JPMorgan Faces 'Death Of A Thousand Cuts'

All eyes are now beginning to focus on JPMorgan Chase. Relatively unscathed by the credit crunch, concerns are now growing that the firm's consumer finance business could be a future drag on earnings as the US economy sags, and that the acquisition of Bear Stearns might not create the value first thought.

Commenting on JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon's reputation, Reuters quotes James Ellman, a portfolio manager at Seacliff Capital, who said 'it's surprising that the sheen has stayed so untarnished'. Ellman has highlighted the bank's consumer credit exposure as a threat, saying: 'Consumer finance is a major, major problem potentially....At JPMorgan', he continued, 'It's more 'death of a thousand cuts'. They're not taking any huge hits anywhere, but at just about every area that we've heard about being difficult in the banking sector, they're taking losses'. Ellman is also concerned that the earnings potential from the acquisition of Bear Stearns might not prove to be as high as originally thought, given the current economic environment. 'It's hard to really believe', he said. It 'may (prove to) be the deal from hell'.

Bloomberg reports that missing hedge fund fraudster Samuel Israel III, who went missing last week just hours before he was due to report to prison to begin a 20-year sentence for a $400m scam, is now officially on the run. The US Marshals Services has confirmed that 'suicide has been ruled out'. Although a car belonging to Israel was found a few days back on the Bear Mountain Bridge, which spans the Hudson River, the authorities simply feel that he has legged it. He is now the subject of an international manhunt.

Finally, Reuters reports that M&T Bank Corp. has sued Deutsche Bank and others over losses of over $100m it sustained by investing in CDOs. The bank accuses the defendants of representing the investments as 'safe, secure and nearly risk-free'.

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