A few thoughts on the appearance by Lehman Brothers Inc. CEO Dick Fuld on the conference call Monday. First, the papers seemed relieved that Fuld appeared at all, suggesting that his closeted existence was half the problem. Fuld himself was, well, Fuld, not Erin Callan with trousers: feisty, combative, seemingly unrepentant, except for those mistakes someone at Lehman made in the past. And yes, investors, the responsibility is all his, which one would think wouldn't have to be articulated since he has led the firm since 1998. Is Fuld suggesting that those other folks were somehow using his responsibility, but now they're gone and he's fully in charge? How'd that happen? And then there was the spirited since-I-sign-off-on-valuations-they-must-be-true defense. In any case, Fuld made it clear that he's the next to be fired, if it comes to that.
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Finally, the papers decided that "investors seemed generally pleased" on the evidence of a 5.4% pop in the share price. Could be. Or perhaps it was just a general feeling that with $6 billion in the bank and David Einhorn on vacation, Lehman just feels better these days.
On the other hand, there are still concerns lurking. The Journal's "Heard on the Street" raised the issues of assets that were sold off returning like a bad penny in 2010, under some new accounting rules. And the Naked Capitalist posted an e-mail allegedly from a former Lehman managing director arguing that some of the sold-off assets were actually unloaded in a less-than-arm-length transactions to entities closely affiliated with Lehman. The blog emphasizes that these were unchecked rumors, but it is a sign that the air remains thick with speculation and innuendo, even with Einhorn resting up.
Lehman shares were down 4.5% in midafternoon trading. - Robert Teitelman
