Slowly, piece by piece, the inside details of what happened during the financial meltdown are coming to light. The latest disclosure is that JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon and General Electric (GE) CEO Jeffrey Immelt were on the New York Federal Reserve Board in 2008, when their institutions got enormous loans, as reported by the New York Times.

This little story tells you just how the insiders do their wheeling and dealing. On Sept. 15, JPMorgan Chase received a $3 billion loan from the Fed. On 12 occasions in October and November 2008, GE issued short term IOUs. The Fed purchased $16 billion of them.

Continue reading JPMorgan and GE Got Massive Fed Loans While Their CEOs Sat on NY Fed Board

JPMorgan and GE Got Massive Fed Loans While Their CEOs Sat on NY Fed Board originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Down to the Wire (CSCO, GMCR, BBY, JPM, RDWR, ZUMZ, GAP)

Closing Bell: Down to the Wire (CSCO, GMCR, BBY, JPM, RDWR, ZUMZ, GAP) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Emilio Botin, Chairman of Banco Santander (STD) of Madrid, exchanged emails on how best to collaborate in the event of forthcoming bank failures. But the key here is that the exchange happened in June of 2008.

Afterward, Dimon and Botin met to discuss bidding on failing U.S. banks. Keep in mind that this was before the financial crisis gathered steam in fall of 2009. And keep in mind that this was before the TARP monies were provided to the big banks. This was before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual (which JPMorgan bought), Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and so on.

Continue reading Dimon and Botin Plotted to Take Over Failed Banks Before the Financial Crisis

Dimon and Botin Plotted to Take Over Failed Banks Before the Financial Crisis originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Now here's a story that's all about high finance. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) earned $11.7 billion last year and paid out $26.9 billion in compensation, up 18% from the previous year. Employees on average earn $129,000, while investment bankers earned on average $380,000.

JPMorgan said it hopes to restore its dividend to 75 cents or $1.00 per share by the middle of 2010. This means that if you're a shareholder and you were waiting for a dividend increase, forget about it. Your dividend was used up in the $26.9 billion that went to compensation.

Continue reading Bankers Benefit from JPMorgan's Stellar Results; Shareholders, Not So Much

Bankers Benefit from JPMorgan's Stellar Results; Shareholders, Not So Much originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: The Much-Needed Pullback Begins, Maybe (JPM, INTC, JNJ, PAA, BARE, SQNM)

Closing Bell: The Much-Needed Pullback Begins, Maybe (JPM, INTC, JNJ, PAA, BARE, SQNM) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Top Wall Street bankers testified before The Crisis Commission whose job it is to find out what went wrong during the financial meltdown. The Chairman of the ten member commission is Phil Angelides,

Mr Angelides grilled Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs GS about its practice of first selling sub prime mortgage securities to investors and then selling them short, betting that the securities would go down. Blankfein answered that Goldman did not have a legal obligation to disclose when it was betting against the securities it was selling. In reply, Angelides said: "Sounds a little bit to like selling a used car with faulty brakes and then buying insurance on the driver."

Continue reading Wall Street Titans Testify Before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

Wall Street Titans Testify Before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Low Rates and Easy Finance Policy to Stay for Stocks (KFT, JPM, GOOG, BIDU, EK, LLTC, NBG, MRNA, NBG)

Closing Bell: Low Rates and Easy Finance Policy to Stay for Stocks (KFT, JPM, GOOG, BIDU, EK, LLTC, NBG, MRNA, NBG) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Is this the first time you've heard about the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission? Probably. It seems that Treasury Secretary Geithner organized the commission to investigate what went wrong during the financial crisis of 2008! That's right 2008! Can you imagine -- the public has been clamoring for answers as to what happened during the meltdown, and now a year later they decided to open an investigation.

The Commission was created by Congress to examine the causes of the collapse that roiled global markets and led to a $700 billion U.S. bailout of the nation's banks.

Continue reading Bank Executives to Testify Before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

Bank Executives to Testify Before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 27 Dec 2009 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A report in The New York Post suggests that Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), could be the logical replacement for current U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The paper's sources indicate that "a number of policy makers have begun mentioning Dimon as a successor to Geithner, whose standing in Washington has suffered because of the country's high unemployment rate, the weakness of the dollar, the slow pace of the recovery and the government's mounting deficit."

Meanwhile, reports the Post, Dimon has emerged as one of the heroes of the financial crisis, "having navigated JPMorgan through the recession and being a go-to guy when Uncle Sam last year needed Wall Street's help during the collapses of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual."

Continue reading Will JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon be our next Treasury Secretary?

Will JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon be our next Treasury Secretary? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Against this backdrop, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) said "If some unforeseen circumstance should put this firm at risk of collapse, we should be allowed to fail."

Dimon went on to say writing in Friday's Washington Post: "The term 'too big to fail' must be excised from our vocabulary." Dimon also argued against limiting banks' size saying that increased scale can benefit customers.

Continue reading JP Morgan's Dimon says: 'We should be allowed to fail'

JP Morgan's Dimon says: 'We should be allowed to fail' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Who are they? First, we have Lloyd Blankenstein, CEO of Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE GS). Then we have Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Company (NYSE JPM) and then CEO, Vikam Pandt of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE C).

You are probably also wondering how do we know this? The Associated Press did a review of Geithner's calendar under the Freedom of Information Act.

In his first seven months on the job, Geithner made at least 80 contacts with the "big three." Not only that Geithner jumps to the phone when they call. They are the dominant players on Wall Street who can move markets and even economies.

Continue reading Why does Geithner always take calls from the big three bankers?

Why does Geithner always take calls from the big three bankers? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Consumer bankruptcies have already spiked more than 30% this year, and it looks like the trend shows no signs of flagging. The American Bankruptcy Institute predicts that the tally could hit 1.4 million by the end of the year. So, although there are some experts signaling that the economy is on the upswing, the downstream effects of bankruptcy on consumer spending and corporate balance sheets are going to make it difficult for the market to turn the corner.

In July, more than 126,000 people filed for bankruptcy protection, and the filing rate was up 36.5% for the first six months of 2009 relative to the same period in 2008. The problem is affecting every rung of the social ladder.

Continue reading Consumer bankruptcies set to surge

Consumer bankruptcies set to surge originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Now enter the government that wants to regulate the derivatives market and force more transparency in reporting transactions, which heretofore have been kept secret. One of the proposals is to have each transaction go through a clearing house so that there would be a visible record of the securities and the players.

Continue reading Jamie Dimon vs. the US government: do not regulate JPM

Jamie Dimon vs. the US government: do not regulate JPM originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, now it seems that even the big boys have to play by the rules. What do I mean play by the rules? Apparently, if a bank wants to pay back the TARP monies, they must demonstrate that they can raise equity.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) were the only two banks that did not raise equity.

So there was an exchange between regulators and Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan's chief executive, who said that he did not believe that ability to tap capital markets should have been relevant for his bank. He went on to say, "Any argument you can think of, you could assume we made with our regulators. And as you could also expect, they won.The primary reason was access to equity capital markets, and its hard for me to imagine that really applies in the JPMorgan case." So it seems that the exchange was spirited to say the least.

Continue reading Regulators force JPMorgan and Amex to raise equity

Regulators force JPMorgan and Amex to raise equity originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: When sloppy days look pretty (GMCR, F, NTAP, JPM, BAC)

Closing Bell: When sloppy days look pretty (GMCR, F, NTAP, JPM, BAC) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

JP Morgan Chase & Company (NYSE JPM) held its annual shareholder meeting with Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer holding court.

Among his jabs against the Administration he complained that the rules against hiring foreigners was a "complete and utter disgrace." We might ask Mr. Dimon if he plans to hire another Chinese mathematician such as David X Li, whom JP Morgan Chase hired in 2000. Mr. Li developed a formula that created a single number from which traders bet billions of dollars in the past decade in derivatives which eventually brought the country to its knees when the housing bubble burst. This may help to explain why JP Morgan Chase has $87.7 trillion of derivatives "off the books." We might ask Mr Dimon to disclose the exact position in derivatives that he holds "off the books." Wouldn't that make fascinating reading?

Continue reading JPM's Jamie Dimon rambles on at the annual shareholder meeting

JPM's Jamie Dimon rambles on at the annual shareholder meeting originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 20 May 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: A roar over a moo (JPM, GM, VMW, FSLR, BRK.A)

Closing Bell: A roar over a moo (JPM, GM, VMW, FSLR, BRK.A) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Citigroup Inc, (NYSE C), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE BAC), and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE JPM) are the crybabies of Wall Street. They are complaining vigorously to Congress about the tax on their bonuses.

Here's a sample of their complaints: Bank of America's Kenneth Lewis said the tax is "unfair" in a memo to his employees. Citigroup's Vikram Pandit said his bank is "working in every appropriate way with policymakers." Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan held a conference call with executives and said that he is working with lawmakers.

Continue reading Dear Messrs. Lewis, Pandit, and Dimon: Stop whining!

Dear Messrs. Lewis, Pandit, and Dimon: Stop whining! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 22 Mar 2009 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Can you say two rallies in a row? Barely (AAPL, JPM, MS, SIRI)

Closing Bell: Can you say two rallies in a row? Barely (AAPL, JPM, MS, SIRI) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Following a meeting with CEO Jamie Dimon on Feb. 6, Citigroup analyst Keith Horowitz believes that JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) could be among the first banks to repay its indebtedness under the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

"Clearly there is a risk of future government interference, which is why we believe management would like to get out," noted Horowitz. However, while Dimon thinks banking industry returns will be compressed during the intermediate term due to the government's involvement, he doesn't see any significant changes to JPMorgan's long-term outlook.

Continue reading Will JPMorgan Chase be the first to repay its TARP loan?

Will JPMorgan Chase be the first to repay its TARP loan? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.