Gasparino Smacks Down Financial Bloggers

Ludicrous? He was too conservative.

He had a terrific call—you may want to unwind that long bet on Gasparino.

At times in the past I have been at odds with Gasparino. Ken Langone issues, the monoline stupidity etc.

He was late to question Jimmy Cayne too, and I think he sides with his old crew at the beginning of any dust up.

But for pure entertainment he is better than Cramer these days.

The midpoint of the numbers Einhorn threw out are in the neighborhood of $70 billion. That is what I consider ludicrous, given that is what he was implying they need to raise.

Last week I suggested $8 billion with half in equity. Priced in the hole, and then see how it goes.

That is what we got.

I was talking about ratio confusion early on as well, those numbers are always subject to confusion, and potential distortion by either side.

I am on board with El-Erian’s thoughts as well, you can’t consider them long until they get the capital injections out of the way.

Lehman did what they had to, and now we have a new line in the sand.

$28 has to hold.

Business prospects are dreadful. Lehman is building out the the alternative division at Neuberger Berman, but that is about it.

Let see how it goes, but even if $28 holds, I am not buying the stock. But i will continue to write about it.

SJ

Tell fish he might want to read more than one post on this subject.

Pooh pooing? hardly. I have talked extensively about regulatory issues crimping valuations at the brokers. And the delevering certainly does not help. That does not imply a rally, and I am more fascinated by the trading in Goldman than Lehman.

Both sides are spinning their case, i would bet the truth lies more in the middle.

Todays events are pretty much what you could have expected last week.

June 3rd

“Lehman’s stock has been handled severely by the market over the past week, with a S&P;downgrade Monday delivering the coup de grace. Advantage Einhorn for now; Lehman’s accounting treatment makes some of this exercise more art than science, at least when it comes estimating how much they will ultimately have to raise, given Fair Value Accounting, aka FAS 159”

“The shortest skirt in Erin Callan’s closet cannot deflect the attention the Journal piece will receive, and tapping the capital markets for another round is a given. No doubt regulators are pushing them to bolster their balance sheet, and quickly. They will raise the money, but the market is clearly exacting a stiff price, given Lehman’s recent uptick in their cost of capital.

Too, the plunge protection team, or a group of fearless traders, seem to be defending the $24 level on the XLF ETF, but only time will tell if it holds support. Selling in May and going away is looking pretty wise, in hindsight, as another long hot summer looms for Wall Street.”

June 6th
“A weekend spent shopping is probably not in the cards for Erin Callan, who apparently will be trying to sew up a deal that would, ideally, raise equity capital, and allow them to release earnings in one fell swoop. With any luck she can put this sordid affair to bed by the middle of next week, and we can all begin looking for the next big story.”

If i am not one step ahead of the likes of fish i should not write a blog.

i hope the pile on works, but it seems more reactionary than pro-actionary.

Oh yeah, when did FAS 157 and Level 3 first get discussed?

Roubini scared everyone in early November, I brought it up in late Sept via Bear Stearns

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