banks Miss TARP Dividends and Almost No One Notices – AIG, CIT, and Bancorp are the top three slackers. Thanks guys. [Naked Capitalism]
• In Surprise, Nobel Peace Prize to Obama for Diplomacy – Glenn Beck’s hysterical dismissal of the legitimacy of the award in 3…2…1… [NYT]

• British Regulator Objects to Ticketmaster Merger – “Ticketmaster and Live Nation said that they would cooperate with the commission and that they remained committed to the merger. They argued that the deal would be in the public interest.” [NYT]
• IBM Faces Justice Antitrust Inquiry – “The Armonk, N.Y., giant has long held a near-monopoly position in mainframes, which are large computers that can cost $1 million or more and are designed to run accounting software and databases. For decades, the company operated under terms of a 1956 consent decree with the government that required it to license mainframe technology to competitors.” [WSJ]
• US deficit ‘hits record $1.4tn’ – Records are meant to broken. [BBC]
• Promise of free money leads to scuffle between thousands in Detroit – “Several people reportedly passed out from exhaustion and had to be treated by emergency medical personnel.” [NYDN]
• Accounting’s Patron Saint – Not Arthur Andersen. [Energized Accounting]
• A Windows to Help You Forget – Review of Windows Siete. Some of you can go geek out over this. [WSJ]

• AT&T makes iPhone U-turn – “Bowing to pressure from regulators and consumers, AT&T on Tuesday said that it would allow inexpensive internet phone calls to be placed through its networks from Apple’s iPhones.” New Deloitte associates rejoice. [FT]
• Support Builds for Tax Credit to Help Hiring – Seems like a good idea. [NYT]
• Jr Deputy Accountant Needs Your Help. Srsly. – Kidney…Not really. [JDA]
• SEC Says Frank’s Derivatives Plan May Leave ‘Regulatory Gaps’ – “Business reaction to Frank’s proposal suggests it lacks restrictions sought by critics who blame derivatives for speeding the downfall of American International Group Inc. and for exacerbating the credit crisis over the last 18 months.” [Bloomberg]

• Burned Bondholders Demand Movie, Bowling Alley Claims for Junk – “Blockbuster Inc. sold $675 million of debt on Sept. 17, agreeing to pay a 15.2 percent yield and pledge movies and video games as collateral. Brunswick Corp. used its bowling alleys and headquarters in Lake Forest, Illinois, to back a $350 million bond sale in August.” [Bloomberg]
• United States calls for rigorous IMF surveillance – ‘Cause were sure as hell not able to do it, TImmay [Reuters]
• PwC asks: When will banks learn? – Around the same time as accounting firms, probably. [Reuters]
• Justices Turn Down Appeal From Qwest’s Nacchio – Does this mean that this story is over? [Reuters via NYT]
• United Airlines to get $35.8 million in city incentives for Willis Tower move – Deloitte should have held out. [Chicago Tribune]

• Soros Says ‘Basically Bankrupt’ Banks Restrain U.S. – And consumers up to their eyeballs in debt doesn’t help either, according to Georgie. [Bloomberg]
• BofA to Select Emergency CEO – “Led by Bank of America Chairman Walter Massey, the committee plans to submit its choice to the full board for approval. Regulators will be asked to sign off on the choice, according to the person familiar with the matter, and then the plan will be shelved until needed.” [WSJ]
• Debt Plan Falls Short of Fixing CIT Lending – “CIT Group Inc.’s proposed debt-restructuring plan, even if successful, may do little to fix the company’s broken lending business…CIT’s ability to raise funds cheaply, a key requirement for any lender, remains limited by low credit ratings and restrictions imposed by a banking regulator.” [WSJ]
• Telecom boss quits in suicide row – “France Telecom’s second-in-command has resigned, after weeks of criticism over management’s handling of a spate of suicides by employees…Unions blame restructuring at the firm for some of the 24 suicides by company employees in the last 20 months.” [BBC]
• Auditing Standard 5: How Now, Brown Cow? – Homework, auditors. Read up. [RTA]