September 16, 2008

HousingPANIC Quote of the Day

"It is terrible. Death. It's like a massive earthquake. It's final. Everybody is just finishing up."

- Kirsty McCluskey, trader for failed firm Lehman Brothers, September 15, 2008

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does anybody really care about traders that sold crap to investors ?

blogger said...

Do you realize how many people in the finance biz are going to lose their jobs?

Hundreds of thousands.

In London, that's a lot of porsches. That's a lot of lamborghinis. That's a lot of BMWs. That's a lot of overpriced Canary Wharf flats.

From Master of the Universe to unemployed looking at your Visa bills.

Life's a bitch.

Anonymous said...

Wall Street..."Greed is Good"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaKkuJVy2YA

Anonymous said...

Where Was Lehman’s Board?

"Nine of them are retired. Four of them are over 75 years old. One is a theater producer, another a former Navy admiral. Only two have direct experience in the financial-services industry.

Meet the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. external board directors, a group of 10 people who, perhaps unknowingly, carried the health of the world’s financial system on their shoulders the past 18 months."

source: http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2008/09/15/where-was-lehmans-board/


Now the ten banks agreed to chip in $7 billion each for the pool, after which any of the ten can borrow up to a third of the fund.
The banks behind this "manageable" plan have collectively already taken over $235 billion in losses on their securities portfolios since last year.
What is this a circle of drunks—or corpses--leaning on each other to try to keep from falling down.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/business/16aig.html?_r=1&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin

Anonymous said...

i guess their mental bubble finnaly popped.

Mr. Joey said...

nobody is going to shed a tear for these fired losers, except maybe their mothers.

Anonymous said...

I recall you saying "Our work here is done."

Here's the real deal:

Exodus of employees told to ‘move on’
By FT Reporters

Published: September 15 2008 21:42 | Last updated: September 15 2008 21:42

The message delivered to shocked Lehman Brothers staff on Monday was simple and direct.

“It’s over,” announced Christian Meissner to a morning staff gathering just a week after being appointed to run Lehman Brothers in Europe. He told the staff to look for new work and “move on”.

Staff had little choice but to follow suit in Lehman’s offices around the globe as they came to terms with the reality of the vertiginous collapse of the 158-year-old institution, leaving workplaces with belongings hastily collected and their savings depleted.

The mantra of Lehman Brothers was to pay its staff in stock – some 30 per cent of the bank’s equity was held by employees and many bonuses were paid in shares. Now those holdings are all but worthless.

Some staff were also told not to expect a paycheck at the end of the month and that they might even be liable for expenses on their corporate credit cards.

Anonymous said...

From Master of the Universe to unemployed looking at your Visa bills.
=================================
OMG!

Love it Keith, love it!

Hubris can be such a bitch on the downside!

Anonymous said...

Well, in their spare time I suggest that they read Tom Wolfe's "The Bonfire of the Vanities". Forgive me a cruel chuckle.

Smug Bastard

Anonymous said...

"...CLUTCHING golf clubs, branded umbrellas and what appeared to be a box of fine Languedoc wines among other office knick-knacks, bewildered ex-employees yesterday streamed out of the Lehman Brothers' European headquarters at Canary Wharf...

...Elsewhere in the building, employees...consoled themselves with a drink in the company canteen..."


LOCK. THE. WINDOWS.

Anonymous said...

Cheney/Bush: "Deregulate, deregulate, deregulate, etc..."

Palin/McCain: "Reregulate! Reregulate! Reregulate!"

What a crock of neoCON BULLSH*T!!

Anonymous said...

"Some staff ... might even be liable for expenses on their corporate credit cards."

That's hilarious! I would love to see them try to enforce that.