Wall Street Folly

Kucinich to the Treasury and the Fed: About those Merrill bonuses -- what did you know and when did you know it? ($BAC)

Those $3.6 billion in Merrill Lynch bonuses that were paid out early seem to have disappeared from the front page thanks to the likes of AIG and the auto bailout.  But Dennis Kucinich, chairman of a subcommittee of the House of Representatives' Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is all over it now:

Cerberus Partners LP investors, hope you don't expect your cash back any time soon for those withdrawal requests you submitted....

Because it coult take years for that special purpose vehicle stake you might be getting to liquidate......

The latest indignity is an aesthetic cleansing: Bankers are becoming persona non grata at Soho House

They're cleansing their membership to get back to their "artsy" roots.

SOHO House no longer wants to be a place where bankers flock to drink and flirt. Sources told us several financial types, already hit by the economy, had their egos slammed when they were notified by the club that their membership would not be renewed as it was returning to its "artsy" roots. Soho House US operations director Mark Somen told us, "We recently celebrated our fifth anniversary and want to make sure we are staying true to our creative roots. We are not pinpointing specific industries, but want to make sure that our members are great creative types.

Bankers Are No-No's At Soho - Page Six

Do over in hard times: UK bankers and other high rollers with big divorce settlements looking for relief as their net worths shrink

Should a divorced spouse with a fat settlement share in their former spouse's pain now that they've fallen on hard times and their net worths have shrunk?  Some bankers and others wealthy types who have agreed to large settlements are looking for do overs.  Bloomberg looks at some UK cases:

Dylan Ratigan: the new chief financial correspondent at ABC news?

Page Six tells us that's what Dylan Ratigan is telling everyone.  But if he's making those claims, he may be on dangerous ground with a six month noncompete preventing him from making deals.  He may want to STFU or invite a lawsuit if he does eventually land at ABC.  For its part, ABC is deflecting.  It's rep, Jeff Schneider commented "We think the world of Dylan Ratigan".  Another ABC insider apparently said "There are no talks, so there is no deal, so he has no title."

Too much Talk - Page Six

WSJ profile: Andres Piedrahita -- Fairfield Greenwich partner, Walter Noel son-in-law, super salesman and Bernie Madoff enabler; "We are victims of the biggest fraud in the world, as have been major banks and the most important families in the world"

For the past two years, Andrés Piedrahita has acted as the managing partner of Fairfield Greenwich Group, the hedge fund that lost $6.9 billion to Bernard Madoff's pyramid scheme. But Mr. Piedrahita's real job, he once told a friend, was "to live better than any of my clients."

"I've never seen anybody live like him and spend like him, and I know billionaires who are 10 times wealthier than he is," says Fernando Botero, the son of the Colombian artist of the same name. "His job was to live grand."

Married since 1989 to Corina Noel, the daughter of Fairfield Greenwich founder Walter Noel, Mr. Piedrahita was one of four of the five Noel sons-in-law to work in the family business. But his outstanding public-relations skills set him apart from the others. Analysts say Mr. Piedrahita, 50 years old, played a key role in expanding the reach of the Madoff fraud by wooing wealthy Latin Americans and Europeans to invest in Fairfield Greenwich, which had about half its assets with Mr. Madoff...

"I look at myself in the morning, and I'm very proud of what I have done, and so are my partners," says Mr. Piedrahita. Then he adds, referring to the Madoff scam: "Nobody knew anything about anything.

The Charming Mr. Piedrahita Finds Himself Caught in the Madoff Storm - Wall Street Journal

WSF Headline Roundup - 3/31/09 - $JPM: $17B more global banking writedowns; GMAC & CIT debt issuance stalled; $JPM whoops $GS in rights offers; Good luck with $GM bondholders; Barclays focusing on iShares sale to CVC?; GOOG venture fund

• Global banks to write down $17 bln more: JP Morgan
• Debt wait for GMAC and CIT
• JPMorgan Wins Twice as Much Work as Goldman on Rights Offers
• AIG Gets $800 Million Loan From Consumer Lending Unit
• Peter Madoff Will Seek to Challenge Asset Freeze, Lawyer Says
• G.M.’s Bondholders Speak in the Voice of the Aggrieved
• GM Bondholders Back Obama’s Demand for Deeper Cuts
• GM, Chrysler Likely Shrank U.S. Car Market for 3rd Month in Row
• Barclays Said to Be in Exclusive Talks to Sell IShares to CVC
• UBS Auction-Rate Securities Suits Dismissed by Judge
• Revenue Growth Slows for Online Advertising
• KLA-Tencor To Cut 10% Of Work Force; Charges Seen In 2009
• Google to Announce Venture Fund

The only banker Warren Buffett takes calls from is leaving Goldman to start his own firm

Warren Buffett's trusty Goldman Sachs banker Byron Trott is leaving the firm to start his own shop according to the WSJ.  BDT Capital Partners could raise as much as $2 billion and will seek to invest and advise companies controlled by families or entrepreneurs. Berkshire Hathaway will be an investor. According to Warren Buffett "we'll have a modest partnership interest", although he didn't specify an amount. "We will not be the big dog".  Despite Trott's departure, Goldman is expected to still get plenty of busness from Buffett.....

It's all good: Randi Newton's been busy since the Page Six story ran, editing errors and all; Today show video ($MS, $RICK)

All publicity is good publicity:  Ms. Newton has apparently been a  busy bee since her story appeared on Page Six yesterday.  She commented on our post where we noted the discrepancies between her blog and the Post story and thanked us for the coverage.  She's of course, updated her blog.

Thanks for the comments and hello to all of you new readers.  Someone even asked me out on a date on Facebook!! (sorry I have a boyfriend…)

Watch just about every morning show tomorrow, and a few later this week.  Inside Edition, Entertainment Tonight, and more calls are coming in!

Addendum: CNBC just aired a Natalie Morales report from The Today Show featuring Randi Newton / Ricks. Here it is:

This is one tax hike we applaud: The tobacco tax hike goes into effect on Wednesday

Federal taxes on a pack of smokes will be going up from $0.39 to $1.01. 

Other tobacco products, from cigars to pipes and smokeless, will see similarly large tax increases, too. For example, the tax on chewing tobacco will go up from 19.5 cents per pound to 50 cents. The total expected to be raised over the 4 1/2 year-long health insurance expansion is nearly $33 billion.

Smoke break gets more expensive with tax boost - AP