Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Thu, 25 Sep 2008 03:13:12 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Liz Peek :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Liz+Peek istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/financial-crisis-winners-and-losers/86401/ Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The move by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to become bank holding companies says a lot about who may emerge as winners when the dust settles from this mother of all storms. As analyst Richard Bove pointed out in a note over the weekend, several of the commercial banks, including U.S. Bancorp, Wells Fargo, PNC Financial, and JPMorgan Chase, traded at or near 52-week highs during the past seven days, a testament to the attractiveness of the commercial bank model in our timid new world. Simply... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/why-wall-street-is-ready-to-rise-again/86585/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Happily, I can say with some confidence that we've reached the bottom of this particular Wall Street meltdown. Why? Because Warren Buffett told us so, and I'm easily influenced by people who have made billions of dollars. Mr. Buffett, for all his "I don't know which fork to choose" folksiness, is a hard-nosed investor and a veteran Wall Streeter. Having bought a 12% interest in Salomon Brothers in 1987, he took charge of the firm when it had a little dust-up with regulators and ultimately sold... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/the-lehman-blame-game-gets-rolling/85905/ Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST As one Lehman employee put it, "I can't believe how fast it happened." At a gathering this weekend of financial services executives, people universally expressed shock over the rapid demise of Lehman Brothers. Though the fall of Bear Stearns was surprising and worrisome, the company was never viewed as one of the great firms. Lehman was. Lehman emerged in the past decade as one of the best run and most attractively positioned investment banks, with an especially enviable niche in the fixed... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/how-to-fight-the-rise-in-counterfeit-goods/85617/ Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Beijing's silk market hosts innumerable crowded, noisy stalls selling decent replicas of Gucci sunglasses, Callaway golf clubs, and Polo T-shirts, all at a fraction of what the real thing costs. If you don't mind an upside-down logo or misspelled brand name, the value is terrific. However, if you turn up your nose at such inaccuracies, you are likely to be invited into a narrow five-floor tenement some 200 yards away, where the hallways smell of yesterday's fried rice, or worse, and where... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/the-fannie-freddie-surprise-the-new-executives/85315/ Mon, 8 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Possibly the only real surprise in the plan announced yesterday to salvage Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is that the newly appointed chief executives don't come from Treasury Secretary Paulson's former stomping ground — Goldman Sachs. The former head of TIAA-CREF, Herb Allison, will take over the top spot at Fannie Mae, following the departure of the chief executive, Dan Mudd. Meanwhile, the retired chief financial officer of U.S. Bancorp, David Moffett, will helm Freddie Mac, replacing Dick Syron... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/credit-spreads-widen-despite-signs-of-recovery/85194/ Thu, 4 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Why are credit spreads rising? Standard & Poor's announced yesterday that the spread — or the difference between the rate for a Treasury instrument and a corporate bond of equivalent maturity — on speculative-grade bonds widened to 796 basis points, outside the 775 to 790 basis point range these issues have traded within for most of the year. Spreads on securities rated triple C, the bottom rung of the credit-rating ladder, just hit a five-year high. The speculative-bond spread, according to... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/advertising-executive-promotes-us-image/84971/ Tue, 2 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST As China pulled off one of the greatest public relations coups of all time with its recent Olympics, some Americans are also working to transform our image abroad. The former chief executive of ad agency DDB, and the author of the iconic "special sauce, lettuce, cheese, and pickles" tongue-twister that made the Big Mac a staple food for an entire generation, Keith Reinhard, is trying to do just that. Mr. Reinhard loves America, and is dismayed that his affection is not universal. Consequently... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/controls-may-hurt-chinas-stock-market/84600/ Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Some mornings, I bet that the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, wakes up wishing he were the economic tsar of China, instead of America. Imagine the joy of presiding over a controlled economy — how effective it must be to sentence to death any corporate executive who is caught taking bribes, which happens rather frequently, or forcibly remove high-pollution enterprises to remote regions where no one will notice the foul air. It is clear that this authority, bestowed on China's... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/chinas-determination-in-the-gold-medal-race/84317/ Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST BEIJING — An admission: I am tired of hearing the Chinese national anthem. I know this is an immature and politically impure response, but it rankles that the Chinese government set out in such a determined and calculated manner to win the gold medal race, and that they are succeeding so brilliantly. It is also irritating that the local English-language newspapers here in China provide the daily medal count without the cumulative totals; probably no one but me bothers to do the math to see that... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/commodities-hit-with-a-reality-check/83756/ Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Where are the $200-a-barrel oil guys? What about the $1,000-an-ounce gold bugs? How could commodities — Wall Street's favorite play over the last several weeks — turn around so dramatically? On Monday, gold futures fell to their lowest point this year, off $36 an ounce to hit $824 an at their nadir. Gold prices are down 20% from the high of $1,034 an ounce set March 17. The Standard & Poor's GSCI index of 24 future prices is down 22% from its record, set on July 3. Prices for all kinds of... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/how-to-dodge-doom-for-third-generation/83700/ Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST It isn't just a lust for gold medals that we share with the Chinese; it's also the challenge of protecting hard-earned wealth for generations to follow. The old adage "shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves in three generations" has a Mandarin translation, "rice paddy to rice paddy," the managing director of BNY Mellon Wealth Management, Thomas Rogerson, says. Mr. Rogerson, who has helped families manage their affairs for 25 years, says that more than 70% of families who build fortunes lose them by the... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/the-argument-for-offshore-drilling/83187/ Tue, 5 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Will offshore drilling prove to be Nancy Pelosi's Waterloo? Americans, stung by $4 gasoline prices, have lined up solidly behind efforts to expand offshore oil exploration. The House speaker, however, is ever more strident in her refusal to lift the moratoria on leasing federal waters off the East and West coasts of America, and in a portion of the Gulf of Mexico. On July 14, President Bush removed the so-called presidential withdrawal prohibiting leasing, which had been imposed in 1990. Now... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/report-shows-decline-in-illegal-immigrants/82943/ Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Those fighting to reduce the number of illegal immigrants in America may be winning the battle, if a new report is correct. The Center for Immigration Studies said yesterday that the illegal immigrant population here declined by 11%, or 1.3 million people, between August 2007 and May of this year. Critics of the report say the data is flawed, and also take issue with the report's claim that the drop in illegal immigrants is due to stepped-up enforcement against undocumented workers. The Center... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/a-big-mistake-is-made/82798/ Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Thwarting a request from the Federal Housing Administration, Congress, in its housing bill, will not allow the agency to charge higher rates to borrowers with lower credit scores. In other words, borrowers with weak or little credit history will receive loan insurance at the same terms as people who have decent credit scores, a policy that is doomed to distort the marketplace and undermine the FHA. Hasn't the nation just learned a pretty convincing lesson about the value of risk-based pricing?... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/gses-are-harmed-by-serving-two-masters/82527/ Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST President Bush announced yesterday that he would not veto legislation before Congress that is aimed at calming the housing market and propping up mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. That was probably good news for his Treasury Secretary, who was in New York the day before telling the financial community how important the proposed legislation is. In my view, the legislation may prove helpful in dispelling concerns about the credit worthiness of government-sponsored enterprises and thus... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/keeping-identities-safe-from-fraud/82358/ Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Are you afraid of losing your identity? Ads about the frequency of ID theft — every three seconds in America — are intended to scare the daylights out of people and to promote companies like LifeLock and TrustedID, which promise to prevent this crime. Do they work? Not entirely, and in fact much of what these companies offer is freely available to Americans through various government offices. The one thing these companies do provide is managing the process of putting fraud alerts on credit... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/how-short-sellers-operated-without-oversight/82084/ Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST For months, the trading community has been rife with speculation that the illegal dissemination of false information, so easy to accomplish via the Internet, has played a role in the disastrous slide of financial services stocks. These suspicions had seemingly gone unnoticed by regulators, but that appears to have changed. An order announced Tuesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, Christopher Cox, requires short sellers to pre-borrow shares needed to replace those sold short... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/short-selling-impact-causes-concern/81888/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST This is getting ridiculous. Last week, a Lehman Brothers analyst, Bruce Harting, put out a report recommending Fannie Mae (FNM $10) and Freddie Mac (FRE $7.35), and also suggested that under very unlikely (and theoretical) circumstances the companies might require big capital infusions. The report sent those stocks into a tailspin. Yesterday, National City (NCC $3.70) and First Horizon (FHN $5.06) were clobbered because a Ladenburg Thalmann analyst, Richard Bove, issued a report over the... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/would-john-templeton-buy-fannie-mae/81589/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST What would Sir John Templeton have thought of today's markets? Would he be buying? Templeton died Tuesday at the age of 95, leaving a legacy of sage investing that few can rival. His ability to lean against the wind and to think not only outside the box but beyond the walls of the entire storage room is the stuff of legend. Consider his 2004 interview with columnist Scott Burns of the Dallas Morning News: In explaining his cautious view of the American housing market, he says: "In the U.S. now... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/investors-take-another-look-at-china/81369/ Tue, 8 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST There probably won't be much Dom Perignon flowing at this week's G-8 meeting, that got underway yesterday. In the first half of the year, world stock markets lost more than $3 trillion in value, and the pain was felt from one end of the globe to the other. Leading the dismal performance were the emerging markets, with most sector funds down between 15% 20% year-to-date, after having posted 30% annualized gains for the past five years. Worse, China's Shanghai Composite Index collapsed by more... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/whether-mccain-or-obama-tax-hike-looms/81006/ Tue, 1 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST At least one person in Washington remembers that the Bush tax cuts are due to expire, setting the stage for a huge tax increase over the next decade. It's a good thing, since a collective amnesia seems to have settled over the Beltway. Candidates propose raising taxes here, there, and everywhere, conveniently forgetting that an increase is on the way, no matter who is elected. The newly installed head of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Timothy Ryan Jr., is trying to... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/food-prices-and-american-waistlines/80708/ Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Is there a silver lining behind the increase in American food prices? It has been documented that cheap food encourages more eating. Might not the corollary prove true, that higher food costs will dampen our nation's appetite and slow the growth of America's girth? Food prices rose nearly 5% in 2007, and at an annualized rate of more than 6% during the past three months. That's a big step up from the average increases of 2.5% a year posted for the past 15 years. While for people at the lowest... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/new-venture-to-fund-growing-wineries/80562/ Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Anxieties about the liquidity crisis have driven Americans ... to drink. Their beverage of choice? Wine. The Wine Institute reports that sales of wine in America rose 4% last year, topping 14 consecutive years of growth that saw consumption increase 66% by volume between 1994 and 2007. Retail sales of wine in America amounted to $30 billion last year, making the country the biggest wine market in the world. Sales of wines from California accounted for 61% of the total, crowning it the fourth... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/slump-boosts-wal-marts-image-and-bottom-line/80271/ Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST The president of Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW, John Durso, issued a press release yesterday applauding Attorney General Cuomo's outing of drugstores that are selling expired items. "This report proves that we shouldn't rely on drugstores to provide necessary food items to the community. ... There must be more supermarkets located in the city's low-income communities and New York City needs an effective strategy to add these quality food stores in more neighborhoods," he said. Would that include... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/calif-bankruptcies-tarnish-muni-bonds/80134/ Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST A recent Merrill Lynch publication advises high-net-worth clients to buy municipal bonds, pointing to the increasing likelihood that taxes will rise for those in higher income brackets and the fact that the flight to safety this year is causing a drop in Treasury rates. Both factors have boosted the relative allure of these investment instruments. What the report fails to mention is Vallejo, Calif. On May 23, this town of 120,000, across the bay from San Francisco, became the first California... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/costs-rise-for-investors-aiming-to-do-good/79669/ Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Will socially responsible investing turn out to be like organic lettuce — yet another luxury discarded in hard times? The Social Investment Forum claims that managers promising alpha as well as altruism have attracted a growing share of the investment pie in recent years — as much as one out of every nine professionally managed dollars in 2007. Returns improved for this category of investment earlier this decade, encouraging those people blessed with both money and a conscience to support... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/the-role-of-fico-scores-in-the-credit-mess/79314/ Thu, 5 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Do FICO scores really mean anything? Were lenders who relied on these traditional credit reports misguided? Just as Moody's and Standard & Poor's are on the griddle because of their failure to spot trouble in the mortgage-backed securities market, so is Fair Isaac Corp. (FIC $24) feeling some heat for the inability of its credit score to predict defaults. Although the company maintains that its scores fulfilled expectations, some in the mortgage industry say the scores proved unreliable. There... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/time-to-intervene-in-commodities-markets/79171/ Tue, 3 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Is the entire world being lashed by rising prices simply because of a shift in institutional portfolio allocations? Are cocoa, rice, and oil prices soaring just because the equity markets have failed to deliver juicy profits and traders have turned to commodities instead? Is such a thing possible? Not only is it possible, according to the managing member of Masters Capital Management, Michael Masters, but it is happening right now. Mr. Masters, who describes himself as a "concerned citizen,"... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/robin-hood-breasts-subprime-crisis/78869/ Thu, 29 May 2008 00:00:00 EST A subprime miasma hung over the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center Tuesday night as the stars and superstars of the financial community gathered for the Robin Hood Foundation's annual gala. As founder Paul Tudor Jones conceded, "A lot of us aren't doing as well as we were last year." Whereas last year Wall Street's royalty was treated to decor featuring gigantic castles and thrones, this year the visuals emphasized some of the causes favored by the foundation. Lighted signs saying "Survivor" and... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/web-content-giveaway-may-harm-us/76868/ Thu, 22 May 2008 00:00:00 EST With apologies for adding to the anxiety already permeating Wall Street, I now disclose my most acute concern: I am firmly convinced that in this great sweep of globalization, the position of America as a world leader will increasingly depend on its ability to handle the Internet. The country's competitive edge is firmly established in its creativity, technology, and knowledge-based endeavors. What if no one were willing to pay for these things? For any good to be exported successfully, people... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/why-the-dollar-is-out-of-whack/76673/ Tue, 20 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Americans have a lot in common with the British. Other than severely overusing the word "brilliant" and being rather unhealthily devoted to dogs and horses, the English seem quite like Americans — enthusiastic consumers who are unhappy with their government, worried about inflation, and overleveraged to real estate. That said, an American who forks over $120 for a cab ride into London from Heathrow or $40 for a croissant and coffee may be excused for thinking that something is out of whack... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/sovereign-wealth-funds-facing-entanglements/76301/ Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Attention, sovereign wealth funds: You're doing it all wrong. That's the view of Don Putnam, who has played matchmaker for financial services companies for decades. Three years ago, Mr. Putnam founded Grail Partners, a boutique merchant bank specializing in the financial industry. Earlier, he was co-founder and CEO of Putnam Lovell Securities. That bank, now part of Jefferies, was responsible for numerous high-profile transactions in the asset management business, such as the 1995 sale of... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/boutique-banks-may-benefit-from-big-bank-layoffs/76054/ Thu, 8 May 2008 00:00:00 EST A longtime Merrill Lynch employee, who did not want his name used, arrived home recently from a vacation to find a letter containing an offer he could not refuse. The missive laid out the details of the "Selective Resignation Program," which invited Mr. Smith to pack it in after his many years of service. The clincher? For approximately $100 a month each for the rest of their lives, adjusted for inflation, the employee and his wife would continue to enjoy their current medical benefits. After... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/stimulus-impact-may-be-short-lived/75927/ Tue, 6 May 2008 08:54:17 EST Retailers are jousting to be the places consumers spend their tax rebates. Sears and Kroger, for example, are offering 10% bonuses to those who convert their entire rebate check into a store gift card. Wal-Mart, CVS Caremark, and others are advertising specials timed to coincide with the rebates showing up in mailboxes. Will they be successful? A recent Reuters/University of Michigan survey says that 70% of consumers want to use their rebates to bolster their personal balance sheet, by paying... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/unintended-consequences-hall-of-fame/75633/ Thu, 1 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Welcome to the Unintended Consequences Hall of Fame, whose recent inductees include ethanol subsidies, legislation that fueled the subprime debacle, and a new law meant to rein in student loan companies. But before we get to that, a new administration is poised to take office in November, and we at the Unintended Consequences Hall of Fame are excited to begin evaluating new candidates. In the realm of energy policy, we are watching closely to see if Senator Clinton and Senator McCain succeed in... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/renowned-manager-stocks-up-on-gold-cash/75461/ Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Wanted: One value-investing Graham & Dodd enthusiast, primed to manage $22 billion, who promises not to mess up an amazing 30-year record. Such a sign could have been hanging over the door at First Eagle Funds since its portfolio head, Charles de Vaulx, abruptly resigned a year ago. His departure occasioned the unexpected return of the celebrated money manager Jean-Marie Eveillard, who had run the fund for nearly 30 years and who had retired happily to Paris — to pursue, among other activities... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/defense-stocks-weighing-a-peace-dividend/75204/ Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Can we expect a peace dividend? Or are we entering a new arms race, with volatile nations like Venezuela and Russia using their oil booty to fund military buildups? Those hoping that a Democrat will win the White House in November expect a slowdown in the growth of the Pentagon's budget. They envision a drawdown of our troops in Iraq and a decline in new military initiatives, with money diverted to other needs, such as education and health care. As anti-war rhetoric has escalated, defense... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/accounting-profession-lightens-a-ceos-toolbox/75095/ Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Instead of attacking Jeffrey Immelt for poor management, maybe Jack Welch should be counting his lucky stars. Or, rather, acknowledging his star accountants. During the fabled CEO's two-decade tenure at General Electric, the accounting profession stood at the ready to assist with smoothing and boosting results. In these post-Enron days, they have become the officious referees, demanding ever more elaborate disclosures in the name of "transparency" and at the same time blocking the Hail Marys... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/mccain-whiffs-on-the-gas-tax/74878/ Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Crude futures surpassed $115 yesterday for the first time, as investors fretted over how much gas will be needed during the peak summer months. The new record brings into clear relief Senator McCain's solution for the skyrocketing price of oil, which he presented in a speech on Tuesday. His solution? Temporarily eliminate the 18.4 cents a gallon tax on gasoline (24.4 cents on diesel) this summer. This is a terrible idea. Although Americans would no doubt enjoy some relief from soaring oil... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/americans-unfriendly-skies/74671/ Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Where's Gerard Arpey? The CEO of AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, should have been far, far more visible during this difficult past week for the airline. Other than appearing at one press conference at the company's headquarters in Dallas on Thursday, the man has been virtually out of sight, and not in a good way. What is he thinking? While news programs aired stories about entire high school classes camping out at O'Hare, and while grieving families missed funerals because they... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/paulsons-plan-sounds-familiar/74488/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Alan Greenspan does not believe that he is responsible for the current financial crisis. Moreover, he doesn't think that regulators can prevent booms and busts. Isn't that like an NFL referee saying he can't prevent opposing teams from beating each other silly? It is of course a convenient stance. Some charge that Mr. Greenspan's policies as Fed chairman led to today's housing meltdown. Mr. Greenspan deflects critics by saying, as he did in his recent op-ed in the Financial Times, that... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/looking-for-an-end-to-deleveraging/74349/ Tue, 8 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Finally, a deal! The chairman of Lightyear Capital, Donald Marron, told me that we would know we have hit bottom when deals start to flow again. Yesterday's announcement that Novartis will acquire Nestle's holding in eye-care company Alcon for about $11 billion could be a harbinger of the tap opening, ever so gingerly. Deals have been off the table (and falling off the table) for months as the financial system "deleverages." The question of late has been: Can we deleverage the economy without... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/confidence-crisis-prolongs-credit-crisis/74116/ Thu, 3 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST "Show us the money" is the refrain from businesses and buyout firms that are unable to raise funds despite huge injections into the banking system by central banks in America and abroad. Even amid widespread recognition that the banks are flush with cash, many borrowers appear no better off than they were last summer, when the commercial paper markets all but closed. In fact, commercial paper markets do offer evidence that borrowers are under duress. Double A-rated commercial paper lent to... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/paulson-plan-ups-and-downs/73900/ Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST The changes to American financial regulation that the Treasury secretary will propose today will raise almost as many issues as they resolve. The thrust of Secretary Paulson's proposals is threefold: He seeks to streamline regulation of the financial industry; he suggests broadening the Federal Reserve's oversight of financial institutions, including investment banks and hedge funds, and he would move the Securities and Exchange Commission toward more "principles-based" self-regulation, such as... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/wilbur-ross-goes-bottom-fishing/73715/ Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST Celebrated investor Wilbur Ross noticed last year that a hedge fund had committed $20 million to a loan syndicate for one of his portfolio companies but had failed to attend any of the due diligence sessions. He called up the senior partner of the large fund to thank him for his participation, and to let him know that his shop had missed the investor briefings. "Since it's only $20 million, we didn't think it was worth sending someone," Mr. Ross says he was told. Times have changed. "That was... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/in-defense-of-sovereign-wealth-funds/73602/ Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST Treasury Secretary Paulson, the International Monetary Fund, and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development are all busily establishing "rules of conduct" for sovereign wealth funds. They want to be sure that their owners, who have poured more than $60 billion into American and European financial services companies over the past 14 months, do not attempt to use their investments for political purposes. Honestly, can't you just imagine the managers of the Abu Dhabi Investment... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/spitzers-legacy-haunts-bear-stearns/73099/ Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST The ghost of Eliot Spitzer the Reformer kicked Bear Stearns on its way down yesterday, adding insult to the firm's injuries and a grim footnote to the former governor's professional obituary. Bear Stearns had asked the New York State Court of Appeals to rule that its insurers must pay its part of a landmark 2003 accord imposed by Mr. Spitzer on Wall Street's 12 largest firms. The court denied the petition, adding some $45 million in extra costs to the cash-strapped investment bank. The... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/stock-pickers-dish-up-ideas-over-dinner/72848/ Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST A lot of Wall Street investing these days involves indecipherable algorithms, black-box program trading, and results that are measured with algebraic symbols. It is refreshing to find, as I did two nights ago, that there are still people who enjoy trying to outwit the markets the old-fashioned way. On Tuesday night, I attended the Stock Pickers dinner, hosted by longtime Wall Streeter Andy Blum at the venerable Brooke Club. It was a refreshing departure from, for example, the Distressed Debt... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/wall-street-failing-to-support-troubled-markets/72659/ Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST The unimaginable disruption in the securities markets as of late has been caused by a sense of freefall, and an utter lack of investor confidence. The cycle — value impairment leading to markdowns of asset values leading to credit downgrades and more markdowns — has to be broken. Ultimately, this will be done through a recovery in the housing market. The deterioration started there, and rebuilding will have to start there as well. However, the contagion did not have to spread so wide. Wall... LIZ PEEK http://www.nysun.com/business/tiffany-a-luxury-purchase-for-investors/72422/ Thu, 6 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST Are luxury buyers on a long-term strike, or have they just taken a sick day? That's the question facing investors in companies like Coach (COH $30), Saks (SKS $15), and Tiffany (TIF $39). The president of Unity Marketing, Pamela Danziger, has been addressing the topic rather alarmingly, reporting in January that her company's Luxury Consumption Index had dropped to a historic low by the beginning of 2008, toppling conventional wisdom about the resistance of the high end to an economic downdraft...