While the chorus of Wall Street CEOs proclaiming that the credit crunch is nearing an end, Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan isn't quite so optimistic. He thinks it's gonna last longer...
"I am extremely optimistic about the
opportunities ahead of Credit Suisse, even as I remain very cautious about the
short-term environment," Dougan said.
"Whenever there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, it has turned
out to be another train coming at us," he said. "My inclination is to
remain cautious."....
``I think that the markets are overly
optimistic right now,'' Dougan said in a speech in Geneva today. ``There
continue to be challenges and that's going to play out over the next six to
eight weeks. There continue to be issues on the liquidity side.''
The US investment bank began cutting jobs
on Wednesday, with the process expected to take some weeks as Morgan Stanley
continues to restructure. Between 150 and 200 employees have already lost their
jobs.
News that Morgan Stanley would cut about 5pc of its workforce, or 1,500
globally, surfaced earlier this month but most of the sackings were expected to
come in the US.
The speed and scale of the cuts in London have taken some Morgan Stanley
insiders by surprise.
Yahoo just issued a completely unconvincing yet totally predictable response to Carl Icahn's proxy fight letter, essentially flipping him off. It said:
Unfortunately, your letter reflects a significant misunderstanding of the facts about the Microsoft proposal and the diligence with which our board evaluated and responded to that proposal. A
fair-minded review of the factual record leads to one conclusion: that Yahoo!’s ten-member board, comprised of nine independent directors along
with Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang, remains the best and most qualified group to
maximize value for all Yahoo! stockholders.
Conversely, we do not believe it is in
the best interests of Yahoo! stockholders to allow you and your hand-picked
nominees to take control of Yahoo! for the express purpose of trying to force
a sale of Yahoo! to a formerly interested buyer who has publicly stated that
they have moved on. Please may I remind you that there is currently no
acquisition offer on the table from that company or any other party. That
said, we have been crystal clear in our stance that we have been and remain
willing to consider any proposal from any party including Microsoft if it
offers our stockholders full and certain value.
A fair-minded review leads to only one conclusion? That the 10 morons on the board who unanimously rejected Microsoft's premium offer and drove them away are the most qualified to run the company? Jerry Yang and company are clearly drinking that funny Kool-Aid again....
We presume that he must have a prenup, but who knows? In any case, we're just wondering if the split (a separation at this point) might spill into the board room if it goes the divorce route or if it will be handled quietly in a civil manner. You know how messy these little marital tiffs can get, especially when there are big bucks and blocks of stock involved, not to mention, a very long marriage (described below by the NY Observer as "emotionally cool")
ARTHUR Sulzberger Jr. is separated for
real. The chairman/CEO of the New York Times Co. was spotted yesterday morning
moving into the Phillips Club, a residential hotel on West 66th, where 2-bedroom
apartments start at $17,000 per month. Sulzberger - who announced his separation
from his wife of 33 years, Gail Gregg, on Saturday - was spotted unloading about
10 suitcases from a large SUV. Gregg remains in the marital abode on West 64th,
which was transferred into her name in March, when a Times spokeswoman lamely
explained to us it was for "estate-planning purposes."
"My mother called me up at the end of the equity bubble, and... you know I have been at the heart and seen some of the problems, and my mother said, 'Hey how come you never go to jail?' ,and I said 'Gee, Thanks Mom'...The 'everybody's doing it' excuse doesn't hold when people are wondering how this happened, and they want to take action...Look at your practices."
so he's offered to make pro rata refunds to contributors of $2.9 million to his Spitzer 2010 campaign fund. If you gave him money, you have until June 15 to send in an official request for refunds.
Reuters tells us that a new report out of compensation consultants Johnson Associates indicates that bonuses this year could be pretty slim, contracting from 10 - 25%, and possibly 35% in the executive suite. (We sadly note the obvious -- that if you're unemployed they also could be nonexistent.)
The credit crisis will mostly affect
bonuses for workers directly involved in trading and selling assets like
subprime mortgage bonds, the report said.
Senior executives will likely face the
biggest bonus cuts and may even find their pay linked to risk exposure, the
report said. Banks may also implement what the report referred to as "clawbacks"
-- managers to pay back compensation money if certain results are not met, the
report said.
Gooooooooooo Carl!. Really, those jokers on the Yahoo board all deserve to get the hook. Carl Icahn has apparently decided to go the proxy fight route and will attempt to lay waste to the entire ten member Yahoo board, as opposed to the easier path of trying to pick off a smaller number of directors. We don't know if he'll get all of them or any, for that matter --- his goal really isn't taking over the board, but jump starting talks between Yahoo and Microsoft to get a deal done. Carl bought 50 million Yahoo shares after Microsoft pulled its Yahoo bid. With the shareholder sentiment such as it is....in general really pissed off -- we would expect that the show of shareholder support will be overwhelmingly in Carl's favor.
We love watching a good fight. And this one should be classic.
