Category: Corporate Governance

The Latest Bank Bail Out: UBS To Acquire CSFB.

The Latest Bank Bail Out: UBS To Acquire CSFB.

UBS agreed to acquire CSFB. Sure, $17 billion in high yield debt was wiped out (perhaps we will see high yield downgrades as a result elsewhere across the landscape of financial issuers?) Despite the writedown of $17 billion in high yield debt, I hesitate to characterize this deal as a "bail in" because the Swiss … Continue reading The Latest Bank Bail Out: UBS To Acquire CSFB.

Amazon Bank, Apple Bank, Google Bank…

Amazon Bank, Apple Bank, Google Bank…

Fed Chairman Powell should lob calls into Andy Jassy (AMZN CEO), Tim Cook (AAPL CEO), Sundar Pichai (GOOGL CEO), Satya Nadella (MSFT CEO) and Doug McMillon (WMT CEO) in an effort to persuade them to consider acquiring a bank. To hell with potential pushback from the FTC. AMZN, AAPL, GOOGL, MSFT and WMT already dabble … Continue reading Amazon Bank, Apple Bank, Google Bank…

Expect Banks To Borrow Heavily from BTFP

Expect Banks To Borrow Heavily from BTFP

Nobody overdoes it like the Fed, except maybe the fiscal side of Government. Not only does the Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP) make bank collateral owned as of March 12th whole, the BTFP has a more attractive rate (at today's rate), compared to the Fed's discount window. When a bank borrows from the Fed's discount … Continue reading Expect Banks To Borrow Heavily from BTFP

Insider-Trading Through 10b5-1 Plans

Insider-Trading Through 10b5-1 Plans

The WSJ reports that the Justice Department and the SEC will pursue insider trading activity that is disguised by 10b5-1 plans. It's about time. We wrote about Moderna (MRNA), on July 28th 2020 whereby 10b5-1 plans were amended ahead of selling activity HERE. This looks suspicious. We went into great detail. I recall companies amending … Continue reading Insider-Trading Through 10b5-1 Plans

Random Thoughts On Google

Random Thoughts On Google

Some random thoughts on Google.. Google has an IR problem. For a company that grew constant currency revenues by 7% in the December quarter GOOGL shares ought to be trading higher. It's clear that investors don't fully understand the story. Google can simplify the story with a smarter IR effort. If the cloud around Google … Continue reading Random Thoughts On Google

Short-Term Paper, Quality Names and Gold

Short-Term Paper, Quality Names and Gold

Short-term Treasuries look attractive. The 1-month T-Bill offers a 4.67% yield. Beats cash and beats holding an equity index fund or ETF. I'm always a fan of owning Quality companies at an attractive price. However, I don't value equities as most investors do - I don't bucket stocks into "Value" "GARP" and "Growth" buckets. I … Continue reading Short-Term Paper, Quality Names and Gold