Next gen always suckers you into paying up and discarding a perfectly good piece of equipment….

A friend with a positive cash flow business needed to borrow a measly million bucks to expand his business. With a 30 year relationship and a personal credit score of 820+ he got turned down by BAC.

If the bank is so healthy, why would they not extend the loan ? Certainly banks are holding back on 30 yr fixed mortgages paying them nothing…but a business loan to a high standing never late client of 30  years at 6% ???

BAC= [youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v67LpSz6Ck 450 300]

Here we go again….

If it was really recorded in 1980 then I’m impressed….until that is proven well it is just interweb fun.

via NY POST

Shut your pie hole!

That’s the message that notoriously press-averse Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has sent around Wall Street recently, telling Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and the other banks involved in his company’s $100 billion IPO to stop leaking juicy tidbits to the media and to stop talking up the stock offering to clients, The Post has learned.

Zuckerberg, 27, whose stake in the social network giant amounts, in round figures, to around $28 billion, wasn’t too happy that some aspects of the much-anticipated initial stock float — including the fact that its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission would take place on Feb. 1 — were disclosed. Facebook officials let the bankers know about it through phone calls and e-mails, sources said.

Facebook officials also appeared to also be irked about what appeared to be subtle sniping in the press between Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs centered on which firm would grab the coveted lead underwriting role on the IPO — the highest profile since Google went public with a $1.7 billion offering back 2004.

Zuckerberg’s warning appears to be working.

The powers that be at each bank, sources said, have reacted by warning employees not to discuss the filing.

“[Facebook] wants to be taken seriously and viewed as a blue-ship company,” said one bank official familiar with the listing, but not authorized to speak publicly.

Facebook and its team of underwriters are in a so-called quiet period since filing the paperwork, known as an S-1, with regulators.

Although the Facebook e-mails and calls contained no threats, running afoul of Zuckerberg could result in a bank getting dropped from the IPO. Just two years ago, UBS was dumped from the group of banks handling General Motors’ much-anticipated IPO.

For the banks, the Facebook IPO means more than just the $40 million it could earn from the deal. Indeed, landing the prestigious Facebook offering is likely to have a halo effect that could help a bank land future tech IPOs. Getting booted from the deal can have the same halo effect — in reverse.

At lead underwriter Morgan Stanley, the reaction to Facebook’s warning has been quick and unambiguous. Its private wealth advisers were admonished to stay mum on the upcoming IPO — a difficult task considering clients are clamoring to get in on the action.

The hush-hush mandate comes as the underwriters are gearing up in the coming week or two to hash over — with Zuckerberg, CFO David Ebersman and COO Sheryl Sandberg — the most appropriate valuation for the Menlo Park, Calif., company.

Despite the white-knuckle media frenzy surrounding Facebook, underwriters will be aiming to hit a sweet spot of offering the social media giant’s shares at a level that deep-pocketed institutional investors can wrap their head and their wallets around.

A $100 billion valuation for the IPO would peg Facebook at an eye-popping 100 times its profits of $1 billion in 2011.
Read more: http://trade.cc/ahyb

(via examiner.com)

As we announced in an October 2011 article , MGM Grand is undergoing a major renovation project in Las Vegas. New faces will adorn rooms, bathrooms, elevators, hallways, and the central rotunda area.

The hotel has just installed a full – scale mockup of their new standard King rooms in the main lobby for folks to check out. The rooms feature a neutral pallette of beige, brown, and panda color schemes. Other features include 42″ LCD televisions, LEED certified carpeting, Caesarstone motif platforms, and a desk nook table with chairs.

Though the bathroom facelift is not presented in the lobby mockup, baths will feature new hardware, lighting, new door handles and hinges, new paint, shower fixtures, curved curtain rods, and “electric” mirrors.

We phoned the hotel to confirm that some of the new rooms are indeed available for booking. Midweek rates for a two – queenbed room on December 22, 2011 were quoted at $75 per night plus taxes and resort fees ( grand total of $106.40 ). That nightly rate is about $20 more than the quoted going rate ($55) for their old standard rooms. Even though we’re currently right in the middle of the lowest average annual room rate windows for Las Vegas, the mere $20 disparity in old vs new room rates is quite encouraging.

Cool…

Cheers…

Charles Higgins

Article info source = Vegas Chatter

CLICK HERE

Is this like weapons of mass destruction in Iraq ?

[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojmOESqVeak 450 300]

Hit Dan BackA few weeks ago, a disturbing story broke that Morgan Freeman was maintaining a 10-year relationship with his step-granddaughter with whom he had a questionable sexual encounter when she was young. Yes, they are not related through blood, but Freeman is 72 and E’Dena Hines is now 27, which means she would have been 17 when they first… um… got together. Once Freeman’s wife found out about their secret affair she filed for divorce, and now the Enquirer is claiming that once proceedings go through, he and Hines are set to wed.

“Morgan has led her to believe that he wants to marry her,” says a family insider. Another source says, “Becoming Mrs. Morgan Freeman has been E’Dena’s goal.”

Consider us creeped out. Morgan Freeman is giving Woody Allen a run for his money! [HitDanBack]

SOURCE

(via)

Facebook is expected to file to raise US$5bn in a preliminary IPO prospectus on Wednesday morning, which while less than anticipated could be increased to ultimate investor demand, according to sources close to the deal.

The smaller deal size reflects a decision to start with a conservative base before deciding whether to increase.

The social networking site has opted to hire five bookrunners, featuring Morgan Stanley in the coveted lead left role.Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and JP Morgan round out the initial list of bookrunners on the deal, though the syndicate could also grow, sources indicated.

The filing timetable appears to establish a framework for Facebook to finalise the IPO process by May, pending a smooth registration process with the SEC.

Investment banking sources note the company has been unusually guarded about the process for selecting banks involved in the underwriting syndicate, but Morgan Stanley’s market leading position in Internet IPOs has given it an upper hand in securing the leading role.

Morgan Stanley’s selection implies that Facebook took account of Goldman Sachs’ handling of a private placement last year, though some have also pointed to Facebook’s desire to distance itself from the bank.

With final pricing of Facebook shares unlikely to be settled for at least three months, it is still unclear what valuation the company is targeting on the IPO.

Recent trading in Facebook stock on private exchanges has pointed to a US$80bn-plus valuation.

Here we go again…

A bombshell report if true….

Dominique Doms

Greece plans an orderly exit out of the Eurozone according to two sources close to Mr. Papademos, Greek Prime Minister, who spoke on condition of anonymity earlier today.

The sources confirmed that plans are ready to return to a legacy currency given the current circumstances and that such exit would be dealt with, quote “in as orderly a fashion as possible” unquote.

The plan does not come as a surprise but the timing may be surprising to most members and investors while negotiations about a severe haircut with the IIF are still ongoing.

Last year’s announcement by Mr. Papandreou, former Prime Minister, that a referendum would be held to decide whether or not to stay in the Eurozone may have set the precedent for developing a plan that apparently will be set in motion.

The stalemate in negotiations about the depth of the haircut on some of the outstanding Greek sovereign debt, said to be capped at 65-70% while Greece is looking for more concessions, may have set things in motion as the ultimate alternative.

(via NYT DealBook)

Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg NewsRay Dalio, the head of Bridgewater Associates, at Davos this week. Bridgewater is bullish this year on gold as a hedge against inflation.

The world’s biggest hedge fund is also one of the best performers.

Bridgewater Associates, which manages nearly $120 billion, posted returns of 23 percent in 2011 — a year when the average hedge fund portfolio lost 5 percent.

Against the backdrop of fear over European debt and stagnant global growth, the hedge fund, led by one of Wall Street’s more enigmatic titans, Ray Dalio, sidestepped the mess. The fund did it with bets on United States Treasuries, German bonds and the Japanese yen, according to people familiar with the firm’s investment strategy, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is private.

Such performance adds up. Over the last 20 years, Bridgewater had annualized returns of 14.7 percent, amounting to $50 billion of gains for investors. Over the same period, the Standard & Poor’s index of 500 stocks returned about 8.7 percent a year.

A big chunk of Bridgewater’s gains came in recent years, a volatile period that felled many funds. As the financial crisis wreaked havoc, Bridgewater notched positive, albeit modest, returns in 2008 and 2009. The next year, the firm had gains of 45 percent versus about 10 percent for the average hedge fund.

The firm has managed to post big numbers even as assets have swollen, defying conventional wisdom and industry experience. Investors poured money into Paulson & Company in recent years, after the founder, John A. Paulson, earned billions of dollars betting against subprime mortgages. Assets at Paulson topped $38 billion at the beginning of 2011, but many of his portfolios suffered last year, with one of the main funds losing 50 percent.

Bridgewater has been able to avoid that fate, in part, because it follows a go-anywhere strategy. The fund’s managers assess the political, economic and regulatory environments around the world, and then make bets using commodities, currencies and other assets.

“It’s become a more macro world,” said Charles T. Cassidy of Cambridge Associates, a consulting firm that advises more than 900 investors with more than $3 trillion in overall assets.

This year, Bridgewater is bullish on gold as a hedge against inflation. The managers are said to believe that governments will need to print more money to help reduce mounting sovereign debt, which could hurt the dollar but help gold. Bridgewater is also betting against the Australian dollar and several emerging-market currencies.

The success comes as Bridgewater finds itself under the microscope for its peculiar culture and odd rules. Mr. Dalio, a graduate of Harvard Business School, is a fervent disciple of radical transparency, a set of beliefs that preaches the pursuit of truth at all costs. For instance, midlevel employees can criticize top management if they think a certain market position is foolish.

In an embodiment of his principles, Mr. Dalio wrote a roughly 120-page treatise, called “Principles,” that is part diary, part philosophical musing and part self-help guide. New employees are required to read it, and it is available to the public online. Mr. Dalio, the son of a homemaker and a jazz musician, writes of his poor grades in high school and a subpar ability to remember names or grasp foreign languages.

Bridgewater’s office in Westport, Conn., has a Big Brother vibe, employees say. Overhead videocameras tape employees throughout the day. To root out problematic behavior, employees are subjected to withering critiques from co-workers. These sessions are recorded and, in the interest of transparency, anyone can pull a copy of the video from the hedge fund’s library.

Former employees say that while it can be an intense and unpleasant place to work, the intellectual environment is invigorating. Ideas are tested vigorously for their soundness. And employees are constantly pushed to improve their investment skills, even if that can be painful at times.

In the wake of some negative publicity that portrayed the firm as strange and inflexible, Bridgewater has begun an unofficial image campaign. Last year, Mr. Dalio appeared on CNBC, where he called the reports “a misunderstanding” and said they had “affected employment.”

Bridgewater also began conducting focus groups at Ivy League schools with students bound for Wall Street. Participants in the 90-minute sessions received $100 gift certificates for voicing their opinions on the firm. In true Bridgewater spirit, they were asked to be as honest as possible.

“Bridgewater has done an extremely good job with its culture, where they challenge each other openly to come up with the truth,” said Dick Del Bello, a senior partner at Conifer Group, a brokerage firm and hedge fund administrator. “Their track record over 20 years is pretty compelling.”

Kevin Roose contributed reporting.

Why are so many institutions and influential individuals crying apocalypse ?

(via TMZ)

Celebs piling into Super Bowl XLVI (46 to non-Romans) luxury suites better bring their own grub if they want fancy finger foods … because TMZ has learned this year’s stadium menu is loaded with home-style comforts.

While the Giants and Patriots do battle at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis —Centerplate catering will dish up some Midwest favorites:

— Braised Buffalo Short Ribs featuring natural buffalo in a classic French braise
— Heartland Farm Table platter with local veggie selections
— Chef designed Chicken Pot Pie

Basically, sushi lovers … stay home.

However, average joes in run-of-the-mill super expensive SB seats can get Indianapolis Shrimp Cocktails … which we’re told is legendary — despite Indy being landlocked.

Oh, and there’s a sweet consolation for the NFL teams that didn’t make it to the big game. All team owners get a giant jar of mixed M&Ms in their team’s colors.

Feel better now, Baltimore and San Fran?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Nct34hSkIPQ

Apple is preparing to produce its next iPhone model for release this summer, according to unnamed source at the China-based supplier Foxconn. While a number of varying sample devices are floating around, the next iPhone could include a 4-inch screen with a form factor unlike the current iPhone 4S.

Full Story.

Check out all the chatter for Tuesday, January 24th