Barclays Share Discussion Threads

[martyn9] 22/10/2010 09:07

typical yanks,thrown the dummy out of the cot.a uk bank had to bail them out.
their own gov turned their back on lehmans.

[nadamson] 22/10/2010 08:47

Lehman failed, Barc offered the best deal (which they took) now they want a better deal.

[eisler] 22/10/2010 08:40

You'll be waiting a long time to see 301 again :-(

[robertfaulkner] 22/10/2010 07:43

LRJ, I can't see anything wrong in a buying company saying to execs of the company it wants to buy "If we get your company we want you to work for us"

Is that legally wrong or that you can't believe their testimony after the buy out

[kenbachelor] 22/10/2010 07:36

Sorry guys, but I'm going to have to stop posting answers on both threads because I can't keep up. I'll pick up questions from here and answer them if I can, but the answer will be on the other board.

This morning's Somnus Open was 5742.5 and my long opened at 5748. It's costing me about £80 at the moment and I'm really expecting my stoploss short to open at some point.

The situation in France isn't helping.

[lrj] 22/10/2010 06:42

=DJ UPDATE: Lehman, Barclays Wrap Up Arguments In Lawsuit Over 2008 Deal

(Adds further details about clarification letter dispute and first-day gain.)

By Joseph Checkler

Of DOW JONES DAILY BANKRUPTCY REVIEW

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Barclays PLC (BCS) and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEHMQ) on Thursday melded months worth of testimony and evidence into two neatly packaged closing arguments, their final words in Lehman's multibillion dollar lawsuit accusing Barclays of negotiating a secret discount when it bought Lehman's broker-dealer unit in 2008.

Judge James Peck of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan will now decide whether to award Lehman's estate any of the $11 billion or more in ill-gotten gains it claims Barclays made from the sale.

"We ask that the court enforce the sale order on the record that was actually before it," said Lehman attorney Robert Gaffey of Jones Day. "The parties are entitled to have a sale order that reflects the record upon which it is based."

Barclays, however, has argued that both sides negotiated in good faith, and the deal, approved by Peck just days after the investment bank collapsed into bankruptcy, was Lehman's best option.

"It should still be the court's decision that this was the right transaction. It was fair to the estate, it was fair to the creditors and it was the best transaction available," said Barclays attorney David Boies of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP.

Lehman pressed its case that in the tumultuous days of September 2008, when Barclays was finalizing its purchase of Lehman's brokerage, Barclays scrambled for more assets and negotiated with some Lehman executives a $5 billion discount. Lehman says its bankruptcy attorney, Weil, Gotshal & Manges partner Harvey Miller, and other Lehman representatives weren't informed of the discount and neither was Peck.

"It was not the lawyers, it was the business people who caused these fundamental lacks of disclosure to the bankruptcy court," Gaffey said. Gaffey referred to testimony from Herbert "Bart" McDade, Lehman's former head of global equities, who said he thought the assets were being sold at face value, not at a discount.

Boies, however, said Barclays never told the court the deal was dollar-for-dollar.

"Nobody thought that that's what was going on, and nobody could've thought that, given the volatility of the markets," Boies said. He pointed to trial testimony from McDade, who recalled that, at the time, the financial markets were in freefall, with asset prices changing by the minute.

Gaffey referred to the "clarification letter" that has become a focal point of the case, a letter Peck agreed at the time of the sale should be drafted to address several complications and list some assets moving over from Lehman to Barclays. Gaffey said the letter actually drafted became an "amendment to an asset purchase agreement."

Boies agreed that the letter was part of the asset purchase agreement, but that the court knew that all along and both parties used information contained in the letter in later arguments. Peck, however, interrupted Boies to say that he never officially signed off on the letter.

"Let me be clear about something, Mr. Boies," Peck said. "I never approved the clarification letter."

Boies responded that even if Peck didn't approve the letter before the court, he did tell both Lehman and Barclays that if they had major problems with it, they were welcome to come before the court to seek his approval. Neither did.

Said Boies, "Lehman knew the clarification letter was being revised throughout the closing weekend and when it was finalized and executed on the morning of Sept. 22 they made the decision not to object to it."

Boies said Lehman waited to see if Barclays would make money on the deal before trying to get some of it back, using the clarification letter as justification.

Barclays booked a gain on the transaction immediately, and listed a more than $4 billion gain on the purchase in a February 2009 earnings report.

Gaffey said, "There's no doubt Barclays booked a first-day gain, but they never said it to the court."

Gaffey also highlighted testimony from several Lehman executives he said were highly motivated to get the sale done because they had agreed to new jobs at Barclays contingent on the sale closing. One of those executives was Martin Kelly, then the global financial controller for Lehman and now the chief financial officer of Barclays Capital U.S.

Kelly testified at trial that scribble on a piece of paper at the time of the sale referring to a markdown of assets wasn't in his handwriting.

"Mr. Kelly simply lied," Gaffey said. "Martin Kelly was involved in that plan."

A lawyer for Kelly didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lehman also pointed to Ian Lowitt, the former Barclays chief financial officer who testified during the trial that he was promised a $6 million bonus to move over to Barclays, contingent on the sale being finalized. He said both Kelly and Lowitt "suddenly remembered for no apparent reason" on the witness stand that the marks on Lehman's books were from an earlier date. Lowitt is now chief operating officer of Barclays Wealth Advisors.

"He knows he's not going to get that contract--he's not going to have that job--unless the deal closes," Gaffey said.

(Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review covers news about distressed companies and those under bankruptcy protection.)

-By Joseph Checkler, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review; 212-416-2152 [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 21, 2010 22:00 ET (02:00 GMT)

[71rich] 21/10/2010 22:12

r/f yes thats right,last week trying to record the opening was hard,but still
made some money,yes get the line ready,then read the writing on the top,@ 08.01
thats the best i can do.

[thetatrader] 21/10/2010 22:00

Barclays does like it's channels.

Needs to break out to 301 or 253 could be on the cards.

IMHO

[bobp] 21/10/2010 21:51

WE need a news release from barc to clarify the situation

[robertfaulkner] 21/10/2010 21:51

71, I hadn't noticed the header on the graph page(next to the green spot) has the price and time of price. Is that that you mean?

I don't understand the "set the graph at close".

The header bit must give you price just as 8:00 clicks over to 8:01, much better than my way of looking after 8:01, thanks
,

[71rich] 21/10/2010 21:27

r/f use the line @08.01am and read the header as it turns 08.01 thats what done for the last week,i find that the best.set the graph at close.hopes that helps,rich

[robertfaulkner] 21/10/2010 21:12

Sir Bed is there any date expected for the result of the Lehmans court case?

[robertfaulkner] 21/10/2010 21:09

Smurfy, I've got it wrong so many times that I'm almost an expert now(well sometimes I get it right)

What Ken does at 8am (ish)is get the IG Index Pure deal site up (You have to register but you don't even have to put money in to use the Pure Deal platform{unless you want to deal})

Then get the FTSE 100 Daily in your wishlist then click on the chart, it sounds complicated but once set up, it all arrears when you log on.

Now with this chart if you place the cursor on the graph it gives the time and day you have touched at the bottom, and a panel appears with loads of prices Open, highest, lowest, close moving averages. These are all for that minute(not that day).

Ken uses the Close figure at 8:01 as his "My open". Don't worry if you can't be bothered to register with IG because Ken or someone posts the "My open" just after 8:01.

Then it's just a case of the "My open" being above the Pivot point or below the Pivot to tell you which of the long and shorts to open.

If I've got it wrong anywhere someone will correct it

[meerzaf] 21/10/2010 20:58

a 13bn dent on the lehman acquisition is not going to be good for this stock

[smurfy2001] 21/10/2010 20:30

Sounds like Barclays will need to transfer back some assetts ??

[sir bedevere] 21/10/2010 20:28

Re Barclays:
Judge Peck interrupted the summing up by Counsel for Barclays to point out that the "clarificion letter" was never approved by the Court.

B

[smurfy2001] 21/10/2010 20:22

Ken, forgive me for posting my question here as l can't post on the other thread.

Do you wait at 8:01 (i.e., for the FTSE to find it's level) before deciding to open a trade?

Sometimes the FTSE is inflated/deflated the previous evening depending on the US/Asia markets so waiting a few minutes to find it's correct level gives a more accurate reflection of the UK market if you know what l mean...

Also, what would be nice is when you declare your open, could you say wether you're LONG or SHORT. I know you post your spreadhseet but it would be helpful for lazy people like me to track..

[layer cake] 21/10/2010 20:17

BARC down 3% in US

G20 gitters?

whatever is taking us down is seriously a very well guarded secret.

stil on RKH, got 10 points in the morning and 12 one hour later or so.

Ken. I read your words earlier and have to say that it is quite rare these days to find someone willing to share their methods for the benefit of others.

remarcable, honerable and admirable.

[thetatrader] 21/10/2010 19:25

And as this is a Barc tread, what is the opinion of bank levy of less than 0.1% , is this low enough to stop banks going off shore.
==============================================================

Where would they go!
I hope some of the "Banks" do go.
Paddy Power could run them better!

[robertfaulkner] 21/10/2010 19:17

And as this is a Barc tread, what is the opinion of bank levy of less than 0.1% , is this low enough to stop banks going off shore.

I thought I heard a figure of 0.07% anybody else hear it?

[robertfaulkner] 21/10/2010 19:12

Changing the subject(I expect you'll all be pleased)

What has upset the dow Hi today 11212 Low 10067 now 11111 (must be magic)

[robertfaulkner] 21/10/2010 19:07

Ken thanks, agreed it does make decision easy, I didn't realise it was down to 1 minute some days.

Will watch each 8am with pretend deals for a week.

[thetatrader] 21/10/2010 18:59

LOL !

:)

[kenbachelor] 21/10/2010 18:54

Robert - Frankly I don't care why, all I'm trying to create is a simple system that anybody can use to make money.

In the morning I have about a one minute window to get my trades in place and I can't possibly start to analyse why the market has moved, and even if I can think of an answer what do I do with it? If I decide not to trade, it's no longer a mechanical trade so you might as well just trade on your own initiative and forget what I'm doing.

[robertfaulkner] 21/10/2010 18:31

Ken it seems a really great system, but the more people question it the more likely it is to stand up to the test of time.

Where did that drop in the FTSE come from on such an up day.

Was it (In those first minutes) a true reflection of all the 100 FTSE companies share dealings?

Do some of the biggest get left out because the system can't keep up?