It seems the Times has also seen a "bootleg" copy of Greg Smith’s Why I Left Goldman Sachs, and its take is in line with what we've read of the book so far: "Long on Mr. Smith’s reminiscences of the pleasures of the job—handmade suits, sashimi at 30,000 feet, strawberries at Wimbledon—the former Goldman salesman’s book does not break much new ground on illegal or questionable financial practices at the firm."

Morgan Stanley chief executive officer and noted compensation realist James Gorman is likely to miss performance targets that would have netted him nearly $6 million, according to Bloomberg.

Argentina has found a jurisdiction where it can hide from Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, the hedge fund that seized an Argentinean naval vessel earlier this month, according to The New York Post. The Swiss government refused Elliott's request to embargo Argentina's deposits in the Bank for International Settlements, arguing it had no authority over the so-called central bank for central banks.

Anthony Chiasson, the Level Global hedge fund manager facing insider trading charges, is seeking to draw his better-known partner David Ganek into court. As Dealbook explains, Mr. Chiasson's lawyers say Mr. Ganek's trading records are similar to those of his client; Mr. Ganek wasn't accused of wrongdoing, so the fact that the two partners made similar trades may raise doubts on the charges against Mr. Chiasson.

With SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro expected to step down in the months to come, Bloomberg looks back at the tenure of a woman who revived the agency yet failed to meet several stated objectives.

It was a good day for Italian and Spanish bond markets.

Business Insider has a great email exchange between Democrat Whitney Tilson and Republicans on his email list.

A lobbying group backed by Elliott Management's Paul Singer enlisted the American Agriculture Movement, the American Association of University Professors and the Cattle Producers of Washington, to lend heft to investors' efforts to recover defaulted Argentinean debt through political channels. One problem? The trade groups aren't really sure how their good names got associated with anything having to do with Argentina, as The Wall Street Journal reports.

Another strange one: A former employee of William Koch—billionaire brother to Charles and David—says his boss kidnapped him after he raised concerns over a plan to evade $200 million in taxes.

Caxton Associates is trimming management fees to 2.6 percent form 3. percent, and performance fees to 27.5 percent from 30 percent, according to The Journal. Macro funds such as Caxton often charge higher fees than the traditional two and twenty; Caxton follows macro funds Tudor Investment Corp and Graham Capital Management in adjusting fee structures.

High-frequency trading firms are said to be dialing back in the face of lower profits.

James Gorman, Wall Street revolutionary?

Activist investors Warren Lichtenstein and Tim Brog are squaring off over board seats at supply-chain company ModusLink, according to The New York Post.

There's plenty for world finance chiefs to fight over in a series of upcoming meetings. There's Greece, of course, plus Spain, Italy and assorted other eurozone economies. Also: a territorial dispute between China and Japan, not to mention U.S. lawmakers' refusal to deal with the coming fiscal cliff.

Thousands of anti-austerity protesters marched through Madrid, banging pots and pans, to protest austerity measures.

Send in the troops! The Swiss Army is preparing to mobilize in event that the European debt crisis turns violent.

The London Whale—still mysterious/fascinating as ever.

Which is to say, a court in Ghana ruled in favor of Mr. Singer yesterday, affirming the hedge fund manager's right to seize a training ship owned by the Argentinean navy over unpaid sovereign bonds. The Elliott Management affiliate contesting the issue is believed to be asking $20 million to return the three-masted frigate.

When you say not-nice things about people, they tend to say not-nice things about you, at any rate, that's been the case for Greg Smith, noted ping pong enthusiast and author of the forthcoming memoir, Why I Left Goldman Sachs. With the book set to come out next week, some Goldman bankers chatted up the Financial Times, telling the paper that until shortly before Mr. Smith's resigned on the op-ed page of The New York Times, he'd seemed more concerned with how much money he was making, and less interested in what he later labeled Goldman's toxic culture.

In other news, 99 percent of the times Goldman bankers used the word "muppet" they were referring to last year's movie, again, according to the FT.

Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein would pay higher taxes if it meant he didn't have to read Mr. Smith's book, or you know, if it would reduce the national debt or something.

JPMorgan said third-quarter profit rose 34 percent from a year ago as revenue from mortgage-lending rose.

The firm's chief financial officer Doug Braunstein is considering a new role at the bank, according to Bloomberg. Head of regulatory affairs and former chief risk officer Barry Zubrow was said last week to be retiring at the end of the year.

Morgan Stanley and IKB are being sued for selling mortgage-backed securities that quickly soured, turnabout for IKB, which has often been on the other side of mortgage lawsuits.

Brian Moynihan is still planning on letting go 30,000 employees.

Larry Ellison may be bidding on sports and entertainment giant Anschultz Entertainment Group, according to Reuters.

Alexander Rekeda, a former trader at Mizuho Financial Group, was the rare distinction being charged over two separate derivatives deals he structured in the run-up to the financial crisis.

Goldman Sachs is lobbying the government to exempt investment vehicles known as credit funds from the Volcker rule, The Journal reports. If lobbying fails, the firm may be preparing for a game of a "Whac-A-Mole" as it devises strategies to dodge regulators.

An oil discovery in the Celtic Sea may offer salvation for the Irish economy!

Gold mining offers hope for Greece!

A list of nearly 2,000 Greek's with Swiss bank accounts has gone missing as the nation's political system devolves into "tragedy with elements of low comedy."

Leon Black, the chief executive of Apollo Global Management and the presumed buyer of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" for $120 million in May, acquired the high-end art book publisher Phaidon as a personal investment, according to The Times.

Third Point, the hedge fund founded by Dan Loeb, financed Penske Media's acquisition of Variety. Marc Lasry's Avenue Capital and Ron Burkle were said to be underbidders.

Wells Fargo managed to sell bad mortgages without sending embarrassing obscenity-filled emails about it.

Some finance professors sent out an anonymous survey to chief financial officers of publicly traded companies. About 20 percent said they engaged in legal but aggressive accounting techniques to hit earnings targets.

Goldman Sachs' Chief Financial Officer David Viniar will retire at the end of January, the firm said in a press release yesterday. His replacement, Harvey M. Schwartz, will have big shoes to fill. Mr. Viniar “set the gold standard for CFOs across the industry,” analyst Meredith Whitney said in a note, according to Bloomberg. A graduate of Rutgers University and Columbia Business School, Mr. Schwartz joined Goldman through commodities trading unit J. Aron, the same business in which Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein and COO Gary Cohn started in the firm.

Lawyers for the bankruptcy estate of Lehman Brothers sued JPMorgan over $2.6 billion in derivatives claims.

Renee Haugerud, the founder of hedge fund Galtere, describes herself as “a tire kicker, not a screen watcher,” in an interview with Bloomberg Markets magazine. Mr. Haugerud renewed her faith in a recent bet on corn futures after noting the dry soil and shorter -than-usual corn stalks at her firm's Minnesota test farm.

Depositors pulled about $425 billion euros from banks in Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain in the 12 months ended July 31. Deposit flight is creating a two-tiered banking system that undermines European efforts to save the region's monetary union, according to Bloomberg.

Distressed debt investors such Paul Singer's Elliott Management are running out of fresh carcasses from which to pick their profits, according to The New York Post.

Short-seller Jim Chanos sees no shortage of overvalued stocks, according to Bloomberg.

A Muslim hacker group may have been responsible for a slowdown on the Bank of America website.

UBS plans to cut 80 to 90 jobs in its European investment banking operation by the end of the year, according to Bloomberg.

On August 19, Elliott had petitioned the New York State Supreme Court to get AR to name the source that leaked its June 30 letter to investors. Elliott claimed that publication of the letter, which contained information about the fund's positions, would significantly hamper its ability to compete with other market players. The story got picked up by the New York Post and other media outlets, causing a general outcry among journalists and some not-inconsiderable First Amendment sabre-rattling.

Following the Elliott withdrawal, a feeling of righteous indignation is apparently coursing through the magazine's offices. Says AR editor Michelle Celarier, "This was a blatant attempt to bully us and it backfired. I hope this is a lesson for those who seek disclosure of confidential information from reporters. While trying to intimidate us into not publishing the story, Elliott did a disservice to itself."

In an affidavit that AR would have filed had Elliott not dropped the matter, Celarier wrote, "Our economy, our educational institutions and our retirements are best served by a financial media that is independent of financial pressure or coercion."

AR's reporting also suggests that its editors had already decided Elliott's case had no merits. A story on the hedge fund has already appeared on its website, and a print version has already been mailed out to subscribers.