The world may never know, or at least not for a while: As the learned folks at Alphaville report, Morgan Stanley came out with a note last week suggesting the trading losses may touch $5 billion, or $2 billion more than JPMorgan’s estimate. The reasoning:
“The question is, how does Jamie Dimon expect only Read More
A bug in JPMorgan’s chief investment office led to discord. A glitch in Nasdaq’s system delayed Facebook’s IPO. The next big insider trading trial opens today. And more, in today’s Wall Street roundup.
Down-tick: The London and New York desks of JPMorgan’s chief investment office had long been at odds, and shouting matches were common Read More
JPMorgan fallout: Jamie Dimon couldn’t sleep after seeing the CIO positions! He had a hard time breathing! Mr. Dimon drank vodka, others drank wine and the JPMorgan chief executive officer struggled to fire “sister” Ina Drew. Ms. Drew told executives at an April 9 operating committee meeting that early press reports of the London Whale were Read More
The European Central Bank stopped monetary operations with some Greek banks today, Reuters reports, the latest bit of bad news for Greece and just about everyone else. Savers have been withdrawing funds from Greek banks at a rate of more than $800 million a day, as the failure by Greek political parties to Read More
We had an interesting conversation yesterday about the timing of JPMorgan’s disclosure of $2.3 billion trading losses, after the tallies were counted in a shareholder proposal to replace Mr. Dimon as chairman of the bank’s board of directors. Mr. Dimon is currently chairman and chief executive officer, and while the attempt to strip him of the board role failed, the proposal received 41 percent of the vote, an improved result for investors like AFSCME’s Lisa Lindsley*, who see a conflict of interest when the two roles are shared.
“That was a strong vote,” said our friend, who thinks about these things. “What would have happened if Dimon had disclosed the losses two days earlier? Would there have been more time to build support for the proposal?” Read More
In the days leading up to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s bombshell announcement of $2.3 billion in trading losses, chairman and chief executive officer Jamie Dimon faced a delicate predicament. His executives had scheduled visits with banking analysts to discuss the state of affairs at JPMorgan—the company whose stock Mr. Dimon knew was sure to plummet when news of the trading losses were disclosed. These weren’t just any trading losses, of course; they were losses incurred on credit derivatives bets placed by a mysterious trader nicknamed the London Whale and Voldemort by the financial press. And it wasn’t just any bet—it was the same trading position that Mr. Dimon had described as “a complete tempest in a teapot” not one month previous.
“On the inside, Dimon must have been trying to figure out what was happening with the trade, and what to do about it,” said Frank Partnoy, a former Morgan Stanley investment banker, currently a law professor at the University of San Diego. “It’s like he has an inside personality, and an outside personality that he shows the world, and the two things must have been in conflict, like what politicians deal with when they’re handling a crisis.” Read More
It’s always a good time to make money and unload some property, right? Maybe not for J.P. Morgan uberflack Joseph Evangelisti (who also has the unenviable task of being Jamie Dimon’s spokesperson). Then again, the value of his stock did just take a pretty significant hit, so the money he made off of selling his beautiful West Village pad—not exactly a small sum to most Not-Moneyed Folks—could come in handy. Read More
Ina Drew is out, and the crisis-loving head of JPMorgan’s chief investment office tossed overboard after the lender disclosed massive trading losses last week has been replaced by Matt Zames, co-head of global fixed income and a newly-minted member of the firm’s operating committee. Who is Matt Zames?
For one thing, no stranger Read More
Today in The New York Times, a wonderful report emerges about karma, and mantras, and about people putting themselves in unenviable positions that has nothing to do with yoga so much as the go-around-come-around things embattled JP Morgan führer Jamie Dimon once said at a dinner party that are now making the rounds (and making him look not so great). Read More
Three JPMorgan executives tied to the massive trading losses announced last week are expected to resign, Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson stands aside and a hedge fund calls for Aubrey McClendon’s head. Here’s the morning Wall Street roundup: Read More
