Late Lunchtime Links: Is it a sign? No new headcount at Jefferies in Q1

As the Wall Street Journal points out, Jefferies fulfils a canary-ish function in the coal mine. Coming before other banks' results, its results are seen as a harbinger of things to come.

What can be made then, of the fact that Jefferies isn't adding headcount any more? In the first quarter of 2010, it added 101 people. In the first quarter of 2011, it lost 2.

On the other hand, Jefferies first quarter earnings were up 21%. It had the best quarterly revenues ever and its second most profitable quarter ever, particularly in investment banking where most of last year's hiring took place.

If anything is to be extrapolated, it is this: banks like Jefferies aren't hiring this year while they wait for last year's recruitment to pay off. Last year's recruitment is paying off, implying hiring could pick up later in the year. Maybe.

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George Osborne will announce in the Budget a tax on private jet flights as part of a crackdown on tax loopholes. (BBC)

Goldman Sachs doesn't think the Volcker Rule precludes principal investing. (BusinessWeek)

The TUC's new chief economist earns 64k. (TheTimes)

How a new rule could jeopardise banks' new enthusiasm for combining corporate and investment banking. (TheAtlantic)

Conservative donor hedge fund manager: "Here in London there's a great variety of culture and lots to do, and maybe less money in the bank, but I prefer this option." (Financial Times)

BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole have awarded their chief executives 2010 bonuses of 1.67 million euros and 916,000 euros, respectively. (Forexpros)

HSBC shareholders aren't sure about its proposal to award executives shares based on their past performance, which must be held until they retire. (Guardian)

Nomura's hired two more senior people in the US. (BusinessInsider)

Conscientiousness and Neuroticism have a strong impact on the instantaneous probability of finding a job, where the former has a positive effect and the latter has a negative effect. (Marginal Revolution)

Good looking women are most likely to sit back and allow their male date to pay. (Physorg)

An interview with Boaz Weinstein and various other hedge fund managers who claim to be beyond materialism. (Institutional Investor)

Actually, low testosterone traders take big risks too. (New Scientist)