BLOG.JMHAMILTONPUBLISHING.COM: Monthly Archives for February 2012

The PIMCO defensive strategy playbook

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 9:00 PM | Add Comment

Now, industry officials will have to decide whether the credit-default swaps will pay out.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 7:09 PM | Add Comment

At the end of 2011, Goldman Sachs had sold $142.4 billion of single-name swaps, contracts that pay out in the event of a default, on the five countries, the firm said yesterday in an annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 7:08 PM | Add Comment

Below, we examine the myths surrounding private equity by revisiting the top 10 leveraged buyout deals.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 7:05 PM | Add Comment

Compensation has posed a dilemma at Wall Street firms. The issue has proved a lightning rod for politicians and critics who contend that the industry’s pay packages are too high.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 7:03 PM | Add Comment

In their annual reports with the S.E.C., Goldman and Wells Fargo said that they had received Wells notices from the regulator over unidentified sets of mortgage-backed securities.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 7:00 PM | Add Comment

“You have to get your costs and where you spend your time, to the fullest extent possible, more in line with where the opportunity is.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 6:54 PM | Add Comment

While banks largely have managed to keep their structured equity derivatives out of the regulatory spotlight, they are under increasing pressure to be more transparent about their credit-derivatives business.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 6:53 PM | Add Comment

“People were afraid the euro would break up or something really bad would happen. The very fact that something bad is less likely is an important step and that will help the real economy.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 6:46 PM | Add Comment

LTRO

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 1:30 PM | Add Comment

In Cairo, the murky proceedings surrounding the case turned even murkier Tuesday night when state media reported that the judge had abruptly removed himself. The case will now start with a new judge.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 10:00 AM | Add Comment

But the possibility that Israel will launch a pre-emptive strike has become a focus of American policy makers and is expected to be a primary topic when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel meets with President Obama at the White House on Monday.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 10:00 AM | Add Comment

Several major global banks, including Citigroup Inc, HSBC Holdings Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and UBS AG, have disclosed that they have been approached by authorities investigating how Libor is set.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 9:35 AM | Add Comment

"This is going to be a long, drawn-out marathon. It feels like a political death march."

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 7:30 AM | Add Comment

"The groundswell is enormous," said Mr. Fellows, who is supporting Mr. Santorum. "And the people supporting Rick Santorum are solidly behind him. The other candidates' numbers aren't solid."

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 6:28 AM | Add Comment

BCA Daily Insights from the Bank Credit Analyst organization also sees a prolonged period of negative real yields on Treasuries -- that is, less than the rate of inflation -- as a result of the Fed's efforts. Indeed, the market is forecasting the fed-fund

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 6:26 AM | Add Comment

In the latest sign that moderate Republicans feel passé, Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine shockingly announced her retirement, decrying “ ‘my way or the highway’ ideologies” and a vanishing political center.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 6:23 AM | Add Comment

“I have often said that the use of a university is to make young gentlemen as unlike their fathers as possible.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 6:21 AM | Add Comment

“Now what we need is a strong political leader to do something to get us out of the moral slump that we’re in.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 6:10 AM | Add Comment

PRIVATE EQUITY DEAL GONE BUST: TXU

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 6:08 AM | Add Comment

“Apple and app makers should be making sure people understand what they are consenting to. It is pretty obvious that they aren’t doing a good enough job of that.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 6:06 AM | Add Comment

The F.D.A. said that routine monitoring of liver enzymes in the blood, once considered standard procedure for statin users, was no longer needed because the liver injury associated with statin therapy was so rare.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 6:03 AM | Add Comment

The Arab/Muslim awakening phase is over. Now we are deep into the counter-revolutionary phase, as the dead hands of the past try to strangle the future.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 6:00 AM | Add Comment

Shipments of non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, used in calculating gross domestic product, decreased 3.1 percent, the most since April 2009, after rising 2.8 percent.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/29/2012 1:00 AM | Add Comment

“Our preliminary investigation shows that it is extremely difficult to know exactly which data is combined between which services for which purposes, even for trained privacy professionals.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 9:00 PM | Add Comment

“Europe is one of the world’s greatest investment opportunities right now,” Mr. Rubenstein said at SuperReturn International. “There’s no part of the world that will see so much assets sold at a discount as in Europe.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 8:15 PM | Add Comment

Bank of America is seeking to resolve liabilities from its purchase of Countrywide Financial in 2008.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 8:00 PM | Add Comment

Amazon.com, the world’s largest online retailer, surpassed Samsung as the No. 2 seller of tablet computers last quarter, shipping 3.89 million units, according to research firm IHS Inc.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:54 PM | Add Comment

“Investment defense is coming of age.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:53 PM | Add Comment

Mr. Santorum’s most tangible advantage is probably that he has outperformed the polls in several previous states; Mr. Romney’s is that he has banked an advantage from early voters.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:41 PM | Add Comment

CME has been criticized for how it responded to the crisis at MF Global.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:39 PM | Add Comment

Senator Olympia Snowe, Republican of Maine, Will Not Seek Re-election

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:34 PM | Add Comment

Because many view reverse merger companies with suspicion, it is not surprising that so many companies listed in the U.S. through a reverse merger face legal difficulties – no matter where they are headquartered.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:31 PM | Add Comment

Warren Buffett disclosed that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK)’s foreign-government debt holdings are comprised mostly of securities from Germany, the U.K., Canada, Australia and the Netherlands

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:19 PM | Add Comment

"It's cheaper to pay a monthly retainer to a lawyer than a $20,000 mortgage payment on an underwater loan," says Christopher Fountain, a Greenwich, Conn., real-estate broker.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:13 PM | Add Comment

In 2008 and 2011, when Fed actions previously helped driven fuel and food prices sharply higher, the real purchasing power of average American families was battered by paying $4 a gallon for gasoline.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:10 PM | Add Comment

But if you dug into the (AIG) numbers, it quickly became clear that $17.7 billion of that profit was pure fantasy — a tax benefit, er, gift, from the United States government.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:08 PM | Add Comment

“The corporations have a lot of money and are very attractive targets,” said Northwestern University law professor Eugene Kontorovich, an expert in international law. “The idea is that they were in bed with the countries.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:05 PM | Add Comment

“What happens in Davos stays in Davos,” many people said, but even when you’re there it’s hard to know what is happening in Davos.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 11:45 AM | Add Comment

"I think the rating coming out of default of the Hellenic Republic will give some indication of what the likelihood of another restructuring down the road would be."

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 11:00 AM | Add Comment

“It’s the mercenary side of Buffett,” said Jeff Matthews, a Berkshire shareholder

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 10:01 AM | Add Comment

But the rearview camera requirement is one of the biggest steps taken to protect people outside of a vehicle.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 10:00 AM | Add Comment

When God finally gets tired of waiting it out and decides to end things, the back-and-forth between dragons and serpents and sea monsters and Jesus is less like a scouring of the stables than like a Giants-Patriots Super Bowl.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 9:49 AM | Add Comment

Greece’s credit ratings were cut to “Selective Default” by Standard & Poor’s yesterday.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:22 AM | Add Comment

Washington Post - Federal Budget - Graphic

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:19 AM | Add Comment

“It is now clear that withdrawal timetables will continue to accelerate, cutbacks will continue to grow and popular attention will continue to shift away from Afghanistan.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:11 AM | Add Comment

“It’s not clear to me when Greece returns to growth under this policy mix. The fiscal policy is excessively tight, and Greece is being pushed down a totally self-defeating path.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:08 AM | Add Comment

There are signs that the era of low borrowing costs may be approaching its end, as the domestic economy shows signs of strength and Europe pulls back from economic immolation.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:07 AM | Add Comment

"Now I’m thinking like it’s 15 or a little more. It’s within reach. It’s within our lifetime. It’s going to happen.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:04 AM | Add Comment

President Obama, who endorsed the Volcker rule, needs to stand up for it. And regulators need to stand up to the banks and their lobbyists and implement the law.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 7:02 AM | Add Comment

All across the nation, there are mainstream Republicans lamenting how the party has grown more and more insular, more and more rigid.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 6:59 AM | Add Comment

Now it’s Rick Santorum who blinks in the spotlight’s glare.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 6:44 AM | Add Comment

"Stratfor will not be silenced..."

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/28/2012 6:41 AM | Add Comment

Perhaps Private Equity should LBO JP Morgan?

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 7:30 PM | Add Comment

Other private-equity peers, like the Carlyle Group, agreed to cut management fees for certain large investors to half the industry standard in order to raise a $2.3 billion real-estate fund.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 7:24 PM | Add Comment

Berkshire Annual Letter

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 7:21 PM | Add Comment

An army of lawyers and regulators has been struggling to reclaim about $1.6 billion in funds that belong to farmers, grain operators and traders like hedge funds.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 7:18 PM | Add Comment

IMF... No Can Do... !

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:48 PM | Add Comment

European leaders shift their focus this week to bolstering the euro region’s debt-crisis firewall after the Group of 20 nations rebuffed their call for help.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:40 PM | Add Comment

Loans to companies fell at their fastest pace on record in December when the euro zone's debt crisis intensified, and the European Commission has predicted a euro zone recession.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:34 PM | Add Comment

Gordon Gekko, the character played by actor Michael Douglas in the movie “Wall Street,” is the New York FBI office’s newest weapon in its arsenal to combat insider trading.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:31 PM | Add Comment

The billionaire, at a meeting yesterday at the Metropolitan Club in New York, said the metal is the best hedge against currency debasement as countries inject money into their economies

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:28 PM | Add Comment

Billabong shares rose above the offer price today, the first time since it announced the TPG bid on Feb. 17.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:26 PM | Add Comment

The testimony may prove damaging to the News Corporation, the American-based parent of Mr. Murdoch’s media empire, if it gives ammunition to the F.B.I. and other agencies that are investigating the company for possible prosecution under the Foreign Corrup

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:03 PM | Add Comment

Perhaps Private Equity should LBO JP Morgan?

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:00 PM | Add Comment

Just like the general public, we along with many others in the finance world, were outraged and furious at colleagues who had damaged, if not destroyed, our livelihoods.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 2:36 PM | Add Comment

Many industry analysts and experts say a quick settlement is in BP's best interest.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 11:37 AM | Add Comment

Europe “doesn’t really need any outside money,” Jim O’Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said in an e-mail. “It needs their own policy makers, especially Germany, to show leadership.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 11:32 AM | Add Comment

Roubini's Greene speaks with Bloomberg's Sara Eisen and Michael McKee on "Bloomberg On the Economy."

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 11:30 AM | Add Comment

Did I mention that Sweden, which still has a very generous welfare state, is currently a star performer, with economic growth faster than that of any other wealthy nation?

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:35 AM | Add Comment

“That makes me throw up,” Santorum said, adding later, “I don’t believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:35 AM | Add Comment

That puts the spotlight on Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, to agree to raise the region’s anti-crisis firewall to a potential 750 billion euros ($1 trillion) at a March 1-2 European summit.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:26 AM | Add Comment

Crony Communism?

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:26 AM | Add Comment

Among the risk factors listed in Facebook’s filing for a public offering is the prospect of “adverse changes in our products that are mandated by legislation, regulatory authorities, or litigation, including settlements or consent decrees.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:21 AM | Add Comment

“The material contains privileged information about the U.S. government’s attacks against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks and Stratfor’s own attempts to subvert WikiLeaks,” the group said.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:19 AM | Add Comment

The attack, albeit an unsuccessful one, provides a rare glimpse into the recruiting, reconnaissance and warfare tactics used by the shadowy hacking collective.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:15 AM | Add Comment

The spate of legislation has helped Democrats register more Latino voters and increase turnout in local elections, similar to what happened in California after Republicans supported tough immigration measures

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:12 AM | Add Comment

“It would be a costly mistake to spend millions of taxpayer dollars” building an exchange before the Supreme Court issues its decision in a challenge to the health care law, which is expected in late June.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:10 AM | Add Comment

“There is no less a commitment to a long-term relationship with Afghanistan,” the official said. “But is there a concern now that many will question the need to stay? Yes — especially in an election year.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:07 AM | Add Comment

“All of a sudden, every teenage girl has an iPhone,” Mr. Walkley said. “The real danger is that Apple becomes so mainstream that there is a breakaway by consumers to something new.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 6:02 AM | Add Comment

Firefox was one of the first to include a Do Not Track option.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 5:59 AM | Add Comment

It responded to several cases of Brady violations by its attorneys — including egregious misconduct in the case of the late Senator Ted Stevens — by providing more training and by directing each United States attorney’s office

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/27/2012 5:54 AM | Add Comment

Thursday 1: Reports on a raft of important data, including personal income and spending, weekly jobless claims and vehicle sales.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 6:19 PM | Add Comment

Bloomberg: Messrs. Levitt and Volcker!

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 1:45 PM | Add Comment

Semantics aside, the founders of Bain Capital originally saw the firm not as an LBO or private equity shop, but as a venture capital concern.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 1:44 PM | Add Comment

Cannonball Aderley - Spectacular

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 7:51 AM | Add Comment

So Why Are Prices Going Up at the Pump? - JMH - “The U.S. has reversed a two-decade-long decline in energy independence, increasing the proportion of demand met from domestic sources over the last six years to an estimated 81 percent..."

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 7:37 AM | Add Comment

“It makes the party look like it isn’t a modern party,” Rudy Giuliani told CNN’s Erin Burnett, fretting about the candidates’ Cotton Mather attitude about women and gays. “It doesn’t understand the modern world that we live in.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 7:32 AM | Add Comment

The allegations paint a picture of executives hell-bent on loading their companies with shaky loans to boost their bonuses.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 7:30 AM | Add Comment

These figures could mean that China’s long-awaited economic rebalancing has already begun, especially if the sharp decline in the country’s trade surplus from 7.5% of GDP in 2007 to 2.1% in 2011

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 7:23 AM | Add Comment

Losses from credit-default contracts, in which Buffett bets on the ability of borrowers to repay debt, widened to $216 million from $157 million a year earlier.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 7:13 AM | Add Comment

Apple was continuing “active discussions” about what to do with its $97.6 billion in cash and investments, saying the cash hoard was “more than we need to run a company.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 7:10 AM | Add Comment

Moral hazard sounds like the name of a video game set in a bordello, but in economic terms it refers to the undue risks that people are apt to take if they don’t have to bear the consequences.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 7:08 AM | Add Comment

“The race is going to go a long time,” he said after addressing a meeting here of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 7:07 AM | Add Comment

After shunning the concept for years, Massachusetts, seeking solutions to its budget woes, last fall became the first New England state to pass a broad law allowing resort casinos. Now others may not be far behind.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 7:04 AM | Add Comment

Separately, there were reports that an American drone aircraft had crashed in North Waziristan, along the Afghan border.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 7:03 AM | Add Comment

Her American Conservative Union rating jumped from 48 percent in 2009 to 64 percent a year later.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 6:59 AM | Add Comment

Mr. Santorum said that Mr. Romney and Mr. Paul had tag-teamed him during Wednesday night’s debate in Arizona, and he derisively referred to Mr. Paul as Mr. Romney’s “wingman.”

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 6:52 AM | Add Comment

Monopoly money can now be counted by a tablet computer. Hot Wheels cars can zoom across iPad screens. And Barbie? She’s become a digital camera.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 6:50 AM | Add Comment

While victims of Mr. Madoff’s fraud, like most Ponzi victims, condemned their accused betrayer in court as a monster, many of Mr. Beachy’s investors have said in court that it is more important to forgive him than to recover their money.

Posted by J.M. Hamilton Blog at 2/26/2012 6:48 AM | Add Comment

Main Navigation

Quick Search

Calendar

Syndicate

Monthly Archives

Category Archives

Tag Cloud

Recent Posts

Twitter Link

JMHAMILTONPUBLISHINGBLOG