Fox Business is a Joke

opticalcharge — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:15:20 -0400

I deplore Fox Business News. It's almost a joke in my mind and its website and columnist, Liz, perpetuates my view.

Check out this very short op-ed piece written by Liz Claman about Lehman (I own a few shares so I follow the fundamentals).

http://liz.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2008/08/27/latest-lehman-lore/

The op-ed piece is almost a joke with cliche's such as "supah-stah" and "pushed off the Bounty" used.

I then progressed to check out their main site at http://www.foxbusiness.com/ and did find some useful information albeit mostly sensational, as to be expected. The blogs are even more comical.

Thought I'd share my perspective.

I wonder where they'll be in 5 years....

Edgeview Partners - why so many associates/analysts?!

opticalcharge — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:58:38 -0400

I follow PEHUB and saw that a PE Firm I know retained Edgeview Partners, a small IB firm based in Charolotte, NC for a sell-side. I clicked through their website and saw they have 22 analysts and 13 associates! That's a lot of analysts for an outfit I have never really heard of! They all have "704" telephone numbers listed so they appear to be in the same office.

What are these guys doing with respect to recruiting? Are two of their analysts equal to one BB analyst or are they on to something? When I started ML 4 years ago, there were only 120-130 global analysts. Why does this place require 22!?

Valuation Firm Offer (Moving from IB to Valuation)

opticalcharge — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 22:16:13 -0400

I've been following this board for a while and figured I should provide an update. As for me, worked in IB for 3 years (at a bulge and then at a MM) and value my experience greatly. In general, I love IB but came to despise my group (lost all our senior bankers) and left recently.

Risks of Joining a Newly Formed Middle Market PE Fund

opticalcharge — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:44:15 -0400

I am pretty far in the process with two newly formed PE funds that have around $400MM. One is a completely new fund and the other is part of a larger fund that has $1.5BB (they just raised $400MM, but have been around for 15-20 years). At both places the partners have prior VC/PE experience at large funds.

So far I'm impressed with the energy and drive that these guys have displayed, but I want to know the pitfalls of joining a new fund?

Former JP Morgan / Carlyle Analyst Sues Borat

opticalcharge — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 21:50:42 -0400

Jeses, what a tool.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0606071borat1.html

JUNE 6--A New York businessman who is seen being chased down Fifth Avenue by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in the film "Borat," is suing over his unwitting bit role in the hit comedy, claiming that his civil rights have been violated. Jeffrey Lemerond, 31, claims in a U.S. District Court complaint that the film depicts him "fleeing in apparent terror" from Borat, the phony Kazakh reporter portrayed by Cohen.

Managing Analyst Time when Sick is Horrible

opticalcharge — Sat, 12 May 2007 02:16:48 -0400

How do you guys handle sick time? I just came off the flu/nasty cold for two days and got pretty behind b/c I went home around 730PM on Wed and Thursday + I wasn't productive those days at all due to a high-fever. I couldn't really stay at home b/c my associates were all out traveling and I had to cover home base.

Today I got in and three things needed to be done simultaneously. VPs butted heads over who'd get my time, and eventually one won. I worked on his shit all day and the VP who lost had to do the work himself. The one who lost bitched b/c it wasn't a "final" product, said I made rookie mistakes (which I did b/c I was ill and didn't give a shit at all) and finally he did it himself (god knows how, but he did).

KeyStrokes During your IB Stint

opticalcharge — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 05:32:53 -0500

As I'm sitting here at this absence hour, I realized that my fingers hurt. I understand that much typing is required in this job, but I never thought about how many keystrokes we do in day, month, year, etc...

Assume 10 keystrokes/minute (so minutes your typing fast, others you're not). 10 x 60 = 600 keystrokes/hr. 16 hrs a day at work x 600 x 5 days a week = 48,000 keystrokes/wk. 48,000 x 50wks/yr = 2.4MM keystrokes/year.

Macquarie buys Giulianiâ€™s investment banking firm

opticalcharge — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 12:18:12 -0500

Rudy Giuliani may be gearing for a presidential run, but the former New York mayorâ€™s investment banking firm is ready to be under new ownership. According to an announcement Monday, Giuliani Partners LLC and its subsidiary, Giuliani Capital Advisors LLC, have agreed for Australian investment banking giant Macquarie Group to acquire it. Terms were not disclosed. Giuliani Capital is a New York boutique investment banking firm that provides consulting and advisory services in the areas of restructuring and M&A.

$4 million birthday party - Steve Schwarzman of Blackstone

opticalcharge — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 17:25:12 -0500

FROM PE WEEK WIRE:

Memo to Steve Schwarzman: Hire A Clown

Tomorrow night, Blackstone Group chief Steve Schwarzman will throw himself an ostentatious 60th birthday party, complete with some crooning from Rod Stewart. The New York society pages estimate that the bash will cost in excess of $4 million, and Iâ€™m told that Schwarzman is a bit uncomfortable that the details are being scrutinized as if it were a taxpayer-funded event. But this party presents Schwarzman with a much bigger problem than personal pique â€“ it will be just another reason for public company shareholders to reject leveraged buyout offers (or at least to drive them up). In other words, this party is bad for business.

Quick poll - Who worked thru the Super Bowl?

opticalcharge — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 19:33:46 -0500

I am.... missing all of it.