Thursday, September 18, 2008
power to the short men
And there we have it - bye bye Bear, Lehman, Merrill, HBOS and maybe Morgan & McQuarie. The news can be recalled anytime, but the memories of how I felt, is what I need to pen here, for Reuters and Bloomberg cannot. Even Magnum is up to date, capturing the mood
It started on Friday night, Las Chicas with JS professing to AC and I, that it was inconceivable that Merrill would go down. I bought dinner, 5 bottles of wine and 3 cigars to celebrate the end of "the good times". The pair weren't convinced I was right. A reuters article on Saturday morning, and obstinate reply on Sunday night, humble pie on Monday morning.
Monday was a public holiday in J-land and HK, yet many were called in to unwind before the inevitable failure of one Lehman. People were calling me with "Did you hear? What does this mean?" stories on Monday, but when I got to work on Tuesday, the first questions were "are we screwed?" my honesty for once not unsettling, and then the boss gave me a very specific "we need to ensure CV's arent hitting the door out of panic, this is good news, and we need a maintain a strong and positive temperament to the staff.". K. But even I couldn't do it. I believe in the concept of caveat emptor, so am happy to rip anyone off. Yet my 5 minute morning call over ran to nearly an hour, with questions, and my jibbering conflicting with the utter lack of enthusiasm in my voice. I told them I was sad to see the end of the brand. And that, I maintain, I am. Sadly though, it's more than that. Changing management structure could mean bad things for me personally, and of course, the fear is never exciting when the consequences are severe. But, as the news seeps out, it seems we might keep something. God knows. God cares. I don't. I don't. I'm now disappointed that I dont get to go to Patagonia, and plan some super-cool-big-trip across America de Sud. Booger.
I managed to getta hold of JB on the Wednesday after school, after his news was dead cert. Decent spirits he was in, despite the innumerable possible outcomes to his life before year out. Stories of people coming to work just for the free internet and chance to get tips on how to update their CVs, steal the (plastic) coffee cups, and abuse the still not disconnected telephones. The day before I had met AF in Heartland round about midnight for an hour of gossiping about the madness. Some geezer we ran into said that all of the numbers were superficial - the value of Lehman is purely in the intelligence and quality of its staff. Judging by how they are all still turning up to work, or helping each other out looking for the next role, I can't agree more. Would the same happen in another industry?
I couldn't sleep. I read the news until I dropped, woke up again and did the same. The electricity of fear, greed, ambition, sanctimony and anticipation hovering silently at six hundred and six six feet over Wall Streeet kept everyone turning papers. And then AIG, then MS, then 700 billion, and the storm appeared to ride on. The news is still everywhere (WM, Wachovia, Fortis) but the feeling is less intense after the initial blow.
A few days on and we're just riders on the storm; here's to landing sunny side up...someday.
