Even JPMorgan Chase's CEO Jamie Dimon has to show his ID to get through security.
Check out the photo from the Associated Press spotted by Jim Roberts:
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[PHOTO] Even Jamie Dimon Gets Carded At The Justice Department
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This 1928 Map Of NYC Shows Where All JP Morgan's Offices Used To Be
We've discussed how awesomeJP Morgan's Twitter #throwbackthursdays are on the site before — lets do it again.
This week, the bank tweeted out a map of New York City in 1928. On it, are all the locations of JP Morgan's offices. At the time, the firm was The Bank of Manhattan Company.
The city was far less crowded with inhabitants, so this map definitely gives you a sense that the bank was a big force in the city.
Here's the Tweet:
#ThrowbackThursday: This 1928 map shows the offices of $JPM's oldest predecessor, The Bank of the Manhattan Company pic.twitter.com/mMhLl5OZ86
— J.P. Morgan (@jpmorgan) November 7, 2013
And here's the map blown up.
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The Real 'Wolf Of Wall Street' Lived Like A King In Prison With Tommy Chong
Bloomberg Businessweek's Sheelah Kolhatkar has a great profile of Jordan Belfort, whose "Wolf of Wall Street" book has been turned into the highly-anticipated Leonardo DiCaprio movie of the same name (due out on Christmas day).
Belfort went from a millionaire pump-and-dump schemer taking "drugged-out helicopter rides" and "hooker shopping with buttoned-up Swiss bankers" to federal prison.
The entire story is worth a read, but perhaps the funniest nugget from the story is that Belfort's cellmate when he arrived at prison in 2004 was Tommy Chong. Chong, Belfort, and other celebrity inmates partied it up like the famous scene from Goodfellas. From Businessweek:
Incredibly, his cellmate was Tommy Chong, of Cheech and Chong, who was serving a nine-month sentence for selling drug paraphernalia—bongs in particular. As Chong describes it, the Taft Federal Correctional Institution would beat many Manhattan hotels for comfort. He says Belfort’s arrival “was like Elvis coming to jail” and that his roommate spent his days playing tennis and backgammon, cleverly hiring other inmates to do his chores for him.“He would inspire salespeople to basically go rob people”
“We were part of the elite gang,” Chong says, adding that for a stretch they ate meals “Goodfellas-style” with another famous inmate, the PGA Tour caddie Eric Larson, who was serving time related to drug charges. Larson “worked in the garden, and he grew these fresh, delicious vegetables, and he used to cook them,” Chong says. “We had these beautiful vegetarian, healthy meals every night, and Jordan was part of the gang. We had a nice little hierarchy there, intelligent famous guys hanging out together.”
Now Belfort hits the speaking circuit, netting around $30,000 a speech. Of course, as Kolhatkar reports, Belfort is still struggling to pay restitution.
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Meet The Goldman Analyst Who Came In 26th Place During Her First Marathon
Goldman Sachs investor relations analyst Alex Cadicamo, placed 26th overall out of 20,000 women at the ING NYC Marathon, DealBook's Will Alden first pointed out.
It was her first marathon ever.
Cadicamo, who ran Division I cross-country and track at Yale, finished the grueling 26.2 mile trek through the city's five boroughs with an impressive time 2:51:33. That's a 6:33 average mile pace.
Goldman Sachs has just posted an interview with her on their Careers Blog.
She told Goldman that the longest race she had done before training for this was 6K. During her training, she was running half marathons fast enough to qualify for the professional division, which is a big deal to any seasoned marathoner.
What is your past experience as a runner and what made you want to try the marathon?
In college, I was a runner and competed in Division I-AA Cross Country and Track and Field, running long distance, with the longest races being 5 or 6 kilometers—a lot shorter than a marathon! Now I run for an established club team here in New York City. They have a group of professional athletes as well as a club team comprised of people like me who have jobs but who may have been athletes in college and still want to continue to compete at a high level. I joined the team earlier this year and have been running various distances from the 5K to half-marathons. Having grown up in New York, I knew I wanted this to be my first marathon and I always wanted to try the distance, so I decided to do it. I ran fast enough times in half-marathons this year to qualify to run in the professional field, which was an incredible opportunity.
Now Cadicamo would like to qualify for the Olympic trials.
So what is your plan for other marathons?
The Olympics trial time is my ultimate goal, and so I'm hoping to run another marathon to try to reach that goal. Hopefully I can hit 2 hours and 43 minutes needed to make the Olympics trials. I think it's within reach.
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8 Things You Must Do Before The Final CFA Exam Month
One month left, December Level 1 candidates! How are things going?
I remember this all too clearly when I took my first CFA exam back in December 2009 (unluckily for me, 300 Hours still wasn't around then). The stress, anxiety and constant studying has started to tire me down, especially with a full time job. It doesn't help that the final month is all where the knowledge gets properly tested and things get more intense!
In the interest of brevity, here are 8 concise pointers to take note on to utilise your last month effectively to maximise your chances of passing the exams.
#1 - Are you on schedule with your study plan? Follow the 1 month game plan, this is what every candidate should be doing now.
#2 - You NEED to master ethics. Here are some helpful tips on how to do that.
#3 - Knowledge is an advantage for the CFA exams. Learn from others' mistakes, get the latest CFA Results Analysis for a detailed topic-by-topic breakdown of all the historical Level 1 performances, Minimum Passing Scores, and what you should watch out for.
#4 - Study effectively, this means higher absorption and understanding of the material per unit of time. Try out different study places and observe your ability to focus, stick to the ones that you can concentrate best, switch to something new once you get tired of it for a boost.
#5 - Boost your motivation - devise an incentive and reward system that works for you.
#6 - Take good care of yourself. Eat nutritiously to nurture concentration and cut out processed, sugary food. Take the occasional break, catch up with friends or go for a run - these reduce stress and you'll come back refreshed and raring to go! Most importantly, improve your sleep quality to make up for more intense study sessions.
#7 - Do practice exams like crazy, preferably timed to simulate exam conditions. How many is enough? A good rule of thumb is to complete for 4-6 sets of practice exams in the last month.
#8 - Take a break, have a laugh to take the pressure off! As much as we love to hate the CFA exams, try to be patient when innocent family member or friends try to be encouraging and all will be over soon! If you love a good moan, drop by the 300 Hours Community.
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A Bunch Of Wall Street Banks Are Considering Blocking Traders From Chat Rooms
Honestly, we're surprised this hasn't come up before...
Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, RBS, Barclays and more banks are discussing changes to their policy allowing traders across Wall Street to speak to each other in Bloomberg chat rooms, the WSJ reports.
Credit Suisse and JPM are considering blocking access to them entirely.
This would be a big change. Wall Street 101 — traders love and live for their chat rooms.
However, transcripts from said chat rooms have figured heavily into a wide range of probes into Wall Street malfeasance. Most recently, they regulators have used them to investigate allegations of rate rigging and market manipulation in the U.S. and U.K. (think: LIBOR and currency markets).
A few days ago, in London, JPM CEO Jamie Dimon told a room full of employees not to "exaggerate.. ruminate... or bullshit," in communications of any kind. You better believe this is what he was talking about.
The speech was harsh, but this new news makes Dimon's wag of the finger sound like a walk in the park.
Read the full story at WSJ>
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A Massive Company Just Rolled Over For Carl Icahn And Its Stock Is Trading Up
This is how you play perfectly nice with Carl Icahn.
The world's largest off-shore drilling company, Transocean, has just agreed to a deal with the activist investor that pays shareholders and gives The Icahn Group more power on Transocean's board.
In short, these are the days that Carl Icahn gets out of bed for.
Here's what Icahn gets in the deal (from Trancocean's press release):
- A dividend out of additional paid-in capital in the amount of $3 per share, subject to applicable law;
- The re-election of Samuel Merksamer and election of Vincent Intrieri to its Board of Directors. Mr. Merksamer is employed by Icahn Capital LP, a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises L.P., and was elected to the Company's Board of Directors at its 2013 annual general meeting. Mr. Intrieri has been employed by Icahn-related entities since October 1998 in various investment-related capacities; and
- A reduction of the maximum number of directors on its Board of Directors to eleven (11) from fourteen (14). The Board previously proposed that shareholders approve a reduction in the maximum number of directors at the 2011 AGM but the presence quorum required under the Company's articles of association was not satisfied and the proposal was not voted upon. If the required quorum at the 2014 AGM is not satisfied, the Board intends to leave three seats vacant.
- As part of the agreement, and in addition to certain standstill restrictions, the Icahn Group has agreed to vote in favor of the Board's slate of director nominees and certain other proposals Transocean's Board may recommend at the 2014 AGM.
Naturally, Icahn said that he was very pleased with these developments in the statement, and that he was also glad Transocean would engage in some cost cutting.
"I am pleased that the Board has agreed to add Vince Intrieri as a nominee, and to reduce the Board size to eleven and I am especially happy about the commitment to pursue a MLP, raise the dividend and increase margins by $800 million through cost cutting and increased efficiency. I believe that Transocean is now on the road to realize its great potential. We look forward to continued collaboration with the Board of Directors and management."
The stock is up 2.16% in pre market trading.
Check out the full press release below:
ZUG, SWITZERLAND-Transocean Ltd. (RIG) (RIGN.VX) today announced that it entered into an agreement with Carl Icahn and certain investment funds managed by Mr. Icahn (the "Icahn Group"). Under the terms of the agreement, Transocean's Board of Directors has agreed to propose and support at the Company's 2014 Annual General Meeting ("AGM") that the company's shareholders approve the following:
A dividend out of additional paid-in capital in the amount of $3 per share, subject to applicable law;
The re-election of Samuel Merksamer and election of Vincent Intrieri to its Board of Directors. Mr. Merksamer is employed by Icahn Capital LP, a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises L.P., and was elected to the Company's Board of Directors at its 2013 annual general meeting. Mr. Intrieri has been employed by Icahn-related entities since October 1998 in various investment-related capacities; and
A reduction of the maximum number of directors on its Board of Directors to eleven (11) from fourteen (14). The Board previously proposed that shareholders approve a reduction in the maximum number of directors at the 2011 AGM but the presence quorum required under the Company's articles of association was not satisfied and the proposal was not voted upon. If the required quorum at the 2014 AGM is not satisfied, the Board intends to leave three seats vacant.
As part of the agreement, and in addition to certain standstill restrictions, the Icahn Group has agreed to vote in favor of the Board's slate of director nominees and certain other proposals Transocean's Board may recommend at the 2014 AGM.
"We are pleased that Mr. Icahn recognizes the changes currently underway at Transocean and the continued focus of the Board and management on creating shareholder value. We anticipate that Mr. Merksamer and Mr. Intrieri will provide new perspectives and insights as the company continues to improve its long-term competitiveness and deliver value to all its stakeholders," said Steven L. Newman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Transocean Ltd.
Carl Icahn remarked, "I am pleased that the Board has agreed to add Vince Intrieri as a nominee, and to reduce the Board size to eleven and I am especially happy about the commitment to pursue a MLP, raise the dividend and increase margins by $800 million through cost cutting and increased efficiency. I believe that Transocean is now on the road to realize its great potential. We look forward to continued collaboration with the Board of Directors and management."
The agreement has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an Exhibit to a Current Report on Form 8-K and will be viewable with Transocean's recent filings at www.sec.gov on the next trading day following this press release and immediately through the company's website, www.deepwater.com by selecting the Investor Relations tab.
Additionally, as the result of an extensive evaluation, the company has concluded that a Master Limited Partnership-type yield vehicle ("MLP") could complement its capital structure by providing additional financial flexibility, and enhance the execution of its asset strategy. The initial public offering of an MLP is anticipated to be completed around the middle of 2014 with a minority interest sold at that stage. The anticipated offering is subject to the approval of Transocean's Board of Directors, market conditions and the effectiveness of a registration statement.
Transocean has previously discussed its objective of achieving additional efficiencies beyond those associated with the shore-based support infrastructure cost reduction initiative. In this regard, to continue to increase its competitiveness with its comparable peers, the Company is reiterating and clarifying its commitment to expand operating margins by an incremental $500 million, all else being equal, by the end of 2015 through operational improvements and additional cost reductions. The preliminary 2014 cost guidance provided by the Company on its third quarter 2013 conference call reflects this commitment. In conjunction with the previously disclosed $300 million in cost savings associated with the shore-based initiative, this represents a total targeted operating margin improvement of approximately $800 million by the end of 2015. As previously disclosed, the Company expects to realize approximately $200 million in cost savings related to the shore-based initiative by the end of 2014. Additionally, as a key element of its balanced capital allocation strategy, Transocean will continue to renew its fleet by investing in high-return, premium drilling rigs, both floaters and jackups.
Transocean's senior executive team will provide an update on the various strategic initiatives underway at the Company to continue to improve its long-term competitiveness, including the MLP and margin improvement efforts, at its previously announced Analyst/Investor Day on November 21, 2013.
Forward-Looking Statements
The statements described in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements which could be made include, but are not limited to, board recommendations, actions and dividend projections, growth and market positioning, and future company strategies and operational or financial results. Factors impacting these forward-looking statements include but are not limited to operating hazards and delays, risks associated with international operations, actions by customers and other third parties, the future prices of oil and gas and other factors, including those discussed in the company's most recent Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 and in the company's other filings with the SEC, which are available free of charge on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize (or the other consequences of such a development worsen), or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated or expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements including, without limitation, that our business plans may change as circumstances warrant, we may not ultimately form the MLP or offer its common units to the public and we may not be able to complete proposed actions on any timetable indicated. No registration statement is anticipated to be filed prior to March 2014, and any such registration statement would be subject to being declared effective by the SEC. No assurance can be given as to the value of any MLP, the price at which its securities may trade or whether a liquid market for its securities will develop or be maintained. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the company or to persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by reference to these risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All non-GAAP financial measure reconciliations to the most comparative GAAP measure are displayed in quantitative schedules on the company's website at www.deepwater.com.
Securities Law Legend
This press release or referenced documents does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and this press release does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Any offer, solicitations to offer or any sales of securities will only be made in accordance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 or an exemption therefrom. This Announcement is being issued pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 135 under the Securities Act of 1933. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of Transocean Ltd. and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of Transocean Ltd.
About Transocean
Transocean is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells. The company specializes in technically demanding sectors of the global offshore drilling business with a particular focus on deepwater and harsh environment drilling services, and believes that it operates one of the most versatile offshore drilling fleets in the world.
Transocean owns or has partial ownership interests in, and operates a fleet of, 80 mobile offshore drilling units consisting of 46 high-specification floaters (ultra-deepwater, deepwater and harsh-environment drilling rigs), 22 midwater floaters and 12 high-specification jackups. In addition, the company has seven ultra-deepwater drillships and five high-specification jackups under construction.
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The Complicated Relationship Between The Super Rich And Their 'Paid Friends'
The yoga instructor, the decorator, the kid's tutor — these are people that can make up the entourages of the super rich. After a while, they become part help, part friend — and that's where things get complicated.
New York Observer Richard Kirshenbaum breaks down the complexity in his latest 'That's Rich' column about the daily lives of those on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
In his reporting, Kirshenbaum found that this particular 'paid friend' topic to be particularly sensitive to his subjects ("there's nothing more painful than a paid friend break up," said one).
Very few parties on either side of the relationship — those paying or those getting paid — were willing to admit that the relationship was one of convenience.
But then, if no one with a paid friend will bite, you can always talk to someone else in the situation. Like an ex-wife (from the NYO):
...one evening, I found myself at a dinner party seated next to the glamorous ex-wife of one of New York’s most enigmatic commodities traders, noted for his custom suits and contraband supply of Cubans. Having received a lucrative divorce settlement, she was more than willing to open up about her ex-husband’s assortment of paid friends. In fact, after I artfully plied her with Avión and an orange twist, she couldn’t seem to talk about anything else.
“Everyone, and I mean everyone, was on the payroll.” She played with her chestnut-size South Sea pearls. “When we first started dating, I was annoyed that so many people were always around. But I learned that powerful men all have posses.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I think many really successful men don’t actually have time for real friends. Their old friends are either resentful or bitter or ask for money, and the new friends are often competitive. In my opinion, very rich men have paid friends as an expensive filter, because they can control them. They love to manipulate everyone... Look, let’s be real. If he didn’t have any money, he’d be sitting all alone in his apartment with a container of Häagan-Dazs and a bottle of vodka.”
Kirshenbaum writes that it's hard to be on the other side too — to constantly be on someone else's schedule, even if that means you get the royal treatment everywhere.
Sounds rough.
For the full story (definitely worth the read) head to the New York Observer>
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45 Of The Biggest Tennis Players In Finance
The competitive nature of playing a sport has helped a lot of folks succeed on Wall Street.
The tennis community in the finance world is no different.
Wall Street is littered with top tennis players. Many of them were top ranked junior players. Some were All-Americans in college. A few played professionally and were ranked globally. Hedge fund titans Bill Ackman (Pershing Square), Philippe Laffont (Coatue), Ricky Sandler (Eminence) and Barry Sternlicht (Starwood Capital) are also all active in this community.
People have been able to do business around their forehands and backhands. That's because many of the tennis players on Wall Street know each other very well and feel comfortable doing business together.
What's more, a bunch of the younger players met their employers on the court, and certain firms just love tennis players in general. We noticed in our list that Wexford Capital, ISI and Taconic Capital had a bunch of players.
In short, the tennis court is great place for networking in general.
One big player joked that Bill Ackman seems to fill his 7:30 a.m. Saturday court with aspiring junior hedge fund analysts who happen to be stellar players. Ackman actually met former Pershing Square analyst Mariusz Adamski playing tennis.
Now let's meet some of the biggest players in finance.
Please note, this list is not a ranking. These names are not in any particular order.
Former pro tennis player Richey Reneberg now works at Taconic Capital Advisors.
Finance Job: Taconic Capital Advisors
Education: Southern Methodist University (c/o 1987)
Tennis Highlights: During college, Renenberg was a three-time All-American (1985, 1986 and 1987). He was the No. 1 college player in the U.S. in 1987. He played on the professional tour for 13 years. He was a ten-time member of the prestigious U.S. David Cup team. He played in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He earned three career singles titles and 19 career doubles titles, including the 1992 U.S. Open and the 1995 Australian Open. He has wins over Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, John McEnroe and Michael Chang. In 1991, he had an ATP ranking of No. 20 in the world for singles.
John Ross, the chairman of Fidus Partners, played professionally and was ranked in the top 100 in the world.
Finance Job: Chairman of Fidus Partners
Education: Southern Methodist University
Tennis Highlights: He played on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour and was ranked as high as No. 92 in the world in 1988. Ross was a three-time All-American while at SMU. He was also a member of the USTA Junior Davis Cup team from 1984 to 1985.
Former pro player Sam Warburg now works in venture capital at SVB Financial Group in San Francisco.
Finance Job: He's now a Vice President in Venture Capital Relationship Management at SVB Financial Group in San Francisco.
Education: Stanford University (c/o 2005)
Tennis Highlights: While at Stanford University, Warburg was a four-time All-American. He also won the NCAA doubles championship in 2004. During his pro career, he traveled to over 35 countries while competing in 14 Grand Slams (Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open). He was ranked 132 in the world for singles at 117 for doubles. He has two wins over Pete Sampras.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Goldman Employees Are Staying At The Bank Longer
Here's an interesting nugget from Goldman Sachs's presentation at BAML's financial conference in New York.
Originally highlighted by the FT, Goldman notes that the average tenure for more senior employees (vice presidents and above) has increased. In 2013, the average is 9.1 years. That's up from 8.2 years in 2008 and 7.6 years in 2001.
Of course, Goldman couches this development in buzzwords like "recruiting and retention," but it's probably not that Goldman employees have grown more loyal. It's likely "an indicator of the tightening market for six-and-seven figure earning traders and investment bankers on Wall Street in the wake of the financial crisis," as the FT notes.
It used to be that you did your 6-8 years of indentured servitude before absconding to some hedge fund. Perhaps those days are over.
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RANKED: The Best US Cities For Wall Street Hotshots
Not everywhere in the world is suited to Wall Streeters. They have specific needs that are all governed by one truth — bankers have money, but no time.
Still with the little time they have, bankers need to travel, feed themselves, dress the part, impress their clients and try to have a little fun once in a while.
Business Insider decided to try to figure out the truth about the best place to do all that.
We took 16 of the most important financial hubs in the U.S. and ranked them by their suitability for the banker life.
The Banker Livability Index has five components - length of commute (time is money), flight times to NYC, London, and Hong Kong (for getting to important meetings), services to make a banker's life easier (gyms, late night delivery, maid services, and laundry/dry cleaners), places to take clients and network (high end restaurants, high end bars, and, for special clients, strip clubs), and proximity to various luxury clothing stores. (You can read more about our methodology here.)
Lets see if anyone reconsiders some of their life choices after this one.
16. Detroit
What's there: Detroit is synonymous with the auto industry, home of General Motors and a number of other auto manufacturers.
Banker Livability Index: 66
Why the rank: Detroit, tragically, lacks most of the amenities a banker needs. Motown received the lowest scores of any of the cities in the subindexes for services and for places to go out.
15. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
What's there: A ton of Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in Minneapolis, including Target, U.S. Bancorp, General Mills, and Ameriprise Financial.
Banker Livability Index: 78
Why the rank: Minneapolis bankers enjoy a slightly shorter commute than many of their peers in other cities, but a dearth of expensive restaurants and bars holds the Twin Cities back.
14. Charlotte
What's there: Bank of America, a monolith of the financial industry.
Banker Livability Index: 81
Why the rank: Charlotte has a similar BLI profile to Minneapolis - a fairly short commute and okay services, but without too many high end bars or restaurants.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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How We Made The Banker Livability Index
To rank cities based on how banker-friendly they are, we followed a pretty similar method as with the Shiftless Millennial City Index. The Banker Livability Index is a weighted average of five component sub-indexes, as follows:
Length of commute: Bankers are important people, and they cannot afford to waste too much time getting around. For each city, we found the average lengths of peoples' trips to work from the Selected Economic Characteristics table in the U.S. Census' 2012 American Community Survey. Length of commute makes up 20% of the full index.
Length of flight times to key cities: Bankers often have to travel to hubs like New York, London, and Hong Kong. For each city, we went to expedia.com and found the shortest flight available to those hub cities, and took the average of the three times. We made a minor exception for Stamford, and used the travel time for a Metro North train to Grand Central instead of a flight time. This measure is 15% of the full index.
Services: Bankers need access to various amenities to maintain their busy lives. We estimated the number of gyms (bankers need to stay in shape), maid services, late-night delivery places, and laundry/dry cleaning services by going to yelp.com and counting up the number of reviewed businesses of each type in each city. We took that number and divided by the city's population, to adjust for size. Services make up 25% of the full index.
Nightlife: Bankers need good places to take clients, and to unwind and blow off some steam. Again using yelp.com, we found the number of high end restaurants and bars (taking advantage of the cost filter and only counting the most expensive establishments), and the number of strip clubs in each city. As with services, we adjusted by the size of the city. Nightlife makes up 25% of the index.
High End Retail: Bankers need to dress the part, and so they need access to top of the line clothing. We chose eight high end clothing retailers — Brooks Brothers, Allen Edmonds, Ferragamo, Gucci, Hermes, J. Crew, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Hugo Boss — and, using the store locators on the retailers' websites, counted up the number of stores near each city. Retail makes up the final 15% of the index.
We converted each of the components into an index by dividing each city's value by the average over all the cities studied and multiplying by 100. For example, Chicago had 26 of the high-end retail stores, compared to an average value of 19.5 among all 16 cities, so Chicago's retail score was 100 × (26/19.5) = 133. This represents the measure as a percentage of the average, so Chicago's score tells us that it had 33% more of the high end retail stores than the average among the cities. These index scores are convenient because they allow us to more easily compare and combine the different components.
For the commute times and the flight times, we instead use the reciprocal of the above relationship, dividing the average by the value for each city. For example, Omaha had the shortest commute at 18.2 minutes, compared to the average of 27.6. So, Omaha's commute score was 100 × (27.6/18.2) = 152. This allows us to reward cities that have shorter commutes, and punish cities that have longer commutes.
The final step is to put the components together, taking a weighted average of the sub-indexes using the weights indicated above, giving us the complete Banker Livability Index.
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ART CASHIN: Beware Of Solar Storms
Last year, veteran trader Art Cashin used his morning note to totally predict a 7.9 magnitude earthquake that happened later that day.
So listen up, because now Cashin is warning about solar storms.
In today's note from UBS, Cashin forwards along an email he received from Arch Crawford — a friend "renowned for his astrological calls on the stock market." Here's Crawford:
We have written for awhile that Solar Storms will disrupt portions of electrical grids on the earth. Energy of storms heaviest Nov 13 & 23. There's Great danger of "inconvenience"; some danger that the grids will fail. Article on pg 3 of WSJ Monday says the scientists are confused by the actions of the SUN. My work is NOT confused. Solar turmoil will Max-Out within +/-20 hours of noon on Wednesday (Nov 13). Light/X-Rays/Gamma-Rays will get here in 8.5 minutes after solar events; Electrons in 6-16 hours; Damaging Protons on avg. 2.5 days. We recommend having extra food/water/cash on hand just in case. Also, Pray that it is a "glancing blow"!
The theory is based on John H. Nelson's "helio-centric" astronomical theory, according to Cashin. "In the days before satellites, global radio signals could often be disrupted by upper atmosphere disturbances (ionization), which, Nelson maintained, were linked to solar flares and sunspots," Cashin writes. "Just as the tides on Earth vary according to the movement and relationship of the moon and sun; Nelson thought the angles of the planets might affect the 'tides' of the sun."
But Cashin says he disagrees slightly with pal Crawford. "The planets he cites are Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto. Jupiter, due to its size, was a key to Nelson's theory but Uranus and Pluto less so. So, if I am right (hopefully), we may have an event but not a huge one."
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Goldman Will Select Its New Managing Directors Today
It's Managing Director day at Goldman Sachs, CNBC's Mary Thompson reports.
According to CNBC, Goldman will tap its MD class today around noon.
The class is expected to be slightly larger (approximately 20 more names) than last year's class when the bank named 266 new MDs, CNBC reported.
Earlier this year, we first reported that Goldman changed its managing director selection process from every year to every two years.
Being selected as an MD is a big deal at Goldman. It's the level just below the highly-coveted "Partnership Managing Director" title.
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Goldman Just Tapped These 280 People To Be Managing Directors
It's Managing Director Day at Goldman Sachs!
The bank has tapped 280 people to be MDs, which is higher than last year's 266, Bloomberg pointed out.
It's a big deal to be named a managing director. The title is just one step below "partner."
The next class of MDs won't be selected until 2015. Earlier this year, Goldman changed its managing director selection process from every year to every two years.
NEW YORK, November 13, 2013 -- The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) today announced that it has selected a new class of Managing Directors as of January 1, 2014, the start of our next fiscal year.
“We wish our new Managing Directors continued success and thank them for their dedication and hard work representing the firm and our clients,” said Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs.
The following individuals have been promoted to Managing Director:
Katherine Abrat
Afsheen Afshar
Puneet Agarwal
Sergio Akselrad
Philip Aldis
Jean Altier Bohm
Margaret Anadu
Vishweshwar Anantharam
Alexi Antolovich
Silvia Ardagna
Matthew Armas
Anthony Arnold
Yacov Arnopolin
Celine Assouline
Roberto Awad
Amin Azmoudeh
Davie Baccei
Eric Bai
Taran Bakker
Paddy Balasubramanian
Kevin Barker
Lindsay Basloe
Peter Beckman
Collin Bell
Navtej Bhullar
Francois-Xavier Bouillet
Douglas Bouquard
David Bowen
Elizabeth Bowyer
Sarah Brungs
Michael Bruun
Beat Cabiallavetta
Niharika Cabiallavetta
John Cahill
Greg Calnon
Robert Camacho
David Campbell
Thomas Campbell
Michael Casey
John Cassidy
Pascal Cerf
Tiffani Chambers
Sharmini Chetwode
Patricia Chew
Travis Chmelka
Lisa Coar
Charles Cognata
Dahlia Cohen
Rod Colburn
Peter Colven
Stuart Connolly
Stephen Considine
Damien Courvalin
Nora Creedon
Alicia Crighton
Adam Crook (Securities)
Piers Curle
Michael D'Addario
Aneesh Daga
Matt Dailey
Viktor Danielson
Eric Dann
Suzanne de Verdelon
Banu Demirkiran
Michael Deninno
Stratford Dennis
Anthony DeRose
Arun Dhar
Scott Diamond
Rachel Diller
Lin Ding
Rohan Doctor
Anthony Duggan
Sinead Dunphy
Michael Durso
Michael Eakins
Mike Ebeling
Kene Ejikeme
Simon Ennis
Ashley Everett
Amir Fais
Joseph Femenia
Ivan Fillon
Andrew Fisher
Andrew Flahive
Brian Fortson
Bridget Fraser
Olivier Frendo
Gedaliah Friedenberg
Nicolas Friedman
James Fulton
Roger Gardiner
Grace Ge
Matija Gergolet
Phil Giuca
Brian Glass
Ward Glassmeyer
Craig Glassner
Nicholas Godfrey
Lawrence Grassi
Jett Greenberg
David Gribble
Benjamin Grizzle
Anil Grover (LCA Tech)
Fredrik Grunberger
Dominic Gurney
David Ha
Kirsten Hagen
Digboloy Halder
Phillip Han
Sarah Harper
Nick Hartley
Hunter Henry
Debra Herschmann
Michael Hickey
Michael Higgins
Axel Hoefer
Judy Hong
Tim Hooley
Erdit Hoxha
James Huckaby
Michael Husson
Maximos Iakovlev
Inci Isikli
Omer Ismail
Glade Jacobsen
Sumedh Jaiswal
Michael Jalkut
Channa Jayaweera
Derek Jean-Baptiste
Chito Jeyarajah
Jessica Jones
Sami Kamhawi
Geraldine Keefe
Zaid Khaldi
Talat Khan
Gautam Khanna
Robert Kimmel
Hiroki Kimoto
Gil Klemann
Victor Klimchenko
Gordon Kluzak
Heidi Kniesel
Kimiyasu Kono
Joseph Konzelmann
Eric Kramer
Pavel Krotkov
Rohit Kumar
Yojiro Kunitomo
David LaBianca
Jonathan Lamm
Adam Lane
Risa Lederhandler
Andrei Legostaev
Matt Leisen
Vincenzo Lento
Wesley LePatner
Xufa Liao
Brian Liloia
Reginaldo Lima
Marcel Liplijn
Malcolm MacDonald
John Marshall
Jonathan Matz
Patty McCarthy
Michael McGinn
Alan McLean
Olympia McNerney
Scott Mehling
Noa Meyer
Alexandra Miani
Jung Min
Jerry Minier
Anthony Mirabile
Anindya Mohinta
Mike Mooney
Sam Morgan
Will Morgan
Peter Morreale
Rick Morris (Securities)
Piyush Mubayi
Kaushik Murali
Mark Najarian
Josh Newsome
Logan Nicholson
Mike Nickols
Sergei Nodelman
Jolie Norris
Edward Oakley
Timothy O'Donovan
Brian O'Keeffe
Mark Olivier
Stephen Orr
Bartosz Ostenda
Enrico Ottavian
Hiroshi Ozawa
Matthew Papas
Muir Paterson
Cyrille Perard
Chris Perez
Amit Pilowsky
Nick Pomponi
Brandon Press
Ken Prince
Elizabeth Pritchard
Grant Purtell
Don Raab
Radovan Radman
Mohan Rajagopal
Neema Raphael
Michael Rendel
Osmin Rivera
Ludovic Rodhain
Javier Rodriguez-Alarcon
Cosmo Roe
Andrew Rosivach
Jennifer Roth
Armin Rothauser
Jonathan Rousse
John Ryan
Yassaman Salas
Tom Scarpati
Joao Schmidt
Rachel Schnoll
Marc Schreiber
Bruce Schwartz
Lyle Schwartz
Anshul Sehgal
John Semczuk
Hideyuki Seo
Jonathan Shapiro
Johann Shudlick
Andrew Silverman
Brian Singer
Jeremie Sokolowsky
Simone Song
William Stamatakis
Jari Stehn
Jeremy Stent
Alan Stewart
Daniel Strack
Alexandra Stubbings
Masato Sunaga
Takaaki Suzuki
Chia Min Tan
Robert Tau
Sujay Telang
Baris Temelkuran
Rene Theriault
Bart Thomson
Cassandra Tok
Alex Tomas
Karen Trapani
Kamakshya Trivedi
Emma Tsui
Ervin Tu
John Tully
Thomas Turner
Michael Ungari
Krishnamurthy Vaidyanathan
Anilu Vazquez-Ubarri
Sofie Wacha
Scott Walter
Bryce Wan
James Wang
Kent Wasson
Michael Watts
Stephen Waxman
Connie Wen
Colin White
Kyle Williams
Stephen Withnell
Audrey Woon
Chiharu Yamagami
Suzzanne Yao
Rana Yared
Bervan Yeh
Tony Yip
Emi Yoshibe
Vladimir Zakharov
If you know any of these folks, feel free to send an email to jlaroche@businessinsider.com.
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New York City Crowns The 'Funniest Person In Finance'
By day, Ken Gross is a 61-year-old financial advisor at a major insurance firm.
But last night he was "Kenny G," a stand-up comedian with a long career of financial knowledge to inform his act.
"We used to be the kings of New York. We had the money, we had the power, the restaurants," Gross bellowed to the audience at Gotham Comedy Club's"Funniest Person in Finance" competition. "It was all skimmed off your 401(k). I don't know if anyone said thank you, so thank you!"
The crowd howls. It helps that Gotham hosted a pretty friendly audience of bankers, advisors, and hedge funders. No hecklers. During the financial crisis, this room lost bonuses, not homes. Maybe second homes.
Gross — who finished fourth in the competition — entered after taking a stand-up class at Gotham. Now he thinks he'll continue the hobby. He's accumulated plenty of material over 35 years. "I just think about life in finance," he told Business Insider.
This one sure killed: "I've got a stock tip for you, but first I'd like to give a little shout-out to my compliance department," Gross pauses and then launches the middle finger. Roars again from the audience. Oh man, these guys have been there.
Other jokes hit home too. One dilettante performer cracked one about how he wanted to make a "ticker" for everything in his life — for bathroom breaks, fast food consumption, and masturbation.
"My neighborhood is very rough," former Bank of America trader (and winner of the semi-final round) Raj Mahal said. "Half of the kids are in jail... for insider trading!"
"Miss America is Indian," Mahal quipped in one of the more hackneyed jokes of evening. "Even that job is outsourced."
"He's charming-funny," said one friend there to support Mahal.
Caliph Scott took home the grand prize, a free stand-up comedy class at Gotham. Scott won the crowd and judges over with a bit about his life across the Holland Tunnel in "Jersey Shitty."
When his white friends hang out with him there, Scott joked, they feel safer. But: "I'm a black guy afraid of black people... We exist!"
It wasn't all talking shop, with the performers — who won gift certificates at Oceana, Molyvos, and other consolation prizes — veering between finance and non-finance jokes.
Gross had one about how if Washington would get off Wall Street's back, the subsequent hiring of strippers and prostitutes would help boost job growth. And there was, importantly, a great "liquidity crisis" poop joke. You can use your imagination.
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Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Reports Big Stakes In Freddie Mac And Fannie Mae
Bill Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square has taken a 9.77% stake in mortgage insurer Freddie Mac, and a 9.98% stake in Fannie Mae according to government filings.
This after yesterday Bruce Berkowitz of Fairholme Capital Management announced that he and other investors were willing to buy and recapitalize Freddie Mac and its sister company Fannie Mae.
"This proposal is about the future," Berkowitz said in a CNBC interview yesterday, later adding, "We are apolitical, we will do it any way government wants."
And what the government wants is to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — they just may not want to do it with the help of activist money managers. This summer, Senators Bob Corker and (R-TN) and Mark Warner (D-VA) have introduced legislation to replace Fannie and Freddie with "privately capitalized system that preserves market liquidity and protects taxpayers from future economic downturns."
It's called The Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act (S. 1217), and here's what it does:
- Mandates 10 percent capital, up front, for the system to protect taxpayers against future bailouts. Winds down Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) within five years of bill passage.
- Transfers appropriate utility duties and functions to the modernized, streamlined and accountable Federal Mortgage Insurance Corporation (FMIC), modeled in part after the FDIC.
- Replaces the failed “housing goals” of the past with a transparent and accountable market access fund that focuses on ensuring there is sufficient decent housing available. The fund is NOT paid for with tax dollars, but through a small FMIC user fee that only those who choose to use the system pay.
- Ensures institutions of all sizes have direct access to the secondary market so local banks and credit unions aren’t gobbled up by the mega banks when Fannie and Freddie are dissolved.
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10 Ways Pulling An All-Nighter Messes Up Your Body
If you work on Wall Street, chances are you will at one point pull an all-nighter.
Sorry.
Here's how it works. You're on an important project, and your boss realizes there's a mistake in the data, or the client pushes up a meeting, or you're just crashing on a deadline.
Cancel your dinner with your friends. You're about to put your body and brain through something awful.
Spending the night deep in excel instead of deep under your covers isn't just killer for your social life, it also hurts your body — here's what you need to know about how.
It stresses you out.
Your body elevates its levels of cortisol, also known as "the stress hormone" when you don't get enough sleep.
It makes you hungrier and fatter.
There are two opposing hormones in your body that regulate your appetite — leptin and ghrelin. In individuals who lack sleep, the body produces less leptin and more ghrelin which makes you hungrier.
Scientists from Stanford and the University of Wisconsin noticed that after one night of little to no sleep, a person's body mass index increases.
It destroys your ability to concentrate.
According to study in the US National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health, sleep deprivation affects your brain's frontal lobes, slowing down their communications.
In terms of concentration that means you are impairing your spacial, auditory and visual attention. And forget about doing anything monotonous for a long period of time.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Why Billionaire Home Depot Founder Ken Langone Took A Secretary's Salary At His First Wall Street Job
Some of the most successful people on Wall Street, have gotten where they are in ways you might not expect.
Take the case of Home Depot founder, billionaire Ken Langone. In an interview with finance career site OneWire, he explains the winding road he took to finance, and it's no standard story.
His grades in college weren't conventional:
"Bucknell [University] used to send out a snapshot of where you stood in your first 8 weeks of the semester, and I was literally getting an F in every subject I took. I was taking a course in basic economics, and [the professor] handed out all the papers with the grades. After the class, he announced he wanted to see me. He took the exam out and threw the paper on the desk and said 'That is the worst English I have ever read in my entire life. I had to struggle to understand what you were saying, but once I figured it out, I've never had a freshman that understood the concept of supply and demand better than you.'"
And the way he got to his first job at a bond trading firm wasn't conventional either:
"I decided I was going to go to Wall Street and I was introduced to some people...I met a guy who knew a bond trader at Pressprich, and he got me to meet him and the guy that ran their sales department, Jack Collin. And he said 'We can't hire you, we're like everybody else in the street, trying to control our overheads.'
So I turned around and I left, and then I went back up upstairs and asked to see Jack Collin again. I said, 'What do you pay your secretary, a 150 a week? OK, pay me a 150 a week. I'll run classes three nights a week in accounting and securities analysis for your trainees. But there's one hook- you have to give me every account you're not doing business with. In 3 and a half years I was made a partner.'"
Ultimately Langone founded Home Depot and turned 3,000 kids that started out pushing carts in his store into multi-millionaires.
Watch the rest of the interview below and subscribe to OneWire’s interview series here.
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Anyone Who Wants To Intern On Wall Street Should Nail These 9 Questions
Although working for a bulge-bracket investment bank is no longer a model-and-bottle proposition, it’s still one of the most lucrative first jobs you can get right out of college or MBA school. And if you want to land at Goldman, one of the Morgans,Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, or BofA, you’re likely going to have to get in through the summer door.
That is, you’re going to have to first land a summer internship with your bank of choice, because these days, with competition so fierce and available spots so scarce, if you don’t get a summer internship, you’re chances of getting a full-time job are about as good as Bernie Madoff getting paroled.
And, to that end, in order to get your wing tipped foot in the door, you’re not only going to have to have a 3.96 GPA or higher, captain of at least two varsity sport teams, be the president of three clubs (at least one of which meets more than once a semester), and have an expertise in something out of the ordinary such as the plight of the platypus or Persian history, you’re also going to have to field some pretty strange interview questions. And below are nine that you better be ready to conquer (all of which are actual questions that some of the 7,700 interns who filled out the 2013 Vault Intern Experience Survey told us they were asked in the not-so-distant past):
1. Describe a person you hate. And describe a person you admire.
If you have pretty large stones, you can answer the first part of this truthfully. But it might be best to play it safe and say something to the effect of: I’m an admirer, not a hater, and go into the second part of the question straight away and see if you can avoid having to address the first. However, if you’re pressed to get back to the first, you might want to qualify your answer and use the words “strong dislike” and then describe someone who’s cheated or done something unethical; although it might sound counterintuitive given all the illegal activities that Wall Street has been engaged in as of late, ethics have become a large part of investment banking interviews.
2. Why shouldn't I hire you?
The best answer here might be one employing a little bit of humor. But tread carefully. Nothing says Ding! louder than a bad joke.
3. If you have a 70 percent free throw average, what’s the probability that you’ll make three free throws in a row?
You don’t even need to know what a basketball is to get this one right. And though it sounds a bit complicated, all you’ll need to know is how to multiply 0.70 by 0.70 by 0.70. Or, easier yet, 70 by 70 by 70. Or, even easier, 7 by 7 by 7. Which gets you 343. Then place the decimal point three places to the left and you have 0.343, which means: 34.3 percent. (Note: this question gets a little trickier if it asks for the probability that you'll make at least two of three shots; in that case, you'll have to refer to your probability formulas to score the correct solution.)
4. If you owned the only tire company in America, what would your production capacity need to be to meet demand?
This is more or less a classic guesstimate question, which tests your ability to figure out the size of a market by talking through your reasoning aloud. That is, your interviewer isn’t looking for an exact answer, but wants to know how you think about estimating the size of a market/coming to an answer. So, in this case, you might want to first estimate how many new cars and trucks are manufactured each year (which all require new tires). Then maybe estimate how long tires last (the life span of a tire/when each tire needs to be replaced). And then perhaps estimate how often tire flats/accidents occur (which necessitate buying new tires), etc.
5. How many hairdressers and barbers are there in Manhattan?
Another variation of the guesstimate. For this one, you might want to start out with the population of Manhattan, then estimate how many Manhattanites go to a hairdresser/barber, how often they go, how long the average haircut takes (30 minutes, 40 minutes), etc.
6. Sell me something in this room.
The “sell me” question is a popular one on Wall Street, especially in sales and trading interviews. For this one, try picking something other than a pen, which is the common answer of choice to this Q, and try picking something that isn’t yours (on the off chance that it draws attention to something of yours that the interviewer isn’t a fan of). You could, for example, choose a table, or chair, or perhaps a picture or frame on the wall. The important thing is not what you pick, it’s that you ask your interviewer (your customer) a handful of questions about what he or she is looking for in said product. In other words, you want to find out your customer’s needs, and then you can sell your product to your customer accordingly ("okay, so you're looking for a chair that you can sit in for 24 hours at a stretch without incurring any lower back pain ... well this one has been designed with the work hours of investment bankers in mind and will form to any back shape or size and has been recommended by four out of five chiropractors ..." ). The common mistake here is to simply spew out all the positive attributes about the product you picked before finding out your interviewer’s (customer’s) needs and desires. If you do that, your answer will result in this: no sale.
7. On the first day of class, in the biggest lecture you have, where did you sit and why?
Don’t overthink this one. Just be honest. Even if your answer is, I sat in the back row because I didn’t want to be called on. Well, maybe say anything short of that. But know this: you’re going to sound like your full of black beans if you try to answer with something you think you’re interviewer’s looking for. Which, at least in part, is how honest you are.
8. Name the 10 biggest headlines in the Wall Street Journal in the past year.
This one might seem daunting at a glance, but it isn’t insurmountable, even if you don’t read the Journal on a regular basis. First, note that “biggest headlines” = “top news stories” and that the Journal covers more than just business and finance news (which hopefully you’re aware of). That is, it covers general U.S. news, world news, culture, politics, etc. That said, it does focus on the financial markets, so your answer should definitely contain some business/economic/finance-related headlines/news stories. In any case, a good place to start is with the top world news stories in the past 12 months, and definitely think aloud while you’re compiling your answer. When you get to a stopping point and can’t think of any other world news items, think about major scandals that might’ve been exposed (such as the London Whale fiasco; although, it should be mentioned, if you're interviewing with Jamie Dimon's kingdom, you might want to choose a difference scandal), large mergers that might’ve been considered megadeals (like the recent American-US Airways marriage), and any monster IPOs that went to market (#likeTwittersIPOforexample).
9. If you could be a tree, which kind would you be and why?
Yes, this is an actual interview question that one of the largest banks in the world recently asked a prospective summer intern. Which proves that you better be ready for anything. It also proves that knowing your financial markets isn't the only thing that's essential to getting a job on Wall Street. You also need to know your flora.
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