Wall Street Wedensday


The Human Factor by Josh Persky

The Fed cut key interest rates rate to near zero, and that's about what Madoff investors will recover. It is amazing how quickly money can come or go.

The market did not fight the Fed today, and although the recovery will take time, we will climb that mountain of fear.

An article I wrote last month, "Corporate Governance in the Age of Transparency," was just published in and Indian human resources magazine, "The Human Factor."

"Hi Joshua, How are you? I am so pleased to tell you that the latest issue of The Human Factor has just come out and it has turned out really well. I have attached a soft copy of your article with this email. Please do give me your feedback on the design and content of this issue - I'll wait eagerly for it! Best regards, Aditi"




"Corporate Governance in the Age of Transparency" Elliot Ogulnick and I have agreed to an interview with Reuters, but I regretfully had to pass on a request from a major Japanese network:

Dear Joshua, It was nice talking to you over the phone. As per our conversation, we're working on our morning daily news show for Fuji TV Network, a Japanese national broadcast. Using your creativity to survive this bad economy is quite inspiring, and we're very interested in featuring you in our Christmas special segment in our show....

And Kudos to Michael Cohn, Editor-in-Chief at WebCPA, for getting the story right and not wasting words:

www.webcpa.com/article.cfm?articleid=30135

Wall Street Wedensdays with Josh Persky


The fame of Josh Persky continues to spread in this episode entitled "Email of the Day."

Email of the day - an interview request from Germany:

Dear Mr. Persky, I’m a German journalist working for several magazines on subjects like the labour market, career and so on. Therefore I found it very interesting to see your photograph at Reuters (“Experienced MIT Grad for Hire”). I would like to ask you if it is possible to interview you about the photograph and your story. The interview will be published in the German magazine "PERSONALFÜHRUNG". The "PERSONALFÜHRUNG" - in English our title would be "Human Resources Management" - is edited by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Personalführung DGFP e.V.; we are in the web: www.dgfp.de, some parts /articles and summaries in English can be seen under www.shrm.org in English. Most of our readers are HR managers within companies, concerned with questions of managing people, training and continuing education, motivating employees, organizing a healthy work environment, also consultants, a growing group of scientists and students in universities (HRM, labor law, Management...). Our magazine publishes scientific articles as well as reports from practitioners, and journalists reporting about news, best-practice models or solutions and so on.... Thank you very much, kind regards

And good luck from China:

i hope you are happy about your new job , I am from China .i see your pic on the net ,and I know you get new job this week ,wish you good luck.

Investment Banker For Hire: The Oracle of New York


You may have seen the investment banker Josh Persky on one of the tens...maybe hundreds of news pieces done about him...as the MIT grad hits Wall Street handing out his resume looking for work...wearing a sign saying "Experienced MIT Grad for Hire" hanging over his suit jacket. We believe his story itself is kind of an economic barometer, and certainly one that can reflect on the trajectory of thousands of out of work bankers in New York City. So we will present, once a week, the "Oracle of New York, " from Josh's blog, which is syndicated here by permission, and which can be seen daily at www.oracleofny.com

Here is the first installment.

Goldman Sachs, GE and the Oracle of Omaha
By Josh Persky (Currently in Omaha.)

The Oracle of Omaha (Warren Buffet) has added Goldman Sachs and GE to his trophy room, the Bailout Bill has passed the Senate, and I had a productive interview in Omaha. Is the worst of the storm passing?

I received the following email from a fellow MIT alumni:

I went to M.I.T.back in the '70s and am in a similar pickle: out of work. (I haven't tried your approach, but I am thinking about it.) Anyway, I thought I'd let you know (if you don't know already) that your picture with the sandwich board appeared in a Chinese newspaper, dated September 7. I'll be happy to send you the tear sheet, if you don't already have it. _Good luck on your job search. My heart goes out to you. I lost my position (as a speechwriter) last January....I am older than you and am having a very hard time.... _Best wishes ( out of work MIT grad)

For an upcoming interview, I was asked to provide the typical steps used to produce a valuation of a bank loan to a private company: 1. Gather and review financial and legal documentation. 2. Note key loan parameters, such as: interest rate, maturity date, type of loan (bullet or amortizing), first or second lien, financial covenants, up-front and other fees, pre-payment penalty. 3.. Note key financial performance parameters: EBITDA, income, margins, cash flow, balance sheet (historic, current, projected). 4. Analyze key financial ratios: leverage, interest coverage, loan to value. 5. Perform synthetic credit rating on company and DCF analysis on loan. 6.. Compare company to publicly traded similar companies. 7. Compare loan to publicly traded similar debt instruments. 8. If the company is distressed, determine the value of its assets. If the company is in bankruptcy, determine probability and timing of recoveries.