Bernanke says U.S. needs faster growth; market ralllies

The U.S. economy needs to grow more quickly to bring down the unemployment rate further, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Reuters Monday, defending the central bank's policy of very low interest rates. While he offered no indication that the Fed is keen to embark on a third round of bond purchases, Bernanke also made clear the Fed is in no rush to reverse course after responding aggressively to a deep recession.

Bernanke said the recent decline in the jobless rate, which dropped to 8.3 percent in February from 9.1 percent last summer, was "somewhat out of sync" with the rather modest pace of economic growth.

"To the extent that this reversal has been complete, further significant improvements in the unemployment rate will likely require a more rapid expansion of production and demand from consumers and businesses,….

Need to know more? Check out http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/26/us-bernanke-idUSBRE82P0GZ20120326

Is Ex-Goldman Exec Seeking Book Deal? Already?

Greg Smith, the former Goldman Sachs executive who used the Opinion Page of The New York Times to announce his resignation in spectacularly public fashion, is reportedly shopping a book proposal about his time at the firm. Per "several people with knowledge of the conversations," Smith held meetings with publishers last week, pitching the book as "a coming-of-age story, the tale of someone who came into the business with good intentions and sky-high ideals that were ultimately pierced by Goldman’s obsessive focus on making money." Publishers who attended those meetings seem split on the project's viabilities.

According to The New York Times, some publishers think the book could be another Liar's Poker, while others are wary of the "legal issues that could be involved with a former employee’s writing a damning book about a large, deep-pocketed company." Other concerns voiced by publishers include whether a book focused on the derivatives market could be accesible to a wide audience, the ability of a mid-level employee to write a persuasive indictment of Goldman's corporate culture, and whether anyone will still remember Greg Smith six months from now. Said one unenthusiastic publishing executive: "It's a story that had its moment,"

Read all about it at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/24/business/greg-smith-ex-goldman-executive-is-said-to-be-seeking-book-deal.html?_r=1
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The Wall Street multibillion scandal no one is talking about

Much of the talk about bad behavior on Wall Street since the financial crisis has been about mortgages with a little bit of insider trading sprinkled in, according to Fortune. And that makes sense. Everyone immediately understands what a mortgage is. And the housing bust that resulted from all those bad home loans affected us all. And Hollywood has taught us to ooh and ah over insider trading.

But there is another scandal that has come out of the financial crisis that at least to me makes the mortgage underwriting scandal look like small peanuts, and it has been heating up lately. Two weeks ago, the government disclosed that it is looking into bringing criminal cases against traders and banks that manipulated a key bank lending rate, called LIBOR. A source close to the case says the government's "may" will be dropped soon. Both Barclays and Deutsche Bank have disclosed that they have been the focus of investigations. Banks have suspended dozens of traders.

Today, Credit Suisse announced that it was cooperating with regulators on the case. Traders at UBS reportedly are already working with the government on its investigation. Looking for instances in which Wall Streeters go to jail, unlike mortgages, this may be the one.
Find out more at http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/03/23/the-wall-street-multibillion-scandal-no-one-is-talking-about/

Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Accuses Goldman Of Forcing Him Into A Life Of Chicken Farming

A former hedge fund manager is accusing Goldman Sachs of illicitly managing his short positions as the market was melting down in 2008, causing his $1.5 billion firm to go under, the New York Times' Gretchen Morgenson reports.
As a result, the manager, Marc Cohodes, has turned to raising chickens on a farm in Northern California.

Cohodes recently testified in another Goldman lawsuit unrelated to the closing of his firm, Copper River Fund, that he believed the investment bank never borrowed the shares needed to perform a stock short.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/former-hedge-fund-manager-accusing-goldman-sachs-of-forcing-him-into-chicken-farming-2012-3#ixzz1qEpF1KsV

E-Mail to Corzine Said Transfer Was Not Customer Money

Believe it or not according to the NY Time4s’ Dealbook: Jon S. Corzine, the former chief executive of MF Global, was told during the brokerage firm’s final day of business that a crucial transfer of $175 million came from the firm’s own money, not from a customer account, according to an internal e-mail.

The e-mail, sent by an executive in MF Global’s Chicago office, showed that the company had transferred $175 million to replenish an overdrawn account at JPMorgan Chase in London. The transfer, the e-mail said, was a “House Wire,” meaning that it came from the firm’s own money. The e-mail, sent at 2:20 p.m. on Oct. 28 to Mr. Corzine and two of his assistants in New York, says the transfer came from a “nonseg” account, industry speak for a noncustomer account.
But the e-mail, a copy of which was reviewed by The New York Times, did not capture the full story behind the wire, which turned out to contain customer money….

Read all about it at http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/e-mail-to-corzine-said-transfer-was-not-customer-money/

The Biggest Fire Sale In History Is Going On In Europe!

According to the Daily Reckoning it’s going to be the biggest fire sale in history — and it begins in 2012.

Europe’s banking sector holds 2½ times as many assets as the U.S. banking sector. It’s huge. And it’s in big trouble. Europe’s banking sector needs cash — mountains of cash. As a result, it will have to sell more than $1.8 trillion of assets, which will likely take a decade to work through. For perspective, it sold only $97 billion from 2003–10. “The list of asset sales is the longest I’ve seen in 10 years,” says Richard Thompson, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers in London. Knowing how these things work, the final tally could well be double that. The world has never seen anything this big before.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-biggest-fire-sale-in-history-2012-3

Markets Are Falling Everywhere

From Bloomberg: Things started off on a positive note in early Asian trading, but the tone now is more negative.

US futures are pointed just slightly down.

Europe is worse. Italy is off 0.5%. Germany is down 0.3%. France is down 0.4%. There are a couple of good datapoints. Consumer confidence in Italy ticked up, as did the German IFO index.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/morning-markets-march-26-2012-3