Imagine running the electricity scam while swapping U.S. physical coal, Chinese coal miner equity, oil and U.N. carbon CER's. Oh happy day.
From the Wall Street Journal:
J.P. Morgan Chase JPM -0.09% & Co.'s surprise decision to put its physical-commodities business up for sale dismantles a portion of the empire Blythe Masters spent the past seven years building. But the commodities chief was among the first executives to suggest the move, said people close to her.
The nation's largest bank had earlier discussed a partial pullback, but that shifted amid new federal scrutiny of Wall Street's ownership of assets such as oil pipelines, metals warehouses and power plants.Ms. Masters is one of the most powerful people on Wall Street, the fact she still has a job is proof positive.
It upset Ms. Masters that outside pressure contributed to J.P. Morgan's determination to move more aggressively, but she still made the argument internally that the risks of staying in the business outweighed the rewards, said a person briefed on the conversations. She and other top executives came to realize that most commodities clients didn't rely on J.P. Morgan to store metals or provide electricity and that it would be increasingly difficult to keep physical assets as government officials warned of pitfalls from allowing banks to play so many different roles in a market.
The reversal raises new questions about the future of one of the best-known women on Wall Street. Ms. Masters, 44 years old, rose quickly in part because of a blunt, aggressive approach, a sharp knowledge of complex Wall Street trading tools and early exposure to Chief Executive James Dimon.
It isn't clear whether Ms. Masters will leave J.P. Morgan or find another internal role if buyers can be found for the commodities businesses, which include power plants, warehouses and trading desks that buy and sell oil, gas, electricity and coal. She declined, through a spokesman, to comment.
In the past year, she didn't receive a bigger job when the corporate and investment bank was reorganized. She also didn't get the jobs of chief financial officer and chief risk officer, two openings she was interested in, said people close to her. The missed opportunities disappointed Ms. Masters, these people said, although one person added that Ms. Masters felt the bank supported her through the past year as she battled allegations by electricity regulators that her unit manipulated energy markets. The bank this week agreed to a settlement in that case that included no individual sanctions against Ms. Masters. J.P. Morgan didn't admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement,
The bank's chief executive, Mr. Dimon, "will have to see what's available and whether she's right for it," said one person close to the bank. "As the pyramid gets tighter, the competition gets horrendous" for top management posts. Mr. Dimon's view of Ms. Masters is that she is smart and can still have a "great career" at J.P. Morgan if she wants to stay, said a person close to him.
The public withdrawal from a vision Ms. Masters had for J.P. Morgan's commodities business is the latest twist for an executive who has lived her career largely in full view.
Born in Oxford, England, Ms. Masters started with the bank as an 18-year-old intern on the London commodities desk....MORE
See also:
"Woman Who Invented Credit Default Swaps is One of the Key Architects of Carbon Derivatives, Which Would Be at the Very CENTER of Cap and Trade
The JP Morgan Guide to Credit Derivatives (JPM)
Investing in Credit Derivatives - Blythe MastersJPMorgan increases stake in China's Yanzhou Coal to 11.13% Loses Money on Coal Trade (JPM; YZC)
JP Morgan Buys MORE Yanzhou Coal, Upping Stake to 13.23% (JPM; YZC
J.P. Morgan's Blythe Masters On The Blogosphere, Silver Manipulation, Gold-Axed Clients And Doing The "Wrong" Thing (JPM)
Janet Tavakoli on Jim Rogers, Blythe Masters and JP Morgan's Risky Commodity Bets (JPM)
Shades of Enron: JP Morgan in the Power Business (Blythe Masters is a fibber) JPM
Brilliant: Maxwell's SILVER Hammer Came Down on Blythe Masters' Head (SLV; JPM)
The oeuvre of songs about serial killers is not as limited a genre as one may at first suspect.
Most everyone, with a little thought, will come up with Mack the Knife (rape, murder, arson) and of course the Talking Heads' Psycho Killer ("psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est?").
As part of the British Invasion the Rolling Stones contributed Midnight Rambler (Boston Strangler) and Sympathy for the Devil (Nazis, Communists, Satan).
Best of the bunch has to be the Beatles' Maxwell's Silver Hammer (kills his girlfriend, his teacher and the sentencing judge).
Blythe Masters is the head of commodities trading for J.P. Morgan...
