New Import: “Too Big To Fail”

“Deckchairs. Titanic” UBS is reorganizing its troubled US wealth management operations—turning three division into two. Zzzzzzz. I know this story packs enough punch to put Sominex out of business. But stay with me, because the UBS problems extend to the...

I Slept Through My Nine O’Clock

I feel great. I never sleep like this. All warm and toasty and swaddled in goose down. Wow. What’s better than sleeping late? I may never get out of bed. What time is it? Nine thirty. I bet it snowed last night. Probably need to shovel the driveway. No way....

How Big is Too Big to Fail?

Over the past few days, I’ve spent way too much time inside planes and rental cars. And during my travels, I’ve been thinking about one idiom, the one we keep hearing when Washington discusses Wall Street: “too big to fail.” Do we know what it...

Holden Caulfield on Banking

“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is who made all the lousy decisions leading up to the banking disaster of 2008, and how the government was out to lunch during the entire bailout, and all that Neil Barofsky...

How To Do a Perp Walk

It’s Worst Case Wednesday. And here’s the advice column I promised last week. Consider the following scenario: You’re at your desk, drinking $5 Starbucks and listening to the morning call. Three burly guys—Mack Truck faces—appear from nowhere on the...

Turnaround at the SEC

At SEC, a Scholar Who Saw it Coming I’ve been tough on the SEC. Talked about their incompetence. Blogged (or is it blahhed?) about their failure to catch Bernie Madoff, even after Harry Markopolis served him up. Now, I’m thinking the commission has turned...