How bad would the upcoming fourth-quarter earnings call have to be for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. chief Jamie Dimon to jump ship and join the Obama administration? The answer: a horrific loss that would force the government to intervene akin to the Citigroup Inc. bailout last month. The odds of it happening? These days, anything could happen. However, most Wall Street observers don't expect such a deep loss, but no one told Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed who thinks Dimon is Obama's likely pick for the secretary of the Commerce Dept.
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Sneed wrote in his column:
Hmmmm. Is banking wizard Jamie Dimon on Barack Obama's short list to become U.S. commerce secretary now that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has dropped out?
• • Dimon data: Dimon, JPMorgan Chase's
CEO -- who was credited for staving off a widespread panic by buying
the beleaguered Bear Stearns -- is this/close to former U.S. Commerce
Secretary Bill Daley, who has Obama's ear.
• • Rumble is Daley was a major
supporter of Richardson getting the job and knows what financial chops
are necessary to run the office.
Clearly there is a connection here, and Sneed neglects to mention
that Dimon was one of Wall Street's first Obamaniacs. However, none of
it means Dimon is going to leave his perch as the current "king of Wall
Street" for what some consider a second-tier Cabinet position -- even
if half of Wall Street reviles
him and would like nothing more than to see him gone. The only real
possibility of Dimon joining the Obama administration is if the Senate
fails to confirm Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner. The odds
of it happening? As stated earlier, anything could happen. - Matthew Wurtzel
See column from Chicago Sun-Times
See earlier post about Dimon from Dealscape
