Wall $treet Folly

Was Bear Stearns' CEO's party invitation lost in the mail?

Or was Alan Schwartz just plain dissed at a luncheon hosted by Ben Bernanke and attended by most every other Wall Street BSD?  Or maybe he was invited and was just too busy trying to put out fires on the home front.  In any case, Bernanke hosted one hellofa gathering (click on picture to enlarge)....

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke lunched on March 11 with a Who's Who of Wall Street leaders, including JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Jamie Dimon, three days before the central bank rescued Bear Stearns Cos. from bankruptcy.

Other guests included Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. CEO Richard Fuld, Morgan Stanley President James Gorman, Citigroup Inc.'s Robert Rubin, Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman and Merrill Lynch & Co. CEO John Thain. Alan Schwartz, the CEO of Bear Stearns, was not listed among the attendees.

Fed Decision: Half a point cut

Here's the full text of the Fed's statement

Do all finance guys look alike?: Ohio Congresswoman shows how out of touch she is by mistaking Bernanke for Paulson

When we saw this exchange on CNBC this morning during Ben Bernanke's testimony before Congress, our entire trading room erupted in laughter.  Representative Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat from Ohio, showed just how hopelessly out of touch she is by confusing  Ben Bernanke with Henry Paulson during a Congressional hearing.   Amazing. And Scary, considering she's one of our elected officials....

Fed move: The market takes a dive on Ben & Co's 25 basis point rate cut

We returned from the Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference (lots of long faces there both on the podiums and in the audience)  just in time for the Fed rate announcement.  We expected a 25bp move and that's what we got.  But many were expecting 50bp and the failure to deliver caused the market to dive. Big time.  Anyone who reads us knows we LOVE volatility.  So our afternoon was fun (and busy).

Here's the text of the Fed decision:

Ben Bernanke speaks to the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce

They've honored him with the 'Citizen of the Carolinas Award',  Here's the full text of his speech which he made after the close beginning at 6:53PM

Ben Bernanke's speech: "Global Imbalances: Recent Developments and Prospects"

Here's the text of Ben Bernanke's 9/11 speech "Global Imbalances: Recent Development and Prospects":

Hedge fund portfolio barfage felt far and wide; Black boxes strategies backfiring; AQR among wounded -- will planned IPO be affected?; Man Group postpones hedge fund IPO; Bernanke & Paulson wrong -- subprime flu spreading

                 

Portfolio Liquidation Triggers Turmoil Among Hedge Funds Stuck Inside A 'Black Box'' Hedge funds at risk as black box strategies unravel Man Group's U.S. hedge fund IPO seen to be delayed Bernanke, Paulson Were Wrong: Subprime Contagion Is Spreading Fund meltdown talk sends Tokyo into free-fall

Full text of Ben Bernanke's Semiannual Monetary Report before Congress

Testimony of Chairman Ben S. Bernanke
Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress
Before the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives
July 18, 2007

Chairman Frank, Ranking Member Bachus, and members of the Committee, I am pleased to present the Federal Reserve’s Monetary Policy Report to the Congress.  As you know, this occasion marks the thirtieth year of semiannual testimony on the economy and monetary policy by the Federal Reserve.  In establishing these hearings, the Congress proved prescient in anticipating the worldwide trend toward greater transparency and accountability of central banks in the making of monetary policy.  Over the years, these testimonies and the associated reports have proved an invaluable vehicle for the Federal Reserve’s communication with the public about monetary policy, even as they have served to enhance the Federal Reserve’s accountability for achieving the dual objectives of maximum employment and price stability set for it by the Congress.  I take this opportunity to reiterate the Federal Reserve’s strong support of the dual mandate; in pursuing maximum employment and price stability, monetary policy makes its greatest possible contribution to the general economic welfare.

Let me now review the current economic situation and the outlook, beginning with developments in the real economy and the situation regarding inflation before turning to monetary policy.  I will conclude with comments on issues related to lending to households and consumer protection--topics not normally addressed in monetary policy testimony but, in light of recent developments, deserving of our attention today.

If you want to read along with Bernanke's speech

Here's the full text:

Ben Bernanke: Comments to Maria were a "lapse of judgement'

He won't be making that mistake again: Fed Chief Ben Bernanke, speaking before the Senate Banking Committee earlier today, commented for the first time on his market moving loose lipped slip of the tongue picked up and reported by CNBC's Maria Bartiromo.  He admitted that the incident was his fault:

"Senator, that episode you referred to was a lapse of judgment on my part. In the future, my communications with the public and with the markets will be entirely through regular and formal channels."