A crazy bird cackles

(via)

Billionaire Warren Buffett’s longtime secretary will be joining first lady Michelle Obama in her box at tonight’s State of the Union, White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer announced on Twitter.

Debbie Bosanek, who has worked for Buffett for nearly two decades, has become a symbol in the White House’s fight over the tax code and economic fairness. Obama is expected to renew his push for the so-called “Buffett rule” that would bring investment taxation levels into line with income taxation levels — and ensure that upper income earners pay rates as high as middle-class Americans.

“Warren Buffett’s secretary shouldn’t pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett,” President Obama said in September, when he unveiled his American Jobs Act proposal. It’s a trope that Buffett himself has repeated, as he has campaigned for higher taxes on investment income.

It’s common practice for presidents to invite guests to sit next to the first spouse that fit with the theme of their address — and Bosanek’s presence is a big hint that the address will tilt heavily towards economic issues of fairness.

Annie Lowrey, writing in Slate, reports that Bosanek has traditionally been very wary of the limelight — acting as a gatekeeper to the billionaire investor, not as a newsmaker. While she does acts as the press liaison for Buffett and his company, she’s tight-lipped. She reportedlyonce wore a t-shirt with the caption: “Hi, I’m Debbie B. Warren is not available, and I have no comment.”

A mind blowing thesis backed by some preliminary scientific results…

If you do not understand why the purchase of oil in anything but the greenback is bad then you need to replace the dung in your head for a brain.

Full article

Sources tell Gaspirino that regulators pressured MS to cut cash bonuses…

INSIGHT – In MF Global, JPMorgan again at center of a financial failure

REUTERS – In late October, as MF Global Holdings Ltd teetered toward bankruptcy, Jon Corzine phoned his close-knit circle of Wall Street friends for help.

His firm, facing demands from customers and other firms for cash, needed to sell billions of dollars in securities to raise the money. As the week progressed, MF Global executives came to believe that JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM.N), one of MF Global’s primary bankers and a middleman moving that cash, was dragging its feet in forwarding the funds.

Corzine phoned Barry Zubrow, then JPMorgan’s chief risk officer, to question the slow payments. Corzine also called William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, to update him on MF Global’s status and told him that payments were slow to arrive from JPMorgan and others. Dudley said he’d monitor the situation.

The delays contributed to a serious cash shortage at MF Global, according to people familiar with the matter. These people say the firm started trading one day in late October with $600 million in cash and spent the whole day selling securities, only to end with just $200 million in cash.

By adhering to procedure and not cutting MF Global any slack, these people say, JPMorgan was able to slow the delivery of funds, worsening MF Global’s distress. As a result, they note, hundreds of millions of dollars of MF Global money may be still stuck in accounts at JPMorgan.

Read the rest here.

(via Reuters) 

Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) plans to begin selling beer, wine and more upscale food in a small number of cafes in Atlanta and Southern California by the end of this year as it explores an expansion beyond morning coffee and afternoon pick-me-ups.

Starbucks is planning to add beer, wine and food such as savory snacks and hot flatbreads to the menus in four to six outlets in both Atlanta and Southern California.

The world’s biggest coffee chain started selling those items at a Seattle cafe in October 2010. Five stores in the Seattle area and one in Portland, Oregon, now offer the extended menu.

Late last year, Starbucks announced similar plans for five to seven Chicago-area cafes by the end of 2012.

(via TMZ)

Joe Paterno, the legendary former coach at Penn State University, is on his death bed … this according to several reports.

A spokesman for the family says doctors have “characterized his status as serious.”

Onward State, a student-run newspaper on campus, reported Saturday he had been taken off his respirator. The Citizens Voice, a newspaper in nearby Wilkes-Barre, PA, reported Paterno’s wife Sue summoned close friends and longtime staff members toState College hospital.

TMZ reached out to Paterno’s lawyer, who would only say rumors of JoePa’s death were “not accurate.”

Paterno was the coach at Penn State for 46 years, until he was famously fired by the school last November following the sexual abuse allegations against his former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky.

(via TMZ)

It was merely a case of bad luck that led to Jay-Z‘s 40/40 Club racking up a slew of health code violations … a rep for the club tells TMZ.

As we previously reported, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene cited the club big time Thursday night for a litany of violations … which included several different instances of food being stored at improper temperatures.

But Ron Berkowitz, a rep for the club, tells TMZ the motor in one of the refrigeratorsblew just moments before the health inspector arrived … causing the temperature in the fridge to rise. Berkowtiz says the staff identified the problem immediately and had no intention of serving the food from that fridge.

Berkowitz says the fridge was fixed by noon the next day and the club was permitted to re-open.

He adds … the club lost no business as a result of the issue and their health code grade is currently pending review.

(via TMZ)

Fucking dead….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3geCP9rNUrU

(via TMZ)

It’s official … DMX and his legendary rap crew Ruff Ryders are getting back together — in fact, X tells TMZ, a blowout reunion tour is already in the works.

Ruff Ryders first lady Eve told us this weekend to expect a massive comeback — but X says the RR reunion is already underway … with CEO Waah Dean currently booking several venues across the country.

The tour is supposed to kick off in a few months — and X tells us, the entire crew’s already on board, including Swizz Beats, Drag-On, and Murda-Mook.

According to DMX, Eve and The L.O.X. haven’t signed on yet — but that’s just because he hasn’t gotten in touch with them yet. X insists, that will change very soon.

X tells us, “We are all family and we’re going to come back stronger than when we left … It’s going to take the nation by storm.”

(Reuters) – Hedge fund titan Steven A. Cohen is once again in the spotlight over allegations of improper trading at his $14 billion SAC Capital Advisors.

The arrest on Wednesday of technology analyst Jon Horvath marks the fourth time in two years that U.S. authorities have implicated or charged a person with engaging in insider trading while working at SAC Capital. It is the latest to come from an investigation FBI agents have coined Operation Perfect Hedge.

Federal authorities did not charge Cohen or SAC Capital with any wrongdoing in the case against Horvath, who is accused of using inside information to help the Stamford, Connecticut-based hedge fund generate a $1 million profit from trading in shares and option contracts of PC maker Dell Inc..

Horvath’s lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.

The case against Horvath comes less than a month after SAC Capital capped another successful year, generating an 8 percent return while most hedge funds lost money in 2011.

Read the rest here.

(via DrudgeReport.com)

(Drudge gets the big scoop again)

NEWT EX-WIFE UNLOADS ON CAMERA; NETWORK DEBATES 'ETHICS' OF AIRING BEFORE SC PRIMARY**Exclusive**
Wed Jan 18 2012 18:47:14 ET

Marianne Gingrich has said she could end her ex-husband’s career with a single interview. Earlier this week, she sat before ABCNEWS cameras, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

She spoke to ABCNEWS reporter Brian Ross for two hours.

Her explosive revelations are set to rock the campaign.

But now a “civil war” has erupted inside of the network, an insider claims, on exactly when the confession will air!

ABCNEWS suits determined it would be “unethical” to run the Marianne Gingrich interview so close to the South Carolina Primary, a curious decision, one insider argued, since the network has aggressively been reporting on other candidates.

A decision was tentatively made to air the interview next Monday, after all votes have been counted.

Gingrich canceled a press conference on Wednesday to deal with the matter.

“He believes that what he says in public and how he lives don’t have to be connected,” Marianne Gingrich, Newt’s wife of 18 years, explained to ESQUIRE last year. “When you try and change your history too much, and try and recolor it because you don’t like the way it was or you want it to be different to prove something new … you lose touch with who you really are.”

MORE

 

$CLR, $TPLM, $KOG, $NOG, & $OAS

(via) 

Goldman Sachs set aside $12.2bn (£8bn) to pay its staff in 2011 – an average of $367,000 each – sparking criticism that the Wall Street firm was living in a “parallel universe”.

The size of the payouts sparked a backlash from unions, who regard them as evidence that David Cameron’s government should take steps to ensure top pay is better linked to performance. Campaigners for a “Robin Hood tax” on transactions said it backed their case for new levies on banks.

“When even in a bad year each Goldman employee pockets an average of $367,000 – nearly ten times the average UK salary – it’s proof that banks live in a parallel universe to the rest of us,” a spokesman for the Robin Hood Tax campaign, said.

Goldman used a greater proportion of its revenue (42%) to pay its 33,000 staff in 2011 compared with 39% a year ago. The firm axed 7% – 2,400 – of its staff during the year and those who remain will begin to learn the size of their annual bonuses in the coming days.

The highest profile firm on Wall Street reported better than expected full year revenue of $28.8bn – down 26% – while earnings almost halved to $4.4bn prompting Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and chief executive of Goldman, to blame “global macro-economic concerns” for the fall..

The total payout per staff of $367,000 – a figure which includes salaries, bonuses, equity awards and benefits – was down 15% on the $430,000 the previous year. The actual amount set side to pay staff at $12.2bn was down 21%.

David Viniar, Goldman’s finance director, insisted that “discretionary” bonuses were down “considerably more than revenues” during the year and said the firm had embarked on a strategy to cut $1.4bn of costs.

But TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Goldman Sachs are brazenly defying their own sliding profits by dishing out pay and top bonuses worth £240k a head. This latest example of excessive rewards for mediocrity should give the government the green light to get tough on top pay. Ministers should start by putting workers on remuneration committees and making pay and bonuses exceeding £260,000 liable for corporation tax.”

The firm has recently provided more disclosure than in the past about its pay deals in the UK as a result of rules set out by the Financial Services Authority requiring firms to publish pay for “code staff” – those taking or managing risk. Regulatory filings for Goldman Sachs Group Holdings (UK) show that it had 95 code staff in 2010 who had an average pay deal of $6.2m (£4m) in 2010 – and had a further $595m awarded in a one-off mid-year award of shares in 2010.

“This past year was dominated by global macroeconomic concerns which significantly affected our clients’ risk tolerance and willingness to transact,” Blankfein said.

“As economies and markets improve – and we see encouraging signs of this – Goldman Sachs is very well positioned to perform for our clients and our shareholders,” he added. The turmoil in the eurozone held back many of its business areas. Revenues in investment banking were down 9% while its business that underwrites share offerings was down 14%. Its fixed income, currency and commodities operations suffered a 34% fall in revenue. “Although activity levels in 2011 were generally consistent with 2010 levels, and results were solid during the first quarter of 2011, the environment during the remainder of 2011 was characterised by broad market concerns and uncertainty, resulting in volatile trading and significantly wider credit spreads, which contributed to difficult market-making conditions and led to reductions in risk by the firm and its clients,” the firm said.

(via) 

President Barack Obama will visit Walt Disney World during a planned trip to Orlando on Thursday, according to a White House aide. There, he will “unveil a strategy that will significantly help boost tourism and travel,” the aide added.

Details on that strategy were not disclosed. But it would be hard for Obama to pick a locale that’s better known than Disney for a tourism announcement. The resort giant in Orlando has four theme parks that collectively draw more than 45 million visitors a year.

It doesn’t appear, however, that he’ll get much love from local politicians. Aides to U.S.Sen. Bill Nelson said the Florida Democrat was unlikely to attend because the office “got word too late” of the visit and had meetings planned in other parts of the state. And Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer is scheduled to be in Washington that day for a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

While the details of the announcement are still unknown, there’s one topic at the top of the political wish list for Central Florida’s tourism industry: Visa reform. The tourism industry has been pushing Congress and Obama to make it easier for visitors from emerging nations such as Brazil, India and China to come to the U.S. as tourists.

In Brazil, where citizens have a reputation for loving Orlando’s theme parks, there are four consulate offices to conduct the required in-person interviews for people who want a visa to visit the U.S. That means families could have to travel several hundred miles before they are even approved to travel to the U.S.

But a recent Congressional appropriations bill gave the Secretary of State the authority to develop a pilot program to use videoconferencing to conduct remote visa interviews for leisure and business visitors. Such video conferencing would be high on Disney’s priority list, as it would likely cut the expense for international travelers who are interested in coming to see the Mouse.

Disney is bracing for heavy security around the Magic Kingdom. The giant resort recently reduced the Magic Kingdom’s hours for Thursday while extending hours and adding entertainment at its other three parks. The resort has also imposed parking restrictions around a nearby hotel, Disney’s Contemporary Resort.

Eddie Lampert is suspected of taking them private. He did up his stake in the company last year, but….

(via TMZ)

While OJ Simpson rots in the Big House in Nevada … he’s about to lose his big house in Florida.

According to court records, JPMorgan Chase bank is foreclosing on the 4 bedroom, 4bathroom home OJ owns in Miami. Simpson bought the home in 2000 for $575,000 … but the home was recently assessed at $478,401.

OJ is currently serving time in a Nevada prison for kidnapping, armed robbery and other charges stemming from an incident in 2007, in which OJ took a bunch of sports memorabilia at gunpoint.

As per some French newspaper.