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$$$ G8 leaders urged to focus talks on growth [FT]
$$$ JPMorgan Returned $168M To MF Global, Trustee Says [Bloomberg]
$$$ Chesapeake Cuts Board Compensation [WSJ]
$$$ Ben Horowitz: MBAs aren’t as bad as everyone thinks [PandoDaily]
$$$ Bloomberg TV’s Matt Miller vents about Nasdaq FB glitches to NYSE traders [Bloomberg TV]
$$$ Boston radio talk show host Howie Carr released evidence that appears to confirm [Elizabeth] Warren may have plagiarized at least three of the five recipes she submitted to the 1984 Pow Wow Chow cookbook edited by her cousin Candy Rowsey. Two of the possibly plagiarized recipes, said in the Pow Wow Chow cookbook to have been passed down through generations of Oklahoma Native American members of the Cherokee tribe, are described in a New York Times News Service story as originating at Le Pavilion, a fabulously expensive French restaurant in Manhattan. The dishes were said to be particular favorites of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Cole Porter. The two recipes, “Cold Omelets with Crab Meat” and “Crab with Tomato Mayonnaise Dressing,” appear in an article titled “Cold Omelets with Crab Meat,” written by Pierre Franey of the New York Times News Service that was published in the August 22, 1979 edition of the Virgin Islands Daily News … [Breitbart via DI] $$$ Morgan Stanley is looking for a VP in Global Regulatory Policy in New York [DBCC]
$$$ JPMorgan to be haunted by change in risk model [Reuters]
$$$ JPMorgan unit has $100bn of risky bonds [FT]
$$$ Galleon prosecutor aims to cement legacy in U.S. Gupta trial
$$$ The government should fine the hell out of Rajat Gupta instead of criminally prosecuting him [Slate]
$$$ Cannibal allowed to leave mental hospital for a stroll, just four years after he beheaded and ate sleeping bus passenger [Daily Mail]
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What does this tell you? The key facts are that 43mm shares of Facebook changed hands at $38.00, almost all of them at the bid, and another 28.5mm traded at $38.01, largely at the ask.* I am not really smart enough to interpret – humans and algorithms aware of the stabilizing bid may have thrown…
Tags: FaceBook, IPOs
For every Facebook millionaire, there is someone who missed out. Ali Fedotowsky gave it up for love. She left her job in Facebook’s ad-sales department in 2010 to star in her own reality TV show, “The Bachelorette.” Ms. Fedotowsky left behind her unvested, restricted Facebook stock units, says her spokeswoman, who says Ms. Fedotowsky isn’t…
Tags: "Zuckerberg projects", Ali Fedotowsky, Daaaad, FaceBook, Joe Green, The Bachelorette
When you’ve made the executive decision to turn your business channel into the Facebook IPO Show, it can get difficult figuring out how to fill every second of airtime. Obviously there will be breathless coverage from every conceivable angle, a countdown clock, and segments on “the evolution of social media,” “advice for Mark Zuckerberg,” the emotions surrounding a delay in trading, venture capital’s feelings about Facebook, “what’s the deal with Facebook’s private shares,” how “Facebook makes its employees happy,” “networking Facebook’s ecosystem,” Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook profile, and whether Facebook is “your friend or foe.” But with the tech analyst who agreed weeks in advance to have Mark Zuckerberg’s face tattooed to his ass live on-air while network anchors discussed the significance it might have on how Facebook would close on its first day of trading backed out at the eleventh hour, CNBC found itself with a gaping hole in programming. Luckily, an unnamed producer who should win an Emmy for his or her work had the bright idea for this:
In the above clip, CNBC travels to Mackay Elementary school in Tenafly, NJ to pick a bunch of 8 year-old analysts’ minds on FB. Questions include:
* “Is Facebook cool? If so, how long will it be cool for?” * “Would you rate Facebook a buy or a sell?” * “How much would you spend on one share of Facebook” (Answers include $150 and $1,000) * “Is it appropriate for a CEO to wear a hoodie? Would you take a guy in a suit more seriously?”
Tags: Analysts, CNBC, elementary school kids, FaceBook, hoodies, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, in fairness these kids are smarter than 99% of guests to have ever graced CNBC's airwaves
Last year, Petra Ecclestone, daughter of Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, gave the California housing market a boost when she bought 90210 widow Candy Spelling’s 57,000 square foot mansion for $85 million, as a crash pad for when she’s in Los Angeles (she also owns a six-story house in London’s Chelsea neighborhood purchased for £56 million). Around the same time, Petra’s sister, Tamara, paid $70 million for “a 16,000-square-foot historic brick home across the road from Kensington Palace.” And while some would simply write the Sisters Ecclestone off as spoiled rich girls whose parents have footed the bill for these places (mom is Slavica Radic, a former Croatian model who lent Petra $82.4 million for the LA house), the Wall Street Journal sees what the haters will not: a couple of savvy investors who you might consider asking to manage your money.
In an interview with the paper, which dubbed the Sisters Ecclestone “The First New Family of Real Estate,” Tamara explained her investment thesis:
Wearing Lululemon yoga pants and a fitted hoodie, Ms. Ecclestone sat in her living room, overlooking an outdoor lap pool, and explained that she sees their real estate holdings as smart purchases. “I think London [property] is a really good investment,” she said. “There’s no bank in the world that can give you that return.”
Ecclestone also shared some pearls of wisdom re: dealing with critics looking to bring you down, of which her fellow billionaires, newly minted or old, should take note.
Last year Ms. Ecclestone starred in a reality program about her life called “Billion $$ Girl.” One episode depicted her taking her dogs to Harrod’s for facials and pedicures. Another shows her debating cancelling a meeting because she woke up with a pimple on her face. Her participation in the show, in the midst of a recession, drew criticism from many, including her father. Mr. Ecclestone said he could barely make it through one episode. “I spoke to her before and said… ‘They’re never going to show you in a good light,’ ” he said. “She was stupid to do it.” Ms. Ecclestone took the criticisms in stride. “It’s like water off a duck’s back,” she said.
The First New Family Of Real Estate [WSJ]
Tags: dog facials, hoodie soulmates, Lululemon yoga pants, no bank in the world that can give you that return, Petra Ecclestone, real estate, sisters, Tamara Ecclestone, water off a duck's back
Standard Price Is Right rules, closest without going over, guesses in by 3:45PM
Winner gets your choice of an ‘I violently heart Dealbreaker’ embroidered hoodie, a visit from the Sandwich Fairy on Monday, or our Facebook friendships.
Tags: Call the Close, contests, FaceBook, Mark Zuckerberg, rugs
Facebook Employees Spend All Night Programming (DJ) Tech geeks across the Facebook empire — including the New York office — celebrated the company’s IPO and their newfound millions by slugging back energy drinks at all-night code-writing parties. Legions of the social network’s employees, who will be worth an average of $2.9 million apiece on paper when the stock opens trading this morning, dressed for the occasion with matching “Hackathon” T-shirts. They kicked off the party at their Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters, just hours after the company’s 420 million available shares were priced at $38 each. The festivities were expected to rage through the night until founder Mark Zuckerberg rings the Nasdaq opening bell via video feed at 9:30 a.m.
Inside JPMorgan’s Blunder (WSJ) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James Dimon had just committed the most expensive blunder of his 30-year career, failing to detect the risk of trades that had begun to generate huge losses at the bank. On April 30, associates who were gathered in a conference room handed Mr. Dimon summaries and analyses of the losses. But there were no details about the trades themselves. “I want to see the positions!” he barked, throwing down the papers, according to attendees. “Now! I want to see everything!” When Mr. Dimon saw the numbers, these people say, he couldn’t breathe…Mr. Dimon publicly disclosed the losses in a conference call on May 10. Afterward, he told Mr. Lee: “Maybe I can sleep tonight,” according to a person familiar with the conversation…Late that Friday night, several executives gathered in Mr. Dimon’s office. Messrs. Dimon and Cavanagh drank vodka. Others had wine. They told their boss how they had let down the firm, attendees say. “We all did,” Mr. Dimon replied, according to attendees. “Put on your JPM jerseys and get ready. We are going to take a lot of hits. We’ll draft our best team and get through this.”
Defiant Message From Greece (WSJ) “Our first choice is to convince our European partners that, in their own interest, financing must not be stopped,” Mr. Tsipras said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. He said Greece doesn’t intend to take any unilateral action, “but if they proceed with unilateral action on their side, in other words they cut off our funding, then we will be forced to stop paying our creditors, to go to a suspension in payments to our creditors.”
Groupon Stock Spike Probed (WSJ) A Wall Street regulator is examining trading in Groupon that sent its stock price soaring hours before a favorable earnings announcement Monday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or Finra, is at an early stage, the person said. It follows unusually heavy trading in shares of the online-coupon company in the run-up to its release of strong financial results.
Ex-ECB Chief Trichet Unveils Bold Plan to Save Euro (Reuters) Europe could strengthen its monetary union by giving European politicians the power to declare a sovereign state bankrupt and take over its fiscal policy, the former head of the European Central Bank said on Thursday in unveiling a bold proposal to salvage the euro.
Russian man gets stuck in building’s garbage chute while trying to hide from girlfriend (NYDN) A Russian man went to great lengths to hide from his girlfriend on Wednesday night when he jumped into a garbage chute on the eighth floor of his apartment building. The unidentified man slid down the chute until he became stuck on the fifth floor of the building in Tyumen, Siberia. Authorities confirmed that they were told of the situation after people in the building heard the man’s cries for help. Rescuers used a Jaws-of-Life tool to free the man, according to reports.
Santander Among 16 Spanish Banks Downgraded By Moody’s (Bloomberg) “Banks will continue to face highly adverse operating and market funding conditions that pose a threat to their creditworthiness,” the ratings firm said. “The Spanish economy has fallen back into recession in first-quarter 2012, and Moody’s does not expect conditions to improve” this year.
Marc Faber: China Biggest Threat To Global Economy (CNBC) “I think the biggest risk is actually China because if you look at Greece, it’s an insignificant economy,” Faber said on CNBC Asia’s “Capital Connection.” “Yes, they owe money, but the market knows that it’s bankrupt.”
German Finance Minister Sees Two Years Of Turmoil (Bloomberg) German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that turmoil in the financial markets caused by Europe’s debt crisis may last another two years, as Group of Eight leaders prepared to discuss Greece and its impact on the global economy. More than 2 1/2 years after Greece revealed its bloated budget deficit, Europe has “known a lot of crisis,” Schaeuble said in a recorded interview broadcast today on France’s Europe 1 radio. “It’s practically normal.” Even so, “in 12 to 24 months we’ll see a calming of financial markets,” he said.
$$$ Santander, BBVA Among Spanish Banks Downgraded By Moody’s [Bloomberg]
$$$ Spain denies bank run reports [FT]
$$$ Big banks need extra $566bn, says Fitch [FT, FTAV]
$$$ Icahn Takeover of CVR Gets Support From 55% of Holders [Bloomberg]
$$$ JPMorgan’s Dimon says will testify before Congress [Reuters]
$$$ Occupy Wall Street is staging an intervention with Jamie Dimon [NC] $$$ BlackRock is looking for a performance analyst in Princeton [DBCC]
$$$ At CME, an Uproar Over Trading Hours [WSJ]
$$$ SEC Probes Role of Hedge Fund in CDOs [WSJ]
$$$ Which Biglaw Firm Accidentally Released Embarrassing, Unredacted Documents About Goldman Sachs? [ATL]
$$$ Floyd Norris: “For market makers, who may buy unwanted securities that customers want to sell, hedging may be wise and prudent. But it will also be short term, until the bank trades out of whatever position it took on in the course of making the market. But if banks hedge long-term investments, as JPMorgan evidently did, the hedge is also likely to be long term. It will consist of buying something that, in normal times, should move in the opposite direction of their investment. The result is that they will be making convergence trades that are indistinguishable from what Long Term Capital Management did. Given the size of the big banks, they will have to do so in huge volumes that can come back to haunt them if markets move the wrong way.” [NYT]
$$$ The Boldface Names on the Witness List for Gupta’s Trial includes Lloyd Blankfein, Gary Cohn, Ken Chenault, Raj Rajaratnam, James Barnacle, and Adam Smith [DealBook]
Facebook priced its IPO at $38, the top of its revised range. Yaaay. Congrats to Facebook for having a very nice web page, but also to its banks, which collectively made $176mm, $202mm with the greenshoe, not even counting Goldman’s side action. This money seems to have been earned, more or less. Capital markets bankers…
ROMNEY HAS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE MORALITY UPSIDE DOWN Mitt Romney’s reaction to J.P. Morgan Chase’s mounting losses from reckless trades is “the market will take care of it.” His spokesman says “no taxpayer money was at risk” so we don’t need more financial regulation. Romney has even promised to repeal Dodd-Frank if he’s elected president. Yet at the same time, Romney has come out strongly against same-sex marriage. He’s also against abortion. He has no problem with government intruding on the most intimate of decisions a person makes. He’s got private and public morality upside down. He doesn’t want to regulate where regulation is necessary — at the highest reaches of the economy, where public immorality has cost us dearly, and will cost even more unless boardroom behavior is constrained. Yet he wants to regulate where regulation is least appropriate — at the level of the individual, in bedrooms and other intimate spaces, where private morality should govern. This is a dangerous confusion. It should be a matter of personal choice whom to marry and when to have children. But it is undoubtedly a matter of public choice whether big banks should be allowed to take the kind of risky bets that plunged the economy into the worst downturn since the Great Depression, and whether people with great wealth and should be able to buy our democracy with huge campaign contributions. Please see the attached video and pass it on.