Search Results for: Jamie Dimon

By Pam Martens: March 4, 2013  Last November, one of Europe’s largest publications, the German news magazine Der Spiegel, splashed a terminally ill Uncle Sam on its front cover. Inside we are told that “Many developing countries are now looking to China instead of the US as a role model on how to structure a country. They are no longer seeking the light of the American beacon on the horizon.”  One of the reasons cited by the article for America’s decline is that our best and brightest no longer focus their talents and energies on enriching America’s future, but rush to Wall Street to line their own pockets: “About a third of the students in every graduating class at Harvard University accepts jobs in investment banking and consulting, or with hedge funds — that is, industries that produce one thing above all: fast money…” reads the article.  Last week, Wall Street’s … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens: January 17, 2013  Wall Street’s thoroughly discredited self-regulation that has blazed a trail of corruption across much of the securities trading landscape of America, has now given birth to a new brand of hubris – self investigation and self reporting.  Yesterday, JPMorgan released a report from its Board of Directors that found [drum roll] that the Board was not culpable in the London Whale episode, it just needed to tweak a few things going forward. London Whale refers to the blowing up of $6.2 billion of insured deposits at JPMorgan’s commercial bank through reckless trading in derivatives in London.  Likewise, a 132-page Task Force report was released which found CEO Jamie Dimon guilty of no greater sin than being too reliant on information from below. The report said: “As Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Dimon could appropriately rely upon senior managers who directly reported to him to escalate significant … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens: November 28, 2012 Apparently news travels slowly from Gotham to Omaha. When Warren Buffett, the legendary investor and so-called Oracle of Omaha appeared on the Charlie Rose show on PBS Monday evening and praised the idea of Jamie Dimon as the next Treasury Secretary, he sounded less oracle and more out-of-touch cheerleader. Buffett was making the media rounds with Fortune’s Carol Loomis, who has written a glowing  book on Buffett, Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012. When asked by Rose what message it would send if President Obama appointed Jamie Dimon as the next Treasury Secretary, Buffett had this to say: “I think Jamie Dimon actually would be, I think he’d be terrific, because if we did run into problems in markets, I think he would actually be the best person you could have in the job and I think the world leaders … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens: September 10, 2012  Last week the business media was buzzing about a newly ramped up investigation into the $5.8 billion in losses thus far reported by JPMorgan’s Chief Investment Office in what is now dubbed the London Whale trade.  The Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Chaired by Carl Levin, is reportedly interviewing former personnel who worked in that division, based in London as well as New York.  Levin’s powerful subcommittee has jurisdiction to conduct investigations into a wide array of issues, including fraud and abuse, and corporate crime.  The real breaking news on this matter, however, occurred on May 13 of this year when Levin appeared on Meet the Press.  Host David Gregory asked Levin what should be the price for what occurred at JPMorgan.  Levin has this to say:  “In terms of past activities, that’s in the hands of people who are assessing whether there was any criminal … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens: June 4, 2012 Occupy the SEC and Occupy Wall Street’s Alternative Banking Working Group are asking the  SEC to investigate Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, and make a criminal referral to the U.S. Department of Justice, if appropriate. This Wednesday, June 6th, at 5:30 p.m. EST, the two groups will march from Liberty Plaza to the offices of JPMorgan Chase, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and on to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s New York City office for a teach-in. The groups issued a statement, that read: “We are marching on June 6th because that date marks the 78th anniversary of the founding of the SEC in 1934. The SEC was created to enforce two basic principles: 1) public companies offering securities to investors must tell the truth about their business, the securities, and the risks involved in investing. 2) people who … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens: May 14, 2012 Jamie Dimon, the red-faced Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, who last week reported a $2 billion trading loss at the firm, has a rare quality.  He talks really fast, uses a lot of plain, folksy words, and leaves us dumber than when he started speaking. It feels like Dimon is hoping to talk fast enough and call himself stupid often enough that no one  notices that he hasn’t told us a thing we need to know: Like – exactly how did you lose $2 billion of your depositors’ money? Like – when will you cut your losses short and unwind this “stupid” trade? Like – why haven’t you already unwound this “stupid” trade? Like – how is this different from AIG Financial Products selling credit default insurance, collecting the big quarterly premiums on that insurance to boost revenues, profits and pay big bonuses … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: November 11, 2016  Yesterday, CNBC announced that anonymous sources had told the cable business news outlet that Trump’s advisers were considering JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon for U.S. Treasury Secretary. The rumor nugget was quickly spread by other media outlets. The likelihood is that the rumor is coming from Jamie Dimon’s hyper-charged public relations machine rather than from Trump’s closest advisers. Should Dimon get the nomination from Trump he would have to appear before the Senate Banking Committee for his confirmation hearing. He would be facing hostility from progressive Senate Democrats on the Committee like Senators Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown and Jeff Merkley for overseeing a Wall Street mega bank that has garnered an unprecedented three felony counts from the U.S. Justice Department in just the past three years while Dimon took home massive pay and bonuses. Two felony counts against the bank were for aiding … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens: March 15, 2013  Much of the investing public, and I would venture many members of the research team at the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that compiled the 307 page report on JPMorgan’s $6.2 billion in losses from the London Whale trade, are unaware that the company’s Chairman and CEO, Jamie Dimon, learned at the knee of the mastermind of too-big-to-fail – former Citigroup Chairman and CEO, Sandy Weill. From 1982 to 1998, Dimon was Weill’s first lieutenant, rising to the rank of President of Citigroup.  Carl Levin, Chairman of the Subcommittee, released the stunning investigative report yesterday and, throughout, the level of arrogance toward regulators, the dishonesty and dissembling on earnings calls, the hiding of losses, and the specter of the imperial CEO conjured up images of the downfall of Citigroup and Weill’s role in creating the culture than burned down the house. It felt, alarmingly, like … Continue reading →