investment bankers

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Panhandling MIT Grad Gets Job
 Panhandling MIT Grad Gets Job 

Panhandling MIT Grad Gets Job

After a year on dole, and months into publicity stunt, banker rejoins workforce

(Newser) - Out-of-work investment banker Joshua Persky gained a lot of publicity when he hung a sign around his neck reading “EXPERIENCED MIT GRAD FOR HIRE,” and passed out resumes on the streets of Manhattan—but no job offers. His wife and kids left New York to live with family,...

All Wall Street a Ponzi Scheme
  All Wall Street a Ponzi Scheme 
OPINION

All Wall Street a Ponzi Scheme

Wall Street's just a Ponzi scheme too

(Newser) - Bernie Madoff’s $50 billion fraud wasn’t all that different from what his Wall Street peers were up to, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. Oh sure, “Madoff allegedly skipped a few steps,” stealing the money without bothering to load up on debt, buy dubious...

Score Card on Late White House Rules Changes

Bush administration pushes through midnight regulations

(Newser) - With the  Bush White House pushing through a raft of last-minute rules, the nonprofit journalism group ProPublica offers a running list, with the status of each:
  • Business-friendly safety regulations would loosen restrictions on exposure to toxic chemicals in the workplace.
  • Local police would get increased surveillance ability.
  • Loaded guns would
...

High-Profile Arts Patron Guilty of 12 Fraud Counts

Alberto Vilar cheated investors to pay debts, fund opera companies

(Newser) - Alberto Vilar, the investment banker and one of the world's most generous opera patrons, was convicted yesterday on 12 counts of fraud, Bloomberg reports. Vilar told investors that he was putting their money in safe, government-backed assets; in fact, he bought risky tech stocks on margin, which quickly tanked. Vilar...

Wall Street's Bonus Season 'Not Going to Be Pretty'

Experts are predicting cuts of 20%-50%

(Newser) - For the second consecutive year, Wall Streeters are likely to see their wallets lightened by bonuses projected to be down 20% to 50% from a year ago, reports the Wall Street Journal. And while everyone is likely to be a little blue, the biggest loss of green may be among...

Times Tough for I-Bankers, in 'Marie Antoinette' Kind of Way

Tough times prompt some soul searching, but titans confident they'll regain Wall St. primacy

(Newser) - With Wall Street in free fall, many of its elite I-bankers are seeing the status quo turned upside-down, Vanessa Grigoriadis writes in New York. Once at the top of the heap, working for companies that praised them as smartest people out there, some are fighting to survive on the Street,...

New 'Top-Dog' Careers for Out-of-Work Bankers

I-banking may be dead, but opportunities are out there

(Newser) - Now that the investment-banking party is over, what are all those hotshot bankers going to do? Bloomberg's Matthew Lynn takes a look at potential new "top-dog" careers:
  • African development. The pioneers who nurture African nations’ industry and infrastructure will be rewarded by the continent’s mineral resources and huge
...

Wolfe: Stars Went to Hedge Funds Long Ago

Tom Wolfe watches as the Masters of the Universe flee New York for Greenwich hedges

(Newser) - Tom Wolfe has been fielding a lot of questions about where the Wall Street crisis leaves the Masters of the Universe now, writes the author of the seminal book about the excesses of 1980s traders in the New York Times. But, he notes, the real investment banking superstars left for...

Banker Predicted Georgian Invasion 2 Days Early

(Newser) - An investment banker in Kiev predicted the Georgian conflict two days before it occurred, Reuters reports. "So whaddaya think?,” Geoff Smith wrote on Aug. 5 to a fellow strategist at Renaissance Capital. “I say Saakashvili is going to 'restore the territorial integrity of Georgia' five minutes before...

Wall Street's Wealthy Can't Nab Apartments

With 7-figure bonuses in jeopardy, the rich lack buying power

(Newser) - Manhattan’s most rabid real estate buyers are finding that a million-dollar bonus doesn't cut it anymore, the New York Times reports. With markets in turmoil, Wall Street bankers' staggering bonuses are in jeopardy, and apartment sellers are taking note. “They’re looking for people who have stable incomes...

With No Body, Cops Doubt NY Banker's Suicide

'He's dead as far as I can throw him,' skeptic says of fraudster

(Newser) - An international manhunt is now under way for a former hedge-fund manager who disappeared the day he was to begin serving a prison sentence for defrauding investors. A car belonging to Samuel Israel III was found Monday at a bridge over New York's Hudson River, the Wall Street Journal reports;...

UBS Cuts 5,500 Jobs, Sells Off $15B in Assets

Swiss bank prepares to lay off over 2,000 investment bankers

(Newser) - UBS will cut 5,500 jobs, slightly fewer than expected, by the middle of 2009 as part of a major restructuring effort, the troubled Swiss bank said today in announcing an $11-billion first-quarter loss. Some 2,600 of the layoffs will be among investment bankers, mostly in London and New...

Silicon Valley's Prodigal Son Comes Home

Frank Quattrone seeks to repair his rep with new investment bank

(Newser) - Silicon Valley prodigal son Frank Quattrone is staging a comeback, poised to debut his new tech-centered investment bank Qatalyst—after years recovering from federal obstruction-of-justice charges. But now that he's back, the question is whether the industry will welcome home an errant child with open arms. Probably, BusinessWeek writes—if...

Fidelity Pays $8M in SEC Gift Scandal

Investor giant Peter Lynch fined $20K for procuring tickets to concerts, games

(Newser) - Investment guru Peter Lynch and Fidelity Investment settled SEC charges brought against them alleging that Lynch used Fidelity traders to procure tickets to high-profile concerts and sporting events. Lynch, vice chairman of Fidelity's parent company, agreed to pay $15,948 for the tickets, plus $4,183 in interest. Fidelity will...

Warren Buffett Chides Banks for Role in Market Mayhem

Calls meltdown 'poetic justice'

(Newser) - Billionaire Warren Buffett thumbed his nose at eminent investment banks today, claiming they caused their own demise in the subprime mortgage meltdown. "It's a little poetic justice, in that the people that brewed this toxic Kool-Aid found themselves drinking a lot of it in the end," Buffett said.

Goldman Leads Wall Street Bonus War
Goldman Leads Wall Street Bonus War

Goldman Leads Wall Street Bonus War

Under pressure to keep talent, losing firms shell out big

(Newser) - The Big Five Wall Street securities firms will pay $38 billion in bonuses this year—up from $36 billion last year—while shareholders tote up $74 billion in losses, their worst year since 2002, Bloomberg reports. All but Goldman Sachs lost more than 20% of their market value, says an...

Banker Disses Net Gold-Digger as 'Crappy Deal'

Beauty will fade, but not my money, he tells Craigslist poster

(Newser) - A 25-year-old woman who sought a filthy-rich husband on Craigslist got an economics lesson from an eligible banker, who described her plan as "a plain and simply crappy deal." "Your looks will fade," he told her, "and my money will likely continue into perpetuity."...

Biggest Buyers Hit Hard in Mortgage Fiasco

‘Jumbo’ loans dry up as subprime mess continues to spread

(Newser) - As the subprime mortgage mess spreads to homeowners beyond those with poor credit ratings, jumbo mortgages are under particular pressure, the New York Times reports. An investment banker recently purchasing a $1.5 million home saw the interest rate spike from 8% to 13% in just three days. The rate...

BlackBerries Save Vacations for Bankers With Sand

It's required beach reading in a crisis

(Newser) - As the volatile global markets continue to burn investors, tan-fan investment bankers are managing to keep tabs on crisis-threatened portfolios and still rack up required hours on the beach—with the help of their BlackBerries. The devices have become as de riguer as umbrellas and suntan oil on sands from...

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