Economist says country has yet to wake up to full extent of fiscal nightmare (WND)
Last night the House of Representatives voted 257-167 to pass the fiscal cliff bill. Many have pointed out that president Obama has come out the winner, while the Republicans who signed Grover Norquist’s no-tax- increase pledge have been the biggest losers. But in a new op-ed for The Financial Times, Nouriel Roubini writes that the U.S. has been let down by its leaders and that they “dysfunctional nature” of the country’s political system means another crisis isn’t far off. He also says the country has yet to wake up to the “full extent of its fiscal nightmare”.
Is Icahn Dumping Netflix (NFLX)? (StreetInsider)
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is off the highs of the day on rumors Carl Icahn may have liquidated his position in the name. After trading up as much as 5.8 percent earlier, shares are now up just 1.7 percent. Mr. Icahn’s latest filing showed he owned 5,541,066 shares, or 9.98 percent of the shares outstanding. He first disclosed the position in late-October, with shares trading 40 percent lower at that point.
London Quantitative Hedge Funds Report Losses Again (BusinessWeek)
Hedge funds that use computers to follow trends lost money for a second straight year in 2012 as political debates over the U.S. fiscal cliff and Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis roiled markets. The Newedge CTA Trend Sub-Index, which tracks the performance of the largest computer-driven, or quant funds, fell 3.4 percent last year after a 7.9 percent decline in 2011. David Harding’s $10 billion Winton Futures Fund Ltd. slid 3.5 percent in 2012, its second annual decline since opening in 1997, investors in the pool said.
Man Group Appoints Executives at Its GLG Division (NYTimes)
The Man Group, the world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund management firm, announced several appointments in its GLG division on Tuesday. The announcement follows the resignation of the London-based hedge fund’s chief executive, Peter Clarke, last month amid continuing outflows of investor funds because of the firm’s recent poor performance. Man Group said that Sudi Mariappa, who joined the hedge fund from the giant bond fund manager Pimco last October, would lead GLG’s fixed income unit, while Jamil Baz, GLG’s current chief investment strategist, would oversee the division’s macro strategy.
New CEO Shuffles the Deck at Citi (WSJ)
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Chief Executive Michael Corbat moved on Monday to cement his grip on the giant lender, outlining a management shuffle in which two top allies of former CEO Vikram Pandit will leave or have duties reduced. Lewis B. Kaden, a Citigroup vice chairman since 2005 and a close adviser to Mr. Pandit, will retire from the New York company in coming weeks. Don Callahan, another of Mr. Pandit’s longtime colleagues, will see his duties as head of technology and operations diminished. Two other longtime Citigroup executives, James Forese and Manuel Medina-Mora, will see their roles expanded and become co-presidents. …
SEC Names Geoffrey Aronow as General Counsel (SEC)
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Chairman Elisse B. Walter has appointed Geoffrey F. Aronow as the agency’s General Counsel. He will begin his new role later this month. Mr. Aronow comes to the SEC from the law firm of Bingham McCutchen LLP, where he is a partner in the Washington D.C. office. Mr. Aronow has prior federal government leadership experience as the Director of the Division of Enforcement at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for nearly four years.
