Morning Read

London Whale May Cost $9 Billion; News Corp. Board Votes to Pursue Split: Wall Street Roundup

Ahoy, Jamie: JPMorgan may lose as much as $9 billion from the trade associated with the London Whale, The New York Times reports, citing people familiar with the bank’s internal models. The lender’s stock fell about 5 percent in European trading on news of losses that may be higher than previously thought. Hutchin Hill Capital, one of the hedge funds that took the other side of the London Whale’s trade, has exited the positions, as has Boaz Weinstein’s Saba Capital, Bloomberg reports.

Happy divorce: News Corp’s board voted unanimously to pursue plans the split the conglomerate into two parts, one housing television and movie businesses, the other News Corp.’s publishing businesses. Analysts liked the plan, though some noted that stock gains have already been priced in as shares rose following news of the demerger earlier this week. Henry Blodget reads the research and says Rupert Murdoch’s took a bath on his acquisition of The Wall Street Journal in 2007.

Only Act I: Barclays $453 million settlement with U.S. and U.K. regulators over charges the bank manipulated Libor are only prologue, even as Barclays CEO Robert Diamond and three top lieutenants will forgo bonuses this year, and shares plummeted. There are lawsuits on tap; one analyst guessed that UK banks will provision billions of pounds for litigation arising from the Libor mess.

Nein? As Spain and Italy seek emergency actions at the European summit in Brussels, Germans are standing their ground in opposition to further bailouts.

Do-over: Glencore and Xtrata revised the terms of their merger deal to pay retention bonuses to be paid to Xtrata executives in stock only, and subject to achievement of cost-cutting benchmarks. The merger still needs shareholder approval.

Handicapping the court: With the Supreme Court set to hand down its Obamacare ruling, investors are betting on the status quo prevailing.

Still waiting: In January, John Paulson told investors that his funds were primed for a turnaround. It hasn’t happened yet: Mr. Paulson’s Advantage Plus fund, which surged 163 percent in 2007 behind the hedge fund manager’s subprime bet, lost 50 percent last year, and through May, was down 10 percent for 2012.

Do unto others: Matt Levine on the enemies of Phil Falcone.

History buff: Carlyle Group founder David M. Rubenstein paid $2 million for a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation.

 

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topics: Morning Read