New York Senator Chuck Schumer must be pretty happy about the retirement of Countrywide Financial’s COO David Sambol  — you could even say he’s thrilled — but don’t expect Chuck to throw Sambol a retirement party any time soon.

Senator Schumer has been calling for Bank of America to drop its plan for Sambol to head a combined Countrywide/BofA mortgage division since February.

In a letter written to BofA, the senior senator from New York wrote:

“It is unacceptable that Mr. Sambol be given a second chance to inflict even more damage to our economy.  I urge you to reconsider your hiring decision, particularly since Bank of America has had such a strong track record in the lending market and stands out as a responsible and ethical firm among too many irresponsible and unethical mortgage lenders.”

See how he criticizes a major decision by the bank, then turns around to give BofA that fuzzy “responsible and ethical firm” compliment — sweet.

Well, today Schumer got his wish after BofA announced that Sambol will retire and its own Chief Technology and Operations Officer, Barbara Desoer, will instead head the division (that is if BofA goes through with the acquisition of Countrywide, but that’s a whole other blog).

Upon hearing the news, Schumer gave Sambol a traditional retirement toast roast:

“You cannot divorce Countrywide, the company, from the executives who pioneered Countrywide’s predatory practices. It always amazed me that Bank of America, which has a fine reputation, would want to keep someone who was in effect Countrywide’s chief cook and bottle washer on the scene. Today, Bank of America has done the right thing in deciding not to make Mr. Sambol part of its future plans.”

But don’t feel too bad for Mr. Sambol; he gets to walk away with a nice parting gift — a $28 million retirement package.

Wonder if any of that money will end up in Senator Schumer’s re-election fund?

U.S. investors are flooding into India’s entertainment industry even as Indian moguls send money over to Hollywood.
 
While the credit crunch has stalled private investment in Hollywood films, U.S. financial firms are looking to tap into the 17 percent annual growth enjoyed by the Indian media industry.
 
India’s Economic Times reported investors including Blackstone, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers have flocked to the Indian industry, while media titans like Viacom, Disney and BBC have partnered up with entertainment companies in a trend that’s expected to continue.
 
Smaller investors are getting into the game too. Already 34 mutual funds have been set up to take advantage of India’s growing entertainment industry. Two Indian investment funds, Pyramid Saimira and Vistaar Entertainment Ventures, are each launching a fund that invests solely in India’s film industry, also called Bollywood, the Economic Times reported.
 
Bollywood is the world’s largest film industry by volume. More than 1,000 movies are released every year and about 3.7 billion tickets are sold — more than twice as many as the next largest market, the United States, according to a recent report by Ernst & Young. 
 
But the money is flowing both ways, with Indian moguls sending money over to Hollywood as well. Billionaire industrialist Anil Ambani just announced that he will invest $1 billion in deals with the production companies of George Clooney, Nicholas Cage, Tom Hanks and Brad Pitt, according to UK’s Times Online.
 
The cash is greatly appreciated. The subprime crisis has caused a drought in U.S. movie investment. As the credit crunch continues to blow up hedge funds, survivors are circling the wagons and putting money into more conservative bets — and the film industry is feeling left out.
 
And while the big Hollywood names can pull in some international funding, lesser known filmmakers are caught in limbo as investors walk away, according to an  article in the New York Times.
 
The New York Times piece profiles Sanjay Sanghoee, a New York investment banker and novelist, scrambling to raise money for his film “Merger,” which he based on his novel by the same name.
 
“Merger” had received hedge fund interest last October before the credit markets got real ugly. Sanghoee even doubled his budget to $15 million from $7 million. And who wouldn’t want to invest in a plot that has it all: spy satellites, CIA conspiracies, blackmail, sexual deviance, hostile takeovers — just a normal Tuesday for your average I-banker.

But as investors reduce their funding or drop out completely, Sanghoee is searching for capital. And now the Indian born I-banker might be wise to turn to Mumbai to find funding for his Hollywood film.

With Bear Stearns’ stock fetching only $2 a share, folks seem to be making more of a killing on souvenirs.

An EBay search for Bear Stearns returns a mix of odd items ranging from a 99-year-old magazine article about the 1909 crash ($10.49), a stuffed bear dressed in a vest and tie ($51.00),  as well a various stock certificates ($8.49 - $14.99). There are also T-shirts, windbreakers, and backpacks each priced at $2 a piece — ironic? 

For the true collector there’s a Bear Stearns cafeteria card. So far, that’s received 10 bids and now is bidding at $16.50, plus a $5 shipping fee. That is equivalent to about 4 shares of Bear stock as of Wednesday’s close.

Finally, in the true spirit of capitalism, some entrepreneur has found a way to make money out of others’ despair.  For $17.99, you can buy a T-shirt reading “I invested my life savings in Bear Stearns and all I have left is this lousy T-shirt” — perfect for anyone with a Bear employee on his or her list.

(PHOTO: Ebay website)
 

Dealmakers are hoping the upcoming Visa IPO will be hot enough to thaw out the current deal climate.

With the exception of a handful of SPACs, the 2008 market for initial public offerings has been off to a frigid start.

According to data tracker Dealogic, money raised so far this year adds up to less than one-quarter of the $21 billion that was pulled in by IPOs in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Making matters worse, 2008 offerings are being canceled or postponed at an average of 15 deals a month — that’s over twice 2007’s average of 7 a month.

But the Visa deal could bring some heat to the market next week with an offering  seen as being the biggest in U.S. history.

An IPO of that size could fatten up the first quarter –making it the most robust quarter for IPOs in the past 3 years.

The question though is whether momentum from Visa’s IPO will drive interest back to the U.S. IPO market, or go down in the history book’s as a one-off. Time will tell.

Data source: Dealogic

Rick’s Cabaret, one of two listed strip club operators, has been putting its piles of crumpled bills to work.

Rick’s just plunked down $9 million for the Executive Club in Dallas — its seventh deal in two years. And the company plans to keep growing, according to its latest earnings report, by snapping up more clubs or partnering with existing owners.

The strategy is working.  Over the past six months, Rick’s shares have swelled nearly 118 percent — while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down over 10 percent.  With its latest purchase, Rick’s will own and operate a total of 16 clubs.  And same-store sales have grown almost 20 percent. 

February revenue for its New York City joint alone was up almost 75 percent — showing that despite all those low bonus warnings, Rick’s can bring in the green.  That may make the cabaret a good place for investors to get away from market blues.

Big mergers among security exchanges could send banks scrambling to make deals of their own.

Goldman Sachs might be the latest member to join a group of 12 companies looking to mount an electronic attack against the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Big banks such as Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, Barclays, and Deutsche Bank have already banded together to create an electronic platform that could help crack the near monopoly that the CME holds over the U.S. futures market.

The development of a new electronic futures platform comes at a time when the CME Group is likely to merge with the New York Mercantile Exchange and its lucrative metals and energy business, creating an even more dominant marketplace.

Goldman is no stranger to electronic exchanges. The firm was a key player in the development of Archipelago, an electronic exchange created to compete with the NYSE and NASDAQ. The two rivals partnered up in 2006 when then NYSE Chairman - and former Goldman executive - John Thain merged the NYSE with the ailing electronic trading platform.

The new electronic platform, unofficially known as Four Seasons, could challenge the stranglehold that the CME Group currently enjoys on derivative trading. A new electronic competitor could drain volume - and commissions - away from the exchange. To make matters worse, many of the CME’s largest clients are the same banks throwing capital at the Four Seasons project.

These banks that once drove volume to the CME may now steer trades to their own electronic system. By trading on the Four Seasons platform, banks would not only receive cheaper executions, but also pile volume onto a system they have a financial stake in.