That’s Mr. Geithner to you, Jamie…
“Dear Timmy, we are happy to be able to pay back the $25 billion you lent us. We hope you enjoyed the experience as much as we did.”
That’s JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s biting sense of humor on display yesterday as he read a mock letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner before the Annual NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference in New York. Dimon’s sarcastic tone shocked some participants and cheered others, according to sources who attended the meeting.
“I congratulate him not only for his candor but for his wit,” said Mark Grant, managing director of structured finance at Southwest Securities in Dallas. “The fact that Jamie Dimon had the self composure, the sense of humor and the fortitude to make such a statement in public not only made me smile but it reminded me of days seemingly long past when men stood up on their own two feet and played the Great Game with style.”
The Wall Street Examiner, a blog of financial analysis and commentary, characterized Dimon’s remarks in a different light, calling it “the new and taunting face of state capitalism in America. ”
Dimon, a combative executive who took up boxing lessons before he joined JPMorgan, has in the past referred to TARP funds as a “scarlet letter” and also called the $25 billion that the Treasury forced JPMorgan to take as a “TARP baby.”
Dimon repeatedly has said the bank did not want to take the money. However, Wall Street banks including JPMorgan accepted the federal funds last year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers to help alleviate concerns about the health of bank balance sheets.
(Picture of Dimon at Business Council in Dallas by Reuters photographer Jessica Rinaldi; Geithner in China shown in pool photo)
from Photographers Blog:
Tim Geithner : What’s In Your Wallet?
What's in U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's wallet? Not much.
While testifying in front of a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Capitol Hill Thursday Geithner was shown a $50 Billion Zimbabwean bank note (rendered worthless by Zimbabwe's hyperinflation) by U.S. Representative John Culberson (R- TX) and asked if he had ever seen one himself. Geithner immediately pulled a piece of Zimbabwean currency out of his own pocket and showed it off to the committee. At the next break in the hearing I approached Geithner and asked how he happened to have a piece of foreign currency in his pocket. His response was "I often have some foreign currency in my wallet. Want to see?" He pulled a very thin and mostly empty wallet from his pocket.
Amongst many empty slots in the thin weathered leather wallet there could be seen three credit or debit cards with Visa and Mastercard logos (all inserted into the wallet upside down so that the card issuers could not be seen) and an old and yellowed looking identification card of indeterminate origin.
From inside the wallet Geithner extracted a small pile of receipts and paper including a New York City MTA farecard, pointing out that there were European Euros tucked amongst the paper.
Notably not seen in the U.S. Treasury Secretary's wallet? Any U.S. dollars.
Post Traumatic Stress Test Order
A week ago, when the Fed and Treasury mesmerized the financial world with the results of “stress tests” and capital-raising targets for banks, nobody spent much time asking “what if they can’t raise the money?” There was a sense that authorities had washed away enough uncertainty in the sector to satisfy investors. In short order, healthier institutions started raising capital. Those that didn’t need any stepped up efforts to rid themselves of onerous state support.
Bank of America shares are on a tear after the bank raised nearly $13.5 billion through a stock sale. Along with money it raised by selling part of its stake in China Construction Bank, this put Bank of America about half way to filling its stress-test gap.
But when Regions Financial, a large U.S. Southeast regional bank that was stress-tested, announced plans this morning to raise $1.25 billion through stock offerings — also about half of what federal regulators told it to raise — investors balked, sending its stock down more than 8 percent.
Just goes to show that not everybody can fail a stress test and impress shareholders with massive ownership dilution. Regions’ trouble may be that aside from selling stock, it has far less to offer than bigger banks in terms of asset sales to make shareholders feel better about doubling down. If nothing else, the market reaction could put a scent in the air that might interest an acquisition-minded lender needing exposure in the U.S. Southeast. If such a creature exists, it might find many more stressed-out lambs in the U.S. financial pasture.
GMAC, I mean Ally Bank can not raise money, they will call the Treasury, ask for a (many)few more billions. Why do we keep giving this worthless firm anything. Fold it. Many bank already availible to loan. . . Who cares, fake company, fake bankruptcy, fake about everything, makes me sick. Billions down a rathole.
from Funds Hub:
Has the moment for greater UK hedge fund regulation passed?
Tuesday's grilling of UK hedge fund executives is likely to create plenty of noise but produce little in the way of new rules.
While media-shy TCI founder Chris Hohn and others will face tough questions from the Treasury Select Committee on financial stability, short-selling and other issues, it nevertheless seems that the pro-legislation lobby's position may be weaker than it has been in recent years.
For one thing, many hedge funds simply do not have the financial clout -- and therefore carry the associated risks seen by some politicians -- that they once did.
At the start of 2007 hedge funds were booming and assets had swelled to more than $2 trillion, according to HedgeFund Intelligence. Coupled with the substantial leverage employed by some strategies, hedge funds were a significant force in many markets.
Today, leverage has been cut back, investors are pulling out assets, and many funds are playing it safe and sitting on cash.
While never to be dismissed, a repeat of LTCM, where one huge fund dominated a market and many players mimicked its movements, looks less of an threat now.
Activists funds, meanwhile, whose tactic of buying into firms and calling loudly for "shareholder value" has caused much controversy, have less to work with in a bear market where firms are unwilling or unable to do deals or take on debt.
