FINTAG COMMENT

Television.

So on-line advertising is beating TV adverts for the first time. I rarely watch TV although yesterday I was glued to a socialist ranting on about how he was going to spend even more of my money and a comedy-tragedy drama about the lost Lehman weekend. The casting was strange and Dick Fuld was quite a lovable character. Thain was good but Paulson wasn’t hard enough.

The programme may have been a repeat but I saw it for the first time and found it quite gripping.

Given I am out of words today, today is more of a pic-fest. Enjoy.

BILL WINTERS EXITS JP MORGAN AFTER 25 YEARS

financial news

JP Morgan’s top manager in Europe has quit after a quarter of a century at the US bank as chief executive Jamie Dimon announced a major reshuffle of the investment banking division.

Fintag says
As I mentioned yesterday, the man had turned sour and it appears he knew he was being pushed and he opened his mouth or he opened his mouth and was pushed. I met the guy a few times. Very quiet and a real lifer of the old school.

cityam says ” Winters is ousted from JP Morgan”

BRITISH AIRWAYS BEGINS ITS FIGHT BACK

cityam

AIRLINES can still put on a great show, as yesterday’s inaugural British Airways flight from City Airport to New York JFK testified. We were treated to water salutes from firefighters, cheerleaders and champagne on tap. And apart from the fun of flying on a brand new, 32-seater all business class luxury Airbus A318, the exercise was a good opportunity to catch up with BA’s top brass, not least Willie Walsh, the firm’s ever-energetic CEO.

Fintag says
I loved EOS. But its timing was poor. For those in the Wharf this is good news – no more missing flights by getting stuck on the M4 but more importantly no more screaming babies or students flying on airmiles spoiling the ride.

Let us hope the BA crew are as cool and trendy as the black clad EOS ones …

GORDON BROWN TRIES TO RESCUE LABOUR WITH DEFIANT PERFORMANCE

times

Gordon Brown tried to revive his party yesterday with a conference speech packed with policy announcements designed to appeal to middle-class voters and prove that he had not run out of steam.

The Prime Minister promised to remodel the economy, clean up politics and create a more responsible society during a defiant performance in Brighton in which he set out the lines on which the looming election battle will be fought. He told MPs and delegates not to give in to defeatism but to “dream big dreams”.

Fintag says
I hope you enjoyed my Labour Conference Bingo on twitter yesterday. If the man gets re-elected, I shall leave. My bags are packed.

fintag’s twitter

WARNING ON MUSCLE AND JOINT PAIN

bbc

Muscle and joint pain – musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) – account for almost half of all sick leave, both in the UK and across Europe, a study has found.

No less than 49% of all sickness absence is caused by MSDs, said the Fit for Work Europe report by the Work Foundation business consultancy group.

It estimates that this costs the UK economy £7bn each year, rising to 240bn euros (£$349bn; £219bn) across Europe.

Fintag says
On 16th October a new magazine is being launched in Germany called BusinessPunk. It will have an initial circulation of 100,000 and I feature heavily with an in depth interview and lots of photographs. Given it is a lifestyle magazine about how the rich, successful and good looking live their lives, readers of fintag should prepare for some more stories like this to get you in the mood.

[Editor: This news story is about being sick?]

GAM PREPARES FOR INDEPENDENCE WITH BIG PLANS

finalternatives

Swiss fund of hedge funds group GAM will split from parent Julius Baer Group on Thursday. And for the new asset management group, independence means an ambitious new growth plan.

On Thursday, Julius Baer will list its private bank on the Swiss Exchange under the parent company’s existing name, Julius Baer Group. The existing listing will become GAM Holding, and include the fund of funds arm, Swiss & Global and a minority stake in Artio Global Investors, which Baer listed in New York last week.

Fintag says
Nice but dull.

GORE VIDAL: ‘WE’LL HAVE A DICTATORSHIP SOON IN THE US’

times

He is single now. “I’m not into partnerships,” he says dismissively. I don’t even know what it means.” He “couldn’t care less” about gay marriage. “Does anyone care what Americans think? They’re the worst-educated people in the First World. They don’t have any thoughts, they have emotional responses, which good advertisers know how to provoke.” You could have been the first gay president, I say. “No, I would have married and had nine children,” he replies quickly and seriously. “I don’t believe in these exclusive terms.”

Impaired mobility doesn’t bother him — he “rose like a miracle” on stage at the National — and he doesn’t dwell on mortality either. “Either you accept there is such a thing or you’re so dumb that you can’t grasp it.” Is he in good health? “No, of course not. I’m diabetic. It’s odd, I’ve never been fat and I don’t like candy, which most Americans are hooked on.”

Fintag says
I love listening to crotchety old men. We don’t pay enough respect to our elders.