Wall Street Folly

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Tidbit from the Jimmy Cayne Fortune article: Ace Greenberg really had it bad for Barbara Walters

One of the more fascinating tidbits from Fortune Magazine's tome on former Bear Stearns CEO Jimmy Cayne is just how hot Alan "Ace" Greenberg was for serial man eater Barbara Walters, who we all know now from her kiss-and-tell-all was also seeing Alan Greenspan around the same time.  But she wound up marrying Merv Adelson.  According to Cayne, Ace himself wanted to marry Walters --

One day Greenberg told Cayne a story about his personal life that Cayne never forgot. At that time Greenberg was between marriages and had been dating regularly, but was growing increasingly concerned about the risk of contracting AIDS. "He decides he's going to get married," Cayne says. "And he's one of the guys that's dating Barbara Walters.... He says to me, 'I've decided I'm going to marry Barbara Walters.' The very next day in the papers she's engaged to Merv Adelson. I never said a word. Now normally - you know, if it was one of my buddies - I'd say, you know, 'Pretty good call there, pal. You're marrying her, except that she's marrying somebody else.... That's called bigamy.'"

The rise and fall of Jimmy Cayne - Fortune

Bear Stearns chief vs Fed chief: Barbara Walters seems to have never met an Alan she didn't like

According to Page Six, Barbara Walters, who recently published her kiss and tell memoirs, may be stinging from some of the criticisms over her affair with then-married Senator Edward Brooke.  But more interestingly is what a playa she was, also carrying on simultaneously with Bear Stearns CEO Alan "Ace" Greenberg, and then-future Fed chief Alan Greenpan. And her housekeeper couldn't tell the two Alans apart:

"Audition" also reveals that after breaking up with Brooke, Walters continued seeing Greenberg while also dating Alan Greenspan, the future Federal Reserve chairman.

Her Latina housekeeper couldn't keep the two Alans straight. "When they gave me the message, I could only ask, which one talked louder?" Walters wrote. "Alan Greenberg . . . talked in a normal tone of voice. Alan Greenspan was very soft-spoken. He almost whispered. And that's how I would know whether it was Greenspan or Greenberg."

Barbara Starts To Feel Heat - Page Six NY Post

A tale of two fed chiefs: Greenspan vs Volcker

Bloomberg columnist Carolyn Baum is another journalist whos pissing on Alan Greenspan's legacy; this morning she contrasts him to his predecessor, Paul Volcker: 

Volcker is tall; Greenspan isn't. Volcker is a man of few words; Greenspan won't shut up. Volcker retired as Fed chair and avoided the limelight; Greenspan is doing everything possible to make sure the light shines on him.

The problem for Greenspan is that the spotlight on him is also illuminating detritus on the economy's shoreline now that the tide of easy money has gone out. (Wait, easy money is back!) Greenspan's curriculum vitae includes two asset bubbles (one in Internet and technology stocks in the late 1990s, another in residential real estate), a pair of banking crises, a boatload of fraudulent lending he chose to ignore, and a household savings rate of zero.

Alan Greenspan's legacy is taking a bath and he's not taking it lying down

With so many now talking smack about how former Fed chief Alan Greenspan managed the economy before he left office in 2006, he's coming out swinging and splashing water on his critics. Per a big Page One WSJ story:

Hailed three years ago as "the greatest central banker who ever lived," the retired chairman of the Federal Reserve now is being criticized for his management of the U.S. economy before he retired in 2006. The Fed's low rates and laissez-faire regulatory oversight during his final years are widely blamed for sowing the seeds of today's financial crisis -- one that began in the U.S. housing market and is now battering banks, stock markets, borrowers and consumers around the world.

For much of his 18 years atop the world's most-influential economic institution, Mr. Greenspan was lionized for the economy's performance. Now, he notes, he's being second-guessed for it.

"I was praised for things I didn't do," Mr. Greenspan said during one of three interviews at his sun-drenched office in downtown Washington, D.C. "I am now being blamed for things that I didn't do."

Sightings: Paulson and Greenspan celebrate their new partnership....

According to Page Six, Former Fed chier Alan Greenspan and Paulson & Co's sub-prime investment king John Paulson were spotted ordering halibut at lunch at Visconti on East 58th, no doubt celebrating their new partnership.

Former Fed chief Alan Greenspan joins the hedge fund ranks with Paulson & Co.

Greenspan in bed with Paulson: The former Fed chief's services have been snapped up by Paulson & Co and they're the only hedge fund that will get him according to the terms of his agreement.  We wonder if that will crush the hopes of China Investment Corp --- they reportedly wanted to hire him.

Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, is to become an adviser to Paulson & Co, the $28bn New York-based hedge fund company that achieved spectacular investment returns at the height of last year’s credit crunch.

Mr Greenspan will join the advisory board of the credit specialist investment house. Paulson will be the only hedge fund that Mr Greenspan will work with under the terms of the agreement.

Mr Greenspan already holds separate advisory roles with Deutsche Bank and Pimco, the asset management firm. The financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.

Greenspan joins NY hedge fund - Financial Times

Greenspan favors a U.S. government mortgage crisis bailout

Former Fed chief Alan Greenspan weighed in on the mortgage crisis -- he favors a U.S. government bailout.

Greenspan, speaking on ABC's ``This Week'' program aired today, said cash bailouts, while creating a larger budget deficit, have the advantage of helping homeowners without distorting property prices or interest rates on mortgages....           

 

      

Alan Greenspan's new book is flying off the shelves

All of those hours spent shriveling up like a prune in the bathtub where he's said to have penned most of his new tome seem to have paid off: Alan Greenspan's  "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World.", is flying off of bookshelves. 

The book sold 129,000 copies in its first week on bookstore shelves, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks an estimated 75% of retail book sales in the U.S. While that is far short of first-week sales of the memoir of another high-profile Washington figure, former President Bill Clinton -- whose "My Life" sold 606,000 copies in its first week in June 2004, according to BookScan -- it is still strong enough to put the book on top of best-seller lists for both Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble's hardcover nonfiction.

Greenspan's Memoir Racks Up Sales - Wall Street Journal

 

Greenie has a new consulting gig...

He'll be working with former Fed buddies at Deutsche Bank:

Deutsche Bank AG plans to announce today that it has retained Mr. Greenspan as a senior adviser to its corporate and investment-bank unit.

The arrangement was initiated by Peter Hooper, who served on the Fed staff during Mr. Greenspan's tenure and is now chief U.S. economist for Deutsche Bank Securities.

Details of the contract weren't disclosed.