Lunchtime Links: 20-something poker players are making six figures; private equity hiring is not what it was
As banking careers carry increased risk of sudden death, alternatives may be preferable, like professional poker. The BBC highlights the case of two 20-something UK poker players, one of them a model from Kent with a 1st in astrophysics (the other a "mop" haired recent graduate of indeterminate origin), who are making big money.
Mop-haired Sam Holden has made it through to the Main Event tournament at this year's World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, at which he is guaranteed to earn at least 193k. If he comes first, he will win 2m. Kentish model Liv Boeree won 1m in the 2010 European Poker Tour and has apparently earned 2m in her career to date. The BBC says more and more people are playing poker. It also has a photograph of a pasty-faced man called Ian Taylor, who says that while he is neither rich nor famous he does make a living by playing poker online.
If you want a more stable career, the latest 'eFinancialCareers UK jobs barometer' is out today. It shows private equity roles rising 34% in the three months to the end of September (possibly reflecting pe funds annual attempts to hire first year analysts after bonuses were paid). However, pe opportunities fell 22% in September compared to August.
Bank of America had trading losses on 20 days in the third quarter, led by a $119m drop on one day, the largest single-day hit since 2008. (Bloomberg)
For the past two years, MF Global Holdings Ltd. may have disguised its debt levels to investors by temporarily slashing the debt it was carrying before publicly reporting its finances each quarter. (WSJ)
"The KPMG team includes ex-traders and financial specialists, who are working very closely with the MF team." (Telegraph)
While Jefferies currently has a working net short position, there's nothing to say counterparties can't and won't get skittish. If they were to pull out, and if Jefferies couldn't find alternatives quickly that would leave them either running a capital intensive, liquidity crunching net long position of €2.684bn or needing to drop rates on the repos arrangements in order to attract any counterparties at all. (Alphaville)
"There's a limit to how much reassurance a bank [Jefferies] can give by saying it is fully hedged. Investors are always worried about hedges because they bring counterparty risk." (Financial Times)
In a week or so Jefferies will announce they have offloaded the positions the market does not like. If they don't, we will see JEF back in the cross-hairs. (BruceKrasting)
Tony Blair's brother has been appointed to an EU financial regulatory body. (Financial News)
An ex-Credit Suisse and JPMorgan oil trader has set up a new hedge fund in Switzerland. (BusinessWeek)
"A colleague was offered $1m to leave, after announcing her second pregnancy. It wasn't about the money, the firm was losing so much more through the disruption." (Guardian)
Bob Diamond: "We have to use the lessons learned to become better and more effective citizens." (Evening Standard)
Bill Gates supports a Tobin tax. (Guardian)
