• Treasury Retreats From Standoff With TARP Watchdog – “Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a position also known as Sigtarp, declared victory Wednesday in his effort to clarify that he doesn’t answer to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.” [WSJ]
• Oracle Faces In-Depth EU Probe Over Sun Purchase – Larry Ellison will not stand this aggression. [Bloomberg]
• Will AIG Rein In Its Brash CEO? – “Mr. Benmosche said New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo ‘doesn’t deserve to be in government’ and that Mr. Benmosche would leave dealing with ‘all those crazies down in Washington’ to the company’s chairman, according to an account by Bloomberg News that was confirmed by Mr. Benmosche.” For the sake of the rest of us, let the man say his piece. [WSJ]
• Stanford Has Surgery; Receiver Defends $27 Million Fee – “Jailed fraud defendant R. Allen Stanford had surgery for an aneurysm in his leg Wednesday morning and was back in a Conroe-area prison before noon.” Recovery time for a stud such as Stan is not nearly as long for you mortals. Meanwhile, the receiver in the case is telling the SEC to BTFO. [Houston Chronicle]
• Stanford’s Bellagio debt, redux – Stan’s attorney suggests that if the Bellagio wants its money it should go after the aforementioned receiver, Ralph Janvey. Old school style of course, ‘Maybe the Bellagio should revert to the time-honored method of Vegas debt collection and send someone to make the receiver an offer he can’t refuse, or just break his legs,’ or may we suggest a hammer? [FT Alphaville]
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Preliminary Analytics | 11.23.09
• Jamie Dimon seen as good fit for Treasury – Seems possible since JD and BO go way back to when Dimon was at Bank One. Plus, according to some, JD would ‘love to serve his country’ but according to others, he plans on staying at JPM for ‘six or seven years.’ This is a toss up at best. [NYP]
• These Men Could Kill SarbOx – And they’re doing it pro bono. [BW]
• Aluminum Bubble Concerns Mount as Surplus May Add 29% – ‘There’s a disconnect between the price and reality.’ That sounds familiar. [Bloomberg]
• Zynga May Be Valued at $1 Billion Feeding Off Facebook Craze – Zynga is movin’ up in Farmville bitches but there are no plans for a public offering, according to the CEO. That would be a distraction from developing new $3 chicken coops and the like. [Bloomberg]
• G.M. Is Taking Taxpayers for a Ride – In case you weren’t convinced. [DealBook]
Preliminary Analytics | 09.18.09
• Financier Pang Allegedly Had Drugs in His System at Death – “Newport Beach police believe the most likely explanation is that Mr. Pang, 42 years old, committed suicide, according to people close to the matter, but they are awaiting the coroner’s report for a definitive conclusion.” [WSJ]
• Investors, It Pays to Mind the GAAP Gaps – “Companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index earned an estimated $13.81 a share in the quarter on an operating basis, compared with $13.51 in GAAP earnings. That is the closest those two earnings measures have been since the first quarter of 2000.” [WSJ]
• Fed to screen U.S. bank pay policies: report – Basically, bankers would have to get approval from Dad before getting their allowance. [Reuters]
• UBS Tax Net Snares Clients of Credit Suisse, Julius Baer, LGT – Eventually, just for simplicity and fairness, everyone will have to tell everyone else where they bank. [Bloomberg]
Preliminary Analytics | 12.29.09
• AP: Ponzi collapses nearly quadrupled in ’09 – Thimble-dick Bernie, Allen Stanford, Tom “Cocker Spaniel” Petters, all did their part. [via HuffPo]
• The First Annual Jr Deputy Accountant Year in Review Awards (or some h*t) – Somehow we ended up on this list and somehow JDA managed to make it a backhanded compliment (we think). [JDA]
• Koss financial records will get more scrutiny in 2010 – With comments from Tracy Coenen at Fraud Files. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• The Man Who Wired Silicon Valley – How Raj got the world by the short and curlies. [WSJ]
• GM Plans Pontiac Fire Sale – “GM sent letters to dealers Dec. 23 saying it would pay them $7,000 for every new Saturn or Pontiac on their lot that is moved to rental-vehicle or service-vehicle fleets operated by the dealers.” So yes, they’ll seem extra pushy. [WSJ]
• The Big Zero – As in the decade we’re finishing up. Prof. Krugman also quotes Diet Coke fiend Larry Summers stating that GAAP was the most important innovation in history and that it allows investors to make good decisions. According to PK, also a big zero. [Paul Krugman/NYT]
• Spurious academic study of the day, Tiger Woods edition – Ball-parking investors’ losses due to TW’s cheating ways is not so easy, nay, ridiculous. [Felix Salmon/Reuters]