Rear View Mirror: Week of the Bear

The market’s streak of green Friday’s was broken this week in a big way. The boys at Blackstone had a day and week to remember but for the rest of the Street it was a reminder that too much of a good thing (insert your favorite cliche here).

Many market pundits have been calling for a pause or pullback, which might give us an excuse to trot out our favorite cliche “Be careful what you wish for”

Eric Jackson had 15 minutes of fame this week after being credited for taking down Terry Semel single-handed. Great job Eric, something tells me we have not heard the end of you, although the Yahoo! episode might be tough to top.

We have to mention that Eric’s is not without flaws, he pegged Sue Decker as 3-2 favorite for Semel’s job back in November. Jerry Yang was 50-1, and Jackson questioned his leadership experience and desire to take on the job.
Place Your Bets

Of course, Terry Semel is no fool, he picked a fine time to take a powder and now has the summer off to perfect his tennis and golf game. How long can it be until he is spotted leaving a big tip after noshing at Nick and Tony’s in East Hampton?

Maybe he will even break bread with Schwarzman.

Spring 2006
Yahoo’s Terry Semel ponied up $43 million to buy Steve Schwarzman’s 8.5-acre lot on Further Lane. Schwarzman, who heads up the Blackstone Group, then downgraded to a $34 million pad in Mecox Bay, the former place of Carter Burden, the late councilman and one-time owner of The Village Voice and New York magazine. Corcoran

Moving along, the remarkable weather at the beach this weekend might put the Street in a better mood come Monday’s trading, assuming the cowboys at Bear keep their guns in the holster. The fifty-odd employees of Bear’s now notorious sub prime related hedge funds might be out or work soon but BSAM is still ahead of plan year-to-date, believe it or not. After all, all they lost were future fees.

With their other funds doing just fine, thank you, the foregone fees on the two funds are a drop in the bucket. It was not their money, they only managed it.

Bear’s next earnings conference call is still some time away, but let me be the first to say:

Great quarter guys!

Rich Marin, pictured above, just celebrated his fourth anniversary at the firm, and will likely be celebrating his fifth this time next year. The (formerly) big fella has been busy writing movie reviews and blogging about his weight loss...and even throws in a quip every now and then about his position as head of Bear Stearns Asset Management.

Let see what he has to say about the events last week…

This (picture) pretty much sums up my last two weeks trying to defend Sparta against the Persians hordes of Wall Street. Nothing like a good dog fight 24X7 for a few weeks to remind you why you chose the life you chose. The good news is that after two embattled weeks both I and my loyal staff are still standing to fight another day. If you want details....pick up any WSJ for the past week and we were in the top three stories every day. It’s nice to know you can have an impact on the world....next time I’ll try to make it a slightly more positive impact......

I guess since Bear had so little skin invested in the funds it is business as usual at the firm. I hope that whiff of contagion did not alter Rich’s plans to see “Evan Almighty” this weekend.

here is his review of the flick…

I needed something very light-hearted tonight after another long weekend day at the office saving the world. This little Steve Carell ditty was just right. I like Steve Carell in small quantities. He’s no Owen Wilson or Vince Vaughn, but he is a funny guy.
Evan Almighty Movie Review

Good Lord! Rich might not be adept at risk management but he sure has that work/life balance thing figured out.

Congratulations on the weight loss Rich, and if you are so blase about last week I will start buying Asian equities in a few hours and then sweep the offers in Chicago Monday morning.

Was it all much ado about nothing?

Whim of Iron----Impulsive ramblings of a Motorcycle Alpha Dog
My week on Wall Street

Shifting gears,

I took a few pictures at the beach for those of unfortunate enough to be landlocked in the middle of the country. Ron Baron, Chanos, Spilker, and rest of the big swingers live within a 3 iron of here.

Of course if you need to hit the beach you can always fly to Nantucket for Wachovia’s conference this week. What started off as a low key rendezvous between a few analysts from the old Wheat First and Fidelity Investments has turned into quite a shindig. It was always my favorite confab and consider it the best of Wall Street’s conference circuit.

And that first hole at Sankaty Head is a breeze. Just don’t forgot to tip those college kids schlepping your bags and searching all over the island for your errant shots.

I have never lost so many Titleists in my life!
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The content contained represents the opinions of 1440 Wall Street. This commentary in no way constitutes a solicitation of business or investment advice. It is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author. No position in securities mentioned

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