WALL STREET
William D. Cohan
•
April 30, 2025
Tuesdays With Orszag
News and notes on the Trump II economy—whether the tariffs can actually work, America’s role as world leader, the current market volatility—in a conversation with Lazard’s C.E.O. Peter Orszag and co-head of European investment banking Jean-Louis Girodolle.
William D. Cohan
•
April 27, 2025
The Leon Black Legal Saga Ad Absurdum
The former Apollo executive has defeated all but one of the misconduct allegations against him—an increasingly surreal case involving a client who has been dropped by her lawyers and is now at war with their firm.
William D. Cohan
•
April 27, 2025
The Saks Debt Scaries
A close look at whether Saks Global, several months after acquiring Neiman Marcus Group for $2.7 billion, can make its initial $120 million-ish interest payment to bondholders at the end of June.
William D. Cohan
•
April 23, 2025
Dirty Larry Comes Out Firing
Larry Summers, the former Treasury secretary and N.E.C. director and Harvard man, goes “Full Larry” on the economic fallout under Trump II—capital flight, lost exports, violent deleveraging, declining competitiveness, Argentina comps, etcetera.
William D. Cohan
•
April 20, 2025
Saks’ $2.2 Billion Fire Alarm
The high-stakes roll-up of iconic department store brands Saks and Neiman Marcus is now straining under the weight of its junk-bond financing. Facing spiking yields, vendor unrest, and now Trump’s trade war, Richard Baker’s bold bet is fast becoming a cautionary tale.
William D. Cohan
•
April 16, 2025
Newsmax’s April Fools’ Flash Crash
When the Fox wannabe’s stock popped (and then plunged) after its I.P.O. earlier this month, the billionaires got out in time and retail investors got burned. Same as it ever was…
William D. Cohan
•
April 13, 2025
It’s the Bond Market, Stupid
The latest inside chatter on Wall Street about Trump’s tariff-induced economic hellscape.
William D. Cohan
•
April 9, 2025
When the Bond Market Panics Like This…
Trump’s global tariff war has wiped out more than $5 trillion in equity-market value. But, as always, the most reliable clue about what’s heading our way is the bond market. Buckle up…
William D. Cohan
•
April 6, 2025
Wall Street’s Tariff Hunger Games
There are multiple contradictory theories making the rounds among smart investors to rationalize Trump’s trade war: forcing other nations to play fair, raising revenue to offset tax cuts, crashing the economy to refinance the debt. The one point of agreement: C.E.O.s are nervous, very nervous.
William D. Cohan
•
April 2, 2025
Carlos Watson’s Prison Break
How Carlos Watson, with help from Donald Trump and his “pardon czar,” remade himself as the victim of his own $100 million fraud.
William D. Cohan
•
March 30, 2025
Elon Deal Alchemy & The I.P.O. False Spring
News and notes on the biggest deals of the week on Wall Street, for better or worse.
William D. Cohan
•
March 26, 2025
Wall Street Prepares to Get Paul Weiss’d
Many senior finance executives are terrified that, once Trump finishes throwing darts at Big Law, he’ll take aim at banks and private equity firms. “If the government decides that it wants to get you, … don’t fight,” one Wall Street C.E.O. told me.
William D. Cohan & Peter Hamby
•
March 23, 2025
Where’s My Gary Cohn?
An honest conversation about the stock market “correction,” the folly of Trump’s trade wars, the Scott Bessent security blanket, the rotation into Europe, and why Wall Street is missing Gary Cohn.
William D. Cohan
•
March 19, 2025
In Bessent We Trust?
Mike Mayo, the august Wells Fargo analyst, offers the bull case for Trump’s hard reset of the economy, strangling bureaucracy, gutting Dodd-Frank, and why he thinks the banking sector is ready to rip. Has Mike sipped the Kool-Aid, or should everyone just chill out?
William D. Cohan
•
March 16, 2025
Trump’s M&A Poison Pill
News and notes from around the financial sector: an update on the latest pseudo obstacle to the Skydance bid for Paramount Global, a banker’s lament for the frozen M&A pipeline under Trump II, and a close look at how Elon Musk’s businesses have been faring since the election.
William D. Cohan
•
March 12, 2025
Between Clare Locke & A Hard Place
The ultrawealthy are feeling emboldened to file lawsuits against journalists and their publishers, perhaps inspired by Donald Trump’s giddy disregard for a free press. In his new book, ‘Murder the Truth,’ David Enrich forecasts a dangerous endgame.
William D. Cohan
•
March 9, 2025
Bloods & Crypto Bros
The crypto faithful believe the new consensus in Washington—a $Trump-empowered, zero-regulation, free-for-all—will make all their dreams come true, starting with a plan to create a Bitcoin Fort Knox.