Results tagged “wallstreet”

Financial sector fat cats have been looking underfed of late, that’s why we were relieved to hear about this newest development: helicopters that shuttle them to and from Wall Street in eight minutes flat. For $200/day Liberty Helicopters will offer group rides—accommodating up to six passengers—between New Jersey and lower Manhattan. It seems showy and wasteful, sure, but Matt Zuccaro, president of Helicopter Association International reminds us that for the business community, “Time is money.” Just think of it as cab sharing for the obscenely wealthy. more ›

While filming the "Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps," Shia LaBeouf spent a lot of time studying the Financial District scene, and came out of it with some stock knowledge. He says in his GQ interview that stock trading is his newest hobby, and his Schwab Active Trading account is close to $450,000. And according to the Post, he texted GQ's Adam Sachs with the tip, "IOC's momentum is major, and it will surprise to the upside." IOC is InterOil Corporation, who's stock is currently at $71.28 and has been rising all day, obviously because of the famous "LaBeouf Bump." more ›

If you spot a low flying helicopter hovering over Manhattan tonight (more specifically, between 6:30 and 10 p.m.): do not panic. According to NotifyNYC this is all for a movie shoot, and they'll mostly be over Midtown and Wall Street. Hmm... what movie could it be? more ›

Just as the city braces for another jobs crisis, former NJ Gov. Jon Corzine is poised to take on three new titles. Effective immediately, he'll head up MF Global, a Wall Street options and futures firm; starting soon he'll be a partner at J.C. Flowers & Company, a buyout firm; and next semester, Princeton students will call him Professor. “I like working,” said the 63-year-old who broke 15 bones and almost died in a 2007 car accident. Maybe he'll tell those Princeton kids to buckle up! more ›

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said at the Brookings Insitute today, "Even with the breakdown of private risk-management, the financial system would have held together had the second bulwark against crisis -- our regulatory system -- functioned effectively. But, under crisis pressure, it too failed." Bloomberg News says that Greenspan "said low interest rates weren’t to blame for inflating the bubble, placing the blame instead on regulators," "Even though for years our largest 10 to 15 banking institutions have had permanently assigned on-site examiners to oversee daily operations, many of these banks still were able to take on toxic assets that brought them to their knees." more ›

This spring the city's hiring freeze may finally thaw. According to a new study lots of New York businesses say they’ll take on new employees in the coming months. Sixteen percent of the 18,000 companies surveyed said hiring was in the cards; that’s 4 percent more than last quarter. NY1 says just nine percent will make job cuts, down from twice that much in the previous count. We'll believe it when we see it, but stats say construction workers will find sites-a-plenty. As for finance, that industry's still on lockdown. more ›

Yesterday at the Belvedere Hotel the Manhattan DA auctioned off glitzy bracelets, watches and cuff links from the collections of two convicted Wall Street crooks. Benefits from the sale will got to victims of equities trader David Holzer and onetime Morgan Stanley boss Richard Garaventa. The former was sentenced to 15 years after stealing $15 million from friends, claiming he’d invest it. The latter took $2.5 million from his company and is serving two-six years. Both bought lots of jewelry. more ›

Former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr. wasn't worried that people considered him a carpetbagger for running for Senate in New York, but he was "dumbfounded" by the fact the pro-choice groups wouldn't support his campaign, according to the Times. Before dropping out of the race, Ford—who once labeled himself as pro-life—tried and failed to win over abortion rights activists. "He was dumbfounded that it kept tripping him up," said a friend. more ›

According to officials and experts, the city's financial crisis is almost over and the job market is on the rise, but who do we thank for the less-devastating-than-expected downturn? Address cards and flowers to the federal government, which provided huge bailouts to Wall Street institutions like Citigroup, JPMogran Chase and Goldman Sachs, economists say. “If you pick almost any economic statistic—income, house prices, construction activity—it would tell the same story: New York has gotten hit, but it hasn’t gotten creamed," Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Economy.com, tells the Times. more ›

Since January Harold Ford Jr.—the Wall Street executive from Tennessee who threatened to take on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the Democratic primary—has confounded us with weird references to electric cord whippings, pedicures and parakeets, but now he says he won't run after all. We'll miss you Ford, but at least we'll have one last dance: the non-carpetbagger has penned the official announcement, an opinion piece for Times. Ford says if he ran the primary would be "brutal and highly negative," leaving the state vulnerable to a Republican win. His solution: do nothing. “I refuse to do anything,” he writes, “that would help Republicans win a Senate seat in New York, and give the Senate majority to the Republicans.” more ›

A financial firm once headquartered in the World Trade Center is seeking to commodify its loss of employees from the 9/11 attacks. Cantor Fitzgerald’s death toll after the terrorist attack was around 650 (about two-thirds of its work force), and it says that the slashed personnel has had severe financial repercussions. It's requesting $1 billion extra in damages from American Airlines, whose plane crashed into the WTC's north tower. (Originally it requested just $102.5 million to make up for lost profit, but upped the number last year, according to a filing in Manhattan federal court.) The Post reports that American Airlines will fight the “dramatic increase” on the ground that it’s a "disguised wrongful death claim" with no basis in law. more ›

Possible Senate candidate Harold Ford has been bashed by his likely rival for not disclosing whether or not he received a "taxpayer-backed bonus" from his job at Merrill Lynch. Turns out he didn't really need a bonus, because his unusual Wall Street contract promised him at least $2 million per year, regardless of his performance. more ›

Okay, so maybe not all Wall Street types are fat cats—but it was certainly a fatter year, as NY State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli revealed that bonuses for 2009 were 17% higher, at $20.3 billion. His office press release states, "Total compensation at the largest securities firms grew even faster and industry profits could exceed an unprecedented $55 billion in 2009, nearly three times greater than the previous all-time record. In 2008, the industry lost a record $42.6 billion." more ›

A sour new press release sent from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's campaign minutes ago is titled "Simple Yes or No Question: Did Harold Ford Jr. Dodge NY Taxes to Claim His Merrill Lynch Bonus in Tennessee?" But back in 2006, she was faced with a similar question, and gave no simple answer. Her Republican opponent for a seat in Congress asked her to release her tax records, but the Democrat put her foot down, saying she refused to be "bullied," reports the Post. Sounds familiar. more ›

Harold Ford Jr.—the probable opponent for Kirsten Gillibrand’s senate seat—likes to say he’s no carpetbagger, but he forgot to tie up a few loose ends when he left his home state of Tennessee. “I am a New Yorker, I am a New Yorker,” he repeated mantra-like on MSNBC, and yet he’s never filed a tax return for his Wall Street job in the state. Not just that, he still owns a condo in Memphis. According to his web site, he splits his time between New York and Tennessee. Need more damning facts? He has a Tennessee driver’s license (which is actually illegal for a New York resident it turns out) and has never voted in New York. more ›

While facing criticism for being a carpetbagger, former Tennessee congressman and likely Senate candidate Harold Ford swore he was an authentic New Yorker based on his taxes: "I pay taxes there, and once you pay taxes there, you feel like a New Yorker." But records show that Ford has never filed a tax return in New York state. more ›

Yesterday Bloomberg News ran excerpts from a forthcoming Bloomberg BusinessWeek story under the headline: "Obama doesn't begrudge bonuses for Blankfein, Dimon." The teaser article, which followed an interview with the President on Tuesday, included quotes like "I know both those guys; they are very savvy businessmen. I, like most of the American people, don’t begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free- market system." But the White House quickly hit back at Bloomberg News, claiming that Obama's bankster-friendly comments were taken out of context. more ›

Former Tennessee lawmaker, current Wall Street worker, and possible Senate candidate Harold Ford has already taken heat from his likely rival for not disclosing whether or not he earned a "taxpayer-backed" bonus for his work at Merrill Lynch. Now, he's taking heat from himself. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's campaign is circulating a video of a March 2009 appearance by Ford on MSNBC in which he says there is a need for greater "transparency" regarding banking bonuses funded with TARP money. more ›

Fed up with name-calling and increased restrictions from the Obama administration, bankers are shifting financial support to Democratic opponents in the Republican party. Bank officials say Wall Street is sending a message: “The expectation in Washington is that ‘We can kick you around, and you are still going to give us money,’ ” one top official at a major Wall Street firm tells the Times. “We are not going to play that game anymore.” more ›

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wants her likely Democratic rival to tell voters if he received a "taxpayer-backed" bonus from his Wall Street job. Gillibrand is pushing former Tennessee lawmaker, current Merrill Lynch employee, and possible Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. to say whether or not he received cash during a controversial round of bonuses at the end of 2008 from companies that were bailed out with TARP funds. more ›

Today wasn't a good day on Wall Street. Concerns about the domestic job market and debts facing foreign countries lead to drops of 2.61 percent on the Dow Jones, 2.99 percent on the NASDAQ, and 3.11 percent on the Standard & Poor's 500, "feeding anxiety about the health of the global recovery," the Times reports. The cost of insuring debt in Greece, Portugal and Spain surged on Thursday because growing deficits "could put them at risk for default." According to Uri Landesman, head of global growth at ING, investors must ask: "How big is this fire going to be? What is panic, and what is legitimate, we don't know at this point. These things tend to turn on a dime." Not helping the situation was the release of a "bleaker-than-expected" report on the US labor market. more ›

An increasing number of guys who work in finance are coping with the turbulent markets by pummeling each other in mixed martial arts duels, à la Fight Club. "It’s a recession; some days, fighting is the only thing holding them together," says Max McGarr, who runs a midtown gym that specializes in nightly combat. "We get a lot of finance guys," McGarr tells Bloomberg News. "It’s a good release from their job. If you lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, it’s good to come here and get it out." You know, these guys could probably make a little money back if they let some of the non-Wall Street rabble throw punches (for a small fee). more ›

An outraged group of Wall Street brokers are finally fed up with feeling the government's oppressive boot on their necks, and they're getting organized to fight for their rights. Yesterday over two dozen brokers and traders held a rally to announce their new organization, Restore Wall Street, which is devoted to "bringing the pride back into Wall Street." You've got it all, Wall! Can a Fun Run be far behind? The rally/publicity stunt was held during lunch on the 23rd floor of 14 Wall Street, because, as one executive simply put it, "It’s cold out." more ›

Goldman Sachs announced record earnings today: According to the NY Times, "The bank said that for 2009, it earned a profit of $13.4 billion on revenue of $45.2 billion," and 4th quarter earnings of $8.20/share, beating estimates of $5.20/share. But the bigger news may be the fact that the bank started to slash its bonus pool. more ›

As expected, Wall Street will resume giving its brokers and bankers big fat bonuses this year. A report from the state budget division estimates that $64.2 billion in bonuses will be handed out in 2010—that's $57 billion more than last year, though still $19 billion less than in 2008. But the crafty financial institutions have adopted an array of creative tactics to quell public outrage over bonuses: the latest strategy is to pay their workers in stock, reports Reuters, that way it won't show up on the tax bill until five years later. Also, guns! (Okay, fine, rumors of guns.) more ›

Today JPMorgan Chase is reporting that last year it doubled its profits over 2008, earning $11.7 billion, and generated record revenue, hauling in $3.3 billion in the fourth quarter alone. It's also reporting that it's earmarking $26.9 billion to compensate its workers, much of which will now be paid out as bonuses. You're welcome, America! The news comes as a Wall Street Journal analysis found that major U.S. banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their top employees a record sum, about $145 billion for 2009, nearly 18% more than they did in 2008—and slightly more than in the record year of 2007. But mean old President Obama wants to take that hard schemed earned money away, and that makes Bloomberg scared! more ›

To deflect criticism from the massive bonuses it will soon pay out to employees, Goldman Sachs is considering expanding a program forcing top earners to give a percentage of their salaries to charity, the Times reports. more ›

The holidays have passed, but Christmas actually arrives in late January on Wall Street, when the brave men and women of American finance receive their enormous bonus checks. When confronted with a gigantic bag stuffed with American tax dollars, most people would probably find their mind turning to questions like "does that yacht come in blue?" or "is that the biggest Rolex you have?"— but not the lords of Wall Street. They've got a bigger problem: how to make these bonuses seem perfectly normal and not at all a major scandal to the American people. more ›

Sure, there was populist anger over the $165 million in bonuses that bailed-out firm AIG said it had to pay out to executives. And some of it was returned. But now it turns out that less than half of the $45 million AIG executives promised to give back has actually been returend. more ›

According to Dealbreaker, outgoing Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack told employees he's not taking a bonus this year "citing market conditions and the extraordinary assistance the government lent to the banking industry... Mr. Mack has now foregone a bonuses for three years in a row, and last year, he received no raise, bonus or stock options. Since becoming chief executive in 2005, he has taken all of his bonuses in Morgan Stanley stock, not in cash." The Deal Journal says don't feel bad for Mack, suggesting that he's probably cashed in the tens of millions he's earned in stock since 2005. more ›