Shopping at Amazon?
Wait! If you click on the Amazon banner link at the top of the page first, HCN will get a percentage of anything you purchase for 24 hours!
Open predictions
Our local book authors
User login
Who's online
There are currently 9 members and 133 guests online.
I see a future trip to D.C for these guys. If I owned this stock I would be selling. Fortunately I have a few PUTS instead.
I'm gonna ask my boss to calculate my 2008 bonus based on the amount of time I spent blogging here.
welcome back super-T.
There was a study I saw in the early 00's that showed that CEO's of failing companies make almost 2x that of CEOs of successful companies.
the rationale is always the same: "we need to pay more to keep our talent from jumping ship"
I would perhaps agree to this IF it wasn't the current exeuctive that CAUSED the mess!
(for instance, if you had to woo a different CEO)
CEO compensation and executive compensation in the USAis absolutetly disgusting.
make tons if company does well. make even more if the company fails. most all compensation is directly tied to SHORT TERM profits...
I'd rather they paid them like this:
-award stock options that are no good for 20 years.
or
-have "reverse stock options". if the stock falls too much within a certain time period, then the CEO is forced to use his/her money to buy the stock.
Greed, pure and simple greed at work in our system. Gotta hold on to our top talent! Just think of what Dead eye Dick would be worth if he'd staid at Halliburton.
The top 3 guys should fall on their swords.
What a bunch of scumbags!!!
"Carlyle Capital Corp. Friday said lenders were liquidating some of its mortgage securities, painting an even bleaker picture of its already perilous situation.
In a short news release issued early Friday, the fund, which is managed by a unit of Washington, D.C., private-equity firm Carlyle Group, said it received "substantial additional margin calls and additional default notices from its lenders" and that "these additional margin calls and increased collateral requirements could quickly deplete ..."
Carlyle Capital Aims to Halt a Meltdown - WSJ.com
"The Ambac
offering consisted of: 171 million common shares, priced at $6.75 per share; 5 million equity units, priced at $50 each; and a 14 million-share private placement with two unnamed institutions that raised $95 million. "
Ambac raises $1.5 billion to protect AAA ratings - MarketWatch
"According to the RBC Cash Index, confidence sank to a mark of 33.1 in early March, down from 48.5 in February. The new reading was the worst since the index began in 2002 and surpassed the previous low reached in February."
Expired
And let me be clear, although all of the bad news just seems to keep coming, my views have not changed, tough period ahead, but, manageable, sustained period of subpar growth, which I might add in my opinion is desperately needed to wipe out the excesses of the recent past.
"Ambac currently intends to contribute the net proceeds from these offerings to its insurance company subsidiary Ambac Assurance Corporation in order to increase its capital position, less approximately $100 million, which it intends to retain at Ambac to provide incremental holding company liquidity to pay principal and interest on its indebtedness, to pay its operating expenses and to pay dividends on its capital stock. Proceeds from the settlement of the purchase contracts forming a part of the equity units, in May 2011, will be used to repay $142.5 million of the company's debt maturing August 1, 2011, to the extent that the cash proceeds of such settlement are sufficient for such repayment. The remaining proceeds will be retained at Ambac. Proceeds from the settlement of the purchase contracts will not be used to repurchase common stock."
Expired
This has to be some kind of tell - the Lennox Financial Guy ("biggest no brainer on the face of the earth") has changed his schtick.
He's no longer asking people to refinance. He's begging for people to come join his mortgage outfit. Basically it sounds like he's experienced either a staff mutiny or had to fire everybody.
Great!! Everything is normal at WaMu, no lessons learned, bend over stock holders, we know what is best for you.
Just maybe--- there is no hope!!!
These executives are delusional to think they are uniquely qualified and they deserve what they have decided to steal from investors.
This just shows how foolish government tax policies favoring equities over other vehicles are. The more we change the rules to prop up equity values, the easier it becomes for management to pillage the till.
Negative real interest rates, 15% capital gains and dividend tax rates. Who has it benefitted?
Wake up America.
Yea! Welcome back, Tanta.
Two words. Hush Money.
If a bonus plan doesn't really reflect the relative success of a business, shouldn't the compensation just be called 'salary?
"$500 cash for their keys." I got a laugh out of that.
Actually, I just two new assignment letters from Option One for foreclosed properties. If occupied, they're willing to offer $1100 and $1400 respectively if vacated by 3/28/08. Pretty generous, if you ask me.
I wouldn't give these clowns at WAMU $1. I'd just fire them and deduct company losses from their severance packages. Then I'd hire some qualified professionals and pay them good money to clean up the mess.
Anybody who has borrowed from WAMU should calculated their moral obligation to repay excluding the loan from WAMU
Slight typo by WaMu...actually referred to a "Bogus" plan.
I was planning to read a bit, then have a breakfast.
Since reading this entry, I have a warm and fuzzy feeling inside...it's called nausea.
The trickle down economics huh?
What's good for Corporate is good for America, right?
This is so sickening I can barely type straight. Breakfast is out of the question for now, unless I can teleport myself in the Board of Directors meeting room and barf my brains out all over them.
GIVE ME A SHAREHOLDERS BILL OF RIGHTS WITH LONG WHITE SHARK TEETH NOW!!!!
None of this surprises me. Anyone who thinks management is looking out for anything but their own best interests is delusional.
May
I
scream!
"The bank has said bonuses, long-term stock awards and other parts of its compensation plan are important to retaining executives."
Er... what would they want to retain the fools who created the problem? Are they hoping to create a larger problem, and feel that proven talent is indispensable to that effort?
TAF just increased by $100 B, OT but think worth noting. The helocopter is in the air.
Oh, and allowing even crappier stuff as collateral as well
Why they would have any desire to retain these fools is beyond me. The manager of the store is stealing from the registar
Somebody had an amusing idea quite a while ago - whenever that these top guys seek any kind of government bailout or help, they agree to accept a GSA grade assignment and be paid on the scale of mid-upper government bureaucrats, say $186,000 (one of those trigger levels.)
Makes you wonder what the 'long-term net' is for the financial industry-- add up all the reported profits in the early naughties, subtract current losses (and exec salaries)-- and the answer is...
Somebody had an amusing idea quite a while ago - whenever that these top guys seek any kind of government bailout or help, they agree to accept a GSA grade assignment and be paid on the scale of mid-upper government bureaucrats, say $186,000 (one of those trigger levels.)
In cases like these, I rather prefer the Japanese style of "golden parachute" ... involving a humiliated executive stepping in front of a rush-hour bullet train.
I'd then deduct the cost of cleanup from the insurance payout to his estate. But then, I'm a hardass.
For all the lawyer haters out there . . . this is a prime example of why we need an aggressive plaintiffs bar.
What a disgrace. They're almost as bad as I-bankers!
And let me be clear, although all of the bad news just seems to keep coming, my views have not changed, tough period ahead, but, manageable, sustained period of subpar growth, which I might add in my opinion is desperately needed to wipe out the excesses of the recent past.
risk capital | 03.07.08 - 6:29 am | #
Could not have said it nearly as well myself.
As for WAMU, their board of directors should be immediately disbanded and the damn place should be taken over by the federales. How the hell does a thrift exclude performance of mortgage loans from a bonus calculation. Short of that I'll be handing out throwing stars in front of their next shareholder meeting.
And they talk about "ruthless borrowers" ? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Fear of their jumping ship... TO WHERE?
As a testament to colossally stupid strategerie at WaMu; as recently as summer 2006, the Moose exited the FHA business in all channels.
To make sure they couldn't go back, they burned the bridge by selling the govi servicing portfolio, including their govi servicing platform and center in Milwaukee, to Wells Fargo.
When you were booking MSR's close to 400 bps on every option ARM, I guess it was easy to pass on the 250 that FHA would have given you.
As a former Chase guy, I always liked Steve Rotella and admired him for giving Jamie Diamond the finger.
Okay, so Jamie is smarter, but still, thank you Steve for standing up. Even a prick who is right, is still a prick
Funny that yesterday I got a letter from them killing my (zero balance) credit card. They gave the reason as being changes in my credit situation, even though my credit situation hasn't changed, and my FICO, last I checked, was 800.
If they're afraid to loan to zero balance 800's, they're afraid to loan. And if my never-been-late-in-my-life credit is drying up, wtf is going on with this economy?
Honor among thieves.
If you conduct business by the "code" you deserve to be rewarded.
Dispite the consequences.
Gary -
As someone related to one of those vicious trial attorneys I have to say: Amen!
The plaintiff's bar is the last functioning regulatory check on big entities - and as inefficient or poor a tool as it is, Joe Q. Public would be a fool to give it up. Not, of course, that that reality has prevented Corporate America's propagandists (Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, et al) from attempting to create a psuedo-populist "Tort Reform" movement. Goebbels really was a genius.
I case some of you have never read this on. Hilarious!
"Bush Backs Investment Banker Bonus Bailout In Wake of Subprime Crisis"
Page not found | Avant News
Someone should fire the PR department for releasing the April Fool's Day press release a month early.
Some questions:
Why does this plan not cover lower level employees?
How much effort will executives put into reducing mortgage losses or foreclosure expenses with this plan?
Where are the regulators?
Central_Scrutinizer, I asked my boss for that deal--the bonus calculated on how much time I spend hanging around here--and what did I get for it?
My boss sending Tanta this story.
I personally would offer these guys $500 cash for their keys.
This reminded me of my all time favorite joke from the LAST unpredictable liquidity crisis that only Hu Coodanode:
Bunker Hunt was talking to John Connally about a deal he'd set up to refinance their equipment leases during the oil bust.
"Good news is, these guys in Singapore see the future like we do and they're happy to partner up on the 150 million we're behind."
"Great! Where do I sign!"
"Not so fast. There's bad news."
"What could be bad about that deal?"
"Bad news is, they want $500 in cash."
Yeah, you or I would offer them $500 for their keys. But that's because we're responsible adults who have saved $500, or even more, for business contingencies.
That's Sotto Voce Mutual for you. I guess they slipped that filing past the Waxman committee, which this minute is hearing the experts so they can grill Mozillo, Prince, and O'Neal after lunch.
Those Seattle guys are smoooob.
Their investors should lynch them over this. I can't possibly see how you can say this enhances shareholder value.
Insanity.
Whoever came up with this plan deserves the "Medal Of Freedom".I'm E Mailing GW right now.If you need his EMail address google "Miserable Failure".
the Lennox Financial Guy
Jebus, that douche. I heard his radio ads all the time during baseball games. Rates are always at an all time low and the fed delivers "rate hike relief"
It's that old Eddie Murphy skit all over again--white guys giving each other money. Management picks the board; the board kicks back (shareholder) bucks in big bonuses.
Sounds like the boys are making one last-ditch effort to grab as much cash as they can before PG&E cuts the electricity to the building and everyone finds out the company is broke.