Comments on: Fair Trial?

By: wjk

wjk — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 02:59:13 +0000

sorry, I couldn’t pass this one up.

please refer to this liberal American’s comic.

and do some self reflection.

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/u.....tt20080118

By: slim

slim — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:30:32 +0000

Scrapping this whole dodgy and costly investigation would be a great downpayment from LMB on this new Korea he’s promising to deliver.

By: boshintang

boshintang — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:19:06 +0000

Dogbertt, since you acknowledge that Lone Star has a controlling stake in KEB, unlike KIC’s 3% stake in Merrill Lynch, I suppose you agree that the parallel you made between the two is pretty ridiculous.

By the way, as you know, all investors expect to make a profit, and KIC is no exception. But KIC is paying a risk premium by investing in a company that took its worst loss ever, that in the middle of this current environment of global economic slowdown. Also, KIC’s stake is like I just mentioned at only 3% of ML - So even if a miracle does happen, KIC isn’t going to come close to earning the profits reported by Lone Star.

By: dogbertt

dogbertt — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:17:04 +0000

Lone Star initially purchased 50.5% of KEB — a controlling interest, but far from a complete acquisition. It did later gain (and then sell) an additional stake taking its ownership to ~64% for a period.

I’d still like to know why you think KIC will lose money on its investment in ML.

By: boshintang

boshintang — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:52:38 +0000

Dogbertt, keep in mind shares of KEB may have been deliberately underestimated to facilitate Lone Star’s purchase of the bank.

Also, Lone Star, still after selling much of its holdings in KEB, has an over 50% controlling stake in KEB. Slightly different from Korea Investment Corp’s 3% holding in Merrill Lynch.

As an aside, the CFO also played a key role in selling a slightly larger stake in Merrill Lynch to Kuwait, and also to… gulp… Japan!

By: Keyser Soze

Keyser Soze — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:29:11 +0000

My mind is divided on this.

On the one hand, John Grayken is enduring an injustice at the hands of Nosangmo prosecutor dimwits. I hope this is over for him soon.

The other (Schadenfreude) half of me hopes this thing drags on and eventually turns the rest of the world off from investing here. Then things might get cheap again and the koreans can reap the whirlwind from what they’ve sown.

Will Korea learn anything in the end either way? IMHO, not a chance!

By: Linkd

Linkd — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:55:50 +0000

Well, I wasn’t trying to encompass public policy agendas in my little fable. But the bottom-line effect on personal finances is the same: individuals have more to spend, save or invest.

By: Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog)

Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:15:21 +0000

If we look at a tax cut as a gift...

Perhaps Linkd may be a Hillary voter. A tax cut is not a gift.

By: Wedge

Wedge — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:21:24 +0000

Don’t be surprised if these stubborn idiots go ahead and indict Grayken at the end of the 20 days of interrogations. They cannot be proven wrong. Hwaiting!

By: dogbertt

dogbertt — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:05:21 +0000

Dogbertt, the point is slightly different in that, although Lone Star seems to have made a profit in its investment in KEB, Korea Investment Corp’s investment will most likely take a loss as Meryll Lynch just announced its worst quarter in its 93-year history, a nearly $10 billion loss. Another difference is that KIC will only acquire 3% of the bank as opposed to Lone Star’s complete acquisition of KEB.

Your analysis is faulty.

One, KEB at that time was a failing bank, just as Merill Lynch is now not doing well. That is the time to buy, in expectation that the bank will recover and you will have made a profit. Explain to me please how you think KIC will take a loss — it’s not a day trader here.

Two, Lone Star did not completely acquire KEB.

As an aside, it was reported in the Korean press (or the “vernacular press”, as the Korea Times and Korea Herald like to call it), that newly-appointed ML CFO Nelson Chai, a Korean American, played a key role in arranging KIC’s investment.