Well, no-one can complain that Erin Callan, Lehman Brothers’ new chief financial officer, lacked detail on the investment bank’s first quarter results conference call this morning.

Ms Callan rattled through a very long and thorough explanation of the bank’s earnings, balance sheet and liquidity, with the emphasis on the latter.  Given that Lehman has been fighting to persuade people that will not become the next Bear Stearns, that was wise. Read more

Curiouser and curiouser. Perhaps when the dust settles from the JP Morgan Chase/Bear Stears deal we will look back on it primarily as a smart property deal. JP Morgan made sure that it not only got Bear Stearns’ head office at 383 Madison as part of the takeover but can buy it even if the takeover falls through.

Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan’s chief executive, apparently wants to reverse the plan to move JP Morgan’s investment banking and trading operations into a new building on the former World Trade Center site. As Felix Salmon notes this is a service to architecture since its planned building looked ghastly. Read more