September 2008
22 posts
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Golden Parachutes
A golden parachute is a clause in an executive’s employment contract that specifies he will receive benefits in the event the company is taken over and the executive is let go. A golden parachute can come in the form of severance pay in cash, stock options, bonuses, etc. The term more loosely refers to an executive’s severance package - regardless of takeover. Golden parachutes are...
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A Memo Found in the Street →
To: Washington, D.C. From: Wall Street Re: Credit Crisis
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What you could do with $700,000,000,000
Give every person in the US $2,300 or give every household $6,200.
Pay the income taxes of every American who makes $500,000 or less a year.
Fully fund the Defense, Treasury, Education, State Veterans Affairs and Interior departments next year, as well as NASA.
Buy gasoline for every car in the US for 16 months.
Buy every NFL, NBA, and MLB team and build each one a new stadium - and pay your...
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"The last wrench in the toolbox"
If you haven’t heard, the “mother of all bailouts” may soon take place in the US. The Federal Reserve plans to spend $700 billion to buy up mortgage related debt from our ailing banks so the banks will be able to lend again. Credit is, after all, what America runs on. As Bernanke put it, it’s “the last wrench in the toolbox” to fix our financial crisis. But how...
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what's a bank holding company?
In the largest restructuring deal since the Depression, on Sunday the Fed approved the applications of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to become “bank holding companies.”
A bank holding company is, by definition, a company that owns and controls one or more US bank. Basically, this now means the Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are more like retail or commercial banks. You know - the...
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How to Sell Short
Perhaps you’ve seen headlines or references in articles about the ban on short selling. Many believe it is one of the main causes of the current financial crisis and the fall of such banks as Bear, Lehman, and AIG. But what exactly is “short selling?” How and when can you do it? And why is it so frowned upon?
When to Sell Short: You sell short when you think that a certain stock price is going to...
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AIG. Now that you own it, learn about it!
First of all – what is AIG? AIG is American International Group, the largest insurance company in the world. It’s not just an insurance company, however; its business is divided into four divisions: general insurance, life insurance and retirement services, financial services and asset management. It was started in 1919.
How did it (almost) collapse? Like many other banks, AIG lost a lot on...
“This is how we will be remembered, this is why Mr Hirst speaks for the times.”
– Jackie Wullschlager, art critic for the Financial Times Damien Hirst broke the Sotheby’s record yesterday with a two-day auction reaching $200.7 million in sales, including $18.4m for “The Golden Calf,” and $272,000 for “Death Wish” - a 6-inch square relief covered in cigarette butts and ash. I...
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Received this email on Friday:
—- Fulltime Associate Recruiting Presentation and Reception When: Thursday, October 9, 2008 Where: Lehman Brothers World Headquarters, New York Attire: Business Formal —-
but the RSVP link seems to be broken..
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Uhoh, the GSEs just became TSEs
Big News of a bailout for Fannie and Freddie – investors cheer, the markets rally, but what does it mean to you?
GSEs —> TSEs? Well, the Government Sponsored Enterprises just became Taxpayer Sponsored Enterprises. The Treasury “bailed” them out, changed their leadership, and is putting Fan & Fred under the management of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. It’s the...
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QQs: The Republican National Convention
Why did Lieberman speak at the RNC? Isn’t he a Democrat? Why no, he’s not. He’s been an “Independent Democrat” since 2006. He spoke at the convention because “country matters more than party.”
Did Palin really sell the government plane on eBay? No. She did put it on eBay but it was later sold by a plane broker for $2.1 million. Palin’s predecessor, Frank...
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is your bank on the skids?
Check TheStreet.com’s new Bank & Thrift Index. There are 2518 ranked D or lower in the US.
Does Exposure to Powerful Women Reduce Prejudice?
“In July 2006, women accounted for just under 17% of parliamentarians worldwide. A woman was the head of government in only seven countries.” This could be due to short supply, higher cost to entry due to family, or to voter attitude, which previous research has found may be “distaste” for female leadership.
Is that “distaste” why we’ve seen such out lash against Palin? As Laura Bush suggested in...
St. Mark's: The Next Times Square?
Will this become this? Venice’s Piazza San Marco is in need of restoration but can’t foot the bill. To help fund the project, Venice may resort to electronic advertising billboards, much like those adorning our beautiful Times Square.
The plan, yet to be officially approved, calls for five screens, each measuring about 2,500 square feet, to be hung on scaffolding throughout the...
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Will McCain drop Palin? →
The markets seem to think so.