Preliminary Analytics | 10.06.09

• BofA Seeks to Repay a Portion of Bailout – “Repaying this would mean BofA would no longer be considered an ‘exceptional’ aid recipient — a designation that has put it under a microscope by Congress and regulators, with its pay packages subject to review by the federal ‘pay czar'”. Ken Lewis isn’t going to take it anymore. [WSJ]
• Madoff Liquidator May ‘Claw Back’ Charities’ Fake Profits – ‘Picard has an obligation to the bankruptcy estate to collect all the assets he can find and in theory he has to treat everyone the same way.’ Most thankless job ever. [Bloomberg]
• Warning Signs: I Started Looking And The Bubble Burst… – Deloitte. Start listening. [RTA]
• Icahn Pares Yahoo Stake With Sale of 12.7M Shares – Deal is done. Might as well work on GTFO. [NYT]
• Corporate failures forecast to rise – “Insolvency specialists are forecasting a second wave of corporate restructurings to break in September as bankers and investors face problem investments.” [FT]
• IRS to Mine Payment Data on Mortgages – “The Treasury inspector general said in a Monday report that tens of thousands of homeowners who paid more than $20,000 in mortgage interest in 2005 either didn’t file a tax return or reported income that appears insufficient to cover their mortgage interest and basic living expenses.” GASP. Someone living beyond their means? [WSJ]

• U.S. Increases Cases Against Tax Evaders – Every couple of weeks, the Service is expecting to make new scofflaws public. They describe it as a ‘great success for the government’ which is an odd combination of words. [Reuters via NYT]
• Phone Calls Add to Din Over Loans – “Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is trying to subpoena the remaining records of Countrywide’s VIP loan program. So far, the committee’s chairman, New York Democratic Rep. Edolphus Towns, has turned down that request.” And some of the tapes have been destroyed anyway. So that could turn out to be a hell of a problem. [WSJ]
• Harkin: ‘Public Option’ Will Be In Final Health Bill – Maybe. Hark also thinks it’ll be done by Christmas. There’s that whole tricky navigation of politics to deal with though. [NPR]
• Xerox to Buy Affiliated Computer for $6.4 Billion – “The acquisition is Chief Executive Officer Ursula Burns’s first since taking over the world’s largest maker of high-speed color printers in July. The transaction helps her expand into a market the company values at about $150 billion and gives her a foothold in managing administrative operations for multiple arms of the U.S. government.” Handling anything for the feds gets you closer to the money printing machine, so that’s not a bad thing. [Bloomberg]

• Arming Goldman With Pistols Against Public: Alice Schroeder – Team Jehovah is packing. [Bloomberg]
• Federal Estate Tax Bill Up for A Vote – Four weeks to go until the estate tax is repealed and now Congress is trying to vote on legislation to extend it. The original repeal passed in 2001. Our representatives at work. [Tax Girl]
• Grant Thornton LLP launches Aerospace and Defense industry group – Forget the “Global 6” thing, this will make GT an intergalactic firm. [Press Release]
• Ensuring Integrity: 4th Annual Audit Conference – Short on CPE? Get seven hours over at Baruch tomorrow for $345. Jim Peterson of Re: Balance will be on one of the panels and the keynote will be given by Robert Kueppers, Deputy CEO of Deloitte. [Baruch College]
• GE, Vivendi Forge Tentative Deal on NBC Stake – How does Jack Donaghy feel about this? [WSJ]
• Rothstein surrenders himself to the FBI – “Rather than a formal indictment, federal authorities will file what is known as ‘an information’ that would suggest that Rothstein has already agreed to eventually plead guilty.” [Miami Herald]